ThIs is the Way | Matthew 7:13-29 | Pastor Wade Burgess

Wade Burgess, Executive Pastor
Grand Parkway Baptist Church

ThIs is the Way
Matthew 7:13-29

1. Easy is not best - v 13&14
2. Popular is not right - v 13&14
3. Develop habits based on principle, not preference - v 13&14
4. Recognize good preachers/teachers:
A. Compare to the Bible
B. Character vs Charisma
C. Consider the Product
5. Heart that Matters - v 21-23
6. Living outweighs the Doing - v 21-23
7. Living on Feeling is Unstable - v 24-27
8. Living on proper belief will support a Lifetime - v 24-27

Mental Worship
1. How could you be more immersed in the Gospel?
2. Where could you be intentional with the Gospel?
3. Are you more often giving in to comfort and preference or obedience?
4. Where have you not put God first?

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Have you noticed how the more people that do something, the less it's deemed wrong? Man, if everybody's doing it, I guess it must be right. Now that goes counter, I know, to a lot of us that were raised maybe by our mom or grandmother that said, well, if they jumped off the bridge, would you do the same? Nowadays, you know what we're saying? Everybody's jumping. How come I'm not jumping? Because we think popular is best. It's the playbook of Hollywood, right? Just show fill in the blank long enough and strong enough and enough times, and people will believe, oh, everybody does it that way. That must be the right way. That many people cannot be wrong. And Jesus would say, absolutely it is.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parquet Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Let's pray together. God, I pray that you would impress upon us what we just sang. You're calling us to the hard, to the narrow, to the unpopular way. And God, it seems the right answer on the quiz is to say, yes, Lord. God, I pray what you would do is penetrate us deep down in places we don't want to talk about at parties, deep in our minds and in our souls, that you would have us understand what that means when we say we're going to take the narrow with you. And thank you that we don't have to do it on our own strength. Thank you that by being a believer in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit living in us that says, I have the power, the same power that God has, the same power that raised him from the grave lives in you. So you can do it. God also want to acknowledge and appreciate the fact that we get together today. Thank you for the privilege of that, the freedom to do so. Thank you that just hours before this was just a building, and you transformed it by being your Holy Spirit living inside of us, loosening it here. So speak, God, in ways that we understand and let us live it out. All of this we ask in your saving name, Jesus. Amen. Well, you may be seated. Well, good morning. My name is Wade Burgess, and I'm the executive pastor here, and it's my privilege to be in front of you this morning. Uh if you are returning from spring break, welcome back. I hope you've had a good one, and if you're about to go, then we will not be long. In fact, today what we're gonna talk about really could be about three or four sermons, and I'm gonna wow you by preaching only one, and I'm gonna do it in about 30 minutes. So brace yourselves and get ready. Uh, if you are visiting with us or maybe haven't been here a while, or perhaps just need a little bit of a recap, let me remind you that we have been preaching through the book of Matthew for some time now. And over the last few sermons, we have been going through the Sermon on the Mount, chapters five through seven. That Sermon on the Mount is considered by many, even those that don't believe in Jesus as the Messiah, as the greatest teaching in history. Now, we're gonna unpack a lot of that, but the reason it is is it's this radical vision of the kingdom of God, really focused on inner righteousness. And so some of what we're going to look at today and what we've been looking at for these last two chapters is really a sermon that's chopped full of such good, heart-altering, mind-changing, challenging things that it's worth plowing deep and understanding the richness that is there. Now, we find ourselves at the conclusion of this sermon, and by way of context, let me just kind of tell you what, or at least put in your mind, where Jesus is and what's going on right now. So Jesus has been talking to a large multitude, the Bible says, just a big crowd of people, and he's been walking them through what does it look like to press down these commands of God, and what does it look like to live those out? And so Jesus got his audience. Now, if you think for just a minute, the way we've looked at this is, oh, yeah, this makes sense. I've heard this before, sure, yeah, absolutely. Why wouldn't you live like this? I've been taught this in Sunday school, et cetera, et cetera. But imagine Jesus' audience. Now, here's what they've been going through. For as long as they've been alive and for the generations before them, they have been impressed upon with the law. They've been taught the law, capital L. This is God's law. God gave it to Moses. But man mucked it all up, okay? Man comes along and says, now, let me add about 14 other things to it, let me add a hundred other things. No, we're gonna add another hundred, and then here's what we're gonna do, and we're gonna put this on you, and then you've got to. And what people started to realize is, oh, you, this is impossible. I don't know if I can keep all these rules. And then may or may not have realized that what man has done is has taught these rules for the purpose of oppression and control. What Jesus comes along and does is he blows their mind and says, no, no, I'm teaching, and what I'm teaching amounts to freedom and to life. A life that once you start living Jesus' way will change everything. And so that's what Jesus is speaking to, and certainly he's going to be speaking to us as well. So with that, let's begin. Let's read Matthew 7, 13 through 29, and then I'll unpack these four sections of our reading. Jesus begins our reading by saying this: Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Now not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Every one who then hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And any one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who has built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. See, the reason the Sermon on the Mount was so impactful is that Jesus is pushing upon them the commands of God in a way as to live it out. And as he's pushing that on them, what's coming out is bad theology and lazy living. People are starting to understand, hey, wait a minute, I can do this. Ooh, I think I might better understand how this is going to go for me. Jesus is not teaching a new way, he's teaching his way. And he's doing it in such a way that it's understandable, digestible, and here's the crazy thing. By Jesus living in us, it's doable as well. Jesus also is constantly teaching for eternity. He's never teaching for just the now. What Jesus is trying to impress upon them is yes, this is how you live now, but I always have my mind and my eye toward eternity, and so should you. That's where we're going to spend forever. And so let's make sure that we're living that way. So let's dig into these four sections. See what Jesus has to say to us and uh what we can glean from this. Let's begin just with those first two, 13 and 14. Let me let me read that again. Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. I get three points from those two verses. Number one, easy is not best. Easy is not best. Jesus' crowd was a lot like us, and thinking, hey, you know what? The easier it is, the better I must be living, right? From upfront parking spaces to a full bank account to whatever it is. If it's easy, hmm, that equals right. And Jesus is telling his crowd and telling us, no, no. And in fact, throughout the Bible, it tells us life is hard. It is difficult. It's difficult on its good days. And so if you're thinking easy is not best, well, then you'd be right. It's a hard way to live at times. You know what? It's sometimes hard to tell the truth, to take responsibility, to live courageously with your faith. Jesus is reminding them, yeah, it's hard. I promise you, if you think the law was hard, you should try to live the way I am. But I've given you something. I've given you me, and I've given you the way. Jesus is talking about doing this on a consistent basis, putting others first, always taking the high road, et cetera. So this idea that easy is not best would be good for us to understand. And there's no shortcuts to success, there's no quick result formulas. Those are highly unsuccessful and unreliable. Do you know the Bible never tells us here's the quick way to do something? What is it? Instead, it's a manual for living. Have you noticed also that if you go to any bookstore or maybe uh uh Amazon, there's no 15-volume encyclopedia on parenting. I wish there was, right? There's one on teething, there's one on attitude, there's one on being 15, and that's also on attitude, there's one on you you follow me? But there's none of that. Well, what are we doing? Here's the top three ways to relate to your teen. And that's great. But here's the three ways to, you know, give them good habits to sleep through the night, and blah, blah, blah, and all this stuff, these quick fixes. And instead, nobody's saying, hey, parenting is for a lifetime, so get ready. The Bible never teaches that. And uh, here's the crazy thing as I think about this, I think around the idea of, you know, like healthy living and uh working out and eating right and all of that. If you don't think that there is a thousand quick ways to do that, you've not been on the YouTube rabbit hole that I've gone on. Have you seen these things where these guys promise you you can eat like 28 donuts a day and lose weight and you'll be all fit and everything? What I would say is you could drink Mexican spring water for a week. That's about the only way you're gonna be able to eat three dozen donuts every day, okay? I've tried it, I wouldn't recommend it. Um Jesus teaches us patience and perseverance, and therefore a lifestyle is the way. Easy is not best. Most good things come on the other side of hard. And if you've lived longer than about seven minutes, you'll know that. He built us to walk through the valley. He didn't build us to stay there, and he didn't build us to not go in. Through is the key word. And I promise you, with my very limited experience, I know that's how God made me. He made me to go through the valley. And he's always with me, but easy is not best. The second point I take from these two verses is popular is not right. Now I know this goes against the more the merrier living, you know, misery loves company and all of that. But have you noticed how the more uh people that do something, the less it's deemed wrong? Man, if everybody's doing it, I guess it must be right. Now that goes counter, I know, to a lot of us that were raised maybe by our mom or grandmother that said, Well, if they jumped off the bridge, would you do the same? Nowadays, you know what we're saying? Everybody's jumping. How come I'm not jumping? Because we think popular is best. It's the the playbook of Hollywood, right? Just show fill in the blank long enough and strong enough and enough times, and people will believe, oh, everybody does it that way. That must be the right way. That many people cannot be wrong. And Jesus would say, absolutely it is. Now, you've heard from this pulpit before that holiness is lonely at times. I think that's a nice summation of that point. So many of us have such a desire to be accepted that we're willing to do anything. We're willing to pay any price for admission, just to be accepted by anyone but the Savior. And without a solid foundation, along with continual spiritual muscle building, well, we're going to be shaped by anything from the gross to the absurd. Now, more about solid foundations in just a second. But Jesus tells us, yeah, popular is not always right. The third point I take from those two verses is we must develop habits based on principle, not preference. Principle, not preference. I brought a graphic to show you and I'll walk you through this. A long time ago, Neil shared this with me and it really had an impact. And he taught me, hey, Wade, when you start understanding these two things, then you'll start understanding exactly what Jesus is challenging us to. So this one over here on your left, feel, do, believe. If I base the things I do on that feeling, if feel, if my feelings are top, then it is going to always dictate what's next, what I do. And then if I do based on my feelings, then that will dictate what I believe. Here's an example. Let's say that obeying your parents. Let's let's use that one, right? If I feel like obeying my parents, then I'll do that. I'll do what they say, I'll go along with them, I'll follow the rules, no problem. But you know what I'll likely do if I let feeling dictate it? Feeling, do, and then you know what I'll start believing? Huh, I'm a pretty good son. I tell you what, they're lucky to have me. I guarantee you that. You know, that's right. Now, what happens if I do the opposite of that? What about happens if I don't feel like obeying? And I don't do what they say based on feeling. That's how I'm doing. Therefore, you know what I believe? I almost have to, I think. I have to believe they're wrong. They don't know. They can't tell me what to do. I tell you what, at 12, I'm grown. That's right. I know about it. You see, the difference is feeling in that is what I'm starting to obey. And oh, that's a bad king. Now let's take the other side of that graphic. Let's start with what I believe. If I base the things I do on what I believe, how does that change? What does that do? Well, that gives me some absolutes. If I believe a certain thing, I'm going to do it no matter what. Then I may or may not feel it, but to be honest with you, feelings don't take the driver's seat. If we're using that same example, if I believe the Bible commands me to obey my parents and honor them, then I'm going to do what they say, even if I disagree with what they say, even if I don't feel like it, even if it's a hassle, even you know all of that. Now, I might feel good about it or not. It just depends. If you grew up the way I did and you said no to your parents, you didn't feel good for about two days, all right? Because you stood the whole time after that. But, sorry, that's just reliving some childhood. I might feel good about it, I might, I might not, it doesn't matter. Feeling is not what dictates, it's the proper principle that dictates. And I think that's what Jesus is trying to tell in these two verses, he's saying, hey, if you're going to live a right way, you better live on principle versus preference. If we do not place beliefs above all else, our discernment gets trampled by nature. What do I mean by that? Nature, that flesh, the the Bible calls it, that that's inside every one of us, the way we were born with that sin nature. If we are not careful and we do not live by the way we believe, and that firm belief is based on the Bible, then our discernment gets run completely over by our nature. And then I'll just do what I feel. You see the problem with that. Now, speaking of discernment, let's look at verses 15 through 20. Jesus says, Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You'll recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Now I think at first blush we hear this idea, these words of false prophet, and we're like, eh, I don't know if that's applicable today. Jesus, we kind of got rid of all the false prophets, didn't we? Or we might think, false prophet, you know who he's talking about? He's talking about these yehos that are trying to run the world. That's what he's talking about. I tell you what, these clowns, I mean, from island behavior to weapons of mass destruction to wear a mask, don't wear a mask, what do I do? They would say anything to get in power and to stay in power. You know what? Jesus was right to warn us about those folks. That's probably what he's talking about. What if I challenge you to consider that Jesus is talking about preachers? He's talking about preachers and teachers here, and it's a great warning for us. See, Jesus knew, now, follow me in this logic, okay? Jesus knew that God controlled everyone that thought they were in control. Jesus knew Daniel 4, he knew Proverbs 21. I mean, if anybody knows their Bible drill, it's probably Jesus. And so he understands that the Bible describes it as God handles those who are in power like he would handle rivers in his hands and he guides them the way that he wants them to go. If Jesus knew that, then he probably also knew that, you know what, people kind of get stirred up around political and social things. I mean, matter of fact, one of his twelve was a zealot, kind of a guy that would rally for rally's sake, and he would get after them because, boy, I tell you what, this Roman government's not right. And so, yes, if Jesus knew that God was really in control, and he knew that people get stirred up around political and social things, don't you think he also knew that just maybe the most helpful or the most damaging thing to a person's soul, health, and well-being is what they were taught about God. What if he knew that? So, how are we to know good preachers or good teachers? What are we supposed to use as kind of our scale to do that? Well, it's the product tells the story. First, you have to compare it to the Bible. That's another thing you've heard from this pulpit before. If you want to know the difference between the real thing and the counterfeit, study the real thing. You should not have to read other books about the Bible. You should just be reading the Bible. Now, all of that is great, but let's read the real thing and see what it says and compare it to anything else. Later on today, you're gonna hear uh the video announcements, an opportunity for our women to study the Bible in a more in-depth, four-week way that's going to do just that. It's going to present to you this real, authentic thing that you get to gauge everything else off of. So, do we have good preachers and good teachers? Let's look at the Bible. The second thing you should look at is their character instead of charisma. Look at the person's character instead of charisma. Are they living what they preach? Is one way to say that. And are they living what they preach besides on Sundays? Now listen, I'm a real good dad and husband on Sunday from about nine to noon. All right? You ought to be watching how I am on Tuesday afternoon or some other time. Don't come to my house. But you you just trust me. It all goes fine, but you should be looking at character instead of charisma. Is this person living out what they say they believe? And the third way to tell if it's a good preacher or a good teacher is you should consider the product of their preaching. What I mean by that is are people who sit under them being changed to look more like Jesus? Are you noticing that you yourself are being transformed to look more like Jesus because of what you're learning? Under them. I'd summarize all of that really in three words. It's are they immersed in the gospel? Are they integrated with the gospel? And are they intentional with the gospel? Intentionality. Perhaps a nice lead-in to our next section here. Let's take a look at what Jesus is saying now, starting in verse 21. He says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, your workers of lawlessness. Now I don't know that there are more sobering words in the Bible than that. And here's why I say it. That's a scary thing. These people are prophesizing, they're casting out demons. Hey, that takes some spiritual warfare right there. And they're doing many mighty works in Jesus' name. Man, if that doesn't count for you having a relationship with Jesus, what does? What are we supposed to base that on? Oh, Jesus tells us right there in the very first, in that first verse, 21, he says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, get it, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Well then that begs the question, doesn't it? How do we know God's will? I mean, if you're telling me the intensity and enormity of all the things they just listed there, if that doesn't get me in, if that doesn't prove a right relationship, well then what matters? And then you tell me it's God's will, all right. I'm listening. I got all ears on you. Tell me, what is God's will for me? Well, maybe it's not what you do, but how you do it. Maybe it's the heart that matters, and living outweighs. What do I mean by the heart that matters? And Jesus was issuing a warning against motivation. Were these people doing it to encourage others to have a personal relationship with God and to understand him more and to live the way he commanded? Or were they doing it to lie in their own pockets and take credit? See, Jesus was getting to the heart of the motivation, and he's asking, why are you doing these things? Are you doing them to get credit? Yep, you're unrecognizable to me. Are you doing it for man's accolades? Yeah, you know what? I don't know you. It's the heart that matters. And second, the living outweighs. What do I mean by that? See, God really, his will boils down to two very simple yet complex things. Number one, put him first. Love him with everything you have. By the way, that's harder to do at times than you would think. That sounds good, right? Oh, yeah, you love sure. Absolutely, man. You better believe God is first. Boy, I tell you what, yes, sir. And within about 30 seconds of leaving here, you're like, uh, he was third this time, okay? Have you tried to get out of this light after that third service? God's will boils down to two things. Number one, put God first. And number two, love your neighbor as yourself. You live that way, and it outweighs the good stuff you're doing. I can kind of imagine, you know, this conversation that Jesus is having, and they walk up to Jesus and they're like, hey, Jesus, I mean, I gave, you know, I gave to the poor. I did what I did. It's tax season after all. You can look at my giving statement. Here it is, right here. I was able to itemize, I gave so much. And Jesus is like, uh, yeah, but um, did you love your wife well? Or Jesus, now I volunteered down at the church, and I mean, I know you care about those church people, so you know, I volunteer every time it's open. I mean, have you seen some of these bridge kids and the way they act? Whew! Jesus, you ought to give me an extra spot in heaven for that. And Jesus might just be saying, Ah, okay, I get you. But were you the one that told all the dirty jokes at lunch in order to be popular with the work crowd? You you obviously get it. I think it's this how do we live outweighs the doing. This is why I get so offended by uh, you know, sports teams and stuff, whenever they uh they we'll call it recite, maybe rattle off the Lord's Prayer. Have you ever seen any of this? These guys, right before they go out on the field, I mean, they're cursing a blue streak, they get on the field, they're not sportsman-like. I mean, they're using language that would make a South Compton rapper blush. They're doing all kinds of things, all right? But yet, right before they go out, they're like, all right, Eric, uh, hit a knee. Let's say the Lord's Prayer. All right, if I'm doing something, right? But are they living it out? The living outweighs the doing. Now, Jesus says this phrase, entering the kingdom of heaven. Now, that is not getting into heaven. If it was, I think he would say, uh, for all those that do the will of my Father who is in heaven, they'll be in heaven with him. He's not saying that. He's saying, all of those as you enter the kingdom, what we're doing is we're entering into the realm of what God wants done, gets done. Now, Jesus is trying to impress upon his listeners that swimming upstream against that current is not gonna be good for you. You swim against what God wants, it's not gonna go well, and you're not gonna live the life that you're designed for. That full life, not easy life, but that full life in Christ. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we can't have the Holy Spirit. Without a right relationship with Jesus, we're not gonna have the Spirit. So with the Spirit, we must be able to live this way. And because of God's generosity and grace and mercy, we get to have that if we say yes to the invitation of Jesus as our personal Savior. It would be foolish and counter to the life we were designed for. And living against the way God designed this doesn't ingratiate us to a relationship with Him. Now, here's how the message puts it. I get a nickel for every time I reference the message when I preach. And so this is another nickel in the jute box, but this is a translation of the Bible, and I think it puts it well for us. It says this knowing the correct password, saying master, master, for instance, isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience, doing what my father wills. I can see it now at the final judgment, thousands strutting up to me saying, Now, Master, we preached the message, we bashed the demons, our super spiritual projects, had everyone talking, and you know what I'm gonna say? You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourself important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here. The living outweighs the doing. And if that's true, what should we base our living on? Let's read verses 24 through 27 and see if we can get something from that. Jesus goes on to say, Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rains fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Now look, Jesus was not giving us a bumper sticker or a cool slogan to put on a t-shirt. He's not even giving us another concept to consider, in my opinion. Instead, what Jesus is trying to do is he's trying to reinforce what he's already been teaching with this analogy. Now, you remember our graphic, the feel versus believe? He was directing us, how should we live? And he knew that if you lived based on feel or belief, you're gonna do one or the other for sure. Depending on which one you choose, is how stable you're gonna be. Now, some of you are thinking right now, Wade, you're you're kind of really hung up on this uh feel belief thing. I mean, wow, I know Neil has an impact, but geez, whiz, what are you doing? Well, I think I'm just doing what Jesus did. He's just reiterating what he's already taught. And he's saying this if you live based on a feeling, what do I have to do to fit in to be accepted? Ooh, today I woke up, you know what? I feel like a winner. And tomorrow I'll wake up and I feel like a loser. So I guess that's how I'll operate. I don't know. Or I live based on someone else's dictation to me as to what's acceptable. That's living with someone else's understructure, maybe even my own, and it's always unstable. You want to know how unstable you want to look at that? Just look at the ever-shifting vocabulary that's out there and how they choose, how we relate to them, and we're rarely right when we do. That's living on sand. That's living on an unstable environment, that's living on feel. If you live on comparison, you're not gonna last. Because you'll always find someone that has it better. And if you're living on expectations, like I should have it better than this, well, what in the world's going on? How come it's so hard out here? Then you're always gonna be disappointed and dysregulated. However, if you live on the firm foundation, if you lived based on belief, the authority and holiness of God puts sinners as an enemy. But God made a way for us to be in a right relationship with Him by sacrificing His Son for our sins. If you believe that, and then you believe that God has called you into a life of full service to Him. Well, that's a firm foundation for sure, as an adopted child of God, and therefore your sole purpose is bringing glory to God, that's the right foundation. And it does not depend on how I feel, how others feel about me, what I think they feel about me. It doesn't matter about social, political issues, it doesn't matter how my kids behave or circumstances. It's having, said another way, a principle before the answer. Now, in our house, uh we call this having an escape plan before you needed it. So we're raising our son Alex, and I would tell him from early on, Alex, you've got to have an escape plan before you need it. You are going to be in situations that you are not necessarily need to be in, that Jesus would not be pleased with, but you cannot wait until you're in that situation to decide how to get out of it. Because I promise you, all the excuses will leave, and you're like, well, I'm in it now. And so we would kind of talk through and practice. The older he got, we'd talk about different circumstances and scenarios. And Alex, you're gonna go to a party, they're gonna have things there, they're gonna offer you there, and you need to have an escape plan before you need it. So here's the escape plan. You're going to, and we would come up with something, right? I think one time I dressed up as a Domino's pizza guy and went and got him, but that that's that's that was really mostly for the tips. But uh I so this idea of uh having the escape plan before you need it. Now, let me tell you how it played out in practical terms. So Alex is about 12 years old. Now, we had an absolute rule, we had several absolutes in our house. I like rules, but we had an absolute that said, you do not watch R-rated movies. Okay, got it. We don't watch R-rated movies. We don't watch them with you, without you. You don't go watch it, got it. We're gonna do it. We get a call, Alex. Uh, you're invited to a sleepover. We knew this family. Hey, no problem. You're going with a few friends, you're gonna stay over. All right, it's a good time. Now, Alex, you know our absolutes. Get in a buying, let me know, go enjoy yourself. He goes, he's there, I don't know, a couple hours, and he calls me and he's like, hey dad, yeah. They want to watch a movie. Okay. Well, it's an R-rated movie. And I'm thinking, oh, you're just calling me to tell me you stood up, huh? You're like, hey, I shut that down. He said, can I watch it? I'm like, what the what? I said, well, Alex, uh, what's our rule? Uh we don't watch R-rated movies. Right. What I mean, it's an absolute. What do you what are you why are you even asking? And then I had this stroke of parenting genius, okay? Oh yeah. I'm gonna let him decide what he wants to do. All right? Okay, all right. Yeah, we taught him right. He knows the way, okay? We're ready. I'm ready to release this bird into the wild. And so I said, Alex, I said, Alex, I'm gonna let you decide what you what to do. You know our rule, you know the absolute, I know you'll make the right decision. And I hang up and I'm like, well, I tell you what, we probably should have had more of these kids. Next day, I go pick him up, pick him up from the party. Uh, sleepover, Alex, how was it? Great. Uh-da-da-da-da. Alex, what did you decide about the movie? Oh, yeah, we watched it. I said, Alex, I when we when we hung up, I was certain you knew my position on that. He's like, oh, when they had the bad parts come on, I left the room. I'm like, you letting a bunch of 12-year-olds decide what the bad parts are? Well, you probably left the room when there was three words of dialogue. What in the world is going on? My point in telling you that obviously is if you live with the proper expectation that my life is not my own, then you're living on a trustworthy platform. If you think you're in control, you think you know, you think your own discernment, your flesh gets to decide, it is very unstable. And it's a nervous house of cards that you live in versus living in a house that's built on the rock, that you get to enjoy all that is in there without worrying what's on the outside and what's happening. See, shifting sand is unstable, but a good foundation, well, it'll support a lifetime. Let's finish the last two verses of chapter 7. Let's look at 28 and 29. And you may think there's not much in here, and I would think, well, you might be right, but I've got enough time, so let's see what we can get. And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes. What's the difference between a scribe and an authority? Well, one tells about it, right? Tells how to live in a way, maybe they recorded it, they're telling you what to do. The other lives it and then explains it. Have you noticed that doing wrong requires excuses? Well, we'll see, what had happened, well, well, I mean, now look, it's not my fault. I mean, I what did did you see the what however living right? Well, it just requires explanation. Oh, let me let me explain to you why I do what I do. Let me explain to you why I fill in the blank. Now, where I used to work, uh, it seemed that uh uh alcohol consumption was the norm, and and you know, everything I went to, they had it and they offered it, and I was always having to give an account. Now, on the surface, I was excited about that. I'm like, yeah, I'm a witness. That's right. Y'all gonna learn today why I like. And they would ask me, Weed, you don't drink? And I'd be like, uh, no, uh to be honest with you, I never felt like I got a good explanation that I could give. Now, I was demonstrating, but they weren't really listening, if you know what I'm saying. And so they would ask me, and I'd say, well, you know, uh, I don't know, this Ferrari runs on 93 octane. We're not gonna bring it down with that alcohol in it, you know, or and they'd be like, whatever. I just saw you eat like three dozen cookies over there. Or, you know, they may ask and they may say something, oh, wait, is it because of religious reasons? And I'm like, well, no, I'm not religious, I'm spiritual. You know, Jesus wasn't religious, and they've already walked off to get the second one or the third one. And I'm like, man, how do I tell them? I never came up with a good way to tell them. However, what I found is after those events, invariably someone would come up to me and they'd kind of be like, Hey, uh, I noticed you don't drink. Uh-huh. How do you get that way? And what I sensed was they're saying, Yeah, I I'm not sure I have a reason why that's more, but you seem to have something different. I want to know a little bit about that. That witness. Yeah, I live based on unchanging principles, and that explains the why behind the way. Let me pray for us. Jesus, no one needs to tell you how hard life is. You're the only one here that said, I'm gonna die in order for you to live so that you can live the way my father designed you. And by doing so, not only am I calling you to be a witness for me, but I'm giving you a life that has reward. It's not popular at times, it's difficult. Everyone, including some people in your house, are going to be against you, but I promise you this is the firm foundation. And Jesus, what I pray is that we would understand, we would understand how to anchor ourselves to the rock that you are. I pray for anyone here that hasn't come to that realization that you've not revealed yourself, that you would pursue them in such a way that they would say yes to you, yes to that invitation, yes to living in a way that, well, it may not be easy, but I can at least explain why I live the way I do, because of a Savior that lived and died for me. Thank you, Jesus, for doing just that. We ask all this in your saving name. Amen. Well, we'd like to give you just a couple of moments for you to consider some things that you heard this morning. We have uh for you just simply four questions that may or may not be that simple. Consider these. I'll come back. Well, stand to your feet. Let me offer a blessing. The greatest teaching authority has charged you to live out his teachings. So go and live them out. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. You're dismissed.

SPEAKER_00 41:24

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