SPEAKER_00: Well, it's great to see all of you.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Mac.
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the pastors on our team.
SPEAKER_00: Also, want to welcome all of you who are joining us from home.
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is before Josie and I got married.
SPEAKER_00: I um had a mentor in college, and he gave me this little word of wisdom about romantic relationships, this observation.
SPEAKER_00: He said, opposites attract and then they react.
SPEAKER_00: All right, so people are kind of attracted to others who are different from them.
SPEAKER_00: Those differences are sources of attraction.
SPEAKER_00: And then over time, those very sources of attraction become sources of frustration and irritation.
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know if he just scared me to death, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I ended up marrying someone who's very similar to me.
SPEAKER_00: Um, to be fair, Josie and I have differences, and sometimes those differences create some rub, some friction.
SPEAKER_00: But we are a lot alike, almost to a fault.
SPEAKER_00: Like there are times when I'm like, you know what, it'd be nice to balance each other out a little bit, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00: But one benefit of being so similar is that we just sort of get each other quite a bit.
SPEAKER_00: So, for example, um, I love birthday cards, and here's one that kind of gets at what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I love funny birthday cards.
SPEAKER_00: This one Josie gave me uh a couple years ago.
SPEAKER_00: I had to look it up, that's an alpaca.
SPEAKER_00: I thought it was a llama, but that's an alpaca, and you'll notice um it's kind of goofy looking.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00: It's got like that crooked smile, like a little offset, like looks a little goofy.
SPEAKER_00: So that's the front of the card.
SPEAKER_00: And then here's the punchline on the inside of the car.
SPEAKER_00: Card.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody gets me like you get me.
SPEAKER_00: There might be something wrong with you.
SPEAKER_00: I love it because it's like, you know, there's like a flip to it, and it's actually self-deprecating.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you totally get me, and I'm weird.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what does that mean about you?
SPEAKER_00: You're weird too, right?
SPEAKER_00: Now, this actually points to an ancient philosophical principle.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of Greek philosophers talked about this, and we could summarize it in a single um sort of phrase.
SPEAKER_00: Like knows like.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is the idea that we understand someone best when we share similarities with them.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so like, I'm a weirdo and you get me, so you must be a weirdo too.
SPEAKER_00: Another example would be I grew up in the 1900s, you know?
SPEAKER_00: And we had this little comeback if someone like accused you of something.
SPEAKER_00: Um maybe you remember this, but take takes one to no one.
SPEAKER_00: You guys remember this?
SPEAKER_00: So someone's like, oh, you're you're a cheat.
SPEAKER_00: You're like, well, take takes one to no one, right?
SPEAKER_00: You're a tattletale, oh, takes one to no one.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you're gonna accuse me in order to accuse me, you actually are one, right?
SPEAKER_00: That's like knows like.
SPEAKER_00: Recognition comes from similarity.
SPEAKER_00: We understand someone best when you're like them, when you share commonalities with them.
SPEAKER_00: And this idea actually pops up really throughout the New Testament when it comes to knowing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So let me give you just one example of this.
SPEAKER_00: It's in 1 John 3:2.
SPEAKER_00: Um, John says this, beloved, referring to the church he's writing to.
SPEAKER_00: We are God's children.
SPEAKER_00: So all of us were God's children now.
SPEAKER_00: And what will be has not yet appeared.
SPEAKER_00: So um, what's gonna happen in the future isn't here yet.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: We know that we when he appears referring to Jesus, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is.
SPEAKER_00: So notice this connection that when we become like Jesus, we see Jesus as he is.
SPEAKER_00: Those two are related.
SPEAKER_00: Right now, we don't see Jesus perfectly because we're not fully transformed.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus returns, we will be fully transformed, and that will go in sequence with being able to see Jesus as he is.
SPEAKER_00: So likeness to Jesus is what enables perception of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Similarity is what enables recognition.
SPEAKER_00: Like knows like.
SPEAKER_00: The more you become like Jesus, the more you're able to see Jesus as he is, and the more you see Jesus as he is, the more Jesus invites you to become like him.
SPEAKER_00: These go together.
SPEAKER_00: And friends, this is what the New Testament actually means when it talks about, quote, believing in Jesus or having faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This is what it's about.
SPEAKER_00: It's about becoming like knowing Jesus personally and becoming like him.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek word for faith in the New Testament, it's the word pistis, and it actually has two parts, two meanings, and both of them capture what it means to have faith in the New Testament, which is a covenantal, relational term.
SPEAKER_00: On the one hand, it means trust.
SPEAKER_00: You're putting in trust in Jesus for what he's done for you.
SPEAKER_00: He's already pledged and given his very life to you, so you receive his forgiveness, his grace, and his mercy.
SPEAKER_00: You put your trust in that.
SPEAKER_00: And then secondly, it means faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: So it means faith in Jesus, but also faithfulness to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You pledge your life in response to what Jesus has done for you, and then you walk with him throughout the course of your life.
SPEAKER_00: Nowhere in the New Testament is believing in Jesus or having faith in Jesus just about your mind.
SPEAKER_00: What's happening in your brain.
SPEAKER_00: An intellectual assent to some propositional truths about who Jesus is or what he did.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the New Testament calls that demonic faith.
SPEAKER_00: James says that even the demons believe and shudder.
SPEAKER_00: And so faith in the New Testament is a covenantal term, it's a relational term.
SPEAKER_00: It's about having a personal relationship with Jesus, characterized by intimacy, where you actually know Jesus and are known by him.
SPEAKER_00: Is this making sense?
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm setting it up this way because we're nearing the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and you'll remember that throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been talking to two different groups of people.
SPEAKER_00: He's got the disciples who have already stepped forward and are sitting at his feet saying, Yes, I want to be a disciple of yours, but then he's got this huge crowd who is listening in.
SPEAKER_00: And this sermon is designed to inform his disciples, here's what it means to follow me, but he's also wanting these crowds to step over the line and become his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: And so you'll remember last week, couple weeks ago, we talked about deceptive leaders, right?
SPEAKER_00: These are, Jesus warns us, he says, watch out for pseudo-propheti, false prophets.
SPEAKER_00: Prophets in Jesus' time were spiritual leaders.
SPEAKER_00: So he's saying, watch out for false leaders who appear good on the outside, but the outside doesn't match the inside.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says, by the fruit of their character, you'll know who they really are.
SPEAKER_00: So he's warning us about being deceived by other people.
SPEAKER_00: Today, Jesus is gonna continue this theme of deception, but he's gonna name a different kind of deception, and that is self-deception.
SPEAKER_00: He warned us about being deceived by others, now he's going to warn us about deceiving ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: He calls out false prophets, now he's gonna call out false professors, and all of this is an invitation into discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: A disciple is someone who has made a decision to be with Jesus, to do life with Jesus, to walk with Jesus, and then as that happens, they become like Jesus, Jesus transforms them, and then they live out the way, the teachings of Jesus with and alongside people, as a sign and foretaste of the kingdom of God that's breaking in among us.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what Jesus says about self-deception.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, heaven isn't some other place, it's just the place, the space where God's rule and reign is happening perfect perfectly.
SPEAKER_00: And it's happening all around us.
SPEAKER_00: It's here, we can't see it, but it breaks in when God's will becomes a reality.
SPEAKER_00: Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, didn't he did we not prophesy in your name?
SPEAKER_00: And in your name drive out demons, and in your name perform many miracles.
SPEAKER_00: Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: Away from me, you evildoers.
SPEAKER_00: So again, Jesus just got done warning about deceptive leaders, watch out for pseudo-leaders who appear good on the outside, but whose inside doesn't match the outside.
SPEAKER_00: And now he's continuing this theme of deception and warning us about a different kind.
SPEAKER_00: Not being deceived by others, but just actually deceiving ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: And in the process, he names two different.
SPEAKER_00: I actually couldn't tell if this was the description of one person with two layers or two different people, but he names, I'm gonna, I'm gonna break it into two, uh, two ways people can dupe themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Two ways.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the first way.
SPEAKER_00: Person one is represented by a claim without a change.
SPEAKER_00: So this is someone who claims to know Jesus or be committed to Jesus, but actually isn't.
SPEAKER_00: There's no corresponding life change happening.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 21, he says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who notices does the will of my Father who is in heaven, is obedient to my Father who is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: So what Jesus is describing here is a person who has verbally affirmed Jesus as Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Emphatically so.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the repetition.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: This is, hey, this there's some emphasis here.
SPEAKER_00: I've confessed to you as Lord, but then the same person does not actually live in obedience to Jesus as Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You guys see what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_00: So there's a verbal confession, but that verbal confession is an empty confession because it's not matched by a corresponding change in their actual life.
SPEAKER_00: There's a claim to be committed to Jesus without any change that indicates actually following Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We have words without any works.
SPEAKER_00: We have a confession of faith without an actual conversion to faith.
SPEAKER_00: We have a profession, Jesus is Lord, without a corresponding transformation.
SPEAKER_00: So there's this like appearance of commitment because they're saying the right things.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, Lord, but without the kind of obedience or transformation that actually means walking out a life as if Jesus is Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And the result of this, you guys, is self-deception.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus describes to someone describes someone who's coming to him thinking they're good to go.
SPEAKER_00: Thinking they're good to go.
SPEAKER_00: They're using the right words, Lord, Lord, I made this profession that you're Lord, but Jesus names that their profession was ultimately an empty one.
SPEAKER_00: Because their actual life, their actual life, doesn't reflect that at all.
SPEAKER_00: There's no obedience to Jesus or to the will of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Now, um, I've named this many, many times over the last seven years.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're um if you've been at Cross Point for any length of time, this next little bit should not be new to you, but it is probably a reminder.
SPEAKER_00: But I I think that this problem, the problem that Jesus is naming here, of self-deception, of people who proclaim that Jesus is Lord, but there's no actual indicator that they're living as if Jesus is Lord, is ubiquitous in the American evangelical church.
SPEAKER_00: This is everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: And what's drived this is a false preaching of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of preaching the actual gospel, which is cosmic in scope and size, we've reduced the gospel down to the plan of salvation, which is not the gospel, it's part of it, but it's not the whole gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And then the primary goal has been to invite people in a moment to make a decision and to pray a prayer, and then we applaud for them, hey, welcome to the family of God, and actually give them false assurance that Jesus here is directly speaking against.
SPEAKER_00: It's everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: I've shared these statistics before, um, but I'm gonna share them again just as evidence of this.
SPEAKER_00: Um, Billy Graham, and I this is not like a Billy Graham is an amazing individual.
SPEAKER_00: I have so much respect for him.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but he uh was well known for these evangelism crusades and gatherings, yeah?
SPEAKER_00: And at one point people asked him, someone asked him, how many people actually came to faith uh who came forward to pray and receive Christ at your gatherings?
SPEAKER_00: And he answered 25%.
SPEAKER_00: And he answered that not based on any data, but on the parable of the sower that Jesus told.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said 25% would respond.
SPEAKER_00: Um since that response, studies have been done to figure out how many people who came forward, prayed with the counselor or whatever to receive Christ actually became followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And it's it's actually more like 6%.
SPEAKER_00: So that means 94% of people who came forward to pray now maybe think they're good to go, but they never actually became followers of Jesus, ended up in a local church or anything like that.
SPEAKER_00: Uh Eternity Magazine did their own studies on this, and they put it at more like 3%.
SPEAKER_00: But somewhere between 3 and 6 percent is is pretty much normal when it comes to this way of presenting the quote-unquote gospel.
SPEAKER_00: There was a um one of the biggest uh evangelical denominations in 1995 did its own study where they tried to figure out how many people committed their life to Jesus through prayer this year, and they put it at roughly 348,000 people.
SPEAKER_00: And then when they circled back with these same people, maybe a year or two later, about 6% were still following Jesus in any real sense of the term.
SPEAKER_00: And it's even worse when you um uh consider other environments, like non-Christian uh cultures and countries where there isn't this normalcy that we're accustomed to in the United States.
SPEAKER_00: There was a major uh campaign done sending two evangelistic crusades to Indonesia and then to uh Thailand.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they entered with the Jesus film, they showed the Jesus film in these different villages, they tried to explain Jesus and invited people to pray a prayer and then recorded uh incredible results.
SPEAKER_00: So 35,000 conversions in Indonesia, 85,000 in Thailand.
SPEAKER_00: Get this, when they came back a year or two later to follow up on these people who had claimed, made a decision to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives, they could not find a single, not one person who was still following Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just naming as a pastor, this is concerning to me.
SPEAKER_00: While I do know people who genuinely came to faith, for instance, um, by watching Billy Graham on TV and praise God for that, I think there's something deeply wrong with how we're inviting people to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If about three to six percent of people who think that's what the decision they're making actually don't follow through with it.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Like this is concerning.
SPEAKER_00: There's something off here, and I've named we have to give a more robust invitation of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: We have to walk with people more personally rather than letting them just bow their heads, pray a prayer, and walk out without any telling anybody, right?
SPEAKER_00: And we need to stop giving them false assurance that, hey, it's just about this one-time thing, and we actually have to invite them into a lifetime of discipleship, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so this is why when we, I'm just giving you some backstory, this is why when we invite people who maybe aren't followers of Jesus to do that, we invite them to come forward after the service so we can actually talk with them and get to know them and then help them with their next steps, right?
SPEAKER_00: This is the this is the first layer of self-deception.
SPEAKER_00: It's a person who claims uh that Jesus is Lord, but doesn't actually live as if he's Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the second one that Jesus describes.
SPEAKER_00: It's a it's deeds without devotion.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what Jesus says in 22 and 23.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So notice the same refrain, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
SPEAKER_00: In your name drive out demons, and in your name perform many miracles.
SPEAKER_00: Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: Away from me, you evildoers.
SPEAKER_00: So notice with this second example, um, there's the same profession of faith, an emphatic one, Lord, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But then, and then in addition to that, there's some impressive works that go along with it.
SPEAKER_00: Did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and perform miracles in your name, and yet Jesus still says, Away from me, you evildoers.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll be honest, um, this first example makes a ton of sense to me, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because I see this all the time.
SPEAKER_00: I've I've encountered people, I see it all over the place where people have at some point prayed to follow Jesus and then don't do it.
SPEAKER_00: Um, this second example initially struck me as way more confusing.
SPEAKER_00: Because here Jesus is describing someone who has confessed to follow Jesus and is doing clearly some things in Jesus' name that are supernatural, prophecy and casting out demons and performing miracles.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's like, well, what's up with that?
SPEAKER_00: What what how could someone like this not be good to go?
SPEAKER_00: And um yet Jesus gives us the answer in sending the person or persons away.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Away from me, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that reason.
SPEAKER_00: Away from me, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus is saying there's an incongruity, an inconsistency between your external ministry and your internal allegiance.
SPEAKER_00: There's tons of ministry activity, there's tons of stuff you're doing, but it's without relational intimacy with me.
SPEAKER_00: So there's service without surrender.
SPEAKER_00: There's there's service without submission, lots of action, but without any real relationship.
SPEAKER_00: And then as I was studying, I was reminded that there are lots of people in the Bible who are able to do supernatural things apart from relationship with God and without, apart from the power of God.
SPEAKER_00: So this is where we get duped, you guys, is if someone can do something that appears supernatural, we just assume they must have a close connection with God.
SPEAKER_00: But there's tons of examples in the Bible where people are able to do supernatural miracles, and it wasn't because they're in relationship with God or relying on the power of God.
SPEAKER_00: One example would be in the Exodus with Pharaoh's magicians.
SPEAKER_00: You remember this?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Like God gives Moses some tricks to do to prove that God had sent him, and the first several, Pharaoh's magicians, could do the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: Just because someone can do something impressive doesn't mean they're actually pivoting out of relationship or the power of God.
SPEAKER_00: And so here's the point is that spiritual activity is not the same thing as spiritual intimacy.
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual activity is not the same thing as spiritual intimacy.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll just tell you, this is a massive temptation for someone like me who is in full-time ministry.
SPEAKER_00: A massive temptation.
SPEAKER_00: It's so easy for me to equate the work I'm doing for Jesus for actually knowing Jesus personally, and those two are not the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: I can hustle around doing all sorts of things every week, even with a fair amount of competency and proficiency, and yet do so disconnected from Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Just think about it.
SPEAKER_00: Let me use Josiah as an example.
SPEAKER_00: Ridiculously talented with his voice and instruments.
SPEAKER_00: He can lead worship probably on his own talent.
SPEAKER_00: That's very different than him, though, leading us in the spirit, relying on God to use that talent as he leads us as a congregation.
SPEAKER_00: You see those two different things?
SPEAKER_00: And it's so deceptive, you guys, because it feels so good when you're doing a lot of stuff for Jesus, and you can do it with a certain degree of proficiency and competency, and you can look at it and you go, oh man, look, see, it feels good.
SPEAKER_00: It feels good.
SPEAKER_00: But I'll tell you there's a difference.
SPEAKER_00: One results in the fruit of self, the fruit of ego, the fruit of ambition.
SPEAKER_00: The other one actually results in the fruit of the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And the second one is so much better, and it can't be replicated on your own.
SPEAKER_00: Where you're actually surrendering to the Holy Spirit and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through you.
SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite bands in high school was a group named Shane and Shane, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And you guys probably all know Shane and Shane, yeah?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: I knew them before you guys did, okay?
SPEAKER_00: This was before they were mainstream.
SPEAKER_00: It was just the two of them on the acoustic guitar.
SPEAKER_00: I had some life transition stuff happen my senior year of high school, and I decided I'm gonna teach myself how to learn, I'm gonna teach myself the guitar.
SPEAKER_00: And Shane was like the guy that I tried to learn all of his songs.
SPEAKER_00: Um and I remember he had this song, I think it was on their first album, called Received.
SPEAKER_00: And here are some lyrics from that song.
SPEAKER_00: It goes like this you whispered to your child today, but I haven't got a minute to listen.
SPEAKER_00: Your child is busy with the work of God and taking him for granted.
SPEAKER_00: Got a lot to do today.
SPEAKER_00: Kingdom works the game I play.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, my serving you replaced me knowing you.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember looking back, you can't often see what God's doing in the moment.
SPEAKER_00: It's as you look back, you get more clarity.
SPEAKER_00: That senior year, there was like some foundational pieces that were falling into place that I think God was going to build on as he invited me into pastoral ministry.
SPEAKER_00: But I remember that lyric, that last line, my serving you replaced my knowing you just gripping me.
SPEAKER_00: And quite frankly, it still does.
SPEAKER_00: Is my serving God replacing my knowing and actually walking with God?
SPEAKER_00: And so let me just name some things so we're not confused.
SPEAKER_00: Uh preaching for Jesus is not the same thing as knowing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can preach a sermon and actually not know Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Teaching the Bible is not the same thing as knowing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Studying the Bible while you can discover Jesus is not the same thing as knowing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Leading a small group.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm turning it on you.
SPEAKER_00: See?
SPEAKER_00: Leading a small group is not the same thing as knowing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Being on a serve team is not the same thing as knowing serving in kids' ministry, not the same thing as knowing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now none of these things are bad.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Sermons aren't bad.
SPEAKER_00: Being in a Bible study isn't bad.
SPEAKER_00: Please, do not stop serving in kids' ministry.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need Sarah to get angry with me.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: But the point is, is that like those aren't the same thing as actually knowing and walking with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Which is exactly what Jesus is inviting us into.
SPEAKER_00: Like, this is the center of the center.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to know you, and he wants you to know him.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Jesus describes in John 15.
SPEAKER_00: Um, he says, Hey, this is your primary responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: It's to remain in me or to abide in me.
SPEAKER_00: It's not to go out and produce fruit apart from me.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, apart from me, he says, you can do nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Our primary job is to stay connected and tethered to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Our primary responsibility is to stay connected to the vine as the source of our life.
SPEAKER_00: And then as we do that, Jesus is the one who produces fruit in and through us.
SPEAKER_00: It's not something we can create on our own.
SPEAKER_00: And so here's the bottom line for today.
SPEAKER_00: If there's one thing you walk away with, here it is, knowing the king is the key to the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, the entire context is Jesus saying, it's about entering the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus is that key that unlocks the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to know the king if you want to enter the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not about just believing a few things about Jesus, it's not about intellectual ascent.
SPEAKER_00: That's demonic faith.
SPEAKER_00: It's about knowing Jesus and being known by him.
SPEAKER_00: It's about putting your trust in who Jesus is and what he's done for you.
SPEAKER_00: And it's also about walking faithfully in obedience to him.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, so this is what it's about.
SPEAKER_00: It's about a real relationship with Jesus that you're living in day by day.
SPEAKER_00: So how do we avoid?
SPEAKER_00: Here's the question: how do we avoid self-deception?
SPEAKER_00: How do we avoid it?
SPEAKER_00: How do we avoid duping ourselves?
SPEAKER_00: And what do we do?
SPEAKER_00: How can we actually take steps to avoid this kind of self-deception?
SPEAKER_00: I started to just look at my own life, so this is just me kind of giving you some things from my playbook.
SPEAKER_00: But here are three focus areas for me that I've noticed have been in place for about 25, 30 years now.
SPEAKER_00: And I think they help me.
SPEAKER_00: I don't do these perfectly, but when I'm living into them, I think it helps me avoid this kind of self-deception that Jesus is naming.
SPEAKER_00: So number one is just simply focus on knowing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's the foundation.
SPEAKER_00: Focus on your relationship with Jesus and growing closer to Him.
SPEAKER_00: In John 17, 3 it says, and this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
SPEAKER_00: The Greek word here for know, that they may know you, is the same word that's used in our passage.
SPEAKER_00: Get away from me, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: It's also the same word that Paul uses in Philippians 3, where he talks about his one goal in life is to know Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's the Greek word gonosco, and it's actually used to describe sexual intercourse between a husband and a wife.
SPEAKER_00: It's a term like Adam knew Eve.
SPEAKER_00: What is he describing?
SPEAKER_00: He's describing the deepest kind of knowing.
SPEAKER_00: The kind of knowing that isn't like distant but involves two people who are connected on a deep level.
SPEAKER_00: And so knowing here isn't like knowing a fact, it's like more like knowing a friend.
SPEAKER_00: Being a disciple is about being a friend of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And like any friendship, it's not gonna fall into place by accident.
SPEAKER_00: You don't drift into deep friendship with someone.
SPEAKER_00: Um, especially if it a real friendship has times where it's hard to be friends, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so so you've got to give yourself to it.
SPEAKER_00: It requires intentionality and persistence and perseverance.
SPEAKER_00: And it's the same thing with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to know Jesus, you need to spend time with Jesus, you need to walk with Jesus, you need to do life with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'll confess to you something.
SPEAKER_00: I don't wake up every day with the same desire to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody else?
SPEAKER_00: My desire, you can put your hand up, it's okay.
SPEAKER_00: My desire ebbs and flows.
SPEAKER_00: Some days I wake up, I want to know Jesus, I can feel it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm motivated.
SPEAKER_00: Other days, not so much.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody else?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So here's some things that help me.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm gonna give you three things I do when it comes to this point of knowing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The first one is pray for your appetite.
SPEAKER_00: For 25 years, I've been praying most mornings.
SPEAKER_00: God, give me start, starting point.
SPEAKER_00: Give me a desire to know you more and more.
SPEAKER_00: Stir in me, give me an appetite, give me a hunger and thirst to know you more and more.
SPEAKER_00: I'm surrendering my very desires to you, and I'm asking you to give me desires to want you.
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes I don't.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to win that one.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you just surrender your desires.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, prioritize regular time with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Just like you would a marriage, you have date nights or friends, you get coffee, you need regular time with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Um this is gonna look different depending on your responsibilities in life.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I used to be able to spend like every Morning, perhaps an hour or two with Jesus, and then I had kids.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So it's gonna change depending on your stage of life.
SPEAKER_00: I right now I still get a couple days in the morning that are more extended.
SPEAKER_00: And then there's days where I just gotta hit the ground running, and I still try to have a few minutes before I do that.
SPEAKER_00: But like you've got to have regular time with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And then I have built-in times throughout the day where I stop doing everything I'm doing to simply return to Jesus' presence in an undistracted way.
SPEAKER_00: Figure out what those rhythms are for you.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for an appetite, prioritize regular time with Jesus, and then finally practice his presence wherever you are.
SPEAKER_00: Again, I'm so grateful for this.
SPEAKER_00: When I was in college, I started to notice, oh, I feel Jesus' connection with me when I'm with him in a quiet time or whatever.
SPEAKER_00: But then I go on and live my life as basically an atheist.
SPEAKER_00: And then I discovered Brother Lawrence's book, Practicing the Presence of God, and I made it this lifetime goal just to talk with Jesus or be aware of Jesus wherever I am.
SPEAKER_00: And so I just find this serves me well to stay on track with knowing Jesus, pray for my appetite, prioritize regular times, and then try to be aware of his presence wherever I am.
SPEAKER_00: So that's the first focus, knowing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Second focus is becoming like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You start doing life with Jesus, spending time with Jesus, remaining in Jesus, abiding in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And what's going to happen, this will be a natural byproduct, is that Jesus will invite you to surrender areas of your life that don't look like Him.
SPEAKER_00: And it's motivated by His grace, love, and mercy in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And as you say yes to those things, as you surrender those things, you'll become more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This is the work of the Spirit in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not a one-time surrender.
SPEAKER_00: It's perhaps like a thousand surrenders a day.
unknown: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Following Jesus isn't about praying a one-time prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Surrendering once, it's about surrendering every moment of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And you, who you are, is the sum total of how many times you've surrendered to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Who you are as a person is the sum total of all your choices you've made in life.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: And some of you, including myself, are at an age where you actually have less choice than you used to.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna show you a little uh graph here.
SPEAKER_00: This is a bell curve.
SPEAKER_00: And this, let's just assume you live to be like 80 years old, 80 or 90, maybe 100.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we'll just say 100.
SPEAKER_00: So this is you're born, that's like uh a hundred.
SPEAKER_00: You'll notice you guys are popping out kids left and right, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So you'll note you know this, kids, infants, don't have a lot of choice or volition, right?
SPEAKER_00: They're very dependent.
SPEAKER_00: They eat, sleep, and poop.
SPEAKER_00: That's about it.
SPEAKER_00: And then as they get a little bit older, they start to like you see their little will, and you're like, oh wow, you're a little bugger, right?
SPEAKER_00: And and so on.
SPEAKER_00: And then if you get to my stage, like I have a 15-year-old, you're like, wow, you you have some choices you're starting to make.
SPEAKER_00: And those have more profound implications about who you're becoming as a person.
SPEAKER_00: And then you go to college and you have to pick your career, right?
SPEAKER_00: And and that sets you on a trajectory of what might you be doing for the rest of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And you maybe meet someone and you get married, and now that's locked in, and so you start making really big decisions that set the trajectory of your life.
SPEAKER_00: You guys seeing this?
SPEAKER_00: And all sorts of little decisions, too, that become habits and ways of relating and behaving that also solidify your character and how you show up in the world.
SPEAKER_00: Now, at some point, we think that we just have infinite choices in every direction, but in fact, our decisions and choices start to decrease.
SPEAKER_00: Because you married this person means you didn't marry all those other people.
SPEAKER_00: That narrows your choices.
SPEAKER_00: These little habits and practices become solidified such that it's really hard to actually choose something different.
SPEAKER_00: And so towards the end of your life, you actually lose the ability to make choices like you did at different stages of your life.
SPEAKER_00: It becomes harder to choose something different because your character is solidified.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it ironic that you start wearing diapers, and many of us will end wearing diapers, right?
SPEAKER_00: And and John Mark Comer points out that because of this, in general, there's sort of two people, two kinds of people that make it at the end of their life, there's sort of two kinds of character.
SPEAKER_00: Some are saints and some are Scrooges.
SPEAKER_00: Because they've either spent their entire life surrendering to the love of Jesus, and now that's just sort of what leaks out wherever they are.
SPEAKER_00: They've got 80, 90 years of learning how to live out the way of Jesus and have embraced the character of Jesus in their life, or they've done the exact opposite.
SPEAKER_00: And they're just a bunch of Scrooges.
SPEAKER_00: I've got a friend who's in his 70s and his wife has Alzheimer's.
SPEAKER_00: And I've noticed a lot of people who have been through that journey, like their spouse gets really angry.
SPEAKER_00: And there's no indictment here, but it's so interesting watching my friend Jim care for his wife Betty because she just oozes joy.
SPEAKER_00: The more confused she gets, the more unfiltered love just comes out of her.
SPEAKER_00: And it's because there's like this lifetime of cultivating the character of Christ that now that's just what's in there.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing else in there.
SPEAKER_00: That's what's in there, and that's what's coming out.
SPEAKER_00: So the second focus area, you guys, is to become the kind of person where when that bell curve starts to go down, you have the character of Christ, so that you treat people when your prefrontal cortex is gone like Jesus rather than a curmudgeon, right?
SPEAKER_00: You guys tracking?
SPEAKER_00: It's a lifetime of surrender that transforms who you are.
SPEAKER_00: And then the final area is simply living like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You do life with Jesus, you pursue knowing Jesus, you become like Jesus, you surrender to his grace and his mercy in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And then your goal is to live like Jesus if Jesus were you.
SPEAKER_00: And that is going to involve living out his teachings.
SPEAKER_00: I'm shocked.
SPEAKER_00: It's why we spent nine, I don't know, 90 weekends or something going through the Sermon on the Mount.
SPEAKER_00: Here's why: because I'm shocked and bewildered at how many people claim to follow Jesus and actually don't know what he taught.
SPEAKER_00: That's insane to me.
SPEAKER_00: How can you be a student of Jesus and not know what your teacher has been teaching you?
SPEAKER_00: We've got to know the teachings of Jesus if we're going to live them out.
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you, the acid test for a follower of Jesus is learning how to love your enemies.
SPEAKER_00: It's becoming the kind of person that knows how to love not just the people close to you, but to learn how to love your enemies.
SPEAKER_00: So you know Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You're seeking Jesus, you're doing life with Jesus, you're becoming like him, and you're learning to live out his teachings with and alongside people as a foretaste of the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus won't look at you and say, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: Because you've spent your lifetime getting to know him, following him, being obedient to him, doing the will of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Here are some action steps for you to consider.
SPEAKER_00: Create some space with Jesus prayerfully to reflect on the following.
SPEAKER_00: Do I know Jesus personally?
SPEAKER_00: If you don't, I'm gonna invite you.
SPEAKER_00: Come forward after the service, talk with me.
SPEAKER_00: I want to inform you about how you can enter into not just a momentary decision, but a lifetime with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Am I being transformed and becoming like Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Is that true of your life?
SPEAKER_00: Am I living out the way of Jesus by practicing Jesus' teachings?
SPEAKER_00: These are deep questions to sit with and ponder this week.
SPEAKER_00: And then here's a practice for you.
SPEAKER_00: And it's really just one practice, but it has two parts.
SPEAKER_00: Create daily friendship space with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to maybe do that at the beginning of your day.
SPEAKER_00: So a little imagination here.
SPEAKER_00: Try to find, even if it's just three minutes at the beginning of your day, start your day with Jesus and then end it with Jesus with some reflection on how did I walk with Jesus today?
SPEAKER_00: Did my knowledge, like deep knowing of Jesus, increase today?
SPEAKER_00: Did it stay the same?
SPEAKER_00: Did it shrink?
SPEAKER_00: What happened?
SPEAKER_00: And just allow that to be information that Jesus can use to speak into your life.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: We have coffee hour next week.
SPEAKER_00: So if this is your service, a plan, create some space to stay afterwards so you can mingle and go a little bit deeper.
SPEAKER_00: Great way to uh build friendships and establish more community.
SPEAKER_00: Um that's all I have.
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to stand, I'd love to close us in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Uh Jesus, we thank you that you invite us to know you deeply.
SPEAKER_00: What good news.
SPEAKER_00: And you take the initiative to move toward us, even taking on flesh to become like us, to move toward us, so that we can be reconciled and truly know you in a deep way.
SPEAKER_00: May you free us from self-deception where we claim to follow you but actually don't, or we do uh uh uh big things in your name, but they're not rooted in relationship with you.
SPEAKER_00: Let us just simplify things and know what it means to walk with you deeply, to be transformed by you, and live out your way in our ordinary lives, because that's when your kingdom shows up and begins to expand.
SPEAKER_00: We pray for greater faithfulness individually and collectively as a community.
SPEAKER_00: And we ask that you would do this work through your spirit.
SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.