(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. I'd like to begin our service by just reading a short passage from Romans 12, verses one and two.

"Therefore, I urge you, brethren, "by the mercies of God, "to present your bodies "a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, "which is your spiritual service of worship. "Do not be conformed to the spoiled, "but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, "so that you may prove what the will of God is, "that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (soft piano music) ♪ All will be done, my God and Father ♪ ♪ As in heaven, so on earth ♪ ♪ My heart is drawn to self-exalting ♪ ♪ Help me seek your kingdom first ♪ ♪ As Jesus walked, so I shall walk ♪ ♪ And by your same unchanging love ♪ ♪ Be still, my soul, only to my sin pray ♪ ♪ Father, not mine, but yours be ♪ ♪ Knowing that God will be persistent ♪ ♪ I may never fall in love ♪ ♪ Never fall in love, you sure already have ♪ ♪ It was up high in the mountain ♪ ♪ What wondrous way to bear my cross ♪ ♪ To bear my sin, what wondrous love ♪ ♪ When I was shorn, you bear my sin and praise ♪ ♪ Father, not mine, but yours be ♪ ♪ When I am lost and I am broken ♪ ♪ In the night of fear and doubt ♪ ♪ Still I will trust you, my good Father ♪ ♪ It's to what you're here about ♪ ♪ As Jesus walked, so I shall rise ♪ ♪ And bless the throne, you have the throne ♪ ♪ My heart is torn with all your mistakes ♪ ♪ I speak, Father, not mine, but yours be ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ As we go forth, God and Father ♪ ♪ Lead us daily in the fight ♪ ♪ That all the world might see your glory ♪ ♪ And your name be lifted high ♪ ♪ And in this name we overcome ♪ ♪ For you shall see us in the end ♪ ♪ Now as you're judged in darkness and pain ♪ ♪ Father, not mine, but yours be ♪ ♪ In this name we overcome ♪ ♪ For you shall see us in the end ♪ ♪ Now as you're judged in darkness and pain ♪ ♪ Father, not mine, but yours be ♪ ♪ Father, not mine, but yours be ♪ ♪ Father, not mine, but yours be ♪ - All right, good morning.

I'm still not used to the transition yet. You know, I go outside and drink a little coffee and it's already time to come back in. Let me get to a few announcements before we get started. First of all, our Jubilee ministry, if you're 50 and older, there's a lunch fellowship that's going on on February 2nd at 1 p.m., so that's, again, in a couple Sundays at 1 p.m.

after the third service, there's gonna be a lunch fellowship to kick off the year. And along with that, the Jubilee ministry and the FIG ministry, which is the larger part of the family ministry, they are taking sign-ups for the Bible reading for the year. They're reading through the New Testament, just one chapter a day, and the purpose of this, again, obviously, is to keep each other accountable and have fellowship around a specific purpose of reading the Bible.

So when the fellowship does happen, whether it's in your groups or with the Jubilee group, that the conversations would not just be about, you know, just regular life, but about the things that they're reading. And so they're using that to encourage fellowship, like meaningful, purposeful fellowship. So if you wanna participate in that, please go ahead and sign up for that, for, again, for the Jubilee and for the rest of the family ministry as well.

And I think Intentional Sisters Fellowship, again, February to June, if you wanna participate in that, there's one going on Friday morning, Thursday morning, and then one at Monday night. There are various times so that you can pick which one is more convenient for you. Otherwise, let me give you a brief announcement again.

We are transitioning from our Zelle to Subsplash. I know some of you guys are still paying checks and physical offering, that will still always be available, but we are having some issues with the bank about Zelle. And so we're gonna give some time. So if you've already signed up for Subsplash, we ask you to try to use the Subsplash for the online giving, but we ask you to do that as soon as you can, because you do need to register and sign up for that, in order for you to use that avenue to give.

But it'll help us tremendously if most of our church is using the Subsplash, because it's easier to keep track. We're having less and less problems with the bank. And so we know it's gonna take a little bit of time to get you guys on Subsplash. Our first service, I heard that we had some issues with Subsplash.

So if you're not signed up for it, the Zelle's gonna be open for a while until the majority of the church transition. But at some point, we may have to shut down Zelle. So we ask you to do that as soon as you can. So those of you who are members, we already shared this at the members meeting.

Those of you who were not at the members meeting, this is where we're headed in the next few months. So please sign up for that. You go to the church app, and if you look way on the bottom on the right side, it says giving. And then if you click on that, it'll give you what you need to do to do that.

And then also on the church website, there's an avenue where you can go, and they'll be able to give you instructions and how to sign up for that, okay? So let me pray for us. And again, if you have a physical offering, there's a box in the back, offering box in the back.

All right, let's pray. Father, we pray for your grace to continue to lead and guide us, that even in our worship, Lord God, that we are dependent on you to stir in our hearts, Lord, a clear vision of Christ, that we may learn to worship you, honor you, obey you, Father God, and follow you.

May the offering that we give, that we give purposefully, help us, Lord God, as leaders to manage it with wisdom, according to the principles of your word, and may it be multiplied 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) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) Let us all rise.

And before we continue our service, if we could spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us. (congregation chattering) (congregation chattering) (coughing) (congregation chattering) (congregation chattering) (upbeat music) Sing, "Our God is great." ♪ Our God is great ♪ ♪ The Father of the nation ♪ ♪ His blood defiles the earth ♪ ♪ The lightning crash ♪ ♪ The thunder sings His praises ♪ ♪ The galaxies can't help but shout His word ♪ ♪ My soul must sing to You and not for me ♪ ♪ How great You are ♪ ♪ My soul must sing, oh, let the heavens ring ♪ ♪ How great You are ♪ ♪ Oh, how great You are ♪ The Word made flesh.

♪ The Word made flesh ♪ ♪ God's promise to all men ♪ ♪ Made what power to say ♪ ♪ The life of life was flesh for all men ♪ ♪ He died our death and rose up from the grave ♪ ♪ My soul ♪ ♪ My soul must sing to You and not for me ♪ ♪ How great You are ♪ ♪ My soul must sing, oh, let the heavens ring ♪ ♪ How great You are ♪ ♪ Oh, how great You are ♪ Our King will come.

♪ Our King will come ♪ ♪ With trumpet blasts resounding ♪ ♪ The flame is blood-washed brown ♪ ♪ No man in the skies ♪ ♪ Descending in His glory ♪ ♪ Admitted His defeat will turn to sighs ♪ ♪ My soul must sing to You and not for me ♪ ♪ How great You are ♪ ♪ My soul must sing, oh, let the heavens ring ♪ ♪ How great You are ♪ ♪ My soul must sing ♪ ♪ My soul must sing to You and not for me ♪ ♪ How great You are ♪ ♪ My soul must sing, oh, let the heavens ring ♪ ♪ How great You are ♪ ♪ Oh, how great You are ♪ make it last forever.

♪ Oh, how great You are ♪ ♪ Oh, how great You are ♪ ♪ How great You are ♪ , (soft piano music) - Let's sing, "Should Nothing of Our Effort Stand." ♪ Should nothing of our efforts stand ♪ ♪ No legacy survive ♪ ♪ Unless the Lord does raise the house in vain ♪ ♪ It's built to strive ♪ ♪ To you, oh, post tomorrow's gain ♪ ♪ Tell me, what is your life ♪ ♪ Amidst the vanishes at dawn ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ our King ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ His rule and reign we'll ever see ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ His will be done, His will be done ♪ ♪ His kingdom come on earth as it's above ♪ ♪ Who is Himself our daily bread ♪ ♪ Praise Him, the Lord above ♪ ♪ Let living water satisfy the thirst ♪ ♪ He with our cries will take a cup of kindness yet ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ our King ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ His rule and reign we'll ever see ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ And on the day ♪ ♪ And on the day ♪ ♪ The great I Am, the faithful and the true ♪ ♪ The Lamb who was born, sinner's slave ♪ ♪ Is made free from his guilt ♪ ♪ Behold our God shall live with us and be with us ♪ ♪ And be our steadfast light ♪ ♪ And we shall ever be, we will be ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ our King ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ His rule and reign we'll ever see ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ our King ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ ♪ His rule and reign we'll ever see ♪ ♪ All glory be to Christ ♪ Amen, you may be seated.

If you could turn your Bibles to Ephesians chapter six, verses 18 through 20. Ephesians chapter six, verse 18 to 20. With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit and with this in view. Be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints and pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known the boldness, the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains that in proclaiming it, I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray for your Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. Help us, Lord God, to hear from you and not from anything else. Let your word go forth and not return until it has accomplished the purpose that you have ordained in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

- You know, there's certain things that we are engaged in in life that no matter how difficult it is, we have to persevere because we are clear that that is the right thing to do. And I think the first thing I can think of is if you're, again, if you're parents, if you're raising young children, no matter how difficult they are, no matter how disobedient they may be, you can't just throw up your hands and say, you know, it's so hard raising kids.

And so they just don't listen. And then to raise your hand and say, you know, just do whatever you want and to give up. You can't do that. Even if it takes years and years to raise the children and heartache and prayer, you know the consequence of not applying certain things in your life.

That's true in many things, like whether that's your health. Like no matter how difficult it is, if you have health issues and you need to do certain things to get in health, you don't just say, well, it's just too hard and just kind of allow your health to deteriorate to a certain point.

Well, when it comes to our spiritual lives, there are things that we do where we say, well, it's too hard, you know. Not a lot of people are good at this. And so as a result of that, we have a tendency in our generation that how do we make it easier for people?

So if studying Bible is too hard, we're gonna break it down into bite-sized pieces. If coming to church and it's too difficult, we're gonna make it Saturday instead of Sunday because it's too hard. And so everything that we do in our generation is how can we make it easier for people to become Christian?

And as a result of that, it has affected our preaching, it has affected the way we organize church, it has affected the way we do evangelism. And one of the key things that has been compromised is prayer. Because most people that I know in our generation have a difficult time praying.

So as a result of that, we say, well, do you actually have to pray that way? Do you have to actually get in that position? Do you actually have to gather together? And so how do we make it so that prayer, it becomes easier and easier and easier? Just, you know, while you're driving, just think.

And do this and do that. So anything that's difficult, anything that is hard, we're always thinking of how do you make it easier for people? And as a result of that, we have a generation filled with people that if it's too difficult to study the Bible, too difficult to gather, too difficult to wake up, that the church is more than willing to accommodate to make it as easy as possible to be a follower of Christ.

And as a result of that, we feel we've built up a generation of people that can only worship Christ if these criterias are met. And if there's any pressure, if there's any difficulty, they're out. You know, I can't go to that church because of this. I can't do this because of that.

The word of God is this. It's not preached this way or that way. And so they're so delicate. And to be honest, it's the church's fault. The church's fault because the church has done more than their part in accommodating. Prayer is one of those disciplines where the Bible emphasizes to the degree that even if for the rest of your life, as you wrestle to pray, that you only make couple inches toward Christ, it is worth the effort.

That's how strongly the word of God emphasizes this. Even if you study the Bible every single day and at the end of your life, you only remember portions of the Bible, it's worth the effort. That little amount that you know is far more life-giving than you would know, you would understand.

That's what the scripture says. And prayer is a discipline that is equally important that we don't just give up because it's difficult. That we say, you know, when I close my eyes, my thoughts begin to wander. I'm just so tired in the morning. I'm so tired at night. I just don't have time.

I'm in the middle of raising children. I gotta pay bills. I'm so busy. I'm not in good health. So any little hindrance, our prayer suffers. And as a result of that, our spiritual life becomes nothing more than theory. Just theory. Form of godliness. And yet there's no power. There is nothing that makes God more real than when you pray to this living God and God answers that prayer.

Whether it's for a short time or whether it may be for decades that you've been praying for this and you've been crying out to God and God answers that prayer, nothing causes your relationship with God to become more real than when God answers your prayer. So when we lack in prayer, when we give up in prayer, you've given up in pursuing Christ.

You don't know God. You just know about him. You've heard about him. You've heard other people's testimonies about him. But you personally do not know God 'cause you've never encountered him. The most tangible way that we encounter God is through prayer. So prayer is not something that we should easily give up just because it's difficult, because it's hard for me to concentrate or because I'm tired.

Just as much that you need to go to your work every morning, whether you're tired or not, whether you had one hour of sleep, whether your child was up all night and you didn't have any sleep, when it's time for you to wake up to go to work, you go to work because you know your livelihood is dependent upon that.

You're not gonna get paid. You can't pay your bills. You can't eat without it. And so you force yourself to go. Prayer is that important. The word of God emphasizes to this degree. So the natural question is, how can we pray effectively? If prayer is this important, how can we commit to this so we can become better prayer warriors?

Well, the Bible, again, is also very clear on this subject. How do you pray in such a way where you are encountering God? In John chapter 15 verse seven, it says, "If you abide in me, my words abide in you. "Ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you." There's a condition to effective prayer.

He says, "If you abide in me." If your life has already lived for your flesh, and when I say flesh, I'm not simply talking about pornography. I'm just talking about whatever makes you happy, whatever your flesh desires, and it may not be sinful, but the pattern of how you make decision is, well, that makes me happy, this doesn't make me happy.

If your whole pattern of life is based upon making decisions to what makes you happy, there's no way that you are abiding in Christ. He says, "If you abide in me." If your pursuit is primary concern is not, does it make you happy, but is this what God desires?

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, he says, "Then ask whatever you wish, "and it will be done for you." He said that's the condition of effective prayer. James says that, too. He says, "You do not have because you do not ask." He says, "So, for many of us, the problem is we don't pray." And so, because we don't pray, we're living in constant frustration.

Even if you think your cause is a righteous cause, your frustration in your righteous cause is because of lack of prayer. You don't see any movement. You don't see any fruit because you're not praying. You're just frustrated. You do not have because you do not pray. And then, second, he says, "You do not have "because even when you do pray, "you're not abiding in Christ." It's for your own pleasures, your own desires.

He says, "If you abide in me, my words abide in you. "Ask whatever you wish, it shall be done for you." So, the key to our spiritual life, experiencing power, knowing God personally, our affections and love toward Christ is all contingent upon effective prayer. Well, if we're to abide in him, his word abide in us, what is it that we're supposed to abide in that causes our prayer to be effective?

That's also clear. In 2 Thessalonians 3, he says, "Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord "will spread rapidly and be glorified "just as it did also with you." The text that we just read in Ephesians chapter six, verse 18 and 19, Paul ends the whole letter by saying, "Pray, pray, pray in all circumstances, "petitioning for all things, for all the saints.

"Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray." Just in case you didn't get it, that you missed a point, he repeated over and over again, "Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray." But more specifically, in prayer, he says to pray, "Pray that the utterance will be given to me, "that I may make the gospel, the mystery of Christ, "more clear, that I would have the boldness "to spread the gospel." And that was a consistent prayer request of Apostle Paul.

Colossians chapter four, two to four, he says the same thing. "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping your Lord in it "with an attitude of thanksgiving, "praying at the same time for us as well, "that God will open up to us a door for the word, "so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, "for which I have also been imprisoned, "that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak." Apostle Paul was a man with one-track mind.

And remember, he's asking for this while he's sitting in prison. He's sitting in prison in Philippi, he's sitting in Pilate's prison in Coloss, when he's writing this letter, he's sitting in prison when he's writing the letter to the Ephesians. And each one of those letters, all he's concerned about is that the gospel be spread.

You would think somebody sitting in prison would be saying, "Please pray for my release." It's very uncomfortable here. I have this desire to go and visit all the villages and sitting in prison basically is causing me not to be able to go. He doesn't ask for that. He said, "This is actually causing "a greater spread of the gospel "that we're gonna see later on in Philippians." In fact, what we need to understand about praying in the Spirit, praying in the Spirit is praying in line with what God desires of us.

God's intent for the Spirit in our lives. He says in Acts 1:8, "You will receive power "when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." Now, again, the context of that, the apostles failed miserably. Jesus restores them. "Do you love me?" He said, "Yes, I love you." He said, "Feed my sheep." So Jesus restores Peter, he restores the disciples.

Now they're ready to go. Jesus is gonna ascend, they're ready to go, and we're not gonna fail you again. And Jesus says, "No, stay." "You will receive power "when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." In other words, you don't have power. What kind of power are you gonna have against the Romans?

What kind of power are you gonna have even in Jerusalem? What kind of power are you gonna have when these people pick up stones to kill you because of what you're saying? You do not have power. How are you gonna convince these people who've been worshiping idols for generations and all of us saying, "Oh, your answers were wrong," to repent and turn to Christ?

What power do you have to get sinners to give their lives to Christ? You don't have power, but you will have power. He says, "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, "and you shall be mine." He didn't say, "You try to be." This is declaring. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the end of the world.

You notice that the purpose of the power is not simply so that they can experience that power. He said, "He didn't give you power "so that you can overcome your temptations," although that may be true. But he says, "The primary reason "why the Holy Spirit's gonna come upon you "is so that through that power, to do what?

"To be my witnesses." So if you're not committed to the Great Commission, there is no need for the Holy Spirit's power in your life. You can come before the Lord and say, "Lord, I want to experience your power. "I want to be in your presence. "I want to know you." But the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to empower you to be witnesses.

So if you live day to day with no concern of the lost, and you have forgotten your purpose of why we gather here, there is no need for the Holy Spirit in your life. You don't need the power. No. Just have assurance. I'm gonna go, when I die, I'm not gonna go to hell.

I'm gonna go to heaven, and that's it. Enjoy your life. Fill your days. What tickles your ears and your flesh, because that is not God's will. God is not God's purpose. In fact, the very first passage that introduces the church is in Matthew chapter 16, 13 to 19. Theologians study and dissect this passage because it's where the church ecclesia is first mentioned in the New Testament.

And so if you wanna know why Jesus established the church, you have to understand this text. In Matthew 16, 13 to 19, so now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi he was asking his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, "others Elijah, but still others Jeremiah, "or one of the prophets." He said to them, "Who do you say that I am?" In order to understand this text, you have to understand the context.

Like always, you have to understand the context. The context of this text and why Jesus brings up the church is because he is wrapping up his public ministry. He's getting his disciples to prepare to go to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the epicenter of where the enemies of the cross lie.

The people who are going to lie about Christ, who's going to beat him and crucify him, are concentrated in Jerusalem. And Jesus is getting his disciples, where he was praised and loved and honored, in Galilee, in Capernaum, in Bethsaida. He's gonna leave that area and begin to slowly trek down to Jerusalem.

So he needed his disciples to be ready for the spiritual battle that's coming. Jesus said before he went to the cross, he said, "Satan has asked permission to sift you like wheat." We're not sure if Satan has asked his permission yet, but we know for sure that Jesus is very aware of the testing that's coming to the disciples.

And that's why he's confirming, "Do you know who I am? "I know what they say. "I know what the public opinion, but do you know? "Because when the testing comes, "you need to be certain who I am." In 16, Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, "because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, "but my Father who is in heaven." As you guys know, they go to Jerusalem.

Jesus gives himself up. And it confuses the disciples because to them, the Messiah was gonna walk into Jerusalem and take over power. And that's why they kept on asking, "Can we sit on your left and to the right?" Even though they had the right view of Jesus, they had the wrong view of what he was going to do.

And Jesus knew that they were gonna be tested. And that's why he said, "Satan has asked permission to sift you like wheat, "to test you." And the testing came. And that's why when Peter, this courageous man who took out a sword and was ready to battle and die for Christ, all of a sudden becomes a coward.

As Jesus is going to the cross, he's following him from a distance. And he was so confused. Why would the son of God, who healed the sick, raised the dead, have no power over these puny men? He was so confused. By the time that the servant girl asked him, "Aren't you one of his disciples?" He said, "No, I do not know him." His confusion made him a coward.

But at the end of the day, after Jesus was crucified and he resurrected, all of it came back to them. And they realized what Jesus was saying all along. And they're able to withstand the test. They went through a period of doubting, questioning themselves. What is going on? What has God's purpose?

What have we been thinking? But at the end of the day, what caused them to persevere was not their great courage. We don't look at the story and say, "Well, thank God Peter was a courageous man. "He was an educated man. "He was a well-trained man." And that's why he was able to withstand the test and get back up.

No. The only reason why Peter was able to withstand the test was because of his faith. He believed. Even though what he was seeing didn't quite fit. Even though what he was experiencing didn't fit the paradigm of what he thought the Messiah was going to do, he never wavered on who he knew Jesus to be.

And that's why Jesus was making sure, "Do you know who I am?" In fact, we see that confession in John chapter six, verse 68. We had all these people who saw Jesus' miracles, ate the miraculous bread and fish. They saw Jesus walking on the water, catching miraculous fish, opening the eyes of the men who were blind, the lame healing the lame.

And these same men who were coming after Jesus, Jesus said to them, knowing what was in their heart, "You're not coming after me because you know who I am. "You're coming after me because you ate and you want more. "You want a better life. "You want more fish. "You want more bread." And in that, he says, "I am the bread.

"If you eat of any other bread, "you're gonna be hungry again, "but the bread I give you, "you'll never hunger again." And knowing what was in their heart, Jesus said to them, because of their unbelief, "If you not drink of my flesh, "drink of my blood and eat of my flesh, "I have no part in you." And he says, "It was too hard for them "because they did not believe." In John 6, 66, they walked away.

These are all those people who saw the miracles. All those people who ate the miraculous, and they could not deny his power, but because what Jesus was saying was difficult, it tested their faith, and they walked away. Jesus turns around, asks his disciples, "Are you gonna walk away too?" In John 6, 68, it says, "To whom shall we go?

"You have the words of life. "We have believed and have come to know "that you are the Holy One of God." The disciples, at that point, didn't understand any more than the crowds. The disciples saw all the miracles, but they still didn't fully get it. But when Jesus turned around and said, "Are you gonna do what they, "are you gonna follow your flesh like them?" And the disciples said, "No, we believe you.

"I don't understand what you're saying. "I don't really understand what you're doing, "but we believe you. "Who else are we gonna turn to?" That's why Jesus was asking that question, "Do you know who I am?" You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, and it is that confession that caused them to persevere, and that's why he was preparing them for what was about to come.

Now, it is in that context we get to verse 18 and 19, where Jesus makes it crystal clear what the purpose of the church is. This is where the term church is first used in the New Testament. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock, not Peter, but upon the confession of Peter, that I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

For years, I looked at this text and said, you know, Satan cannot penetrate into the church. Satan cannot come into my home, because I have the protection of Christ. This is his church. But if you look at the text carefully, he doesn't say that we are the ones inside of the gate.

He says that the gates of Hades will not be able to prevail against it. So who's in the offense and who's in the defense? We are. The church is the one who is going to the gates of Hades, and he says the gates of Hades will not be able to keep you out.

So the purpose of the church is not to make a safe haven for Christians to run to because it's so bad out there. The church is not a place where we come so that we can protect our children from bad things out there. Now, in and of itself, we pray that the church community, that those things may happen, but that is not the purpose of the church.

He said he commissioned the church to bring the light to darkness. It was for the purpose of the Great Commission he commissioned the church. And then he says I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

What does it mean to be given the keys of the kingdom? What does it mean to bind and to loose? He's talking about authority. Authority in the church, but authority for what? You don't just give authority to anybody. You don't just walk around and say, okay, now you have authority.

Authority for what, right? You give authority for a specific purpose. In Matthew 10, one, it says, Jesus summoned his 12 disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Why did he give them authority?

Because he was pushing them into enemy territory. He's taking the light into darkness. And so, what authority do you have? And that's the question that's gonna ask. If you come and it said, the word of God, God is going to bring this gospel, we're gonna turn on the light, by what authority?

And we see that's exactly what Satan asks in the book of Acts. I know Jesus, I know Christ, but what authority do you have? Jesus said, I have given you this authority. In Matthew 28, 18 to 19, in the Great Commission, he said, and Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, all authority.

Now, why did he give them this authority? For what purpose? He said, so that you can feel safe, so that when difficulties in life come, just like it does to everybody, Christian or not, that at least you have a security blanket, knowing that an all-powerful, almighty God is gonna protect you.

Is that what he is saying? All authority has been given to me, so relax. Don't worry about it. When the storm comes, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Is that what he is saying? No, he said, all authority in heaven has been given to me, for what purpose?

Go therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you to the end of the age. The person who has all authority is commanding you, commissioning you to go.

So the purpose of authority is the Great Commission. Purpose of the Holy Spirit is to empower you for the Great Commission. So a church that is not actively in the Great Commission, if that is not the central heartbeat of the church, an individual Christian who wants to be a follower of Christ and yet his heartbeat is not the Great Commission, has no place for power in his life.

Whatever authority that God has given elders in the church is for the purpose of the Great Commission. Whatever authority that God has given the husband to lead his wife is for the purpose of bringing that family to Christ. It's not to make you a king over your house so that you can rule for your benefit.

God has made you a leader so you can lead your family to Christ. And if you do not lead your family, your wife and your children, toward the Great Commission, your authority is for nothing. It's just for your ego. You're asking your family and your wife to follow you while you're not going anywhere.

The purpose of authority that he gives to the church is for the purpose of Great Commission. Colossians 1, 13 to 14 is before he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We are entering Satan's territory. Now, if you've ever tried to take something that is valuable to somebody else, they're gonna fight you with every power that they have. You see that. If you're raising children, or even if you don't raise children, if you grew up with siblings and you wanted something that they have, they're not gonna say, "Oh, this is the right thing to do," and they're just gonna give it up.

They're gonna, with all their power, all their might, and whoever has the most power is gonna win. We are taking the light into enemy territory. The purpose of who God created this church was to bring the light into a world that has been blinded by the God of this age.

And so Satan is not going to say, "Welcome. "Come get these children." He's gonna fight with all his might. And that's what he was saying. You're not fighting against flesh and blood, but against principalities and power and wickedness and heavenly places. So by what authority, by what power would you do this?

And that's why he says to pray, to pray in the spirit. And if we're gonna pray effectively, we have to pray for the purpose of the Great Commission. And it is in that where Paul says in Ephesians 6, 19 to 20, "And pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me "in the opening of my mouth to make known the boldness, "the mystery of the gospel, "for which I am an ambassador in chains, "that in proclaiming it, I may speak boldly "as I ought to speak." When Paul is asking for utterance, the word there in Greek is logos.

Most of you guys know logos basically means the word. But the reason why the NASB and the New King James, the King James, translated this utterance is because he's not asking that. I don't know what to say. I don't know what the gospel is. So can you help me to know what the gospel is so I know the words?

That's not what Paul is asking for. Revelation is coming through Paul. Paul's the one who's teaching us about the gospel, about the mystery of the gospel. So when he says, "Give me the words," he's talking about the anointing. Not just empty words, not just putting the right words together.

He's talking about a spirit-powered God's unction to speak. The Puritans would often call this the unction of the Holy Spirit. They used to say how John Whitefield, when he preached, there was a special anointing about him when he opened his mouth, where people would weep, and it wasn't because he was necessarily an emotional person.

It was that there was such an anointing upon his preaching. Martin Lloyd-Jones would often say he didn't want his sermons recorded because you can record the word, but you cannot record the power of the Holy Spirit. That's why if you ever listen to Martin Lloyd-Jones' recordings, it's always like a hidden microphone 'cause he wouldn't let them record it 'cause you're not gonna capture the spirit.

You may capture the words. So when Paul is asking for an utterance, he's not simply looking for words. "Give me the words to say." He's saying, "May it be empowered by the Holy Spirit." Acts chapter 2, 4, it says, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, "but he had to speak with other tongues "as the Spirit was giving them utterance." Now, the significance of the Pentecost here in Acts 2, 4 is that the Holy Spirit comes, and at the Tower of Babel, God sent them out because they were selfishly seeking to gather together, and the more they gathered, the more sin they accumulated.

So he scattered them as a result, but now the Holy Spirit comes, and he's gathering his people into the church, but secondly, he's empowering them so that he may go preach the gospel, and that's exactly what happens. It wasn't organized, it wasn't trained, they weren't ordained, they weren't commissioned, but the persecution comes, and they begin to go run back to their hometown filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to preach the gospel.

So when you see Apostle Paul's ministry, everywhere he would go, there's Christians already there waiting for him. So the power of the Holy Spirit went with these people who experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit and the gospel, and the pre-work was already done. So when Paul says, "I am looking for utterance," he's not simply talking about words, he's talking about anointing of the Holy Spirit.

There is a huge difference between regurgitating, regurgitating the Word of God because you studied it, because you did your homework, and then you presented it well, and you have the three-point outline, you have nice illustrations, and maybe you're good at communicating. There's a huge difference between the presentation of facts versus somebody who is anointed.

Like even when somebody comes and tries to sell you something, there's a huge difference between somebody who's selling you a product because that's where they're getting commission, because that's where they get their livelihood versus somebody who really loves it. Somebody who loves it will share with you just because they love it.

They're not being paid, there's no commission coming with this. They're doing it because they experienced something they want you to experience, because it made them happy, they want you to be happy. Their lives changed, so they want your lives to change. And there's a huge difference when the Holy Spirit has consumed that person, and the word is coming out, and that's where he gets a boldness.

Boldness comes with conviction. Boldness comes with conviction. If you're not convicted, you're constantly telling yourself, I should be doing that, I should be doing this, I should be, I feel bad that I'm not doing this. But when conviction comes, it's a knee-jerk reaction. You see a child who is in danger out on the street, you don't sit there and think, should I be doing this?

Oh, I should be, I should be running out there, but it's kind of risky. Should I be doing, do I have time for this? You don't think that. 'Cause you know that's danger, and you have something that you can do to save that child, so you move. That's what a normal human being does.

Part of the reason why we're not bold is because we're not convicted. Because we're living our lives thinking that God's primary desire for my life is to be healthy, to get a job promotion, to get to the right school, to raise healthy children, so if they're obedient, and we come to church, and we serve, and think that that's God's greatest will in our life.

It is not. Let me make that very clear. Your safety, your comfort, your long life, your health for yourself, your wife, and your children is not God's primary concern. Test me. See if the word of God says any otherwise. His primary concern is the spreading of the gospel, to come and seek and save the lost.

And he called the church to do the same. And so as a result, your suffering oftentimes would lead to greater glory to God, and greater spreading of the gospel. In Acts 4.31, it says, when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

That's what the Holy Spirit does, is that it intercedes with groaning beyond what we understand. But when you hear carefully what that groaning means, the Holy Spirit is always groaning to bring us to God, and is always groaning to take us to the world. Those two things, anything that's groaning is for those two purposes.

To bring us to God, and to take us to the world. If our lives are not given to that, you cannot pray in the Spirit. Right now, the only concern you have is the next sale that's gonna take you to the area that you want to go to, and then you try to get on your knees and pray, Lord, give me the lost, and you know you don't mean it.

It's not in your heart. You're not abiding in the Spirit. And as a result, prayer just becomes a formula for you to follow. At the end of your life, how would you evaluate if you lived a good life? If you didn't get into trouble? You didn't catch cancer? You got married at a decent age, had 2.2 children.

You saved enough money for retirement, and you did some good. You fought for some causes. You labored in the church. And at the end of your life, if you died and lived that life, would you say on your deathbed, I lived a good life? I want you to see the perspective that Apostle Paul has.

Philippians 1, 12 to 14, he's sitting in prison, and all kinds of trouble are coming. And this was just the first of many times that he's gonna be sitting in prison. Eventually, he's gonna get beheaded. He says this, "Now I want you to know, brethren, "that my circumstance have turned out for "the greater progress of the gospel, "so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ "has become well known throughout "the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else, "and that most of the brethren trusting in the Lord "because of my imprisonment have far more courage "to speak the word of God without fear." His whole paradigm of what is good and what is bad is the spreading of the gospel.

His suffering has caused more of the brethren to have courage to speak and preach the gospel. Even the people who are doing it for wrong motives, he says, "Praise God, because the gospel is going out." Now, is this just Paul? Is this just the freak of nature of a man?

Or is this God's perspective? Is this the paradigm in which God will evaluate whether you and I lived a good life? Is this a paradigm in which God will look at our church and say, "This is a good church "that I will bless and multiply." Are they safe? Do they know the Bible?

Can they recite the Lord's Prayer? Do they know the catechisms? Is that the criteria where God's gonna look at a church and say, "That's a healthy, good church." Or is this the perspective that God will use? Philippians 1:20-22, "According to my earnest expectation "and hope that I will not be put to shame in anything, "but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, "as always, be exalted in my body, "whether by life or by death.

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." This is a man who's waiting to possibly be beheaded. And the only concern that he has is in the midst of suffering, in the midst of possibly dying for the cause, that whether by life or by death, that he would not be put to shame, that Christ would be exalted.

And then you know what he says after that? If you ask me personally what I want, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go. I'm ready to be with the Lord. Staying here means fruitful labor for me, for you, and I don't think the work is done. And because of that, I think I will stay longer and suffer more, because peace and safety is waiting for him when he dies.

And he said, "If you're asking me, that's what I want. "I'm done with the imprisonment. "I'm done with the beating. "I'm done with the rejection." He's a human being like us. But he knows he's gonna stay because there's more work to be done, more suffering, more beating, more imprisonment, and then beheading that's coming after that.

But he says, "Because the gospel needs to be preached." He said, "I'm praying that you will pray for me, "that whether by life or by death, "that Christ would be exalted in my body." Is that only Apostle Paul? Or is that the Holy Spirit speaking to us? Whether by life or death?

Again, in 2 Timothy 2.10, it says, "Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect." Now, when Paul says, "I endure everything "for the sake of the elect," he's not talking about people who just don't like him. Man, that guy's so weird, you know? That guy had everything.

Why did he do that? He's such a weirdo. He's a Roman citizen, and yet, he's willing to be in poverty. He's getting beaten. He's such a weirdo. He's not saying, "I endure all things." He's talking about actual beating. Thoroughly nine lashes, where he's at the point of death he's enduring.

Multiple times. Everybody that knew him, that loved him, that honored him, is calling him crazy. This guy was a celebrity before he met Christ. He was wealthy before he met Christ. He was the highest educated man among the Israelites, right under Gamaliel, and he rejected all of that, and telling this crazy story about some messiah who was crucified, resurrected from the dead, and he's asking other people to follow him.

This is weirdo. He was talking about beating, shipwrecked, rejection. He said he endures all of it for the sake of the elect. Is that apostle Paul? Is that the Holy Spirit? Of course, it's Paul. Of course, it's the Holy Spirit. Our tendency, because of where you and I are raised, is to naturally think that God's primary desire for you is to have a good marriage, have multiple children, good job, nobody gets sick, live a long life, good retirement, do so good in the church, fight for some causes, donate a little bit to this and that, and then die a long life, old age.

You didn't get that from the Bible. You did not get that from the Bible. The Bible does not teach that. As we prepare to go out to India, I remember, I think this is our ninth or 10th year that we're going. The first year we decided to go, I've had so many people ask me that I shouldn't be going.

You're being reckless because that's an area where there isn't much help. If you get lost and something happens, somebody gets sick or you get beaten, you're five hours away from anything that we know. So even the missionaries out in India were telling us not to go. They'd say the furthest that they travel is about two hours.

And if they're any further than two hours, they said they usually have them shipped in. They give them bus tickets and they would have them come to the big city and that's where they would do all the training. But one of the things I kept on hearing was once those pastors come and they experience the big city, they don't want to go back to the villages.

So in one sense, they were telling me that it's not safe to go out there and to bring the pastors to come or don't go any further than that. But at the same time, the same pastors are telling me once they come here, they don't want to go back to the village.

So they have this dilemma. Well, this is an area that I kept on hearing. They said there's a great need there. And I found out that the greatest concentration of unreached people groups were in that area, in India. I thought it was in the Middle East and I found out it's in India.

The greatest concentration of illiteracy, the greatest concentration of poverty, it was in that area because anybody who knows India, they're divided by their language and culture, even within India. So you can learn one language and only reach maybe 30, 40,000 people in a country that has 1.4, 1.5 billion people.

And so missionaries go out there and learn a language for five, six, seven years and they can't even find the people because they're so divided. Well, I heard about these pastors who are way out in India and one of the guys who came to interpret for me as we're doing pastoral training was starting to tell me about what's going on.

They have a team of 40 pastors. His dad started 45 years ago. And so I got curious. I said, "I want to go out there." So I remember the first year that we went out and we had a team of maybe about 10 or 11 that went out and some of you might be sitting in here.

I said, "Yes, we're taking a risk "and I wanted you to know that where we're going, "people are telling us it's not safe. "So if you come with me, I need you to be ready." And so I remember the first year, some of you guys may remember the first year we went there and the first thing that we did, we were looking for anything Western, right?

And we heard about this Hyatt Hotel that was way up in the boonies. And if we go there, if anything happens to us, that's where we need to go because that's where the Americans are. We drove out there for two and a half hours from where we were at and we went there thinking, this is the worst place to come.

We went from boonies to real boonies. And we realized that, okay, if anything happens here, we just have to get in a car and drive five hours back. Well, it's been 10 years. Within those 10 years, in the persecution meter, India went from number 35 to 40 to now they're number nine.

The persecution has gotten so much more intense. Where previous years, it was kind of theory because we didn't see it. I mean, we've experienced some, but not to this level. This particular year, every update that I got from the pastors had something about how they were being bothered. Whether it was rocks thrown at them, beaten.

There are a couple of Christian ladies who were actually kidnapped for several days and had to be rescued. The Christian center that we built for them was attacked more than seven times. And I asked them, are you sure this is a safe place to be? And they said, we're okay because the village elder in that village, who's a Hindu, likes us.

And so even the housing that they're building, they have to get contractors from out of town because they threatened everybody in town that if you labor for this Christian group, that you're gonna get attacked. So the obvious question that people ask me is, why are you going then? If they were concerned 10 years ago, I mean, now it's real.

And this year, I'm taking my daughter with me. Now, the question that they ask is, aren't you being reckless? You have a tendency, I knew it, you ride a motorcycle, so you're gonna do, say, these crazy things, right? And that's who you are. Let me read you a passage, 1 Corinthians 16, 9.

Hopefully, your paradigm will shift. Paul says, "For a wide door for the effective service "has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." If you grew up in America in the last 100 years, you said, those two things you think are contradictory. There are many adversaries, so therefore, the door is not open.

Many persecutions, where you're gonna have to risk your health, so the door is not open, because we think that the door is only open if a red carpet comes out, and there's a nice place to stay, safety, Christians have already gone, established, and we go there with a platform given to us, we preach the gospel, and then we're able to plant churches, and then we come back home, talking, and share with you pictures.

But if they don't want us there, they're throwing rocks at the pastors, they're beating them up, hoping that they would die, and we're gonna take our team in there, then the door is not open. That's not what Paul says. Paul's perspective, and the Holy Spirit's perspective, remember what he says, remember what Jesus said?

"The kingdom of God advances with forceful men violently." He's not saying he wants us to be violent, he's saying that the kingdom of God will progress with people who are committed to the spiritual battle that he called us for. Living a nice, safe, comfortable life is not the will of God.

It doesn't mean that God called you to poverty, it doesn't mean that God said every single person had to suffer the same way, but his primary concern is not your safety. His primary concern is not your health, not yours or your children. The primary cause why we are here is to advance the cause of Christ into the realm of Satan.

And he promised us that he will build this church, and the gates of Haiti will not prevail against it. So you will either join with Christ and follow him to bring the gospel to the gates of Hades, or you will live your life independently, away from God, with a form of godliness, and never understand the power of God.

All your complaining, all your frustration is directly linked to the fact that you are not drinking from the living water. All your thirsting, all your fears, all your concerns, all your anxiety may be directly linked to the fact that the Great Commission is not your heartbeat. This is why he called us.

We don't go because it's safe. We're doing everything in our power, and the pastors there are doing everything in their power to protect us. But the simple reason why we choose to go is because the door has been opened wide. And what we do, it's only for a week, what we do gives a clear platform for the pastors to preach the gospel with boldness.

We're only there for a week. So my prayer as our team leaves this Friday, and we'll be back the Saturday after, Lord willing, pray, obviously, we are praying for safety. I have no desire to see our team hurt. But beyond that, we pray for the pastors who are there, that they're the ones who are pushing into villages where it's unsafe.

They're the ones who are gonna get rocks thrown at them. They're the ones who are gonna get beaten and have been beaten. They're the ones who are in the front line so that the little thing that we do for a short period of time will open doors for them to bring the gospel to them, that they would have the utterances by the Holy Spirit, that God would give them the boldness to make the gospel clear, that we would play a small part to help them to do that.

My prayer for our church as we go again once is asking you to pray for us, pray for the team, and pray for what's going on, pray for the pastors, but beyond that, follow Jesus. Follow Jesus. Don't say you're gonna follow Jesus. Don't talk about following Jesus. Don't share about following Jesus.

Follow Jesus. If you follow Jesus, I guarantee you, he will lead you to the world. 'Cause that's why he came. That's why he built this church. And that's where he will send us. Let's pray. Father, help us. Help us, Lord God, to fight against the lie of the Orange County life.

Help us to fight against our flesh that desires to make this life our permanent home. Help us to fight against the paradigm that health and wealth is what you primarily desire for us. Help us to lift our eyes to Christ who gave up everything, suffered so much that we may have life, and that through that life, that we may live the life that Christ lived for us.

Help us, Lord God, to say what he says, do what he does, and go wherever he goes. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. (gentle piano music) ♪ I lift my eyes and see ♪ ♪ I kneel, I beg and pray ♪ ♪ All my hope comes from the Lord ♪ ♪ Who the earth and sky has made ♪ ♪ He will keep me from all evils ♪ ♪ Behind Him and before ♪ ♪ He will sustain me through this journey ♪ ♪ For now and evermore ♪ ♪ Lord, have mercy ♪ ♪ My steps are hazarded ♪ ♪ For the one who holds the light ♪ ♪ Holds the sovereign of my prayer ♪ ♪ He will keep me from all evils ♪ ♪ Behind Him and before ♪ ♪ He will sustain me through this journey ♪ ♪ For now and evermore ♪ ♪ He will keep me from all evils ♪ ♪ Behind Him and before ♪ ♪ He will sustain me through this journey ♪ ♪ For now and evermore ♪ ♪ He will keep me from all evils ♪ ♪ Behind Him and before ♪ ♪ He will sustain me through this journey ♪ ♪ For now and evermore ♪ - Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and eternal and deep, deep love of God our Father, establish us, sustain us, and empower us that wherever you send us, that we may bring the hope of the gospel to this dark world.

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 lives ♪ ♪ Because He lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because He lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because He lives ♪ (gentle piano music) (people chattering) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (people chattering) (gentle piano music) (people chattering) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle music)