The first one says, testing the structures at
the top, and it has today's date on it. Okay,
so we start from the top down. All right, so
what we're going to do is we're going to learn
how to know when something is being built in
our life, either are we doing it and God's not
doing it, or something else, someone else or
something else is doing it and God's not doing
it. How to know when that is true, and then...
how to know what to do about it. So I say if
something's happening in your life and you're
like, hey, this seems to be like I'm going in
a certain direction here. Is that a direction
God wants me to go in or is it not? And then
if it isn't, what do I do about it? So that's
what we're trying to do. So first thing is you're
going to have to discern or think about what
is being built in your life. So not every new
thing in our lives is automatically from God.
I used to have a friend of mine, a mentor of
mine used to say, well, if God didn't want me
to do it, he wouldn't open the door. not true
right so god literally put the forbidden fruit
in the center of the garden of eden but told
adam and eve not to eat it so there was nothing
blocking them from going to get it and but they
weren't supposed to go and get it right so there
are things that are in our lives that just because
something's happening it's moving in a certain
direction it does not mean that's of god sometimes
you have to fight you have to resist you have
to decide is this of god or not okay so examples
are plans relationships you have to watch that
watch the blank because i don't know i don't
have the blank one now because i gave them all
to Kishan. So watch for the blanks as you hit
the blanks. If you miss a blank, we'll go back
and get it. Not every new thing in our lives
is automatically from God. Plans, relationships,
opportunities, suffering, success, conflict,
even quote, good ideas, which I think is a blank.
Yes. There's a bucket of pens in the back. Oh,
here's a pencil. I have a pen. I gave him mine
for now. Alright, so the middle, that blank in
the middle is a G. That way also I can ask you
the blanks as we go so it'll be more fun like
a puzzle. Okay? Alright. So scripture teaches
us to test what is being built, who is building
it, and whether the final result creates unity
under Christ or a house divided. Okay, so we're
going to read Luke 11, 17. Is everyone going
to read scripture? If you want to read, you've
got to have a Bible and start flipping through
the pages because we've got quite a few verses
here. Volunteers, going once. Okay, I've got
Luke 17, 1. I'll read this one. You can look
ahead to the next one. Somebody can get Isaiah
43, 19. I have a little summary of them here
in front of you, but they may not be exactly
what the verse says. So Luke 17 .1 says, And
he said to the disciples, It's impossible that
no offenses should come, but woe to them. I just
read the wrong verse. It's 11, 17, not 17, 1.
Okay, 11, 17. Here we go. Try again. Okay, or
in divided against itself, a house falls. So
here's the point. Jesus is establishing a warning
principle here. This is a watch out for this.
If you're divided, you're in trouble. So it says
division eventually what? What's the D? What
do you think? Division eventually destroys what
appears stable. So in other words, you can go
down a road that you're not actually supposed
to be going down for a while. And if you don't
understand that what you're building is unstable
or creating a division in your life, then eventually
you're going to crash. You're going to be like,
oh, I'm making these decisions. It seems like
it's working. I'm getting ahead. It seems like
it's working. Or, man, life is rough, but it's
rough for everybody, so how is this any different
than it is for anybody else? You're plugging
away at it, but you're building two things. The
God thing, I'm faithful, I love the Lord, etc.,
and the world thing, whatever that other thing
is, and eventually there's going to come a conflict
between the two. So division eventually destroys
what appears stable. We're going to read Isaiah
43, 19. Got it? Chris, go ahead. Okay, so not
every new development is dangerous. So you've
got something brand new coming to your life,
and you go, okay, I don't know, this is scary.
And we do that a lot. Like with change, people
are afraid of change. In fact, there was this
whole era, about 10 years, where a whole bunch
of books were written. People made a lot of money
on books about change, like who moved my church,
who moved my house, who moved my job. It was
all about this little mouse in a maze and how
they were freaked out by change. So people are
very nervous about change, but not every development.
is dangerous. God genuinely does initiate new
seasons in our life. So there's a new time to
not do what we were doing before, new times now.
New burdens, right? So sometimes life should
be hard. Sometimes it is going to be tough. New
assignments. I was doing this. I knew what I
was supposed to do with my life. Now I realize
God's doing something new. That does happen.
New growth. I've been getting by for a long time
doing it my way. And it's worked. My way works.
And then now something comes up where your way
doesn't work anymore. So now you have to learn
a new way, right? So those are all things. And
then that verse ends with the idea of God saying,
will you not recognize that I'm doing a new thing?
Won't you see that it's me doing? this thing
and join me in it. So this is the choice that
we have to make between is it God or is it not
God? Okay, 1 Corinthians 3, 9 to 13. That's kind
of a long one. There's 1 Corinthians 3. I can't
get it. Which one? Okay, not, yeah, yep, dangerous.
Not every new development is dangerous, okay?
All right, 1 Corinthians 3, 9 to 13. For some
of us, this will seem a little familiar. For
we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field.
You are God's building. Sorry. Now, if anyone
builds on this foundation with gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's
work will become clear. For the day will declare
it, because it will be revealed by fire. and
the fire will test each one's work of what sort
it is. So we have the foundation, which is Jesus
Christ. If you got saved, you have it. If you're
a follower of Jesus, you have that. Now, what
you build on that, that matters, right? And someday
that's going to be tested. That's what Paul is
saying. Someday it's going to be tested. So Paul
is teaching that every life is under construction.
Does that sound familiar, Josh? Yep. Every life
is under construction and that the materials
and the motives and the foundations will eventually
be tested by fire. So the C is construction.
Every life is under construction. So what you're
making it with, why you're doing it the way you're
doing it, and the foundation. Foundations, right?
So you could be seven steps in. You could be
putting the roof on. If the foundation is bad,
somewhere along the line, you went wrong. And
you look at that at the end product, and you're
like, I did something wrong here. I'm not where
I thought I was going to be. This is not what
God was trying to do, okay? So we're going to
read next 1 John 4 .1. Go ahead. Okay. So John
is saying like super clearly, okay, not everything
that you get going on in you, not every spirit,
not every idea, not every anything, right, is
of God. But we are to test these influences rather
than to just receive them. Like people, like
whatever comes along to me, you know, my friends
all say I should do this. So then they do it.
Or I saw it on TV. I could check that out. But
you have to first test, he says, every spirit,
whether they are of God or not. Okay. All right.
That brings us to stunt number one. I'll tell
you what it has to do with. And then you can
decide, oh my gosh, that's tough. Okay, you can
decide whether or not you want to try it or not.
It uses a ball and a chopstick. So if you want
to try it, you can get up. I have about, I think
it's seven or eight chopsticks. One, two, three,
four. Yes, a ball and a chopstick. Okay, so what
you have to do is you have to bounce the ball
Four times in a row off the top stick. If you
drop it, you have to start over again. So you
have to take your ball. I don't know if I can
do it. And it has to drop it onto the top stick.
You have to do it one time and go up in the air.
You have to hit it again, again, and again. Four
times. If you hit it four times in a row, you
can't touch it in between. You have to hit it.
That was three. All right. Anyway, so when I
say you only get 60 seconds, so don't start yet.
Don't name your balls for the team. Okay. Back
on task. So every season builds. The Bible says
that life has seasons. To every season there
is a purpose. And so every season builds. Every
season builds something. Some seasons will build
faith. Bad things are happening. I trust God.
God brings me out of it. That brings faith, right?
Some seasons build wisdom. I didn't know what
to do. I prayed. God gave me wisdom. Or I tried
a few things, and the third thing seemed really
godly, and it worked. So that's wisdom. Patience.
Some seasons, you've just got to wait. You're
waiting on God to act. You're waiting on things
to work out right. So it could be patience. Some
is humility. You are not as big or as powerful
or as important in your story as you thought
you were. And you start to learn, it really is
a story about God and the kingdom and God's people.
So you get humble. Some seasons build dependence
on God. So I really have to trust God to do what
it was that God wanted to do. Some seasons build
pride. See, I did that. That was me. I did that.
Get a trophy and feel good about yourself. Some
seasons build double -mindedness. God wants me
to do this, and I'm doing that. So I guess I'm
left over time. I'm going to do this too. God
doesn't want me to do that, but it's not sin.
He's not telling me to do it. He's not telling
me not to do it. I'm going to do that. So now
I'm double -minded because I've got what God
wants me to do, but I've also got what I'm doing
over here that isn't what God wants me to do.
So some seasons build double -mindedness. Some
seasons build secret. Anybody want to take a
stab at it? That's not bad. I had put compromise.
In other words, externally, I stay faithful to
God, but internally, I'm making little adjustments.
So now instead of going to worship because I
want to learn and grow and worship the Lord and
all that kind of thing, we're in the back of
the first page. Then now I'm like just going
just because I go. It's because it seems like
the right thing to do or whatever. Or compromise,
secret compromise. Compromise is C -O -M -P -R
-O -M -I -S -E. Okay. Some seasons build bitterness.
Start thinking, man, it's not going the way I
want, and it's not ever going to go the way I
want, and I'm upset about it. And you start saying
kind of negative things and being a negative
person. Some seasons build false identity. You
think you're something or someone that you're
not. Some seasons build divided loyalties. So
loyal to my friends, loyal to my family, loyal
to God, loyal to my sin, loyal to this guy that
moved into the neighborhood next to me that says
things I like to hear and does things I like
to see. Or loyal to my paycheck, loyal to God.
but also loyal to my paycheck, right? So some
seasons build divided loyalties. The danger is
not just destruction. In fact, if you're saved,
you're not actually in danger of destruction
yourself because you're going to heaven when
you die if you're saved. You're not in danger
of destruction, right? But your life could still
crash down around you, but that isn't even the
danger. So that could happen, and if you build
a divided life, it will happen. The danger is
actually becoming structurally divided while
still appearing spiritually. intact. I want you
to think about this. If you think you're living
for the Lord and you're actually living for the
Lord, that's a great place to be, isn't it? If
you think you're living for the Lord, but you're
not actually living for the Lord, you're just
kind of living sort of like the way the Lord
would want you to live, that's not a very good
place to be. And if you think you're living for
the Lord, but you're not actually living for
the Lord, but you still think you're living for
the Lord, that's a bad place to be. You're never
going to solve it. You're never going to figure
it out. You're always going to think, well, I'm
still okay. It's one thing to be not living for
the Lord and get it. Like, I get it. I'm struggling.
I'm trying to find a way to get this right. That's
one thing. I knew a lady that she got saved,
and after she got saved, I knew her for almost
20 years. And she fought lying for 20 years.
But she was transparent about it. She was struggling
with it. She would say things that were not true.
She'd come back and repent of it. She would accept
it. She would admit it, right? And you can't
fault her for that. Could she, should she maybe
have stopped? That's another problem, right?
Probably she could have at different points stopped.
But at least she was in the fight. At least she
was recognizing, yeah, I shouldn't have said
that. It was a lie or whatever. Then I know a
lady who was basically like a pathological liar.
She lied up until she was saved. She got saved.
She lied for another 15 years after she was saved.
And she never owned one of them. She never admitted
that she was lying. She didn't say that she was
struggling with it. Nothing. Which one of them
was better off? The one who was constantly having
to say, I'm sorry I screwed up because she was
admitting that she had a problem? Or the one
who was always going, oh, yeah, I'm good. I don't
ever tell a lie. Well, it was the one who was
always admitting that she had a problem. potentially
she beat the problem, right? She actually would
overcome. You have to own that you have a problem
and then overcome it. But if you keep pretending
that your house is solid, when it's not, you're
in real trouble. So here's where we're at then.
Those were all kind of like the whereases, how
important it is that we do what we're doing.
Now we're going to ask ourselves, how do I identify
new things in my life that are building structures?
So if something has come into my life and things
are building, if you have built a structure in
your life, that means it's not going to go away.
And if it's a bad structure, that means it's
going to stay and it's going to continue to be
a problem. Whereas if you build a structure in
your life and it's good, then it's going to stay
and continue to be a good thing. So let's say,
for example, God convicts you. You start a habit
of going to bed at a decent time every night.
And you start doing that. And after a couple
of years, you've built that as a habit. So now
you're going to bed at a decent time every night.
Well, that's a structure. And it's a structure
that will serve you well because you're doing
it because God told you to do it and made it
possible for you to do that. Let's say, on the
other hand, you build a structure to stay up
until 1, 2 o 'clock in the morning watching TV
every morning, even when you've got to get up
at 7 or 8 a .m. And so you've built a structure
to stay up late. Now it's time to get up at 7
a .m. And now you're only getting five and a
half hours sleep. you stayed up late that's a
bad structure okay so structures in our lives
are things that are built and then they push
us in a certain direction right so anything repeatedly
shaping your thoughts desires Priorities, let
me break those down. So your thoughts are just
what's in your head, right? Whatever you happen
to be thinking. Your desires are what you want.
Your priorities are what you think is important,
one thing over another. Your habits, like what
you'll repeat. Like I'll do this again and again
and again. You kind of get used to it. Your fears,
what you're afraid of. Your identity, right?
In other words, who you think you are. All of
those things are there. If they're repeatedly
shaping those things, then they're building something
in you. And if you start thinking like, if you
start thinking I'm too dumb. do math let's say
and people tell you and your grades aren't great
or some pretty senior thing you will literally
it's possible for you to live your whole life
believing you're too dumb to do math and it happens
to people and it isn't true right no one's too
dumb to do math unless they're literally like
maybe autistic or you know really struggle with
that kind of thing but people can do it and even
a person like that might they could do math and
just take them more work they're gonna have to
really work at it to get where they gotta get
right so we don't want the we're talking about
identifying them right now okay so We're going
to read Isaiah 43, 19. Anybody got it? I'll race
you. I'll bet I'll be there. 43. Ta -da. Oh,
it's over there. Nobody beat me. Okay. Isaiah
43, 19 says, Behold, I will do a new thing. Now
it shall spring forth. Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness and
rivers in the desert. Okay, so here we go. These
are the signs in your life that something is
structurally formative, right? In other words,
it's making a structure in your life, forming
a structure that's going to stick. It's going
to stay if it changes your priorities. In other
words, if I start thinking, man, I want to make
sure I do this. So I'm going to have to let that
go because this is important to me, right? Positive
way, like I'm going to have to let things go
between 1130 and 130 on Sunday because I know
where I'm going to. be right so that changes
your priorities i'm not going to be mowing lawn
i'm not going to be working i'm not going to
be cooking i'm not going to be cleaning i'm not
going to be shopping my priority at that time
is being that would be a good example of a priority
right but a bad example of priority might be
you know i'm going to make sure i always get
to eat dessert with every meal Or I've got to
make sure that people think good of me. I always
want everybody to think good of me, even when
I'm making a mistake, right? Those are bad priorities
because then they would change the outcome. What
suddenly receives your energy? All of a sudden,
you're putting a lot of energy into it, right?
What occupies your imagination? When you're sitting
alone just daydreaming, what are you thinking
about? Young people a lot of times think about,
like, what are they going to be when they grow
up, right? Well, that's a structure. When I was
a kid, I was going to be Zorro or the Lone Ranger.
That's what I was going to be when I was, from
the time I was in probably kindergarten to the
time I was like in fifth grade, I was going to
be Zorro or the Lone Ranger. You can't be Zorro
or the Lone Ranger. Those are individuals, right?
So I couldn't be that. So then when I got to
be, by third grade, I started to be the Lone
Ranger, but it'd be good enough if I could just
be a cowboy, right? And I would daydream about
being a cowboy, but that's not beneficial. It's
also not really hurtful, but it's not beneficial.
So what occupies your imagination? Are you dreaming
about being wealthy? If you're dreaming about
being wealthy, then you've got a structure building
in your life. So the next thing is it changes
your emotional reactions. When you experience
that, do you have more peace, more anger, more
fear, more envy because of those things? So if
something that's in your life gives you more
peace, more anger, more fear, or more envy, envy
is when you want what somebody else has or want
to be like they are or have as much money as
they do or be wealthy like they are, that kind
of thing. That's envy. So if it gives you more
peace, anger, fear, or envy, then it's building
a structure. It changes your spiritual. consistency.
Does overnight, does it begin to affect how much
you pray? So if something happens in your life,
let's say you get a job, and all of a sudden
you're on the job and you're working a lot more,
so you're praying a lot less. I know somebody
that's actually happened to, a good friend of
mine, in fact. He got a job working 40, 50 hours
a week, and he was praying 5, 10 times a day,
actively getting away with the Lord, praying.
He was only listening to Christian radio. He
was reading the Bible all the time like that.
He got this job, started 50 hours a week, and
now he's praying once or twice a day. He's hardly
reading his Bible. And he says it's the worst
decision he ever made. It made him financially
successful, but it was impacting his prayer life
in a negative way. And, of course, if it's impacting
in a positive way, then it's formulative in a
good way. Church involvement. Does it impact
your church involvement? Are you more involved
with the church or are you less involved with
the church? If it's either one of those, then
it's creating a structure. Scripture hunger.
Does it cause you to not want to read the Bible?
So you pick up and start reading a fiction series,
and it's good. It's a good book, and there's
no sin in it. There's nothing really wrong in
it, right? But now there's six books in this
chain, and for the four months you're reading
those six books, you're not reading your Bible
at all. That's bad. Right. So it's formulative
in a bad way. Integrity. So integrity is when
we're whole. Right. So it has the same root word
as integer. And an integer is a whole number.
It doesn't have decimals. It doesn't have fractions.
And so if I'm a whole person and that whole thing
is settled around something. So I have a center
and all my stuff is in line with my center. But
if I start, say I start dating a girl, I'm a
teenager, 20 something, I start dating again.
I'm dating. I took a little break after a breakup
because it wasn't good. Now I'm dating again.
And this person starts to throw me off center.
So I'm learning about jazz. I really like jazz.
And because I really like jazz, I'm spending
time with her doing jazz. Now I'm not reading
my Bible so much. I'm not praying so much. I'm
not worried about going to church so much. That's
throwing me off center. That's not good. Whereas
the other way, if it's building integrity in
me, like I'm living for Jesus, say I'm dating
a Christian girl, and she starts encouraging
me to do it right, do it right, be serious. Take
yourself seriously. Be serious. and I start doing
that, then that's a positive, right? Right now
we're just looking at identifying when they exist.
It creates repeated patterns. If it's something
you would do and you would do it again. So for
example, I have to take the garbage out of my
house. I take the garbage out about five times
a week and on Sunday nights I take it out for
Monday in the morning. So that's what I'm doing
every night, every Sunday night late. I'm taking
the garbage can to the curb so it can be picked
up. That's a pattern, right? Which means it's
a structure in my life. Which means at some point
in time I could have to make a decision between
taking the garbage garbage to the curb and doing
something else that I'm supposed to be doing,
right? So be aware of structures that are forming
in your life. So I'm the one that washes the
dishes. I always have to wash the dishes. That's
a structure in your life. Anything that creates
repeated patterns. One moment rarely builds a
structure. If you do something, that doesn't
just do it. That's why habits are so hard to
create. You have to do something 40 times for
it to really become a solid habit. They say 40
days in a row. So one moment rarely builds a
structure, but repetition builds structure. If
you do something over and over, if you tie your
shoes this Same way, every time you tie your
shoes, then eventually that's the way you're
going to tie your shoes. And to tie your shoes
some other way would be challenging to you, right?
I tie my tie the same way every time. And every
time somebody asks me to tie a tie for them,
I'm always trying to tie it the way I tie my
tie, right? Because it's a structure in my life.
And it's kind of a good structure, but it could
be bad if I'm not careful, okay? So what new
things then have entered your life recently?
Think about it for a second. We're not going
to talk about it out loud. But have you personally
experienced... New opportunity, relationship,
new pressure, new hurt. Somebody did something
that made you feel bad, whatever. Those are all
things that then could become formative. How
about ambition? Do you have something that you're,
I want to do this. I'm excited about this. I'm
looking forward to this, right? Or disappointment.
I didn't go the way I wanted to. Something happened
like that to you recently? What are those things
building? So when you have a thing that can build,
you then have to decide, is it building something
good? Is it building something bad, right? So
now this is where we're getting into. the actual
sermons, and in a second we're going to ask the
question, how do I determine who is building
the new structures? But before we do that, stunt
number two. So we're on stunt number two. What
you have to do is you have to toss the ball in
the air in front of you, and then you have to
spin completely around and catch it in front
of you. So you're going to throw it up in the
air. Okay? And go ahead. Did you do it already?
All right, let's see. I still believe you did
it, but I just want to see it. You're supposed
to catch it in front of you. So on that top part
where other seasons build, there were several
blanks. The first one was secret compromise.
Both of the next two blanks are danger. The danger
is not merely destruction. The danger is becoming
structurally divided while still appearing spiritually
intact. Danger, danger. Danger, danger! Okay.
And then shaping your thoughts. And then that
was it on that page. Okay. We finished stunt
number two. How do you determine who is building
the new structures? Not every builder has the
same agenda. Just because something is being
crafted in your life, it can be a good thing.
Like your mom or dad are pretty likely to try
to build good things. in your life. God, obviously,
has been trying to build good things. Demons,
evil spirits, not good things. Friends, sometimes
good things, sometimes not. We read 1 John 4
.1. That's where it says test the spirits. Sean,
can you give Mr. Tim a set of papers? That's
where it says test the spirits. So we already
know that we are commanded to test influences
in our life. So here are the possible builders.
And I submit to you that these are pretty much...
Pretty much it, right? And I'll show you why
in a second, right? So the first thing is God.
So God builds, and when he builds, he builds.
holiness, faith, endurance, obedience, unity,
truth, right? All of those things and a variety
of other scriptural things. That's the results
of God building. So even hardship that comes
from God ultimately produces stability. It's
not going to be like this up and down all over
the place, right? So for example, I used to do
youth ministry back in the day, and one of the,
we talked about as leaders, a phenomenon that
we would have would be people would go to a concert,
a youth concert, and they would have this moment
where like, yes! awesome. And we're all up and
I'm screaming and stop our lungs. And then the
invitation comes and whole bunches and thousands
of teenagers are getting saved. And then they
all get counseled. They go back to their seats
and then they go home and they live like nothing
ever happened because it went like this. And
up here, oh, maybe Jesus, maybe Jesus. Yes, Jesus.
Yes, yes. Oh, back home. nothing different, right?
And that's not how God builds. The things that
God builds build holiness, faith, endurance,
obedience, unity, truth, not excitement, joy,
yay, you know, hurt. beats really fast, down
sorrow, depression, overcoming, struggling, back
to normal, right? So God builds things that are
biblical, and that's so right away you can see
already that we can kind of tell that if it's
not one of those things, it's not God, right?
The flesh. The flesh is like your body, and it
can be partly your mind, right? So it's the thing
that's not your soul, necessarily, but it's the
thing that you ride around in, okay? And that
tends to build self -centeredness, comfort, worship.
So by comfort worship, I mean it's worship where
we're worshiping God, but we're keeping a distance
from God. So worshiping at a distance, right?
So I don't sing the lyrics that make me feel
funny in my gut. I don't sing the songs that
I have to divorce myself of my own opinions or
I have to like say, oh, I feel bad about I lied
or I stole or I cheated or I transgressed and
I did whatever I shouldn't have done or I feel
bad about that. So I'm not going to sing God
made me new or I'm not going to – when everybody
– Standing to give God glory, I'm not going to
stand because that's too much. I'm not going
to raise my hand in worship. That's too much.
That's all comfort worship. You're avoiding any
discomfort to yourself. I'll tell you a story
about that in a second. Impulsiveness. To be
impulsive is you make a quick decision. And the
flesh does that. It's like, you've got to grab
this now. You only have one chance. You might
not make it. You might not get there if you don't
do it right now. And flashy, quick actions that
don't get the results. of what it does when God
builds. Divided desires. I want this, but I also
want this too. Sometimes I want them both at
the same time, right? That's divided desires.
And the flesh often disguises itself as, quote,
what I deserve, entitlement, rights, how I feel,
right? Those are all from the flesh. All of those
things are fleshly. I feel like he did that.
I feel like she did that. I feel bad about this.
I feel bad about that. I feel I want to be this.
I want to be that. I want that. Those are all
fleshly things. I went to a pastor's conference
in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm checking myself. I'm
sorry. It was Fort Lauderdale, Florida. While
I was there, there was a preacher who was up
and speaking. He had about 20 minutes left on
the clock. I was praying. I'm talking to God.
God and I are having a conversation. The next
thing I know, it was over. We started worshiping.
I stood up and started worshiping. I said to
God, I said, you know what? I really want to
honor you. I put my arms up. As soon as I put
my arms up, I felt like God was saying to me,
Do not put your arms down until you're done worshiping.
I'm an ordinary guy, right? I've got muscle,
but it's not like Mike. Right, Mike? Paying attention?
Pay more attention to this than her. Okay. All
right. So I've got muscles, but I'm not super
strong. But also my arms aren't super heavy,
right? So everybody, put your arms up like that.
After about a minute, you start to feel it, right?
And I'm thinking, that's okay. It's only going
to be a song or two. So I put my arms up, and
I'm praising God. I'm singing out to the top
of my lungs. I'm praising God. And I stayed in
a song. And the song ended, and my eyes were
closed. I'm like, is there going to be another
song? Yeah, there's another song. Another three
minutes. I'm like, oh, man. It's been like six
minutes. My arms have been up in the air. They
worshiped for almost 20 minutes. And my hands
were quivering. And my heart stopped. so bad
in my shoulders and my arms. I'm like, I'm not
doing it. I'm not putting my arms down. I'm not
putting my arms down. And then the song ended
and I'm like, oh, I'm not putting my arms down.
It was so hard. It hurt so bad. And the next
day I was sore. And like all the way into the
next night, I took ibuprofen. It hurt so bad.
Worship is not about you. And it is not about
your comfort. It is about God. And when God says,
we do, that's it. You lead. God says, lead, you
lead, you know. And you might be able to, maybe
you can lead three inches. And God's going to
make you lead three miles, you know, because
he knows if you just be faithful. And you see
that all over scripture. God says, we do. And
so if you're like, well, certain music or certain,
that is easier for me to worship when there's
no distraction. Most of that is a load of crap.
That's comfort worship. You just got to go, no,
my focus is on God. It's all about God. And then
let God have it. And the flesh builds the alternative.
I had a friend of mine who said, well, most of
the people in my church are over 60 and they
can't stand contemporary music. They will not
let the guitar play in church. It grates on their
nerves. They hate it and whatever. He said, I
can't get a young person to come into my church.
And he had a whole congregation of 60 people,
over 60, that were all comfort worship. They
all wanted what was for them. for what was forgot.
The world. The world builds comparison, image
management, which means, again, you're worried
about how you're seen, divided identity, you
have confusion in who you are. The world would
love to get you back on your heels so you don't
know who you are. That way when they screw you
over, you won't say anything, you won't do anything
because you're still struggling with who you
are. Men in the room especially understand you
have a responsibility to stand up. When something
happens in your presence, you have to know who
you are. you are and when it's an injustice,
you stand up. You step up, say something, do
what you got to do. I'm not saying be a jerk.
I'm not saying use foul language. I'm not saying
throw a punch, right? You say, I'm standing here.
You can't do that right in front of me. I'm not
going to allow it. What do you mean? What are
you going to do? You want to fight? You want
to fight? No, I'm not here to fight you. I'm
just telling you, you can't do that here now.
I'm not going to allow you to do that. What are
you going to do? You're going to hurt me? I don't
have to hurt you. I'm telling you, you cannot
do that. And then when they started to do it,
if you have to, you stop them if it's an injustice,
right? Or you call the police or whatever has
to be done. All right. Back on task. So the world
is very concerned about how they appear. They
have a divided identity, and they want you to
have a divided identity. They want you to not
know for sure who you are, and they want you
to compromise. And compromise, not without getting
off on that rabbit trail, will kill you over
time, slowly, a little bit, a little bit, a little
bit, and you will die from compromise. All right.
Then the enemy. The enemy is a sort of generic
thing, but in this case, it's talking about the
enemy. So Satan, the devil, right? The enemy
builds hidden fracture lines. wants nothing more
than for you to have a crack in your life. If
he can just get you to have a crack, then a year
from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now,
he can use that crack to destroy somebody. You
might even survive it, but in the process, you
destroy the person that you're dealing with because
you had a little crack that you let go for 20
years, and it was still just a little crack.
But then when that person comes to that... that
point directly and they hit that little crack
in your character, they trigger it, then you
could destroy that person. You might even kill
somebody. I've never. I'll tell you right now,
for example, if a female in my family was raped,
I would have a hard time not killing the person
that did that. If a child was abused, one of
my children, grandchildren, anybody in our church,
I would have a hard time not being physically
violent with the person who did that. Now, I
believe that God would help me not be physically
violent, but there's a chance I might do it before
I even think about it. And they're going, yeah,
I feel that. And so what I'm saying is the enemy
wants to build hidden fractures on you. That's
what he's out to do. He wants a little break
that you're going to leave alone. You're not
going to worry about it so that later he can
use it. Isolation. He wants to get you alone
so you don't have somebody to lift you up, somebody
to pull you into the fold, somebody to get you
to do what's right. He wants you to be on your
own and think that you don't have anybody that
you can talk to. A famous quote I read, I don't
know who said it. It was a pastor, I'm pretty
sure. But anyway, he said, when you see somebody
who's operating alone, you realize. that somebody's
setting them up for failure, and it's probably
them. And I thought about that with myself. I
do a lot alone, too much. I take on too much
on myself, and I don't let anybody help me with
it. And so I always try. Truthfully, even now,
I'm failing pretty bad. And so we do not want
to isolate. You don't want to lock yourself away.
You don't want to walk away from being with people.
When you least want to be with people, that's
when you most need to be with people. Isolation,
that's what the enemy wants. Confusion, he wants
your mind to be like, oh, I can't figure it out.
Why is it not working? Why does A not equal B,
you know? Why are apples brighter than oranges?
I mean, why does gravity work the way, and I'm
talking about funny things, but the reality is
like, why does she say that? Why does he do that?
Why is our relationship like that? Why do they
drive that way? Why do they, anything that can
get your mind focused on something other than
what it should be focused on. Accusation, so
he wants to tell you you're bad so that you'll
start to believe that you're bad. Feel bad about
you. You're not bad, right? So you were fallen,
a sinner, bound for hell, met Jesus, made perfect,
essentially, right? Not perfect in that you do
everything exactly right, but given the righteousness
of Jesus. So you're not bad. And so if someone
accuses you and says that you're bad, it's one
thing to say, if they say that you lied and you
did, you're like, oh, I did. I'm sorry. I repent.
I will try not to do that again, right? On the
other hand, if they say that you are a liar,
you say, well, that's not true. But I know you
lied. Did I? Tell me when I lied. If it's true,
I'll... confess it and I'll repent and I'll never
do it again if I possibly can, right? You can't
be a liar after you're saved because you have
Jesus's righteousness. You can't be a thief anymore.
And if you can adapt the idea, if in confusion
or accusation or any of these things, hidden
fracture lines, whatever, if in those things
you can be a liar now after being saved, the
truth is you're probably not saved. That doesn't
mean you can never lie, but if you did lie, you'd
want to put it to bed. You want to be done with
it. Kick it out. Fix it. Apologize. Own it. Overcome
it. That's accusation. He accuses. That's what
he does. It's also why we don't accuse because
that's what he does. Spiritual exhaustion. I'm
just whipped. The Bible says do not become weary
in doing good. I'm just tired. This is a hard
road. I've gone a long way. I've been serving
God for a long time. As a pastor, I've been serving
God in this church since we constituted 10 years.
As a mission pastor, 22 years. I see in a lot
of the people's lives who are coming up right
now, coming in, some of the same things I've
seen over and over and over again. If you want
to go like, well, what happened when somebody
else did what I'm doing 10 years ago? I can tell
you. I can go around the room right now. You
ask me, tell me what's going on in your life,
and I'll tell you how somebody else did it, and
I'll tell you whether it worked for them or not.
But the problem is life is not that simple. There's
no easy pattern. You don't get to go, well, 10
years ago, somebody had the same exact problem,
and they did this, and it worked for them. Now,
if you do it, it may or may not work for you.
It might not be the right solution. Everybody
has to find their way through. Everybody has
to work. You've got to do the job, and they get
tired doing the job. Then you rest and do the
job some more satan rarely starts by destroying
the whole house Do you understand the devil is
he comes to kill steal and destroy, right? That's
what jesus said he comes to kill steal and destroy.
Do you understand that if you're safe? He does
not want to kill you. I don't know if the devil
kills you what happens next? Go straight to heaven.
Does the devil want you to go to heaven? No.
He wants you to stay here until he tries to build
into you a fracture line or something so he can't
get you unsaved. He can't steal your salvation.
That's not possible, right? It's in the palm
of the hands. It's settled. Can't take it away.
But he could get a fracture line in you so that
you can screw up somebody else so that they won't
get saved. See, he can use you as his agent even
though you're working for God. And that's what
he wants to try to do. So he's not trying to
send anybody. No. If you become so powerful in
the Lord and you're a servant of the Lord and
you're winning people to Christ, there is a moment
in time at which he might go, I think I just
better kill this person, right? Because if I
kill them, then they will not win all these other
people to Christ, right? But guess what? God's
also in the equation. So then if he tries to
do that, God says, no, this person's winning
all these people. I'm not going to let that happen,
possibly, okay? So he starts by weakening supporting
walls. We're on the back page. So the diagnostic
questions, the questions are this. Yes. The what
word? Enemy. Confusion? No. Under the world?
It's under the world. Compromise. Diagnostic
questions. Yep, this is bringing us right to
the end pretty much. Okay, diagnostic questions.
Ask, does this move me toward obedience or rationalization?
Rationalization means reasons or excuses. In
other words, the thing that's being built in
my life, does it move me toward obedience to
God or am I making excuses? And if you're making
excuses, then it's got to go, right? So if you
say, I'm making excuses, that's got to go. Obedience
is the road that I want. Does this strengthen
truth or blur it? So this lesson strengthens
truth because we understand now. We say, oh,
see, there is effort that is happening to build
things in our lives that we don't necessarily
want. So we want to choose the things that strengthen
truth. Does this thing, this new thing in our
lives, increase unity in Christ or does it divide
loyalties? So is this going to cause problems
between me and other believers, cause problems
between me and myself, between me and God? Or
is this going to build up our relationships?
And does this deepen humility or inflate self?
So is this thing that I'm doing, does this help
me remember I'm just me, I'm just an ordinary
guy, Jesus, all that? Or does it build me up
so that I feel good about myself and not worry
about Jesus? So how do we determine then whether
the result will be a house divided? And the answer,
so we read Luke 11. And that's where Jesus says
the house divided against itself will fall. So
A. Public devotion, but private compromise. So
if you publicly are letting people think you're
living for God, you're telling everybody I'm
living for God, you talk about God, you walk
with God publicly when everybody was looking,
but then privately you're not really living for
God, that's a house divided. That's obvious,
right? It's two houses, okay? The structure looks
strong outwardly, but contains internal fracture.
Next one, two competing identities, Christian
and worldly ambition. I really want to do well
in the church. I want to teach. I want to love.
I want to serve. to give. I really want to do
that. But then over here, I really got to do
well on my job. I really got to work hard. I
got to make money. I got to pay bills. I got
to do all these things, right? And that's competing
worldly identities. Worship and bitterness, faith
and secret rebellion. Those are examples of competing
identities. Constant internal instability. If
you're always wondering, if you can't figure
it out, should I? I know the Bible says I should
just read my Bible, but I think I just want to
watch TV. I think I'll just watch TV today and
read my Bible tomorrow. Then tomorrow comes like,
I don't know, should I read my Bible? I should
pray about this before I do anything. Oh, no,
I think I know what to do. I'll just do that.
If you're constantly back and forth between which
one you're going to go, that's double -mindedness.
Divided structure cannot... consistently stand
under pressure. So even if you have two structures
in your life, then even if you get it right some
of the time, it's not going to be consistent.
There are going to be times where you're like,
I just don't know what to do, and you're stymied,
you're stuck in a place, what stymied means,
or you're baffled as to what to do next, instead
of just being able to go, this is what God wants
me to do, I'm just going to do it. So then it
goes to the inability to fully obey God. So if
you find you know what it is that God wants you
to do, and you just can't seem to do it, than
structures that you have two houses. Your houses
are divided, right? When every act of obedience
feels like tearing down another kingdom, division
already exists. If you're already at the place
where like, God wants me to do this, but I don't
want to do that. But I'm going to do it. You
have to push really hard to bring yourself to
do what God wants you to do. Then you have somehow
divided inside yourself. We already read the
scripture from 1 Corinthians 3. That's the one
where it says building on the foundation. It
teaches that fire reveals construction quality.
Does anybody know what in the Bible fire represents?
Fire represents... judgment right so when you
take a metal and you burn it what happens to
it nothing but if you get really really hot fire
it melts and as soon as the fire is gone what
happens goes back to being metal cools down at
room temperature it's solid again right so that
fire judges right now let's say inside that metal
is some dirt Maybe some fluff, like from a stuffed
animal or something. And you burn it so that
the metal gets so hot it melts. What happens
to the stuff that's inside the metal? Say it
again. Explodes, burns away. It ceases to exist,
basically. And then when the metal solidifies
again, now it's more pure, right? So the idea
of fire in Scripture is judgment. So God's saying
that judgment will reveal the construction quality
of what's been built in your life, all right?
So here's how you figure this out. You ask yourself,
would this thing that I am doing serve? Survive
spiritual pressure. So let's say you have a habit.
Let's say you like to play video games. Anybody
like to play video games? Who's my video gamers?
All right, got a bunch of us. So would playing
video games three hours a day survive spiritual
pressure? In other words, you're under pressure
in your spirit and you're struggling to know
what to do or you're in a really difficult time.
Somebody just died and you're whatever. Would
playing video games three hours a day survive
that situation? The answer is no because when
you're setting up funeral arrangements and you're
taking care of your loved ones and you're hugging
your... crying girlfriend, your wife, your mother,
your son, whatever, those things are more important.
So then video games would just go away. So that
means that you can't let video games build a
structure in your life that is going to accomplish
certain things because it won't survive spiritual
pressure. If you run to video games, the next
time you need to know what you're supposed to
do with your life, you're in trouble. So the
question was, would whatever, and I just use
video games as an illustration. You may even
disagree with me on that. But I play video games,
and the way I play them, I'm talking to God all
the time, and it's completely different than
the way most people do. You figure that out for
yourself. Would this survive spiritual pressure?
Would this survive suffering? If I were suffering,
could I still do this? If I got hit by a car,
and I was in a wheelchair, and I'm trying so
hard to learn to walk again, would I still be
playing video games for three hours a day? I'm
just going to stick with the same illustration,
but I'm not picking on video gamers. I could,
I don't, but I could play video games just the
same as anybody else. I'm not good at it, so
maybe I don't do it. Would this survive suffering?
If I was really suffering and I was in pain,
would I keep doing this thing? What would you
do? What are the things that you would do if
you were really suffering and in pain? Those
are the things that you want to keep to, right?
Or at least put the most emphasis on. Would this
survive exposure? So in other words, let's say
you're doing something like you're watching something
you shouldn't be watching. You're doom scrolling
on your phone. Or you're playing a video game
that's kind of raunchy. It's not like pornography,
but it's got a lot of violence in it. Maybe some
violent crimes toward other people. And there's
a lot of foul language. You're like, if God was
in the room with me while I was playing this
video game, would I still be playing this video
game? And you say, well, no. If it was exposed
to the truth, if everybody knew this about me,
I would stop. See, if you don't think that way,
then that creates a... fracture in your life.
And people know how. Worldly people, the devil,
enemies, they know how to use those things. If
you're intimidated by, let's say you don't like
loud voices and you're intimidated by loud voices,
then the devil knows that. And the next time
God wants you to do something and make a difference
for him, the devil could use your intimidated
by loud voices trait against you to stop you
from doing what God wants you to do. You understand?
So we can't allow things that will not survive
exposure to build in us. Would this survive a
So, in other words, Jesus comes again, the horn
blows, the next day will you still be doing it?
Because if you, now I'm not saying that we have
to cut it out, right? Because dressing is an
example. We wouldn't be dressing the next day,
for example. Or we wouldn't be washing dishes
maybe or working on our cars, right? Because
there probably won't be any cars in heaven. So
there are things like that. So I'm not saying
you can't do it, but it can't become a structure.
It can't become so important to you that it changes
your identity, changes who you are, that kind
of thing. So if you wouldn't do it in heaven,
then it can't. become a thing that changes your
priorities, affects your mind, you get disappointed
if it doesn't happen, all those things that we
talked about before. So what action steps should
I take? We're going to skip the Bible verse,
guess the book game, because we're out of time.
So we'll start with the Bible guess the book
game in two weeks when we get together. We're
going to finish this last little bit. So if I
discover structures that are contrary to God's
will, what should I do? This is huge. You with
me, Mike? This is it. Look at your life and you
see things are building in your life that are
contrary to God's will, these are the steps that
you take to deal with them. Number one, deny
it the materials that it needs. So sinful structures
survive because we continually feed them, okay?
So we lie, and then we don't want anybody to
know that we lied, so we lie some more to cover
it up, we lie some more, we're deceptive, we
don't talk to some of the people that can figure
it out, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, right?
So don't provide it the materials that it needs,
okay? Some examples of those things that could
be used against you, and they're probably a a
bunch of them. One of them is unchecked entertainment.
So sometimes we feel like we want to be alone
or somebody hurt our feelings or whatever. And
so we just go watch a bunch of TV or read a bunch
of books or play a bunch of video games or those
kinds of things. Well, that's fuel to build stuff
in your life. So you have to be careful. If you
run to video games or run to a book, even run
to the Bible. Be careful, right? Even run to
the Bible. Every time something happens that
you don't feel comfortable about, and you say,
well, I'll just read my Bible. I'll be good.
I'll just read my Bible. That'll be fine. And
you feel comfort in reading your Bible, be careful.
While the Bible is good and it builds in our
lives, the Bible is about God. It's God that
we need to be running to, not just the Bible.
That's why we have to be not just hearers, but
also doers of the word, right? So we have to
be walking with Jesus, not just reading about
Jesus like he's this fantastic guy that everybody
should worship, all right? So unchecked entertainment,
bitterness, pride, and that list could go on.
You're going to ask in your own life, what are
the things that if I keep supplying them to the
enemy, he's going to use them against me. Secrecy,
toxic relationships, ungodly ambition. So instead,
this is what you do. Confess honestly. You can't
repair what you refuse to acknowledge is a problem.
Tear down agreement with false builders. Sometimes
repentance is not just being sad that you did
something wrong, right? Actually go, look, I
really don't want to do that anymore. So you
did something. Somebody comes to you and says,
hey, you did that. I don't agree with that. You're
like, you know what? You're right. I just don't
want to do that anymore. So basically you're
revoking permission for that enemy to build something
in your life. Rebuild on the right foundation.
Let's go back to where we were. Remember that
text? Build on the right foundation. For other
foundation can no man lay than that which is
laid, which is Jesus Christ. In other words,
build on Jesus. Hard to build this on Jesus?
Don't build it. Invite accountability. Talk to
somebody about what you're doing. Say, look,
sometimes I do this and I don't want to do that.
I remember Josh and I, for a while, Josh and
I and a couple other people, we had an 11 p .m.
accountability. It didn't last too long, but
we didn't really need to because most of us adhered
to it. We all said we're going to go to bed by
11 p .m. We all said if we're not in bed by 11,
we're going to correct that. So we start checking
in with each other and making sure that we're
going to bed by 11 o 'clock. Part B, if I determine
God is doing a new thing. So this is the flip
side. Yay! God's doing something good. I figured
this out. Number one. Cooperate instead of resisting,
even if it doesn't seem like something you want
to do. Sometimes it's uncomfortable. God's taking
you outside your box. When I started preaching,
when I started teaching, they were discomforting,
right? But I cooperated because I was scared
not to, frankly. Submit to the construction process.
God frequently tears down before he rebuilds,
okay? Or go into the cafeteria for snacks with
them in a minute. Hang tough, hang tough. Stay
unified around Christ. New callings should deepen
your devotion, not divide your devotion. Expect
testing. Anything God builds will eventually
endure testing. So if something's going to happen
and you're going to trust in it, you're going
to do what God wants you to do because you see
God's building a new thing, and then sometimes
it's going to get hard, but it's going to stand.
It's going to be all right, okay? We'll skip
the verse for a second. You can read it later.
Faith proven through fire becomes stronger. Every
season is construction. The question is not,
is something being built? So in other words,
listen to me. If you think, is the debate, is
anything being built in my life right now? The
answer is a resounding yes. Every season builds
something. If you think, I don't see anything
being built in my life right now, you're wrong.
You really need to look at what is being built
in your life. The truth is, if you can't see
anything being built, then probably what's being
built is not good. You should try to find it
and figure it out. The questions are, who is
building? What materials are being used? What
kingdom is the structure serving? Will this thing
stand united under Christ? Because eventually,
every structure reveals its foundation. 20 years
with that problem in you, eventually it's going
to blow up in your face or it's going to hurt
somebody, and then it's going to be revealed
as a bad foundation. You've got to start over
after 20 years. A house divided doesn't usually,
I put never, but doesn't usually collapse suddenly
at first. It collapses internally long before
it falls publicly. In other words, someday it'll
all come out. Maybe just when we get in front
of Jesus, someday it'll all come out.