Rewards and Motives – Bill Johnson (Full Sermon) | Bethel Church

What is your motive for following Christ? In this full sermon, Bill Johnson brings us back to the simplicity of devotion to Christ and following Him. When the rich young ruler came to Jesus, Jesus didn’t entice Him with the rewards and blessings that would come, but He spoke straight to the young rulers heart. There is blessing and reward that comes as we follow Christ, but that must not be what motivates us. The foundation of our faith must be built upon a simple devotion and desire to be in relationship with Him.

the journey is merely a relational

journey period

and in the journey he adds all these

things

guess he brings blessing yes he brings

prosperity he does all those things

but it’s such an interesting journey

because

anyone who builds a relationship with

god

based on what they will get out of the

relationship are actually

pouring dirt into the cement

causing it to become so weakened that

there’s not a foundation big enough to

hold any kind of significant structure

and what the lord is wanting from those

who follow him

is the simplicity and purity of devotion

is there anyone here that was in a an

automobile accident three cars involved

let me just ask that one first anyone in

any kind of a erect involved three cars

all right we’ve got several of you

do any of you still have lingering uh

injuries or results from that accident

keep your hand up all right all of you

do why don’t all three of you are four

or five however however many there are

just stand up

uh which one of you uh it was a

there was a yellow car involved yellow

um

yellow may have been yellow and white is

that any of you here

any of you was that

but there was a yellow car okay all

right

did who have you had uh injury to ribs

and you still have lingering effects

from the ribs and there was also injury

to the neck

and back over here

neck all right

and there’s an issue with the right hip

as well

and this may be a separate accident

there’s somebody who has an issue with

the right hip and there’s issues that go

all the way down to the right ankle and

i think that was uh

having to do with uh with an automobile

accident is that anybody in this room is

that overflow is that

you have

okay all right that’s fine

all right also there is there is there

someone here you had a blow to the head

and i don’t know what kind of uh

what caused it but some kind of a blow

to the head and it affects your your

ears it may or may not be your hearing

it may be the ringing in the ear maybe

something of that nature is that stand

up if that’s you all right yeah just

just stand up some kind of a blow to the

head that actually affected the ears i’m

not

positive

it’s just hearing loss although we’ve

seen that healed

um

let’s see

who has the the issue with uh with the

injury to the ribs on the right side

i want to is that you right here you

have the issue there okay all right

and you you as well stand up just stand

up

all right

yeah um

uh how long ago

did you injure the ribs

the hearing sorry ribs i’m looking for

ribs but you keep standing

keep standing all right ribs who’s got

ribs all right yeah you all got ribs

right all right got several over here

all right all right

yeah now uh is there anyone here with a

terminal disease terminal disease of any

kind anyone with cancer

als any of those kinds of things i want

you to stand back here all right i want

us to give opportunity for jesus to

demonstrate how much he hates terminal

disease how much he hates disease

and so we’re just going to pray very

simple prayers of faith over these folks

if you have the terminal disease i want

you to stand in the aisle

i just want you to move a cancer any

kind of terminal illness of any kind

just move to the aisle and stand there

the rest of you stay where you are all

right

excellent now we have a great host of

folks uh friends that are watching we

actually

the the church is just growing really

all over the world so we want to honor

those who are with us online

and uh those of you that are online if

you have any of the conditions that are

described

do something stand up in your living

room if you’re in a small group or a

church that’s watching this do some kind

of response to indicate before the lord

that you’re ready for his miracle all

right what i’m going to ask is i’m going

to ask people to surround these

uh in individuals

i need one more one more thing is there

anyone here who went through some kind

of a traumatic

a traumatic uh i think it was an injury

i’m sorry some kind of a traumatic

injury like automobile or something of

that nature and ever since then your

digestive system has been messed up who

is that

who’s that is that you right here okay

is there somebody else okay back over

here as well all right all right so make

sure that you’re you’re standing church

i want you to surround these folks and

just pray

just pray aggressively over them

and i i realize there’s not that many

standing so you’ll have to pray long

distance but do please do so

we don’t need to beg god to heal anyone

he’s already determined to do so

so what i want you to to do

is just find out what the injury is what

the problem is

uh there’s somebody specifically who has

a hearing loss damage to the right ear

the lord is uh restoring that healing

that

there’s someone who has some sort of an

injury to the right ankle

and it uh

it caused damage to the tendons

ligaments in that right ankle there’s

actual weakness

and it could even be numbness but it’s

at least weakness is that you back here

anybody else who has that but okay take

a look around you because there’s more

people that just do it so make sure that

you stand with them if uh if they have

if you stood for that wave your hand so

somebody can agree with you all right

right here excellent there’s another one

back here there’s one over here to my

left excellent yeah just go after those

of you online do the same thing just

join your faith with ours we’re just

declaring over these folks right now in

jesus mighty name

ears open

the torment of

the ringing in the ears we declare to

you you must stop now

in the name of the lord jesus

you must stop now the broken ribs the

injury to the neck we declare that jesus

makes all things new

he makes all things new who has ever

been in an accident ever in your life

and you now have arthritis where you

were injured i want you to stand quick

if you’re not already standing stand up

put a hand up

you have arthritis now where you were

injured okay some look around some of

you need to gather around these find out

where the arthritis is

lay your hand on that

the enemy likes to he is attracted by

old injuries

and he works to sustain

that injury through arthritis so i want

you to just join with me stand against

that affliction in jesus name

now i want to hear you you pray church i

want to hear you pray

that’s right jesus makes all things new

he makes all things new

there’s someone else that was in an

accident and injured the right shoulder

the right shoulder who is that just a

bunch of stuff on the right side going

on tonight so right here make sure you

lay hands on put your hand up again

right shoulder yep so you guys just lay

hands on him on that right shoulder

yeah

thank you lord

those of you that aren’t close to anyone

at least extend your faith just join

with those who are

praying seeking for breakthrough for

these folks

thank you lord

if you’re praying with uh if you’re

praying for somebody that had an old

that had an injury of any kind

i want you just to rebuke trauma just

command the effects of trauma the spirit

of trauma to be broken off of their

lives

we just declare

their body is government property

this is a violation trespassing on

government property

cancer be gone

in jesus name

okay we’re going to take just a moment

longer and then we’ll

see what’s happening

thank you most high god all right go

ahead and end your prayer but stay right

with the person all right

just stay with the person

i realize that not everything we just

prayed for can be tested but i want you

to test yourself anyway

just moving away you couldn’t move do

something to see what the lord has done

if it was an issue with hearing

ringing in the ear if you need to go out

where it’s quiet to find out if the

ringing is still there do that do

whatever you need to do

now how many of you

you’re able to testify that you’re at

least 80 percent better i want you to

wave both hands over your head like this

until your arms crossed we want to see

who you are back over here back over

here down over here there’s another one

there

yeah we thank you lord right yep

yep thank you lord right down over here

beautiful turn and pray again

do this again for another two minutes

and then we’ll wrap it up

go ahead just do it again

we just declare the lord jesus heals you

the lord jesus heals you

thank you lord

all right i’m going to ask all of you to

stand if you would go and end your

prayer

all of you that had anything that you

can examine i want you to check yourself

and anyone who is at least 80 percent

better we say that because

uh healings are progressive

and anyone who’s at least 80 percent

better please check yourself wave your

hands over your head like this beautiful

we got over here yeah right over here’s

another one both hands over your head

another one there thank you god down

here there’s there there beautiful

i want everyone to stand if you would

we’re going to pray one more prayer

together and i i just need you standing

for this one actually you could probably

pray sitting down but i feel better if

you’re standing

put a hand on the shoulder of somebody

next year we’re going to pray for

something i want you to ask the lord

i want you to ask the lord

to release divine health into their life

pray it right now divine health

[Applause]

divine health

[Applause]

divine health

supernatural health

in every area

god we say even let us age more slowly

[Applause]

might as well throw it in there come on

divine health

to ourselves our family members

show us the secrets lord of divine

health we pray this

in jesus name

all right you did good

he did good just bless someone and be

seated

i want you to open your bibles to luke

chapter 18 if you would

you know divine health is uh

has nothing to do with the message it’s

just been on my mind for a long time

israel

had it in the wilderness

and they didn’t know god

they weren’t born again

they ended up dying in the wilderness i

mean god actually gave them such a

measure of breakthrough

that they

even their clothes didn’t wear out

and i know that’s bad news for many

women who just like to change

but uh even their clothes didn’t wear

out

and i i to me it’s

we’re under a better covenant

and these things have to matter enough

that you cry out for them

they’re they’re not just supposed to be

history lessons

they’re not just supposed to be empty

promises that make us feel good about

heaven

they’re actually supposed to be things

we’re willing to go to war for

we’re willing to get along with god for

lift our voices contend for

and uh this is supposed to matter

supposed to matter to us

to me it would be tragic to come to the

end of time

and have the only generation that lived

in divine hell

be a people that were in rebellion

against god died in the wilderness

they weren’t born again

so this is called a better covenant

let’s find out what it looks like

and uh

you know some things are just better if

it’s a corporate breakthrough not just

an individual breakthrough

and so that’s why i mentioned it here

tonight i’ve mentioned it before a

number of times but it’s been several

years so i i just declared over you now

let’s just contend for this let’s just

content for it

let’s uh change our way of thinking that

just assumes that certain things happen

uh later in life for example uh well

it’s just what happens when you get

older your eyes get weak or whatever it

might be

arthritis or whatever you know that’s

just nonsense it’s just

just show it to me in the covenant then

i’ll believe it if it’s not in what he

said

then then we we can’t tolerate it

because

as we were told years ago what you

tolerate will dominate

and uh and we we don’t want to lessen

the standard don’t ever feel guilty or

filled with shame or any of that stuff

if you’re dealing with a physical

affliction don’t don’t go that direction

but also don’t assume that it’s god’s

will when it doesn’t exist in heaven and

let’s just let’s just learn what that

looks like so all right luke chapter 18.

we’re going to do a a little different

kind of a study i don’t think it’s very

long i actually shared it

earlier today at one of the meetings

the noon meeting

and

there’s two stories that are back to

back

and jesus

i get so moved by seeing how he

ministered people because he every time

he talked to somebody it was different

you know sometimes

he just nailed him between the other

between the eyes other times

there was such gentleness and

when he would nail people it was never

to shame

it was never too confused it was never

to reject

it was always because that was the thing

they needed to get to where

he wanted them to be where he wanted

them to go

sometimes people would ask questions of

jesus and he would give elaborate

answers

other times

one gentleman says

asked him about salvation or eternal

life and jesus said well what does the

law say to you so he never asked

answered him

and

we often times in the place of learning

to hear god

we choose patterns and principles to

live by

one size fits all

kind of a gospel message

because we

not always learn

how to hear in the moment how to touch

this person the best way that’s possible

and jesus nailed it every time

he represented the father perfectly

and when he tells the guy he says what

does the law say to you he quotes a few

commandments jesus says do that and

you’ll be fine

he wasn’t being uh

short with him he wasn’t being rude he

wasn’t being callous towards him he was

helping a man to rediscover what he

already knew that he wasn’t obeying

if god didn’t do that and he answered

him he would give he would be giving him

greater understanding greater revelation

which means greater accountability and

he’s not been obeying what he already

knows that’s not mercy to increase the

accountability for somebody who hasn’t

obeyed what they already know

one of the surest ways to increase the

voice of the lord in your life

to increase the spirit of revelation on

our lives is to obey what you know

obedience actually is what attracts the

voice of god for fresh things

and so we’re going to read two stories

and these two stories

are as different as can be

one is with a rich young ruler and the

other is jesus talking to uh about

children so let’s just jump right in

here verse 15.

luke 18 verse 15 then they also brought

infants

to him that he might touch them

but when the disciples saw they rebuked

them

but jesus called them to him and said

let the little children come to me

and do not forbid them for of such

is the kingdom of god

surely i say to you whoever does not

receive the kingdom of god as a little

child will by no means enter it

i always or not always but frequently i

will i will teach a um

i will teach

the contrasting passage to this do you

understand truth is held in tet

intention of things that seem to

contradict but they don’t they actually

complement

what you un when you understand the two

sides of the same coin they actually

complement one another they don’t rob

from one another

and in this particular case we have

jesus commanding his disciples stop

rebuking the parents that are bringing

me their kids

let them come to me and then he goes on

and he gives us a

magnificent understanding of the nature

of the kingdom of god he says allow them

to come to me because

if you don’t receive the kingdom as a

child you can by no means enter so think

about this

you can only enter what you’ve received

contrast that with

matthew 11 where

there’s progress in the kingdom there’s

entrance in the kingdom through the

violence of faith

the kingdom of heaven suffers violence

and the violent take it by force

so here on one hand we have this

aggressive posture of faith and on the

other hand we have children that just

simply receive

as is

the custom

of believers throughout history as we

tend to camp on one of the other

instead of realizing that they represent

seasons they represent circumstances

where there are times where

if you sit and wait for something to be

brought

to you you’ll be waiting till you die

because it will not come there are

certain things in our life that require

a fight

and i i am finding more and more

believers because of a uh

an entitlement type culture that we are

a part of it’s just all around us uh the

instant gratification all the stuff

that’s just a part of american culture

there are fewer and fewer people that

are willing to contend and fight for

things that there would be breakthrough

and so the lord presents these two

realities before us and they are

actually complementary to the other

one is to receive as a child the second

is to violently take

by force it’s violence in the kingdom is

the expression of faith

whenever the lord is highlighting a

situation and or a season to you

where you obtain through the violence of

faith

he’s it’s because he’s wanting you to

learn your authority

[Music]

but when he wants you to be still

and received by faith

to receive as a child

then he’s wanting you to learn your

identity

and there are seasons where the thing

that’s on his mind is authority

and that’s what he wants us to know is

how to use the authority that he’s given

to us and then he switches it in the

very next week and all of a sudden we

have to be in a place of rest we try to

fight and get breakthrough and obtain

this and obtain that we confess we

declare we march we fast we wave our

flags our tambourines and every other

christian toy known to mankind we use

them to bring breakthrough and nothing

happens

because until we discover who we are and

coming to a place of rest in that

identity nothing is released to us

so these are two different seasons and

two different approaches to the kingdom

how do you know

what season

you’re in

well just try the one you want and if it

doesn’t work then try the other

i i wish so much i knew

i was so much i knew i i

there’s a a a certain percentage of my

prayer life that fits in the frustration

category i know that most of you are too

spiritual for that but it fits in the

frustration category because i don’t

know what to do

i don’t know if i’m supposed to come out

swinging or if i’m supposed to sit in

the recliner and wait

and it’s just one of those things you’ll

never step into out of a principle

you’ll only step into out of a

relationship

and a lot of what we try to do in the

kingdom is we try to reduce to a concept

instead of a walk a journey

so here we have this beautiful story

where jesus is so tender with children

and then we move right into the story of

the rich young ruler verse 18.

a certain certain ruler asked him saying

good teacher

what shall i do to inherit eternal life

and jesus said to him why do you call me

good no one is good

but one and that is god

jesus is trying to help him discover a

revelation

who he is

can i put in my own words you’re right

i’m good but you need to know why

nobody’s good but god

you see the decision he’s about to make

he needs to understand who he’s standing

in front of

because if he doesn’t know who he’s

standing in front of he may not be

willing to pay the price that is needed

for the challenge that god is about to

bring into his life

verse 20 it says

you know the commandments do not commit

adultery do not murder do not steal

do not bear false witness honor your

father and mother

and he said all these things i have kept

from my youth

when jesus heard these things he said to

him

you still lack one thing

sell all that you have

and dis distribute to the poor

and you will have treasure in heaven

come and follow me it’s interesting come

and follow me

there were 12 that were allowed to

follow him

and jesus was giving him access

to

be one that could follow

i don’t know he’d be one of the twelve

one of the seventy i don’t know

he’s just had an opportunity to come and

follow jesus here’s what you need to see

jesus never uses the reward of following

him

to entice someone to follow him

he doesn’t use the promise of eternal

life

this man is concerned about what about

wealth

jesus easily could have said listen this

is how it works seek me first and all

these things i will add to you

he never used the other parts of the

story to get him to follow because if

you follow for any other reason besides

just simply following him to be with him

your foundation is fragile and you will

falter in difficult times because the

walk with the lord has lots of reward

and it has lots of price

lots of costs

and anyone who has a foundation of

seeking so that i can obtain

will fall will falter

the second thing about this part of the

story

if this man follows jesus

because of what will happen to him

that all these things will be added

then he will always measure his success

in his walk with the lord by external

things

it will never be measured by the

relationship itself

and our seasons are so dramatically

different

like paul said i know how to abound

i know how to be in lack

and if we measure the season we’re in by

external conditions we will come to the

wrong conclusion

the journey is merely a relational

journey period

and in the journey he adds all these

things

guess he brings blessing yes he brings

prosperity he does all those things

but it’s such an interesting journey

because

anyone who builds their relationship

with god

based on what they will get out of the

relationship are actually

pouring dirt into the cement

causing it to become so weakened that

there’s not a foundation big enough to

hold any kind of significant structure

and what the lord is wanting from those

who follow him

is the simplicity and purity of devotion

where it’s not because of the outcome

now i’m i’m usually the guy that’s

talking about the outcome

i’m usually one that’s talking about

seeking first all these things are added

he wants you to be significant have

impact in the course of history all this

stuff the dreams fulfilled this is who

our father is

but in this beginning of the journey

it’s vital that we come with no

attachments

i i often will will describe it this way

when we come to the lord

the bible describes it’s a straight and

narrow road it’s straight so it’s not

complicated but it is narrow

it’s a narrow

road

to the kingdom

there’s one

place of entrance it’s christ jesus

and he is the entrance to a lifetime of

communion and fellowship with the father

there’s only one way straight in

narrower road

many believers once they come into the

kingdom

think it’s still a straight narrow road

and i don’t want to describe or imply

that once you’re into the kingdom you

get to be careless because that would be

a misinterpretation

but in the kingdom it is different than

the entrance to the kingdom

because in the kingdom there are options

that you didn’t have out here

outside the kingdom as you approach the

father there’s no options there’s only

one way

but in the kingdom he says pursue

earnestly spiritual gifts he doesn’t

tell you which ones

because there’s options

we all have specific areas of life and

ministry we all carry uh a a ministry of

reconciliation

but all of us have unique expressions

and he doesn’t try to buttonhole us

because there are

options

there’s uniqueness

you can be a vegetarian

you’re going to be a meat eater

thank you for the latter jesus thank you

no but i’m serious there are options

paul actually talks about the honor that

is supposed to exist for the person who

differs why because in this kingdom

there’s options

see it’s a broad road

it’s built so that you can succeed

in this journey with the lord

he tells

this rich young ruler to sell everything

the guy’s really depressed afterwards

verse 24.

because he had a lot of stuff

jesus says it’s easier for camel to go

through the eye of a needle that i’ve

tried to picture that one since i was a

child

never been able to get one hair at a

time through the eye of the needle

i guess it can be done but

it might take a couple days

the disciples heard jesus’s response

just follow this now for a moment the

disciples heard the response they said

then who then can be saved verse 26

verse 28 peter says we left everything

to follow you

in mark’s gospel he explains this a

little bit differently he said

he said i will return to you a hundred

times as much

of what as what you left to follow me

but i will return it to you with

persecution

i’m glad he said with persecution

because it was going to come anyway

but i’m glad he said with persecution

because

we would be tempted to put that kind of

a promise off into eternity

we’d be tempted to put that into heaven

and he was saying no this is for now i’m

going to return to you a hundred times

while you gave up but it’s going to come

with persecution it’s going to come i’m

going to increase the income but i’m

also increasing the tax

the income tax

see it’s the opposition the criticism

the betrayal that keeps you honest

we want the increase of the anointing

for the prophetic so that we can be more

powerful and he says i want to give it

to you but the tax will increase

i want a greater anointing for

breakthrough me too but the tax will

increase

everything you laid down to follow him

he celebrates and he will return it way

beyond what you ever could have imagined

that’s part of the deal

but jesus never used that reality to get

anyone to follow

it’s interesting that in his journey

with the disciples

he uh he he never did that he just said

follow me and i don’t know i how do you

how do you own a business in fishing

and somebody just walks up to you and

says follow me and you leave every how

do you just leave your nets in the boat

your family everything and just follow i

mean what is it what is it about this

jesus that is so commanding that someone

here has followed them

and something

inside of them comes so alive that

nothing else matters how does that

happen

it wasn’t the result of a sermon it

wasn’t an altar call

it wasn’t a uh you know a summer camp or

at the end they made a decision i’m

going to follow jesus it was just simply

somebody came by the shore while they’re

cleaning nets and jesus said follow me

peter goes

done

i’m in

what what does that take so here’s

here’s the disciples following jesus

they’re with him for three and a half

years jesus then dies but the last week

of his life jesus starts talking to

these guys

and in john 14 15 and 16 he mentions

something four times

that is so significant

on four occasions he gives them a blank

check

he gives them

what he gave solomon

he put it this way in john 15 he said if

you abide in me my words abide in you

you can ask anything you want it’ll be

done for you

blank jack

in john 16 i think it’s around verse 20

he says

up until now you’ve asked nothing of the

father remember ever all dialogue with

god has been with jesus himself

so now he says up until now you’ve asked

the father nothing in my name but

there’s a day coming

soon quickly where you will ask the

father and anything you ask him in my

name will be done for you so four times

in three chapters jesus gave them blank

checks

why because right in the middle of it

this is his in the last week of his life

this is one of his final conversations

he unveils the reason

for four blank checks given to his

disciples

and it’s in john 15.

he said i no longer call you servants

i call you friends

just because we sing the song i am a

friend of god doesn’t mean i’m a friend

of god

i don’t mean in any way that god would

reject me i’m just saying friendship

takes time you learn their voice you

recognize a friend who calls you on the

phone because you’ve spent time with

them

it’s frequent interaction it causes us

to know this is what they value this is

their favorite color this is what they

like to do you know sunday afternoons

this is their hobby this is their

whatever we get to know them because of

time together

we know jesus sometimes through a song

through a favorite scripture

but we’ve been summoned into a

relational journey

and it was to the 12 that had been with

him for three and a half years he said

to them

you can ask whatever you want

he didn’t announce that to anyone who

was in the crowd

that would have been a welcomed message

in john 6 instead of eat my flesh drink

my blood people would have voted for

that one any day over the drink blood

thing that he was preaching

they would have bought right into that

immediately they would have increased

their numbers the altar call would have

been massive

but jesus chose not to do that here’s my

question for you

this man

asked about eternal life

and jesus gave him an answer

that was perfectly fitting for him

because jesus saw the horror

but most of us

would have led him in a prayer

and tried to make him believe

that he was fully surrendered to jesus

but was he

he wouldn’t be any more saved after my

prayer than he was with jesus’s

conversation

the point isn’t to shame people or to

lock horns with people or to challenge

that’s not the point the point is is

tenderly we love people and speak and

and care and direct people into this

relationship where it just makes sense

drop the nets it just it’s the most

logical thing in the world to do i don’t

need the boat

it’s it’s like we just we leave things

to come with i mean the farther you go

with god the less you can take with you

he could have started the conversation

with

john

15 7.

abide in me

you can just see him on the beach

peter’s never seen him before jesus

walks up says peter

abide in me my words abide in you you

can ask whatever you want it’ll be done

there would have been a whole bunch more

than peter that signed up for that one

because they would have signed up for

the stuff

and not the relationship

it’s all about the relationship

anything i build on the reward i believe

in the reward so much

it’s a central part of the faith

in the journey with the lord not the

journey for salvation but in in the

journey with the lord once we’re born

again faith is an expression of our

confidence in him as the rewarder

that’s hebrews 11. i must believe he is

and the reward of those who seek him

the confidence of him being the rewarder

is essential in our journey

i i feel like the lord

let me rephrase this

the shaking in our life

reveals

whether we’re in it for the journey

or for all the things

because if i measure how well i’m doing

by breakthrough in these things

then my own self-esteem in christ goes

up and goes down goes up goes down

but if i see it for what it is

there’s a reward he’s given me much more

than i ever deserved the next week

there’s a challenge

this gives me an opportunity to draw

nearer

it’s all about the journey and who i’m

traveling with

see it’s all for jesus it really is it’s

not

it’s not

jesus looking for

entrepreneurs who

know how to handle money he just found

one there’s a prime candidate jesus

doesn’t need anybody’s gift

he can bring revival through a rock if

he wants to

he can anoint a camel to preach

i mean do whatever he wants he’s god

old testament he had a donkey preaching

he once announced i can raise up a whole

generation to abraham out of these rocks

what trust me

all i got to do is speak and they come

not only that i can get them to praise

the point i’m trying to make is when

when the lord the lord doesn’t look at

you know celebrities and

you know all this stuff and look for the

most talented people

i i love talent

i do i love i love human talent i love

the olympics i love the olympics for

that reason it’s just bizarre to me

that people will train eight hours a day

for four years eight years to run a 10

second race

and then it’s over

and if they’re in first place they won

by you know 100th of a second

how does it come down to that how do you

develop skills like that i i’m so

impressed with these guys

i love human skills i love

the musicians the actors the actresses

the business people that just have the

the intuition to know what to do

culturally they see what’s happening

they know how to invest

they know they fly over a city and they

know where the city is growing so they

invest in this land and in that land

it’s just amazing to me this natural

wisdom and skill that god’s given people

i love it all but he doesn’t need any of

it

he doesn’t look at the landscape and go

oh this guy can really sing i should get

him saved

he doesn’t think that way

he just doesn’t think that way

he just finds people

that have stuff

and he says

come on

you just can’t drag the boat with you

i’m not one who

believes that that message

of abandoning all is the mark of

surrender to christ and you have to sell

everything to do that you know if he

says for you to do it you do it

that’s just the point

but jesus ministered to people

differently mary and martha

lazarus very wealthy people never said

that to them why

it wasn’t at the center of their heart

see he has he has laser vision he is

is that that tenacity to go right to the

root and the core of issues

with one person is the bitterness

regarding their past

but it’s the key to their breakthrough

to another person it’s their whole

vision for their life they have to lay

it down

i always i it’s a it’s a strange analogy

i know but

i i love the story with moses and his

rod

i i use it for a lot of things because

it speaks to me so deeply

but he’s got this shepherd’s rod that

has been with him for

you know the 40 years that he

had sheep in the wilderness

and the thing about a shepherd’s rod is

is they would actually they would have

this staff they would actually

carve on this staff

uh their journey it was like a diary

this had like the record 40-year history

this is moses could say this is this is

my life as a shepherd it’s all

represented in this town

and god comes along and required of him

what he required of his disciples

they had to leave everything moses had

to take

the only thing that was significant in

his life and throw it down

now you’re awake

i’m just glad i didn’t break this little

light here guys sorry i almost

yeah just take it out of my allowance

yeah

so he throws this the rod down and you

know the story becomes a snake it’s it’s

just this bizarre thing

do you know whatever you have in your

hand is a snake you just don’t know it

yet

that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be

holding it it just means you you need to

understand what you’re holding

what did what did pharaoh’s

magicians do they threw down their rods

and they became snakes

right

what did moses rod do

he ate their snakes

so where is the power of the enemies in

the belly of your snake

it’s in the belly of your authority

so here we’ve got the snake down here i

don’t like snakes i don’t like them in

national geographic

i know it’s not cool to

kill snakes so i won’t tell you

[Laughter]

but when it was legal

there were a couple rattlesnakes that

went to meet jesus

they don’t make me happy i don’t like i

don’t like him

just tell ben armstrong because he

collects them he loves snakes so

so here’s the snake and it’s a poisonous

viper

and it is my

history

with god it’s my training

and as good as my training is

when i throw it down i see it for what

it is

and then he says

the most illogical instruction

except from god’s perspective it’s

perfect logic perfect reason

absolute perfect intelligence

he says to moses he says pick up the

snake

but do it by the tail

i’m not a snake guy but the one thing i

do know is you don’t pick up snakes by

the tail

so what does that mean moses has to do

he has to pick up the snake by the tail

i’m just scared to death one of these

days i’m going to use this illustration

and this mic stand is going to turn into

something

and i’m going to be out in hebrews lobby

while you guys deal with this thing

so just just between you and me

so he has moses pick up

the snake by the tail

as long as i hold it behind the head

i will be tempted to think

my intelligence

my knowledge will keep me safe

with this that is dangerous

but if i pick it up by the tail

i’m only safe

when i hold it the way he says to hold

it

it’s like he he doesn’t mind me having

stuff he just wants me to hold it by the

tail

he just wants me to live with the

realization that

you got it i gave it to you

just hold on to it correctly

because if you hold it incorrectly

the very thing that is the blessing to

you can turn against you the very thing

that is your tool to succeed in your

assignment suddenly becomes the very

thing

that can threaten your life

that’s the journey

it’s not a as

c.s lewis says of

aslan

chronicles of

narnia in the

whole seven books aslam is not a tame

lion

and this journey with this jesus is not

a tamed journey

it’s a journey where we have the

privilege

day after day

of holding what he gives us

in a way that he says to hold it

so that we can see him glorified by our

continuous ongoing offering

because what i’ve learned

is my yes

40 years ago

i meant it

but i say yes day after day after day as

we sang tonight

to reaffirm

that decision then

in the same way with my wife

i said i love you to her

many many many years ago when we got

married

but i also say it many times a day

now

because

it’s still active it’s still true

and the lord wants us to

to not build

our estimation of how well we’re doing

on the journey

by the externals

now next week

or the next time i’m up here you know

maybe i’ll talk to you about how to get

the breakthrough and the fulfillment of

vision and all the other stuff that i

love to talk about but tonight

excuse me

but tonight i want to hit just this one

simple

thought that is

my evaluation of my life

has nothing to do

with the all these things

the promotion

the favor

the home the whatever it might be

which i

are secondary

important things

but they’re not primary

primary

is that in crisis i know who to talk to

i’m on a journey

he’s promised his voice to me

his presence is with me never leave me

if i’m anxious i lose sight of him if

i’m anxious and

angry or frustrated i lose connection

with him but he hasn’t left i’ve just

lost my awareness of his touch on my

life

the best thing i can do for me

is just hold with confidence

the snake by the tail

just believing i’m safe because he says

i’m safe

and suddenly my moments in him mean more

i’m thankful for the house

i’m thankful for the promotion i’m

thankful for all the stuff

but the real treasure

isn’t any of that

it remains the journey

it remains that when i’m in trouble he

speaks

you know if you took everybody in this

room

and you took all of our life our

giftings our history our culture

our family line our what you inherit

spiritually naturally

everything about our life every

experience everything just pile it high

every issue of our life if you strip

away every one of those things

and you finally get down to that one

thing that we all shared together in

comet common denominator the one thing

would be

i called upon the name of the lord and

he heard me

that’s the common denom nominate

everybody in this room had that one

moment where you heard him speak to you

you became aware of the opportunity and

you called to him and he heard you and

he saved your soul

that’s the one thing everybody in this

room has in common

and holding to that

tale so to speak holding to that that

god has released in my life knowing it

is the blessing of the lord

but i will gladly throw it down

it is the blessing of the lord but i

live with a purpose to honor him with

every action if i can hold it and

glorify god i will hold it till i die

if the best way to glorify him is to

throw it on the ground then i throw it

on the ground because it’s the journey

it’s the person i walk with it’s not the

and all these things

so why don’t you stand

you know it was interesting this

afternoon at noon i was

of course over twin view and that

particular service is a service for

students

but i just kind of felt this strange

prompting to have an altar call

to give people a chance to meet jesus

and one gentleman

raised his hand who apparently was

brought by one of the students which

which is very cool i was i was thinking

of lindsay coyle if you heard her this

week

she

she had got just got a revival group

together and it was like first day

introduction and they were sitting

together

and she meant to say

do you have any questions

and instead she said something like

does anyone need to get saved

and she doesn’t even know how that came

out of her mouth because what was in her

brain was

do does anyone have a question

and what you know when you’re sitting

with your revival group in second year

everybody in the school really should be

born again by second year it’s kind of

it’s kind of one of those standards that

we have

then lindsay is in first year

well just let me finish my story and it

will make more sense too

a lady in the group says

i need to receive jesus

and then she says i’m not a student here

i was helping a friend of mine who is a

student to come and happen to just be

sitting with her in that class

and she accidentally gave an altar call

and actually definitely got somebody

saved

so let me ask the question

is there anyone here that would say

i want to follow jesus

i want to follow him completely totally

wholeheartedly

i want to know what it is

to be adopted into god’s family what it

is to be forgiven what it is

to surrender everything

to the only one who has the right to run

my life

i want to follow jesus

anybody in that position would just say

bill i don’t want to leave until i know

i’m i’m at peace with god

just put a hand up real high because i

want to make sure that we

give opportunity for everyone

to be born again

all right looks like everybody’s in

all right

pretty cool

look at the snake you got in your hand

sorry my mind’s one what do you do when

you go to bed at night you lay it down

you don’t know what it’s going to be in

the morning when you get up you know

one of those deals

how about we do this i want us to pray

the prayer again

of absolute surrender to jesus

absolute surrender to jesus

i do this on a regular basis i

i have to i have to keep current

i have to keep current

and so

put a hand on the shoulder of someone

next you don’t want you just to pray

pray for them

that they would know what it is to live

in absolute surrender

absolute surrender

absolute surrender

absolute surrender

pray for them to have clarity of heart

that they would never judge their

success

by the all these things

i love when god adds that stuff to our

life

but i never want it to take me away from

him i want it to accelerate my love for

him

enhance my love my devotion to him so

just pray that god give clarity of heart

here

clarity of heart clarity of mind

clarity of heart of mind

to never judge our life by anything but

our walk with you

the journey with you now put your hand

on your heart and just and just say this

to say i say yes to the journey

i say yes to the journey

amen

amen i’m not sure what else to pray so

we’ll just end right there

yes amen all right

oh yeah yeah all right

when you minister to people

and you want to bring them to faith in

christ

don’t use rewards that he didn’t use

let them know after they’ve said yes

because i i don’t want i don’t want to

have

any more that have dirt in their

foundation in the in the cement just

weakens it i

i want to see solid

you know for me when when we came to the

lord

mario was going to be here a couple

weeks ago and he had a horrible injury

to his back

so i’m hoping that he’ll he’ll be able

to get here before the years over but he

changed my life

and he changed my life because he pray

he preached the absolute raw absolute

surrender to jesus

you know

zero compromise you’re either all in or

you’re all out it’s one of those kinds

of deals and he did it week after week

and i would travel just to hear him so i

could be punished

in my heart just to know it was all or

nothing

and when i finally said yes it was all

or nothing and i want everybody around

me to know the joy of all or nothing

because then you only serve one master

you don’t have that juggling to try to

serve many masters it’s just the

privilege of serving one

and he’s the one who has the heart for

my family

he’s the one who has the heart for all

the other things in life

and i find

once i get through these doors

i find he has more interest in my future

than i do

and so i just pray that over you i pray

that over everyone here let’s have

ministry team come to the front we want

to pray for folks we’ll have uh some

sort of a fire tunnel impartation tunnel

love tunnel whatever you want to call it

the tunnel of love maybe that’s what

we’ll call it tonight

the tunnel of love

yeah i’m so glad that you watched this

video i do pray that it’s a great great

strength and encouragement to you and

i’ve got a verse that it really is my

cry for all of us and it’s psalms 20

it’s verse 4

may he grant you your heart’s desire and

fulfill all your plans

that’s my prayer that’s my prayers that

this would be the season of rich rich

fulfillment

thanks for joining us