Latest / Pastor John Piper's answers / When Walking Away Feels Good

Transcript

When Walking Away Feels Good · Pastor John Piper's answers

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Imagine a man who invests years of his life trying
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: to be a good, decent, godly man. It's not easy
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: to balance it all. He goes to church every week.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: He cares for and supports his wife. He works hard.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: He's a reputable man. But his life keeps falling apart.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Things keep breaking to the point that one day he
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: shrugs and decides to stop trying so hard because of
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: how hard it is to maintain all of it. And
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: what he finds is a life that in many ways
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: just got easier. raising a question that's even hard to ask,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: but I will. Is it worth following Christ if following
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: him makes life harder? Today on Ask Pastor John, when
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: walking away feels good. That's what's happening in Jared's life
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: in Asheville, North Carolina. Pastor John, I've recently walked away
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: from God and honestly don't want much to do with him.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I feel like he's let me down so many times.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: When I was close to him and going to church,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: I tried to fix my marriage, get a house, and
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: improve my life, but everything seemed to fall apart. No
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: matter how hard I tried, I felt like I could
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: never satisfy him. I kept falling into sins I swore
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: to leave behind. And since I stopped going to church
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: and trying to follow Jesus, life feels a lot easier,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: to be honest with you. I don't feel guilty about
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: how I live anymore. That said, I still believe Jesus
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: rose from the grave and that there's evidence to support it,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: but I'm questioning whether he's worth following. Why should I
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: believe in Jesus if my life is better now without him?
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Jared, when I saw your question, the first thing I
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: did was to pray for you. Because I know that
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: when the rich young ruler turned away from Jesus because
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: it looked like the cost was simply too high to
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: follow him, The disciples were absolutely staggered that Jesus would
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: say it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: So they said to Jesus, well, then who can be saved?
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: And Jesus didn't say you misunderstood. He said, with man,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: this is impossible. In other words, to be saved is impossible,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: but not with God. for all things are possible with God.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: I know, and I suspect, Jared, you know, that my
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: words by themselves are not going to bring about the
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: kind of change in your mind and heart that need
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: to happen. So that's why I prayed. I'm praying in
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: my mind right now. I asked God to do through
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: my words what Words alone can never do. And maybe
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: if you're so inclined, you should whisper that prayer with me.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: You ask, why should I believe in Jesus if my
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: life is better now without him? And you explain to
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: us how it's better. He didn't fix your marriage. He
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: didn't provide the house you hoped for. He didn't improve
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: your life. Everything fell apart. You felt you could never
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: satisfy him. And now there's this huge gain. I don't
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: feel guilty anymore about how I live. And I'll tell you,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: that's a good thing. I mean, a good feeling. Not
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: to feel guilty is a good feeling. So even if
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Jesus did rise from the dead, you say, Why would
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: he be worth following? He doesn't make things better. I'm
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: going to give you some reasons why Jesus is worth following.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: But first, let me make clear that one of those
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: reasons will not be that he makes your life go better.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Not the way you were expecting it to go better, evidently.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Jesus never promised that. He never promised that. He said,
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: He said, He said, He said, We must take up
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: our cross and deny ourselves and follow him. He said,
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: unless we renounce all that we have, we cannot be
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: his disciples. He said that the creation is groaning. The
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: whole creation is groaning. And we who have the firstfruits
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait for the adoption,
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: the redemption of our bodies. He said that our bodies
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: are wasting away. And he said it's appointed to everybody.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: to die. I suppose one way you could sum up
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: all that would be to say he promised that things
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: would fall apart. And in spite of all that, indeed,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: in and through all that, he said that his people
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: can have more joy in this life and forever than
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: the world has when its grain and wine abound. The
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Apostle Peter said, Though you have not seen Jesus, you
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: love him. Though you do not see him, you believe
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and glorified.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: That's 1 Peter 1.8. The happiest people that I have
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: ever met or read about are the ones that have
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: sacrificed most and tasted the love of Christ most deeply
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: in their suffering. So I say all that, Jared, just
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: to make clear that when I give you the reasons
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: for why you should believe in Jesus, you will know
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: it isn't because he makes your life in this world better.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: This is not one of the reasons. He never promised it.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: And it's not what the New Testament teaches. If somebody
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: taught you that, they misled you. They didn't teach you
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: to count the cost. My guess is that you can
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: make a better life for yourself without Jesus if you
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: ignore everything I'm about to say. You say you could
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: never satisfy him. Well, Neither could I. My goodness. He says,
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. Who can
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: satisfy that? One person can satisfy that. Jesus Christ. And
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: he did. And if you believe in him, Jared, his
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: perfection will count as yours. He perfectly satisfied God. It's
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: called justification by faith. And I wonder, have you ever thought,
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: this was so helpful to me when I read it
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: in C.S. Lewis. I should have seen it in the
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: Bible first, but I didn't. Have you ever thought that
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: even though God's standards of perfection are impossible to satisfy
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: in this life, he is nevertheless easy to please? Have
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: you ever thought about that? Every single little good thing
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: you do by faith is pleasing to God. C.S. Lewis said,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: God is easy to please and hard to satisfy. That's
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: really helpful to me. I hope it is to you.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: There are reasons, lots of reasons. Oh, my goodness. that
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: you should believe in Jesus, even if your life is
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: not better now, even if it is better without him.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Lots of reasons. If you trust him as your Savior
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: and Lord and treasure, he will forgive all your sins, past, present,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: and future, because he died in your place. He will
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: make you eternally secure so that from the moment you
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: are justified, declared perfect with the perfection of Jesus, you
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: can know that you will someday be glorified forever and
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: ever and ever. He will adopt you into his family
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: and call you his son. Think of it, a son
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: of God, the creator of the universe. He promises that
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: as a son, you will inherit absolutely everything God owns
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: in the universe. In the age to come, he will
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: put everything at your disposal for your benefit forever. And
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: he promises that in spite of all the hardships in
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: this life, his yoke will be easy and his burden
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: will be light because he'll help you carry it. He
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: promises never to leave. you or forsake you, but always
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: to be with you until the very end. The precious
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: friendship of Jesus right now and all your life. He
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: promises that absolutely everything will work together for your good,
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: even the bad things. When your life is falling apart,
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: he is that wise. He is that strong. He is
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: that good. They will work together for your good as
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: you trust him. He will pursue you with goodness and
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: mercy all your days. He will never turn away from
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: doing good to you. He'll rejoice over you with all
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: his heart and with all his soul. It actually says
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: that in Jeremiah 32, 40. It's almost too good to
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: be true. He will help you and strengthen you and
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: hold you up with his victorious right hand in all
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: your trials. He promised to guide the humble in what
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: is right and to lead us in paths of righteousness
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: for his namesake. You won't be left without guidance. And
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: when you are old, like me, he will still be
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: with you to help you die. Even to your old age,
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: I have made and I will bear, I will carry
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: and will save. And at the end, Jared, he will
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: deliver you from the wrath of God. And instead of
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: God's wrath, he will bring you into eternal life in
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: God's presence and where there is fullness of joy and
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: pleasures at his right hand forevermore, and it cannot get
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: any better than that. Fullness, not partial, fullness of joy forever,
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: not 80,000 years, but forever. And Jared, this list of
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: reasons why it makes sense to follow Jesus could go
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: on and on and on. May I testify? As an
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: 80-year-old who has walked with Jesus for 74 years, he
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: is worth it. To know him and live with him
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: is a better life, no matter how many things fall apart.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Amen. Totally worth it. Thank you for your testimony, Pastor John,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: and for the reminder that Jesus promised that things would
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: fall apart. And in spite of all that falling apart, indeed,
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: in and through all of that falling apart, he said
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: that his people can have more joy in this life
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: and forever than the world has when it's grain and
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: wine about. That is a great promise. That is a
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: great text for when life falls apart around you, and
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: it will. And yet, in the rebuilding, he has promised
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: us forgiveness of sins, adoption as his sons, the eternal
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: security of life eternal, and God's never-leaving presence with us
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: now and an eternal weight of glory and pleasures forevermore
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: to come. It is so worth it. So worth it.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: But it's not automatic. We have to fight to stay.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: We fight our self-pity. We fight against our pouting when
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: things break. We wage war against our complaining when things
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: fall apart. That is an important part of Pastor John's testimony, too,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: of his enduring faith. When he says it's worth it,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: it's because he fights against his own self-pity here. You
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: can see why and how in a very personal season
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: of Pastor John's life where he explains to us what
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: he had to fight to keep going. That's self-pity. You
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: can see that in the Ask Pastor John book on
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: pages 128 to 130. You don't want to miss that section.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Pages 128 to 130. Next time, why in the world
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: did Jesus call a woman a dog? It is a
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: weird story. It's a weird story with a glorious point
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: that's so relevant to us today. I'm Tony Reinke. We'll
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: see you back here on Thursday for that.