back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service - 8.09
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♪ Still my soul will sing your praise unending ♪ 00:05:12.500 |
♪ Father of kindness you have poured out grace ♪ 00:05:44.500 |
♪ Giver of mercy you're my help in time of need ♪ 00:06:38.500 |
♪ Beautiful savior you have brought me near ♪ 00:06:56.500 |
♪ Blessed redeemer you have set this captive free ♪ 00:10:54.500 |
♪ Oh it is good to worship and praise the Lord ♪ 00:11:35.500 |
♪ Oh it is good to worship and praise the Lord ♪ 00:12:12.500 |
♪ Oh it is good to worship and praise the Lord ♪ 00:12:19.500 |
♪ Oh it is good to worship and praise the Lord ♪ 00:12:40.500 |
And I think she's the only one for this week. 00:13:01.500 |
Let the, wherever you're supposed to sign up, 00:13:07.500 |
just so that we'll know how many chairs to set up 00:13:13.500 |
So I'm gonna be teaching through 1 Thessalonians, 00:13:24.500 |
and it's assumed that you're gonna be doing the same thing, 00:13:34.500 |
we'll be able to make sure that we're managing that okay. 00:13:43.500 |
Again, gospel night is taking place on August 29th. 00:13:46.500 |
And if you have people that you're praying for, 00:13:48.500 |
hoping to bring to the Zoom meeting for the outreach, 00:13:52.500 |
please let Pastor Mark know or our brother June know, 00:14:13.500 |
And again, the physical offering is in the back, okay? 00:14:17.500 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning. 00:14:35.500 |
and that our hearts may truly be offered to you 00:14:39.500 |
And we pray that even the offering that we give to you, 00:14:47.500 |
that the gospel may continue to spread rapidly, 00:16:08.500 |
♪ All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near. ♪ 00:16:31.500 |
♪ who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth. ♪ 00:17:13.500 |
♪ who doth prosper thy work and defend thee. ♪ 00:18:03.500 |
♪ Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore. ♪ 00:18:21.500 |
♪ Let the amen sound from His people again. ♪ 00:20:18.500 |
♪ What truth, what truth can calm the troubled soul? ♪ 00:23:16.500 |
This time Caleb Guan will come up to give his testimony. 00:23:32.500 |
church was a really important part of my life 00:23:36.500 |
Friday nights of my life that weren't at church. 00:23:38.500 |
I learned a lot about the importance of reading the Bible 00:23:41.500 |
and prayer and that my life was meant to glorify God. 00:23:44.500 |
I learned that Jesus Christ died on the cross 00:23:46.500 |
and was resurrected, granting mercy on my soul. 00:23:49.500 |
These things were things that I really easily accepted, 00:23:54.500 |
Before I met the Lord, there were only a few things on my mind, 00:23:57.500 |
mostly being seen in a certain light by my peers 00:24:00.500 |
and indulging in the satisfactions that the world had to offer. 00:24:03.500 |
A few months ago, I remember my small group leader telling me 00:24:08.500 |
because we both didn't care what people thought of us. 00:24:11.500 |
I laughed at myself because it's really true and also very false 00:24:15.500 |
because growing up in the church, without knowing God, 00:24:18.500 |
like all I really did was seek the approval of others 00:24:21.500 |
and usually I wanted people to see me as someone who actually didn't care. 00:24:27.500 |
But yeah, I tried my best in Iwana because I wanted to be 00:24:32.500 |
but not really because I wanted to know the Word of God. 00:24:36.500 |
The summary of my pride is that I wanted to be honored and respected by others 00:24:40.500 |
while desperately trying to protect the brokenness that lay beneath. 00:24:43.500 |
As good as I looked to the world, it was only skin deep. 00:24:46.500 |
I was constantly trying to mask the fear, weakness, and foolishness 00:24:52.500 |
John 3 says that men love the darkness rather than the light. 00:24:55.500 |
The darkness had offered security, discretion, and ways for me 00:24:58.500 |
to indulge in my wicked desires without the judgment. 00:25:01.500 |
As much as I heard at church that repentance and accountability 00:25:04.500 |
were essential to the believer, I had no desire to be holy. 00:25:07.500 |
To come into the light and have my deeds exposed 00:25:13.500 |
Freshman year of college, I arrived at Bermuda Community Church 00:25:16.500 |
and sat through a sermon on the holiness of God. 00:25:18.500 |
There I was compared to a cooler of moldy rice, 00:25:21.500 |
and I was told that my sin wasn't just distasteful to God, 00:25:27.500 |
The pastor continued on about some other stuff, 00:25:29.500 |
but the image stuck in my brain, that I was disgusting to God. 00:25:33.500 |
Everything that I spent my entire life trying to hide from the world 00:25:43.500 |
And the only rational, logical thing to do is to throw disgusting things away. 00:25:47.500 |
But God, while I was yet a sinner, ignorant to His love, 00:25:57.500 |
trusting that the death and resurrection of Christ covered my sins. 00:26:00.500 |
He's my Lord and my Savior, and I desire to live under His Lordship. 00:26:06.500 |
People ask me why I'm getting baptized now in our freshman year, 00:26:09.500 |
and I can plainly see that it is still my pride that clings so tightly to me. 00:26:13.500 |
So why admit to people that as a middle schooler, 00:26:19.500 |
Why tell people that I was still just being a people pleaser? 00:26:22.500 |
Deep down, even though I knew that I was not saved when I was baptized, 00:26:29.500 |
I refused the thought of baptism for the sake of my own ego. 00:26:33.500 |
I'm being baptized today because my desire to be obedient to the Lord 00:26:39.500 |
and is greater than my desire for self-preservation. 00:26:42.500 |
I continue to glorify God with my life because of His love for me. 00:26:45.500 |
I continue to see the transformative power of God in my life, 00:26:48.500 |
meaning that He has replaced a heart that wanted self-glory 00:26:55.500 |
Desires I never had, deep accountability, true humility, genuine repentance, 00:27:01.500 |
authentic love are now mine through the person of Christ. 00:27:06.500 |
Ephesians 4 says to put off the old self, corrupt their deceitful desires, 00:27:11.500 |
and be renewed in the mind and put on the old self. 00:27:22.500 |
I daily struggle with the desire for my own personal glorification. 00:27:25.500 |
My prayer is that God will continue to discipline, rebuke, and instruct me, 00:27:28.500 |
and that He will continue to humble me in my daily walk with Him. 00:27:31.500 |
All my life before Christ, I feared what people would say if they-- 00:27:41.500 |
However, God, our holy perfect creator, sees my sin perfectly, 00:27:45.500 |
has accepted me and covered me with the righteousness of His Son, 00:27:49.500 |
in whom I have received my true identity, a child of God. 00:27:56.500 |
"But when anything is exposed to the light, it becomes visible, 00:28:01.500 |
Therefore, it says, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, 00:28:13.500 |
Caleb, you understand when you go into the water, 00:28:36.500 |
I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:28:47.500 |
All right, thank you, Caleb, for that testimony. 00:28:58.500 |
You guys can turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 9, 00:29:03.500 |
and I'm going to start reading from verse 18. 00:29:20.500 |
My daughter bought me this fan, because I won't get hot. 00:29:36.500 |
obviously it's beneficial every week, no matter what text we're in, 00:29:40.500 |
for you to come prepared and know actually what's in the text. 00:29:45.500 |
But especially as we're going through the book of Hebrews chapter 9, 00:29:48.500 |
we're going to be in another complicated text in chapter 10. 00:29:51.500 |
And so that's why I put up on Friday or on Saturday, 00:29:55.500 |
so you'll at least know which text that we're in. 00:29:57.500 |
And I put a few questions up there so that you can wrestle with the text 00:30:01.500 |
before you come, so that when I'm going through the text, 00:30:07.500 |
But let's say if you don't know what's in the text, 00:30:10.500 |
and you came here just kind of like looking at the text for the first time, 00:30:14.500 |
obviously you'll still be able to understand, 00:30:16.500 |
but you're not going to be able to get as much out of it as if you came in prepared. 00:30:19.500 |
So especially in the text that we're in, chapter 9, chapter 10, and chapter 11, 00:30:23.500 |
actually all of it, but especially for these texts, 00:30:26.500 |
I strongly encourage you to take a look, at least read it, 00:30:36.500 |
"Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. 00:30:40.500 |
For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people, 00:30:43.500 |
according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, 00:30:48.500 |
and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 00:30:51.500 |
saying, 'This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.' 00:30:54.500 |
And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry 00:30:58.500 |
with the blood. And according to the law, one may almost say, 00:31:04.500 |
And without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 00:31:07.500 |
Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in heavens to be cleansed 00:31:11.500 |
with these, but the heavenly things themselves were better sacrifices than these. 00:31:15.500 |
For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, 00:31:19.500 |
but into heaven itself, not to appear in the presence of God for us. 00:31:23.500 |
Nor was it that he would offer himself often as the high priest enters the holy place 00:31:31.500 |
Otherwise he would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. 00:31:35.500 |
But now, once at the consummation of the ages, he has been manifested 00:31:42.500 |
And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, after this comes judgment. 00:31:47.500 |
So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, 00:31:51.500 |
will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin 00:31:58.500 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your grace. We thank you, Father God, 00:32:01.500 |
that you've given us the privilege and the ability to be able to come before you. 00:32:06.500 |
Help us, Lord God, to not to take for granted what you have given us. 00:32:10.500 |
Give us deeper understanding of your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:32:15.500 |
All right, what if this morning I told you that I got a letter from the city of Irvine 00:32:21.500 |
saying that what we are doing is illegal and that every single one of you 00:32:26.500 |
who are here this morning has broken the law and after the service is over, 00:32:31.500 |
there's going to be Irvine PD waiting for us and every single one of us is going to go to jail. 00:32:36.500 |
And there is no bail and you're just going to have to wait for your sentencing. 00:32:40.500 |
What if I told you that and that was true? Most of you probably don't believe me. 00:32:44.500 |
First of all, what we're doing is not illegal because we're outside. 00:32:48.500 |
But what if that was true? What if that was true and that there is going to be 00:32:54.500 |
consequence for the behavior and afterwards that you're all going to go to jail? 00:33:00.500 |
No matter what I say from that moment on, my guess is most of you are going to be thinking about 00:33:05.500 |
how to prepare. What should I do? Did I lock the doors? What about my kids? 00:33:10.500 |
What about work? Do I call them? Whatever responsibilities that you have 00:33:15.500 |
that's coming, that thought is going to consume your mind 00:33:20.500 |
because of the indictment that's coming after the service. 00:33:24.500 |
For whatever the reason, we hear the passage in Hebrews 9.27, 00:33:30.500 |
it says, "Inasmuch as it is appointed for a man to die once, after this comes judgment." 00:33:37.500 |
The beginning of understanding of the gospel is recognizing that God, 00:33:48.500 |
And so, when the gospel is presented that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, 00:33:55.500 |
and that's all you understand about the gospel, even though, whether you believe it or not, 00:33:59.500 |
that's how you heard the gospel. The next question that's going to be coming is, 00:34:08.500 |
If God loves the world, why would he allow famine? 00:34:12.500 |
If God loves the world, why would he allow war and sex trafficking? 00:34:18.500 |
My guess is you've either asked that question before, or you have many friends around you 00:34:24.500 |
who ask you and say, "You know, I can't believe in your God for that reason." 00:34:28.500 |
You say he's loving, you say he's gracious, but why would he allow these things to happen? 00:34:36.500 |
It is not that that statement is false, but there's a reason why, 00:34:42.500 |
there's a reason why the whole purpose of the tabernacle was to prepare and to teach the nation of Israel, 00:34:48.500 |
I'm sorry, that they are not to enter into God's presence just willy-nilly. 00:34:55.500 |
That you can't just walk in and say, "Here God, here I am." 00:34:58.500 |
The whole point of the tabernacle was to teach the nation of Israel 00:35:02.500 |
that a sinful man cannot be in the presence of this holy God. 00:35:07.500 |
And so this elaborate ritual of setting up the tabernacle, what animals to use, 00:35:12.500 |
who to do what, what tribes are supposed to touch what part, 00:35:16.500 |
that there's this elaborate explanation of what they are to do, what they are not to do, 00:35:21.500 |
and the punishment for not obeying that and coming into the tabernacle just willy-nilly 00:35:30.500 |
He says that everything that happened at the tabernacle was simply a copy of the reality found in heaven. 00:35:36.500 |
If you have a false understanding of the gospel, you will live the rest of your life saying, 00:35:41.500 |
"God is not fair because he didn't make me this way. 00:35:44.500 |
God is not fair because he didn't give me this. 00:35:47.500 |
God is not fair because he didn't give them that." 00:35:49.500 |
Because the gospel has been presented in a self-centered manner, as if God actually owes me something. 00:35:57.500 |
The beginning of the gospel is we've offended a holy God, 00:36:01.500 |
that if we die in our natural state, it says, 00:36:04.500 |
"As it is appointed for all men to die once, after this will come judgment." 00:36:15.500 |
They're freaking out because maybe many people for the first time in their life, 00:36:22.500 |
Because of this virus, because of what's being spread in the news, 00:36:26.500 |
and some percentage of people who have certain risk, 00:36:29.500 |
and if they get this virus, they're going to die. 00:36:31.500 |
And although we all know 100% of the people who were born into this world will die. 00:36:38.500 |
Whether you die from a virus, whether you die from an accident, 00:36:42.500 |
whether you die of a heart attack, whether you die of diabetes, 00:36:46.500 |
whatever you die from, at some point, 100% of the people will die. 00:36:56.500 |
But the focus for people who death is not a reality, 00:37:00.500 |
will focus on, "Oh, we're going to die, we're going to die." 00:37:03.500 |
That's not the biggest terror, that's not the biggest problem for mankind. 00:37:09.500 |
Because whether you're good, whether you're bad, we will all die. 00:37:13.500 |
But the second part when it says, "After this comes judgment." 00:37:17.500 |
It's the second death that the purpose of the gospel helps us to deal with. 00:37:24.500 |
It's the wrong or incomplete understanding of the gospel 00:37:28.500 |
causes people to live their lives focused on this world. 00:37:31.500 |
God is not fair, God is not fair, God is not fair. 00:37:35.500 |
But if you understood, if you read the Bible carefully, 00:37:38.500 |
the starting point of the gospel is understanding that we've offended a holy God. 00:37:45.500 |
And if we die in this natural state, there is judgment waiting. 00:37:50.500 |
And the judgment is described all over scripture, 00:37:53.500 |
and particularly in Jesus' parable, where he talks about gnashing of teeth, 00:37:57.500 |
where there's a hellfire that will burn and will not be quenched, 00:38:03.500 |
And he says that judgment is waiting for all who die in their natural state. 00:38:08.500 |
So why is it, if that is the beginning of the gospel message, 00:38:12.500 |
where so many people who have supposedly heard the gospel 00:38:15.500 |
live the rest of their lives wondering why God is not fair. 00:38:23.500 |
if that is the state that mankind is in, in his natural state, 00:38:31.500 |
How do we guarantee that when we die, that we are not going to face a God who's going to judge? 00:38:40.500 |
The whole point of the tabernacle is to appease the wrath of a holy God. 00:38:46.500 |
It wasn't to get into the tabernacle and say, "Well, if God is pleased, maybe I'll have a better life. 00:38:50.500 |
Maybe he'll give me, you know, maybe he'll bless my business, 00:38:53.500 |
or maybe this will happen, or that will happen." 00:38:57.500 |
The tabernacle was not a place for them to come and build a community. 00:39:02.500 |
The tabernacle was not a place where they came and strategized how they can do away with poverty. 00:39:09.500 |
The church was not a place, the tabernacle was not a place where they can come together 00:39:16.500 |
and how do we strategize to meet the needs of the world? 00:39:21.500 |
The tabernacle's primary purpose was to appease the anger of God. 00:39:30.500 |
So the whole point of the tabernacle, as he says in verse 22, 00:39:33.500 |
"Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness, 00:39:37.500 |
and without forgiveness, we remain under God's wrath." 00:39:42.500 |
There's nothing that any human being who believes this truth, 00:39:47.500 |
that needs to answer and have this answered clearly, than this fact alone. 00:39:59.500 |
In the copy that pointed to the reality that was going to come in Christ, 00:40:05.500 |
what specifically did it teach about forgiveness? 00:40:10.500 |
If the whole point of the sacrifice, the whole point of the tabernacle, 00:40:13.500 |
was to appease the anger of God, how did they receive forgiveness? 00:40:17.500 |
What was the tabernacle that was established, taught the nation of Israel? 00:40:22.500 |
Number one, there's four things I want to highlight this morning. 00:40:24.500 |
Number one, forgiveness requires active repentance and not just passive acceptance. 00:40:31.500 |
Forgiveness requires active repentance and not just passive acceptance. 00:40:35.500 |
You know, even in the way that we present the gospel, 00:40:38.500 |
and after the gospel is presented, we typically will say, 00:40:41.500 |
"Anyone want to accept Jesus Christ? Accept Him." 00:40:45.500 |
And if we're not careful, and I'm not saying that that language in and of itself is wrong, 00:40:49.500 |
but if we're not careful, we can give the impression that God has offended us, 00:40:55.500 |
and He's the one coming and apologizing to us, if we're not careful. 00:41:01.500 |
The way that the gospel is sometimes presented is, "Give Jesus a chance." 00:41:06.500 |
He did not come to give us purpose. That's not our problem. 00:41:16.500 |
You don't have purpose because you don't know who God is, 00:41:21.500 |
God did not send His only begotten Son so that we can live our best lives now. 00:41:28.500 |
Our best lives is meant to be lived in eternity with Christ, not here. 00:41:33.500 |
You see, sometimes if we're not careful, the way that the gospel is presented is man-centered, 00:41:39.500 |
and so even after people accept Jesus, they live man-centered, 00:41:53.500 |
If you read verse 19 and 22, and I'm not going to read all of this, 00:41:56.500 |
but if you read 19 and 22, it gives a glimpse. 00:42:00.500 |
Remember when we were studying the book of Leviticus? 00:42:03.500 |
How tedious every part of this tabernacle was. 00:42:07.500 |
God gave instructions on what animal to sacrifice for what sin. 00:42:11.500 |
He gave instructions on where it needed to be sacrificed, 00:42:15.500 |
who can touch the sacrifices, even the priest, 00:42:18.500 |
what outfit that they were to wear when they're in the tabernacle 00:42:24.500 |
Even when they had to pack up the tent, He said, 00:42:26.500 |
"Only this tribe of the Levites can touch these poles, 00:42:29.500 |
and only this tribe of the Levites can touch the Ark of the Covenant." 00:42:33.500 |
He said the animals had to be without defect. 00:42:37.500 |
Certain animals needed to be slaughtered this way. 00:42:39.500 |
Certain animals needed to be slaughtered that way. 00:42:42.500 |
And then with the blood to sprinkle this, sprinkle that, 00:42:46.500 |
I mean, it is an elaborate description of what was required for them to appease God's anger. 00:42:57.500 |
you didn't just casually walk into the tabernacle and say, 00:43:00.500 |
"Ah, you know, last night I sinned, and I'm so sorry," 00:43:08.500 |
Imagine, the tabernacle served over a million people. 00:43:17.500 |
The DMV is a place where people serve, and we have to renew our license. 00:43:21.500 |
And now, I mean, I think it was a lot better when I was younger, 00:43:24.500 |
but now if you want to go to the DMV, it almost takes three months of appointment, 00:43:30.500 |
And if you just show up without an appointment, you might be there for five, six, seven hours, 00:43:36.500 |
Imagine the tabernacle was serving over a million people, 00:43:44.500 |
And so imagine all of those people, when they sinned, 00:43:48.500 |
had to come to the tabernacle and give sacrifice. 00:43:52.500 |
So not only were there tedious instructions on what they were to do, 00:43:58.500 |
the fact that even going to the tabernacle required much planning. 00:44:02.500 |
My guess is they probably had to make reservations. 00:44:05.500 |
If it takes three months to get to the DMV to deal with our license, right, 00:44:12.500 |
imagine how backed up the tabernacle must have been every single day. 00:44:18.500 |
See, all of that taught the nation of Israel that when they wanted to repent, 00:44:23.500 |
when they wanted to appease the anger of God, 00:44:25.500 |
there was this ritual that they had to go through, 00:44:29.500 |
and all of that taught the nation of Israel repentance was not a casual acceptance. 00:44:38.500 |
That's why in Matthew 3, 7-8, "But when he saw many Pharisees, Jesus, 00:44:43.500 |
and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, 'You brood of vipers, 00:44:47.500 |
who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 00:44:50.500 |
Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance.'" 00:44:54.500 |
Repentance wasn't simply acknowledging, "You know what? 00:45:00.500 |
And if we're not careful, repentance becomes nothing more than acknowledging that it's wrong. 00:45:07.500 |
Repentance means to turn away from whatever it is. 00:45:11.500 |
It's not repentance just to say, "You know what? I agree with you, God. 00:45:17.500 |
The word for repentance means metanoia, to change your mind. 00:45:21.500 |
But it doesn't simply mean that you thought it was right, 00:45:26.500 |
and all of a sudden now you believe it's wrong. 00:45:29.500 |
It is a call to turn away from whatever it is that we believe is wrong. 00:45:34.500 |
In 1 Thessalonians 1.9, when the Thessalonians met Christ, 00:45:45.500 |
"For they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you, 00:45:49.500 |
and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God." 00:45:55.500 |
They turned from their idols to serve the living God. 00:45:59.500 |
Now, as I mentioned several weeks ago about the Hindu lady 00:46:04.500 |
who wanted to accept Jesus Christ but had no intentions of ever turning away from their idols. 00:46:10.500 |
And our idols in our secular, humanistic, materialistic society 00:46:15.500 |
is the pursuit of money for our hope, for our security, for our refuge. 00:46:21.500 |
So that pursuit for many Christians has never been put away. 00:46:26.500 |
And so we pursue the world while we accept Jesus Christ. 00:46:31.500 |
And for some reason, that has become normal in our culture. 00:46:36.500 |
In fact, if you don't do that, what do they say? 00:46:45.500 |
And then if you pursue Christ passionately, you say, 00:46:48.500 |
"Oh man, you shouldn't just be a lay person. You should be a pastor." 00:46:55.500 |
because you're passionate about pursuing Christ. 00:46:58.500 |
But for whatever the reason, we've delineated between a natural repentance and following Christ, 00:47:09.500 |
We made it a unique thing for a few Christians. 00:47:13.500 |
And those people who are leaders should model that. 00:47:16.500 |
For the rest of us, God is okay with us continuing to have our idols 00:47:20.500 |
and just casually and passively accepting Christ. 00:47:28.500 |
Ephesians 2, 1-2, it says, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 00:47:32.500 |
in which you formerly walked, according to the course of this world, 00:47:36.500 |
according to the prince of the powers of the air, 00:47:38.500 |
of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience." 00:47:42.500 |
Repentance means to turn away from our idols and to turn to the living God. 00:47:50.500 |
And so, first thing, imagine if you were a Jew living at that time. 00:47:56.500 |
Again, it was no casual event for you to go to the tabernacle. 00:48:01.500 |
You didn't just wake up and say, "Oh, I feel bad. I'm going to go to the tabernacle. 00:48:04.500 |
I'm going to take care of this and then I'm going to just get back to my life." 00:48:10.500 |
It required probably an atonement, clearing of your schedule, 00:48:15.500 |
and all of that because you were convicted that you needed to atone for your sins. 00:48:26.500 |
You can't separate the tabernacle with the priest. 00:48:29.500 |
When you think of priest, you think, "Well, where's the tabernacle?" 00:48:32.500 |
When you think of the tabernacle, it's like, "Where's the priest?" 00:48:35.500 |
Why did God do that? Because it's extra work. 00:48:38.500 |
Now, we know that these priests were not holier than hither people. 00:48:42.500 |
They didn't survey the nation of Israel and say, "Well, these guys are holier, 00:48:45.500 |
so they're going to represent me and them to me." 00:48:52.500 |
If you study the history of Israel, you'll find that the Levites were just as guilty as anybody else. 00:48:59.500 |
But the reason why God established a mediator, again, 00:49:02.500 |
it was a copy of the reality that was going to be found in Christ. 00:49:06.500 |
This was to teach the nation of Israel, again, 00:49:09.500 |
that they were not to casually walk into the tabernacle. 00:49:12.500 |
They needed to consider carefully which path that they were going to go through. 00:49:18.500 |
They needed somebody to mediate for their sins, 00:49:21.500 |
and obviously this ultimately pointed to the coming of Christ. 00:49:27.500 |
"For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, 00:49:30.500 |
a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, 00:49:34.500 |
now to appear in the presence of God for us." 00:49:37.500 |
The tabernacle only represented the presence of God. 00:49:41.500 |
What Jesus did was he mediated into the actual presence of God. 00:49:46.500 |
And so now he says he is a mediator between us and God, 00:49:53.500 |
And that's why we have eternal security, because he stands between us for eternity. 00:49:59.500 |
And it was, again, to teach them the desperate need for Jesus Christ. 00:50:04.500 |
You know, years ago, the term "evangelical Christian" had to be placed, 00:50:10.500 |
instead of saying that they're just Christians because Jehovah's Witnesses were calling themselves Christian, 00:50:15.500 |
the false gospel teachers were calling themselves Christians, 00:50:18.500 |
the Mormons were calling themselves Christians. 00:50:21.500 |
And so they needed to identify, "No, we're evangelical Christians." 00:50:26.500 |
And evangelical Christians meant that in the core doctrine, 00:50:30.500 |
they believed the same thing about the identity of Christ and the gospel message. 00:50:34.500 |
Today, that term "evangelical" has been so watered down. 00:50:39.500 |
There are people who call themselves evangelicals who will say openly and publicly 00:50:44.500 |
that Jesus is not the only way, he's the best way. 00:50:49.500 |
And you have these televangelists who are coming on television when they are asked, 00:50:53.500 |
"Do you believe that Jesus is the only way, that the Hindus and the Buddhists, 00:50:56.500 |
that when they die, they're not going to go to heaven?" 00:50:59.500 |
And the response that they give is, "Well, who am I to judge? 00:51:05.500 |
You know, life is hard enough as it is. I'm not going to--only God can judge, 00:51:10.500 |
If you're not in the position to make that clear, 00:51:12.500 |
you're not in the position to speak for God at all. 00:51:16.500 |
Because the Bible says, "He who preaches a different gospel other than what I have preached to you, 00:51:22.500 |
And the fundamental need for the atonement of Christ 00:51:27.500 |
was because that was the only way, only through the blood of Christ. 00:51:32.500 |
If there was another way for a sinful man to appease the anger of God, 00:51:38.500 |
it would be the greatest injustice that God would send his only begotten Son 00:51:44.500 |
and crucify him, allow him to suffer what he has suffered, as just a way. 00:51:51.500 |
If there was any other way, if there was even one other way 00:51:55.500 |
to give his only begotten Son to suffer and absorb our sins 00:52:00.500 |
and to present him as just a good way, just as a way. 00:52:08.500 |
You think if there was another way I would have sent my Son? 00:52:11.500 |
You think if somebody else could mediate, if there was another path to get to me, 00:52:15.500 |
that I would have ever allowed that to happen to my Son? 00:52:21.500 |
As these televangelists are more concerned about what the non-Christians would say 00:52:25.500 |
and how they would be offended than to consider how God would be offended. 00:52:32.500 |
If anybody is in doubt that there is only one mediator between us and God, 00:52:38.500 |
Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth, and no one comes to the Father but through me." 00:52:53.500 |
In 923, "Therefore it was necessary for copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, 00:52:58.500 |
but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." 00:53:02.500 |
Better. Now that's as understatement as you can get. 00:53:07.500 |
Imagine if you spent all your life investing a good chunk of your paycheck for your retirement, 00:53:13.500 |
and at the point of your retirement you realized you went to the banker or whoever was managing money 00:53:19.500 |
and they said you have nothing in the bank account. 00:53:24.500 |
Especially the more, the harder you work to invest in that portfolio, 00:53:29.500 |
the more disillusioned, the more angry you would become. 00:53:33.500 |
Because it was a lot of money that you've invested in that. 00:53:39.500 |
Let's say 50%, 60% of your money went to that. 00:53:43.500 |
Now, think about it as a Jew, a good faithful Jew in the old covenant. 00:53:49.500 |
In the new covenant, there's a lot of people who say, "Oh, 10%, that's too much. That's a lot of money." 00:53:55.500 |
And I remember somebody years ago who talked about they were having a hard time giving their 10% or tie, 00:54:03.500 |
and they realized that every 10th that they give, that this is a payment for a good Mercedes. 00:54:11.500 |
Right? It's like Mercedes. I know, Mercedes is not considered the best car. 00:54:16.500 |
Maybe the best Tesla out there. Whatever car is good. Right? 00:54:25.500 |
It's like, "Oh, man, if I don't pay this money, then I can literally get, drive the nicest car that I can want." 00:54:34.500 |
An Old Testament saint, if they're a faithful Jew, if you added up all the things that God mandated, right? 00:54:46.500 |
If you added all the things that God mandated of a faithful Jew, 00:54:50.500 |
they say it comes out to somewhere around 35%. 35%. 00:55:01.500 |
And you have the free will offerings. When God gave you a great harvest, you would give a thank offering to him. 00:55:06.500 |
Or something good would happen, and you would give an offering on top of that. 00:55:10.500 |
And then on top of all of that, you gave these sacrifices. 00:55:15.500 |
A lamb or a goat for a farmer at that time would have been somewhere around 3-5 days of his wages. 00:55:22.500 |
That's one lamb. I'm not even talking about a bull. 00:55:26.500 |
One lamb would have been 5 days. 3-5 days of his wages. 00:55:30.500 |
So, on top of the 35%, on top of whatever else you gave to God, 00:55:40.500 |
A conservative estimate is somewhere around 40-50% of your income 00:55:45.500 |
was placed into these sacrifices to give to God. 00:55:50.500 |
Now, imagine at the end of that, Jesus comes and says, 00:55:54.500 |
"You've added nothing. There's nothing in your portfolio." 00:55:59.500 |
The point of all of that was to point to the reality that was going to come in Christ. 00:56:04.500 |
So, what was the point? What was God trying to teach the nation of Israel? 00:56:14.500 |
The one that is coming, the sacrifice that's going to be given to you, 00:56:19.500 |
whatever it is that you have placed in order to come to God, 00:56:23.500 |
is going to pale in comparison to the cost that God is going to pay to bring you to Him. 00:56:29.500 |
And so, that's what the tabernacle taught the nation of Israel. 00:56:36.500 |
"having been offered once to bear the sins of many." 00:56:41.500 |
See, no matter how costly these lambs were to the farmer or to the individual, 00:56:46.500 |
he had to do it again because it would only appease the sin of that person for that event. 00:56:52.500 |
But only Christ's sacrifice could be offered up once for all for many sins. 00:57:00.500 |
And there's a reason why Christ, His sacrifice, 00:57:06.500 |
Only the Son of God's sacrifice could have appeased the sins of many once for all. 00:57:12.500 |
And that's what it says in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 17 and on. 00:57:16.500 |
It says, "If you address Father, the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, 00:57:21.500 |
conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth, 00:57:24.500 |
knowing that you were not redeemed with the perishable things like silver or gold, 00:57:28.500 |
or from your futile way of life, inherited from your forefathers, 00:57:32.500 |
but with the precious blood as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." 00:57:40.500 |
When we recognize what it is that we have in Christ, 00:57:45.500 |
the first thing that it does in us is produce worship, thankfulness. 00:57:50.500 |
When we live week to week, focus on the things that God hasn't given us. 00:57:57.500 |
Sente has only begun and says, "Yeah, I believe that Jesus died for me, but why did He make me this way? 00:58:02.500 |
I wish I was better looking. I wish I lived here. I wish I had parents that were like this." 00:58:06.500 |
And you live the rest of your lives kind of like, "Yeah, yeah, thank you. 00:58:09.500 |
Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me on the cross. But yeah, how about my job? 00:58:13.500 |
How about my family? How about this? And how about that?" 00:58:16.500 |
The first thing that it says, it kills your--you're not worshiping. 00:58:23.500 |
You can come to church, you can serve, you can give, but you're not worshiping. 00:58:27.500 |
Because the fundamental foundation of worship is an overflowing gratitude of what God has done for me. 00:58:36.500 |
If we do not mature, you know, maybe you've heard the gospel and you didn't fully understand the cost, 00:58:43.500 |
but then because we've never pursued, we've never understood, we've never matured in our faith, 00:58:48.500 |
there is never a growing gratitude for Christ. 00:58:52.500 |
And so we just kind of like, what Christ did for us, justification is a long history behind, 00:58:57.500 |
something that happened years ago, but today, what have you done for me lately? 00:59:03.500 |
You know, when we're young, we don't think twice about the house that we lived in, 00:59:09.500 |
the food that we ate, you know, the shoes that we wore. 00:59:13.500 |
We don't think about that because it's just a given, you know. 00:59:17.500 |
But guess what? Somebody paid for those shoes. Somebody. 00:59:23.500 |
You know the food you ate, breakfast, lunch, and dinner? 00:59:27.500 |
That didn't just pop out of nowhere. That wasn't magic. 00:59:31.500 |
You didn't just wake up one morning and then, poof, food just appeared on your table, you know. 00:59:37.500 |
You know the clothes that you wore when you were a kid? 00:59:42.500 |
Somebody got that for you. Somebody. Not sure who. 00:59:48.500 |
Somebody. You know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:59:51.500 |
It didn't cost you anything, but it wasn't free. 00:59:55.500 |
You know, it isn't until we have children and we start raising kids, 01:00:00.500 |
and we start realizing, man, my parents did that for me. 01:00:07.500 |
When we're younger, we're always comparing with the other guy who has a better car, 01:00:11.500 |
and better shoes, and better clothes, and better this, and better that. 01:00:15.500 |
And until you raise your own kids, you know, I mean, you know it mentally, 01:00:21.500 |
but you don't fully understand, like, everything requires payment. 01:00:27.500 |
So you have to work. You have to, especially if you come from immigrant parents, right, 01:00:35.500 |
You know, people always ask, like, oh, is your church doing okay, you know, 01:00:38.500 |
because all these churches are having problems because people are laid off, they're furloughed. 01:00:43.500 |
For the most part, our church is okay because most of us are, you know, white-collar workers. 01:00:49.500 |
White-collar jobs are--it's not completely safe, but it's much safer. 01:00:55.500 |
And so we live in a neighborhood where I think majority of the people are doing okay. 01:01:00.500 |
If you come from an immigrant family, you know, it doesn't matter what kind of education they had, 01:01:06.500 |
whatever country they came from, when they came here, they had to do physical labor. 01:01:14.500 |
It's like, yeah, you know the food that I ate, the thing that I complained about, 01:01:20.500 |
My dad had to empty trash cans so that we can have food. 01:01:24.500 |
My mom had to work at a, you know, dry cleaners in 105-degree heat in Burbank 01:01:38.500 |
And part of maturing in life is recognizing that what we have was given to us. 01:01:45.500 |
See, even as Christians, sometimes we just take for granted. 01:01:48.500 |
It's like, oh, yeah, go to church, and how come the church isn't giving me this and this and that? 01:01:54.500 |
The very fact that you are here even understanding anything that I'm saying 01:01:58.500 |
is because it was given to you by the blood of Christ. 01:02:02.500 |
It was his blood that caused you to open your ears that you can see and hear who he is. 01:02:09.500 |
If it wasn't by the grace of God, if it wasn't for the sacrifice of the Son of God, 01:02:22.500 |
See, part of maturing is recognizing the costliness of what it is that he has given us. 01:02:29.500 |
And our natural response when we recognize the cost of God the Father giving his only begotten Son, 01:02:37.500 |
and Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 01:02:43.500 |
but he emptied himself, and he became nothing. 01:02:45.500 |
For what? So that you and I can eat, so you and I can live, so you and I can have hope in eternity. 01:02:54.500 |
And recognizing that and growing appreciation of that is what causes true worship. 01:03:02.500 |
Fourth and finally, forgiveness is the basis of our hope. 01:03:07.500 |
Hebrews 9, 27, "And as much as it is appointed for men to die once, you will die, 01:03:18.500 |
But you know, part of the problem of living in a rich world is that we marginalize death. 01:03:28.500 |
And even then, the dead body is dressed up nice, put makeup on, 01:03:33.500 |
and so to make them look like they're alive, as close to being alive as possible. 01:03:39.500 |
And so for a brief period, we think of death. 01:03:43.500 |
But for the rest of our lives, we marginalize that we know it's real, and it's theoretically real, but it's not real. 01:03:51.500 |
And that's why so many people are freaking out because of this virus, because all of a sudden, death is real. 01:03:58.500 |
You can die. No, no, no, no, no, not you can die. You will die. 01:04:02.500 |
"In as much as it is appointed for all men to die once, you will die." 01:04:09.500 |
Whether you die as a young person or old person, whether you die violently or you die peacefully, 01:04:22.500 |
See, but he says in verse 28, "So because of that, because of the state of mankind, 01:04:29.500 |
God could have said, "You know what, I am disgusted." Just like Caleb was describing, you know, 01:04:44.500 |
If you see, if you walk into a bathroom and somebody barfed in there, right, 01:04:51.500 |
I can't use that bathroom. It's disgusting. You don't go looking for a mop. 01:04:55.500 |
That's not your responsibility. You don't get paid for doing that. 01:04:59.500 |
If you go into, you know, a public transportation and somebody defecated, 01:05:03.500 |
you don't walk in there and say, "Hey, give me a trash can, trash bag." 01:05:09.500 |
God saw the filth in us and he didn't turn away. 01:05:16.500 |
He said, "Because it is appointed for man to die once, after this comes judgment, 01:05:20.500 |
so because of that, Christ also having been offered once to bear sins for many, 01:05:26.500 |
will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, 01:05:37.500 |
For those who have been forgiven, whose sins have been atoned for, 01:05:42.500 |
His glory means consummation of our marriage that he started here. 01:05:50.500 |
But you know, again, because of a superficial and partial understanding of the gospel, 01:05:56.500 |
most people, when we talk about glory, we only think of heaven. 01:06:01.500 |
And I've heard people say that heaven is the presence of God and hell is the absence of God. 01:06:08.500 |
There is nothing in the scripture that says that. 01:06:19.500 |
And typically, if you see Hollywood, heaven is where Satan is God. 01:06:27.500 |
And so people have this image, and a lot of Christians even have this image of, 01:06:30.500 |
you know, Christ is present in heaven, but in hell he's not there. 01:06:34.500 |
And that's why it's so horrible, because the goodness of God is not there. 01:06:43.500 |
When we talk about glory, glory basically means to take the essence of who he is and to magnify it. 01:06:51.500 |
When Jesus was going to the cross, he said, "It is time for me to glorify you and for you to glorify me." 01:06:57.500 |
And so when we think about heaven as Christians, we think of his mercy, his compassion, his gentleness, 01:07:03.500 |
his patience, but at the same time, the cross wouldn't make sense if that's all it was. 01:07:10.500 |
The cross is the cross because where the wrath of God was placed upon his son. 01:07:16.500 |
His greatest anger, all the sins of the elect were placed upon his son. 01:07:24.500 |
And so the only way the wrath of God could have been appeased was by the cross. 01:07:30.500 |
So the glory of Christ does not only mean the goodness of God. 01:07:36.500 |
The glory of Christ also means the judgment of God. 01:07:41.500 |
Hell was created by God for Satan and his angels. 01:07:46.500 |
And those who continue to follow him will also be judged. 01:07:53.500 |
When Christ comes in his glory, for those whose sins have been atoned for, 01:07:59.500 |
we'll see the glory of Christ in his magnificence and his compassion, 01:08:03.500 |
and our love for him and his love for us will be consummated. 01:08:07.500 |
But for those who do not know him, where the wrath of God remains on him, his glory means terror. 01:08:15.500 |
And it is more terrible than anything that you and I could possibly imagine. 01:08:20.500 |
More terrible than this disease, more terrible than an atomic bomb, 01:08:24.500 |
more terrible than anything that you and I can imagine. 01:08:27.500 |
What we see in the book of Revelation, as terrible as Revelation is, 01:08:35.500 |
You ever wonder why the book of Revelation, the judgment of God, comes in intervals? 01:08:40.500 |
Why it doesn't just come all at once and judge at the end? 01:08:44.500 |
Through all of his judgments, through the seal judgments, 01:08:48.500 |
through the trumpet judgments, through the bowl judgments. 01:08:50.500 |
Why does he go through this elaborate drama of judgment after judgment after judgment? 01:08:56.500 |
Because each stage of judgment is an opportunity for sinners to repent. 01:09:01.500 |
So even the book of Revelation is a revelation of the kindness of God. 01:09:06.500 |
Because once the final white throne judgment comes, it is the end. 01:09:11.500 |
And there's a reason why there isn't an elaborate description of the final judgment. 01:09:17.500 |
Because it is going to be more terrible than anything that you and I can imagine. 01:09:22.500 |
Knowing, knowing this, shouldn't our primary concern be about the second judgment? 01:09:34.500 |
We are so tangled up right now, worried about how to make this world a better place. 01:09:42.500 |
And sometimes by people who have never shared the gospel, 01:09:45.500 |
all of a sudden they're so concerned about making sure that the boat that is headed for judgment 01:10:06.500 |
We need to stand for justice. Don't get me wrong. 01:10:08.500 |
The Bible says it ought to be the character of a Christian. 01:10:12.500 |
But the mission of the church is to spread the gospel. 01:10:19.500 |
Because you can make this place the best place to live, and at the end, there's still judgment. 01:10:26.500 |
The hope, only hope for mankind, is the blood atonement of Jesus Christ. 01:10:32.500 |
So I pray, again, with all my heart, with all the chaos that's going on around us, 01:10:37.500 |
at least for you and I, that we would give our energy to things that's not going to change. 01:10:43.500 |
People ask me, "Hey, Pastor Peter, how come you don't talk about the political stuff that's going on around us?" 01:11:00.500 |
Ask me about your shoes. If you really want me to know, I'll tell you. 01:11:04.500 |
If you really want to know, you don't want to know. 01:11:07.500 |
Because if you ask me my opinion, I'll give you my opinion. 01:11:11.500 |
I don't like giving false compliments because then it doesn't mean anything. 01:11:18.500 |
If I don't like it, I'll tell you I don't like it. 01:11:20.500 |
So don't ask me if you really don't want my opinion. 01:11:22.500 |
If you want like a puff piece, you don't want me. 01:11:26.500 |
But the reason why I don't give my opinions up on the pulpit is because it's my opinion. 01:11:31.500 |
That's my opinion. Political stuff that's going on. 01:11:36.500 |
I'm a Republican. Does that offend some of you? 01:11:43.500 |
But I don't make that my primary talk on the pulpit because that's my opinion. 01:11:50.500 |
Our churches should not be divided because of our opinions. 01:11:53.500 |
We should not be fighting each other because of our opinions. 01:12:00.500 |
What you and I need to stand for is a truth that 10 years later we don't look back and say, 01:12:05.500 |
"Oh, I was wrong about that. Oh, I changed my mind. Oh, the culture has changed. 01:12:12.500 |
That is not what this pulpit is for. That's not what this church is for. 01:12:16.500 |
We stand for truth, and truth does not change. 01:12:24.500 |
So we need to stand for the truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ. 01:12:28.500 |
And we have to make sure that we are anchored in that. 01:12:31.500 |
And don't move, no matter what's happening around us as Christians, 01:12:35.500 |
so that the world will know that there is hope only in the name of Jesus Christ. 01:12:41.500 |
Gracious and loving Father, we thank you so much for your continued grace and love toward us. 01:12:54.500 |
I pray for the drama of the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the priesthood, the cost. 01:13:03.500 |
May it all make deep impressions in our hearts, Lord God, 01:13:06.500 |
that we may recalibrate our mind and our heart according to the gospel that you've given us. 01:13:11.500 |
Help us to live for the things that are eternal, not just temporal. 01:13:16.500 |
Help us to be united, Lord God, in our voices to honor and glorify you in all things. 01:13:21.500 |
So we pray, Father, that as a church, that you would keep us grounded. 01:13:26.500 |
And as the world is desperately seeking for answers, 01:13:30.500 |
I pray, Father God, that we would be ready in season and out of season 01:13:34.500 |
to give the reason why we are so stubbornly attached to you. 01:13:38.500 |
May your grace be sufficient for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 01:14:13.500 |
Our mission long knowing it gets not this wrong 01:14:53.500 |
He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor 01:15:25.500 |
We stirred, we felt, and we could never afford 01:16:44.500 |
Heavenly Father we pray for our brothers and sisters whether they are watching at home or whether we are physically together. 01:16:53.500 |
I pray Father God that during these confusing times help us Lord God not to be confused where the truth is, where our hope is. 01:17:02.500 |
That as the author of Hebrews reminds us over and over again Lord God to fix our eyes upon Christ the author and the perfecter of our faith. 01:17:11.500 |
Help us Lord God to be the greater light especially now. 01:17:15.500 |
Help us to be sensitive to the opportunities that are available that are arising because of what's going on. 01:17:20.500 |
Help us Lord not to be troubled Lord God knowing that you are sovereign. 01:17:24.500 |
Help us Lord God to not live in fear but with power and discipline that you've given us. 01:17:31.500 |
I pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to work powerfully in our lives. 01:17:35.500 |
That not only in our thinking but in our hearts in the very things that we do and we pursue that you would continue to sanctify our affections. 01:17:44.500 |
That when we say that we love you that it would be a true confession of our hearts. 01:17:48.500 |
I pray Father God that you would establish the leaders in this generation Lord God to have courage that the truth of your word Lord will become more and more precious now than ever. 01:17:58.500 |
I ask Lord God that the churches that are standing firm Lord in you that you would strengthen them further. 01:18:03.500 |
I pray Father God for the leaders in the churches in our neighbor in our area Father God that you would keep us united as the enemies continue to attack. 01:18:12.500 |
And we pray Father God that the church would expand that the revival would break out as persecution grows. 01:18:18.500 |
Help us Lord God to love you more that our affection for you would grow and will be deepened and that we would truly be able to worship you in spirit and in truth. 01:18:28.500 |
Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and eternal love of God the Father restore, establish and overwhelm your children for the sake of your glory. Amen. 01:18:57.500 |
He came to earth, he lived forever. He lived and died. 01:19:15.500 |
To buy my party, an empty grave, he said to me, "My Savior lives." 01:20:08.500 |
And life is worth the living just because he lives.