Do You Want Happiness Today (With Greg Laurie)

[Music] let me start with a question when someone has a photo that they shot a group shot and you happen to be in the photo and they show it to you who do you look for first now be honest don't lie you're in church who do you look for first well in most cases you look for yourself right that's just the way we're sort of wired i mean what is the most popular kind of photography today well of course is a selfie everybody's taking selfies everywhere i have people come up to me on occasion and they'll say can i take a selfie with you and i'll usually say yes uh these are usually complete strangers and they come up to me and then they like because i have to be in the shop with them they they grab me put their face up next to my face they're holding you know their phone out like like this okay wait wait i almost have it and i'm like pressed up against a complete stranger saying make this end quickly but selfies are are so popular right now in fact some people you've probably heard about this are literally dying to take selfies did you know that in the last few months of 2016. i don't know what it is for this year yet but in the last months of last year 73 deaths were directly linked to people taking selfies in dangerous places like on the train track why do people take selfies on a train track and also in very high places like here's a couple of photos you don't want to do this see this guy he's got his little selfie stick this is not a good idea you don't want to be this other guy either he's like i jumping taking a selfie with a selfie stick and finally you don't want to be like this guy this is crazy stuff but really this sort of sums up something and what what is it well we're living in one might call a selfie culture or to put it in another way we're living in a selfish culture i read an interesting article about a book that's been written by two people gene twenge and keith campbell both of them psychologists and the title of the book is the narcissism epidemic and here's a few quotes from their book a popular song declares with no appearance sarcasm i believe the world should revolve around me they go on to say you can hire fake paparazzi to follow you around snapping your photo when you go out then they pointed out that babies wear bibs embroidered with supermodel or chick magnet on them and they suck on bling pacifiers while parents read modernized nursery rhymes like this little piggy went to prada they continue on people try to create a personal brand it's also known as self branding packaging themselves like a product to be sold and a good example of this what i have to say would be uh the kardashians and uh kim kardashian liked to post photographs of her bling on her instagram account and as you all know she was robbed at gunpoint and one of the robbers said he wanted that ring worth four million dollars and so this is the culture we're living in right now and these folks who wrote this book the narcissism epidemic came to this conclusion quote all of these things are rooted in a single underlying shift in the american psychology the relentless rise of narcissism in our culture and quote so why do i bring all of this up well we're looking at the book of philippians together and as i pointed out earlier the theme of this book is happiness now if you're going to go to the culture and say how can i be a happy person the answer would in so many words be be a selfish person focus on yourself love yourself think about yourself esteem yourself it's all about self and the bible gives a different answer the bible in effect to loosely paraphrase tells us if we want to be happy we should not be selfish but rather it tells us if we want to be happy we need to be self less and that certainly bubbles up here in philippians chapter 2. jesus said it is more blessed or happy to give than it is to receive and we think no it's more happy to get stuff than it is to give stuff no the opposite is the case according to jesus and the rest of the bible true fulfillment does not come by putting our needs first but it comes by putting the needs of others first and that's why i've called this message upside down living because that flies in the face of conventional wisdom today the bible teaches the way to happiness is sadness does that seem strange well it's actually what jesus said he said blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted another way you could translate it because remember whenever you see the word blessed in the bible it can be interchanged with the word happy so in effect jesus is saying happy are the unhappy how could that be well you see when i come before god and i see myself as i really am and i'm thus unhappy i mourn over my sinful condition and then i turn from my sins and put my trust in christ i will find the true happiness that comes from the forgiveness of sins because the bible says happy is the man of the woman whose sins are forgiven and this is so different than what culture tells us but a lot of people are figuring this out you've probably heard of stephen king very successful author i don't know if you're aware of this but he had a serious automobile accident a number of years ago so he wrote an article about it and the title of the article was you can't take it with you excuse me the name of the title of the article is what you can pass on and this is what he says in the article and i'm quoting this is stephen king speaking about his experience a couple of years ago i found out what you can't take it with you means i found out why i was lying in a ditch at the side of a country road covered in mud and blood with the tibia of my right leg pointing out the side of my jeans like a branch of a tree taken down in a thunderstorm i had a mastercard and my wallet but when you're lying in a ditch with broken glass in your hair no one accepts mastercard king continues i got a painful but extremely valuable look at life's backstage truths we come in naked and broke we may be dressed when we go out but we're just as broke warren buffett he's going to go out broke bill gates going out broke tom hanks king continues to write going out broke steve king broke not a crying dime all of the money you earn all the stocks you buy all the mutual funds you trade all of this is mostly smoke in mirrors it's still going to be quarter past getting late whether you tell the time on a timex or a rolex no matter how large your bank account no matter how many credit cards you have sooner or later things will begin to go wrong with the only things you have that you can really call your own your body your spirit and your mind so i want you to consider making your life one long long gift to others king writes and why not all you have is on loan anyway all that lasts is what you pass on then he concludes so i ask you to begin giving and continue as you begin i think you'll find in the end you got far more than you ever had and did more good than you had ever dreamed and quote wow that's amazing conclusions i i don't know that stephen king believes in jesus christ but i'll say this he has certainly landed on some important biblical principles that tell us that it's not about us the world does not revolve around us and if we try to make it revolve around us we will be very unhappy people so it's about others putting others first but this isn't so easy is it because well there are people that just irritate us or uh we don't like to be around them and sometimes that's our husband or our wife or our parents or our kids our co-workers or people who are around a lot and we say these people are so irritating news flash did it ever occur to you that you are an irritating person to someone else i guarantee it's true i'm sure i'm an irritating person to quite a few people and so that's something we need to understand that you know there are people that we're not going to necessarily be drawn to but at the same time we are to love them especially if they're in the church because we are all part of the family of god so here's what the apostle paul is saying here in philippians he's saying you need a new paradigm you need a new way of thinking and here it is let's read about it philippians chapter 2 starting in verse 1. writes therefore if there's any consolation in christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit if any affection and mercy fulfill my joy that you be like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves let each of you look out not only for his own interest but for the interests of others we'll stop there hear the words of paul from a modern translation same verses don't push your way to the front don't sweet talk your way to the top put yourself aside and help others get ahead don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand are you kidding me if you live this way it it'll change everything about your life you see that because the culture does not say this and if we go back historically this is not what we learned from even civilizations i mean if you look at all the great kingdoms of the world that have come and gone everything is always about self greece effectively said be wise know yourself rome said be strong discipline yourself epicure epicureanism which is the pursuit of pleasure says be sensuous enjoy yourself education says be resourceful educate yourself psychology says be confident assert yourself materialism says be possessive please yourself humanism says be capable believe in yourself pride says be superior promote yourself jesus christ says be unselfish humble yourself humble myself that seems like a recipe for disaster in the world today in fact when we think of humility and meekness we don't think of those as virtues we think of those as deficiencies but yet did not jesus say blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth and christ said of himself i am meek and lowly in heart so come unto me but you need to understand there's a big difference between weakness and meekness let's say that um somebody hits you in the face and you don't hit them back and the reason you don't hit them back is because you're weak and you're afraid but let's say that you're trained in mixed martial arts and uh and you're quite a street fighter and someone hits you in the face and you don't get them back that's not weakness that's meekness see meekness is power under constraint when someone gets on the back of a stallion and rides it at full speed and then pulls back in the reins and the horse stops that horse is being meek it's submitting itself to the self to the will of the rider it has the strength to go on but it submits so when i'm being meek it doesn't mean i'm weak it means that i'm submitting myself to god and that is how i am to live as a believer god is saying you want real happiness and genuine success then put jesus first and others second in fact there's a simple acronym you can use to sum it up j-o-y j is for jesus o is for others y is for yourself you want to live a happy life you want to live a joyful life jesus others yourself here it is simplified following jesus and loving others following jesus and loving others what did jesus say he said if you love the lord your god with all of your heart soul and your mind and love your neighbor as yourself you fulfill all of the commandments see it's just so simple if we would focus on that but a lot of times we're not focusing on that we're not putting jesus first we're putting ourself first and as a result we find ourselves depressed listen if you find yourself down in the doldrums as a christian if you find yourself depressed i have a 10 step solution to depression so if you're taking notes write this down 10 steps to get rid of your depression are you ready step number one do something for someone who has greater needs than you do something for someone who has greater needs than you go to a convalescent home and visit someone who's staying there go to skid row on one of our missions and reach out to people that are literally living on the street go to someone with a need go to someone who has a greater need than you that's step number one okay here's step number two repeat step number one nine more times now listen i'm not dismissing clinical depression i know that can be very real but i'm just talking about that general kind of depression we can find ourselves in that frankly as sometimes a result of just being selfish and instead of being selfish try being self-less in other words stop thinking so much about yourself proverbs 11 25 says those that refresh others will be refreshed themselves as you give out god will give back to you even actress angelina jolie figured this out she made these statements in an interview and i quote i went through a depression when i was first famous because she says what was i famous for i didn't do anything great and i didn't discover anything wonderful but then she writes but when i'm in a refugee camp my spirit feels better there than anywhere else in the world because i'm surrounded by such truth and family and i feel connected to just being a human being because i'm willing to spend a day in the dirt maybe it was important for me to know that and that's better than having an oscar end quote wow very insightful and very true all right so let's identify some key points here from from philippians chapter 2. if you're taking notes write this down never let selfishness or conceit be your motive again never let selfishness or conceit be your motive look at verse 3 let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit there's a new living translation puts it don't be selfish don't live to make a good impression on others so first i start with self and it's interesting before anything else is said paul sort of drills down on this because the love of self is probably at the root of maybe all of my problems but if not all certainly most of them because we want our own way james puts it this way in james 4 1-2 where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from do you think they just happened think again they come about because you want your own way and you fight for it deep inside yourselves you want your own way and by the way this goes way way back to our earliest days as a kid well my granddaughter stella i was a very little girl i remember i took her to a toy store once and um did a little doll house set up on a small table a low to the ground that the kids could access so you know the house had little bits of furniture and dolls and such and she went over and started organizing it and and putting the little figures in the chairs i thought it's so cute girls are so uh you know they love to do things like that and i'm just watching in amazement and i'm thinking this thought to myself girls are so good they're just so good look at her with a little dollhouse and suddenly a man comes walking in with a little boy about the age of stella and i'm not making this up this boy was on a leash he had some kind of a harness around the boy some kind of a thing he was wearing and a leash attached to it and the boy would move and he'd pull the boy back and i looked i thought that's so cruel poor little boy but suddenly here's stella who has just set up this little dog house so perfectly so meticulous and detailed uh and this boy is lunging at the dollhouse he wants to destroy it and the man is pulling on the leash and i'm thinking pull that leash harder and i just thought to myself you know what boys are bad and girls are good well a couple days later uh uh we were with uh stella and and her parents and uh that some folks came over and they had their little child with them actually it was more of a little toddler baby so a little younger than stella and the little baby reached up on a little table to grab some toy and stella took the baby's hand and pushed it away oh no girls are bad too yeah we're all bad we're bad to the bone we're sinners and we're selfish i mean think of all the problems we have in our culture today think of immorality as an example why do people have sex before marriage selfishness why do they commit adultery against selfishness why do most marriages fall apart if i had to pick one word to sum it up selfishness oh yeah we could talk about communication breakdown and we could talk about financial disagreements but really if you get to the bottom line it's selfishness i want that person to do what i want them to do we won't put that person first we want to put ourselves first talking about immorality look at all the unwanted pregnancies today and what do so many do they go and get an abortion what's more selfish than that since the passing of roe v wade in the early 70s listen to this 58 million babies have been aborted let me put it more uh clearly 58 million unborn children have been murdered in the womb and to me this is a travesty why well the baby's a burden or an inconvenience to the mother they say what about when the mother's life is in danger yeah but now they become so liberal in the interpretation of that if the mother even says well i just felt a lot of stress from the baby oh and then you're in some kind of danger so we'll just go ahead and abort it by the way more than 40 percent of women admit to having an abortion uh before so a lot of these women that are getting these abortions have done it before and the sad thing is is is not only is this permitted in our culture today but it's even encouraged i don't know why but i had an issue of teen vogue sent to my house the other day it's probably because i stopped paying my subscription no really i'd never have signed it for teen vogue but it shows up at our house so i'm flipping through this little magazine designed for teenagers and one headline caught my eye and the headline said what to get a friend post abortion i'm thinking what what kind of a magazine is this and so this is basically an article about what to do if one of your teenage friends has gotten an abortion they suggest that you watch the comedy all i want to do get the person a girl power hat to deal with the post abortion physical discomfort and emotional woes the teen vogue offered this council she should not have to feel ashamed because she made the right choice for her situation and if she's not ready to carry a pregnancy to term and that's okay teen vogue counsels and then the article argues she will need a ride and she will need a hug and she will need you not because the act itself is so terrible but because the world can be and quote man to quote the british that's just rubbish are you kidding me you know what here's the reality going back to a verse i quoted james 4 let your tears for the wrong things you've done be shed let there be sorrow and deep grief let there be sadness instead of laughter you should feel bad and if you've ever committed this sin ask god to forgive you and if you know a girl who is pregnant by all means encourage her to carry the baby to term she does not want to raise the baby as her own there are many families standing in line more than willing to adopt that child but it's selfishness selfishness it is at the root of so many problems where it's all about me point number two always regard others as more important than yourself again look at verse three in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves always regard others as more important than yourself now by the way this is important because it speaks of thinking thinking of others is better than yourself and the word that paul uses here for thinking is from a verb that means more than just having an opinion it refers to a carefully thought out conclusion based on the truth so here's what it's saying don't just pretend others are more important than you actually believe they're more important than you because they are more important than you i mean where do we get off thinking we're better than somebody else think about the thoughts that go through our minds the evil thoughts the horrible things you know if you want to know how to best consider someone above yourself just take a hard look at yourself consider your own sins i mean really knowing this about ourselves how can we be so hard on others jeremiah 17 9 asks the question or makes a statement the human heart is so desperate and it's so deceitful and wicked who really knows how bad it is the great evangelist deal moody once said quote i have more trouble with d.l moody than any other man i know end quote that's true i have more trouble with greg laurie than any man i know and you probably have more trouble with yourself as well i like the statement of andrew murray a great writer who said and i quote the humble person is not one who thinks meanly of himself he simply does not think of himself at all end quote that's real humility you just honestly are thinking about others all of the time but here's the super cool thing about that the fringe benefit is happiness it seems like no think about yourself make the world revolve around yourself only indulge yourself that leads to unhappiness and misery and depression but when you put others first and you think about them as above you because you realize they are above you suddenly you find yourself a happy person as a result isn't that interesting it's upside down living the way to happiness is sadness the way to up is down point number three don't limit your attention to your own personal interests again don't limit your attention to your own personal interests look at verse 4 it says look out not only for your own interest but for the interests of others notice it says look out not only for your own interest you know you do need to look out for some of your own interests hey we want you to look out for your own interest we want you to take a shower uh we we want you to pay your bills we want you to be a respectable member of society uh but for some people that's so hard because they're so self-absorbed all they want to do is think about themselves and talk about themselves as benjamin disraeli once said quote talk to a man about himself and he'll listen for hours and quote so this is a tall order admittedly and it's not easy for me and it's not easy for anyone so how do we do this well we need an example and we need more than an example we need help who is the greatest example of selflessness and sacrifice well i am and no i'm not to joke okay you know that's not true all right so who is the greatest example well i think we know it's jesus christ let's read about that now go to philippians 2 look at verse 5. let this mind be in you which was also in christ jesus who being in the form of god did not consider it robbery to be equal with god but made himself of no reputation underline that phrase if you would taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross verse 9 therefore god has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name that at the name of jesus every knee will bow of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth and every tongue will confess that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father so here's the example now how am i to live a selfless life let this mind be in you which was also in christ jesus by the way this is like theology 101 paul is describing the mystery of the incarnation what does that mean the incarnation is the biblical truth that god was supernaturally conceived in the womb of mary who was a virgin and uh and so when he was born and that little baby was among us and then the little boy and then the young man this baby this young man was god he was fully god 100 god yet at the same time he was fully man he was not man becoming a god that's impossible he was god becoming a man verse six says he was equal with god that's very important you see there was not a moment when jesus became god nor was there a moment when jesus ceased to be god his deity was pre-human pre-earthly pre-bethlehem pre-mary and he sort of gave a glimpse of his deity on the mount of transfiguration remember that he stood up there with moses on one side and elijah on the other and i remember peter was sleeping and he woke up and jesus was shining as brightly as the sun have you ever tried to look straight at the sun don't do that okay but if you ever have it's blinding right so there was jesus it's almost as though he was saying this is who i am here's a quick glimpse but most of the time when he walked among us he did not shine like the sun otherwise when judas came to betray him in the garden of gethsemane judas could have just said look for the guy that glows in the dark he's not hard to spot no jesus shrouded the glory he veiled the glory he was god but as the old hymn says baaled in flesh the godhead see heal incarnate deity but make no mistake about it jesus claimed to be god and he accepted worship as god you know when satan came to jesus christ in the temptation in the wilderness and said why don't you worship me and all these kingdoms will be yours jesus said you shall worship the lord god in him only shall you serve so jesus was making it very clear that worship should only be given to god on one occasion when the apostle john was worshiping an angel that delivered a message from heaven the angel said don't worship me no only god is to be worshipped yet jesus accepted worship on many occasions in the bible remember the story of that crippled man who was lowered to the roof before christ and he said your sins are forgiven you and then the pharisees said who can forgive sins but god alone and jesus went on to say jesse you know that the son of man has power not only to heal but also to forgive sins i say to this man get up take your bed and walk and he did you see he was god he claimed to be god in fact john 5 17 says the pharisees sought to kill him because he said god was his father continually making himself equal with god you say well why are you bringing this up because some people would say jesus never claimed to be god but he did you see now having established the fact that he was god he also was a man verse 7 he made himself of no reputation taking himself on himself the form of a bond servant this word no reputation is from the term kenosis and it means an emptying of himself he did not empty himself of his divine attributes but he emptied himself a privilege meaning he walked among us as a man when jesus walked this earth he was tired like any man remember when he fell asleep in the lower part of the boat he was hungry like any man like in the temptation in the wilderness so we read that after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights afterwards he hungered he was thirsty like any man remember he was there with the woman at the well and he said can you give me a drink listen he felt sorrow like any man at the tomb of lazarus we read that jesus wept he also wept over the city of jerusalem and i bring this up because sometimes we might say well god doesn't know what it's like to live in this earth he's up there in heaven surrounded by angels he doesn't know what it's like to be tempted and go through hardship and trials nothing could be further from the truth he knows exactly what it's like and then some hebrews 2 17 says it was necessary for jesus to be in every respect like us his brothers and sisters so he could be our merciful and faithful high priest before god he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation he's able to help us when we're tempted are you being tempted right now are you going through hardship right now maybe you've been abandoned by friends or even family and you say god doesn't know what it's like he knows exactly what it's like jesus was the loneliest man who ever lived because when he hung there on the cross and the sin of the world was placed upon him who had never sinned in any way shape or form and and jesus cried out my god my god why have you forsaken me there's never been a lonelier man when even the father momentarily turned his face away from the son so you have a friend in high places you have someone that understands what you're going through right now but yet jesus was a servant in john chapter 13 there's this remarkable story about the servanthood of jesus the disciples come together with him and he gets down and washes their feet now in our culture today we don't really do this anymore but back in those days this was done you know with all that dust and dirt out on the streets of jerusalem and galilee and elsewhere their feet would be dirty so the role of a servant was to wash the feet of people when they came in again the role of a servant not the role of the host they hired the servant to do that but the disciples walk in and jesus gets down in his hands and his knees and he washes their feet by the way this included judas iscariot and jesus knew judas would betray him if i knew judas was going to betray me i would not wash his feet i would break his feet but jesus washed them showing us what a servant looks like let this mind be in you which was also in christ jesus look as i said earlier this is a tall order we can't do this on our own we need god's help we don't need imitation we need impartation and by that i mean we don't need to just say well i'll try to do it like jesus did it and i just hope i can do it no no lord you need to impart to me the power to love unlovable people you need to help me to put the needs of others above myself i need your help so you could pray a prayer along the lines of lord i'm not happy with my selfish me first attitude i want to live your way not the world's way i want to esteem others better than myself i want this mind to be in me which was also in you impart to me your power and i might live the way that you want me to live why don't we just pray about that right now let's all pray father we can't do this on our own we need divine help so even at this moment we would pray you would give us love for the unlovable that you would help us to not be so self-absorbed but to put the needs of others above our needs and see them as you see them we want this mind to be in us which was also in christ jesus we ask for this in jesus name [Music] amen okay quick paul how many of you love to exercise you love to work out raise your hand up okay i notice it's people kind of doing like this yeah me it's me how many of you hate exercise and you hate to work out raise your hand up oh interesting it's about even which category do you think i'm in i'm in the second category i hate it i do it but i hate it and you know there's reasons you know you do it you want to stay fit as fit as you can be or maybe you go to a doctor and he says you know what you need to work out more because maybe you're having heart problems so you go and buy a treadmill and you buy some other equipment to put it in your house and then you almost have a heart attack when you find out how much it costs right i mean it's crazy the expense so then maybe you go and decide to join a gym instead and let's just be honest really strange people hang out in gyms okay it's a i go to a gym twice a week and and it's it's a good gem you know and i've been to gyms over the years and there's there's certain kinds of people in gyms first of all there's the guy who always puts too much weight on the barbell or whatever it is too much weight he does three or four reps he makes too much noise but the guy that drives me crazy and there's always one of these guys in every gym he's the guy who sweats too much right and then they leave the sweat on the bench you know it's like and you go over you're looking at a pool of sweat or i knew a guy that used to get on a treadmill and he perspired so much literally i'm not exaggerating there would be puddles around it afterwards people wouldn't get in the treadmill on his right or his left you know so there's always these strange people that they hang up but you know maybe you decide yeah i want to try to get in shape and exercise a little bit more i'm up to a hundred crunches a day by the way pretty good yeah nestle's crunches very good how many of you have heard that joke great you can't cast most of you didn't awesome okay yes but then you know sometimes if you haven't worked out for a long time you go to a gym and you maybe overdo it and then you're so sore the next day you never want to go back to the gym again well look we we need to stay in the best shape we can stay in because the bible says our body is the temple of god right first thessalonians 5 says may god himself the god who makes everything holy at home make you holy and whole spirit soul and body i'm not a disembodied spirit god has placed my soul in a body so i want to take the best care that i can of this body the bible says of course bodily exercise profits little but godliness is profitable for all things some will quote that as a rationalization to never work out but the bible actually says it profits a little you know so a prophet saw now if you work out and you're more focused on your body than you are in your spirit you have your priorities out of whack but if you only think about your spiritual life and you never do anything to maintain your physical health that also is an imbalance so you want to find that right balance that sweet spot in there and i bring that up because that is true spiritually as well we need to work out what god has worked in so let's look at our text it's philippians 2 starting in verse 12. paul writes and says therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not only in my presence but now much more my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is god who works in you both to will and do of his good pleasure do all things without complaining and disputing that you may be blameless and harmless children of god without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast the word of life so i may rejoice in the day of christ that i have not run in vain or labored in vain we'll stop there so paul says work out your own salvation notice your own underline those two words your own salvation you can't hire someone to work out for you wouldn't that be nice i don't feel like going to the gym go work out for me i'll pay you for it well that may benefit the person who's working out but it won't have any effect on you you can't have someone get saved for you either it's your own salvation it's a personal choice look at verse 12 again paul says my beloved as you've always obeyed not only in my presence but also more in my absence remember paul wrote this from prison and he had a special bond with the christians in philippi that's the epistle that we're looking at it's to the believers there we call it the book of philippians but it's a letter to people living in philippi and he loved these folks and they loved him and so they were in great agony when they found out paul was in prison and so he's saying guys it's okay i'm okay and you're okay uh in fact verse 12 from the new living translation it would go as follows dear friends you were always so careful to follow my instructions when i was with you but now that i'm away you must be even more careful to put into action god's saving work in your lives obeying god with deep reverence in fear basically paul's saying look i know you guys love me and i love you and i wish i could be there with you but i need to tell you something you need to grow up spiritually in other words don't start slacking because i'm not there because it's god that works in you it's not paul that works in you both the will and dew of god's good pleasure it's god that is working in you because there might be some there there might have been some there i should say that thought they needed paul around to live the christian life and how awesome it would have been to have paul as your pastor i mean a living breathing apostle or john or james or some of the others but paul's saying look guys i i can't be with you so you need to grow up spiritually and this can happen with us as well we can find ourselves too dependent on people for our spiritual growth and listen to this sometimes people can become idols in our life this happened to the children of israel moses led them out of egypt and through the wilderness he wasn't able to bring them actually into the promised land but you remember on one occasion he had to leave the israelites because god had summoned him to mount sinai to receive the commandments and in his absence moses left aaron his brother as their babysitter which was a very bad choice because everything fell apart because basically after moses had been gone for a while the people came to aaron and they said uh hey where is this man moses in exodus 32 who brought us out of egypt make us some gods who can lead us because we don't know where moses has gone now why didn't they say hey the lord is the one who's led us out of egypt no they said moses did it moses led us out of egypt and if moses is gone we need another god to take his place so it was aaron that had the bright idea to bring all of their gold and all their bling and he was going to melt it in the shape of a golden calf which would have been one of the images that they would have been accustomed to in egypt and and then their worshipping this golden calf mean all up in mount sinai moses is done receiving the commandments he's walking down with these tablets written with the very finger of god and he hears noise back in the camp it sounds like some kind of a war and it turns out they're actually having a party and he comes down and finds the israelites dancing naked in front of a golden calf not good at all and aaron says i know this looks bad i can explain everything you see what happened was we took our gold we threw it in the fire and the golden calf came out so what else could we do would strip off our clothes and worship it uh that's not what happened you were the one that me the golden calf you were the one that told him to bring the gold but here was the problem moses was their first god excuse me uh yeah moses was their first god and the golden calf was their second they let moses take the place of god in their life is that happening to you is your whole christian life dependent on someone else maybe your parents maybe your husband or your wife or someone else and you know if they're not around you just fall apart as long as a strong believer is in your life you're good but the moment they're not there with you you just collapse listen can i just say two words to you grow up grow up and become a man of god grow up and be a woman of god and build your relationship on god because there's one thing you can be sure of in life maybe two things many more things but i'll just say two for now you can always be sure that god will be there for you and number two you can always be sure that eventually people will let you down people will let you down you know why because they're sinful just like you are and we're all going to fall short we're all going to make mistakes we're all going to disappoint you know maybe that husband uh walks with the lord or at least goes to church because the wife does and so one day if she stops going to church he stops too or the children you know they went to church and mom and dad took them but when they get older maybe they go to college and they're out on their own they stop going to church we must not let people take the place of god in our lives when the lord says have no other gods before me that would include putting people there as well so basically paul is saying guys come on it's time to grow up and how are they to do that verse 12 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling by the way paul did not say work for your own salvation he said work out your own salvation you can't work for your salvation salvation the forgiveness of sins eternal life is a gift to you from god the bible says it is uh by faith through grace that you've been saved not of yourself it's the gift of god so what does this mean then when paul says work out your own salvation well remember he's addressing these words to christians remember when we started this series we pointed out that he addressed them as saints saint is an interchangeable word for christians so these words are written to believers he's saying to followers of jesus and really in effect to us as well work out your own salvation what does this mean it means to live out one's faith another way to translate it would be carry it out correctly excuse me or work it to full completion work it to full completion the idea is take what god has given you and work it out in your life it would be like a conductor having an incredible musical composition handed to him and there is a whole orchestra but notes don't jump off of paper and play themselves you've got to read the music and then you've got to play the music everybody has to work out their part and play the music the same is true for us we need to work out what god has worked in actually the phrase that paul uses here also could speak of working a mine working a mine you may have heard that there was a gold rush here in california years ago and the story was there's so much gold in california you'll find it laying on the streets you'll find it in the streams the expression was there's gold in them thar hills so people came literally from around the world in what was called the california gold rush and everyone was looking for the gold well what little gold was around was quickly removed but there still was gold in the mines and if people would take the time to go into the mine and dig deeply and be patient they might find some of that gold and if they were really persistent they might find the mother lode right that big strain of gold deep inside of a mind so god is saying to you i've given you all this gold it's all there but you got to work it out you've got to mine it you need to discover it but then he adds this distinction work out your own salvation with fear and trembling by the way paul is not suggesting you can lose your salvation i don't really think you can i think it's a gift given to us by god but what he is saying is as you work it out recognize your own inability and innate weakness let me say something that might surprise you the christian life is not hard to live it's impossible all it is impossible to live as a christian in this crazy culture we're in today apart from the work of the holy spirit in your life so in my ability i can't do it and my strength i can't keep the commandments and my own uh skills i i can't do these things god calls me to do but it is god that works in me both the will and do of his good pleasure so work it out carry it to the goal complete it but with self-distrust and by the way let me just say this to you if you put your faith in christ let me take a quick poll how many of you have put your faith in jesus christ church you end up that's pretty much everyone uh one guy over here didn't raise that sound so i'm gonna be directing a number of my remarks to you tonight sir because i'd like to see you do that or maybe you're just sleeping i'm not sure but anyway but i want you to leave this service knowing that your salvation is secure let me just fire a few verses at you and i'd encourage you to write these references down because sometimes the devil will attack us and he'll say to us you're not a christian you're a hypocrite god didn't save you christ hasn't come into your life you psyched yourself into it this isn't true the bible isn't true none of it's true have any of you ever had doubts like that come to your mind raise your hand if you have that's not a sin that means you're a human and just because a fiery dart or a doubtful thought comes to your mind doesn't mean that you're not a believer it just means you're being attacked so the best way to deflect those flaming arrows that come your way be it a doubtful thought or a hopeless thought or a lustful thought or a hateful thought or whatever it might be is filling your mind up with god's word so the devil attacked jesus in the wilderness right and every time the devil tempted jesus christ came back with these words it is written hey why don't you turn a rock into a piece of bread hey it is written christ says men shall live by god's word not by bread alone hey why don't you throw yourself off the top of the temple it is written you shall not tempt the lord your god he came back to god's word over and over here's a few verses that assure us that we're saved first john 5 10 anyone who believes in the son of god has this testimony in his heart romans 8 16 his spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of god john 5 24 i tell you the truth whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned and he's crossed over from death to life he has it it's yours god's given it to you and god's not taking it back it's yours to keep and then of course my favorite assurance verse first john 5 13 these things we write to you that believe in the name of the son of god that you may know that you have eternal life so the next time the devil comes to you and says how do you know you're a christian you know you're not perfect you've sinned why do you think christ would forgive you well you know what the bible says these things we write to you that believe in the name of the son of god that you mean know that you have eternal life i know it quote it out loud [Applause] you know it's not a bad thing to quote verses out loud when the devil's attacking you say no here's what the bible says and you quote the verse it's a good thing to do but you know sometimes people ask the question can a christian lose their salvation let me give you a short answer ready no i don't think so but let me ask another question that i think addresses a deeper issue i don't think the question should be can a christian lose their salvation i think the question should be did that christian who's allegedly lost their salvation ever really have salvation to begin with you see because if they did not bring forth what the bible calls fruits in keeping with repentance i would suggest to you that they never were a christian at all hey just because someone carries a bible doesn't make him a christian just because someone says praise the lord it doesn't make him a christian the bible says even the demons believe in tremble there has to be fruit or results in their life as they work out their own salvation with fear and trembling remember jesus told the parable of the sower and he talked about that seed that fell on ground that was embedded with rocks and so the seed sprung up quickly but because the rocks were in the soil it could not sink its roots down deeply and it bleed and it died in the blazing sun and then jesus went on to say these are those that hear the word of god listen and they respond with great enthusiasm but there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off or some difficulty arrives there's nothing to show for it so you don't work for your salvation you work it out hey here's something you might want to write down here are five litmus tests to show that you are really saved five litmus tests and by the way they all come from first john here's number one if you're really a que a christian i'll ask you this question because someone will say something like this you know i tried the whole christianity thing and it didn't work for me that drives me crazy when i hear it because my answer is no you didn't well how do you know because christianity is not an it it's a hymn and it's god almighty and when christ comes into a person's life he will work in that life so if it in quotes did not work that's not about him that's about you and here's some questions i would ask the person who allegedly quote tried the whole christianity thing end quote and it didn't work number one i would ask them did you confess jesus christ as lord because first john 4 15 says if anyone confesses that jesus is the son of god god lives in him and he and god did you confess christ as lord did you ever tell anyone you were a christian i'm not saying that all you have to do is confess christ as lord because you could do that and not be a christian but having said that i think if you are a christian you should confess him sometimes we have people walk forward in invitations and you've heard me quote the verse where jesus says if you'll confess me before men i'll confess you over the father and the angels in heaven and the reason i do that is that helps people to see this is a serious commitment that you must make and i'm not saying that's the only way to confess them but it certainly is a way to confess them being a christian is not something that is hidden but is open number two do you obey the commands of jesus christ or did you obey them because first john 5 3 says this is love for god to obey his commands and his commands are not burdensome for everyone who was born of god overcomes the world did you keep his commandments don't tell me you're a christian and you're blatantly breaking the commandments left and right if you love him do what he says and if you don't do what he says really how much do you love him you know jesus did not say uh you are my friends if you do whatsoever you agree with he said you are my friends if you do whatsoever i command you some will say well what if it's hard so what if he commands you to do it you you do it it's whatsoever you say well what if you disagree with the bible change your opinion you're wrong and the bible's right it's as simple as that also that verse says his commandments are not burdensome you know do you find the christian life miserable and confining does it seem to you as though god is out to spoil all your fun i think you're missing the point a little bit because if you've really met jesus and he's come to take residence in your heart and you really have this love relationship with him i think you will want to do the things that please him and i think you by nature and i would also add by a new nature given to you by god you would not want to do the things that would displease him okay number three if you're a christian or if you claim to have been a christian were you unhappy or miserable when you're sinning were you unhappy or miserable when you're sinning first john 3 9 says everyone that has been born of god does not habitually sin because god's seed remains in him and he's not able habitually to sin because he's been born of god listen a christian will not be sinless but a christian will sin less and less and less i think what happens is the more you become like christ the more you realize you're not like christ and the more godly become you become the more you realize how ungodly you really always were so there's always the awareness of sin but at the same time there is change in our behavior there is change in our actions there is change in the things that we say and do that's bringing forth fruits in keeping with repentance but notice that it says that if you are born of god you will not habitually sin it doesn't say you won't sin at all because some will say well i've reached sinless perfection no you haven't no i have well you're lying and that's a sin and you haven't because the bible says that we say we have no sin we deceive ourself and the truth is not in us so we'll never be sinless this side of heaven but having said that if you can sin habitually okay that's the key in the greek it says if you habitually sin it's not like oh hey sin god i'm sorry i repent that's one thing it's a person that sin and then sins the next day and the next day in fact they're living in a pattern of sin they're living in a lifestyle of sin this is the choice they make over and over and over if you live that way according to scripture you're not really born of god so there should be kind of a misery there and if you're unhappy in sin that's good and if you're happy in sin and you don't feel any conviction or guilt wow that's a bad thing actually you see i think it comes down to this it's not that these people are losing their salvation it's that they never really had salvation to begin with look i know christians can go astray i know there can be prodigal sons and daughters my mother was a prodigal for most of her adult life and came back to faith under the wire shortly before she died both of my boys for a time were prodigal sons they knew what was right they weren't happy living the way that they were living but they were living in a way that was not right before the lord but thankfully both of them recommitted their life to the lord and i think here's what it comes down to a true believer will always come back to god now if someone says they're a christian and they never come back then i would suggest you they were never a christian but if they're a christian and they come back then that shows they're a child of god or we could call them a prodigal now you've all heard the story of the prodigal son right how many of you have heard the story of the prodigal pig yeah that's in the bible too the prodigal pig it's in second peter 2. it says it would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and reject the holy commandments that were given to them they make this proverb come true a dog returns to its vomit and a washed pig returns to the mud i know the bible is true for many reasons but here's one not just because it predicts the future accurately not just because everything it is said i found true in my life but because i've seen a dog eat its own barf that's what it's saying a dog returns to its own vomit dogs are so weird that way right i watch the dog throw up and eat it what's going on what's going on in the dog mine there need a hot meal there it is really then later they'll wash it down with some toilet water then they'll look us in the face and and people will say oh you know a dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's oh do you eat barf and drink toilet water because that's what that dog just did so a dog returns to its own vomit why does the dog do that because it's a dog and dogs do doggy things and uh he's an animal but people want to treat dogs like little humans the other day i slowed down for a person because they're getting their baby stroller out and i was so patient they opened up the back of their suv and they got it out it was all pink and frilly and i'm just waiting smiling oh wow you know and then they pulled a dog out and i almost almost was mad okay i mean really and they're pushing the dog around isn't it interesting no one pushes cats around in strollers why is that maybe cats are smart in that regard i'm not getting them that dogs are like birds great i'm gonna eat barf later i don't know what's happening but then there's the pig you know that some people are buying pigs as pets the newest craze is a teacup pig which really is a pot-bellied pig that's what they call it and it's just a smaller version and you know there are articles out there telling you it's not like having a dog they cost more and there there's a lot of trouble with them and you you know all these issues with pigs that you don't think i want a little pot belly pig i'll carry the little pig around with me and you know and i'll get the pig a little outfit and it'll be my little yeah you know the pig would rather be in the slop and you know why pigs hang out and slop because that's how they cool off so a pig is happy cooling off on the slop right that's where they want to go they want to go back to the pig pen they want to eat all that garbage on the ground that's a pig because a dog is a dog and a pig is a pig and a horse is a horse of course of course and if you're laughing you're old or you've seen the mr red tv show maybe you saw it rerun but anyway here's my simple point they're just doing what comes by nature so coming back to the issue i raised earlier a prodigal will always return to god but a pig won't so are you a pig or a prodigal see if you're a prodigal you'll come home to your father if you're a pig you'll go back to your own slop or a dog to its own vomit that is exactly the illustration before us so don't get mad at me for talking about barf it's in the bible so we have to ask ourselves which one are we first john 2 19 says they went out from us but they did not really remain with us and if they had been really part of us they would have stayed with us but by going out they showed they never belong to us isn't that interesting so a true test is where a person winds up let me say that again a true test is where a person winds up a true believer will always come home eventually a person who is not a true believer will not here's another one two others number four did you keep yourself from the devil see if you're really a christian if you've really been born of god you'll keep yourself from the devil first john 5 18 says we know whoever is born of god does not sin habitually and he who has been born of god keeps himself from the devil and the wicked one does not touch him what does it mean to keep himself from the devil well the idea is that you stay as close to god as you possibly can see i don't keep myself saved but i can keep myself safe let me say that again i don't keep myself saved that's god's work he saves me but i keep myself safe because i know there are certain places if i go there that's a bad scene for me like you know let me illustrate with food i know there's certain places there's certain food i like to eat in that place and if i go there i'm going to eat that food but if i don't go there i won't eat that fattening food so i may avoid that place so the same is true in life in general if i go to this party if i hang out with this person if i watch this thing on tv if i go to that website trouble always follows okay newsflash don't go to that website don't go to that party don't hang out with that person see but then in the instead of it find a better place to go like church for a midweek bible study what a great choice you made well done pat yourself on the back go ahead try it's not that hard yeah that looked really weird okay no but i'm glad you're here you made a really good choice here for tonight replace your ungodly friends with godly friends go to websites that will edify you and build you up in your faith harvest.org isn't a bad place to go we have a lot of goodies there and also we have an app for your phone and daily devotionals and all our messages and all kinds of things but you know replace it with something that's better the bible says that we should keep ourselves in the love of god so the idea of that is stay as close as i can to the lord and another one do you love other christians if you're really a christian you will love other christians why first john 5 1 says everyone who believes that jesus is the christ is born of god and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well you know when you really love someone you'll love their kids too you know when i have friends they have kids hey i love their kids too that love extends to the children right and in the same way if we really love god we'll love his children and will want to be with his children some people might say well you know i i can't find a church i really like and plus i i work on sunday it's my only day off okay but the bible says don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is but exhort one another and so much more as you see the idea of the lord approaching it doesn't say don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together unless sunday is your only day off or don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together unless you want to run in a triathlon or don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together unless it's a good beach day no it says don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together to put it in vernacular don't miss opportunities to be with other christians for worship in the church hearing the word of god i know the church has its flaws that's because we're in it right but just remember that jesus started and loves the church and jesus died for the church and first john 5 1 says if you love the father you'll love his child as well so if you really love god you'll love his kids now let me turn it around if you don't love his kids by that i mean fellow christians how much do you love god how how can you say you love god who you can't see if you won't love his people who you can't see start there and so these are simple litmus tests that show that our faith is real here's the key look at verse 13. don't miss this it is god that works in you both to will and due of his good pleasure so let's look at it again work out your own salvation with fear and trembling which means carry it to the goal fully complete like you're in a mind fear and trembling with self-distrust work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is god that works in you both to will and do of his good pleasure it's god working in me it's not me trying to imitate jesus it's jesus living in me and jesus living through me you see that's where the strength comes i mean where did you ever get a desire to even want to open the word of god i'll tell you that came from god himself where did you ever find a desire to want to actually worship god that too came from the lord so that's where we're going to get the desire to will and do of his good pleasure this is what the lord wants for each and every one of us so we can know we're saved and then we'll know we're safe we'll get into the rest of it next time because there's some amazing truths and those verses that follow and i don't want to rush over them so i'm going to just put a period on this part of the message and and we'll return to it later because paul goes on to talk about things that can get in the way of this and they're very important things for us to understand but let me just say you know some of you maybe have joined us tonight and most of you have physically at least we're talking about being saved and you don't even know what we're saying i think the phrase saved is a perfect expression that's very understandable we understand it in other settings someone's in a burning building firefighter rushes in what do we say they were saved right or someone's drowning and a lifeguard goes and rescues them what do we say they were saved because they were on the brink of death and someone saved their life so when we talk about christ being in life what do we say you're saved save save from what uh hell that's a big one that's the biggest one of all you're saved from hell because you believed in jesus you're no longer going to hell and now you're going to heaven but save from what else save from the power of sin i no longer have to be under its control i've been set free by christ saved from any addiction saved from any vice saved from anything or anyone and saved from the power of the devil oh man before i was a christian i was like a spiritual dartboard i had no way to fend off the devil but be christ because christ lives in me we already read there in first john the wicked one touches me not that doesn't mean the devil can't tempt me because he can and he will that doesn't mean the devil will not hassle me because he'll do that as well but what it means is the devil cannot control me and the devil cannot attach himself to me and certainly the devil cannot live inside of me you know sometimes people say i think i have a demon in me i need to go get delivered uh are you a christian yes well god's not into a time share program okay when christ moves in the devil moves out that's as simple as that as first john said the wicked one is not attached to you any longer he's still there in the exterior trying to make havoc but he needs your cooperation because you're under divine protection it's almost like you have an id tag hanging off you now that says property of jesus christ and the devil can read and respect him but he still wants to make your life hard and if you be if you're listening to him then you'll have trouble but if you keep your distance from him and keep your eyes focused on jesus just remember god will never give you any more than you can handle

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 25,705

Rating: 4.9179955 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, greg, laurie, Harvest Christian Fellowship, Greg Laurie Sermons, bible study for me, bible study, youtube sermons

Id: 1x7hv5PCrW0

Length: 77min 27sec (4647 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 27 2021