WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.240 Jesus says, remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:07.759 Here's what we won't say it, but we really believe that we are. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:11.039 Hey Jesus, you suffered, so I don't have to. 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:16.800 Well, why does the Bible talk about fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ? 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:20.160 You say, What are you getting at? 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:22.239 Okay, here's what I'm saying. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:25.679 At our core, we believe that we are greater than our master. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:34.159 Translation, I can follow Jesus and not experience what he did, or I can follow Jesus and pick and choose the experiences that I'm willing to have. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:36.799 And I just want to say to you, listen very carefully. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:43.200 Mental health for the Christian in America would improve if we would embrace things as a Christ-like experience. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:51.600 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:57.280 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:00.240 Let's pray together, Church. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:02.799 Lord, we're able to say that because we know who you are. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:06.079 We know who the Bible teaches us that you are. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:07.920 We don't take our cues from the culture. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:10.159 And so, Lord, we want to understand the story today. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:12.079 The Bible says that we don't have the story ends. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:12.879 We just sang that. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:15.439 The Bible says that you're the author and perfector of our faith. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:19.040 So we're not here today to take the pen out of your hand and write the next chapter. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:19.920 No, no, no. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:26.079 We've experienced too much of your goodness to want to go back and try to sit on the throne that God sets on in our lives. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:36.159 Lord, bring all the ramifications, the implications, and the applications of the story to bear on our life today as we think biblically about what it means to follow you. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:37.439 Well, this is our prayer. 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:41.519 Make it our experience, we ask for this in Jesus' name, and all God's people said. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:42.480 Amen. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:42.879 Amen. 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:43.439 You can have a seat. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:46.480 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Matthew chapter 8. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:48.879 If you're our guest today, let me say, good morning. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:49.760 I'm so glad you're here. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:54.079 My name is Neil, the lead pastor at Grand Park Way, and we are preaching through the book of Matthew. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:58.000 We took a break for Holy Week, and now we're back in Matthew chapter 8. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:01:59.439 I'll start reading in verse 18. 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:03.760 I want to talk to you this morning about the clarity and the priority of following Jesus. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.879 The clarity and the priority of following Jesus. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:12.719 And I want to take you back to an experience that I had 35 years ago in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:17.840 It was so imprinting on my soul that I could tell you the shirt that the man was wearing. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:18.800 Here's what happened. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:20.240 This is before 9-11. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:23.599 And so people were at the gate, and it's pretty crowded. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:26.000 People are just saying goodbye to their loved ones, whatever. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:27.360 And I'm over there minding my business. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:28.560 I'm just kind of reading a book. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:32.639 And then I'm sitting in the area in the gate, and you hear this kind of murmur. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:38.159 And like people are talking, and some people are giggling and they're pointing, and I'm kind of looking around like everyone's in on something. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:38.560 I'm not. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:40.400 And then I'm looking in the direction they're pointing. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:51.039 And about from me to the third row over there, uh, there's a man sitting in the DFW airport, and he's got a Bible in his lap, and he's got one arm under it, and he's got his other hand, and he's doing it. 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:53.280 It's not like a Bible like this right here. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:56.000 This is like a squirt gun compared to what that cat had. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:57.520 He had a white family Bible. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:58.879 I'm not kidding you, it was this big. 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:01.759 And he had it opened in his lap, and he was just following along. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.560 Mm-hmm, my and just talking to himself. 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:06.560 And people are kind of clowning on him like that. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:09.199 And so I just thought, I'm gonna go over and encourage this brother. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:12.000 But I stood up and started walking before I got a plan. 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:13.439 And so I'm thinking, what do I say? 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:14.159 Is that the Bible? 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:16.719 I mean, thanks, John Dormas, of course it's the Bible. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:18.400 And so I came up with a better question. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:26.960 I got over there and I'm I'm standing right beside him, and he's reading, and he just looks up, put his finger down, and he looked up and I said, Excuse me, sir, are you a Christian? 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:28.879 And this is the experience I had that day. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:33.039 He looked up at me and he said, smiled, he said, No, my brother, that's a little broad for me. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:35.599 A lot of people call themselves Christian, they don't follow Jesus. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:38.719 I like to call myself a follower of Jesus. 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:48.719 And at that, he went back to reading, and I just slowly backed up as everyone stared, and now they're giggling at me, and I'm just backing up like, okay, that was kind of awkward. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:51.599 It was awkward and invitational all at the same time. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:04:00.960 Because in that moment, this man who I did not meet, I didn't ask his name, I don't know who he is, he caused me to think about this thing on a deeper, more biblical level. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:09.039 And so, one of the questions you gotta ask yourself this morning is do you just consider yourself a Christian uh because you vote Republican and you watch Fox News? 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:12.080 Or do you consider yourself a follower of Jesus? 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:18.879 And what you will see today, hopefully, uh in God's word, is it following Jesus has some implications, okay? 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:20.480 Let's just jump into the text. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:22.639 Uh Matthew chapter 8, verse 18. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:26.720 Now, when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:31.839 And a scribe came up to him and said uh to him, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:39.199 And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:43.040 Another of the disciples said to him, Lord, let me first go bury my father. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:48.800 And Jesus said to him, Follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead. 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:55.199 Now, here's my concern that Jesus talked about following him in a way that the American church doesn't. 00:04:55.439 --> 00:05:02.720 There's an abruptness to it and a priority to it and an urgency to it that we seem kind of lost with our slick slack programming these days. 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:07.120 And I just want to point to three things in the text around the clarity and the priority of following Jesus. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:10.800 The first one is this Jesus wants disciples, not a crowd. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.600 Jesus came to make disciples, not draw a crowd. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:14.560 Look at verse 18. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:19.680 He says, now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go to the other side. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:22.160 Mark this down and test me on this. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:35.839 If you read the New Testament, anytime Jesus realized, hey, there's a crowd around me, he didn't go, hey, somebody, he didn't have his photography team with a videographer, kind of get all this stuff so he can post it on socials and build his brand. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:43.439 Now, when Jesus saw there's a crowd around me, his first assumption was, these knuckleheads don't know what it's all about following me, okay? 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:48.160 They're here and they're interested in something, but what they're interested in is not me. 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:51.360 Because Jesus wants disciples, he doesn't want a crowd. 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:54.879 And so he saw the crowd around him and he gave orders to go to the other side. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:55.600 What does it mean? 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:56.800 The other side of the lake. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:58.800 Like, get away from these people, okay? 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:02.639 Because again, Jesus is like, hey, he didn't have agoraphobia. 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:07.519 He's just like, I'm here to make disciples, not win a popularity contest. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:10.720 But it's natural to hear this and go, well, where'd the crowd come from? 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:12.879 Because I mean, there was no social media. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:15.519 He didn't have a like a front man or a hype man. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:17.279 Context is important, okay? 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:21.040 And in the previous section, Jesus just healed a lot of people. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:24.000 So I want to go back and read verses 14 to 17. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:25.920 Look and listen to what's happening. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.160 And this is what this is where the crowd came from. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:35.279 Verse 14 of Matthew 8 says, This when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:39.680 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:46.720 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:49.600 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:53.199 He took our illnesses and bore our desires, our diseases, excuse me. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:59.040 Now, when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he said, Hey, listen, I want to get away from this thing. 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.120 Here's the there's two things you want to see. 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:03.120 Why did the crowd come to Jesus? 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:05.040 Why is there always a crowd around Jesus? 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:05.920 Two reasons. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:08.000 Two things that the crowds experience in Jesus. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:09.920 Number one, spiritual authority. 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:11.040 Spiritual authority. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:12.959 And number two, physical dominion. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:15.920 Spiritual authority and then physical dominion. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:16.560 What do you mean? 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:17.519 Spiritual authority. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:19.519 Jesus, by the way, look at me. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:28.240 Not only did Jesus have spiritual authority, but all through the gospel, the people that followed him, his disciples, many occasions he would say, he would send them out to do something. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:33.199 And look at me, he would say, the Bible says, and he gave them authority to do these certain things. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:35.839 Like Mark chapter 3 does it. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:41.120 Matthew chapter 28, verse 20, what's called the Great Commission is probably the most popular example of it. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:43.199 But we skip over the authority part. 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:50.240 We hear, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:57.920 But the verse right before that says this Jesus said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.040 Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:04.879 See, this command to make disciples is predicated on the promise of authority. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:09.600 And so here's what I'm saying to you: the spiritual authority that Jesus had that he gave to his disciples. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:11.040 Hello, look at me. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:14.319 You and I are supposed to have this spiritual authority. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:18.079 As a matter of fact, if you've been born again, if you have a relationship with Christ, you do have that. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:20.399 You may not know how to use it, but but you have it. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:26.319 It's like having features, like, there's features on my phone that I didn't know exist until it gets in the hand of my 20-year-old daughter. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:28.000 And then it's not like, oh, that does it. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:28.800 Oh, here's a shortcut. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:31.040 Hey, I don't want China hacking in. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:31.759 I'll put that back now. 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:32.399 No. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:33.519 Dad, you got to talk. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:34.080 You need that. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:35.360 I'm like, give me that phone back. 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:37.039 All I do with this phone is make phone calls. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:37.919 That's what I do. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:42.480 I don't sit and stare at it and go fill my life with purpose as I doom scroll. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:46.240 And then my my my my my actually, she's not, she's 22. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:49.279 She's like, Dad, you're underutilizing your phone. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:54.639 And I said, I'm never gonna maximize the capacity of this phone because it ain't that interesting to me. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:56.399 Now give me my phone back. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:01.279 But the same thing, you have this capacity that you're not using because you have spiritual authority. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:03.360 Second thing you have is physical dominion. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:04.799 You have physical dominion. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:06.159 Jesus, he takes authority. 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:10.639 Oh, that's why the Bible says one of his names is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our God, who heals. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:11.440 Now, look at me. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:14.879 I'm not one of those people that says, Oh, we don't need medicine and doctors. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:15.840 No, not at all. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:16.960 God uses that. 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:19.440 I think doctors and medicine, people's intellect. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:23.039 I was praying in a hospital just recently, and the nurse walked in. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:24.399 I said, Hey, I'm gonna get out of here. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:24.960 Can I pray? 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:25.759 And I'll get out of here. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:26.879 And she goes, Do you pray long? 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:29.120 I said, less than 20 seconds. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:30.720 And she goes, I doubt it. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.279 I went, you're my kind of new friend right here. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:34.480 I said, What's your name? 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:35.279 She said, Diane. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:35.759 And I prayed. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:39.759 I said, God, you knit this person's together, body together in her mother's womb. 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:43.360 Use Diane's intellect and her skill set to knit this body back together. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:44.960 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:47.200 Diane looked up and she had tears in her eyes. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:48.320 I said, What's going on, Diane? 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:50.159 She goes, No one's ever prayed for me like that. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:54.480 And I said, I'm not, I didn't bring like magic pixie dust to throw on this. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:10:00.559 You guys and the doctor, the surgeon who's gonna perform the surgery, those are gonna be instruments God's gonna use in this person's life. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.799 But here I'm here to say that you have spiritual authority and you have physical dominion. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:07.759 You say, Well, why why don't I why don't I exercise that? 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:11.440 Because you can't exercise physical dominion over simple practical things. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:14.559 How can you expect to have physical dominion over powerful things? 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:23.279 You say, What do you mean, simple practical things like your smartphone, uh, like your morality, like your mouth, like your money. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.440 Like, ask yourself this question at lunch today. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:29.519 Do you have dominion over your money or does your money have dominion over you? 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:33.519 Like I was talking to a friend this week about our shared experience with a financial planner. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:38.960 Like I have a friend that's a financial planner, and he's always trying to speed me up and tell me you're not prepared for retirement. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:41.440 You need to stop thinking about everybody else and think about yourself. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:44.080 And I'm like, I ain't got time, man. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:45.360 I get what about this? 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:48.000 What and I said this to my to my friend's a financial planner. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:49.200 He did not think it was funny. 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:51.519 I said, What if I'm not supposed to retire? 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:54.080 Then what are you gonna do for a living? 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.879 Besides trying to speed me up, make me feel bad. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:10:59.279 Yeah, I'm just telling you, you know, y'all, duh, duh, blah, duh. 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:01.039 People don't plan to fail, they fail the plan. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:03.039 Oh gosh, please, you said that. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:06.080 I've never heard that before. 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:08.559 But see, here's the thing, here's my concern. 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:15.919 That we have we want physical dominion in the big things, but we don't practice physical dominion in the little things. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:20.639 But the Bible's very clear, you've been given spiritual authority and physical dominion. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:35.279 And here's my concern: here's what's happened to today's Christians because we cannot experience physical dominion over ourselves, so we take spiritual liberties with the message of Christianity, and in so doing, we promise the crowds what Jesus never would give them and call it evangelism. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:43.919 Yeah, we promise the crowds what Jesus would never entrust to them, and we call ourselves as having done evangelism. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:48.399 And what happens is you have big churches full of little lives that are void of gospel dominion. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:51.519 You have a big crowd, but we're not making many disciples. 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:58.559 And again, anytime Jesus saw a big crowd of people, he immediately laid down some teaching that clarified what it means to follow him. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:11:59.840 Let me show you in the Bible. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:04.240 Don't believe me, find it in the Bible, Luke chapter 14, verse 25. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:06.639 Now, great crowds accompanied him. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:08.159 Now, look at me. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:10.879 Your greatest temptation in this life is the crowd. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:12.080 You know that, right? 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:13.200 Hello. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:15.279 Are you here today? 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:22.320 I know it's after Easter and you're hung over and everything, but y'all are like, hey man, you need to drink decaf and lighten up. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:26.080 I told you I had an experience 35 years ago and it wrecked me, okay? 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:31.600 Because some strange man just looked up and said, No, no, my brother, that's a little broad for me. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:33.279 And I was like, uh-oh. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:35.600 What you're talking about, Willis? 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:36.799 Uh no. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:39.120 So, so you say, What do you what do you mean? 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:41.759 I'm just saying now, great crowds accompanied him. 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:47.039 Your greatest temptation, because look at me, there's conformity in the crowd and there's comfort in the crowd. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:50.080 And we want to talk to our kids about peer pressure, blah, blah, blah. 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:55.200 Mom and dad, you struggle with peer pressure, if not, if not as much more than your kids do. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:56.960 Are you aware of that? 00:12:57.360 --> 00:12:59.360 Great crowds accompanied him. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:08.720 And he turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:13.519 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:17.039 Clearly, Jesus did not know how to win friends and influence people. 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:23.200 Now, by the way, if you're unfamiliar or you're new to the Bible, Jesus is not saying hate your family. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:27.840 He's saying love me in such a way that it makes all these other relationships look like hate. 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:32.799 Some of you are kind of like, oh yeah, I can't wait to tell my stepmom I hate you, and it's in the Bible. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:33.840 No. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:41.120 See, I would go as far as to say that the crowd that Jesus worked to avoid is the crowd that the American church has focused on and settled for. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:42.879 Let me say that again. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:47.600 The crowd that Jesus worked to avoid is the crowd that the American church is focused on and settled for. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:49.840 Because Jesus knew they weren't coming for the right reasons. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.679 They were coming to get something from Jesus, not give their lives to Jesus. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:55.840 And so they're not there to commit to follow Jesus. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:02.639 And so the church tells a lie to them and says, Oh, Jesus loves you so much, you don't have to follow him because he's following you. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:07.200 And whenever you get ready, he's just right there waiting for you to fall into his arms. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:17.279 You can talk about Jesus like he's this doughy-eyed teenage boy who's smitten with a girl, instead of the God of the universe who demands obedience and submission. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:19.200 You say, What? 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:20.480 I don't get it. 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:29.600 Here's what happens: you produce a generation, in our case in America, generations of people who have a great self-image and a very distorted image of God. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:35.279 This is why people that don't have a relationship with God have such self-confidence. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:44.000 And a lot of it they got from talking to Christians that they work with are tragically going to a church at some point. 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:49.360 Jesus is not looking for your vote, he's calling for submission that manifests itself in obedience. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:53.679 And so I just want to understand Jesus did not come for the crowds, he came to make disciples. 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:56.639 The second thing we see is that to follow means to experience. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:58.480 To follow means to experience. 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:04.480 Now, if you've been tuned out for the past, I don't know, six minutes, tune in because this is about to get real right here, okay? 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:06.559 Look at verse 19, look at what he says. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:11.600 He says, uh, and a scribe came up to him and said, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:13.600 And Jesus said to him, Thank you so much. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:14.399 I was lonely. 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:17.600 I've been eating by myself in the cafeteria for the last three days. 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:19.440 I'm glad to have a friend. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:23.200 No, I will follow you wherever you go. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:34.399 Good, because there's on the way I'm going, there's a Buckey's every 50 miles, and we're gonna get plenty of beaver nuggets and coffee and a pulled pork sandwich, and your wife can get that little bento box with the boiled egg and the almonds. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:37.120 Is that just mine? 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:38.879 I'm like, there's pulled pork. 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:39.919 Why are you eating that? 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:42.720 Because this is good, it doesn't look good. 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:44.720 There's little sticks of celery in there. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:49.039 There'll be a room in hell where you go in and eat celery for the first thousand years. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:51.519 I'm just saying. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:52.879 I'm just saying. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:54.879 No, no, no, Jesus. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:56.320 I mean, what a compliment. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:58.320 I'll follow you wherever you go. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:15:59.840 And Jesus, look at me. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.080 Jesus is so gracious, okay? 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:07.120 He does not, he responds by telling him not where he's going, but what it's like along the way. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:08.960 Hear these words. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:14.320 Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:15.679 And then crickets. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:17.039 You don't hear from this guy anymore. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.960 It's kind of like, uh, uh, I'm good. 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:23.840 Now again, to follow means to experience. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:24.879 To follow. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:28.559 You should ask yourself, here's how you know you're following Jesus. 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:34.480 You're not just in the crowd, kind of waving at Jesus and clapping a little golf clap like they will today for Roy, Michael Roy at the Masters. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:35.440 Good shot, Roy. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:36.480 Geez, that was awesome. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:37.120 You healed that guy. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:38.480 Oh, geez, you cast that there. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:39.039 That was good. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:40.080 That was good, that's good. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:43.120 Following Jesus, here's how you know if you're in the crowd or if you're following. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:48.240 If you're following Jesus, you have the experiences of Jesus, both positive and negative. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:55.440 Following Jesus means you have the experiences of Jesus, both positive and negative. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:57.600 You say, I I don't know what you mean. 00:16:57.679 --> 00:16:58.720 Let me just read from the Bibles. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:16:59.679 You don't think I've made it up. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:01.120 John 15, verse 18. 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:06.079 Jesus is talking, he says, If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:09.440 Translation, you're never gonna have an experience that I haven't had. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:12.000 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:16.400 But because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:18.319 Remember the word that I said to you? 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:20.480 A servant is not greater than his master. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:23.279 If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:25.839 If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:33.359 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:35.440 Here's what it comes down to for me. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:37.119 It's about there in verse 20. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:41.039 Jesus says, Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:44.559 Here's what we won't say it, but we really believe that we are. 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.920 Hey Jesus, you suffered, so I don't have to. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:53.599 Well, why does the Bible talk about fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ? 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:56.960 You say, Well, what are you getting at? 00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:59.039 Uh uh, okay, uh, here's what I'm saying. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:02.480 Uh at our core, we believe that we are greater than our master. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:10.960 Translation, I can follow Jesus and not experience what he did, or I can follow Jesus and pick and choose the experiences that I'm willing to have. 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.599 And I just want to say to you, listen very carefully. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:19.920 Mental health for the Christian in America would improve if we would embrace things as a Christ-like experience. 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:26.559 Mental health for the Christian would improve if you would embrace more things as a Christ-like experience. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:27.759 You say, What do you mean? 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:29.599 So uh a while back, somebody came to see me. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:30.400 They don't go to our church. 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:33.599 They just said, Hey, a man, older man and woman said, We got some issues in our family. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:34.640 Somebody recommended you. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:36.319 I said, I'd glad to help any way I can. 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:37.279 They come and they sit down. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:39.359 Here's the big moral dilemma for their family. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:42.240 They have a son who married a woman who rules over the son. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:44.319 The house is out of order, but I digress. 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:46.240 Um, they got three kids. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:51.599 Uh, grandma and grandpa are pretty successful, and grandma and grandpa are taking all seven kids on a Disney cruise. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:54.799 Grandpa has uh the man had breakfast with his son. 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:56.319 He said, I'm concerned about my son. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:59.680 My son is succeeding in the world, but he's failing spiritually. 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:04.079 So at breakfast, he said, Son, I'm concerned you need to get your family in a church, find a church. 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:07.279 And I'm not about religion, I'm just about a relationship. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:12.000 And so you need to find a church, get your family planted in there and experience biblical community. 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:20.799 Well, the son, because he lives in fear of his wife, he goes home and complains to his wife, and his wife's like, You tell your parents to back off, or we're not gonna let the kids go on the Disney cruise. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:21.920 Now look at me. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:26.480 Apparently, this is the thing that you all threaten your parents with withholding your kids. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:31.519 I pray to Jesus, my kids threaten me, like we're not gonna let you have the grandkids. 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.799 How long you wanna play this game? 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:41.759 Because here's the thing, I ain't responsible for your kids anyway. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:42.960 They're my grandkids. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:46.880 I can choose to leave them something or I can choose to spend it all on myself. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:52.400 But this man is dead, and the one they're dead, they're like, oh, and we don't know what we'd do if we didn't pick our kids. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:59.759 And I uh I said, so your your son loves his daughter, his wife more than he loves God. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:02.240 Men tend to appease the woman they sleep with. 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:03.759 This is the way it works. 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:06.000 And they're like, Yeah, but what are we gonna do? 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:08.079 You say, Okay, thank you. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:10.240 You're not gonna you're not gonna blackmail me. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:16.799 You just save me all that expense, and your mother and I are gonna go to Europe after we take the kids on a Disney crew just to recover. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:20.000 And they said, Oh, but but but what if we never saw our grandkids? 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:21.839 It sounds like you'd have some free time. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:25.279 You feel it in here? 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:29.519 Because some of you are blackmailing your parents with your kids. 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:31.519 I say this from a heart of compassion. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:32.319 Shame on you. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:34.400 You should be embarrassed of yourself. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:36.079 Who do you think you are? 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:39.920 If people raise you, now you're gonna play this game, you might not see your grandkids. 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:42.960 Like I said, I pray my kids say that to me. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:47.920 And I tell them about twice a year hey, hurry up and have some kids so I can abandon them. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:51.359 Y'all think I'm kidding? 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:54.799 I tell them, I can't wait to tell my grandkids, no, I'm not coming to your game. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:56.160 I got more important things to do. 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:58.559 I ain't gotta come to every one of your games to prove I'm awesome. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:20:59.359 I'm awesome. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:01.440 I was awesome before you got here. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:03.920 Yes. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:06.240 Stop worshiping your grandkids. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:09.279 You're gonna raise a narcissist, it's gonna be your fault. 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:12.960 Can y'all feel how awkward this is in here? 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:15.359 Y'all are like, man, I invited friends. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:16.960 Come on, what are you doing? 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:18.400 I'm just telling the truth. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:20.400 To follow means to experience. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:25.519 If you're not having some of the experiences of Jesus, you're not following Jesus, you're still in the crowd. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:26.880 I'm sorry. 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:31.440 If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:35.200 You've got to stop rescuing your kids from every negative experience they have. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:40.640 Stop wrapping them in bubble wrapping money and saying, Oh, baby, I'm so sorry you didn't get cheerleader. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:43.519 No, should you have gotten cheerleader, you should have gotten head cheerleader. 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:45.920 We're gonna stop writing checks to the school. 00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:49.519 Well, were you writing checks to the school to get your kids' way? 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:51.920 Why'd you bring that up? 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:54.640 Yes, yes. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:59.599 See, here's the thing if you insulate your kids from all disappointment, they'll never see things that are. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:00.799 Christ-like experience. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:05.839 You will release kids into the world who have to get their way in every environment. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:08.960 Otherwise, there's going to be hell to pray because I didn't get my way. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:11.920 Another lady came to see me. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:14.400