"Sermon on the Mount" Shane Willard

the Sermon on the Mount let's talk about what it's not the Sermon on the Mount is not a manifesto on how to go to heaven it's not a manifesto on how to go somewhere else nothing Jesus said was it was not a manifest on how to how to do how to do something to get somewhere else all right it's not that and it's not a manifest on how to be God's children this is the Sermon that is not a manifesto on how to be God's if it's not a manifesto on how to avoid hell if you make the Sermon on the Mount about that you might be okay in the murder bit but you run into real trouble on the worry bits you you might be able to say oh you're a murderer you go to hell jesus said so but in the same sermon he said those who worry do not in here at the kingdom so do you worry about it this is not a manifesto on how to go to heaven and avoid hell and it's not a manifesto on how to be God's child the Sermon on the Mount is a manifesto on how to live giving your right standing with God it has to do it's a manifesto on what is the appropriate response given what God's done for you so given the fact that God forgave you for free what is the only appropriate response and more than that what kind of life is available to people who actually go all-in with God's Way of living it's directions away from things that lead you to darkness and towards things that lead you to light this direction is away from things that lead you to disrepair and towards things that lead you to wholeness this is the Sermon on the Mount and certainly he says brilliant things in it but he starts to start rolling out on how to be happy like how do you how do you be happy what do you do blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those that mourn blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness but then he gets into this whole thing of light and salt and he talks about being the light of the world but he says this cool thing about salt he says you're the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its flavor it will be good for nothing except for to be thrown out and trampled under feet by men which is obviously about hell someday no he that the temple was up on a high mountain you had to ascend who can ascend the hill of the Lord and etiquette says every offering must be seasoned with salt so if every offering has to be seasoned with salt what did they have a big stockpile of in the temple salt so they're this big stockpile of salt but they wanted the salt to be right because they wanted God to accept the sacrifice so assault has an expiration date in their world so what they did is when the salt lost its flavor they would take the old salt and they didn't want to waste it so what they would do is they would throw it outside on the temple steps in order to be used to absorb moisture so that the surface became less slippery and so what would happen is the old salt was covering the temple steps in order to increase traction so Jesus essentially Jesus is saying this is that you have a choice your life can flavor the whole world around you or your life can be an example to others to keep them from falling your choice your life can be amazingly effective or your life can be a lesson to everybody else as to what not to do to keep them from falling your choice Jesus Jesus says all these amazing things like you know don't kill each other hey thing all right then he goes he says and if you're impressed with yourself cause you haven't killed anybody don't hate anybody and don't even talk about about people until call people idiots and and and and and look look don't divorce for no reason don't don't just like arbitrarily just leave sort of commitments don't do that that would be does this that's horrific don't do that don't worry I choose to trust her so he's doing all the stuff and then he gets to the end and this is how the Sermon on the Mount ends it's always it's always a good idea when you're reading any book or any piece of literature or any sermon if you want to get the whole idea never isolate one moment and make that the idea look at it as the whole if you're reading through that you some people read through the bottom of the year can I encourage you to do something if you read through the Bible in the year never read Hosea chapter one and then stop you will feel terrible you'll feel terrible Hosea chapter one he's like I will never forgive you you will never be my people I'm gonna break your back thank you for so awesome but you can't read Hosea chapter one without reading Isaiah chapter three Hosea chapter 3 says to those I said I wouldn't forgive I'll forgive you to those I said you're not my people you're my people then find Hosea chapter 11 he's like how could I have ever considered leaving you I'm a God not a man I just love you so you always read to the end you never like pick out one thing and then go see it when it comes to God's judgment and stuff people and people are so unfair if you like this if if someone if someone asked me what kind of father pastor Richard was or pastor Kelvin so what kind of father these guys you're their friend I said you know I don't know but but let's say I was with them and let's say let's say in in in their children's lives they had to give them ten spankings in their whole life and let's say I was there for all ten and I just chose to videotape it right and so someone later says what kind of what kind of father is is Richard Crisco what kind of father is Calvin law what kind of father these people now say you know I don't really know but I have video let's check it out and I and on the video and the video is the 10 buttons that their children got in their whole lives and we go see that's what kind of father they are they are but whip and giving fathers well the video shows it we got evidence well is that fair no it doesn't take into account the fact that they're up at 5:00 a.m. blessing their children it doesn't take into effect this account the fact that all their children have a good relationship with them today it doesn't take into account the fact of what they were trying to get off their children at seven in order so they didn't ruin their life at 35 it doesn't take into account the heart of the whole thing and it doesn't take into account the whole it just isolates apart that's what we do it with God we take these 1:1 scripture from Hosea chapter one and see is they see God is a back breaker did you read to the end did you read to the part where it says all Israel will be saved did you did you read to like the end of the story and so so it's very difficult to just take one scripture and isolate it out of a sermon so I don't want to do that day I want to read the end of the sermon and then connect it to the beginning and maybe that'll open up some light as to what he was talking about alright so Matthew chapter 7 verse 13 it says this enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it not about heaven and hell if you make this about heaven and hell you're isolating it from the whole sermon it's not about heaven in Hell plus it's not compelling to make it about heaven and hell if this is about Heaven and Hell suddenly the Christian message is well unfortunately most of the world is doomed and that is not a compelling message at all some would call that bad news not good news enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it but small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only few will find it watch out for false prophets they come to you as sheep clothing but inwardly they are ferocious wolves by their fruit you will recognize them do people pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles likewise every good tree bears good fruit but a bad tree Bears bad fruit a good tree cannot bear bad fruit a bad tree cannot bear good fruit a good sermon always has good repetition every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into fire thus by their fruit you will recognize them so in this judgment has more to do with pruning than a legal transaction all right so let's keep going not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord did we not prophesy a name in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles then I will tell them plainly I never knew you away from me you evildoers therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock the rain comes down the streams rise the winds blow and beat against the house and yet it does not fall because in its foundations on the rock but everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand the rain comes down the streams rise the winds blow and beat against the house and it fell with a great crash that's the end of the sermon when Jesus had finished saying these things the crowds were amazed as teaching I'm amazed at this that in Jesus's largest crowded sermon ever recorded he doesn't give an altar call he doesn't say you listen now now that I'm done and you're amazed with my teaching and you'll do anything I say anyway here's what we got to do there's this part that's very important I need everybody to come forward and I need you to ask me in your heart to be your personal Lord and Savior so that one day you'll get to go somewhere else doesn't do that what's wrong with Jesus you know care about their souls what if they died in a horse accident on the way home might be tortured forever what's going on Jesus had thousands of people right in the palm of his hand they were amazed and he goes well let me end this by saying if you do what I say it's gonna solidify your life if you don't do what I say it's gonna make your life pretty shaky you choose Jesus by the way if I can make a point here um people who say well my life's on the rock because I believe in Jesus really you believe in Jesus that only qualifies you to be a demon with flesh on that means almost nothing I believe in Jesus no Jesus does not talk about a solid life based on what you believe Jesus talks about a solid life based on how you behave Jesus a view if you want to solidify your life you're gonna have to do what I said you're gonna have to take what I say and put it into practice if you do that you're gonna find that your life sweet pretty solid and he makes an interesting and very interesting point to me he says that people who actually live on the rock and people who live on the sand they face the same exact things but here's the here's the difference people who live on the rock they tend when the streams rise and the rain wind and the wind blows on it they tend to land on their feet but people whose life is on the sand they tend to land on their face so essentially Jesus ends the sermon with a choice feet or face um if you choose to put these words into practice it's good you're gonna find that your life will be very solid and even though you face the same things everybody else is facing you're gonna find it at the end of the day you're on your feet but but like other people who really don't do what I say um they believe but they don't do what I say they're gonna find that even though they're forgiven that their life ends up on the sand and they end up on their face and so Jesus is urging at the end of this sermon is please please don't just believe actually do something but don't just be amazed do something about it do change something dudes like that so this is a sermon and so what we got to do oh let me read one more scripture to you Deuteronomy 30 it says this this day I called the heavens and earth as a witness against you that I've set before you life and death blessings and curses now choose life that you might live so let's put this because because the broad road in the narrow way is just a retelling of that scripture essentially you have two choices you can choose life you can choose death unfortunately most people choose death which by the way had nothing to do with Heaven and Hell it has to do with a life of disrepair or a life of wholeness most people don't have the faith that it takes to live a life that leads them to wholeness most people are struggling and normal in some instances is good okay in some things normal is good your body parts are a good example of that you want your body parts to basically be where everybody else's body parts are right in that sense normal is good bathing once a day good plan washing dishes after you eat good plan in some senses normal is good but in a lot of instances normal is very destructive finances is one of those issues if you want to be normal financially according to US News World Report the average American spends a dollar and one cent for every dollar they make what that means is normal is broke you do not want to be normal financially you want to be weird sexual promiscuity well everybody's sleeping around are you right pretty much yes statistically everybody is sleeping around so sexually do you want to be normal or do you want to be weird and special and pure and full of power see it's some sense as normal as good in another sense normal is really really bad Jesus is saying in most instances when you see everybody going left you ought to that ought to be a cue to go right so let's be this sermon in its full context okay all right so this is the end of the sermon let's go back a few steps and here's the points he's making change that next line here's this basic flow of thought in the sermon if I was making an outline of this sermon this is what it would say first don't get what you want by judging that starts at Matthew 7 he says don't judge lest she be judged by the same standard with it she judge right so essentially he's saying don't get what you need from others by judging and you and you hate it when people do that to you like you wives do you love it or hate it if your husband says to you a good wife would do this what a good wife would do this says that if you don't do what I say then somehow you're bad that's getting what you want by judging and listen to me she might acquiesce but eventually you will lose the war because she will resent you for doing that you don't get what you need from vite from others by judging second thing he says is don't get what you need by minute you by manipulation don't throw pearls to pigs don't don't do something that people don't understand it's it's it's easy to get what you want by judging and it's easy to get what you want by manipulation but at the end of the day you will lose the war weight he says when they figure out what you're doing they're gonna turn and eat you and that's the truth but you wives you don't like it when your husband says a good wife would do this but but if let's say you needed help with the dishes it's one thing to say listen I need some help with the dishes it's another thing to start the dishes and go well I wish someone would help me around here poor guy goes alright I'll help and then he might help out of guilt and manipulation but he's gonna hate you don't get what you want by judgment don't get what you want by manipulation then he simply says just ask it'll be given to you seek you'll find or be open to you that is not a sermon on prayer it's a sermon about how to get what you need from others he's saying he's saying don't get what you need by my judgement and don't get what you need by manipulation just simply ask seek and knock allow them the dignity to say no while clearly expressing your need it takes some faith to do that takes the faith of yet then he simply says be aware of how your God concept affects how you treat others he says if you ask God for a bread does he give you a stone in other words if God's not playing games with you you shouldn't play games with others just be clear just to just be clear open honest genuine because if you think God plays games you'll play games if you think God is a racist you can be a racist at whatever you think God is like you will be okay being if God torments and judges harshly his children you'll think it's okay to torment and judge harshly your children how you think about God is directly affecting how you treat other people all right so the sermon is the sermon is simply don't get what you want by judging because that's that's how you treat others don't get what you need by manipulation that's how you treat others simply ask seek knock how you treat others be aware of how your God concept affects how you treat others how you treat others so if all four points leading up to the broad road in the narrow way has to do with how you treat others what are the chances that the broad road the narrow way have nothing to do with heaven and hell and more to do with how you treat other people in the context of the sermon it's all about how you treat others essentially Jesus is saying most people don't have what it takes to do what I'm saying but what I'm saying will empower you in life most people don't have what it takes to forgive those who are coming against them but that is the best way to live most people don't have what it takes to turn the other cheek when they're slapped but I'm telling you that will empower you more than then-then-then redemptive violence all right that that most people don't have what it takes to bless their enemies but I'm telling you you'll find that the less energy you spend worrying about revenge for your enemies the more energy you have to do something great with your life it's broad Road and narrow way it's broad Road and narrow way so don't get weighty by judging don't get weenie by manipulation ask seek knock um I'll be aware of how your God concept defense how you treat others broad roads and their ways how you treat others don't follow teachers whose teachings destroy your life if it isn't working dump it right he's as honest a good is so Jesus / dr. Phil if it ain't working stop I feel this way every time I see a street preacher screaming hell at somebody at a sporting event like I honor your passion and zeal and I get why you're doing it but can you at least be honest enough to step back and go this isn't working like if it ain't working dump it if how you're handling your money is leaving you broke stop if how you talk to your spouse is it leading to peace in the home stop is this so obvious like that that's why Jesus like this is obvious don't don't just hear it do something these are they then he says then he says I want you to know God which in in in the Bible is directly tied to how you treat others the only scripture in the whole Bible that defines what it means to know God has nothing to do with the prayer you pray or the fact that you go to church or the fact that you worship passionately it has nothing to do with any of that the only scripture in the whole Bible that defines what it means to know God is in Jeremiah 22 16 it says when you take care of the poor and the afflicted it will go well for you for this is what it means to know me declares the Lord your God it's the only scripture in the whole Bible that defines what it means to know him to know God was directly tied to how you treated others particularly others who couldn't do anything in return first John 4:7 beloved let us love one another for love is of God and every one that loves is born of God and knows God those are the only two scriptures that define what it means to know God and they both have to do with how you treat others so don't get what you want by judging how you treat others manipulation how you treat others ask seek knock how you treat others be aware of how your God cons that affects how you treat others how you treat others broad road narrow way how you treat others don't follow teachers whose teachings aren't working how you treat others know God how you treat others then he ends it this way don't just hear these things they're obvious do them do them I know you're amazed at my teaching but my goodness if you don't do something about it it's not going to lead your life anywhere essentially it's a dangerous place to get to a point where you can walk out hearing something you know is from God and do absolutely nothing except go to Outback for lunch do nothing about it it's broad Road and narrow way so there's three main images at the end first image is gates gates gates were a challenge to keep in mind our role in the world to be light and darkness and choose the higher road in ancient Jewish literature any time they talked about going in through gates it was or going to the city they talked about how the roads towards the city got narrower so you had to go you had to go to the city with full intention was it you couldn't get to the city accidentally you see this a lot in the Gospels anytime it talks about Jesus going to the city adds adjectives that seem unnecessary and Jesus set out to the city resolutely well why not just say Jesus set out for Jerusalem why ad resolutely well in their mind in order to get where you're going you have to do so with full intention because as you get closer to your destination the road gets narrower and your margin for error gets shorter and so what we have to do is we have to make our goal and our intention very clear gates was a reminder in all of us that in order to choose the higher road we have to set full intention before we get there that we're going to go that way that no one chooses the narrower Road by accident everybody knows there's a broad road in a narrow way coming and I am going right even if everyone else is going left I'm going right Jesus is reminding us that when it comes to broad roads and narrow ways nobody wakes up in the morning and does it by accident nobody chooses the higher road by accident no one forgives their enemies by accident no one turns the other cheek by accident no one just gives away their money to help somebody else by accident nobody does that people who live that way make a choice before they get there that when I face this fork in the road I'm going this way yes when I talk to teenagers about sexuality it's very apropos when you get sexually aroused all your spare blood leaves your brain and goes to the erogenous zones in order to make the act of sex more pleasurable it is a gift from God the problem is when all the spare blood leaves your brain you lose 25% of your IQ and you become mentally next time you're sexually aroused riot tried to do multiplication tables you can't yeah or in a moment of sexual arousal as they might have asked you a question and you're like later later later what can't think so if you're gonna choose to be it when I talk to teenagers if you're gonna choose to be pure it's a choice that's made now not then so you should brought in anything in life that is a broad road in a narrow way the choice to choose the narrow way is chosen before it's it's living with full intention living with full intention essentially Jesus's messages if you try to live on accident destruction is just gonna be a part of you it's a gate second second image is fruit fruit is a challenge to the church about itself watch out for greed and selfishness and yourself at least let me say this way at least be courageous enough to look at yourself and ask is what we're doing working pastor Craig Groeschel who's pastors the second biggest church in America he was on Fox News this morning talking about the decline of the church and and and he made a great point he said he said the church is at a critical juncture where we have to decide are we gonna hold on to what we always thought was true at the expense of the next generation or are we gonna talk to the next generation about about how they view God and then without changing without changing the primary message we changed the way it's delivered it's essentially essentially he's saying if the church is honest we can look back and say for the next generation the way we framed God is not ringing true and so we have to sort of adjust what we're doing just like every other generation and the past had to do it Jesus is saying you have to live with full intention and then in the middle of living a full intention along the way be gutsy enough to not just hold the line actually ask yourself is the line I'm holding working it's the line I'm holding working third third thing he mentions its foundations foundations was a challenge in ourselves to stay sensitive to God's voice word and presence essentially it is a dangerous thing to become a person who can hear what God's saying and do absolutely nothing about it so the gates the gates were a statement of intention in order to get to the city you had to set full intention to get there you had to set full intention there so let's say it this way there was three steps and it's thought gates then fruit didn't foundation here's a Shane Willard paraphrase of that your intentions are the starting point pure motives and consistent obedience mixed with focused intentions will lead you to a life that cannot be shaken your intentions are just a starting point I would say that in my counseling background and just an experience most people are on the broad road not because they're bad most people on the broad road simply because they live with no intention that they're trying to let life just come to them and what they'll find is that life never just comes to you you have to live with focused intention but intention is just the starting point the intention of your heart never determines where you go the road you choose to go on is what determines where you go if you get on i-75 going north with full intention to get to Detroit good luck you end up in Saginaw going man Detroit is not what I heard it was about right well I said well how'd you end up a second oh man I had full intention of going to Detroit I know but the road you run was taking you to Saginaw how did you end up broke I don't know I had full intention of being financially abundant I know but the road you are on was taking you to broke because you were doing what broke people do um how did your business fail I don't know I had full intention of building a business I know you had full intention of building a business but the road you were on we're doing things that make a business fail so you can't how did you end up in this situation I don't know I had full intention of living a free life but but but yeah but the road you are on was going down a path of death and destruction and darkness and despair it's never just listen intentions if you're living without intentions and then failure is just gonna be a part of your life it's just to be part of your life but intentions are just the starting point pure motives and consistent obedience mixed with focused attention will lead you to a life that cannot be shaken you you get with God you find out what your plan for your life is you set your intention clear no matter what comes your way your right even if everybody else is going left and then you stick to it and you stick to it and you stick to it and you stick to it and rain and streams and win and you stick to it and you stick to it and you stick to it Jesus is ending his sermon it's such a beautiful way that is so much more meaningful than heaven help if you're gonna make it about heaven in hell say it this way Jesus is saying you create your own heaven you create your own hell and then you lay in the bed you made you you choose the road of destruction you live with it you make horrible financial decisions you live with the consequences of being broke by the way I love you you're forgiven and death has no sting but good luck living broke you make sexual decisions that destroy your life I love you you're forgiven death has no sting but you're gonna live in some destruction and despair and it's likely gonna destroy and live in despair your wife and kids and family and all of that but listen if you if you if you choose this path you're going to reap the consequences of that path and I'm telling you the end of that road is destruction when people hit a crisis in their life oftentimes they feel like the crisis happens suddenly and saying let me be fair sometimes it does sometimes there's lung cancer and you never smoked and I want to be fair to you sometimes there's throat cancer and you never done anything to deserve it and likely if you have cancer you don't deserve it it's horrific so sometimes there's this urge that but most of the time when somebody's life falls into disarray people say bad that happened all of a sudden but if they're honest they'll look back and actually the road was leading off the cliff all along and when it actually happened it felt sudden but it actually wasn't sudden it was actually going there for a very very long time a very very very long time let me say it another way live every day with alacrity full clarity on what you want to accomplish along with a long with the willingness to be brave enough to measure whether it's working or not while staying sensitive to the adjustment Scot is asking you to make will lead you to the best life hold the line that God gives you without the delusion that the line will never shift by God sometimes God takes you on a certain path for a certain amount of time and then he asks you to shift and if you don't shift you hold the line but sometimes you need to shift Campbell Soup is a great example of that Campbell Soup makes the greatest soup in the world but their sales were declining they couldn't work out why so they got together they said obviously our soup is substandard we'll make our soup better they made the suit better still declining they got together again and made the soup even better still declining made the soup even better still declining finally in a top-level leaders meeting they said we're not leaving till we figure this out because we just made the soup the best it could possibly be and in we're sales are still declining and somebody after two hours asked the question why did we still packaged it in a can people don't like to open a can and put in a pot and heat it up what if we made it in microwavable safe bowls and so they didn't change their product they changed their packaging and their sales went back through the roof right sometimes you have to you have to hold the line but you have to hold the line with two other dynamics in place one a willingness to examine is this actually working and two is God asking me to do something else is God directly me some other way otherwise your life will be very sandy so let's say it a couple different ways okay one you cannot live on accident at best you'll be disappointed with life at worst your life will be destroyed anytime in a counseling office I've ever heard this Shane I'm just really disappointed with my life oh why I don't know I don't know I don't know why I'm saying I just feel I just I'm just disappointed with my life and I'm like worried this point I don't know 100 percent of the time I wasn't talking to a bad person I was talking to someone who never woke up in the morning with a clear intention of what they were going to accomplish that day so they never knew when they accomplished anything because they never set out to it's it's it like some people wouldn't know if they got what they wanted even if it hit him cuz they they don't know what they're either looking for you can't live on accident at best you'll just be disappointed life at worst your life can be destroyed two people don't fall suddenly they were on the road for a long time they just didn't realize it the Bible says it this way where there's no vision people perish in the original language it says it this way where there's no vision people cast off restraint in other words the only thing that gives you the power to say no is that you're saying yes to something else you can never beat sin by fighting sin you only empower it the only way to beat sin is to be a yes person on something else something that leads you oh I can't do that because I'm here right if your focus I can't do that addictions is a great example of that I've never been an addict but I have good friends who are and I and and when they describe how they feel I feel so sorry for them because I just can't understand it I've never had that I've never had that thing calling me that I just couldn't get away from and so I have a lot of empathy for it but but all the addicts I've ever met that beat it the way they beat it was not fighting the addiction the way they beat it was by giving their life to something else that took all of their attention anger is a good example that if you have an anger problem I would say to you you do not have an anger problem you have an energy problem you're not giving your life away to enough things that takes your energy waste of all this spare energy and it's gonna come out one way or the other the cure to anger you might go here sayshe please pray for me I have an anger problem no I'm not gonna pray for you for an anger problem because the cure for prayer the cure for anger is not prayer the cure for anger is giving your life to something bigger to have no energy at the end of the day to be angry about something what what makes you cast off the restraint to be angry is the fact that you have no vision bigger than the anger what makes you go back to addiction is not it's not that you're bad it's just that your life needs something bigger so you don't need it if your whole life is built around when's my next vacation I would say to you that it's possible to build a life that is so full of joy that you don't have to build your life around areas of escape from it you could do something that matters let's say this way you don't have to fall on purpose you just have to live without one in destructions a minute if you're meandering along through life hoping life happens life will happen and it will suck you will not like what it brings you people who win at life wake up every morning with a focused intention a goal if you don't have a let me talk to you about money for a second if I came up you today and I'm not so don't panic but if I came up to you today and said quick you've got two seconds quick where do you want to be financially in six months if you can't tell me in two seconds you're losing financially because you have no vision financially the only thing that empowers you to say no to frivolous spending is the fact that you're saying yes to a six-month goal a one-year goal you the only thing that empowers you to say no to the mall is saying yes to savings but if you can't tell me where do you envision your marriage in six months quick if you can't tell me then you're waking up every morning with not enough intention in your life to make your marriage work it's in you can't live accidentally what good marriages just happen you look at someone's kids ago and they're great kids those parents are lucky my kids are all full my god they're lucky good kids don't happen on accident good to have good kids happen when parents wake up every morning with full intention of doing what it takes to make good kids oh it it just that happened so does people look at my life ago man you're lucky lucky I slept in my own bed 38 days last year lucky I pay the price and I get on airplanes and I go around the world and no matter small crowds or big crowds I give it my best not lucky I am blessed and I couldn't do anything without God in him I live and move and have my being and if it wasn't for God I wouldn't have any opportunity that's a fact but once the opportunity comes you got to be a good steward of that thing you got to drive it you got to you got to you that God John yeah why did why do we always need a miracle when God is setting but his God withheld the resources necessary for you to win are you the only person in the world that happened to not to mention you live in America if you can't make it here what is wrong with you oh you can buy a hamburger for 4 bucks that same hamburger in Australia cost 12 good luck my pastor Australian lives in an eleven hundred and forty square foot home and the house next door to him which is roughly the same size just sold for $570,000 well we just can't make it in America the mortgage what move there and give it a try we have nothing to complain about here you can live with full focused intentions and you can make it you can when we do not have intention towards life destruction is just an inevitable part of our experience when we let's say it another way what yes requires a thousand knows to be a yes person on forgiveness means no to grudges to be a yes person on edification means no to gossip to be a yes person on giving means no to hoarding and the way to fight hoarding is to say yes to giving that's the way to do it the way to fight grudges is just be a yes person on forgiveness you can't you have to say no to grudges if you made a resolute intentional decision I will be a person of forgiveness to be a yes person on humility minos means nota powering up to be a yes person on rest means no to urgency stupidity on your part does not require an emergency on my part that's pretty good that just came to me I just tell you hit me that could be a book stupidity on your part does not necessitate an emergency on my part to be yes person on our profession means no the laziness you say I want to start a lawn care business Shane great make a business plan sit down with someone who's done it look at it make a plan make a plan to buy the equipment but if you have full intention on buying a lawn care company and starting it up and making it work if I call you at 9:30 in the morning and I wake you up it's going to lose to say yes to starting a lawn care company means no to sleeping in hello Lord do a miracle in my business Oh get up answer the flippin phone pay a fourteen-year-old he'll do anything for money to walk wrap up flyers on doors do something yep to be a yes personal purity means no to temporary pleasure to be a yes personal financial abundance means no to frivolous spending and five-dollar coffee hello Starbucks does this thing they're amazing they take a liquid that costs them 30 cents to make and they sell it to you for five dollars and this liquid is so amazing here's what it'll do when you drink it it will give you about an eight minute alert feeling after which time you will crash back below where you were before and in twenty minutes later it will come out of your body in the form of urine this liquid is so amazing drink it here watch it there pay us five dollars for the privilege this is amazing and you know what if you keep giving them $5 you can ride that ride all day long do you know what a latte is it's coffee and milk something you can make it your house for 10 cents that's what a latte is and it just costs a latte listen listen listen listen you younger people listen to me listen to me like if you're 85 do what you want listen to me you younger people if you spend 5 I'll just go buy snow by in the morning I get my Starbucks a I just get my Starbucks everywhere it makes me feel makes me feel all alert what you will find that science will show this that if you drink a liter of water when you wake up the morning I'll actually wake you up for longer than coffee okay listen and wait more healthy but let's like um um or if you don't want to be healthy just drink a coke it works it's great listen I need to know about my Starbucks in the morning I just get my Starbucks and it just helps me start my day listen to me everybody's doing it yep if everybody's going left you probably ought to be going right let me give you some math okay please listen to me rockers and listen if you're 21 years old and you were spending five dollars a day in coffee okay five dollars a day times 30 days a month is a hundred and eighty dollars a month you're spending making urine now listen five dollars a day thirty days a month is $180 a month let me give you some math fat this stock market average for nineteen nineteen till today given all the ups and all the downs is eleven point seven percent if you invest $180 a month at eleven point seven percent from 21 to 65 you will be worth one point four million dollars hope you like the coffee young people's sake Shane I can't I'd love to help orphans I just I just can't afford to give you're spending a hundred eighty dollars a month on flipping coffee you can do whatever you want to do you just have to wake up with the intention to do it hello he was an twenty seven years old able-bodied now I'm just I'm just so broke I just so broke I look at their finances and they're getting a coffee at Starbucks every morning oh my goodness there's a cure for broke it's called get a job stay out of the mall and quit buying five-dollar drinks and by the way if you get on this road right here and go that way about 8 miles there's a caramel that is the biggest devastation to your fight listen no one can afford a new car a new car goes down 50% in value in the first three years so you're telling me your financial plan is to put your money in something that loses 50% in value while paying 8% to a bank that you're a slave to that's your plan your plan sucks rich people don't do that if you don't do anything else in your life financially go read The Millionaire Next Door it's a guy that did a study about what actual millionaires do actual millionaires by three-year-old Toyota Camrys that's what actual millionaires do and then they sell it at 6 years before it starts breaking too much that's what actual millionaires do actual millionaires give away 13 percent of their income on average so actual millionaires do see if you want to have what someone else has you got to do what they do they wake up in the morning with full intention a business plan nothing will waiver them nothing to be a yes person on your dream means no to spending time on other things even if those other things are good to be a yes person on purpose means no to anything that moves you away from purpose let's say this way some patterns of life are obviously destructive leading to darkness instead of life some some things are obvious things like chasing riches obvious is a big difference between chasing riches in your heart and living so financially abundant that you can give to anything God tells you to give to chasing riches being cruel tearing other people down those things are obviously but yet we spend millions of dollars examining this on the web and TV somebody showed me this is a while back this somebody showed me there's a website and I know something it a ton of hits but please don't go there I'm just it's just horrible there's this website called ugly people calm you've seen it I see I see yeah essentially this website if you don't know what it is it is a website dedicated to exposing ugly people and so some of it is some of its obvious some of it is like um some of it is somebody making a joke but sometimes it's just people at Walmart snapping pictures of ugly people and posting it right so here's a website dedicated to being cruel to other people's physical appearance now is that obviously destructive then why are the owners of ugly people calm millionaires because people look they think about our TV shows that they make millions off of us watching it list it - the title of this listen to the title of this TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians is that really your goal in life to keep up with any man in the room what Bruce Jenner has a life surrounded by high-maintenance women you would just want some strong man to stick a spoon in your jugular MTV Cribs here's all MTV Cribs is it's showing you what exceptional people live like to try to give you a seed of hope that one day you'll have that and all it does is distract you from what God has for you they show you Shaq's house and check has an 11 car garage and a full-size gymnasium and a movie theater and an Olympic sized swimming pool and 40,000 square feet under roof and and they show you Shaq's house and subtly the messages one day maybe you to listen Shaq is 7 to 340 pounds with 8% body fat and a 44 inch vertical leap you are not going to make it and all they're doing is they're distracting you from your intention and what God could have you doing and it's taking energy away from what you could be doing let's say this way Jesus is saying that there are times where everyone's going left and you just know you should be going right Shane everybody gets Starbucks in the morning yep if everyone's going left you ought to be going right but Shane everybody has the car payment yep but if everybody's going left you probably ought to be going right machine everybody signs up to be a slave to the bank for 30 and 40 years yeah you're right but if everybody's going left you probably ought to be going right but Shane everybody parties that gets wasted and sleeps around on the weekend probably right but if everybody's going left chances are you should be going right this is what it takes to become a kingdom person to take the load rip the road less traveled let's say it a couple different ways no when we live intentionally pursuing the narrow gate we are more grounded and unanxious people living on purpose they are so less stressed than other people you see someone's stressed all the time that's someone without a purpose people living on purpose they're not stressed my friend Kyla Alexander who's given her life to restoring dignity to mentally handicapped children in China do you think she worries about the things people in Detroit worry about you come here what would you complain to her about she lives in a shack in a third world country and works with mentally handicapped children day in and day out and has given up her desire to be married and have a kid in order to accomplish this purpose she feels us from God your problems what man my 3G signals so bad here put that hack stupid phone I need 3G Kyla's like what 3G that's your biggest problem these Michigan roads are terrible they're terrible Kyle's like roads like your road has pavement you have a vehicle with four doors that has eat your life is amazing when we're living on purpose yeah what things first world people complain about the cable guys late lap you don't have to walk a mile to get water you need water you go to a tap and you can drink it without having the runs for three days because there's a purification plant that purifies it but even though we have a purification plant that purifies and then runs it through you still have people complaining that they run it back to your house new copper and that's surely gonna be bad Kyla and China's like what in the world is your problem when you're living on purpose you're way more grounded and not anxious to because we're intentionally pursuing our purpose we are not in prison to worry discontentment in comparison to others if you're clearly pursuing what God has for you it doesn't matter what they have listened if you want to build a business it doesn't matter that your neighbor gets more vacation than you that is not your calling your calling is to build this business it doesn't matter if you're you don't listen you remember you don't have to fall on accident you just have to live with that one you don't have to try to be overweight you don't have to try you don't you don't the way go you wanna go I ain't fully intend to eat as much crap as possible in order to destroy my body give me diabetes and heart disease in order to need a miracle in five years you don't do that you have to live with full intention to be fit not to lose weight you don't you don't have to you don't have to you don't have to try to be a financial failure just go spend your money wherever you want you don't you don't to try to do that you have to live with intention to be a financial success you not to try to have your marriage fail just don't do anything and it'll fail yeah you have to you have to live a full intention for your marriage to work you you don't you don't have to try to raise to raise horrible beelzebub children kids you don't have to try you don't you don't have to try to have your offspring be the biggest annoyance and the whole restaurant y'all ready to try to do that you you but you have to live a full intention to be a good mom and dad you have to live a full kitchen and what I find is that is that people who are focused on what God has for them they are so less worried about what anybody else is doing it doesn't it doesn't matter if they just bought a Mercedes s500 on full credit and you're driving around your little box of whatever wood that you actually own it doesn't matter if your intention is to be financially abundant it doesn't matter what they have I from the time I was four years old my mother taught me that I had to save ten percent I just thought everybody did that so for years oldest and granny gave me a dollar I had to put ten cent my mom wouldn't open a bank account for me at four I was there I remember it I remember sitting there and I remember every time something came in mom would mom would help me work out what ten percent was and we would drive to the bank even if it was thirty cents and she would take the time to make a deposit into that bank account when I was four so I just thought everything ever known to live in another way I've never I've never known that and so I made a decision at 16 that I was gonna be I was gonna have I was gonna have enough money to bless whoever I wanted to bless and so for me that meant I could never have a car payment and so I've never had a car payment in my entire life ever ever ever but what that meant was what that meant was is that at 21 I was driving really bad cars but I had a four hundred and fifty dollar high unday excel remember those things like that it like the the the felt on the ceiling was falling down in this in the floorboard I can actually see through it I had to put a 2x4 to make sure my foot didn't go through like like Fred Flintstone you know and so it's a which was really really bad for my love life can you imagine like blowing up for a day you got your Hyundai Excel you know and so all my all my friends would make fun of me because see they had car payments and they had car payments because everybody had car payments I said they're driving around they're really nice cars and they're making fun of my little thing but it didn't matter what they have because my intention was to live with focused attention and while they were paying three hundred eighty dollars a month to a bank at eight percent interest I was paying three hundred eighty dollars a month into a savings account called Shane's car fund and what I did in a year was I bought a four thousand dollar car which is way way way more workable and then I just kept doing that while they were paying it to the bank I just kept handing in myself and then two years later about a ten thousand dollar car and now I Drive a fully paid for Cadillac Escalade and it isn't because I'm lucky it's because I paid the price early in order to have what I have now and I have a fully paid for that I own Cadillac Escalade and they're still driving their nice Ford Focus that they're paying payments on to the bank yes when you pay the price first you can live better later Dave Ramsey says it this way live like no one else today and you can one day live like no one else it doesn't matter you could listen here's a litmus test you can know you have lost your purpose if it worries you what other people have if you've lost the joy of what you're doing because of what they have hey have you ever I talked about this yesterday sorry but I need to talk about again today because it's it's just important and have you ever lost the joy of what you have because you got focused on what somebody else has have you ever lost the joy of your own spouse because someone else's spouse is prettier have you ever lost the joy of your own spouse because someone else's spouse makes more money have you ever lost the joy of your child because he doesn't achieve as well as the other children have you ever been under the delusion that your first grader is the smartest first grader in the world and do you remember the day that you realized he wasn't so you think little Johnny's the smartest first grader in the world and then you go to a first-grade party and you think Johnny's the smartest first grader of the world and then at the party there's this Asian kid doing the Pythagorean theorem and you're like where's Johnny and you look around and Johnny's got a bucket on his head beating it against the wall and someone says whose kid is that you're like I don't know I and you lose the joy without it and really quickly you lose sight of the fact that your six-year-old is a miracle too a lot of couples who can't have a child and they really really want it so what you have is a miracle to them and you're losing sight of your miracle because of this other gifted genius mathematical kid when you're living on your purpose it doesn't matter what they have yes just doesn't matter no one forgives gives feeds the poor and serves others on accident it is an intentional directional decision so let me close this house morning with some questions if you try to live on accident it will lead you to destruction so here's my questions and I want you this is that a great sermon cannot be evaluated than the time it took to deliver it if you walk out the day and go man that was good what do we I would say that if this is the point I'm gonna give you some things that it might take you a week a month six months to work through with your spouse or yourself but if you do it it will lead your life to a better place one what are your desires could you even tell me clearly what you wanted because trust me if you don't know what you want no one else does could you tell me what you want jesus said it this way in mark 11 he says what it so ever things you desire pray asking in faith and there'll be desire is the gasoline that fuels prayer prayer without desire is very lightweight but when you harness a desire it has huge power it's like fire if fire is very broad it can burn up a lot of things but if you focus a fire into an acetylene torch you can cut through steel desire can you tell me what you want and if you can't don't don't feel bad it's not like you're a bad person you just might not have ever thought about it sit down with your wife and say okay let's talk about the five big areas of our life and let's make a clear faith confession of what we desire next one how would you know if you got what you were looking for if you got what you were looking for would you know it let's say this way starting on a daily level what are you willing to purpose in your heart to do today let's let's go back to a a for a second I love a a let's go back to a for a second if you're having trouble getting over addiction don't worry about long-term let's get through today so if you're having trouble with your desires and your intentions and your focus okay try not to think so big that could be overwhelming let's talk about today what could you intend to do today what could you wake up today and go today I'm gonna do this today I'm gonna give I'm gonna give thirty dollars to Fred Hollows in order to give sight to a blinded kid um today I'm gonna be nice I'm gonna do an active random kindness to somebody that today I'm gonna call someone and give a word of encouragement today I'm gonna sit down and actually start thinking about a business plan today I'm gonna do this what could you start on a daily level what could you do today today hit that next light is there anything in your life that is not leading you to wholeness let me say this way is there anything you're rationalizing today that you will regret tomorrow it might not be today it might not be the next it might not be the next but one day that roads going off the cliff is there anything you're rationalizing that you know you just need to change let me let me say this way it is your life not working why not what obviously needs to change for you to have a life what obviously needs to change and the fortunate thing I don't know if I've said this enough but you live in America there's tons of opportunity here that other people don't have you could do whatever you want to do calm seven are you willing to be a doer are you okay just being a hearer you listen to this and you know I'm telling you the truth I I have not said one thing even remotely controversial today live with good sense see see see you let's say this ago she was inspiring and good hang on are you willing to be a doer are you okay just being a hero because the inspiration will leave you by Tuesday in order to get the most out of this message you have to make a decision today that you will wake up every morning with full intention full intention focused intention mixed with pure motives and consistent obedience will lead you to a life that cannot be shaken my last question is this rock or sand your choice rock or sand I bless you to be people who consistently choose the higher road because you chose it beforehand nobody chooses to be nice in the middle of a crisis at an airport unless they chose beforehand to be nice nobody's nice when someone rear-end you unless you chose beforehand when something happens I'm gonna be kind and respect the dignity of the other person I'm gonna assume they didn't do it on purpose they didn't see my car and go no they were texting no one chooses to live their life for the betterment of poor people unless you wake up every morning with a full intention to do it I urge you whatever that intention is to make it clear and do it live your dream start your business do your job better get that promotion be a better husband be a better wife be a better parent be a better Christian do something live your life for something bigger and better I urge you to reach into that potential and do it there's enough potential in this room to establish the kingdom in the whole city I urge you to do it let's pray together Lord you're wonderful we love you there's none like you I want you right now to just ask this question of the Lord I want you to ask the question and just be just be honest perform say Lord I really have no clear intention would you please give me the courage to see things differently and the irresistible urge to respond to what I see to live a life on rock I have a feeling today that there's someone here that you feel like your life's in despair and you're listening to all this and you just can't get past it you've actually contemplated ending your life because you figured the world would be better without you and you just want to end the pain and I would encourage you to seek help but I'll also tell you that in seeking help what you're telling yourself is not the truth your life can be awesome and you're here and you're breathing air because you matter and you can live with intention to and God can do something in you I encourage the businessmen here who your business is starting to struggle wake up tomorrow with a fresh vision a fresh purpose fresh intention and work ethic go for it live your dream lord give us the courage to see things differently in the irresistible urge to respond to what we see if you here today and you need to respond to Jesus and say Lord I just I want to start the process of taking hold of what you did for me before the foundation of the world I want to believe your story instead of mine you can just simply write now respond to God your heart you can say something like this Lord Jesus up until now I've lived my version of my story but I know you have a version of my story and I choose to trust your version instead of my own I want to live your way you can do that nor would you empower us to be people who live with full intention amen would you let this fight thanks so much for me be your guest on weekend I hope that was a real blessing to you I look forward to being back with you in October we're gonna have we're gonna have a lot of fun and hopefully in that time - Detroit Tigers we play in the World Series and we'll just we'll just have it we'll just have a blast in Detroit Lions will be winning hopefully so so I can't wait to see again I do love you I love your pastures I think you're in one of the greatest churches in the world Grace and peace be to you god bless

Channel: Rochester Christian Church

Views: 15,048

Rating: 4.7862597 out of 5

Keywords: Shane, Willard, Sermon, God, Jesus, Gospel, Pastor, Jesus Christ (Deity), Holy, Rochester, First, Rochester First

Id: yrEjvd8Dmek

Length: 64min 44sec (3884 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 09 2013