How to Spot Fake Christianity - Summer on the Mount #7 | Jonathan Pokluda

what's going on guys how are we doing I love it I love it hey Dallas good to be with you Fort Worth tuning in good to be with you guys people in Houston there's a gathering starting in Houston folks tuning in from all over the world we're so glad that you can be with us as we open God's Word tonight and learn something his spirit makes known to us the things of him and so I don't know when you became a Christian I know there's probably hundreds of you here tonight that have yet to become a Christian but when I trusted in Christ after having been in church my entire life when I was from a small town and so when I moved to Dallas I learned that I like shiny things okay nice things and so what this looks like in my life I love nice cars and I loved my other strong affection it's kind of a silly one but I really liked nice watches or timepieces if you will and so I was in the business world in corporate America and my watch my boss rather had this amazing watch and so I would always look at it with just covetous eyes I wanted that watch and so I liked watches but this one particular watch held my deep deep affections I'll show you this picture yeah it's a Breitling Bentley and so it's made for Bentley Motors and so the best of both worlds right timepieces and cars combined a very nice watch a very nice car combined into one beautiful piece of jewelry that tells time and so I wanted that watch badly it's about 10 grand okay so this is before ministry by the way yeah it's quite a tickler some of you let that hit at home you're like wow yeah so 10 grand and I wanted it and my love language is gifts and so we're gonna take up an offering no I'm kidding and so and so my uh my best friend at the time and he still my best friend goes on vacation and he comes back and so because my love languages gifts like I had showered him on birthdays and those sorts of things it definitely was not his love language it was not reciprocated well and and so he comes back from this vacation and he says hey man I got you something and he kind of makes this formal to do about it you know sits me down and I'm like finally you know finally and I'm sitting there and and he goes yeah you know I know I've heard you say you know just some things that you like and and so he hands me you know this and and I take it and I open it up and he hooked the brother up man and I'm sitting there and I'm like I I can't like where you I can't what you know and and he says yeah it's maybe been a good buddy to me good friend you've been generous to me and so I just want to I want to give this to you I know you love it I know you'll love it I thought about you when I saw it and I got it for you and I'm like I don't know even if I can do that was a Christian at the time of a fairly new Christian and I got I don't even know if that's like good stewardship I don't think I can you know I've got to give that to the poor something and so some homeless man Dallas will be walking around with a Bentley I'm a Breitling and and uh and and he goes he's just like it's yours and I'm like but but bro I can't believe you spent that much on me you say what are you talking about I know it that watch cost he's like it's 50 bucks in Chinatown he was aiyo you thought it was real he's like now it's a replica counterfeit fake now I don't know if you saw it but it's made I mean this is masterfully made to the exact weight all of the exact markings the exact Emily blooms everything on the outside looks exactly like the real thing you can't even tell that it's not the real thing until you open it up and you look inside but it's fake that's that's what being fake means is everything on the outside looks like it's legit it looks like it's the real thing but the inside is not the same the insides not swiss parts not 21 jul 2015 21 to seer what we're learning and we've learned how to talk smart in circles so that others think that we're following God but when we get all by ourselves there's no relationship with God then that define our faith like who we are and when we're by ourselves with God like when we're talking with him and there's actual relationship there all that other stuff is done for men that's fake Christianity that's fake faith so Dan I don't want to talk about with you how to spot fake faith from counterfeit Christians because if you look at this it's very very difficult to tell that it's fake you'd have to be trained in how to know that is fake how do you spot fake faith from counterfeit Christians now some of you you're here and you're like no no ma'am okay well messages lost to me I'm I'm the real deal I'm a Christian I've trusted in Christ it was really I I believed in him in the heart I confess with my mouth believed in my heart and the USA but even you there's elements of your faith I promise that as we examine the Scriptures or what Jesus gonna tell us tonight in Matthew 6 there are parts of our faith that have drifted towards being fake that have been for the approval of man we've done to impress people things we do to impress people that's the only reason anyone has anything that's fake right why does someone buy a fake Breitling why does someone buy a fake Tory Burch why does someone buy something that's fake right it's to impress people to look like they have the real thing when they don't and why does someone have a fake faith to impress Christians to impress people and so we're in summer on the Mount which is just a series we're doing on the most famous sermon of all time Jesus is Sermon on the Mount if you went home and read it I said this it would take you about 15 minutes to read through the Sermon on the Mount but in that 15 minutes Jesus covers law missions adultery lust love hate judgment marriage divorce enemies the poor prayer anxiety money materialism heaven and hell in 15 minutes if you read it and so we're taking it we're chopping it up in these little excerpts we're gonna be in chapter 6 verses 1 through 18 if you want to turn there last week David talked about loving your enemies and consistently in Jesus's Sermon on the Mount he goes after the hearts of men he goes after the inside because the religious people of this time did so much for the appearance of holiness they did so much to appear holy and I just tell you something that kind of concerns me up front is I don't know that they knew they were fake like when somebody is a con and they live in that con for so long I don't know that they actually know that they're conning people I watched a movie just this weekend with my wife big eyes I don't have you seen it it's about this guy who pretends to be an artist and he lives in that for so long that he actually thinks he's an artist when he's not and some of us we've lived in Christianity for so long that we believe we're Christian but when we get in our car by ourselves and no one else is looking there's no relationship and so the men of Jesus's day did so much to appear spiritual do we still do this what's the number one reason people don't trust Christ people aren't Christians what's the biggest reason is it because they look at Jesus they're like I didn't really like his teaching all this stuff about love your enemies that's just not my thing I mean is that what it is they reject Jesus they reject Jesus is teaching why do people reject Christianity because Christians are hypocrites that's the number one reason I hear you go to church Christians are a bunch of hypocrites they say one thing they do another they say hey you this is how you should live but then they live however they want they say hey the Bible is true but then they don't actually abide by it they don't even read it Christians are hypocrites and so tonight Jesus is going hard after hypocrites let's go first one be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them if you do you will have no reward from your father in heaven it's the summary of this entire message right there in verse 1 let me read it to you again lean in be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them if you do you will have no reward from your father in heaven so when you give he's gonna give us three examples tonight giving praying and fasting we're gonna look at how fake faith gives how fake faith prays and how fake faith fasts and he starts with the giving so when you give to the needy do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by others truly I tell you they have received their reward in full but when you give to the needy do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret then your father who sees what is done in secret because he's God and he knows all things then he will reward you do not give or be generous to impress me anybody ever been in a church where they passed the plate have you ever done that like what is your mind go when they do that I grew up in a church that passes the offering plate actually I grew up in one where they they come by with the baskets which is even worse as he's standing right there you know he has the basket and in my mind always like III think it's human nature I'm thinking man who's watching me right now okay it's all like God dude the holler what you know who's whose eyes on me then could you imagine if we passed the plate if you're a guest with us tonight we don't do that we don't take up an offering here we we believe that that the Lord loves a cheerful Giver as the scriptures say and so you can give in the back we don't pass a plate here but if you've ever been in that environment you're sitting there you can imagine like if I'm out there and there's a plate passing and I'm watching you kind of you know dig in your pockets and I'm like hurry up and so I go in my wallet right and I'm going to see what kind of money I have and I realized I don't have the dollar bill that I usually give an offering all I have is the ten to twenty and a hundred and I'm like I guess I don't give tonight because I like and then I'm like you know what I'm going for it I'm gonna be extra generous this evening I'm gonna give this ten dollar bill that's gonna happen and so I see it coming to me and I'm just like okay you know stop taking your time let's let's get to me and it gets me the plates right there and I stand up I stand up and I just grab this guy here and I just attention please may I have your attention please I love the way the Lord is moving in this establishment and I see that you guys are out asking for an offering and I would like to generously give of myself the money that I saved on trumpet lessons I would like to donate this here $10 bill for the cause of ministry and this establishment you're welcome thank you you're welcome that's right and feel free to name the building after me Jesus I love this I love what he's doing here because this Jesus is showing you his personality he's using satire he's using sarcasm he says hey don't give like those who have the trumpets and they they give to be noticed by men I'm telling you they've received their reward in full like there's no history of people actually announcing what they give with trumpets he's being funny I love that and so there's like a contradiction and other people reason people don't like the scriptures if they say well the Bible contradicts itself because in Matthew 5:16 it says in the same sermon it says in the same way let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven is that a contradiction let your light shine before others no because you let your light shine before others for God's glory but if you do it for your glory it's disqualifying you've received your reward in full now if you give for God's glory or you do good deeds for God's glory or your living - for him alone awesome if you do it to impress anybody whose eyes are on you it doesn't count God doesn't receive it so my first point this evening is fake faith gives to get noticed fake faith gives to get noticed giving lots for the wrong reasons is not giving it's getting if you give for the wrong reasons you give to get noticed that's not giving that's getting that's gaining something you're not being generous you're exchanging what you have for attention that is not being generous first Corinthians 13 verse 3 says if I give all I have to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast but do not have love I gain nothing if I give everything for the wrong reasons I gain nothing and so why you give matters more than what you give Jesus is going out of his way to say if you give to impress people there is no reward in that likewise if you give because you are afraid of what it will look like if you don't give you're giving out of the fear of man and he says there's no reward in that the church I grew up in they had this I don't know if you guys have ever seen it was like these baskets on a stick and so when they would call for the offering the offering men would come down the aisle and they'd gather out offering men I don't know what they were called but they were these men that would take your money and and they would come up here and then they'd spread out throughout the church and they'd walk down the aisles and they'd had this basket like this and so before church this one day one of the guys who was one of the offering men kind of got into this argument with another guy who was just attending church that morning and so they kind of got into an argument and the guy that was just attending said something to him that wasn't very nice and so when they go to offering he takes this basket and he gets to that guy who was like in the third row and he just puts this basket in front of him and he just sits there and the whole church is watching and he's not a big church but the whole church is watching and he just sits there and the guys like and you just start shaking it a little bit and he just looks at the basket he goes and the guy I've never seen him he just turned bright red like blood is rushed to his head he sat there he eventually goes for his wallet and he pulled something out and he gave but he did so for the approval of man and in the same way I think so many of us do that like whenever we do anything benevolent or philanthropic we do so because we know people are watching us or we celebrate it via social media or whatever look at me that's right blowing my trumpet yes I am that guy yes I did yes he says there's no reward for you you've received it in full second Corinthians chapter 9 verse 7 says each of you should give what you have decided in your hearts to give not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful Giver that's what we don't pass a plate here I don't want you to be motivated by the person sitting next to you with their eyes on you that's not a good reason to give and so this is not saying that you can't have accountability around giving it's saying don't give to impress people and so what's that heart check have you ever helped somebody go on an international discipleship trip or you might call them a mission trip and and when you give online there's always this box that you can check that says anonymous but who wants to do that I mean if I give anonymously I mean they won't know that I gave to them I mean they won't say thank you or anything like that's not how does that count if I give anonymously even a hard check give when no one's looking and give more than you're comfortable with that will help you that will help you heart but it's not saying that you can't have accountability around this it's saying the reason that you share should not be to impress people I live in community which means I just have this small group of guys we meet with weekly couples actually and they know all my finances I did not spend $100 without running it by those guys if I'm going to make a significant perk I run it by those men first just so they can help me check my heart so I'm not buying $10,000 watches and and we're going through our finances on this one particular year and I'm talking to this to my buddy and I just see that $25,000 comes out of his account now to paint the picture this guy makes much less than than most of you okay so he's just a normal guy has a normal job he's not a ball or anything I mean just he's just like one of you guys and then I see this 25 grand come out of his account and I'm like hey what is that and he's like well I don't know if I should tell you and he reverences this and I'm like no I mean tell us so we gonna celebrate appropriately and he's like well that we we gave that he's like we saved that to give and I just said what when you know when did you do that and he goes well I just I drove up to the church all by myself I walk down that quiet hallway and he said it's deafening the sound that a check makes when it hits the bottom of the the offering and no one's there to hear it no one's there to see it it's just you and God he said we saved that to givin you know what I wasn't impressed by that I was influenced by that so we don't shared it in we don't share to impress we share to influence in the context of community that's fine but we don't share to impress people we don't give to get noticed or we don't give to impress we give because we believe everything we have is God's we have it on loan for his purposes God what I have is yours it's not my money it's yours that savings account yours all that I have is yours the cattle on a Thousand Hills are yours so verse five and when you pray he's going prayer now do not be like the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others truly I tell you they have received their reward in full but when you pray go into your room close the door and pray to your father who is unseen then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you and when you pray Jan I keep on babbling like the pagans for they think they will be heard because of their many words do not be like them for your father knows what you need before you ask him it's just interesting that Jesus is given this term he's like hey this is what's really important and I don't know that we still heed these words today's like hey I want you to listen to me guys I only have so many words that I can give in the most famous sermon of all time that's gonna be reserved for thousands of years so that people can read it and learn from it and this is what I want you to know don't pat pray like the pagans who try to impress people with their many words this thing is how you should pray our Father in heaven Hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one and then he goes on further heart surgery for if you forgive other people when they sin against you your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if you do not forgive others their sins your father will not forgive your sins you know what Jesus is doing here Jesus is intentionally praying an unimpressive prayer it's a very similar prayer to Luke 11 when he grabs his disciples and he says hey let me show you how to pray listen not what to pray but how to pray which is different than what to pray and he says don't go on babbling the same things over and over like the pagans what does that what do we do we take it our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread hail Mary full of grace lors with thee blessed glory be to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit as one's been getting is down to angels God my guardian dear to whom God's love entrust me here blessed is the Lord knees I guess you're about receive than I about any through learning come Lord Jesus be our guys to let this food to us be blessed alright god is great God is good right uh what do we do we we babble these things in our hearts detached from our words we're not thinking about what we're saying maybe you are I didn't maybe you do maybe you say to our Father cuz you're my father you're in heaven I'm not in heaven and maybe your heart's attacks towards awesome I'm not talking to you but I think most of us we go through this routine the very thing Jesus is telling us not to do and we pray the what not the how bill moyers was a former Baptist minister and special assistant to president lyndon b johnson and the president had invited mr. Moyles lawyers over for dinner with his family there in the White House and when he came in President Lyndon Johnson said would you say the prayer would you say grace before our meal and so when Bill Moyers began to pray before the meal president lyndon b johnson interrupted him and said bill bill speak up I can't hear you and he simply said mr. president I wasn't talking to you and I loved that because I think so often when we pray publicly when we pray in the presence of others and and this is very true within the church as well when we pray in the presence of others we pray for them not for their benefit but to impress them and so my second point this evening is fake faith performs prayers for people fake faith performs prayers for people that that's how you spot a fake faith someone who performs prayers hey I want to pray I want it to be special I want they to hear me and so if you're praying and thinking what others think about your prayer you're not praying you are performing and likewise if you're afraid to pray publicly then you don't understand what prayer is because it has nothing to do with who else is there and who else is listening prayer is simply conversation with God that's all it is it doesn't matter who's listening we're not thinking about who's listening were simply conversing with the creator of the universe at my school in high school we had this deal called see you at the pole anybody have that see you at the pole you remember this this day like you were gonna gather around and pray around the flagpole and so you get there and you're surprised through there you like your Christian man I had no it and they're like people are coming up to you thank you so you're Christian yeah no man never knew that Wow and you're sitting there you grab hands and like the rule in my school is it would go around a circle and order which is always a little nerve-racking I mean you see it come in like a train and if you didn't want to pray you simply squeeze the person's hands next to you just that's just a pass I passed not today you know and so you're sitting there and so what I'm thinking about is everybody else is praying is I'm noticing who's passing I'm not a Christian at this point but I'm a faker and so I'm seeing who's Pam like oh yeah scared to pray in public huh you know and so it's coming closer and I'm like this is my time I'm coming out like this is gonna be big you know these people are gonna know how much I love God by what I'm about to say I mean this is gonna be amazing people are gonna trust in Christ because this prayer that's about to happen and and it's coming closer and I'm thinking okay that how do I start this you know okay father God daddy Jehovah Jireh uh and it gets closer and then they did a double skip on me so skip skip and I'm just out there now I'm like did she just squeeze my she just squeeze my hand it's my turn so people passed and now I'm I'm Heavenly Father God in heaven day by day we pray by day Lord protect our country amen squeeze and I'm like what just happens I can't feel my legs what what did I say what did I afterwards I'm part of my Hank did you so did you hear my like what did I say by some bad day by day in the country I don't know have you ever noticed how some people pray so different than they talk it doesn't seem like they're conversing with God it seems like in those times we're trying to impress someone father God Father God Almighty Lord father guy father God Jesus father my uncle says we're the we just church I said what does that mean he says you know you're the church that says we just we just said Lord we just want to ask you and we just so we just could you imagine like in mind if my daughter's talk to me that way like I got two little girls they came up and they're like father daddy we just want to ask you I'd be like just ask me why are you telling me you just want to ask me we just want to ask you if in your grace and mercy you might grant us dessert this evening for thy mercy and I benefit and glory and honor I would just be like what you want a high scream I mean we'll just just talent like what are you saying right now why do we do that can it can I tell you why we do that we learned that fake Christianity is contagious when it's been modeled for you you take and you run with it why do we go Father God cuz you heard father god that's why father God we just want out what you heard somebody say that and so you repeat it over and over and the reason I bring that to your attention because I'm guilty as well is because we want to make sure our hearts connected to what we're saying and we're praying to God not to anyone else not to who is listening to us we're not trying to press anyone with our prayers we're talking to God your prayers are not performances they're conversations now granted they're conversations with the Creator who could kill you as you sit there but their conversations and so Jesus says pray like this acknowledge he is holy he says pray like this he has desires and so seek to know them he knows your needs asked that he meets those needs and he forgives and so should you and he strengthens you in temptation and so in temptation rely on him amen and then he continues the heart surgery and he says if you can't forgive others you don't understand the gospel to which I'd encourage you to listen to David's talk last week if you cannot forgive others then you do not understand how the father forgives you and so bottom line in prayer don't perform to impress people and so in the church I really feel that temptation I'm gonna end this message with a prayer and all of you are gonna be listening there will be thousands of people listening to that prayer and so sometimes I start that prayer in my head and I just say Lord there's a real temptation right now to want to be liked God Galatians 1:10 says am I now trying to win the approval of God or of men for if I'm trying to please men I'm not a bondservant of Jesus God I just care too much what these people think about me would you heal my heart and would you allow me to talk directly to you for our benefit and your glory god help me help me not to perform with a bunch of words babbling that I've learned from fake Christians or fake Christianity fake faith help me start your prayer with that verse 16 and when you fast do not look sumber as the hypocrites do for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting truly i tell you they have received their reward in full but when you fast put oil on your head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting but only to your father who is unseen and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you praise God for the Scriptures because I know that so many of you came in here this evening fasting and just not knowing what to do you know messing your hair all up and and and letting everybody here know you're fasting I know that's been a real popular conversation this evening you've turned to your neighbors the s I am fasting not even whole 30 nope I'm I'm fasting I'm going without no the problem is that we don't fast and Jesus got on the earth Christ where Christians little Jesus's followers of Christ says when you do this he just assumes the clothes he assumes that we do this and the problem is we don't do this and I think it's one of the most powerful spiritual disciplines out there that we don't frankly take advantage of that we don't benefit from and so my third and final point is fake faith sacrifices or goes without to appear spiritual fake faith sacrifices to appear spiritual so Jesus assumes we do this I don't know if you knew this Jesus talks more about fasting than baptism I mean there's some of you here that believes baptism is contingent on salvation it's not by the way okay but some of you here actually think that it is and I'm telling you Jesus had more to say about fasting than he did baptism he says hey this is really important that you would do this and we don't do it we don't go without we don't want to be uncomfortable in that way we it just seems weird and and I'll tell you that if we did fast if I if we did go with that we want to tell everyone like I don't skip dessert without telling someone I'm like do you see that willpower no sir no dessert for me I'm like get the trumpet man that's right not even hold 30 just self-discipline relying on the spirit that's what just happened a bill bright who founded campus Crusades now called khru he fasted every year of his life for 40 days from 1994 until he passed away in 2013 I think 2013 no 2003 2003 of malnutrition No Father forgive me uh no he's a godly man a truly a lot of people know Christ because of the work of this man and so he went from 1994 to 2003 and fasted every year of his life for 40 days like Jesus did Jesus fasted as an example why would Jesus fast as an example to us that we would fast showing him that way he went through challenges too as a human fully human fully God he was hungry and so he built it so what do I mean by passing all he drank for forty days was water and juice that's it like could you imagine being a business meeting 35 days in you hadn't eaten for 35 days and not telling anybody I'd be like guys before we start this meeting I got to tell you something and I need a trophy and dessert you know it's like some somebody needs to hear this okay I've gone 35 days without eating like I like there would be some it would be Instagram Twitter like Facebook everything would be going crazy I'd be like yes I did 35 days I've made it 40 days I'd want everyone to know but he did it when he did this it wasn't public knowledge he didn't tell anyone now he wrote a book about it now telling us how to do it but it wasn't something that he did to impress people but to influence people and many have been influenced by his life and I love that fasting is not just a reminder to depend on God some of you probably heard that when you have hunger pains then you can be reminded to go to God fasting is actually strengthening your resolve to overcome sin why because it's going without what your body naturally desires your body naturally desires food everything inside of you naturally desires food and so you resist that and you strengthen your resolve and your ability to resist that just like sin your body naturally desires sex your body naturally desires attention from men your body naturally desires money or whatever that is and so you strengthen your resolve to resist that temptation that's what fasting is and so fast fast from things like social media okay people come up to me all the time and ask about if something is a specific sin they'll say hey is it a sin to drink alcohol and I said I don't know fast from it and ask God you know in the back I don't want to be like I'll be like go 40 days or six months without drinking and ask God if it's a sin it may be a sin to you I don't know and the way I don't go six months without drinking would then it's probably a sin I mean the body says and the Bible says don't be enslaved by anything don't be embodied to anything so if you people come up to me and say well he's masturbation is sin I say is this something that you participate in yes okay well fast from it and ask God if it's a sin to be clear show my parts or not I don't think drinking is a sin I think getting drunk is a sin I do think masturbation is a sin but wherever you're at like and I will tell you anything that you can't stop you're in bondage to and so if you're at if you're wondering and something is a sin fast from it take six months and say I'm gonna go without that or forty days start there I'm gonna go without that thing completely and asked the Lord to reveal to you fast from food that's what Jesus is specifically calling us to especially when making big decisions I'm telling you I believe it's the most powerful spiritual discipline that the Lord use don't use it like superstition but you say God I'm gonna do this to draw near to you so I can hear your voice clearly father would you speak into the specific decision but do not fast to appear spiritual do not fast to impress people this is just a line the Lord gave me as I prepared for this message and so and it's this I want you to write it down we are so focused on our need for affirmation we've lost the practice of adoration we are so focused on our need for affirmation we've lost the practice of adoration it's no fun to do something super spiritual if no one's gonna notice right like what credit I mean what I don't get any credit from people that's way same she said you live for God's approval and God's approval it alone which you received through Jesus but we you receive it then you live as though you have a relationship with the Creator that you know him and you talk to him and you walk in obedience to him but some of us we live like well if no one's gonna notice like why would I do that that's no fun I saw this video this week and it's just too relevant not to show and so you guys watch this for a minute are you a Christian girl that loves taking photos of her devotions do you spend hours framing the perfect picture without the pay off of people noticing how spiritual you are on the Internet introducing Christian girl Instagram 101 tips and tricks to get more likes on your devotional photos hi I'm John Crist with Christian girl Instagram do you struggle to get likes on those devotional Instagram photos hashtag the struggle is real from the bestselling author of shameless workout selfies comes Christian girl Instagram I would always get coach stressed out trying to decide which Bible verse to show anymore okay you're always gonna want to stay away from common verses like Jeremiah 29:11 or John 3:16 no matter what verse you choose you always want to make sure you highlight multiple verses with multiple colors because after all what's the point of having devotions if no one knows about it I used to spend five minutes reading the Bible and then like thirty minutes trying to figure out a hashtag then I found Christian girl Instagram my book includes over a thousand hashtag suggestions like coffee with Colossians lists serenity much-needed and of course hashtag blessed thanks to inspiration from Christian girl or Instagram I took down my Marilyn Monroe poster and replaced it with footprints in the sand Christian girl Instagram now includes bonus tips like if you're gonna include your hand in the photo always wear a purity ring remember anything leather-bound is really gonna pop with that Valencia Instagram filter Christian girl Instagram is great my devotions are now constantly being interrupted by people liking my post by now and I'll also include my additional book announcing your social media fast tips and tricks for effectively telling people you're fasting while ignoring all of Jesus teachings about telling people you're fasting Christian girl Instagram can be yours today this book and so much more available to you all for the cost of less than a pair of yoga pants I don't always do devotions but when I do I am stag Ram it so awkward it's funny because it's true we know it that's that's the laughter of conviction you guys if you do spiritual things for the approval of men if you do things to impress man more than to relate or converse with God you need to question your salvation you need to ask yourself is my faith real do I really believe this thing that I've always said that I believed or at some point I've begun to say that I believe or have I learned a way of living that appears from the outside like I'm a Christ follower when when I'm by myself I'm not following Christ I'm doing what I want to do and so if you give for the approval of man if you give to impress people he says you have received your reward in full if you pray in a performance for people he says you have received your reward in full these are things that you should do so that God knows for your benefit of your relationship with God he says when you fast or when you make sacrifices and you go through hardships and you do so to impress people to appear spiritually he says appear spiritually says you're not spiritual at all this is what the scripture is saying this is convicting especially in the f/w he says your father sees everything you do do it in relationship with him to have a relationship with him I want I want you to imagine for just a second use your imagination for this one if you if you worked in a warehouse or on an assembly line in a warehouse and and so you you connected you put widgets together all day every day there's conveyor belt in front of you and you're just putting widgets together that's what you're doing right and your boss comes to you and he says hey I'm going to be constantly inspecting your work and so he has this office that you go up these stairs in this warehouse and there's his office up there it's like this this box in the warehouse and it has no windows and so he'll go in there and you don't know what he's doing in there but every now and then he'll come out and when he comes out the door makes a chime you guys following me so the boss comes out to inspect what you're doing he walks down those stairs and whenever you hear he's coming you're just like game on like you're doing your work you're doing it right but then he goes back up those stairs and he goes into his office and then you're like hey what's up man how you doing this weekend I mean no nobody's watching so let's let's let's catch up how was the weekend what'd you do oh my goodness oh yeah tell me more about that let's talk about that and then you just goofing off and then that door chimes and you know he's coming down those stairs and then it's like okay hey game on he's coming boss man's coming let's get after it and one day he says hey come into my office and you're excited cuz you don't know what goes on there you go up those flights of stairs you go in his office and you realize the only thing in there is a chair and a TV and that TV is a feed it's a camera feed right over that conveyer belt he's watching you every second that's all he's been doing up there is watching you and it's the realization that he's seen everything he's seen the inside God has a camera into our hearts he's constantly watching the feed and the activity of our hearts the longing of our hearts the doings of our hearts and this is why Jesus is given the sermon he said hey the Lord knows what you do in secret and the Lord knows what you do for the approval of people live for him an audience of one so in closing tell you a story right after Monica and I got married we've been married my wife and I've been married for about ten years brand-new Christians we had just been in the faith about a year and a half at this point and we went on this trip to New York City and we did the whole New York City thing we did it up big right and so we go to Wall Street we see the Empire State Building in the Statue of Liberty and Times Square and all the things that you can see in New York City and and she wanted a bag a purse I guess I've been told to call it a bag she was gonna get a bag a coach bag at the time okay and so now it's Michael Kors or Tory Burch or Louis Vuitton or whatever but but then it was a coach bag and she was gonna get it in Chinatown and so I don't know if you've ever done this I know I'm in a room full of devoted followers of Christ so you probably have no idea what I'm talking about but but ladies let me just inform you in Chinatown you can get fake purses okay and so we we would go there in New York City and and these guys stand on the side of the road and they're like coach of Gucci Prada coach of Gucci Prada and you know and I'm like huh I'm like how much and he's like you know follow me and so we followed this guy which is not safe and and he takes us into the store and you walk in the store and there's all these handbags these purses all over the wall but but none of them are name-brand and then he says follow me and he takes this into this back room I'm serious okay the wall opens up okay so there's all these bags hanging on the wall and it opens up and it's like this magnetic lock on the door and the wall opens up and he takes us into this back closet and he shuts the door okay keep in mind a decade ago new Christian and we're in this room and there's all of these fake handbags on the wall and so my wife she she finds the the coach purse she wants and and she gets it but he's showing me watches you know and whatnot and we leave with that bag and and you know she's excited she got her purse you know her coach purse or fake coach person and and her friend has the real one and so when we get back to Dallas you know they're comparing is oh it looks just like look all that the symbols are the same that the emblem is the same look the strap is the same the leathers the same color the stitching is this I remember that coming to the stitching is the same color you open it up the inside looks the same it's like exactly the same I remember this conversation and you paid four hundred four years like I win you know hashtag winning and and the problem is she begin to wear that purse she begin to use that purse she put stuff in that purse and she went through life with that person you know what happened to her purse or fake knockoff coach the stitching began to unravel the seams began to come undone the leather began to peel it didn't hold up when life threw things at it it just couldn't hold up and in the same way if you're here and you have a fake face can I just tell you something that what lies ahead of you are some real challenges life is difficult there are lots of hardships out there I get to see in vocational ministry up close the hardships of individuals lots of really difficult things lie in store for each and every one of you and it's not anything you need to fret about or have anxiety about because God's got you and if you have faith you have him and it's enough to carry you through breakups it's enough to carry you through hardships it's enough to carry you through illness and loss of loved ones it's enough to carry you through seasons of life that seemed unbearable but a real faith holds up I will tell you that a fake faith comes undone at the seams I'm not talking about momentary doubts I'm not talking about having to go back in the scriptures and be reminded of truth I'm talking about an unraveling of a faith that was inauthentic it wasn't real God sees what you do in secret I am NOT trying to change your performance or to make you better I'm trying to drive you back to that point where Christ who prayed to God and God alone who fasted for forty days without the benefit of any of you there to be impressed by it Christ who gave all that he could his entire life to set you free he said because the things that you have done to impress people I will pour out my blood for it will cost me my heartbeat it will cost me my breathing it will cost me my life and he didn't die to impress anyone he died to reconcile you to the Father and that's where real faith starts and so if you're here and you're like me I know that I've got a fake faith I know that I've been pretending my fake is my faith is as fake is that Breitling I would just encourage you to look at the cross because no one likes to find out down the road that what they have is fake when they thought it was real and likewise I don't want anyone here to one day find out that the faith that they said that they had was fake let me pray father you are in heaven and we are on earth and so God we ask that you would build your kingdom that you would bring it here and that you would do that through us and Father we pray that you would meet in this day our needs as we leave here whatever it is we need to physically live whatever it is we need to survive that that you would give that to us that you would grant it to us in your sovereignty and father when others sin against us in the same way that we've sinned against you would we be as quick to forgive them as you have been to forgive us and Lord as we face temptation in a relationship at work on a computer in the mall out there and in the porch cafe wherever we would go when we face temptation God would you please strengthen us by the power of your spirit at work inside of us deliver us from that evil Lord please if yours is the kingdom yours is the power and you and yours alone and only you and no one else is the glory in the honor for ever and ever you

Channel: The Porch

Views: 24,952

Rating: 4.8482141 out of 5

Keywords: fake, christian, christians, Christianity (Religion), Lie, Hypocrisy (Quotation Subject), hypocrite, false, the porch, watermark

Id: aVpFdXLZ10Q

Length: 52min 0sec (3120 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 31 2015