Myths That Make Us Miserable XIV, Truth About Radical Commitment

Matthew 7 and we're going to finish today on the Sermon on the Mount. In case you don't know it, we do have cassette tapes available the same day of the message, right out that door and to your right. There's a little tape ministry table in the hallway on the south wing there, and those tapes are available the same day of the service. Okay, Matthew 7, and let's begin in verse 21. Very powerful scripture. Read along with me. If you don't have a Bible, listen carefully. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Try to read that again. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me, and underscore the word many, will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and 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 came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house in sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. I want to begin with an illustration today. How many of you recognize this form? How many of you have already gotten yours in the mail? Help me out here now. All the stuff that goes with it, the W-2s, and the 1099s, and the bank statements, and all that stuff. You don't have to disclose it, but it would help me. How many of you would honestly say you have already filled that whole thing out and sent it in? Let me see your hand. Unbelievable. Now, honestly, those of you who just put your hand up, how many of you are getting a refund? See that? Same in the first service. Every single hand. Now, ours didn't go up, because those of us who are paying, if you know that this is coming, how many of you are already thinking, I've got to do this, I'm going to set aside some days and do this? But of those of you who know you've got to do it, and it's imminent, how many of you know, just because of the way it is in New York, that on April the 15th, you're going to be holed up somewhere with all these piles, and you're going to be in your car, you're going to be one of those people handing yours to the guy in the corner in downtown Pittsburgh. How many of you? Thank you. I know that most of them are just flat out lying, actually. What is it about deadlines and decisions that cause us all to sort of run for cover, except if we think there's something in it for us? As if the consequences of our decisions, it wouldn't happen to me. So young people put off signing up for their SATs and miss the deadline. Or they don't get their college references in on time, so they don't get in for the fall semester. I had a friend who, not too long ago, told me he knew his car insurance was about to expire, but he kept forgetting to send in the renewal, and he kept forgetting to call his agent, and it expired, and the day after it expired, he was in an accident. He slid in his driveway into his wife's car, and both cars were damaged. He had to pay for it out of his own pocket. What is it about that? Proactively speaking, how many of you have heard all this stuff about why you should exercise, and why you should watch your diet and take care of yourself, and you said, well, I'm going to buy that equipment and get it into my home, or I'm going to join the health club, or I'm going to start that diet plan. Wait until it gets a little warmer. I'll just walk around North Park. What is that about us? Is that part of the fall? Is it our human nature in its fallen form that just kind of compels us to put off important things? At this point in the Sermon on the Mount, you see, Jesus has delivered the most amazing message ever heard. Scholars would say, by the way, that there's never been a greater sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. And in what was recorded, we have subjects ranging, as we've talked about in the past 14 weeks, from anger, to lust, to marriage and divorce, all the way now to the end, where he talks about the narrow road and eternal judgment, and the condition of one's soul forever. And now we come to the place where the Lord stops and says, in effect, now what are you going to do with what you've just heard? What are you going to do with all this information I've just given you? What's your response going to be to this truth that you've received? And Jesus makes it very clear that one response option that is not acceptable is neutrality. He makes it very clear that it's not an option to say, well, think about it, or, oh, well, you know, I'll just forget about it. It's kind of like taxes. You don't forget about it. It still has to happen. You've got to make a decision. You've got to act. Now, there are three responses that Jesus addresses here that are not appropriate, that will end you in a situation that you don't want to be in. Let's look at them. The first thing he says in verse 21 is, just saying the name, just using the words, that's the first thing on your outline if you're taking notes, mere verbal profession, Jesus says, won't hack it on the last day. You know, due in part to the fact that we're such an extremely verbal culture, I mean, especially now, talk shows and media information and the superhighway and all, there's a tendency to believe that as long as people are saying it, it really matters. You know, a man's word is his bond and all that kind of stuff. And so, you know, we've developed in our culture thousands and thousands of words to kind of convince ourselves that we're right with God. And so we have creeds and doctrines and prayers and mottos that we use to convey our response to God and his call to a radical commitment. I believe today there are millions of people, some that you and I know, who envision themselves one day standing before God's throne reciting the Apostle's Creed or saying their Hail Mary full of grace or whispering the Lord's Prayer, as if somehow those words have some power in and of themselves to gain acceptance before God. How do I know it's true? Because if you look at their life today, that's all they really know when it comes to relating to God. Just the formula, just the creed, just a few words. And that's all they have. And there's no life in it. There's a fellow in the locker room that I have encountered where I work out, and for months and months and months I've heard him tell variations on a story in his life when he encountered in his description the Virgin Mary. And he had this appearance. And I've heard him deliver some very powerful descriptions of that encounter, even to the point where he said, and afterwards I woke up the next morning and I had oil on my palms. And he got the attention of a group of men. Every time I'm in the locker room and he's there, he's telling someone about that. And he's going on and on, talking. And when he's not talking about that, he's telling ethnic jokes and racial slurs, using a lot of vulgarity and profanity along the way and laughing it up. Well, I heard this for months and months, and I just would sit there and I, you know, Finally, you know when you get to the point where that's all you can stand, and the can stands no more? And I waited until a little group that he was kind of going on and on about, the Virgin Mary and everything, left. And I walked over to him and I said, Tony, it's not his name, it's Tony. I said, you know, forgive me for being so blunt, but you better check your sources because I think you might be deceived about the experience that you had. The color drained out of his face, and I could see him battling with indignation and anger, and then he kind of laughed a little bit, this nervous smile. He said, what do you mean? I said, because anyone that's truly encountered God, the living God, could never talk about other people the way you are. And he tried to slough it off and tell a little nervous laughter going on, and he said, I didn't really mean it. And I said, but you see, what you're doing is you're sowing all kinds of confusion in people. When you tell them you know God, you say the words, and then you tell stories about people. And they think every person who knows God is a hypocrite. You see, Jesus plainly describes here folks who say, Lord, Lord, won't get in just on the basis of having the right words. Just saying the words, Lord, Lord, and may I add, just coming to church and giving praise, that doesn't transform your life. It won't bring you to a place where God says, well done. It won't open heaven's gates for you. Words are important, to be sure. I mean, it says clearly in the scriptures that what we profess with our mouth and believe in our hearts will save us. In fact, I think it's in Romans 10, 9, if you want to take a look at your notes. If you confess with your mouth, I mean, you've got to speak what you believe. Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him and from the dead you'll be saved. As they say on the outline, words are important, yes, but they're not enough. The second inappropriate or inadequate response is simply works. Jesus goes on here to describe people who are doing some pretty amazing works. These are people on the polar opposite side of the spectrum. They don't just talk, they do. They're doers. I mean, they are throwing themselves into the busyness of the kingdom. You know, oftentimes these folks are wonderfully available. They're the first to sign up. They're hardworking and giving, but it's not for the right reasons. Candidly, church, listen. We live in a time when most everyone has some kind of pain in their life. You know, if we were transparent right now and the masks kind of came down, some of us are here today in a lot of pain over a relational disintegration that's eating you up. Some are in pain because of a loss of a job or some expression of your own esteem perhaps. Some are in pain today because you've been rejected. Some are in pain because 20 years ago a parent did something that hurt you or as a parent you were hurt by a child. All I know is that the longer we go on in this society, the more pain paralyzes people. And when they walk into an environment where we talk about grace and we talk about greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world. We talk about the grace of God opening the eyes. You see, people don't get it when it comes to grace. They can't imagine a God that says, come to me as you are and I'll accept and love you as you are and then I'll begin the process of rebuilding you as you trust me with your life. They can't get it. And so they do what they've been trained to do all their lives. They start working. And we have people that come into North Way and they start working like you wouldn't believe. I mean, they're the first ones here. They set up. They close up. They clean up. They pick up. They sign up for everything that's coming down the pike. They're the first ones at the workdays and the last ones to leave. They're the ones who sign up for mission trips and the ones who end up doing everything imaginable to help the church along. And then all of a sudden, to our amazement, they disappear. And what we find a little later on was yeah, they were doing all these things, but they never really knew God. Look at the words when Jesus says, Depart from me, for I never knew you. You want to know what the ministry of this church, what I pray the truth of what comes from this platform will always be? It's about knowing God. Jesus said there's going to be such powerful ministries that are bogus. Prophesying, deliverance. I mean, the kinds of things that we're normally told. Now there's a real ministry of God there. Miracles. Jesus said, wait a minute. That is not a guarantee that that person even knows who I am. And the glorious thing is God said, I want you to know me. I want to meet with you. I want to know you. I want to engage you. I want you to know me. And he's calling out to us. He makes it available by his spirit for us. Now interestingly folks, it isn't just people who come in and come out. You know, even pastors have a hard time keeping this stuff. Balancing the whole thing of works. Because you know, it does say in the Bible, we have works. In which God is, in fact let me read Ephesians 2.10. For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Which God prepared in advance for us to do. But you know what? Even pastors, even this pastor struggles with serving God versus what it requires of me just to know him. When you serve a church like this, that's constantly moving and growing, it is so easy to get caught up in just doing stuff. And it is such a snare. It's such a temptation. Oswald Chambers says, Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for him. Remember that. You're saying, well, should we drop out of everything and just go and have, you know, two hour quiet times? No, we're just saying, let the number one loyalty of your life be knowing him. And then from that, let your service, let your acts, let your involvements be just an overflow of your love for God. So that when you face Jesus on that day, he'll say, oh, I know you. Father, I know this one. Welcome him home. And you won't be found facing your worst nightmare. So it's not in words and it's not in works. And neither is it in what we hear. Neither is it in what we hear. And I'm most concerned about this one. You know why? Because, folks, we hear so very much. We live in such a terrific time in human history. You know, there's more teaching, more truth out there now than has ever been there in the history of the world. There are more tapes. There are more books. There are more teachers. There are more seminars. And we hear more truth and more insight than anyone who's ever preceded us. I can tell you from my travels around the world at different times, you, sitting where you are today, if you've never once taught a class or been a home group leader, you know more about the Bible and about how God works than the average pastor in many nations in the world. That's how much you know. Because you've received so much knowledge. But listen, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8 when he says, Knowledge pops up. Knowledge is seductive in that it makes you have a false sense of security that because you know it, you own it. And, dear ones, that isn't the case. J.B. Phillips writes that same verse. He says this, Knowing may make a man look big. It is only love that can make him grow to his full stature. And just to prove a point about hearing only and not really knowing and receiving, think about all the sermons or the teachings, the adult educations, the home group messages, the sermons, the radio, the tapes, all the things you've heard just this year, 43 days. Well, stay with me. Think of one thing in your life that's measurably different today because of a sermon or teaching that you've heard this year. I tell you, I did that little exercise for myself. Boy, I had the same response you did. I'm not sure. I'm not sure if I'm just hearing and hearing and hearing and it's just falling off of me like the proverbial water off a duck's back. It's kind of like the newscast. You know, we get up at 7, catch the first morning news and get all that in us and then we get the noon news and then we get the 6 p.m. news and we get all this news information and we forget it all and then wake up the next morning and do it over again. And dear ones, if that's what's happening with God's truth in our life, Jesus says, hey, I hate to tell you this, but if you're just hearing and not practicing, you're like a fool. And the storm is going to come and it's going to blow your house over. You know, when I was a youth pastor, one thing you'll discover if you're ever in the youth ministry, you become a mark. Kids, they take a certain joy in having a youth pastor suffer somewhat. I may be just ticked for tact, who knows. But I took the kids on a rafting trip a bunch of different times and one trip in particular, I remember, we had navigated the most difficult rapids and the current was still strong and so on, but we were really out of the danger. I'm not just being here. We weren't doing some level five double hydraulics, okay? We were just yachting and no big deal. But out of nowhere, I don't know whether it was counselors or other staff people or the kids themselves, my raft went upside down. I'm out. Now, of course, being all cautious and so on, I had a good life. I wasn't in any danger, but I also noticed that I really wasn't, the current was too strong for me to swim to the side, so I decided it was smarter for me just to flow along with it for a while and make the number one priority, keeping my head above water. I suppose the kids wanted to see something else more dramatic, like a life rescue where they had to throw out lines and stuff, but nonetheless, I survived it, and that has remained for me an image how many of us live our lives. Many of us, if we're honest, would say, you know what, my life raft has gone upside down, and I'm in a current right now, and I can't get to the side. I can't find any peace. I'm just holding on, keeping my head above water, and we want to get some control of our lives. We want to manage, and we want to gain some order, but we don't even know how to get control, and so we just get more teaching and more tapes and more seminars. What we really need to do if we're to get there, folks, if we're to please the Lord, is number four. We need to learn to walk in obedience and faith. Now write this down, because I believe this, that most everyone in this church have right intentions and right instincts about what they're to do, but what we really lack is the delivery system to make them happen. That's the mixed overhead. What we really lack is the delivery system to make them happen. Jesus said, Whoever hears my words and puts them into practice is a wise man. Whoever has a delivery system will begin to change and won't be a foolish man who just keeps hearing and hearing and hearing. One of the things I've learned as an amateur astronomer over the years was, and this is basic, you all know this, the North Star is a fixed star in the sky. It always points true north and it is wherever you are in the entire globe. Once you find it, you know true north. And you also can find the other constellations in specific juxtaposition to it. And what I really believe is happening in many of our lives is, we want to know what God wants for us, but we keep saying, Well, why do I then just keep stumbling? Why am I not growing like I'd want to? Why do I find the same temptations pull me under? Why do I get into the same hassles with people that I love? Why is the thing of me serving God so vague? Why can't I make progress? Why don't I enjoy the blessing and the victory that I believe God wants for me? And the reason, I honestly believe, is we don't have a personal North Star. We don't have a purpose that drives our life. We don't have a focus that we can look at and say, That's what I'm going for. And it's not going to move. Now, I'm going to end this message and this 14-week series in a very specific and unusual way. And I'd like you all to get your teaching outline, please. I need you all to get it. I'm going to wait until you all get it. Even if you weren't taking notes, I still need you to get it. When I see you all have it, I'll continue. Until I see you all have it, I'm going to wait. Because what I want you to do is to consider, What is at the core of your life? What is going to drive you through the balance of this year? What is it that you want to look at and say, If I don't do anything else, I'm going to do this in response to God's call on my life? You've heard 14 messages from the Sermon on the Mount. Surely God has spoken something to you about what needs to change in your life, or what should be the highest priority, the main spring, the north star of your life. What are you going to put in that little box on the backside of that page? That little box is to represent your heart today. I couldn't get a valentine heart, so I put a box there. But I want it to be big enough for you to write in there something that's going to be at the core of who you are. And I want you to think about some things here. Would it be your career? Maybe you're at a place where you've just got to know something about your career. Maybe it's money. You've just got to get some money things. Maybe it's your marriage or your family. Maybe the main spring that's going to drive you in 95 is finding your place in the body of Christ. Maybe it's just to know God better. Maybe it's for the first time to serve God wholeheartedly. I don't know what it is. But ask yourself some of these questions. Based on what I've heard over these weeks, based on what I heard today, am I missing something in my life right now that's important to me? What am I really passionate about? What gifts do I have that aren't being used in my life? What do I want to do in 10 years or 20 years? What do I want to be doing with my life? What am I willing to die for? What do I value really? And some of you are thinking, because you've told me this before, Pastor, if I put in that box what I really feel today, I don't know if I can handle what it would mean in the rest of my life. I mean, if I put in there loyalty to Jesus Christ, it may mean the end of my career as I know it. Or my marriage. I'm afraid to put in there what I really feel. If I put something other than God in there, I'm wondering what God's going to do to me. But dear one, can I say to you, just put in there what you believe drives you for this year. If you don't do anything else, will you do this? What's driving you? What's at the heart of your life? And please keep in mind, if you think this is difficult, keep in mind, when Jesus finished this sermon, every Jew who sat there and listened to him, they were turned upside down. They'd never heard teaching like this. That's why it says at the end, the crowds were amazed. This was revolutionary, counter-cultural, counter-intuitive. They'd never heard anyone talk about God in these words. And so God knew that, Jesus knew that, and he looked right at him and said, And I'm here to say to you today, do you expect me to do any less? I wouldn't be a loving pastor if I just said the benediction and sent you out and let you just get on with your day. Because he who hears the words and doesn't put them into practice is like a foolish man. So my heart is to help you put them into practice. Put one of them into practice. Put in that box what you want to see happen. And then maybe take a few moments and just jot down, therefore. Let's say, for example, if you put on that box, my goal in 95, my driving purpose is to know God better. Then you may want to put three things you could do. I'm going to spend time with God every day. 30 minutes, 15 minutes. I'm going to find one person to help me to grow in my faith. One mentoring relationship. I'm going to read one book a month to help me understand God better. And then, dear ones, let that be what drives you, no matter what else happens. But maybe it's not that. Maybe it's get the right job. Maybe you're so hurting, so disgusted with the life, you say, my driving passion is to get a job that I love. Well, then you can put that in there and then put two or three things you could do to get to that place and then let that drive you. Paul said it this way, I am not going to just spin my wheels. Look at Philippians 3, if you'll put that up, Nancy. Here's what he wrote in Philippians chapter 3, talking about these moments. In fact, look at the second paragraph. Let's keep focused on the goal. Those of us who want everything God has for us. Read that with me. So, let's keep focused on the goal. Those of us who want everything God has for us. And if any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision. Well, I know this is a little uncomfortable because I'm pressing you today. And we don't want to be pressed. But it's the Lord Jesus who said, the storms are going to come. And whether you hear and act or hear and don't act, the storms are going to come. And my heart as your pastor is to say, when those storms come, I want your house to stand. So begin, I would say, begin by, maybe you can't put it in there right now. Maybe you need to go and say, I'm going to do this tomorrow morning or later on this afternoon or tonight. And over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to help you work through what this might mean in your life. Because I have a sense that if you're honest about it, it will cause some stress. It will cause a little pain. And we need to work through that together. Because I believe God wants us to change. I'd like to end with just a little glimpse from a very popular story. How many of you, when you were in school, remember reading Moby Dick? There's one scene there where the whale boat is skipping along the frothing waves in pursuit of the whale. And the sailors are described as laboring fiercely. Every muscle tauntly pulled. All attention and energy concentrating on the task. And it's a symbolic thing, of course, of the cosmic conflict between good and evil. The chaotic sea and the demonic sea monster versus the morally outraged man, Captain Ahab. And in this boat, however, there's one man who is doing nothing. He doesn't hold an oar. He doesn't perspire. He doesn't shout. He is languid in the crash and the cursing of the waves. This man is the harpooner, quiet and poised and waiting. And then this sentence appears in the book. To ensure the greatest efficiency in the dart, the harpooners of this world must start to their feet out of idleness and not out of confusion. Dear ones, it's time to focus our lives. To let God make your life a harpoon of purpose. And for you to do that, you need to get alone with God and out of the subtleness of your own heart decide what's going to be in the box and then go after it. And at the end of this year, your life will be changed and you'll be different. And you'll be able to say, I've made progress in God, big time. I'm a hearer and a doer of the word. Let's stand.