Father, help me to say everything you want
me to say.
Guard my lips from saying anything that does
not come from you.
Please, God, take away my pride, any anxiety,
any people-pleasing, any fear, in the name
of Jesus.
Holy Spirit, speak, guide us, Lord.
May everything I speak be said in love.
God, give me a loving heart for every
face I see.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
This is such a dangerous place to be.
Seriously, no, I'm talking about a stage.
It's almost like every time I step on
a stage, it's like almost drinking a little
bit of poison, where you can, to really
be thinking about God right now, about him
and his glory and his holiness and how
everything needs to be given to him while
there's flesh going on and fighting that and
going, okay, well, the people like me, how
are they gonna respond to this message?
You know, the praise, the criticism, everything, it
all, it can really mess up your walk
with the Lord.
It's almost like these lights are poisonous and
you just have to go, God, help me
get through this.
Help me get through this with my eyes
fixed on you.
Not preaching to get the praise of people
or preaching in such a way that you
don't get criticized, but just saying, God, I'll
say whatever you want me to say and
I want you lifted up at the end
and to have no thought of yourself.
It's a very dangerous place.
But this morning, well, no, what is it,
afternoon?
I'm very excited to share what I'm about
to share.
I'm very excited.
I was excited last night hearing, not just
because they were Chinese, but it's just, it
was powerful.
It was awesome.
Although that helped.
But I'm excited about, I love what Michael
was just sharing and it gets me excited
to teach on the same topic.
I taught from the other side against tongues
for many years and I get excited to
teach, just a clear exposition of scripture.
And so thank you for that.
But one of the reasons I'm very excited
about this is it's very rare, those who
have heard me speak, it's very rare that
I have notes and I stick to the
notes and it's more common that I put
notes together and then I show up and
go, yeah, I'm gonna forget the notes.
God's given me something different.
But as I was praying for this specific
gathering this week, it was like, boom.
And this doesn't happen normally.
Just verse after verse, statement after statement, even
a title.
I don't think I've ever gotten a title
for a sermon, seriously, in my life.
But this one's called The Power of a
Quiet Life.
And I'm gonna stick with this.
I believe the Lord has given this to
me as I was praying about it this
morning, I just felt like complete disobedience if
I do not teach this.
It's out of 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 11
and 12.
1 Thessalonians 4, 11 and 12.
It says, aspire to live quietly.
Some of your Bibles say, some of your
Bibles say make it your ambition to live
a quiet life and to mind your own
affairs and to work with your hands as
we instructed you so that you may walk
properly before outsiders and be dependent on no
one.
Aspire to live quietly.
Make it your ambition to live a quiet
life.
How many of you came into this day
or you just think about life and you
go, what my ambition is to live a
quiet life?
So I hear a lot of young people
go, oh, I wanna speak to the crowds.
I have a message to the world.
I have a voice.
And then scripture says, make it your ambition
to live a quiet life.
What's he talking about here?
Because we're living in a time when it's
assumed that the virtuous thing to do is
get a bigger and bigger crowd.
And so you're a successful believer.
You're a great Christian because look at all
these people you're leading.
Look how loud your voice is.
And I'm not saying not to proclaim the
gospel.
And if you read 1 Thessalonians, actually in
chapter one, Paul talks about how their faith
is being proclaimed all around the world so
that he doesn't even have to say anything
about it.
But then to the same group of people,
he goes, I want you to make it
your ambition.
Aspire to live a quiet life.
But I've been caught up in something these
last few years, maybe the last 10 years
or so.
There's just this assumption of I've gotta reach
more people, more people, more people.
I need more people following bigger crowds.
But let me ask you, did Jesus, can
you show me any verse in scripture where
Jesus pursued a crowd?
Where he looked at his disciples and goes,
let's get more of you, bring a friend.
Like, do you see that?
Because I see the opposite.
I see him running from crowds.
I can tell you many verses where he
ran from crowds and escaped the crowds.
And so I just think it's unusual that
we're all chasing crowds, more and more followers.
And yet we think that's the right thing,
the best thing to do.
I mean, we're at Jesus 23.
Let me ask you a question.
What did Jesus do when he was 23?
Does anyone know?
I mean, we know he was a carpenter.
What'd he do at 25?
I mean, we know he was a carpenter.
28, probably a better carpenter.
I mean, we're talking about Jesus.
How is it that we don't know what
he was doing when he was 23?
It's almost like he made it his ambition
to live a quiet life and to work
hard with his hands.
You see, there's a principle in scripture.
In Luke 16, verse 10, it says that
he who is faithful in little will be
faithful in much.
And I'm just, I get concerned.
I love the passion that I see in
young people today for Jesus.
That gets me so fired up.
And it's out of my love for you
that I'm saying, you gotta be faithful in
the little before you can be a voice
to the world.
We have a lot of people clamoring to
be voices.
We need fewer voices and more examples.
In 1 Timothy 3, he says in verse
4, when he's talking about elders in the
church, in 1 Timothy 3, he gives this
principle again, verse 4, he must manage his
own household well with all dignity, keeping his
children submissive.
For if someone does not know how to
manage his own household, how will he care
for God's church?
He must not be a recent convert, or
he may become puffed up with conceit and
fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover, he must be well thought of by
outsiders so that he may not fall into
disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
Again, he's saying, look, if you can't manage
your house, if you can't even, if your
own kids don't respect you, if you don't
even have a right relation with your wife,
what are you doing leading the church?
And then he says, be careful, like you
don't wanna give too much to a young
convert because it's gonna lead them into this
trap, the condemnation of the devil.
It's gonna lead to this pride.
You give a platform to a young man?
You better be careful with that.
Man, I became a believer when I was
like 15 years old, and something in me
was like, man, you, like I knew I
had something in me like I'm supposed to
be teaching.
And I remember my youth pastor was so
wise.
He never let me teach.
He seriously didn't.
I seriously, I would listen to him teach,
and in my head, I'm going, I could
say that better.
I really just sat there as a teenager
thinking that, and I still believe it today.
I probably could have.
But in his wisdom, he says, no, go
clean the bathrooms.
Go stack the chairs.
You're not preaching, because he loved me.
And he says, look, I don't want you
falling into this.
There's something about these lights that aren't good
for you.
One of my mentors is this guy in
India, and I remember him telling me this
story.
He goes, you know, everyone's chasing a bigger
and bigger platform.
He goes, but if God wants to give
it to you, he'll give it to you.
And then he said, he goes, you know,
I remember just, he goes, I remember my
friend, Teresa.
I'd visit her all the time.
We would just go serve the poor, do
our thing, whatever.
And then one day God decides, I want
the whole world to know about you.
So everyone knows about Mother Teresa.
And he goes, you know, never in her
wildest dreams would she think to promote herself.
Just quietly do her thing.
And then God decided to make her a
household name.
And I just always thought that.
I'm like, wow, God, you, if you want
to lift someone up, you can do that.
But my wife asked me something the other
day.
It was actually a couple months ago.
She was reading in Matthew chapter six, where
in verse one, it says, beware of practicing
your righteousness before other people in order to
be seen by them.
For then you will have no reward from
your father who is in heaven.
Thus, when you give to the needy, sound
no trumpet before you as the hypocrites do
in the synagogues and in the streets that
they may be praised by others.
Truly, I say to you, they have received
their reward.
But when you give to the needy, do
not let your left hand know what your
right hand is doing so that your giving
may be in secret and your father who
sees in secret will reward you.
And when you pray, you must not be
like the hypocrites, but they love to stand
and pray in the synagogues and at the
street corners that they may be seen by
others.
Truly, I say to you, they have received
their reward.
But when you pray, go into your room
and shut the door and pray to your
father who's in secret and your father who
sees in secret will reward you.
My wife was reading that and she just
asked me, she goes, does anyone do anything
in secret anymore?
We're so into posting things that even your
quiet time is your Bible with a coffee
and a little muffin, time with Jesus.
And this passage, she goes, does anyone do
anything in secret?
Sadly, I go, yeah, sinful stuff.
And I'm not judging and I understand forgiveness.
I'm just saying, God, could we have another
generation rise up that has nothing to hide?
Because we hide our sin and then we
post our good works.
The Bible tells us to confess our sins
to one another and hide our righteous deeds.
I mean, it's the exact opposite of what
scripture tells us to do.
He says, man, we've got to tell each
other, confess your sins to one another, make
it known.
Look, this is what's going on in my
life.
I need to walk away from this.
And then if you're praying, then just close
the door, lock the door, pray in tongues,
pray in English.
I don't care, just pray.
And then care for the poor, do these
good deeds, but you don't have to tell
everyone.
What if there was a generation where when
you died, it's not like all this sin
is uncovered, but people go, whoa, look at
all the good she did that we never
knew about.
Look at all these things that she did
in private.
And now he was working hard with his
hands to give it.
And all his money went to this.
No one ever saw his bank account and
all of that until he was gone.
And it was all good works uncovered.
The Bible so that the outsiders would look
upon it and have nothing bad to say
about us.
We need to confess our sins.
We're doing it all backwards.
And we need to quietly do our works
of righteousness where no one sees but the
Father.
What if you posted your sins?
We started sinstagram, you know, like just, here
it is.
Here's the worst of me.
Someone go ahead and start it.
And we just go, look, here's the truth
about me.
Here's what God's saving me of here.
I need you guys prayers because here's my
struggles.
Here's where I'm messed up.
Meanwhile, we just quietly do good works.
We kind of think, but if I do
something good, I mean, shouldn't I make it
known because then that makes Christianity look good?
And wouldn't it be more effective?
I mean, if there's a miracle that takes
place, shouldn't I just post that?
Because then more people will be impacted.
Yeah, but what this passage is saying is
it's saying that when we do things in
secret, there's gonna be a reward.
And maybe he's not doing that many miracles
in your life because he knows your motive
is just, I wanna post it.
I wanna do it.
But what if we just quietly?
It says, when you pray, go into your
room, shut the door and pray to your
Father who is in secret and your Father
who sees in secret will reward you.
In Mark 1 verse 35, I mean, again,
we're talking about Jesus and it says in
verse 35, rising very early in the morning
while it was still dark, he departed and
went to a desolate place and there he
prayed.
And Simon and those were with him searched
for him and they found him and said
to him, everyone is looking for you.
You guys, do you know it's okay to
not answer texts?
I haven't looked at my phone in a
few hours.
It's okay, they'll forgive me.
Here you have Jesus, he's off praying and
everyone is looking for him.
How come you haven't answered me?
Everyone's looking for him and he's just like,
that's what I do.
I go out while it's still dark.
This is his example.
This wasn't to be seen, he was trying
to get away and just hide and pray
and be with the Father.
You know, there's certain passages in the Bible
where just for years I'd go, gosh, that
doesn't make sense.
Like I'd look at all the passages like
in Luke 8 when he raises someone from
the dead and then he tells everyone that
saw it, he goes, don't tell anyone about
this.
Imagine how frustrating that would be to you.
You have a prayer meeting in your house
and you know, you raise someone from the
dead.
And he goes, don't tell anyone.
Are you kidding me?
Over and over, you were healed of something
and God says, I don't want you to
tell anyone.
One of the passages that always puzzled me
was Revelation 10.
In Revelation 10, you know, John is getting
this revelation from the Lord and then in
chapter 10, it says the seven thunders spoke.
And so John starts writing down what the
seven thunders are screaming.
And God stops and says, no, seal that
up.
And so you just left going, well, what
did they say?
So you're telling me John was the only
human being who knew what the seven thunders
said.
And for the last 2000 years, there's one
person who got to hear it, just John.
I go, that doesn't make sense.
John's like, I'm just getting ready to post
it.
Nope, it's just for you.
You guys, here's why I wanna share this.
It's real simple.
I'm just about done because Michael took all
my time.
But here's what I wanna say.
What if by you living a quiet life
and you doing things in secret meant that
God would show you miracles, more miracles than
you've ever seen, but they were just for
you.
And what if by being quiet and seeking
God, he starts thundering messages just for you.
And he says, I've never told anyone this
and I'm not telling anyone this.
This is just for you, Francis.
You can't post it.
I don't want you telling people that I
told you something.
Have you ever had a friend go, look,
I've never told anyone on earth this and
I'm trusting you with this.
Don't you tell anyone.
You take this to your grave.
There's just this honor where you're going, oh
my gosh, I can't believe you trust me.
What if God almighty, because he sees you
in your prayer room and no one knows
about it.
And he sees what you do with your
time and your money that no one knows
about.
And he just starts doing miracles and saying,
that's just for you.
Here's a message.
I've never told anyone.
Would that be enough for you?
Or would it drive you nuts?
Because you go, wait, I can't post that.
I can't gain followers through that.
Would it frustrate you or would you go,
oh my gosh, that'd be the greatest honor
of my life.
There's power in a quiet life.
Now I'm convinced God has some people that
he wants to use as a voice and
that's great.
I'm just saying there needs to be a
lot more of us that are ambitious about
living a quiet life and excited to live
a quiet life because we actually believe in
eternal rewards.
And then the very thought of wow, God
might say something to me.
He might show me miracles.
He might do so much more from my
prayers because I get it.
I remember being a young man, sitting in
a crowd like this and seeing a guy
up front and going, I wanna go up
there one day.
I'd love to say it was all godly
ambition, but the Bible tells us to be
aware of selfish ambition.
And he says, where selfish ambition and jealousy
exists, so will every vile practice.
There's something about desiring this that is a
selfish ambition, that is a jealousy and it
will lead to every vile practice.
And I believe we're seeing that in the
church.
And I'm just praying for a new generation
that just says, you know what God, I
just wanna go back to doing things in
private.
Just wanna close my door.
I just wonder God, would we see more
miracles and hear more from you if we
made it our ambition to live like Jesus
did and just work hard with our hands,
lead a quiet life, absolutely share the gospel
with everyone we can, but we don't need
to post it all.
We don't need to just let everyone know.
I really believe that the next revival, if
there is one here, it's gonna be people
like you that are just secretly praying.
And it's when we get away from posting
all of our good deeds that we may
see a movement of God, the power of
God.
So I wanna pray over you right now.
I hope to impart something to you because
I get excited about this.
This is not like a bumming me out
or anything.
I just go, wow, God, I wanna get
away from this poison.
God, I wanna get back to where it
all started.
I wanna see another generation just really believe
that much and just hunker for this, just
you and me, Lord, you and me, just
all this stuff is between you and me
because I just love being so close to
you.
I'm praying to impart something like that today
and put to death the plan of the
enemy, which is to have more young people
rise up to fame and fall into their
sin, the same thing that happened to the
enemy.
Father, I
pray for repentance in this room right now.
Repentance for those of us who can't think
of one good deed we haven't talked about.
Repentance for the sins that we've kept hidden
and we won't talk about.
Holy Spirit, would you just put it in
our hearts, this deep desire to be in
this secret place with you, asking you to
do greater works through us in secret, just
for you.
Give us new ambitions in this room, Lord.
Help us to see the merit in working
with our hands like Jesus did.
God, raise up this generation to not just
aspire to start movements, but to work jobs,
to do it faithfully, the menial, the hidden.
And may we just desire you so much,
Jesus, like John did, the beloved.
God, may we not be like the world.
Keep us from doing things to be seen
so that we can be seen by you,
heard by you.
And may that be enough for us.
And God, for those whom you've entrusted with
a larger voice, God, would you keep them
humble, faithful, just close to you.
God, I pray for everyone who's gonna step
on this stage, Lord, that you would protect
them.
Protect them from the plan of the evil
one.
Please, Lord, please, God, purify your bride so
that we can see your actions here on
earth.
In Jesus' precious name we pray, amen.
Amen.