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Voddie Baucham - Jesus Doesn't Promise Worldly Prosperity · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: The teaching of Jesus offers absolutes in a world of relativism.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to what he says in verse 24. Look at
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  Speaker 1: it again here in our passage. Matthew 7. Everyone who
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  Speaker 1: hears these words of mine and does them. Verse 27.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not
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  Speaker 1: do them. Not. Here's what could happen. You decided to
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  Speaker 1: hear my words and do them. And here's what might
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  Speaker 1: happen to you if you decide to hear these words
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  Speaker 1: of mine and not do them. In other words, here's
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  Speaker 1: the way people try to reason this. Jesus was a
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  Speaker 1: very good man and a very good teacher and a
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  Speaker 1: very good prophet. And he taught some things that were wonderful.
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  Speaker 1: And we ought to incorporate those things that Jesus taught
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  Speaker 1: into our lives because they can be very beneficial to us.
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  Speaker 1: That's not what Jesus teaches. Jesus says, there's what I
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  Speaker 1: teach and everything else. There's obedience to what I teach
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  Speaker 1: and the lack thereof. And everyone falls into one category
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  Speaker 1: or the other. Everyone. Everyone. There is no piecemeal. It
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  Speaker 1: doesn't work that way. It is either you are hearing
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  Speaker 1: what I teach and obeying what I teach, and therefore
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  Speaker 1: the house will stand. This is absolute. Not in most
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  Speaker 1: instances the house will stand. No. And again, think about
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  Speaker 1: what Jesus is teaching here. It's a parable. Jesus says,
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  Speaker 1: and again, here's what's dangerous about parables, because oftentimes we
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  Speaker 1: try to allegorize parable. And basically what some people will
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  Speaker 1: do in teaching this very passage of Scripture is say,
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  Speaker 1: what you need to do is take the principles of
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  Speaker 1: the Bible. And if you build your life on the
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  Speaker 1: principles of the Bible, or if you build your business
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  Speaker 1: on the principles of the Bible, you'll be better off
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  Speaker 1: than if you hadn't built your house, your life, your
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  Speaker 1: business on the principles of the Bible. Folks, this is
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  Speaker 1: not just about holding on to the principles of the
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  Speaker 1: Bible because they happen to work. That falls woefully short.
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  Speaker 1: There are a lot of Christians out there who are,
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  Speaker 1: for example, writing business books and And basically what they're
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  Speaker 1: doing is stripping the gospel of all of its authority,
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  Speaker 1: stripping the gospel of all of its powers. And they're saying, here,
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  Speaker 1: I have mined the scriptures for these principles. Take these
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  Speaker 1: principles and apply these principles because these principles are a
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  Speaker 1: means to an end. The end, of course, is better
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  Speaker 1: business for you and more money for you. Jesus says,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not about you making more money in your business.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not about you having a happier life. What I'm
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  Speaker 1: about is I am the truth. What I'm saying is
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  Speaker 1: the truth. You live by the truth and you will survive.
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  Speaker 1: If you don't, you won't survive. I am not here
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  Speaker 1: speaking about better business. Because newsflash, there are people who
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  Speaker 1: believe the gospel. who built their life on the teaching
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ and are so broke they can't pay attention,
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  Speaker 1: let alone their bills. There are people who have built
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  Speaker 1: their businesses on the true principles of Scripture and gone
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  Speaker 1: utterly bankrupt. That's not what this parable is about. It's not.
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  Speaker 1: We miss it completely when we turn this parable, rip
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  Speaker 1: it kicking and screaming out of context and make this
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  Speaker 1: just about, well, if you go to the book of
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  Speaker 1: Proverbs and yank those principles out there and apply those principles,
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  Speaker 1: then your business is going to flourish. Trust me, there
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  Speaker 1: are plenty of people who've applied those principles and their
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  Speaker 1: businesses didn't flourish. Or you hear about the soldier, and
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  Speaker 1: we were in combat, and our unit memorized Psalm. I've
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  Speaker 1: heard this testimony before. We were in combat, and our
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  Speaker 1: unit memorized Psalm 71 or Psalm 91. You know, 1,000
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  Speaker 1: at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, and we'll
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  Speaker 1: not come near you. We memorized Psalm 91, and we
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  Speaker 1: went through the whole war and didn't lose a single
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  Speaker 1: man in our unit. Well, that sounds really good. Here's
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  Speaker 1: the problem. Do you think they're the only people who
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  Speaker 1: memorized Psalm 91 when they were in the war? And
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  Speaker 1: do you believe that everyone who memorized Psalm 91 didn't die?
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  Speaker 1: Help you if you believe that. Folks, that's not the
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  Speaker 1: way Christianity works. It's not. There are people who believe
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  Speaker 1: everything right. And do everything right. Again, we're talking about
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  Speaker 1: as much as humanly possible. They're in lie. And they miscarry.
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  Speaker 1: While pagans go and have babies without a problem. There
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  Speaker 1: are people who do these things, believe these things. They're
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  Speaker 1: walking with Jesus Christ and their bodies are wracked with pain.
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  Speaker 1: I'm looking around here right now, right now, people in
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  Speaker 1: this very room who are struggling with sickness, with financial upheaval,
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  Speaker 1: problems in homes, with families and marriages and children, love
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ with every fiber of their being, but are
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  Speaker 1: going through difficult times right now. Do you think the
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  Speaker 1: only people in this world who go through chemotherapy are
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  Speaker 1: are people who don't trust Christ? Do you think that
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  Speaker 1: the only people in this world who die of cancer
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  Speaker 1: at a young age are people who don't trust Christ?
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  Speaker 1: Don't buy that simplistic, man-centered view of this passage, please.
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  Speaker 1: When Jesus is talking about the house that stands and
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  Speaker 1: the house that falls, he is not talking about your
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  Speaker 1: best life now. But again, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Thirdly,
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  Speaker 1: the teaching of Jesus offers hardship to a world of ease.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to notice something. There's a phrase that's repeated.
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  Speaker 1: There are these two. There's the man who hears my
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  Speaker 1: words and doesn't do them. There's the man who hears
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  Speaker 1: my words and doesn't. There's the house that stands and
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  Speaker 1: there's the house that falls. But in the midst of it,
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  Speaker 1: there's a phrase that's the same in both instances. He says,
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  Speaker 1: and the rain fell and the floods came and the
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  Speaker 1: winds blew and beat on that house. That's repeated both times.
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  Speaker 1: The rain comes, whether you believe Jesus or not. The
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  Speaker 1: floods rise, whether you believe Jesus or not. The wind
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  Speaker 1: beats on your house, whether you believe Jesus or not.
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  Speaker 1: This is far from a guarantee of ease for those
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  Speaker 1: who follow Christ. That is not the point of this passage.
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  Speaker 1: That is not the point of this text. So the
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  Speaker 1: authority of Jesus is not here in Jesus saying, you
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  Speaker 1: follow me, man, and I'll give you the good life.
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  Speaker 1: That so worries me with the way that we present
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  Speaker 1: Christianity to people. And again, we'll get there. But listen
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  Speaker 1: to this. In a couple of passages of Scripture, I
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  Speaker 1: want you to see something. How this is so far
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  Speaker 1: from what Jesus is teaching. Go to Mark. Mark chapter 8.
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  Speaker 1: Mark 8, beginning at 34. This is right after Peter's
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  Speaker 1: famous confession. You are the Christ, the Son of the
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  Speaker 1: living God. Jesus tells him about his own suffering, and
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  Speaker 1: Peter rebukes him. Listen to this in verse 34. And
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  Speaker 1: calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said
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  Speaker 1: to them, If anyone would come after me, let him
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  Speaker 1: deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For
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  Speaker 1: whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever
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  Speaker 1: loses his life for my sake and the gospel will
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  Speaker 1: save it. For what does it profit a man to
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  Speaker 1: gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what
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  Speaker 1: can a man give in return for his soul? For
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  Speaker 1: whoever is ashamed of me and of my words and
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  Speaker 1: this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son
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  Speaker 1: of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the
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  Speaker 1: glory of his Father with the holy angels. Jesus says,
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  Speaker 1: you want to follow me? pick up your cross and
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  Speaker 1: again he does not mean a nice gold necklace that
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  Speaker 1: you wear around your neck it's an emblem of death
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  Speaker 1: of execution when Jesus calls a man it has been
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  Speaker 1: said he bids him come and die any picture of
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  Speaker 1: Christianity that says that it's all about and again this
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  Speaker 1: is what is communicated God did not make you to
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  Speaker 1: be average God made you to be extraordinary. Newsflash. That's
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  Speaker 1: exactly opposite of what the Bible teaches. Listen to 1
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  Speaker 1: Corinthians 1, verses 26-31. For consider your calling, brothers. Not
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  Speaker 1: many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not
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  Speaker 1: many were powerful. Not many of noble birth. But God
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  Speaker 1: chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.
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  Speaker 1: God chose what is weak in the world to shame
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  Speaker 1: the strong. God chose what is low and despised in
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  Speaker 1: the world, even things that are not, to bring to
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  Speaker 1: nothing things that are. that no human being might boast
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  Speaker 1: in the presence of God. And because of him, you
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  Speaker 1: are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God,
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  Speaker 1: righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written,
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  Speaker 1: let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. Paul
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  Speaker 1: says the exact opposite of what Osteen says. Paul says,
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  Speaker 1: look at yourselves. You're not much. And that makes God glorious.
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  Speaker 1: Look at yourselves. He says, too, you're not average. But
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  Speaker 1: his argument is, you're below average. And God be praised.
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  Speaker 1: You know what we say? Here's what we say. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: if God would just save Tiger Woods. Oh, if God
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  Speaker 1: would just save whatever, you know, big-named athlete, big-named actor, big-named...
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  Speaker 1: Did you know that so-and-so was a Christian? Who... Who cares?
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  Speaker 1: Here's why we care. Because we don't get this principle.
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  Speaker 1: God is glorified in that he saves men in spite
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  Speaker 1: of their unworthiness. But here's what we want to be
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  Speaker 1: able to communicate to the world. Look at all these
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  Speaker 1: worthy people who think like we do. We're cold. We
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  Speaker 1: got it together. Did you know that this famous person
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  Speaker 1: was a Christian and that famous person was a Christian?
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  Speaker 1: We must not be all bad. Instead, it's... Look at
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  Speaker 1: these lowly people. Not all the high and mighty. Can
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  Speaker 1: God save the high and mighty? Yes, He can. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: He does. He does. He does. But Christianity is not
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  Speaker 1: marked by somehow these exceptional, overwhelmingly attractive and wealthy and
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  Speaker 1: whatever else bunch of people who because they've got it
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  Speaker 1: together have been smiled on by God. Now the kingdom
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  Speaker 1: of God is filled with the least of these. The
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  Speaker 1: kingdom of God is filled with very ordinary people Whose
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  Speaker 1: lives the angels look at and revere. Why? Because we've
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  Speaker 1: been bought with a price. The precious blood of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: That's why. Not because we're excellent and magnificent and wealthy
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  Speaker 1: and beautiful and powerful. No. But because for the most part,
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  Speaker 1: we're absolutely not. And God be praised. Most people live
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  Speaker 1: very ordinary, very mundane lives. Can I just tell you
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  Speaker 1: a couple of things that bother me? Here's one. You
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  Speaker 1: go to an event, you know, you go to a
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  Speaker 1: big conference. And I mean the big stuff, you know.
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  Speaker 1: You go to the big stuff. You go to a
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  Speaker 1: pastor's conference. And at the pastor's conferences, who are the
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  Speaker 1: pastors who are usually up there, up front, talking to people? Well,
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  Speaker 1: they're the guy who took their church from 50 people
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  Speaker 1: to 50,000 in six months. You know, some ridiculous stuff.
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  Speaker 1: And that's how they're introduced. When he went to so-and-so,
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  Speaker 1: they had a mere 125 people. Now they're meeting in
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  Speaker 1: nine locations. They built buildings in excess of $ 30 million,
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  Speaker 1: $ 29 million, which they still owe. And he, you know... 90,000
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  Speaker 1: people meeting on 82 different campuses, I give you. What
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  Speaker 1: is that? It bothers me. It bothers me. He's worthy
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  Speaker 1: to be listened to because he's successful. And Christianity is
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  Speaker 1: all about success. The most, the greatest, listen, and perhaps
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  Speaker 1: you too can get there. And then you have a
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  Speaker 1: big event, these big stadium events, and if we're going
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  Speaker 1: to do the big revival or the big crusade or whatever,
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  Speaker 1: what do we do? We go get a guy from
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  Speaker 1: the NFL or the NBA or Major League Baseball for
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  Speaker 1: him to stand up and give his testimony. So that
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  Speaker 1: basically he can say this, listen, I trust Jesus, and
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  Speaker 1: I can throw a baseball 100 miles an hour and
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  Speaker 1: get paid $ 5 million a year to do it. God
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  Speaker 1: is awesome. Don't you want to trust Jesus too? Five
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  Speaker 1: mil a year? Yeah. As a result of that, here's
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  Speaker 1: what I've heard from the mouths of some Christians. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I really don't have much of a testimony. Have you
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  Speaker 1: heard this? I've heard this. I've heard this from many
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  Speaker 1: a Christian. I really don't have much of a testimony.
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  Speaker 1: You know what that means? You believe a testimony is
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  Speaker 1: about making much of you and not about making much
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  Speaker 1: of Christ. The king of the universe who spoke the
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  Speaker 1: world into existence reached into your raggedy wretched life and
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  Speaker 1: saved you and you don't have much of a testimony? See,
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  Speaker 1: the teaching of Jesus is astonishing. Because it is about
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  Speaker 1: the hard road and not the easy one. Those people
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  Speaker 1: who don't live a drab, mundane, very difficult existence, they're
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  Speaker 1: the exception, not the rule. The Christian life is hard.
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  Speaker 1: It always has been.