(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Good morning, church family.

Happy Lord's Day. We will now begin our service. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ Say you are God ♪ ♪ You are God in heaven ♪ ♪ And here am I on earth ♪ ♪ So I'll let my words be few ♪ ♪ Jesus I am so in love with you ♪ ♪ And I'll stand in awe of you ♪ ♪ Yes I'll stand in awe of you ♪ ♪ And I'll let my words be few ♪ ♪ Jesus I am so in love with you ♪ Sing the simplest.

♪ The simplest of all love songs ♪ ♪ I want to bring to you ♪ ♪ So I'll let my words be few ♪ ♪ Jesus I am so in love with you ♪ ♪ And I'll let my words be few ♪ ♪ And I'll stand in awe of you ♪ ♪ Yes I'll stand in awe of you ♪ ♪ In awe of you ♪ Sing and I'll stand.

♪ And I'll stand in awe of you ♪ ♪ Yes I'll stand in awe of you ♪ ♪ In awe of you ♪ ♪ And I'll let my words be few ♪ ♪ And I'll let my words be few ♪ ♪ Jesus I am so in love with you ♪ ♪ So in love with you ♪ - All right, good morning.

And welcome to Bruin Community Church. Let me start with a few announcements. First of all, our Sprouts PTA meeting. So if you have a child between the age of kindergarten to sixth grade, we have a PTA meeting that's happening at two o'clock today, so make sure you grab your lunch and then afterwards come here, hopefully a little bit before two, so they can get started right at nine a.m.

Nine, two p.m., I'm reading something else. Okay, and there is childcare provided, so please let them know if you are able to come. This coming Saturday, we have a men's quarterly fellowship that's happening from nine a.m. to about one o'clock. And so please sign up for that. Today is the last day for early registration, and so please go out, and if you're outside or if you can go to the app and sign up today, again, that's $10 for early registration, and then the cost will go up after that, $15.

So today is the last day for early registration, okay? So please do that. And then college retreat, Roots of Redemption, is happening on March 21st through 23rd in Oakland Conference Center. Pastor Eric Chabonet from Pillar Baptist Church is going to be coming and speaking on the subjects of Roots of Redemption.

The cost is $175. The last day to sign up is March 7th, so this is happening on March 21st, so please sign up for that as early as possible. And then Women's Ministry Tea Time, this has kind of saved the date. It's a little bit further away, but on April 5th at 9:30 to 12 p.m., ladies will be placed in various groups, mixed affinity groups, designated for homes, time of intentional fellowship, so please sign up for that.

Again, to save the date, on April 5th at 9:30 to 12 p.m., okay? All right, I'm going to pray for our offering, give you a minute to give your offering, and then afterwards, after our worship time, our sister Gracie Han is going to come up and give her testimony, and then she'll be baptized this morning.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your continued grace and love. Help us, Lord, to fix our eyes upon who you are and what you've given us, that all that we do would lead to greater worship, greater adoration of your name. I pray that you would bless this time, and that even in our giving, that it would be given as an act of worship to you, and again, may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Let us all rise, and let's spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us before we continue. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Let's sing, all preachers. ♪ All preachers of our God and King, ♪ ♪ lift up your voices with a sing.

♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Thou virgin Son with golden beam, ♪ ♪ Thou silver moon with softer gleam. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪♪♪ Let all thanks. ♪ Let all thanks their Creator bless, ♪ ♪ and worship Him in humble thanks.

♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, ♪ ♪ and praise the Spirit, three in one. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪♪♪ All the redeemed. ♪ All the redeemed washed by His blood, ♪ ♪ come and rejoice in His great love.

♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Christ has redeemed every sin, ♪ ♪ cast all your burdens now on Him. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ We shall return and bow to reign.

♪ ♪ Heaven and earth both join to sing. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Then we shall fall on bended knee, ♪ ♪ all creatures of our God and King. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah.

♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Oh, praise Him. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah. ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Though the nations rage, ♪ ♪ kingdoms rise and fall, ♪ ♪ there is still one King ♪ ♪ reigning over all.

♪ ♪ So I will not fear, ♪ ♪ for this truth remains, ♪ ♪ that my God is ♪ ♪ the Ancient of Days. ♪ ♪ Above Him, none before Him, ♪ ♪ all of time in His hands, ♪ ♪ for His throne it shall remain ♪ ♪ and ever stand.

♪ ♪ All the power, all the glory, ♪ ♪ I will trust in His name, ♪ ♪ for my God is ♪ ♪ the Ancient of Days. ♪ ♪ Though the dread of night ♪ ♪ overwhelms my soul, ♪ ♪ He is here with me. ♪ ♪ I am not alone, ♪ ♪ for His love is sure, ♪ ♪ and He knows my name, ♪ ♪ for my God is ♪ ♪ the Ancient of Days.

♪ ♪ Above Him, none before Him, ♪ ♪ all of time in His hands, ♪ ♪ for His throne it shall remain ♪ ♪ and ever stand. ♪ ♪ All the power, all the glory, ♪ ♪ I will trust in His name, ♪ ♪ for my God is ♪ ♪ the Ancient of Days.

♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Though I may not see ♪ ♪ what the future brings, ♪ ♪ I will watch and wait ♪ ♪ for the Savior King. ♪ ♪ Then my joy complete, ♪ ♪ standing face to face ♪ ♪ in the presence ♪ ♪ of the Ancient of Days.

♪ ♪ Now above Him, none before Him, ♪ ♪ all of time in His hands, ♪ ♪ for His throne it shall remain ♪ ♪ and ever stand. ♪ ♪ All the power, all the glory, ♪ ♪ I will trust in His name, ♪ ♪ for my God is ♪ ♪ the Ancient of Days.

♪ ♪ For my God is ♪ ♪ the Ancient of Days. ♪ ♪♪♪ - Amen, you may be seated. - Hi, everyone. My name is Gracie, and this is my testimony. Born into a Christian family and growing up in the church, I never once questioned my faith when I was younger.

I diligently memorized Bible verses, prayed, and served in my home church's children's ministry, but it was all for show. During middle and high school, I began to drift from church and placed my worth in my social life and academic success. But as with all worldly pursuits, they left me unsatisfied, anxious, and lonely, as I sought fulfillment in things that could never truly satisfy me.

Everything I valued felt like empty vanity, as none of it truly mattered. Leading up to college, my heart was far from God, but I decided to join a mission trip to Spain with my home church. Though my reasons were selfish, the Lord used the trip to soften my heart.

Seeing how the local Spanish Christians and Ukrainian children who had fled the war had so much joy and praise for the Lord despite having so little, I questioned why, despite my privileged life, I wasn't as happy. I realized their peace came from knowing Christ's love, which led me to take my faith more seriously, and I started attending Berean once I entered college.

Up until this point, I had never seriously thought about my salvation, so I just assumed I was a believer. Starting college felt exciting, and I experienced a false sense of happiness, convinced I had found the eternal joy that other believers spoke of. This temporary euphoria quickly disappeared as I fell deep into sin.

I sought comfort in alcohol and other worldly pleasures, and for a fleeting moment, it really felt so good, almost like an escape from my pain and struggles. But the temptations were deceiving, their sweet promises of happiness nothing more than illusions. Each time I sank deeper into sin, I also sank deeper into depression, trapped in a relentless cycle.

I had turned to alcohol in hopes it would fill the gaping emptiness in my soul, a void so real it really felt like a hole in my chest. But instead of relief, I found only hopelessness. My heart grew hardened to any mention of the gospel or God's love, and I lost all will to live.

Every day brought the same torment, mindlessly going through the motions or surrendering to the darkness of my thoughts. Life felt meaningless, stripped of hope and emotion, and the only escape I saw was to numb the pain. At some point, I realized I no longer recognized myself and was afraid of the person I had become.

I withdrew from college, hoping that time at home with my family would provide the rest and healing I needed before returning. I spent these days reflecting on the past quarter and my sins, but my heart remained hardened to God's love, and I refused to repent. A few weeks after returning to college last quarter, I began slipping back into the same depression that had driven me to leave school.

I was deeply discouraged, but it was during this time of brokenness that God began to open my eyes to my sin. And for the first time in my life, I started to genuinely seek him out, wanting to know what my purpose in life was and how I could find joy in him rather than in the world.

During this time, I began to feel true, genuine sorrow over my sin, for how could I have rebelled against God to the extent that I did, even after he had shown me so much grace and love throughout my life? I am a sinner fully deserving of eternal punishment, but as Ephesians 2, 4-5 says, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved." I was deserving of punishment, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, offered himself as a sacrifice for our sin upon the cross so that we may be saved from eternal separation from God.

As it is written in Romans 8, 1-2, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." Past prayers of ungratefulness and anger became prayers of genuine repentance and gratitude, and I felt a deep, indescribable sense of warmth wash over me.

The life I once lived, merely going through the motions, has been completely transformed. I now have a genuine, eternal hope and joy in Christ, a hope living to enjoy God in all that he is and bring glory to him in everything that I do. As Galatians 2-20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me." Praise and glory to God for his love and mercy and for giving me the gift of life to be his servant, living solely for him and his witness, exemplifying his glory in all that I do that others may see and know his true greatness.

For while life brings its struggles, the love found in Christ is far sweeter than anything this world can offer. Even though I am imperfect and still continue to sin, I can have full confidence and trust in Christ's death and resurrection, that my sins are forgiven and I am covered by Christ's righteousness.

As Romans 5, 19-21 says, "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous. The law came in so that the transgression would increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Thank you.

Do you understand when you go into the water you're being united to Christ's death, and you're being united to his resurrected life? And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All right, thank you, Gracie, for that great testimony. And I love your name, Gracie.

Pastor Nate's third child is Gracie. If you could turn your Bibles with me to Luke 10, verse 17-20. Okay. Don't mind them, they're setting up for the communion. Luke 10, verse 17-20. It reads, "The seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.' And he said to them, 'I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the powers of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.'" Let's pray. Gracious Father, we thank you for this morning.

We thank you for the privilege to be able to come and to worship you. Help us, Lord God, to fix our eyes upon Christ, the author and the perfecter of our faith, that your word would come alive to us, that your sheep will hear your voice and follow you.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. As you guys know, just a few weeks ago, we just came back from our mission trip, and I would say in all the years that I've been in ministry, some of our fondest memories were out in the mission field, you know, in the short term, coming back.

And it's always awesome to hear testimonies, and I love sitting with missionaries when they tell me stories about their experiences and what it was like and the people that they met. And the many years that we've been coming in and out of different places, I remember the first time that we took our church into China, I think it was 1999.

And at that time, China was open, but there wasn't a lot of traffic coming in and out, so we've heard all these stories about how the underground churches were thriving and now that we can slowly begin to go. And when we went in, there weren't a lot of churches that was going in.

We had an opportunity. Our denomination asked if we would come and run an English camp, and so we did. And we were there for about two weeks, and there's maybe one or two people in this room that may have been there on our first trip, but that was probably one of the most memorable trips because we got there, and one of our team members got a little bit too aggressive in sharing the gospel.

And one of the students there, her name was Sophia, got offended, and she started questioning, "Why are you here? Who's your leader? What's your purpose?" And then we found out that she was a member of the Communist Party, but not only was she a member of the Communist Party, her job was to report what's going on locally.

And so her job was to write a report and then to turn it in. So when we found out about that, we had probably the best prayer meeting that we've ever had because everybody was so scared, like, "What's going to happen?" They were asking me questions, "Should I burn all my quiet time notebook?" And one person even asked, "Should I throw in my Bible?" I said, "No.

Hold on to that. We're going to pray. We're going to see what's going to happen." So I ended up switching out to her to teach that class, and after two weeks, not only did she not turn us in, she actually, at the end of the camp, asked me for a Bible.

And she said that she was so interested in Christianity that she wanted to go read more about it. And obviously she didn't come to faith then, but to have a girl who was threatening to turn us in, and then at the end of the 2-week camp telling us that she is very interested about the Christian faith.

And so early on, our mission work to China was so exciting because the doors were just beginning to open, and it was as ripe as any time I've ever experienced a ministry. It was in season. It didn't take much to convince people to come to Christ. Many of them grew up never hearing the gospel, had very prejudicial understanding of Christianity, but we were like the first Christians that they met, and so everything that we shared, they were so open.

I could tell you story after story, but for the sake of time, but some of my fondest memories of ministry was that. And I share all of this as an introduction to the text that we're looking at because, if you remember, in the beginning of Chapter 10, Jesus sends out the 70 and sends them out two by two, and he gave them very specific instruction.

He didn't just go there and say, "Hey, go share the gospel." He said, "Go two by two. Where I'm sending you is going to be dangerous. You're going to be like lambs among wolves." After he tells them about the danger, instead of telling them to get ready, he says, "Don't take a staff.

Don't take anything that you're going to use to protect yourself." He instructed them, and it's not like when we go on trips, we have two weeks, and sometimes the longer trips are maybe three, three-and-a-half weeks. This is during a time when they didn't have transportation, so if they were going from village to village, most likely their trips are anywhere from month to several months that they're out on the street, and this is not a situation where they can just go to a restaurant and use your credit card to pay.

If you didn't bring food with you, you're not eating. Whatever you bring may last maybe a week or two, but there's no way they're going to be able to bring enough food for that journey. In fact, Jesus tells them, "Don't bring anything. Don't bring an extra bed. You're going to go on this journey where it's difficult.

You're going to be persecuted. You're going to be like a lamb among wolves. Don't take anything." He tells them that some of them are going to reject him. He tells them, "Don't even sit around socializing because you're not here to make friends. You're here to preach the gospel." If they receive you, bless them.

If they don't receive you, shake off the dust and move on. And he told them that the primary message that you are to preach is about the kingdom of God. It is to challenge the kingdom that they're in, so the message itself is going to be difficult for them.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So if they repent, they're going to welcome you. If they don't repent, they're going to chase you out of the place and maybe even hurt you. Expect to be rejected. And in order to do that, he said, "Don't take any of this stuff." And he only told them that, "You go in my authority." And he told them, "I'm going to give you authority to cast out demons and heal the sick." And that's exactly what they do.

They go out. And the reason why Jesus told them all of that is so that they don't return and say, "You know what? We really had a good team. We prepared well because we had some guys who were expert fishermen and so when we got hungry, they knew how to catch fish.

We had a baker among us, and so whenever we got hungry, he got all the weed and ground it up, and he was able to make bread, and that's how we survived." One of our guys is an expert orator. He knows how to speak, and he makes a point clear, and he's so interesting.

So they don't come back and say that, "We had a great team, so if we can just have this team wherever we go, I think we can be successful." And that's exactly what Jesus was trying to prevent, that they don't go there and come back and give credit to themselves or to other human beings.

They would come back and experience the power of God. Jesus wanted them to see what kind of power that he has to be able to give to them, and that's exactly what happens. They come back and say they were rejoicing. They were rejoicing that even the demons are subject to us in your name, and that was the point.

We went out the way you told us to, taking nothing. We had no power. We didn't even have a staff. We didn't even have extra food. We didn't have extra clothes, and by your authority, that we were able to cast out demons. Now, is that the only thing that they experienced?

It tells us Jesus gave them power to heal the sick, but they don't mention that, right? Why was the casting out of the demons of all the things that they could have highlighted that? Because in that world, they were fully aware how powerless they were against the demonic world, and they knew that even the many diseases that they were struggling with, there were some demonic things attached to that.

And so if you're sick, maybe you can call a doctor. Maybe if somebody is blind, maybe you can help them or give an assistance, but what do you do for a man who is demon-possessed? What do you do to a town when the demon has completely taken over? So they come back, and of all the things that they experienced, they said, "We rejoice." "We rejoice because in your name, we were even able to cast out demons.

They were subject to us." In fact, in Colossians 1.13, our salvation is described as rescuing from the domain of darkness, transferring us to the kingdom of his Son. So in their rejoicing, Jesus responds in verse 18. He says to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning." He's describing to them what they experienced and why they were able to have this authority over the demons.

So I'm going to read you--it's a little bit lengthy, but there's two passages that if you haven't read it before, never heard it before, how Satan falls and why the demons are subject to him. In Isaiah 14.12-15, it describes the fall of Satan. It says, "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning." "O star of the morning," literally in Hebrew, is "Lucifer," and that's where we get the name "Lucifer." It's translated literally "star of morning," but the word itself is "Lucifer." "O Lucifer, son of Don, you have been cut down to the earth.

You who have weakened a nation, but you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God.'" This is Satan saying, "I'm going to elevate myself so that I can touch his glory. I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high. Nevertheless, you will be thrust down into Sheol to the recesses of the pit." And that describes his rebellion. Satan's whole rebellion was he saw the throne of God, and he coveted it, and he did everything in his power to raise himself up, but the rebellion didn't work.

So as a result, the very opposite happens. Instead of exalting himself, he was humbled, and he was thrown down to the recesses of the pit. So that's what happened to Satan. So why does he have all these demons, the demonic forces under his control? Revelations 12, 7-9. "There was a war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon.

The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. When the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." It doesn't say in this text, but it tells us in the other text that a third of the angels followed him.

It's just like if there was a rebellion, and the general, who had loyal soldiers, who backs him up and goes into this battle, but if he loses, then all the soldiers also go along with him. They are expelled with the general. That's basically what happened in heaven. Satan rebels, a third of the angels are backing him up.

Archangel Michael fights against him, and he's able to overpower him, and as a result of that, Satan and his angels are fallen. Now, Jesus is describing this scene, and he's not saying that he just saw this yesterday. Jesus is describing this scene because he himself was there. He saw this.

So he says, "We come back, and the angels, even they are subjected to us. When we declare your name, they knew he was from you." So not only did Jesus have authority over them, he has authority to give them the authority. And so Jesus is telling them, "I was there.

Not only was I there, I was the one who kicked them out of heaven. And that's why when you go in my name, that you're able to have this authority and power." And then Jesus goes even further than that. That not only do you have that, you have power to heal.

That no serpent or scorpion is going to harm you. No enemy is going to be able to touch you. I'm going to keep you safe. Now, that promise wasn't just for anybody at any time. He was saying that when I send you out to do my work, when I send you out as lambs among wolves, that everything that you need is going to come under my authority.

Remember, Jesus, before he left, he said to his apostles, "You're going to be dragged in front of governors and kings." And I know you're fishermen, and just like Moses, he was so afraid of speaking in front of Pharaoh. Jesus is telling them ahead of time to prepare them. When you go before them, don't worry about what you're going to say.

I didn't call you because of your great ability to articulate truth. When you go there, you go with my authority, and the Holy Spirit is going to teach you what to say. So with my power, you go. That's basically what Jesus was saying. And he describes his whole ministry.

Why Jesus did what he did with the 70 disciples. In 1 Corinthians 2, 3-5, Paul says, "I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and in my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith would not rest on wisdom of men, but on the power of God." Every time we look at Apostle Paul, sometimes we hear people interpret Paul's ministry and say, "Yeah, he was chosen because he was a Roman citizen, so he would have had a much easier time getting around.

He was very well-educated, so he didn't need much training. He already knew the Old Testament inside and out, so that's why he was chosen. He was already wealthy and well-connected, so wherever he goes, he's able to get into certain places." But Paul says exactly the opposite. He said, "I was chosen because I was the chief of sinners.

I was the worst person." In fact, that's exactly how people responded when Paul became a Christian. How can we possibly trust that guy? And the whole reason why Paul says why he was chosen is to demonstrate not his power, not his love, not his grace, but God's power and grace.

If he can save somebody like me, if he can use somebody like me, obviously he can save you, to highlight his power. Sometimes we see people interpret even King David. He said he was chosen because he was in the background while his brothers were out playing soldier, and he was honing his skill on his sling.

And because he got so good at it and at the perfect time, God needed him and chose him to represent him and kill Goliath. The Bible tells us exactly the opposite. A younger brother who wasn't prepared, and the reason why he was able to hit him right on the forehead wasn't because God was waiting for a master slingshotter to arise.

God was choosing somebody that other human beings would not have obviously chosen against the principles of this world to show them that their faith is not on man but on God. Because our natural instinct is, if we organize, if we get the right people, if we throw right funding on it, so they don't come back from missions and say, "You know, we had such a great team.

"We had a great fisherman who knew how to catch fish, "so we never got hungry. "We had somebody who was able to make shelter, "and so we never got cold. "We had somebody who was a master auditor. "Everything he says, he's able to give .1, .2, .3, "and when he speaks, people listen.

"So if we can just multiply this team wherever we go, "I think we can be successful." Jesus was doing exactly the opposite so that they don't come back and give credit to man so that they can understand that this power came from him, and that's exactly why they were rejoicing.

They come back and he says, "In your name." When they knew that we came from you, that even the demons couldn't do anything, but Jesus' response to them in verse 20, and for the rest of the time, we're going to be spending time in here. "Nevertheless," he said, "that's great that you've experienced all of this.

"All of these things are great, "but nevertheless do not rejoice in this, "that the spirits are subject to you, "but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." At first glance, it may look like Jesus is pouring cold water into their joy, and they come back and say, "Oh, it was so exciting.

"We saw people come to Christ, and demons are shattering. "We were able to heal the sick." He said, "That's great, but don't rejoice over that." How can you not rejoice over that? Why does he have to correct them? If you're going to rejoice over anything, rejoice over not the gift, but the giver.

There's four things that I want to mention here. Why this is so important, why it's so fundamental to our faith, to rejoice over our names being written, our salvation, over anything else. Number one, all other gifts, everything that they've experienced is circumstantial. Success in ministry is circumstantial. That's why Paul was telling Timothy, "You keep preaching in season and out of season." You know why he's saying that?

Because all his companions were beginning to leave. They're going back home. The initial excitement, right? It's like when you plant the church. Initial excitement, we planted a church, and the honeymoon period is over, and now difficulty begins to come in. By the time that Paul was writing 2 Timothy, some of the people who were faithful with him, even imprisoned with him, persecuted with him, were beginning to change their mind and go home.

He was telling Timothy, "You keep at this, in season and out of season." In fact, most of the prophets in the Old Testament preached out of season. Every single one of them, Hezekiah, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, every single one of them, God sent it to them because they weren't listening.

They didn't go there, and then revival broke out. He just sent them to warn them. If you look at Paul and Peter and the apostles, yeah, they experienced persecution, but they planted churches. The Word of God was coming to them. They were healing the sick, raising the dead. So even though they were heavily persecuted, it was season.

Church was being planted. A new covenant was coming in. Majority of the people that I know who are laboring in ministry struggle with fruit, whether they're missionaries, whether they're pastors, whether they're small group leaders. Anybody who is engaging in ministry knows the frustration of not bearing fruit. You give so much effort and very little fruit.

See, if our joy comes from the fruit, it's seasonal. You'll experience some of it. I mean, earlier part of--when we're going into China, it was just--fruit was just falling from the trees. Five, six, seven years into it, more and more churches started coming in. Money started pouring into China.

And that same kind of fervor and interest, we could visually see disappearing. Every time a Starbucks came in, there's less and less interest. So even that, even this ministry out in China was seasonal. If our joy is dependent upon the fruit that we see, it is circumstantial. And when it is not season, we don't know how to rejoice.

Secondly, all these gifts are temporary. It was meant to be temporary. In 1 Corinthians 13, 8-10, it says, "Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, "they will be done away with. "If there are tongues, they will cease. "If there are knowledge, it will be done away with, "for we know in part, prophesy in part, "but when the perfect comes, "the partial will be done away with." Pastor Mark did a great job expositing and focusing and helping us to see the context of this text because we often look at 1 Corinthians 13-10 and say, "Well, is the perfect the closing of the canon of the Bible, "or is it Jesus coming, or is it our perfection?" But the main point that he's trying to make in this is the context of this is that all the people in Corinth were divided because they're saying, "You know what?

"The leader that I'm following is Paul," or, "I'm following Apollos," or, "I'm following Peter," and they were one-upping each other in ministry, that they had higher knowledge because they were following the right leader. And so what Paul was trying to tell them, that you're one-upping each other on the lesser gift.

The greater gift is love. All these things you see temporarily as a child. Everything that you're experiencing is temporary, but what is eternal is love, and that's why he ends it by saying that of all these things, the greatest is love. The greatest is love. So these gifts that they come and they're experiencing, he says it's meant to be temporary.

It's supposed to be seasonal. But here's the real reason. The ultimate goal of these gifts is ultimately to bring us to Christ, to bring us to the giver. 1 Corinthians 13, 12-13 says, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face." Everything that we're experiencing, we're only experiencing partially, but then we will see him face to face.

"Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love abide these three, but the greatest of these is love." If you remember the seven "I am" statements of Jesus in the book of John, every time he did something, or he was in a context, he ends it by saying, "I am." He would feed the 5,000, and people are elated that they were able to experience this, and he says, "You're looking for temporary bread, but I am the bread." He's in a context where he's a blind man who got kicked out of the synagogue, and you're so concerned about getting back into society, he says, "I am the door." You're so concerned about the opinions of the synagogue leaders, and the effect that it'll have on your life, he says, "I am the good shepherd." You're so afraid that if I leave, that you're going to be abandoned, and you don't know what to do.

He says, "I am the vine." You're so concerned that if I leave, that somehow you're going to be persecuted, and you're going to die. He says, "I am the life." So all of the "I am" statements was to tell them all the gift, that everything that God has given you, everything that God has given the nation of Israel, was a gift to bring you to me.

So if your joy is contingent upon fruit, on your circumstance, then you've missed the whole point. We are co-heirs of Christ. When the Bible says that our names are written in the book of life, if you're going to rejoice over anything, rejoice over the fact that your names are written in the book of life.

If you've been a Christian for any period of time, you hear that and say, "Well, that's Christianity 101. "I learned that in membership class. "I learned that in Sunday school. "I learned that in VBS." For whatever the reason, we hear that justification, adoption, co-heirs with Christ, we have free access to the throne of God, and then we're like, "Okay, now what do we do?

"Now we need to make disciples of the world. "Now we need to do something for God. "Now we need to have children. "Now we need to get married. "Now we need to do this and we need to do that." And then we say, "Okay, we have that. "Okay, we already have that.

"Okay, so whenever we talk about that, "it's like, okay, okay, I already know that. "Teach that to the new Christians. "I already know that. "But how do we make disciples? "How do we plant churches? "How do we multiply? "How do we bear fruit?" And so we get so fixated on what we need to do, and we lose the joy of what we already have.

The Scripture says that we have become co-heirs with Christ. And you're looking at me with no face expression. We have become co-heirs with Christ. Nothing? Nothing? We have become co-heirs with the Son of God. What does that mean? Everything that He has, we have. Nothing? Compare that to everything else.

Compare that with everything else. Everything else seems trivial in light of that. We've become co-heirs with Christ. He's our Abba Father. He calls us His co-workers that when we die, we're going to be in heaven with Him for eternity. Everything that He has given us is so that we can have that.

But for whatever the reason, at some point in our walk with God, that becomes a given. And then now we've got to do all this. And we're so fixated on the gift and what we're going to do. And some of them, a lot of them, may be good things.

But if that kills your joy, if that somehow affects your worship before God, you've missed the whole point. If you ask a three-year-old, "Why do you love Mommy or Daddy?" They'll tell you. They're blunt. They don't care about your feelings. "We like better Mommy or Daddy." It's like, "Mommy, why?" "Because I wanted this toy and she gave it to me." "You didn't give it to me." They'll tell you to your face.

And the next day, Daddy comes and buys him ice cream. He said, "Who do you love?" "Daddy." "Why?" "He took me to McDonald's yesterday." Now you ask that to a 20-year-old, and they say, "Why do you like Mommy and Daddy?" He says, "Oh, you know, I wanted this designer pants, and Mommy got it for me." "Daddy didn't give it to me." "Who do you like?" "I like Daddy better because I asked him to, you know, get this thing for my car, and he got it for me." You know, you hear that, you say, "Okay, you know, I have some more work to do." Then you get a 30-year-old, and you ask a 30-year-old, say, "Who do you love, Mommy or Daddy?" And they say, "Well, I like Daddy because, you know, he gave me some money.

He gave me a couple thousand dollars because I needed to do this and that." You hear from a 3-year-old, and you say, "Oh, you know, it's cute because you expect that from a 3-year-old." You hear from a 20-year-old say, "Oh, my gosh. It's frustrating, but, you know, sometimes it's not a full-grown adult yet, maybe." You hear from a 30-year-old, it's like, "What is wrong with you?" The reason why you have any of that is because you have a mom and dad.

But at some point, you would think that you would mature beyond the gift, and the real gift that you have is you have a mother and father who loves you. That's the real gift, not the things that you got. The whole point of everything that Jesus was doing was to bring us to Him, to bring us to Him.

And that's why He says, "If you're going to rejoice over anything, rejoice that your name is written in the Book of Life, that I know you." You know what's the irony of all of this? We don't know a single name of these 70 disciples. I'll bet you there were celebrities in the early church because, aside from the 12, these are the 70 ones who went and saw that experience.

They cast out demons, they healed the sick. They were the first ones that experienced that. I'll bet you that when the Pentecost came, that these 70 people were among the 120. And I'll bet you, we don't know a single name, but I'll bet you the early church knew all 70 of them, who they were.

That they were the ones who received the Holy Spirit. They were the first disciples that went out, and as they were running for their life, planted the church in Antioch. They planted the church in Galatia. These were the guys. Remember, everywhere Paul went, before Paul even went there, he went to a synagogue, there were Christians there already.

Well, who took it? These guys. These guys were first trained, and I'll bet you they all knew his name, but today, not a single one. Not a single one. If our joy is based upon circumstance and reputation of other people, it is temporary. All of it was meant to bring us to the real gift, which is Christ.

How many of you know your grandparents' names? I know somebody's going to come up, "I know." Yeah, I know, there's a few of you. How many of you know your great-grandparents' names? How many of you know when they passed away, what their job was? From my experience, because I've asked, many of you don't even know your parents' middle name.

I ask you how old your parents are, somebody between 50 and 60, I'm not sure, right? You don't even know their age, so I'm not even going to ask about the grandparents, like great-grandparents. Even within our own family, they're not going to remember us after a few generations, at most.

So when Jesus says, if you're going to rejoice over these gifts, these temporary things, sooner or later, you're going to become depressed. It's going to come. If your joy comes and goes, why is this so important? Why is it that 1 John 3, 1, it says, "See how great a love, behold our greater love, the Father's bestowed on us," that we would be called the children of God.

That truth, "Behold the mystery of the gospel," is not just for the beginning. It's not just when we're justified. Every part of our life, that's the fuel that drives us. Why is this so important? Because it affects our worship. If our worship is dependent upon bearing fruit or something good or somebody remembered me or I got a good job, then the next time that doesn't happen, you're not going to be able to worship God.

When you got sick or just like what everybody else is looking for, your worship is circumstantial. But he says to rejoice always, to give thanks in all circumstances. Why focusing and rejoicing over our salvation, that are names written in the book of life, it affects the way we worship.

Worship is something that happens because we're filled with gratitude for what we already have. That's the catalyst. That's the foundation upon how or why we worship God. It affects our witness. He didn't just train us with a set of facts to regurgitate that and do a good job presenting it to the people who don't know.

No, we are witnesses of the new life in me. He wanted us to share our testimony of what God has done. And that's why the scripture says in Romans that the gospel comes from faith to faith. He uses us and so he wants a vessel as a testimony of the new life in Christ.

So if we're out there just to be successful, you know, we're going to do our job. We're going to do a great job. We're going to be so determined. We're going to be more determined than anybody else. You're not representing the life of Christ. Rejoice. It affects the way we fellowship.

Fellowship isn't something because we found people who are similar age or because we speak the same language or same economic status. That's not where true fellowship happens. Our unity is because we have the same Father. That we rejoice over the same God. What makes you happy makes me happy.

What you worship, I worship. So if our joy comes from circumstantial things that is meant to be temporary, ultimately given to us to bring us to God, then our fellowship gets affected, our spiritual growth. Why do you want to continue to grow? You already have salvation. Spiritual growth happens because we tasted the goodness of God and we want more of it.

We have the glory of God, but we want more of it. We understand the love of God, but we understand we want more of it. That's what causes sanctification. That's the motivation. Not simply because we need to do good things for God. Ultimately, it is an attitude of gratitude.

Somebody who understands that the greatest gift that I could possibly imagine and dream of I already have in Christ. It affects worship. It affects our witness. It affects our fellowship. It affects our spiritual growth. And ultimately, it affects our perseverance. Persevere because I already have everything that I need.

I'm going toward the natural end product of what God has given me. So along the way, if I have fruit, great. If I can make disciples, if I can do this and that, great. If I can memorize scripture and I can exposit the scripture well, great. But if the focus becomes the gift and not the giver, you have missed the whole point of all the gifts.

Let me conclude with this as we open up the communion table. In Ephesians 3, 14 and 19, Paul spends three chapters going deep into the gospel about redemption, about adoption, about predestination, about election, and he exposit it. So if you want to know about salvation in detail, Ephesians 1-3 is where you ought to go.

There's many other passages, but that's one of the passages I would recommend you. But this is how he concludes. Before he says, "Therefore, that you ought to do this and this," before he does that, he concludes everything he says, and he says this. "For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, "from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, "that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, "to be strengthened with power through the Spirit in the inner man." In other words, to be sanctified.

"That everything that I have taught you "would strengthen you with power, "so that everything that I've given you, "everything that you've experienced, "there's a purpose for that. "So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, "and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, "may be able to comprehend with all the saints, "with all the breath and length and height and depth, "to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, "that you may be filled up to the fullness of God." The whole purpose of your salvation is to bring you to Christ.

The whole purpose of your sanctification is so that you may understand the depth and the height and the width and the length of the love of Christ, together with other saints, so that we may have all of Christ and more of Christ. That's how he concludes the Gospel. And once you have that, "Therefore, now live up to the calling that you've given." We're not trying to live to that.

He said, "Live up to that, "the gift that you have already been given." Only those who have learned to rejoice over what they already have can truly be sanctified in Christ. I'm gonna ask the praise team to come up as we prepare for worship. And typically, we sing a communion song, but I wanna introduce-- it's not introduce 'cause it's from the 1980s.

I forgot where this is from. You know, usually they ask me, like, Tuesday or Wednesday, say, "Hey, based on sermon, do you have a song "that you wanna sing that's gonna kind of correlate "with what you're preaching?" And every once in a while, I'll have a song. Majority of the time, I don't, you know, because I only know about six songs by memory.

But this one was perfect. So I wanna introduce this song to you. We're gonna sing this, and then we're gonna-- we're gonna open up the communion table. And I wanna tell you ahead of time, you know, we come here to celebrate, not by your effort, right? It's not because you've been good this week.

We come here because we need Christ to remember what he has done for us. And so we wanna come in a worthy manner, but at the same time, the foundation upon this communion table is to remind us that your names are written in the book of life to rejoice and to celebrate.

So I ask, if you have not been baptized and there was no union with Christ because you've never repented of your sins, we ask that you would stay in your seat. And for the rest of you, when you are ready, when we open up the communion table, to come one by one.

And this is the song that we're gonna sing. "I have a maker. He formed my heart. "Before even time began, my life was in his hands. "He knows my name. He knows my every thought. "He sees each tear that falls. "And he hears me when I call. "I have a father.

He calls me his own. "He'll never leave me, no matter where I go. "He knows my name. He knows my name." Let's all sing this together. # I have a maker # He formed my heart # Before even time began # My life was in his hands # I have a maker # He formed my heart # Before even time began # My life was in his hands # He knows my name # He knows my every thought # He sees each tear that falls # And he hears me when I call # I have a maker # I have a father # He calls me his own # He'll never leave me, no matter where I go # He knows my name # He knows my every thought # He sees each tear that falls # And he hears me when I call # He knows my name # He knows my every thought # He sees each tear that falls # And he hears me when I call # And he hears me when I call # He hears me when I call.

# Corinthians 11, 23, it says, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, "that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he portrayed took bread. "When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "'This is my body, which is for you. "'Do this in remembrance of me.' "In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, "'This cup is a new covenant in my blood.

"'Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. "'For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, "'you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.'" Father, as we participate, Lord God, in this Lord's Supper, as you commanded your disciples to do this in remembrance of you, help us, Lord God, to think deeply of what you have given, that our rejoicing may be renewed, that our love and our worship may be truly in response to the great mercy that you've given us.

May Christ's name be glorified. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So we invite you one by one when you are ready to come, and if you're coming down the middle, make sure that you make two lines and then you exit to the sides when you come. So we invite you when you are ready to come.

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