Andy Stanley Sermons [September 13, 2020] | Trusting God When You Don't Understand

hey everybody welcome to your move where we help you make better decisions and live with fewer regrets i'm andy stanley and i'll be your guide and today we're talking about fear did you know it's possible not to be afraid even when there's something to be afraid of that's right it is possible not to be afraid even when there's something to be afraid of and that's what we're talking about right here on your move [Music] so we are in part five of our series you're not the boss of me and the subtitle kind of says it all this is kind of a how-to series how to say no to the emotions that compete for control because all of us have emotions that compete for control of our lives they compete for control of our mood and they compete for control of our mouth our mood and our mouth and our mood and our mouth can get us in trouble and certainly undermine the relationships that are most valuable and most important to us so in this series so far we've talked about guilt we've said guilt you're not the boss of me we talked about envy we said envy you're not the boss of me and today i want to talk about something that jesus actually talked a lot about i want us to talk about how to keep fear from becoming the boss of us none of us want fear or worry or even anxiety to be the boss of us and for many of you fear has never been the boss of you in fact for some of you the people closest to you are like you could use a little fear okay you could use a little worry you're just so optimistic you just kind of blaze a trail and you know but for most people there is an element of fear or worry that plagues us and from time to time relationship to relationship or in some specific environments or in some particular area of our life fear easily becomes the boss of us fear as you know it robs us of opportunities um fear interferes in our relationships it impacts how we parent it impacts our marriage um it keeps us up at night but the interesting thing about fear before we jump into how to keep it from being the boss of us and this is so important fear is obviously not always a bad thing you already knew that but here's here's the cool thing about fear fear is actually a byproduct fear is actually a byproduct of something that is so important that none of us would want to give up what creates fear fear is the byproduct of our ability as human beings to accumulate knowledge and project that knowledge into the future that's what allows us to fear but this is one of the greatest gifts that god has given humanity and this is what in fact sets us apart and in some ways this is what makes us human that we are able to collect information and pass it along generation to generation to generation so that this information and knowledge base builds and builds and builds so that we're able to make progress this ability the ability that sort of underscores or allows us to fear is also the ability that allows us to imagine right it's it's the ability that gives it gives us the ability to hope it gives us the ability to dream with without it you couldn't look forward to anything you would you would never say without this ability you would never say well i can't wait because i can't wait is you're anticipating something good based on what you know right now but it also creates the potential for fear because it creates an endless series of what ifs because what if is what about the future based on what i know about the present now as you know as well sometimes fear is a good thing sometimes fear is a parenting strategy i'm not recommending that but you know every parent has used a little fear from time to time right but you don't want and i don't want fear to be the boss of me right i mean there's a place for fear but we don't want it to run or ruin our lives it always puts us off balance in fact whenever we allow any of these emotions to take control of our lives we are immediately off balance which means we're always distracted we're overly protective and fear in particular causes us to become very very self-absorbed now what's so fascinating to me and i hope to make this fascinating to you is jesus said so much about fear but in fact jesus entire ministry especially with his 12 apostles part of the journey was to teach them how not to be afraid because the bottom line for jesus teaching when it came to fear like jesus just give us the bottom line when it comes to fear here it is all right fear not stop it just quit being afraid thank you jesus that's so helpful i hadn't even thought about that i'll just stop it in other words to use our you know terminology he would say don't let fear or stop allowing fear to be the boss of you right i mean this is his message stop stop being afraid which of course is easy to say but virtually impossible to do and his first this is what's so interesting his first century followers especially the 12 apostles they felt the same way because jesus would say fear not don't be afraid fear not don't be afraid and they were you know during their time with jesus they believed him but what does that mean how do you do that and and isn't that doesn't that seem a little bit naive right so on one occasion jesus has just identified his 12 apostles you know there's all these again if you've been with us everywhere jesus went there was a crowd there was a crowd and then there was a smaller group in the crowd called disciples john calls this group the disciples and this is the smaller crowd that went everywhere jesus went and then within the disciples there were the apostles the men that jesus chose specifically to be his closest group and so he gets them together and he says okay here's the good news now that you've signed on let me tell you what the contract reads i'm going to send you out like sheep among wolves and you're going to be arrested and you're going to be beaten and then he says don't be afraid and they're looking at each other like okay did we miss part of the message i mean is there anything between that it's like you're gonna send us out we're gonna and eventually they were sent out and eventually they were all arrested and eventually they were all beaten and many of them were executed but but just saying at the end of that therefore doesn't be don't be afraid not only did it not take away their fear that doesn't even make any sense so jesus and this is the part we miss jesus took them on a field trip and this was the fear the field trip jesus set up to teach them a lesson about fear and you're you as soon as i start this story many of you will rush to the end because you grew up hearing the story then the text says matthew tells us that jesus got into a boat and his disciples followed him because they're his followers he gets in the boat they do what jesus did jesus in the boat they get in the boat they row out to the middle of the sea of galilee they were heading across not the whole sea but down across a part of the sea and the text tells us matthew tells us that suddenly because this was not unusual for the sea of galilee suddenly not a storm not just a wind a furious storm and this was an unusually furious storm suddenly appears out of nowhere came up on the lake so that the waves swept over the boat now these are not very large boats okay don't picture flannel graph and don't picture sunday school let's just picture reality they're on a very small boat they can't see land in either direction because of the clouds and the rain is sideways and they are soaking wet they're not pretty this isn't rock star jesus nobody's pretty okay all their hair is matted and wet to their face okay um and it's loud many of you been out on boats and storms it is loud to talk to anyone you gotta get right up in their face or you have to yell and then matthew says and you know peter would come along later and you know basically say yeah this is exactly how it happened jesus was sleeping which is almost impossible i think maybe he was faking jesus is laying down soaking wet probably um and as this roaring wind and all of this storm goes on and the disciples went to him and again they didn't wake him up like jesus you know how you wake up your children no no no it's not like that it's like jesus remember no remember i don't want to yell all of this everyone is yelling you can't be heard on this boat unless you're yelling they said they went and woke him up and they said lord save us we're going to drown lord save us we're going to drown lord save us we're going to wake up and jesus props up on one elbow he doesn't even get up and he says loudly you of little faith you and they're like what you there's hair in our face no you of little faith he's having to yell this is so loud and i think he's grinning because they are panicked okay with jesus in the boat you have little faith and then here's this ridiculous question no one would make this up why are you so afraid what why are you so afraid we're afraid because a furious storm just came up on the sea and the boat is sinking and water is flooding the boat and we may drown and when you may drown you are afraid what a silly question that's why we are afraid but this isn't a miracle story to show that jesus had power over nature he's teaching them about fear and look what it says when then this is the best part then when he finally got up he didn't panic god doesn't panic your savior doesn't panic your heavenly father doesn't panic isn't that good to know we panic we panic because we project on the future into the future based on what we know and what we've seen and what we've experienced but god who created time doesn't panic this is what jesus wants them to see perhaps this is what jesus wants you to see and me to see this is so powerful then he got up and he rebuked the winds and the waves he spoke to them and it was completely calm now it's not unusual for this region of the world for these storms to come barreling down through the valley and just you know create havoc in the sea of galilee and then after a few minutes or a little while the storms move on through but for whatever the reason as soon as jesus started talking the storm moved on through and what happens next is the point of this whole incident and the men on the boat with jesus were amazed of course they were and they asked the perfect question in fact this is the most important question anyone can ever ask they ask the perfect question this is the question that if you're not a believer you used to be you used to be a church person or you went away or you've never considered christianity this is the question i mean you know how did god create the world is there a creator and how big is the universe and is it you know how many billion i mean those are fun things to talk about this is the question what kind of man is this well it's a superman obviously right what kind of man is this even the winds and the waves obey him they were amazed mark who gave who got his information from peter we think peter was probably illiterate and so when he told his story about his time with jesus he told it to mark and mark wrote it down that's why it's called the gospel of mark but the information probably came from peter and peter when peter told mark this story he said and we feared a great fear this was this was mark's version it's like we were afraid and then we were really afraid we were afraid of the storm and then we realized who we were in the boat with and we couldn't get much distance we were we feared a great fear this is so important for somebody somebody here today are watching and listening their latter fear was greater than their former fear their fear of what had just happened their fear of whose presence they were in was greater than their fear of the storm and for a fleeting moment this is so important and for a fleeting moment their confidence in jesus overwhelmed their fear but just for a moment in other words the lesson that jesus was trying to teach them was simply this that you do not have to allow fear to be the boss of you you do not have to allow fear to overwhelm you because there's something more overwhelming you don't have to allow fear to become the centerpiece of your life the centerpiece of my life because there's something more capable and more powerful than fear so then while it was still fresh on their minds you know they get back and they kind of get back to business and you know a few days later jesus comes back around to this topic and he's like okay let me talk about this we had a field trip it did not go so well everybody failed but now you know now that it's fresh on your mind let me let me give you an illustration from nature and so here's what he says to the guys look don't be afraid we're like yes we heard that we got that do not be afraid of those who kill the body can i kind of tease this out a little bit i think what jesus would say i don't want to put words in jesus mouth he doesn't need my help don't be afraid of anything that can kill your body don't be afraid of those who kill the body don't be afraid of things that threaten your body but cannot kill your soul in this moment jesus underscores what many of us grew up believing that there is more to you than me it's the eye and there is more to you than your body and there is a you that goes beyond the you that we can see jesus believe that don't be afraid of those who can only kill the body and can't do anything of the soul if you're gonna fear something if you're gonna play something at the center of your heart and your emotions you should be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell it's like hyperbole it's like he's like hey you know if you're going to fear something you should fear god if you want to fear somebody you should fear the one that controls your soul not just your body and then it's like he was saying look don't you remember that boat ride let's review the boat ride remember what happened you were afraid of the wrong thing you were fearing for your life you were fearing a storm and it wasn't that there wasn't anything to be afraid of there was something to be afraid of but there was something or somebody you should have been more afraid of you should have been more dialed into that's the point then he says this are not to and this is so personal so personal he says guys aren't two sparrows sold for a penny to which we're like i don't know and they're like yeah i mean this is just their world they lived in sure they are yet not one of them these sparrows that are basically worthless yet not one of these sparrows will fall to the ground outside your father's care and even the very hairs he's talking to his guys on your head are all numbered so don't be afraid you this is it don't be afraid why because you are worth more than many sparrows don't be afraid you are worth more than many sparrows don't be afraid god considers you extraordinarily valuable and this was jesus way of saying yes god is a personal god god knows your name god knows your circumstances he is concerned about your personal lives he knows what's going on and he cares and for many of us in the deepest valley for many of us facing the thing that just overwhelms us with fear to know with confidence that god knows what you're going through to know with confidence that god knows you and many times that's all we need and jesus says rest assured god knows and god cares even when bad things are happening even when your prayers go unanswered you can trust him he knows and he cares wow so finally they're starting to get it it's like okay i think we got it so we were afraid because there was something to be afraid of but we got our eyes off what we should really fear and you're with us and you know our names and you're tracking with us through the circumstances of life and jesus is like okay i think you're getting it how about another field trip so they have another field trip this time it starts off really well another story that you're very familiar with this time they're out in the middle of nowhere um jesus has preached too long maybe that's where we get that and anyway the sun's starting to go down and these people are hungry you know this story disciples or apostles comes to jesus and said we need to send these folks home and they're going to starve they've been out here all day and you went you went a little bit long and jesus is like hey hey i got an idea you feed them they're like right okay we need to send these people no jesus like no no you guys feed them like we can't feed them i mean you know how much money it would cost in fact there's not even enough food in this region to feed all these people jesus is like no you do it you feed them then jesus finds the little boy's lunch remember that and he prays over it and then matthew says guys i was there jesus actually gave broke up the little boy's lunch and split it up between us 12 and said okay feed them and i don't know how to say it any other way but we performed a miracle it was amazing we actually started distributing this food and then all these people were fed and it was like oh my goodness so now the apostles they're at their confidence is at an all-time high look what jesus did look what jesus did through us who is this man this is amazing and then you may remember this the text says immediately as in as soon as every it dawned on everybody what had happened immediately jesus made the 12 and the disciples get into the boat now why did he have to coerce them and force them to get into the boat because they remember the last boat ride it's like no we're not getting any more boats with you you get in the boat peter you i'm not getting in the boat you remember what happened last time i had to wake him up we almost drowned i tell you what jesus will just walk well now the apostles know what jesus is up to it's like no no we're we're good we feared not fact we're feared not and we're smarter than that we're not going to get in the boat and jesus literally coerces them into getting into the boat immediately jesus made the disciples get into the boat and he said look i'm not even going with you they're like oh this is not going to go well so he's helping push the boat off the you know off the sand into the sea and he waves he says you go on ahead of me to the other side and i'm going to go dismiss the crowd so he pushes them off they start rowing over to where he's supposed to go meet them the sun goes down next thing you know hours and hours have gone by and they are stuck in the middle of the sea of galilee and they're rowing into a headwind and they're rowing against the wind they're rowing against the wind we're gonna do this you know shortly before dawn the text tells us that jesus went out to them walking on the lake now if you're not a christian or used to be i understand what maybe goes through your mind at this point it's like okay calm in the storm maybe maybe not maybe the storm was just over but see andy this is why i can't be a christian all right so now you're gonna tell me i have to believe that jesus walked on water so let me just say something about this real quick christians don't believe jesus walked on the water because the bible tells us so it is way better than that matthew who was there told us so mark who got his story from peter who was there told us so and john who was with jesus throughout his ministry from the days of the jordan river all the way through the crucifixion resurrection he told us so they were all three eyewitnesses and they were all three there and they're like look i know i'm just telling you this is what happened and not only do they tell us this is what happened they tell us something else they tell us the in their embarrassing response to what happened and here's why that's important i've told you talked about this before but i'll bring it up again i promise because this is a big deal literary critics literary critics use a device referred to as the criteria of embarrassment the criteria of embarrassment goes like this if somebody is writing a story about a revered or respected person they are not going to invent stories that make that person look bad so if there is an account in a story that makes the person who's revered look bad it's probably authentic because no one would have made that up not only would they not have made it up they would probably if it was true have left it out so here's what happened here's what we're told because here's what happened and you know who could blame him when the disciples saw him walking on the lake fail they're terrified they're terrified and they said it's a ghost and they cried out in fear it's like matthew is that what happened yeah i was there we were we just freaked out it's like ah you know peter i mean you spent your whole life on the water i know i know it's so embarrassing you sure you sure mark's going you sure you want me to include this peter yeah put it in there it's what happened nobody make this up and then you know what happened jesus says ah jesus says take courage it is i guys don't be afraid how okay how many times we've done field trips we've done sermons we've done miracles stop being afraid as long as i'm here there's no need to fear as long as i'm with you there's no need to fear as long as i know what's going on in your life and you know that i love and care for you there is no need to fear you do not have to allow fear to be the boss of you but once again it didn't stick this is encouraging to me it didn't stick they feared right up till the very end at the end of jesus ministry you know this part of hope he's on his way to jerusalem they're going with him they've just raised lazarus from the dead they hang around in jerusalem for about a week then they have a passover meal together and jesus says okay listen carefully guys john write this down i am establishing i'm inaugurating a brand new covenant brand new relationship between god and man they're thinking this is it i've already told you guys that we're starting a brand new movement my ecclesia my assembly my congregation i've already told you that nothing's going to stop but they're thinking oh my goodness this is it i'm glad we didn't leave early and he said and i'm going to step into the law i'm going to step into the role of moses here and i'm going to give you a new law a new command this was this is what they've been waiting for i mean they were i mean feeding the 5000 that was one thing this this was the moment they dreamed of this was the moment their parents had told them may one day happen but they didn't dream that it would happen in their lifetime that the messiah god's messiah would show up and reestablish the nation of israel and the kingdom and throw the romans out and then later that night he's arrested and what did they do stand by their man no they panicked they hide they lie they deny then they watched him drag to gog with him and he's crucified and when they knew that jesus was dead boom it's over we don't know who he was we thought we did this was so exciting but it's over and along with everything else jesus taught it's over because jesus said too much about himself we can't keep this dream alive we can't tell these stories because nobody's going to take them seriously because no one can take jesus seriously remember on the boat that day guys we said what kind of man is this what kind of man is this and we were convinced that this was a man that had to be from god but clearly rome can't you know crucify god's messiah we were wrong everything about him everything we believed was wrong everything he said about himself either we misunderstood or he lied and then they peered into an empty tomb and then they met their living friend and they were back in business because listen the resurrection punctuated every single thing jesus taught and everything he said about himself and when jesus rose from the dead suddenly for the first time this is why reading the gospels can be so confusing suddenly for the first time it all made perfect sense especially what jesus had to say about fear don't miss this for us sometimes resurrection is just an easter sunday for them it was every single day it was the source of their confidence it was the source of their boldness it was the source of their strength the world would continue for these guys to be a very scary place but they didn't have to be a scared because they feared they had the greater fear they finally got the lesson of the boat rides they finally got the lesson of the sparrows they finally got fear not fear not i am with you and they feared not and they came out of hiding this is amazing we can't imagine this we can't imagine there's no parallel in our lives and they willingly faced down the very men that had jesus arrested beaten and crucified and then they went on to change the world because fear not is what changed the world a generation of men and women the first generation of christians lost their fear of death and when someone has lost their fear of death it is very difficult to threaten them now fear is a permanent part of the human experience it just is and there are lots of ways to cope but none of us want fear to be the boss of us and peter peter this is so amazing peter who failed both boat rides peter who denied he even knew jesus after that passover meal peter who basically did everything who panicked during jesus arrest that very same peter who lied when questioned who hid years after the resurrection he would dictate a letter to christians first century christians those like us who had have believed but have not seen jesus and here's what he says to you and here's what he says to me based on his experience with jesus he said let me tell you what to do let me tell you what you have been invited to do cast throw hurl heave all of your cares on him why is that going to help us peter because let me tell you what i know that he wants you to know because he cares for you literally transfer all of your worry transfer all of your fretting transfer all of your anxiety transfer all of your fears to him because he cares for you and peter should know because he faced things we can't even imagine he eventually died in nero's realm but he was confident that the promise jesus made him he was confident that the promise jesus made the disciples and the apostles was a promise that he's made you as well that he would say with the psalmist though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death fear you are not the boss of me i already have a boss who conquered life who conquered death he is who he claimed to be he is worthy of my fellowship and he is worthy of my worship and in this way my friends the life of jesus it's an invitation and it's a promise it's an invitation to follow and it's a promise that you can follow without fear follow me fear not fear not even when there's something to be afraid of because i am with you and i care for you fear not [Music] [Music] hey everybody jeff here did you know that you're one of over 70 million annual listens or watches of a year move episode that's right 70 million the reach and influence of your move is growing thanks to all of our friends like you who faithfully tune in and support what we're doing so far in 2017 we've continued the westward expansion with new broadcasts on nbc after snl in the fresno and chico reading areas of california as well as boise and twin falls idaho with these additions your move can now be found on nbc after snl in 25 u.s cities so stay up to date with the latest tv schedule using the your move app you know just in case you run into someone in need of better decisions or for anyone who's evolved past television your move episodes will be found in more digital and online media spaces coming up later this year stay tuned for those announcements because we'll definitely need your help in spreading the word we really do believe that the next 30 minutes will help you make better decisions and live with fewer regrets so today we're going to continue with andy's fourth message in a six part series what makes you happy if your goal is happiness no amount of money alone will ever be enough in this episode andy explains how the way you view money can actually help you find peace one of the things that breaks my heart and especially as a pastor i get you know ringside seat for way too much of this is watching people undermine their own happiness watching people make decisions that really just undermines their own happiness and you've all been in this situation where you can see it coming it's like watching an automobile accident in slow motion it's like you watch the way this this couple treats each other and you think oh there's trouble on the horizon you watch the way somebody's raising their kids and you want to go you know you're raising them wrong but you know you dare not do that but then 10 years later there's trouble and you sort of saw it coming a little bit and it's not that you're all that smart or have a crystal ball but you're you're adult so you sometimes you just see this coming and it's tragic to watch people undermine their own happiness there is enough unavoidable pain in life without us creating unnecessary pain for ourselves isn't that true i mean there's just we're all going to have trouble in this life in fact one of the promises jesus made that everyone knows comes true is he says in this life you're going to have trouble nobody writes that down as a life promise and puts it up on their mirror oh yeah then this life will happen because you just know that so with all the unavoidable trouble why in the world would you create more trouble for yourself and it just breaks my heart when i see people make decisions that again ultimately not initially not immediately or we wouldn't do it but ultimately undermines their own happiness and what i've discovered and what i've observed and what we're going to talk about today is oftentimes the reason we undermine our own happiness is confusion around these two ideas pleasure and happiness pleasure and happiness so today i want to talk specifically about these two words and specifically about the relationship between these two words pleasure and happiness but to get there i want to begin with something jesus said that if you grew up in church perhaps you've heard and i'm not going to give you a lot of context we're going to jump right into the middle but these are powerful powerful words jesus was teaching one day and he was teaching and the people weren't following him very well so he changed word pictures right in the middle of a sermon you know to try to get people's attention and as he's preaching this message he made a statement that sets us up for our discussion today and here's what he said jesus said the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy and when you read this within context when jesus refers to a thief jesus is referring to anybody any person that steps into anyone's life and as a result steal something kill something or destroy something it can be something specific it could be it could be something in general when you think about your life anyone that steps into your life or anyone you intersect with that ultimately as a result of that relationship something is stolen something is killed or something is destroyed jesus would say within the context of this teaching that was a thief now here's the tricky part and here's the part that you're not going to like and this is going to be a little bit of a downer for a couple minutes so so hang on the person think about this let me ask you this way who in your life if you're 16 or older 16 or older who in your life has the greatest capacity or the most potential to steal your future from you kill a relationship or destroy your life when you think about your life if you're 16 or older who in your life has the most potential to take something from you that you want especially as it relates to your future destroy your life or kill a relationship and the answer is the same for all of us it's the person we look at every single morning in the mirror you have more potential to steal from you kill a relationship or destroy your life than anybody else you in some capacity are potentially your own thief in fact the way we say it in our vernacular is this you ever heard this i am my own worst enemy i'm my own worst enemy i'm my worst enemy so here's here's the bad news today as we get started it's true you are your own worst enemy you have done more if you have done more to undermine your own happiness than anyone else and you have the capacity to do more to undermine your own happiness than anyone else and here's how i know that you have the capacity to undermine your own happiness because you bought it you leased it you ate it you drank it you smoked it you dated it then you slept with it and some of you married it okay so you did this to yourself okay and when you think back you when you think about unhappiness you were there for all of that stuff you are the common denominator in every single event of your life and as much as we want to blame other people for our unhappiness the truth is we are our own worst enemy and jesus says the thief the thief is the one that comes into your life and steals something steals your future kills something kills potentially a relationship or destroys something so just in some capacity we are oftentimes that person and then he makes this extraordinary extraordinary statement he says this i in contrast i unlike the thief i have come that they and they was his first century audience and they is you they and me they and we they i have come that they might have or may have life now when jesus said this apparently he did not get the response he wanted from the crowd they're just kind of staring at him because he's talking about this whole sheep and shepherd thing and they're trying to figure out who's the sheep and who's the shepherd and what's he talking about jesus says i've come that they might have life and nobody responds and so he adds he adds this this sort of this uh this this phrase that kind of teases this out and punctuates it he says this and and have it to the full now the problem with this english word is it does not capture the the the full weight of the greek word it doesn't capture the energy of the greek word in fact if you grew up in church and grew up around the king james bible here's how you heard this verse i've come that they might have life and might have it more what abundantly i mean that's a way better word than full and abundantly captures the energy he says i've come that you might have life and have an extraordinary life an abundant life the kind of life that when people meet you they go wow when people meet you they're like you know it's just there's just something different and what's different isn't that you haven't had a hard time and the difference isn't that you've always gotten everything you wanted the difference is something that's sort of internal that has made its way into the way that you respond to life around you i've come that you might have an abundant abundant abundant life and then he makes this statement about himself he says i i've come that you might have abundant life he says and i am the good shepherd now this means nothing to us because we don't know anything about sheep and we don't know anything about shepherds but in the first century they kind of leaned in like okay now you're talking about something we understand i am the good shepherd well how good here's how good the good shepherd not the average shepherd but i haven't come to give you an average life the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep now this is so important especially if you're new to church or you're just coming back to church or you had a bad experience in the church understand this no matter what you read in the old testament no matter what you read in the new testament whatever you read within the scriptures you need to understand the context for all of that is that god sent his son into the world to be a good shepherd and jesus says a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep if someone is willing to lay down their life for you they are for you if someone is willing to give their life for you they are for you and this stands in sharp contrast to what the thief does the thief comes to steal and to kill and destroy jesus said i'm the good shepherd and i've come to give and to build and to protect and so you have a decision to make are you going to go and follow the thief the thief that maybe someone in your life or oftentimes is the person in the mirror or are you willing and am i willing to decide that jesus really is a good shepherd and i'm going to follow a good shepherd who is for me now the problem with this is that in this passage jesus jesus compares you to sheep and sheep are not all that smart in fact some people say sheep are stupid and so this is offensive but you shouldn't be offended and here's why because as i said earlier you bought it you leased it right you ate it you drank it you smoked it you dated it and you're glad there isn't room for more things on this screen because of all the dumb things you've done you oftentimes are your own worst enemy and jesus says all i'm saying is this i'm a good shepherd and as offensive as it may be to think of you as a sheep i'm asking you to follow me now here's the thing at times you're your own worst enemy but you're not your only enemy and for those of you who are christians you understand this for those of you who are new or considering christianity when you open the new testament it's so interesting the authors of the new testament personify this word right here sin they treat sin if it's this if it's an entity or a power and we're all familiar with this regardless of what you think theologically and the new testament says as we said a couple a few weeks ago that sin always separates you can define sin in an old testament way a new testament way or you can make up your own definition of sin which is simply bad things or when people do bad things or hurt other people however you define sin at the end of the day sin always separates we said sin separates us from god sin separates us from ourselves and sin separates us from others the reason you're having trouble relationally is because somebody did something you think is wrong or you did something they think is wrong sin always separates sin separates us from ourselves this is why you have said or you have thought or you have heard i can't live with myself i can't live with myself if i ever did that i would not be able to live with myself what is that it's like even internally there's a separation when we do certain things sin always always always separates so you could say this if you use jesus term sin comes only to steal to kill and destroy that's what sin does so you have an enemy without you have an enemy within and i have an enemy and you have an enemy in the mirror and consequently if something doesn't change and if we're not careful we undermine our own happiness we undermine our own happiness now the the thing is um we know this in fact so far i haven't told you anything you don't know nobody's like that's unbelievable i undermined my i had no id it's like all you're doing is thinking of illustrations why is it that we do the same dumb things over and over and over like a bunch of sheep well part of it in fact i think a really big part of it that's why i want to kind of sneak up on this topic and kind of come through a side door a big part of that dynamic and this is true whether you're a christian not a christian religious non-religious doesn't matter this is just a people thing a big part of it is our confusion around these two words pleasure and happiness pleasure and happiness now if you are new to church this this should come as a good surprise if you've been in church your whole life you may have never heard anybody say this you may not even believe it and it's okay to argue with me and in your mind and you know check it out later but did you know that god created this is great news god created you with the capacity to experience both that god created you to have the capacity to experience pleasure god made that and god created you with the capacity to experience happiness i mean think about this god created sexual pleasure god made that up it's like he tore the end of creation he's like i got a great idea and the angels are like what and he's like you just wouldn't understand see all those animals running around you know you know reproducing we're going to add a little something to the human race this is going to be something it's going to get them in a lot of trouble ultimately but it's going to you know so so in some in some capacity just in some kind of cosmic way god created sexual pleasure get this jesus made wine and he made it right up front it's like you know we most people considered his first miracle it's like let's get this thing started what should we should we heal somebody nah let's make wine are you sure you want to start there yeah let's just make some wine ladies all the disciples they wore shoes okay so the point being this that god created the capacity for pleasure just like god created the capacity for happiness god is not against pleasure any more than god is against happiness the problem is it's not an either or it's not an either or the problem is priority the problem is priority and when we prioritize pleasure over happiness there's a problem in fact when you prioritize pleasure over happiness ultimately you get neither because the truth is one leads to the other but the other ultimately undermines the one one can lead to the other but the other ultimately undermines the one happiness can and will ultimately lead to pleasure in fact i believe it leads to maximum pleasure in this life but if you pursue pleasure and ignore the principles that lead to happiness at the end of the day you have neither because eventually and you know this we're adults right eventually pleasure loses its pleasure and becomes what a prison because of the law diminishing returns he used to take a half a glass then a whole glass then two glasses then three then four now you're yelling at people and don't even remember what happened the night before what happened that over time every single pleasure every single legitimate pleasure over time if it becomes a master if it becomes the priority pleasure loses its pleasure what begins as a pastime becomes a pathway it becomes a habit it becomes an addiction and oftentimes it becomes a prison and these aren't things that are illegal these aren't things that are immoral these aren't things that anyone would consider wrong but in your life and in my life when we prioritize any pleasure any pleasure over the principles of happiness as we've talked about in these past few weeks and as jesus lays out in the sermon on the mount at the end of the day all pleasure loses its pleasure now the apostle paul who came along and wrote about 25 or 30 years after jesus resurrection he takes the teachings of jesus contextualizes them for those of us who aren't jewish he wrote to primarily a gentile audience he writes to some christians in rome and he kind of teases this idea out just a bit and listen to how he says basically what we've said kind of in his new testament way here's what paul paul wrote he said this and i love this paul did this all the time don't you know he would always start off don't you know now this was his way of saying really really like do i really even have to say this see here's what he says don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone or something that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves you are slaves of the one you obey when you read that you go i don't even know what he's talking about no i didn't know that because i don't even know what does that even mean let me read it again don't you know now think about this don't think about theology don't think about bible just think common sense don't you know that when you offer yourself i'll take one of those i'll do that yes yes yes yes don't you know when you offer yourself to someone or something as obedient slaves you are slaves of the one you obey in other words he says if you continue to say yes to a pleasure over and over and over don't you realize that you are becoming a slave to that pleasure you know i'm not a slave i'm choosing and he's going see that's my point don't you know that if you choose the same thing over and over and over you're no longer choosing you're being drawn in you are giving up control you are behaving like a slave you're behaving as if you have to not simply that you want to and then he goes on he says whether whether you are slaves to sin every time sin comes calling you answer the door come on in come on whether you're slaves to sin which leads to death and we've talked about this a few weeks ago sin always leads to death old testament sin new testament sin your definition of sin all sin leads to death sin always kills stuff it kills the way you view yourself it kills your marriage it kills your relationship with your kids it kills your relationship with your employees your employers you sin always kills stuff wherever there is sin something is dying he says so either you offer yourself as slaves to sin which leads to death or there's an alternative and now he's leaning into what jesus said he said or you offer yourselves to obedience to god through christ which leads to righteousness and righteousness is just a fancy new testament word that means to have a right righteousness right right relationship or right standing with god and paul says look don't you realize that every single day of your life every single day of your life you are offering yourself as you are offering yourself as a servant to or a slave to you are offering yourself through obedience to either sin or in our case we're going to use the term pleasure and not all pleasure sin most pleasure is not a sin but you're offering yourself to something or someone he says when you do that when you obey when you say yes over and over and over you are giving up your freedom and you are acting like a servant or a slave he said and you can either do that to pleasure you can do that to sin or you can lean into and offer yourself up as a servant or slave to your heavenly father jesus way of saying this you can follow me because i'm a good shepherd and paul would say as we saw a few weeks ago and when you say yes to god when you say yes to god you have remember this peace with god which paves the way to peace with ourselves which equips us to make peace with others he says when you decide to follow jesus as the good shepherd when you decide to opt for obedience to god obedience to god is going to pave the way to have peace with ourselves i'm good with me and often and eventually it equips you to make peace with others and my friends we've just we've discussed this this is happiness every happy person you know is at peace with themselves every happy person you know has figured out how to make peace with people and even people that don't want to be at peace with them and most happy people that you know have somehow found peace with god so if you say yes to any pleasure over and over and over and over you have become a servant to a slave to that pleasure and when pleasure takes precedence over the principles of happiness ultimately you have neither pleasure nor happiness jesus way of saying it is simply this remember if you sow better you'll reap better and then you'll feel better if you sow better you'll reap better and ultimately you'll feel better and here's why this is so important because here's where we get in trouble we get in trouble when we're unhappy and when we're feeling unhappy we immediately immediately want to do something that makes us feel better and then how we get in trouble i'm unhappy so i'm going to go shopping i'm going to go happy so i'm going to stop by the wherever i'm unhappy so i'm going to call so-and-so because i know they have some i'm unhappy and i'm gonna you know call her call i'm unhappy i'm i need something to kind of pick me up i need a quick fix that's when we make decisions that ultimately undermine our own happiness and here's jesus message to all of you who are unhappy he says there is no quick fix to happiness you sow and you reap your way there happiness is not immediately accessible but as long as you are saying yes to pleasure over and over and over to somehow be a quick fix for your lack of happiness ultimately you undermine your own happiness because you become a slave a servant to the one to whom you give o obedience and so jesus says so better reap better and ultimately not immediately not this afternoon not tomorrow by five but ultimately you will feel better but if your response to unhappiness is i've got to do something right now to feel better ultimately you're undermining your own happiness and you already know that don't you because every single one of us in this room including me we know what our and you know we know the thing we reach for to give us that quick fix when we're not feeling happy and every time you obey that inclination paul says you are acting like a slave or a servant to something that ultimately undermines your own happiness this is why this is why you hear us say from time to time that following jesus following jesus will make your life better and following jesus will make you better at life that following jesus jesus who says i'm the good shepherd you can trust me follow me following jesus will make your life better and ultimately following jesus will make you better at life but it's not instant it's not a quick fix it's sewing and sewing and sewing and sewing and ultimately reaping so i've got to ask you kind of a tough probing question okay and and when i ask you this question here's what i want you to do okay don't argue okay just i'm going to ask you a question but nobody can read your mind so there's no point in not admitting to yourself i'm not gonna and there's no there's this isn't a trick it's not like and if you answered the question this way i need you to raise your hand now i need you to stand up now and we're not gonna do that okay this is i just want you no matter what your religious you know you know not religious at all or you may be like me or you're basically born in the church you know you've been a church your whole life here's the thing i just want you to answer this question for you because you owe it to yourself to know and as we're going to discover you owe it to the people who love you to know the answer to this question and to admit this to yourself because remember only a thief only a thief will try to steal your future from you only a thief will try to kill your relationships and only a thief would try to destroy you so why not acknowledge what's true about you today only a thief only a thief would not want you to answer this question okay so you ready here's the question is there a pleasure that's undermining your happiness is there a pleasure not a sin maybe a sin may not be is there a pleasure it's not immoral it's not illegal although it may be immoral and it may be illegal or it may sort of be illegal but nobody cares is there a sin that is beginning is there a pleasure rather that is beginning beginning to undermine your happiness in other words if you're real honest and you don't want to admit it i know you don't want to admit it because if you admit it then you have to do something about it no you don't you don't have to do anything i just want you to be honest with yourself is there a pleasure that you have said yes to so many times it is beginning to undermine your happiness is there a pleasure that if you continue to say yes to it it's going to undermine the happiness of the people that you care about the most is there a pleasure that has begun to undermine your happiness if you continue to say yes to that pleasure you're a thief you are in opposition to jesus invitation to follow him as the good shepherd let me ask it a different way as if that wasn't clear enough is there a pleasure that slowly taking you prisoner is there a pleasure it may be illegal may be legal maybe moral maybe some people don't know is there it doesn't matter is there a pleasure that is slowly taking you prisoner you are slowly losing your freedom to say no not only do you answer the door every time the doorbell rings you find yourself staring out the window hoping it's going to show up soon is there a pleasure that is slowly taking you prisoner that without meaning to without meaning to you have prioritized the pursuit of pleasure over your pursuit of happiness you know the answer to that question and you don't have to answer it for anybody but yourself but here's what i want you to know as if you need me to tell you one day you'll wish you would quit answering the door one day you'll look back and wonder why you're so unhappy and you'll discover in that moment as many of you are discovering right now that you have become your own worst enemy that you are in fact a sheep who needs a shepherd and perhaps by god's grace today perhaps by god's grace today you would be willing to trade your pleasure for a shepherd that you would be willing to put to trade your pleasure for a good shepherd who's not going to drain you of life but a good shepherd who has come into this world to promise you and to give you life and that is an exchange you will never ever ever regret because jesus said i am the good shepherd and i am so good i was willing to lay down my life for my sheep so that they might have life and have it to the full thanks so much for listening to your move as we've said before thank you for considering the opportunity to share your personal story while better decisions take hard work your story may just encourage others to live differently for that we applaud you no no no no no no no no no no no [Music] bye [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] do you

Channel: Andy Stanley Offical

Views: 1,710

Rating: 4.8620691 out of 5

Keywords: andy stanley, andystanley, Andy Stanley message, Andy Stanley sermon, Andy Stanley series, NPCC, North Point Community Church, North Point, northpoint, buckhead church, woodstock city church, gwinnett church, browns bridge church, decatur city church, andy stanley church, andy stanley atlanta, menace myth and mayhem of autonomy, andy stanley menace myth and mahem of autonomy, is god good, atheism 2.0, who is god, what is god, new religion, is god real, church

Id: FtSt_Kj8-2M

Length: 58min 37sec (3517 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 13 2020