(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) (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) - All right, good morning, church family.

Happy Lord's Day. We have a good week, Lord. We're gonna go ahead and start our service with worship. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ I'm forgiven 'cause you were forsaken ♪ ♪ I'm accepted, you were condemned ♪ ♪ I'm alive and well, your spirit is within me ♪ ♪ Because you died and rose again ♪ Sing that again, I'm forgiven.

♪ I'm forgiven 'cause you were forsaken ♪ ♪ I'm accepted, you were condemned ♪ ♪ I'm alive and well, your spirit is within me ♪ ♪ Because you died and rose again ♪ ♪ Because you died ♪ ♪ Because you died and rose again ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ That you, my king, would die for me ♪ ♪ Amazing love, I know it's true ♪ ♪ It's my joy to honor you ♪ ♪ In all I do, I honor you ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ You are my king ♪ ♪ You are my king ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are my king ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are my king ♪ ♪ You are my king ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ That you, my king, would die for me ♪ ♪ Amazing love, I know it's true ♪ ♪ Amazing love, amazing love ♪ ♪ How can it be ♪ ♪ That you, my king, would die for me ♪ ♪ Dying for me ♪ ♪ Amazing love, I know it's true ♪ ♪ It's my joy to honor you ♪ ♪ In all I do, I honor you ♪ ♪ In all I do, I honor you ♪ - All right, good morning, and welcome to Berean Community Church.

Let me get to a few announcements before we get started. Next Sunday at 12.30, we have a newcomer's lunch. This is for those people who are coming to the church or want to find out more about what we believe and how we practice church, and just even meet with some of the leaders and welcome team members.

And we'll have a brief presentation about the church, and then there'll be a time to ask questions, if you have any questions about the church. So that's happening next Sunday at 12.30 p.m. So you can just visit the welcome table and let them know you're coming, or just one of the welcome members, and just let them know you're coming so they can prepare food for that next Sunday.

Reformation Night on October 31st. If you are planning to bring your child or children to that, please sign up for that so that they can better prepare for food. There will be food prepared for the children that are coming, and so I think it is open to the parents too.

I'm not exactly sure, but at least the children will be fed, okay? So please sign up for that so they can better prepare, and also for Thanksgiving, regional dinner that's happening in November. If you haven't signed up for it, please sign up for it as soon as possible so we can direct you to the right place, okay?

One other announcement. Because our room is getting filled, right, and last Sunday we had-- I think the room capacity is about 550, and we had about 520 in the room, and so we're trying to push more people to the first service. So if you were kind of on the fence on I can go to the first service or second service, and you're trying to choose, if you can, volunteer to go to first service.

We're trying to help us with the room capacity here, and soon--we don't have an exact date, but those of you who are parents who have young children in SEEDS and also in the elementary department, that we are planning to open up the elementary department also for the first service, just maybe for the first half of the elementary department.

If there is a need, it might be more than that, but at least for the first three grades of the elementary department. So if you have children in the SEEDS department and you have an older sibling who's in the elementary department, you can choose to go to the first service, and that'll help us with some of the space here.

And we're hoping to hold off on third service as long as possible, and so eventually it might be inevitable, but at least for now, we're trying to even out the services to first service. So if you're able to do that, we encourage you to do that to go to the first service.

Okay? All right, so after the offering, our brother Brandon is going to come up, and he's going to give his testimony and be baptized this morning. So let me pray for us, and again, if you're going to pay, give offering electronically, you can go through Zelle, and if you brought a physical offering, there's a box in the back on the way out.

All right? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your constant grace and love that you pour upon us, the things that we know, the things that we are not aware of. I pray that every Sunday when we gather together, that you would renew our hearts, our focus, our lives, Lord God, that we may truly be able to live according to the gospel that you've given us.

Lift up our eyes, Lord, that we may know where our true help comes from, that we may live for the things that are eternal, not for the temporal. We pray that you would bless this giving, may it be given joyfully, may it be multiplied, Father God, for the sake of your kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Church family, as we've been doing, let us rise from our seats and just say hello and greet those around you.

(soft piano music) (crowd chattering) (soft piano music) (crowd chattering) (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) ♪ Why this fear and unbelief ♪ ♪ Is not the Father put to grieve ♪ ♪ As by the Son of God ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Will the righteous judge your path ♪ ♪ And turn before that debtor's sin ♪ ♪ And cancel that the flood ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ All my trust ♪ ♪ Is in your blood ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ You rescued us ♪ ♪ Through your great love ♪ (soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ And with atonement you have made ♪ ♪ By your death have fully paid ♪ ♪ The debt you paid for us ♪ ♪ No wrath remains ♪ ♪ No wrath remains for us to face ♪ ♪ Shelter by your saving grace ♪ ♪ And we will live your life ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ All my trust ♪ ♪ Is in your blood ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ You rescued us ♪ ♪ Through your great love ♪ ♪ And with atonement you have made ♪ ♪ By your death have fully paid ♪ ♪ The debt you paid for us ♪ ♪ No wrath remains ♪ ♪ No wrath remains for us to face ♪ ♪ Christ died for me ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ You still my soul and know this peace ♪ ♪ The merits of your great high grace ♪ ♪ Have bought your liberty ♪ Yes he has.

♪ Lining on his precious blood ♪ ♪ For the banishment of death ♪ ♪ Jesus sets you free ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ All my trust ♪ ♪ Is in your blood ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ You rescued us ♪ ♪ Through your great love ♪ ♪ Sing the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ Sing the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ Christ died for me ♪ ♪ Sing the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ Sing the sound of saving grace ♪ ♪ Christ died for me ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ All my trust ♪ ♪ Is in your blood ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ You rescued us ♪ ♪ Through your great love ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Now I love the voice of Jesus ♪ ♪ On the cross of Calvary ♪ ♪ He declares his work is finished ♪ ♪ He has spoken this hope to me ♪ ♪ Though the sun had ceased its shining ♪ ♪ Though the war appeared as loss ♪ ♪ Christ has triumphed over evil ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Now the curse it has been broken ♪ ♪ Jesus paid the price for me ♪ ♪ All the pardon he has offered ♪ ♪ Great the welcome that I receive ♪ ♪ Hold me up, approach my Father ♪ ♪ Hold in Jesus' righteousness ♪ ♪ There is no more guilt to carry ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Thankless was my great opponent ♪ ♪ Fear once had a hold on me ♪ ♪ But the Son who died to save us ♪ ♪ Rose that we would be free indeed ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Thankless was my great opponent ♪ ♪ Fear once had a hold on me ♪ ♪ But the Son who died to save us ♪ ♪ Rose that we would be free indeed ♪ ♪ Yes he rose that we would be free indeed ♪ ♪ Free from every plan of darkness ♪ ♪ Free to live and free to love ♪ ♪ Death is dead and Christ is risen ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ ♪ Onward to eternal glory ♪ ♪ To my Savior and my God ♪ ♪ I rejoice in Jesus' victory ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ ♪ It was finished upon that cross ♪ (soft piano music) - Amen, you may be seated.

(audience murmuring) - Hello, my name is Brandon Ng. I'm a second year at UCI, and this is my testimony. I did not grow up going to church. Regardless, I was first exposed to Christianity when I was enrolled at my eventual home church's summer camp in the summer entering fourth grade.

Although I was taught Bible stories, I didn't think too deeply about their significance. Rather, I entered the camp for the activities and because of the friends I had. However, during middle school, I found myself struggling with loneliness and not feeling cared for by those around me. The tipping point came when my best friend at the time moved away, and although I had friends, the relationships I had with them were superficial.

My brokenness steadily worsened, and all I saw was how my classmates seemed to have everything I wanted but lacked in friendship and community. Eventually, I became desensitized to my pain, and consequentially, didn't share my struggles with anyone, including my family or my church friends, because I felt I wasn't enough for them.

But fortunately, a turning point came in the summer going to eighth grade, the same summer camp I had been attending for four years now. That year, as a middle schooler, we went on a retreat, and on the last night, time was designated for anyone to share any burdens they had before God.

After hearing a counselor say, "God wouldn't shun us, "but instead help us," I confessed my brokenness. But when I shared everything I had learned about God sounding click for me, I saw the relevance in knowing there was a God who loved me so much and would lift me up from my darkness.

I saw the significance in knowing there was a God who sent his innocent son to die for our sins. Seeking to learn more about God, I began attending fellowship gatherings and Sunday service. But coincidentally, experiencing God's faithfulness inspired me to also serve him. I became a summer camp counselor myself with the hopes of sharing about God with the kids I worked with.

But beneath the surface, my home and my church life contrasted each other. At church, I would pray and study his word. But at home, I didn't do any of that. I also wrestled with whether I actually believed in a God. Although I served him, I only knew of him versus actually knowing him personally and abiding in him.

Yet soon enough, college came, and I shortly found myself here at Berean. But as the weeks passed, I struggled with feelings of not belonging and loneliness. Frustrated, I grew bitter at those around me. Winter quarter rolled around, and despite me still feeling bitter, I continued attending church. However, I eventually opened up about my brokenness to some fellow students.

Through conversations, I was supported but also rebuked. My own sins were pointed out, and I realized how cold my heart had become towards those around me. I had been victimizing myself all along. Realizing how long I had been to accuse others of not caring for me, when I hadn't been caring for them, I sought the Lord's help in repenting not just for my transgressions against my fellow believers but ultimately against him.

But equally as important, I recognized my depravity. I saw how God had and was keeping me from falling deeper into my own sin and guiding me towards his light instead. Recognizing this, I desired to put my faith in him. Experiencing his love, grace, and kindness inspires me not to walk in darkness but in his light.

1 John 1, 6-7 says, "It will be said we have fellowship with him, and yet walk in darkness. We lie and do not practice the truth, but it will be walked in the light, as he himself is in the light. We have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin." Yet, I'm also reminded of how solely powerful his grace is, despite my continuous battles against my own sin.

2 Corinthians 12, verse 9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. And yet most gladly, therefore, I will brighter boast my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." Praise the Lord and Savior for how loving, faithful, and gracious he has been to me.

Because of him, I recognize him as the Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you. Friend, do you understand when you go into the water, you're being united with Christ's death, and then when you're coming out, you're united to Christ's resurrected life? I do. And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

All right, thank you, Brandon, for that encouraging testimony. If you can turn your Bible with me to Luke, chapter 6, and we'll be looking at from verse 27 to 38. Okay? Luke, chapter 6, verse 27 through 38. Reading out of the NASV. "For I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also, and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?

Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies and do good, and lend expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged, and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

For by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the challenge and the inspiration of your word. We pray, Father God, that you give us understanding and eagerness to apply all that we hear. May your name be honored.

May Christ be exalted. May love that you poured upon us would overflow back to you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So as we've been talking about loving your enemies, right? And it sounds great when we talk about how Christ loved us, and we're in a Bible study, and how great his love is unconditional, and every time we have a wedding, you know, sermon about love and unconditional love that we need to practice, covenant love that we need to practice with one another.

And when that is a--just a picture or an idea that we have to practice, it's beautiful. But if you are sitting here, and we're talking about loving your enemy, and you have somebody specific in mind, right? Maybe somebody has wronged you. Maybe it was a group of people. Maybe it was a previous church that you came from.

Maybe it might be your own husband or wife, or even your own children, family member. If you have somebody specifically in mind, and you're thinking, "You don't know what I've gone through. You don't know what they did to me." And let alone wanting to take out vengeance against them, but to love them, to lend to them, to give and be good to them, to bless them, pray for them.

Does God really expect us to practice that? Maybe he's talking about, you know, other people. Maybe he's just talking about the love of Christ, but to have us actually practice that. And as we've been talking about, there's nothing more sanctifying, nothing more that kills our pride. There's nothing that kills our old self more than even an attempt or even a thought of practicing this.

This is one of those things that you just cannot do in your flesh. You can pray in your flesh. You can study the Bible in your flesh. You can serve in the flesh. You can even be generous in your flesh, but to love the way Christ loved us is not something you can do in the flesh.

You can tell right away if you're walking in the flesh and walking in the spirit when you try to even attempt to practice this. This morning, we're going to be looking at the text that we're at, and Jesus gives the reasons behind why this must be practiced. That this is not just an example.

This is not just something for us to be celebrated, but to actually be practiced. He expects us to practice this, and he gives us four reasons, and I'm going to give the fifth reason as a wrap-up of why this needs to be practiced. So the first thing that he tells us why this needs to be practiced is that there will be times when you are in need of that same grace.

There will be times in your life where you desire and you need someone to be gracious with you. He says, Luke 6:31, "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you." We have a tendency to practice grace or want people to practice grace with us, but if somebody's wronged us, we demand justice.

I mean, turn the other cheek. Are you serious? Do you have any idea what they've done to me? The things that they said, and they want me harm, and you want me to do good to them? When it comes to ourselves, we desire-- in fact, only in the church, and I mentioned this before-- only in the church where people demand grace.

You walk into a church, and they're not gracious to me. The idea of grace is getting what you do not deserve. So when we demand grace, what we are saying is, "I can't believe these people are not giving me what I don't deserve. What kind of a church is this?

I can't believe that person wouldn't give me what I did not earn. What kind of a church is this?" Only in the church do we have a culture where people expect grace from people. The idea of grace is you don't deserve it. In fact, I've actually even heard people say this, as ridiculous as this is, "I can't stand people who don't practice grace." As foolish as that sounds, I've heard that from many people.

The fact that you demand grace, and then that you refuse to be gracious to somebody who doesn't practice grace is a contradiction. It says there's going to be times when you may be in a position where you are in need of grace. Oftentimes, the people that we think are enemies are not enemies.

And the way conflicts happen is you did something, and somebody perceived what you have done in a certain way, and then as a result of that, they react to you, and then they react to you, and you perceive the way that they're reacting, and then you react back to them.

Next thing you know, you're in a fight. Next thing you know. And this happens between husband and wives all the time. You're fighting each other, and you don't even know what you're fighting about. You're fighting about the way you're fighting. "I can't believe you said that. You never do this, and you always do that." And they say, "What were we fighting about?

I don't know, but I can't believe they said it the way that they said it." Oftentimes, it's the way we perceive it. It's like, "Well, you know, that person did this, but I almost guarantee," you know, they say, "Well, they've done this to me. I guarantee if you ask the person on the other side, they're going to say the same thing about you." You don't know what they did.

You don't know what they've said. So when we do not practice grace, it has a tendency to overflow into a bigger issue. In Matthew 7, 12, "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want to be treated. For this is the law and the prophets." This is the law and the prophets.

Everything that God has taught us, to love God, love your neighbor as yourself, He said it would be summarized by this, right? To love all the prophets, everything that God had commanded. Everything that God had commanded can be summarized, right? Treat people the way you want to be treated.

If you want grace, practice grace. If you want people to be merciful to you, practice mercy. In Galatians 5, 13-14, it says, "For you are called to freedom, brethren. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." You know, I don't know if you may have been in circles where you're talking about Christian liberty, right?

And say, "Well, because we have Christian liberty, the gray areas doesn't matter. I'm going to do whatever I want because I'm not legalistic. So I can do whatever I want." So if you have a problem with that, you're the younger brother. You're the weaker brother. The more mature brother, it doesn't bother him.

I can do all this, it doesn't bother me. I mean, you're talking about a perversion of the doctrine of freedom in the Bible. He says, "Do not use your freedom to indulge yourself." The freedom wasn't given for you. He said the freedom was given for what? But through love serve one another.

That we're no longer bound. And as a result of that, we can love other people much more graciously. We can be more merciful. We can be more gentle. He said our freedom was given to us so that we can practice what? Just love. In verse 14, "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word in the statement, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" We live in a culture where we are told you got to love yourself first.

Love yourself. Believe in yourself. Love yourself or else you're not going to be able to love other people. You notice in the Bible, it's assumed that you love yourself. You don't have to try hard, "I got to love myself. I got to pay attention to myself." You already do that.

It's innately in you. As soon as you're born, you're born with selfishness. You don't care that your mom just labored for 25 hours and you don't come out thinking like, "You know what? Maybe I can eat later because my parents need some rest." You don't come out unselfish thinking about your parents.

At the moment, it doesn't matter. You came out, "I'm hungry." Your mama had a C-section, drugged up, and was in the hospital bed for three days. "I'm hungry." That's how you come into the world. And that's how you exist in the world. Me, even the way we practice love for one another, it's me.

How are you going to reciprocate what I give to you? But he says to love as you would love yourself. I remember as a young Christian in my late teens, I really wrestled with this. What does it mean to love as myself? I think the best and the closest way that I could think of is figure out what I genuinely love.

At that time, I was thinking about, "Do I love the way I love my mom? Do I love the way I love my dad? Do I love the way I love my brothers?" I was always trying to apply that. It's like, "Oh, am I practicing love? Would I do this if this was my brother?

Would I do this if this was my mom or dad?" That would immediately tell me if I'm actually practicing what Christ told me to do as yourself. As I got older, obviously, I experienced different things. I got married, and my relationship with Esther-- there are times, and those of you who have been married for a while, you know that there's--especially in the beginning, right?

Our communication skills, I would say from 1 to 10 was 1. When things were good, we don't need communication. We're having fun. We're doing ministry together. But when things are bad, the way Esther communicated, the way I communicated, we were in two opposite parts of the world because the way she communicates is to disappear.

The way I communicate, like with my brother, we hit each other and get on the floor. I can't do that with my wife, but that's the way I communicated. We get in a nasty fight, we punch each other, and the next day we're having breakfast together. That's kind of how I grew up.

And obviously, I can't practice with my wife, so I was overly aggressive when I got mad. Like, "I demand you to say something," and then the more I demanded, the more she would disappear. Just frustration after frustration. Like I said, when things were good, things were really good, but every time we got mad, it just popped back up.

And when it was worst was when I would disappear, would go to missions or go speak at some church, and I don't see her for about 3 or 4 days, and I walk through the door tired, hoping to get a warm embrace, and then I see my wife looking at me with a frown, and she just walks by, and I'm projecting, "What did I do?

I just did God's work. What did I do against God or something? What's going on?" And so that would trigger my anger, and then I would demand her to communicate, "How can you do this to me?" And the more she saw how angry I was, she would just disappear and go to sleep.

And the more that she would sleep, the more frustrated I would get. And I don't know how many times I sat by myself, just seething in anger. And it got to the point where, in my mind, I would never consider divorce because that would ruin my life. I would have to deny Christ before I even think about that.

But I could understand why people get to that point, when it's that miserable, and it's in your own home. And sometimes the person that you feel like is hurting you the most is your own wife or your own husband, even your own kids. And when pain comes from somebody that is that close to you, it is more painful than anything else outside.

And I remember sitting there thinking, "Man, how am I going to do ministry like this? We're not running together." And I remember sitting there thinking, "This is years and years after being married and having our kids." I sat there, again, memorizing Galatians 2, 20, "Be crucified. Be crucified. Take yourself out of the picture.

Don't talk about, like, 'This is not fair. It's unjust.' And, 'How can she do this to me? I'm doing God's work. I just came back from mission. How can she be treating me this way?'" So take yourself out of the picture. Die to yourself first. And then I said, "Well, how should I approach her?" And I start thinking, "What if she was my daughter?

How would I approach her if she was my daughter?" And obviously I was thinking, "If my daughter-- if Faith did something and I was angry, I wouldn't say, 'It's not fair. I did this to you, and you're going to do--it's not fair, Faith.'" I was like, "I can't say that to my daughter." Faith has never caused me trouble, so I've never had to do that before.

But I was just imagining in my head, if that was my wife, if that was my daughter, how would I approach her? So my immediate thought was, "Whatever you say and do, you have to do it for her, not for you." So I said, "I'm going to approach her like I would approach my daughter." And then I went, and then she would be seething, and then I sat down, and instead of saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what did I do?" That's typically how the argument would start, right?

I sat there and put my arms around her. She seemed upset, and I was showing grace, only externally, though. Internally, I was like, "What? How dare you?" I had all kinds of yelling in my head, but I was like, "Don't say anything. Don't say anything." And I just put my arms around her, and as soon as she felt safe, I showed her care.

I could tell. Usually, she would start looking this way, and I'm sitting here. Her body would slowly turn this way, and then eventually, if we're sitting in the car, she's just looking out the window. Or if it gets bad enough, she'll just slowly get up and put her shoes on and go outside.

That's usually how our arguments would end. But I just put my hand around her, and then she just slowly started turning this way, and I was like, "Oh, something strange is happening." And then next thing I know, she kind of leans over to me and puts her head on my shoulder, and I'm like, "I don't know what to do." Because I've never experienced this before.

All the years that I've been approaching her, this is not what I was expecting. And then once she put her head down, I'm like, "Okay, I have no idea what she's thinking, but I'm no longer angry because I don't see her angry anymore." And then when she was ready, when she felt safe, she would tell me, and then a lot of times, it had nothing to do with me.

The kids were acting up, or she got a phone call, or something happened, and she was expecting me to come and be an encouragement to her. But as soon as I saw that rigid face, I'm like, "What?" I was like, "Four days on the mission field, I came home for a warm embrace, and she's waiting for me to give her a warm embrace because she had such a hard time taking care of the kids while I wasn't home." And then I react to her, she reacts to me, and next thing we know, we're fighting.

And what we fight is just dead silence. And that small act of choosing to love her, despite what I was feeling, completely changed our marriage. I can tell you specifically, that changed my marriage. People talk about how we're equal partners in marriage. We're not equal partners. I am the leader in this home.

The Bible tells the wife to submit to the husband. We're not equal. But when most people hear that, they hear it from a sinful perspective. It means they're better, they're going to rule over you. No, we're not equal because God called me to be the presence of Christ in Esther's life.

That I have to die to myself. I am not an equal because God has given me a greater call to sacrifice, to put her needs before mine, to make decisions that will benefit her before me, to do things that will be better for her, for my children, than for myself.

And again, like I said, so much of human problem happens because we demand things from other people that we don't practice ourselves. So this is one of the most practical, life-changing things that we can practice. So not just to hear, not just to celebrate it, but to practice it.

Second, we've been called to greater righteousness in the world. What distinguishes us from the world is this love. Luke 6, 32-34, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." He says this three separate times. "If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?

For even sinners do the same." "If you lend to those whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount." The world practices love. The world practices all that we practice. The distinguishing mark of a Christian and a non-Christian is the kind of love that we practice.

Fallen, unregenerate, self-centered, selfish people practice love. You don't have to be touched by the love of Christ. You don't have to have the Holy Spirit to practice this kind of love. He said, "What credit is that to you when your love looks no different?" If you love those who are lovable, if you love those who will reciprocate, if you love those who are like you, then your love is no different.

What distinguishes us is the kind of love that we practice. In Matthew 5, 20, it says, "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." I'm sure you've heard that before, but I want you to meditate and think about what he's saying.

That your righteousness is to exceed the Pharisees and the scribes. Pharisees and the scribes prayed more than anybody else. They evangelized more than anybody else. They gave to the poor more than anybody else. They memorized Scripture more than anybody else. They obeyed the Sabbath law more than anybody else.

So if you listen to this superficially, it sounds like, "No, you have to pray more than them. You have to evangelize more than them. You have to give more than them. Whatever standard that they have set up, it's not enough, and you have to do more than that." But that's not what he's saying.

That's not what he's saying. Externally, they're doing all these things. In Matthew 7, verse 23, it says, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." In other words, if lordship is just lip service, it means nothing. "But he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name?'" How can somebody prophesying in His name not know the Lord? But that's what he said. "And in Your name cast out demons." They experienced the power of God to cast out demons, and yet he says, "I don't know you." "In Your name perform many miracles." He even performed miracles and done healing.

And he says, "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'" Lawlessness? The Pharisees kept the law. They memorized the law. They were law keepers more than anybody else, and yet he says, "You are practicing lawlessness." Prophesying, evangelizing, praying, giving, casting out demons, performing miracles, and you are a man of lawlessness.

What is he referring to? What is the righteousness that he is demanding? That these people who in every way on the surface is practicing better than us. Well, you know this passage, 1 Corinthians 13, 1-3, we quote this, we have it hanging on the wall, but I want you to really examine what it says.

"If I speak with tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." Now think how crazy that is. There is a denomination, the apostolic Pentecostals believe that tongues is a sign of your salvation. I mean, right there, it's a direct contradiction.

He said, "Even if I speak with tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." It means nothing. That is not the true evidence of your salvation. He said, "If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and know all knowledge." Even if you have a PhD, even if you know the intricate details of every systematic theology that we study, and you not just know a lot, but you know all, he says, even if you have all knowledge.

"And if I have all faith." Wow, this is crazy. Faith. Aren't we saved by faith? Aren't we saved by faith and faith alone? And he just says, "If I have all faith so that to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." Think about the shock of what he's saying here, right?

Think about the shock of what he's saying. Everything that you have. Coming to church, becoming a member, going to seminary, reading a lot of books, performing a lot of stuff, planting a bunch of churches, and he goes even further than that. "And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, if I surrender my body to be burned." He's talking about a martyr.

He's gone so far as to give his life for the purpose of God. And then he says, "But do not have love, it prompts me nothing." Do you understand how radical this is? The central, primary thing that God desires of us more than anything else is to practice his love.

He's not saying that none of these things are important. He's not saying all of this is trash. That's not what he's saying. He's saying, "If you have all of this and yet have no love, you missed the whole point." You missed the whole point. Wow. I mean, how can we possibly miss this, and yet we do.

We come to church and we have check-off marks and everything that we've done, and we feel completely satisfied that we are righteous, and yet he says, "You missed the whole point." Thirdly, it is our identity mark of following Christ. This is how the world distinguishes us from the rest of the world.

In Luke 6, 35-36, "Love your enemies, do good, lend, expecting nothing in return, and in your reward will be great. You will be sons of the Most High." He's not saying that you're going to have to earn your way to be sons of the Most High. He says this is your identifying mark.

You being gracious to those who are difficult to be gracious to. People who are actually trying to harm you. And you are good to them, you bless them, you pray for them. "For he himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men." If you've ever tried to be kind to ungrateful people, you know how difficult it is.

Every single parent knows what that feels like. Every single parent knows what that feels like. How many times have you been taking care of them all day, and at the end of the day, you're like, "Oh, I didn't get it. He got the bigger popsicle than I did." This is so unfair, after everything you've done.

You know how that feels. So imagine at that moment that you say, "Okay, I'm going to treat you the way you deserve." Your children will be dead. You have to practice grace and restraint and mercy, or you can't be a good parent. But they're not even evil. It's hard to be gracious when they're ungrateful, but he says, "To evil men." God was gracious to evil men.

"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." We are to reflect who God is. God created us to be image-bearers of Christ. In other words, he made us so that we are mirrors. Before the fall, God reflected his image on us. When people looked at mankind, they reflected God.

We were created to be image-bearers of God. That's why in Romans 3, it says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." God's glory that was supposed to shine off of us was no longer shining because of what? Sin has tainted that mirror. So God's glory is no longer shining off of us.

The purpose of the mirror is to give a reflection. A good mirror is not the design. Now you put pretty pictures of flowers on there, so that's an awesome mirror. But if you stand in front of it, your face is all blurred and warped. That's not a good mirror.

A good mirror is the one that reflects perfectly the person standing in front of it. That's the way God created us. So because our image has been tainted because of our sin, Christ comes and he washes us and cleanses us and makes us new. Now we have been restored to be image-bearers of God again.

What is the image of God that he calls us to reflect? More than anything else is this love, and love in particular of those who don't deserve it. Because that's what he reflected. He wanted us to have that nature in us. 1 Peter 2.21, "For you have been called for his purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps." You know in the early church first century, you know what they used to call us in the Bible?

The Way. That was how we were addressed. The Way. We're part of the Way because in the early church it's like Christ is the Way. He's the Way. And so they called each other The Way. Today we say Christian, but the term Christian was given to us in a derogatory way.

And basically what that means is Little Christ. So as the gospel began to spread and more and more people began to find out about what Christianity was about, they said, "Man, these guys are obsessed with Christ. They're going to worship Christ. They're going to eat his blood, eat his flesh, drink his blood of communion.

He's the creator. He's the sustainer. All things are made by him and for him. That we are to fix our eyes upon Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. I mean, these guys, he's the chief cornerstone, rejected. Everything they talk about are justified by faith. We walk in Christ and then we hope in Christ.

So they said, "Man, these guys are Little Christ." So to this day we use that term, Little Christ. And that's exactly what God calls us to be. Little Christ. To be a reflection of Christ in all that we do. You know, when we think about spiritual maturity, we think about Bible study, theology, you know, like know-how, training.

No, a spiritual mature person is the person who reflects the Christ we see in the Bible. That's a spiritual mature person. And so you can have all that stuff and you do not have love, you're not reflecting Christ. You can have all the knowledge of the Bible and yet you don't practice the love of Christ, you're not reflecting Christ.

Long time ago, back in the 70s, there was a book called "In His Steps." Some of you guys may know that book. So when I went to Biola, that was a mandated book that we all had to read. And basically it was a Christian fiction. And the whole premise was about asking the question, "What would Jesus do?" And that's where we get the bracelet WWJD.

What would Jesus do? Right? And so I remember reading that book and it was like for our generation, it made a huge impact because we were called to ask the question in every circumstance, "What would Jesus do?" What would Jesus do? In this particular situation, what would Jesus do?

We talk about all the times, "What is God's will?" "What is God's will? What is my gift?" That's not the right question. The question is, "What would Jesus do?" When you enter a fork in the road, what road would He take? When somebody slanders you, what would Jesus do?

And that's the question that we are to ask. If we want to know the will of God, that's the central question that we need to ask. Because we are His ambassadors. We are the image bearers of Christ. Fourthly, we will be treated the way we treat others. In Luke 6, 37-38, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged.

Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, for by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return." Thank God that God doesn't treat us according to our sins.

But don't expect that from other people. Don't demand grace from other people. Don't come to God and ask for forgiveness if you're not going to forgive. Luke 6, 12, "Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors." Don't ask God to be generous if you're not planning to be generous.

Don't ask God to be merciful to you if you're not going to practice mercy. Just as you have done to others, it will be done to you. And that's the problem. The problem that you and I are in, which leads us to our fifth and final point, is that this is the state of mankind.

Jesus broke into this cycle of sin because every single one of us, we were born into this fallen, sinful world. We are born into sin, and we continue to practice this sin. So what ends up happening is, if I asked you, "In what way have you been sinned against?" Some of you guys may go all the way back to your childhood and say, "My uncle did this, my brother did this, my parents did this, and I come from this broken family, and so as a result of that, this is the way I am." And just as you have been sinned against, you've also sinned against somebody else.

And somebody will point to you and say, "Because he treated me this way, because she treated me this way, this is the way that I am." And so the cycle of sin goes over and over and over again. Those who have been sinned against will sin against other people also.

Those who have been hurt have a tendency to hurt other people also. So modern psychology basically identifies that, and all they do is, "You are the way that you are because your mom did something. You do what you do, and you're an alcoholic because your dad was an alcoholic.

You're abusive because somebody else was abusive." And to be honest, that is the cycle of sin that every human being is born into, until Christ comes into this picture. Everybody who has been sinned against will sin against somebody else in this cycle. And the Bible says that we are under the rain of death, not just death, but rain of death.

When something rains, you can't get out of that. But the only sinless person that has ever walked this earth chose not to retaliate, but to absorb our sins. And by absorbing our sins, and in His resurrection, He pushed back to give us a new life. That's why when somebody gets baptized, it symbolizes their death, but it doesn't only symbolize his death, it also symbolizes his resurrection in a new life.

So, as Christians, we no longer say, "I am the way I am because of what my dad, my mom, my uncle, my brother, these friends, because of what they did to me." That's the world. I do what I do because Christ loved me. Because Christ loved me. The love of Christ compels me.

Not my past. Not somebody who sinned against me. Not because I sinned against somebody else. But that the love of Christ came in to this fallen world that is spiraling out of control. And the only hope that we have is Christ absorbing our sins upon Himself. And instead of treating us the way we deserve, He treated us, His enemies, with love and kindness.

Now, as adopted children of God, we are to practice this love and reverse this curse. Instead of paying sin for sin, we pay sin with grace. In 1 Peter 2, 23-24, "And while being reviled, He did not revile in return. While suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For by His wounds, you are healed." You're healed. Stop going back and scratching your wounds. You're healed. Stop blaming your past or somebody else who sinned against you.

You are healed by the blood of Christ. Not just the penalty of sin, but the power of sin that is reigning over all mankind. He says, "You are delivered. If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed." Blaming your past is the past. Now we do what we do because the love of Christ compels us.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin and on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God. The only person, only person who lived a just life received the greatest injustice. That you and I would become the righteousness of God. When sinners complain before God, it's kind of like somebody who's driving on the freeway 150 miles per hour and he didn't get caught.

And all of a sudden he's getting off the freeway and instead of making a complete stop, he kind of had a rolling stop, made a right turn, and then you get a ticket. $550 ticket. I know exactly how much that costs. And you complain to the cop, it's like, "What?

Because I didn't make a complete stop, you're going to give me a rolling stop?" It's the same ticket as passing the red light if you don't make a complete stop. Somebody told me this. He's like, "Dad, because I didn't make a complete stop, you're going to give me a $550 ticket?" No sinner can ask for justice just because you got away with going 150 miles per hour because you're guilty.

God who knows all things can take out the camera and say, "Are you seriously arguing with me?" When a sinner demands justice and you get justice, you don't want it. You don't want it. Because we have a tendency to point out certain things that we say, "Oh, that's not fair, that's not fair." Okay, you want fair?

You really want me to be fair? Not really. But the only person who could have pled for his guiltlessness was Christ. The only person who never sinned, the only person who never retaliated, the only person who was just. When sinned against, he absorbed it. In order to reverse the curse of mankind.

And now, as children of people whose curse has been reversed, he says to us, "Now do likewise." This is why he tells us to practice this. This is how the curse of mankind was reversed. And this is how the curse in our family is going to be reversed. This is how the curse of relationships is going to be reversed.

By practicing the love that he practiced with us. I want to show you a video. I want to end with this video. And I want to set it up as they prep for this. This was a young man, 18-year-old, named Brant Jean. I showed this several years ago. I thought it was appropriate for us to listen to this.

Because this is the younger brother of a man who was shot in his own home. Because an off-duty cop thought that she was going into her own apartment. And by accident, she saw a young black man sitting in her living room. And she took out a gun and just started shooting.

And so this young man was killed in his own living room, watching TV. So they had a trial and found that it was negligence of this off-duty cop, maybe even prejudice. And they sentenced her to 10 years in prison. And at the end of the sentencing, they give a family member an opportunity to basically vent toward the guilty.

Typically in that scene, you will see a father, mother, brother, sister, cousin, uncle will come and say, "I hope you rot in hell. I hope what you did to my brother, that they did to you in prison." You would normally hear that. And you see courtroom scenes breaking out into fistfights because the ones who have been wronged desire justice and vengeance.

That's the setup behind this video. I want you to listen to this. It's an 18-year-old young man. I speak for myself. I forgive you. And I know if you go to God and ask him, he will forgive you. And I don't think anyone can say it. Again, I'm speaking for myself, not even bad for my family.

But I love you just like anyone else. I'm not going to say I hope you rot and die just like my brother did, but I personally want the best for you. And I wasn't going to ever say this in front of my family or anyone, but I don't even want you to go to jail.

I want the best for you. Because I know that's exactly what both of them would want you to do. And the best would be give your life to Christ. I'm not going to say anything else. I think giving your life to Christ would be the best thing that both of them would want you to do.

Again, I love you as a person. And I don't wish anything bad on you. I don't know if this is possible, but can I give her a hug, please? Please? Yes. Thank you. (Crying) (Crying) (Crying) (Crying) (Crying) Who else but somebody who has been touched by the love of Christ would even consider to do that?

I'd love to be able to do that. The love of Christ who overwhelmed all sins that he committed, all sins that he's received. This is how Jesus reversed the curse in us. And he's calling us to do the same. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for loving us. We thank you, Lord God, for forgiving our sins.

Lord, thank you for reminding us of what it is that you've done for us. That we would continue to fix our eyes upon what Christ has done. That all that we do be an overflow of what Christ has done for us. May Christ receive the glory that he deserves.

May the Holy Spirit, Lord God, be welcomed and obeyed. May your love overflow in us. That we would be compelled by that same love that you've given to us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Amen. I once was lost in darkest night, yet thought I knew the way.

The sin that promised joy and light had led me to the grave. I had no hope that you would all arrive to your will. And if you had not loved me first, I would refuse you still. But as I ran my help out of this indifferent to the cost, you looked upon my helpless state and led me to the cross.

And I beheld God's love despite you suffered in my place. You bore the wrath reserved for me. Now all I know is grace. Hallelujah, all I have is Christ. Hallelujah, Jesus is my love. Hallelujah, all I have is Christ. Hallelujah, Jesus is my love. Now Lord I would bid yours alone and live so all might see that the strength to follow your command could never come from me.

Oh Father use my ransom life in any way you would choose and let my song forever be my only dose in this you. Hallelujah, all I have is Christ. Hallelujah, Jesus is my love. Hallelujah, all I have is Christ. Hallelujah, Jesus is my love. Let's pray. Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and eternal deep deep love of God will consume us, compel us, control us, motivate us, revive us and send us that we may be the aroma of Christ wherever you send us this week.

Amen. God sent his Son. They called him Jesus. He came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lived because he lived. I can face tomorrow because he lived. All fear is gone because I know he holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lived.