On this topic of how to make the
right choice, we have the hardest time making
decisions.
Have you ever noticed that?
Christians should actually have the easiest time making
decisions, but we have the hardest time making
decisions.
It's the most challenging for us sometimes because
what happens is we want to please God
so much and we want to know God's
will, but on the other side, there's this
little mean guy in here called the flesh
who wants to discourage and pull me away
from God and so our choices are never
free from this conflict.
So we're gonna talk about how to make
right choices, but before I get into it,
I want to remind you that our loving
Father, who's a good, good Father, wants us
to get back on course.
So no matter if you've fallen off course,
if you're saying, Shane, I'm so lost, I'm
so far away, God can't use me now.
Yes, he can.
Just like a compass, when I'm walking, I
take a compass sometimes hiking and if I
need to go north and I'm going south,
what do I need to do?
Keep walking south?
Turn around.
And you want, actually, that's the word repentance
in the Bible, is to change your mind
and change direction.
So it doesn't matter if you've drifted, it
doesn't matter if you don't even know God,
what matters is where you leave here this
morning.
Where is your heart?
Are you back on track saying, Lord, I'm
back, heading north, heading in the right direction,
thank God for the compass, which is, we
all know.
So you knew I couldn't talk about making
right choices without this, right?
That'd be like trying to drive your car
without the engine in it.
It might look nice, but you're not going
anywhere.
So the first point, and I actually grabbed
these from Hope for the Heart.
I came across the handout, I think we
handed it out this morning, if not, I
know we did a few weeks ago, on
eight tests for making wise decisions.
And I Googled it a little bit, I
wanna make sure I gave the right person
credit.
So the eight tests come from Hope for
the Heart, but I also threw in a
couple of my own tests.
And I've taken out an excerpt from a
book I wrote many years ago, What Works
for Young Adults, and I think you've got
the handout, one per family.
I'm gonna read from that a little bit
too.
So it's kind of bringing all this together
on how to make right choices.
So the first test, if you're about ready
to make a choice, especially young adults, you
need to listen up, turn off your phone,
I'm giving you permission to turn off your
phone, and stop texting or acting like you're
taking notes, because you're not.
We know that the whole thing is there.
Why, I need my Bible on phone.
No, you don't, not this morning.
I'm gonna read every scripture for you.
So the scriptural test, the scriptural test, and
the reason I'm so adamant about this is
I see so many people destroy their lives
because of wrong decisions and wrong choices.
If they would've just got back on track.
And here's what, if you take away a
few nuggets from this morning, I hope this
is one of them.
You will either experience the pain of discipline
or the pain of regret.
So yes, discipline is hard, it's challenging, it's
difficult to live inside of God's will.
But you're either gonna experience that pain or
the pain of regret.
That's how we go through life, the pain
of discipline or the pain of regret.
Paul says to discipline our body, bring it
under subjection, to make no provision for the
flesh, to let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus, therefore have
the mind of Christ, and all these things,
cast away, put on, all these things, it's
hard, it's discipline.
Ask anybody who competed in the Olympics if
they had any discipline.
Their whole life was about discipline.
So you either experience that pain of discipline
or the pain of regret when it comes
to following God's path.
Is there any way Susie or Josh, you
can turn the lights on a little bit?
It seems a little dark, but maybe it's
just me.
If not, that's okay.
So the first test, the first test is
this test, and you always have to start
here, and this is where many people get
sidetracked, the scriptural test.
Does my choice line up, does your choice
line up with the Word of God?
2 Timothy 3.16, all scripture is given
by the inspiration of God.
All scripture, not some.
All scripture is given by the inspiration of
God and is profitable for doctrine, which is
truth, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction
in righteousness.
So that pretty much sums up everything, and
some of you might be going, what do
those words mean?
Isn't reproof and correction the same thing?
Well, no, it's not, but without, I mean,
I could take a whole sermon just with
that scripture, but let's talk about the four
things.
The Word of God is profitable.
It means you will never go wrong, and
anytime you invest, you will always go right.
It's profitable for doctrine.
If you need to know what truth is,
you can look to the Word of God.
You don't have to wonder in relativism.
Everything's relative to the situation.
What's true for you might not be true
for me.
So that's why you can murder.
That's why you can just, the party life
style, and it's convicting for you, Shane, but
not for me.
It's called relativism.
That's where the church shifts from postmodern, premodern,
all these things.
Now we're living in an age they call
this postmodern or relative.
So truth is relative to your situation.
Now, how ridiculous is that?
Is two plus two still four?
Would you like to jump off the balcony
and see how it feels?
Gravity, I mean, truth is truth.
It's not relative.
Why they're changing truth is what they're saying
is I wanna make it relevant to my
lifestyle.
You can keep gravity.
You can keep two plus two is four.
Heck, I'll let you keep quantum physics.
You can keep this and this truth, but
when it comes to moral truth, that's what
they're changing.
So what's wrong for you, Shane, might not
be wrong for me, and that's a lie.
So when you make a choice, the Word
of God is profitable for truth, for doctrine,
and it's also profitable for reproof.
Now, today we probably wouldn't use the word
reproof.
We would say for absolute proof.
If you need to prove something, it goes
along with truth.
The Word of God is absolute proof of
something, of God's nature, of His character.
You can look to it.
What about for correction?
What is correction?
Well, if something's not straight, how do you
correct it?
You correct it by the Word of God.
The Word of God is meant to correct
because He knows we walk like this.
So the Word of God comes in and
it corrects, it straightens.
And that's why many times you'll see a
lot of churches get away from the correction
aspect and they'll just embrace the love aspect.
I just talked to a person last night
about a lot of churches, even in our
valley, he was very discouraged because they're not
talking about abortion, they're not talking about gay
marriage, they're not talking about anything that upsets
people.
They don't wanna talk about abortion because there
might be people who have had an abortion.
They don't wanna talk about gay marriage because
there might be people struggling with that.
So let's just avoid that altogether.
But the Word of God comes in and
it corrects.
So the person who's had an abortion, let
me show you where the encouragement is.
And all sins have been washed away by
the blood of Christ.
Bring those tears to the cross.
And for that person who might be considering
that or for a nation who is endorsing
that, that's wrong, you need to repent.
See, it brings correction, it brings truth.
So the person struggling with same-sex attraction,
the Word of God says, it doesn't matter
how you were born, it just means get
back to God, repent and say, Lord, this
is not right, help me.
Help me, see how it corrects.
So when we avoid the correction aspect, you
just lost a lot of the power of
the Word of God because the power of
the Word of God comes in the application
in the correction.
Woe be to the person who thinks they
have everything down and they don't need the
correction of God.
This book will humble a person who's been
a Christian 40 years.
How?
It'll correct their attitude.
It'll keep them broken before the Lord.
It will keep them thinking not so highly
of themselves.
So the Word of God is good for
correction, good for doctrine, good for absolute proof,
and also for instruction in righteousness.
That basically means how to live.
And that's another part that people don't wanna
hear.
Here's what the Bible says how to live.
I don't wanna hear that.
I just wanna live however I want.
Well, if you're gonna make choices then, your
choices have to line up with Scripture.
So if you're not in the Word, the
Word won't be in you.
So how are you going to make right
choices if you don't even know what this
says?
It's impossible.
So that's the first test.
Does my choice, is my choice going to
line up with what's already been revealed in
God's Word?
But the Bible often runs opposite to the
culture and our flesh.
That's why it's difficult.
The culture will say, buy bigger, buy more.
God's Word says, no, be wide stewards.
Don't get caught up in the things of
the world.
What's the world say?
They are attractive, go for it.
You look at every show right now on
TV focused on young adults, it's all about
attraction.
I'm attracted to that person.
Oh, go for it, go for it.
You're attracted.
That's a very bad reason to just go
for it.
Are they Robert's 31 woman?
Do they have a gracious heart?
Or do they love the Lord?
So there's nothing wrong with attraction.
God gave us attraction.
But what happens is that attraction becomes the
focus and they're not, are they a Christian
or not?
I don't know, I don't care.
I'm attracted to them.
But that's the message a culture sends.
As long as there's an attraction.
And any relationship that's built on attraction alone
falls quickly.
Do you know the divorce rate in Hollywood?
Enough said, right?
I mean, that's because it's all built on
attraction.
Name, status, how far will it get my
career?
So make sure I'm not gonna mislead anybody
here.
It's okay to be attracted to the person
you're dating or courting or going to marry.
It's a good thing, not a bad thing,
God-given.
But don't make that decision based on attraction
alone.
Actually, you should be making the decision on
the word of God and let attraction follow
you and not let it lead because you're
letting feelings.
And I hear it all the time.
I just heard it from a relative of
mine a couple months ago.
But I love them.
We're just soulmates.
They'll become a Christian someday through my influence.
Well, you just went against Scripture because the
Bible says don't be unequally yoked.
Don't even consider it.
That's not an option.
There's not plan B.
People say, well, but God worked through my
marriage.
And they, okay, yeah, God works through those
things.
But don't suddenly discount Scripture because you like
the person.
That's a whole nother sermon too for young
adults.
But get the book, right?
This book, it'll walk you through it.
This opportunity will bring in more money, people
say often.
I counsel people sometimes.
Well, but Shane, this will be more money
for my family.
Okay, but will it hurt your relationship with
Christ?
Will it take you away from your wife
and your kids?
And you'll, yeah, but it's more money.
No, no, no, no, no.
Never make a decision on that alone, ever,
ever.
I would never say, because that's the number
one tool of the enemy.
Lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eye, and pride of life.
Let me dangle that carrot.
And the road of history is paved with
men and women making mistakes in this area
because they follow the almighty dollar, not instead
of almighty God.
And he will provide when he's the focus.
So you see how all this is designed
to knock us off course, right?
Why, Shane, are you saying we shouldn't make
more money and pray about it?
No, God can open that door.
But seek ye first, where did I read
that last week?
The newspaper?
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and
all these things will be added to you.
Was that on CNN?
I heard that.
Where was it?
We know, right, so seek him first and
he adds these things to you, to your
life.
And I've just seen a lot of people
make mistakes in that area.
So the scriptural test doesn't line up with
scripture.
That's probably the longest point because it's one
of the most important.
Number two, the secrecy test.
Are you hiding the decision from others?
Mainly believers, right?
I think it's okay to hide some decisions
from unbelievers.
You know, like I'm fasting, I'm seeking the
Lord more.
Why are you doing that, why are you
doing that?
I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about if there's decisions you're making
that you kind of have to do it
in secret so nobody knows, there might be
a red flag there.
Proverbs 11 three, the integrity of the upright
will guide them.
What Proverbs is saying here, that integrity will
guide you.
Let me back up a little.
Okay, I'm walking.
I don't know what decision to make.
Well, integrity will guide me.
And the main thing about making biblical decisions
is you're making a decision against yourself quite
often.
You're making a decision against the flesh.
You're taking the lower road, not the higher
road.
You're taking the road of humility, not self
-exaltation.
So you let integrity guide you.
I don't know how to make this decision.
What does integrity say?
What does God's word says?
But the perversity, which is the twisting and
the manipulating of the unfaithful will destroy them.
Now, another thing, seeking godly counsel would fall
under here.
When you're seeking godly counsel, when you want
somebody to tell you the truth, listen, I'm
having a difficulty here speaking to my life,
please paint the right picture.
Don't paint this facade that you want them
to think so they'll give you the answer
you want to hear and you hide about
six other things because you don't want to
bring that up.
This happens in premarital counseling sometimes.
They'll paint this picture and picture wonderful, wonderful
things and wonderful things.
And okay, well, based on what you told
me, I mean, it sounds pretty good.
And then weeks come by like, well, what
about, oh, he's this?
He struggles, he's that?
I mean, he's got an addiction there and
he's thinking about Christianity.
He's not a Christian yet.
So you don't get the paint.
You've done that before, right?
Don't you paint the picture you want people
to believe in?
And that really will detour us from God
wanting what's best by not having things in
secret and bringing it to the light.
Well, this would even follow underneath spouses.
If you're wanting to make a choice and
you're gonna try to keep it a secret
from your spouse, should I go spend $100
at the mall?
I'll use a charge card that I pay
off where she won't know before it comes
to secrecy.
These are no brainers, but we need to
be reminded, don't we?
You know the old saying, you're preaching to
the choir and you know what I like
to say?
The choir needs a little preaching too because
they're, not the worship team, right?
Just in general.
You know, I don't want you to think
I'm picking them apart.
But just in general, we all need to
be reminded of God's truth.
The survey test, how will others view the
decision?
How will others view it?
1 Timothy, let no one despise your youth,
but be an example to the believer in
word and in conduct and love and spirit
and faith and purity.
If we had time, we could break down
those to be an example in conduct, how
I conduct myself, how I treat people.
It's a survey test.
How will others view my attitude?
Because they watch your attitude, don't they?
Well, you didn't get upset when you should
have at work.
You didn't cuss when the hammer came down.
You didn't, and they're watching you in conduct
and love.
How do you love the fellow believers in
spirit, in faith, in purity?
To be an example in purity.
Now, I think it's time to take a
little rabbit trail.
I didn't talk about this last night.
But on this issue of the purity test,
the survey test, how will others view you?
This mainly applies to women and what you
wear, modesty and what type of message are
you sending and what do you accentuate and
this and this and this and what is
this?
Because you know the choice, should I wear
this outfit?
Right?
Guys don't make that choice.
But women, should I wear this outfit?
Should I wear this?
Well, what will others say?
What would Jesus say?
If you ever have questions, if you're going
with Jesus to the park, would you wear
that?
And that's getting bigger and bigger and bigger
as our culture gets more and more, I
should say, further away from God, as I
was trying.
And you see more of this in modesty.
And the reason is a lot of people
are starving for attention, the attention they're not
getting.
So they want to get that attention that
they were never given.
But if you take that, you give it
to God, you'll get more attention spending time
in His word than you ever dreamed possible.
And you won't need to do those things.
So the survey test, the next is the
spiritual test.
The spiritual test.
This is a biggie, who is influencing you?
Who is influencing you?
First John 2.15, do not love the
world or the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of
the Father is not in him.
I should clarify this for those who might
not know.
The word world here is cosmos.
So, because people say, well, don't love the
world.
Your house and your car and you don't,
anything.
The world's cosmos is the world's mindset.
So if I love the world's mindset, the
way the world thinks, you know, happy to
be married for tomorrow we die, that whole
thing and just party and this whole world
mindset.
If I love this things of the world
and I want the things of the world,
indulge here and indulge there and overspend here
and this and just indulging in the things
of the world, I can't have the love
of the Father in me.
I can't then pop out of that.
Now I have the love of the Father.
Now I'm ready to worship.
You can't, they're fighting against each other.
For example, women, you can't love Peter at
work and Mike at home.
That's an example of a stick, right?
Same thing with men.
You can't love Sarah at work and Christy
at home.
But that's the same analogy he's using.
But I'm married to this person at home.
I love them.
Then when I get to work the other
half of my day, I love this person.
How foolish is that?
That's ridiculous.
That's impossible.
You can't love both.
The God's saying the same thing.
You cannot love the world and God at
the same time.
Where do your affections lie?
There has to, a decision has to be
made and it goes back to what I
said earlier.
The pain of discipline or the pain of
regret.
The flesh says, I love the world.
I love the world.
But the spirit within says, I love God
and I've gotta make decisions that will foster
that relationship.
It's just like the natural, I just said
at work.
Do you make provision to cheat on your
spouse?
Do you spend time with somebody you shouldn't?
Same thing when our relationship with God.
It's the love of the world in us.
Now all of us are gonna struggle with
this.
I hate to burst your bubble.
Some of you say, I never struggle with
that.
You sure you do.
We all struggle with the love of the
world coming in and pulling us away.
God says, just get back.
Make choices where God is influencing you.
So regularly ask, is God truly guiding me?
Truly guiding me?
The spiritual test is who's influencing me?
Is the world influencing me?
So you can put your decision under the
microscope of the world.
Is the world guiding my decision?
Or is God guiding my decision?
It's really not difficult.
The reason choices are challenging is because we
still love and gravitate to this side.
I talked to a person who's struggling with
alcohol and he's addicted and stuff and he's
struggling.
Should I go to the payer?
And I'm like, well, Pat Benatar in a
shock top booth right there is probably not
a good idea.
I mean, these are no brainers.
Come on, why is there such a challenge?
Because the flesh, right?
Right, Trace Atkins.
You guys know what I'm talking about, right?
I hope so.
Nobody's like, what's he talking about?
The fair, of course you can go.
But look, is this decision going to pull
you back in away from God?
This is not, Shane, this is radical.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely right.
That's radical.
When he says, pick up your cross, deny
yourself and follow me, that's radical.
Where is this impression come in that you
can love the world and look just like
the world and bring Christian ease and smiles
and see we look just the same.
No, we don't.
You Christian will not look the same because
there's a different spirit guiding them.
There's a different influence.
So we need to wake up.
You're not gonna please everybody.
You're not gonna look just like all your
friends on Facebook.
You're not gonna look like the world.
Actually, there's a clear distinction.
There better be.
A true follower of Jesus Christ is clearly
different.
And I'll recommend that book again, The Heavenly
Man, that I recommend, Persecution in China.
It's about this one man's story being tortured
in Chinese prison.
I think I got another box sent to
me.
And it made me feel like, I'm a
Christian?
Look at this place.
Eric, he's getting beat up and feces thrown
on him and batons and starved to death
and rats and infestation and beaten and mocked
and ridiculed taken through the streets with a
loudspeaker.
This is a person against our government.
Throw things at him.
Let's stone him, let's kill him.
Living in that for weeks and months and
months and months, not denying the Lord Jesus
Christ, holding tight.
Yet we come in and we think, we
think we've given up all.
I've given up all because I can't do
this anymore.
And we, look at this big sacrifice.
But just a wake up call.
You will not look like the world.
There's a difference.
There should be a difference there.
Now, I know other people are not far
along in the journey.
Shane, I'm just trying to understand this thing.
That's fine, I'm not beating you up.
But I am encouraging you that you won't
be able to maintain friendship with the world
and the love of God.
The Bible says that the human mind, the
carnal mind, is at enmity with God.
Now, if you study that word, it's not
just an enemy because the enemy can be
reconciled.
The Puritans would talk about this often.
It's an enmity, it's actually at war with
God.
It hates God.
There's something in me that hates God.
That alarms me.
Whatever I feed, though, becomes my master, Paul
says in Romans.
Whatever you feed the most, whatever you choose
to obey becomes your master.
And we have to get off this, we
won't love, we won't look like the world
and look like Christ.
They just look opposite.
That's why Jesus said, the world first hated
me, it's going to hate you.
So that begs the question, if nobody hates
you, and I tell pastors, if people go
to your church and you never offend, you
never upset, if the world loves your church,
you might wanna look at how you're doing
church.
Because Jesus said, the world will hate us,
not because we're jerks, but because we love
God so much, though, that that light blinds
their eyes.
They say, I hate you, get out of
my way, get out of here.
That's what they hate.
But they shouldn't hate our attitude, we should
love them.
But they hate what you stand for and
what I stand for.
And the reason this comes to play on
this area of choices is we make choices
to save face.
My opinion, right?
What are they gonna think about me?
They're gonna think I'm a, you know, and
we make choices based on how the world's
going to perceive us.
So the spiritual test is very important.
Who is influencing you?
Well, Shane, how do I know?
Well, afterwards, we don't have time, maybe some
other time, show me your history on your
internet.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
Show me your Facebook posts, show me your
YouTube videos, show me what you did.
Can I see your record?
Can you print out your record on Netflix?
And voodoo and all those things?
Oh, mm-mm-mm.
Why?
Did I just make my case?
You see, it's very easy.
It's very easy to know who's influencing us.
Look at how you spend your time and
how you spend your money.
It doesn't lie.
Because we worship, we all have a heart
of worship to something.
So if you wonder if the world's filling
you, what does your history show?
What does your mindset show?
That's what's influencing you.
That's why you will not have an easy
time making godly choices.
Because if I'm filled with this, if I'm
filled with the world and it's time to
make a choice, how am I gonna make
that choice?
Based on what I'm filled with, what comes
out?
When a vessel is struck, what is inside
spills out.
So if I'm watching all these things that
I shouldn't, and I'm making all these choices
that I shouldn't, and all these things have
got a grip on my life, now when
something comes up, an opportunity to do evil
or to sin, where's my strength gonna come
from?
From saying no and walking away.
Willpower.
No, no, no, no.
You're not as strong with your willpower as
you think.
Willpower will be overcome by fleshly power.
Because the Bible says, "'Finally, brethren,' whatever things
are true "'and honest and noble.'" When people
have moral failure, when they cheat on their
spouse, you think it just happened that day,
they woke up filled with the spirit of
God, great time of prayer and worship, and
I don't know what happened tonight.
I cannot, how did that happen?
It happened weeks and months ago.
By the first open door.
And then the second open door.
And the third open door.
And then finally, that's how, see, that's what
the enemy does.
He walks you down one step at a
time, one wrong choice at a time, one
bad decision at a time, until you get
to the bottom, and you say, how did
I get down here?
How did this happen?
It started way back there weeks ago, months
ago.
That's how important this is, folks.
It's making that right decision, even when it's
challenging.
Because I know, I'm just like you, what
I fill my mind with all the time,
all the time, is what's going to dictate
how I live.
It's also going to dictate how I preach.
Do you think I can just be all
in the world, all week long, and come
up up here, and say, God, descend upon
this pulpit, give me anointing, pierce the hearts
after all this world's coming in?
No, not at all.
This sermon will probably sound like this.
Let's turn to John, and God is love,
and I just love God.
Let me tell you a story I heard
last week, and after this, we're gonna go
paint neighborhoods, and just cheerlead.
Guys, you go.
Your head, not the tail.
Just go, man.
Go team.
We just love each other, and next week,
we'll do this, and that's what it would
be.
Why?
Because there's no spirit of God pregnant with
the word of God.
That's what preaching is.
It's theology coming from a man who is
on fire for God.
D.
Martin Lloyd-Jones said that in his book
Preachers and Preaching.
He said that's all preaching is.
It's theology on fire with the word of
God, and you can't get that.
That's why I'm worried.
I have to fast.
I have to pray.
I have to spend time with God, because
I don't want to see what it looks
like just letting it go to the other
side.
I've seen the other side, and it's ugly.
I've been so close to hell, my clothes
still smell like smoke.
I mean, if I would have died in
some of those situations, oh God, if it
wasn't for the grace of God, so when
you sing and I sing, how great is
our God, how great is our God.
He saved me 10 times over, and he
saved you too.
We need to start acting like it.
We need to start, what, who's bored in
worship?
I'm tired of people being bored in worship.
This is a mighty praise and worship service.
My God, help us.
God, help us.
It's okay to get worked up.
Jesus did, and it breaks my heart when
we should be the powerful people of worship,
broken before the Lord, and knowing God's presence
flowing, and tears of joy, and lives being
touched, healings, deliverance, people being set free, coming
out of here, God, I feel so full.
I feel so full of you.
But instead, we're bored to death, and nothing
changes.
Nothing changes.
The same problem today is the same problem
tomorrow.
Do you ever wanna go, do you ever
say, God, when's this gonna change?
Worship me, worship me.
Get on your face before me, worship me.
And I know this isn't popular.
We might lose five, six people after this
type of sermon, but I don't care.
I didn't come here to start a social
club.
We came here to be a powerful worship
service that glorifies Christ.
We look to his truth.
We become men and women of prayer.
Where did that go?
You read books 100 years ago, you'd be
embarrassed.
Embarrassed is what the church has become.
Bible study in the morning, two-hour prayer
and worship service, worship at night.
It was powerful moves of God, because when
revival comes, you can't keep people away from
church.
It's every night, every night, every night, worshiping
God.
Why?
Because they're filled with the Spirit of God.
That's who's influencing them.
I can tell who's influencing you by the
way you worship, by how much time you
spend in prayer, by how much time you
spend in the word of God.
I believe God is wanting to correct us
in this area.
Myself included.
I could be sitting right there, right there,
going, oh, Lord, help me become more of
a worshiper.
You shan't, oh, absolutely.
See, it's a very good thing to say,
God, I don't worship you enough.
I don't pray enough.
I'm not in your word enough, because the
person who says, I'm in it enough, I
got this down, you're in trouble.
The more legalistic a person becomes, the more
they're susceptible to failure, because they guard and
guide with rules and regulations.
So just be careful.
I would encourage you, more than anything, to
allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.
And I'm not afraid.
See, in some circles, they don't talk about
this kind of stuff.
Well, Jesus said, when you go, when I
go, the Comforter will come.
He will lead you into all truth.
He will ignite a heart of worship.
He is an ever-present help.
The Holy Spirit directed Paul.
He directed Peter.
He filled Jesus Christ after his baptism, so
he was ready for ministry.
This ever-present help in a time of
need is something we neglect, because we don't
want to talk about him, because of some
weird guy on TV.
And I'm not gonna let them rob us
of the Holy Spirit's power and anointing.
He comes in this place, the presence of
God.
You wouldn't get out of here without a
Kleenex or two, because he's convicting and he's
drawing.
When, I like what Leonard Ravenhill said, we
need to close down every church in America
for one Sunday and stop listening to man,
so we can sit and listen and hear
the groans of the Spirit, which we in
our lush pews have forgotten.
I don't even know where I was.
But guys, I believe that's what God's wanting
for all churches, is just, we've got it
down.
We've got church down.
We know when to come.
We know where to sit.
We know when to leave.
We know how many songs.
We know that we just got it down.
There's nothing wrong with having a plan.
I believe God blesses a plan.
I'm not one of those guys who can
say, I don't know what I'm gonna preach
on.
I'll find out Sunday morning.
I mean, I've got a stew on it.
I've got to resonate.
I've got to read books.
I've got to sing worship songs and just
get my heart in what he's trying to
tell.
So it's nothing wrong with planning, but God
will bless a planned person.
But I gotta get through this.
I'm only halfway done.
The motives test.
I added this one.
This is not from the handout.
What is your motive?
Here, we're gonna get a little honest right
here.
It's gonna hurt.
It's okay.
It's time to step on toes again, as
if the last segment didn't.
This will as well.
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or
conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each
esteem others better than himself.
If you're pursuing or making choices solely to
impress others or financial gain, you are on
the wrong path.
Well, Shane, how do I evaluate motives?
Glad you asked.
Here's how.
Would you go on a missions trip, visit
the sick, go to the hospital homes, give
money or help the homeless, even if no
one knew?
Would we?
Because that's how you evaluate motives.
Would you sing on the praise and worship
team if you had to sing from that
back room and not the center stage?
Oh no, I wouldn't do that.
Well, then where's your heart?
Who are you singing for?
Would you be in leadership if you were
not recognized and applauded for your efforts?
Would I still do this if I was
not applauded and recognized for my efforts?
Now I get enough negative feedback to offset
the positive feedback, but it's a question we
have to ask.
We have to ask often, would I still
do these things if no one knew?
If only God knew.
So if you're going to make a choice,
a fairly big choice or significant choice because
you're trying to oppress others or trying to
impress your dad who you've been trying to
impress for 30 years, you might be on
the wrong path because you have to, I
mean, either the scripture is right or it's
wrong.
And we all know it's right.
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or
conceit, but in lowliness of mind, esteem each
other's better than himself.
Can you imagine if we just came to
church esteeming others better than our, basically that
means treating others better than we treat ourselves.
Not pulling them down, not complaining, not being
bitter, not being resentful, but truly esteeming others,
building them up, building them up.
And it happens to me a lot because
I know all the pastors in all these
churches in the valley.
And guess when I get a disgruntled person
coming to here?
Guess what they like to do?
Well, you might want to sit down and
talk with them.
I'm trying not to get caught up because
that's the trick of the enemy.
That's it, to come in here and begin
to talk and do all these different things.
So check your motives before you make a
decision.
Number six, the stumbling test.
The stumbling test, will it cause me or
another person to stumble?
If you're going to make a choice and
it's going to cause somebody to stumble, is
it a good choice?
Romans 14, 21, it is good neither to
eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything
by which your brother stumbles or is offended
or is made weak.
It's like, well, what was that?
Somebody just put a rock in my path.
That's what stumbling, you're putting, you're doing, your
choice is going to make people stumble.
We know what that means, right?
Somebody's going to look at your choice.
And although this comes up too, I guess
I just thought of this, I don't know
why, but in the modesty issue, back fast
forward 20 minutes ago, how women dress sometimes.
And they say, I often hear people, well,
that's a guy's fault.
That's not my fault, it's a guy's fault.
Well, it's both.
The guy has to take his thoughts captive
and get his mind off of that, but
you also have to not present it in
such a way that it makes it less
full.
You see, it works together there.
Now, you know, I'm getting a little personal,
but this is how it works.
We've got to be honest if there's a
change to occur.
So the stumbling test is the same thing.
If you're putting a stumbling block out there
and people are going to stumble because of
it, that's not a good choice.
Is it?
When I was at the fair the other
day, it was 100 degrees out and Shock
Top has a big booth there with the
16 ounce cold beer.
How would that look just walking around the
fair?
Don't I have liberty?
How would that look?
Come on, let's be honest, that would not
be good.
That would not, I would get a lot
of phone calls the next day.
Why, what's it doing?
It's causing people who have a problem with
that, others who don't, okay, but a lot
of people have a problem with that.
Well, how can, they would stumble because of
that choice.
And you see how that, so we have
to be careful.
How will it make other people stumble?
I didn't tell the story last night.
I thought about it, prayed about this morning.
I'm going to tell you the story today
on this issue because it's ironic.
Somebody got upset because I got a new
truck two years ago.
Now, what they didn't know is I just
paid off my old truck.
Some of you know this story.
And for a month, God was convicting me
to sell my truck.
There was a homeless couple.
They're living in a car with their child.
They start coming to our church.
It's like, sell your truck, get them something.
I'm like, this isn't God.
That must be me, right?
It's my good nature.
And so for a month, I ignored it.
There's no, I just paid it off.
I've been looking forward to this for five
years.
I'm not paying, I'm not selling my truck.
I'm paid off.
You know, if you've ever been there, you
know, you just hold it onto that.
So a month goes by.
I hear that their car breaks down on
90th Street West.
I'm like, Lord, this is tough.
But really, is it?
Why is it tough?
Because the flesh, the flesh is a little
miser.
He wants, he just wants to not do
anything God wants to do.
So I said, fine.
I talked to the elders.
They said, well, that's a pretty, pretty big
thing.
You might wanna, you know, sell it.
I think it's worth like $10,000 and
keep some for a down payment on yours.
So I was able to, the church was
able to get him a new Chevy, or
not new, but a used Chevy truck and
get them an apartment for a few months
out of that.
So what I'm doing, I'm waiting.
I never buy new, by the way.
I'm, no way, you drive off the lot,
you're in debt, it's not gonna happen.
So I'm looking for trucks, Bakerfield, Fresno, San
Diego for a month.
I went a whole month without a car
and found at certain price, they had like
30,000 miles on it, the Dodge trucks
did at all certain price, 30,000 miles.
Okay, well, that's, and I called the dealership
and I told them if they, no, no,
no, that we don't have any new vehicles
like that, that price, good luck, thank you.
All right, well, I'm fasting, praying, Lord, what
do you wanna do?
I just wanna make a wise decision.
The guy calls me back, says, we have
one, it's last year's model, but it's no
miles on it, no bells and whistles, there's
no backup camera, there's no, doesn't even have
a CD player, it doesn't, you know, just
a basic truck, we'll give it to you
for that price so if you can get
in here this week.
So Kelly Blue booked it, looked it up,
I'm driving off the lot with four or
$5,000 equity.
I'm like, well, Lord, why would I, you
know, wow, that's, I guess I would call
that an open door.
I don't know about you, but I call
that an open door.
I'm not going over budget, it's exactly what
I was looking for, newer.
So I go and get it, the person
has a problem with it.
Now, do I spend time and tell people
the backstory to all this?
But he was upset because I got a
truck at that payment.
Now, I'm not gonna go buy a brand
new truck at full price, I just don't
do those things, but because God opened these
doors and now tons of equity, same payment,
but I had to stumble through this, the
stumbling test, is somebody gonna stumble?
Are they gonna stumble on this?
So I talked to the elders, nobody had
a problem with it, selling the truck, getting
this home with family of, no, so on
one hand, we don't want people to stumble,
but on the other hand, some people might
not agree with your decision.
So you can't live, you have to say,
God, is it God honoring, is everything we
just talked about?
But the stumbling test really has more to
do with sin.
Is somebody going to, are you putting boulders
in their path?
And then the next point, number seven, the
sin test.
The sin test, this is mine too, if
you haven't got that yet.
Isaiah 59, one through two, behold, the Lord's
hand is not shortened that it cannot save,
nor is ear heavy that it cannot hear,
but your iniquities have separated you from your
God and your sins have hidden his face
from you so that he will not hear.
See, we can't ignore this point.
As much as we want to, sin will
sometimes often be setting sin that we just
want to continue in, we continue in, God
says, remove it.
No, continue, continue.
God says, I can't even hear your prayers
right now.
I'm only going to hear the prayer of
repentance.
I can't stop, you've got this separation here,
this sin, this iniquity that you're holding onto.
I know about this, God, but I'm praying
for this, praying for this.
God says, no, first deal with that.
Deal with this, your sins, your iniquities have
hid my face so I cannot hear from
you because that sin is blocking that.
Where do we ever stop mentioning this in
the church?
That sin can block the heart of God
in your life, that you will not hear
clearly if you're actively engaging in sin.
Sin means to miss the mark.
How are you going to shoot a bullseye
with a crooked arrow?
They say, but Shane, we all sin.
Yes, but there's a big difference between saying,
God, I need help in this area, I'm
repenting, I'm making steps, there's accountability, I'm not
going back there again, I'm trusting in you,
I'm following you, God, help me.
Guide me, please, Lord, in this decision.
You counter the pain of discipline.
Versus the person says, well, I was born
this way.
I don't care, it's my one little vice.
And they just continue in it, knowing God
wants to deal with them in that area.
And God says, on this point, this probably
happens more than any other area, any other
thing in the area of pre-marriage counseling
too.
People want to know, is it God's will
for this relationship?
Is it God's will, Shane, is it God's
will?
I have to know, I have to know.
Well, plan, before we get to is this
God's will, you have to stop sleeping together,
and you might want to move out.
Well, we can't do that, it's not financially
possible.
Well, you're asking God's will in this matter,
but you're denying his will in this matter.
See, once you do this, then you'll be
able to hear clearly.
I'd rather go live with my mom and
be in the will of God than get
hurt financially and stay in sin.
But this happens more than you people realize.
They'll stay in this, we can't do that.
Shane, that would mean moving out, that would
mean, what does repentance look like?
Yes, it looks just like that.
Repentance looks like a change of mind that
leads to a change of action, so you
live differently.
But people will cry, like, I want to
know God's will for this relationship, but they
don't want to discontinue this.
Do you see how, is it just me,
or does that seem like, well, that's, let's
start with step one.
You can't jump to step 10.
And then what usually happens, once they get
out of that relationship, if they do, if
they don't, they stay in it, they're not
blessed with God, the marriage is in turmoil
within six months.
But often, when they break away, and they
say, Lord, we're just gonna commit this to
you, there's tremendous peace, and they get married
because of repentance, and God has restored that
broken relationship, and they get married with tremendous
peace.
Because if you can't commit to purity now,
and you go into the marriage with mistrust
and all these things, how's he gonna remain
loyal to you now if he can't follow
God's word in this area?
You look for those things.
So the sin test, is there something preventing
God from hearing my prayers?
Serenity test, do I have peace while waiting
on God?
So before you make a decision, do you
have peace?
It doesn't mean do you have peace right
now.
Because this type of peace will be consistent
over days and over weeks.
Because many people make bad decisions.
I had peace.
No, you're in a hurry.
You saw an opportunity, you're in a hurry,
that's not peace.
Peace is waiting on God.
One benefit of waiting on God, those who
wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,
renew their peace, renew their vitality because they're
waiting on God.
So if I'm gonna make a major decision,
like for example, coming to Leona Valley, you
think I made that decision in one day?
One week?
One month?
No, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, and the peace
of God that surpasses all understanding began to
fill our hearts.
He confirmed many things.
You wait on those things.
Because my emotions went from no way to
yes, it sounds good, no way, sounds good.
Lord, what are you doing here?
Wait on me, wait on me.
Get your heart back and just waiting on
me.
What happens, I'm probably more guilty than anybody
in this room is I wanna know the
answer now.
I'm not a good waiter.
I wanna know, okay, what are we doing?
What are we doing next week?
What are we doing next month?
But that rushing ahead can get us ahead
of God's will.
So God says, wait on me.
If you say, God, I don't know how
to make this decision.
Should I take this job?
Should I go to this college?
Should I move?
Should I sell my house?
Lord, I don't know.
Will you please show me?
He's not gonna go, no, too bad.
You didn't pray just right.
He's gonna say, absolutely, just wait on me
and I'll show you.
You'll be amazed at what doors he closes.
Lord, should I take this other job and
leave this job?
I don't know.
Lord, please show me.
Then a week comes by, they say, we're
downsizing.
You have a week left.
Whoa, well, God, that's called an open and
closed door.
Should I move?
I've talked to people, my cousin now who
pastors, you can talk to him, Nenak out
from Grace Chapel when they brought over there.
I think it's a separate church now.
And Nenak, he was considering getting in full
-time in the ministry, had a big construction
business in town here.
That's what my background was too.
And he's like, Lord, should I sell it?
I don't know what to do.
I don't know if, and this is a
foolish decision if you're not in it.
And who gets a phone call out of
the blue, a couple weeks later for somebody
who wanting to buy his construction company?
Right before the market went.
Now, is that just coincidence?
That's waiting on God.
He could have put it for sale, maybe
found somebody real quick and got a low
offer and it fell through.
But when you wait on God and you
get a call like that, I've had those
things go through too.
We're waiting on God.
He'll just, you'll get that phone call.
You'll get that email.
Something will come up where God will bless
that waiting and he'll show you.
So make sure you have peace.
And I tell people this and we've actually
probably stuck.
Me and Morgan sometimes try to meet with
couples sometimes.
Our time isn't as free as it used
to be.
But I'd say half the people we met
with ended up not getting married and half
did because we would ask those hardcore, do
you have peace?
Do you have peace?
Do you feel, do you see yourself living
with this person for the rest of your
life, even if they end up in a
wheelchair?
Even if, and people would think about like,
I don't have peace.
I'm rushed.
I don't like, this doesn't feel good.
I can't go on.
That's no problem.
It's just pre-wedding jitters.
That's not pre-wedding jitters.
There should be peace.
Yes, you're scared about a decision.
I make decisions all the time where I'm
a little bit scared.
But there's peace there.
For example, did I know 100% that
God called us to plant this church in
2010?
No.
Did I have 90% chance?
No.
80?
Maybe.
I was 70, 80% sure he wanted
us to do that.
But never 100%.
That's why it's called faith because you step
out onto, that's why it's called faith.
If I saw the steps, it'd be no
big deal.
But if you take those steps away, you're
stepping on faith.
That's why it's called faith.
It's resting in that.
Number nine, sanctification test.
I'll just go through these quickly because we
already know this.
This is what we've been talking about.
Will your choice, will your choice help you
in your walk with God?
Will it help your walk or will it
hurt your walk?
Will it help your walk or will it
hurt your walk?
And I only bring up like the fair
in Las Vegas and things like that because
people ask me like, I don't know if
I should go to Las Vegas.
Well, you've just been off alcohol for three
weeks.
It's probably not a good idea.
Will it draw you closer to Christ?
You just got off crystal meth or cocaine
a month ago and you're going back in
the same environment that drew you into it.
This is a no brainer.
Will it draw you back to the world
or closer to Christ?
Now you see why we have such difficult
time making choices because the flesh won't let
up.
The choice actually many times is very easy.
We know what to do.
Most of the time right off the bat,
we just don't want to do it.
I could have just said that 40 minutes
ago and been done with the sermon.
We know what to do.
We just don't want to do it.
The final thing, I have to throw this
in here.
Of course, you know, I'm praying through all
of this with choices.
You're praying.
It's a heart of worship.
But the supreme test, does it glorify God?
Does it glorify God?
And in this area, you will have to
make decisions against yourself quite often.
To glorify God, you have to humble yourself.
To glorify God, you don't need to get
the last word in.
You don't need to be right.
You don't need to take them to court
often.
These decisions, does it glorify God?
Are people going to look at, you know
what glorify means?
Glory is God's renown, His name, His majesty.
Does it, will it represent God in the
right light?
Or will it tarnish that area?
And it's hard because Christians struggle often in
this area.
So let me close with this statement.
Spiritual progress is possible.
Spiritual perfection is not on this side of
the cross.
So I want you and me to use
this time to just realign ourself with the
compass.
I don't know of anybody in this room
who got all 10 of these right.
We all need to be on high alert.
Moral failure in the church is epidemic.
I mean, two pastors I looked up to
last year, a year and a half ago,
one of them I've got to take off
my book now, gave me an endorsement because
of this.
And another one that I looked up to
was big in the homeschool movement and he
fell.
And it's like all these, these people, it
dramatically affects it.
They actually, it was a stumbling block in
my life, not to go and sin, but
it hurt.
It hurt when I heard about these things.
It was a stumbling to my faith, like,
oh God, these people I look up to.
These things are real.
Stumbling blocks are real.
Does a decision glorify Christ?
Are we tarnishing the name of Christ?
But the good thing is many of you,
all of us probably in here have not
got all these areas right.
So the compass has been off course.
It's time to get it back on.
We sing about the Holy Spirit.
Why don't we ask the Holy Spirit to
say God, come in and cleanse me and
change my heart, change my nature, change my
mind.
God, get me back on track.
Holy Spirit, you are welcome here.
You are welcome in this place to lead
me and to direct me and guide me.
Do you know the Holy Spirit is not
an it?
Are you aware of that?
The Holy Spirit is not an it.
It's not a force.
It's not Star Wars.
The Holy Spirit is a person who you
can quench and you can grieve the Holy
Spirit of God.
It's what separates Christians from other things.
The triune nature of God, the Trinity.
God is one, yet he reveals himself as
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We know that the Holy Spirit is a
person and he comes and he will comfort.
He actually comes and he will comfort you.
Jesus said, I will give you the comforter.
Many people know that.
The paracletus.
And then there's another Greek preposition that the
Holy Spirit will come and be in, E
-N, will be in you.
But then there's another Greek preposition, epi, E
-P-I.
The Holy Spirit's overwhelming presence, being filled.
When Peter being filled with the Holy Spirit,
when Paul being filled with the Holy Spirit,
that was that epi, that third element, the
Holy Spirit coming in and overfilling.
That's why you see a person who, yes,
they're saved, but they're just as dead as
a cemetery.
And somebody who's on fire for God.
What's the difference?
The Holy Spirit.
You'll see somebody just cussing out their spouse,
but they're still going to church.
You see another person who wants to cuss
out their spouse, but they'll just act in
love.
They'll take a drive, whatever.
What's the difference?
The Holy Spirit.
Let's see a person who can't overcome their
addictions.
The other person can.
What's the difference?
The Holy Spirit.
People just love worship.
Others don't.
What's the difference?
The Holy Spirit.
People get into the word of God and
they can't put it down.
They're making notes.
They've worn out a couple of highlighters.
Other people are like, this, God, I don't
even know where to start.
This is so boring.
What's the difference?
The Holy Spirit.
You see how important this is?
That's why I want to get into the
book of Acts, secret be told, is to
see how the Holy Spirit worked in the
church in those early years.
So I would encourage you, surrender to the
work of the Holy Spirit.
If Jesus Christ himself needed the Holy Spirit,
who do we think we are that we
can continue to reject or quench or grieve
his work when you are doing the work
of God, that is the Holy Spirit working
through you.
I'm not as naive and stupid as some
people think to think that Shane is just,
man, he's on fire for God.
He can put, you know, he just touches
my life and I get emails.
I'm like, oh my Lord, Shane Eidelman would
let you down.
He would not do anything.
It's the Holy Spirit working through an earthen
vessel.
Paul says, we have the earthen vessel that
the excellency of the power may be of
God and not of us.
We are hard pressed on every side, but
not crushed.
I am perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted,
but not forsaken.
I am struck down, but I am not
destroyed because the power of the Holy Spirit
is working in my life and your life.
Just take time and worship.
We're not in a hurry.
We don't know.
We don't have things to do necessarily.
And you can stay seated.
You can stand.
I would encourage you to meet us in
the prayer room and we're gonna pray specifically
for the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
We're just gonna pray for surrenders, what it
is.
But Shane, are you saying I don't have
the Holy Spirit?
No, you have the Holy Spirit, but does
he have all of you?
That's the difference.
As believers, we have the Holy Spirit, but
does he have all of you?
Does he have all of me?
No, he does not have all of me.
That would be perfection, but I'm gonna die
trying.
I'm gonna die trying to just be filled
with the Holy Spirit of God.
Not about rules, right?
It's about relationship.
Just as God, fill me with your spirit.
God, fill me with your spirit.
I wanna know you in the power of
your resurrection.
I wanna know you in the fellowship of
your suffering.
Don't you want the word of God to
come alive?
If this is the inspired, inerrant word of
God, this is God's word.
Wouldn't we treasure it above all gold and
silver, above 401Ks, above?
Don't get your information from Oprah and CNN
and Fox News.
Get it from the word of God.
That's the only truth that will not fail.
So why is it so dead?
Why is it so boring?
Why is it so hard to go to
church?
Why do I feel I have handcuffs on
when I'm worshiping?
It's because the power of the Holy Spirit
is being quenched and grieved.
That's why.
It's time to release that.
I'm not talking about acting weird.
I'm just talking about being surrendered.
That was a disciple in the New Testament,
surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Now we say, carry your cross, follow me,
die to self.
We have no clue what that really means.
But I would just, after you seek your
heart, if you don't like what I'm saying,
it's probably because you need to hear what
I'm saying, that God is drawing us to
that deeper relationship.
I don't know about you, but I want
a deeper walk with Him.