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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:09 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? Hallelujah. It is always a joy and a privilege to study God's word together. Today, we will be talking about the simplicity of life.0:21 This teaching is normally about 2 hours, and so we may do at least 4 parts to this series. So today's part 1, simplicity of life. The text is from Matthew chapter 6 and verses0:33 25 all the way to verse 34. Now I want you to pay attention to this. Richard Foster, in his classic book, Celebration of Discipline, he begins with these0:44 words. He says, superficiality is the curse of the age. Superficiality is the curse of our age. Our words are superficial. Our0:56 relationships are shallow. Our actions lack authenticity. We end up having rituals without reality, relationships without love. And we1:08 have duty without delight. I want you to listen to me carefully. Superficiality is the curse of our age. The reason why there is a superficiality1:20 is because our lives are fragmented and fractured. That's why in the past few weeks, we've been studying about singleness of heart, cultivating and1:31 developing a singleness of heart. That was the emphasis that Jesus placed to the disciples. In Matthew chapter 6, we talked about the single treasure, the single eye,1:43 the single master from Matthew chapter 6 verse 19 to 34. But from Matthew chapter 6 verses 25 all the way to 34, Jesus explains how do we live that1:55 singleness of heart. That singleness of heart is expressed, is manifested with simplicity of life. Now you and I, we need to pay attention to the simplicity of life. That's2:07 why we're going to study this. Because our lives should be whole before God. Not fragmented, not fractured. Our life needs to be single-minded, single hearted in our2:18 devotion to Christ. So today, as we study the word, I want us to pay attention to this. How do we develop the simplicity of life? What does it actually mean? So I'm gonna cover 2 things today. 1, it is2:30 the spirit of simplicity. Number 2, it is the spheres of simplicity. So today we will touch on 1 sphere of simplicity, where we need to emphasize simplicity of2:42 life, where we need to simplify our life. In Matthew chapter 6, verse 25 all the way to 34, there is 1 phrase that is repeated over and over again. 32:54 times it is repeated. Do not be anxious. Then Jesus gives us the illustration from the life of lilies, and from the and the life3:05 of birds of the air. And he says, consider them, pay attention to them, observe them. They do not worry. They do not they do not fret about tomorrow. But3:17 God, in his mercy, takes care of all of them. And so he deals with the anxieties of life that plagues the human heart. So today we want to talk about the spirit of3:28 simplicity. And, you know, John Wesley, when he was teaching on discipleship, he always emphasized on Matthew chapter 6. And he says Matthew chapter 6 is his favorite passage3:40 of scripture. And this is 1 of the, parables he used to say, and I want you to catch this parable. Listen to this. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful lily. The3:52 lily's best friend was a sparrow who would visit with her nearly every day. Together, they enjoyed watching how a farmer and his family lived. They saw the farmer and4:04 his wife working hard to make a living. Over the years, the land yielded much fruit. But a funny thing that the lily and the sparrow observed, that was,4:16 as the more the couple gathered, the more they needed. 1 day, the sparrow said to the lily, all their hard work is paying off. They have made a success of their farm and4:28 increased in wealth in the last few years. I know, replied the lily, but have you also noticed that along with their increase, they have less and less time for each other?4:40 They have quit going to church, and I hear them arguing more and more. Come to think of it, I used to see the farmer and his wife taking long walks. Sometimes they walked4:52 together hand in hand. At some other times, each would take a break from work and go for a stroll alone in the woods, talking with the Lord. Nowadays, however, they are too busy5:04 for that. The sparrow added, yes, they have also bought a holiday home in Queensland so that they can have a nice warm place to go to when it gets cold here. No5:16 wonder they have to work even harder now. Lily, the sparrow went on, when they were in church, do you think they heard the heavenly father telling them to take a closer look at you and me5:28 and to learn the secret of simplicity in how he takes care of his creation? It seems to me they are complicating their lives. To all this, the beautiful lily replied, why is it that people5:40 go to school, read their textbooks, and learn many great things, yet they are not smart enough to read God's textbook on life and apply the lessons in it. Yes,5:52 said the sparrow, then they too can fly and be free. I want you to pay attention to this. Where is this parable taken from? Matthew chapter 6, verses 256:03 to verse 34. Do not worry about tomorrow. Do not worry about life. Do not be anxious about life. Why would Jesus say this? Jesus already6:15 addressed that the singleness of heart is what we need to bring before the Lord. The allegiance, the core allegiance. Now, this inward reality of singleness of6:26 heart will always result in an outward lifestyle of simplicity. You and I cannot have simplicity of life unless we have6:38 singleness of heart or singleness of life. Why? Because with divided allegiance, with double loves plaguing our single heart, with conflicting pursuits, life becomes complicated.6:50 That's why I want you to pay attention to this. Simplicity begins with a singular inward focus. The highlight of this text from Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 to7:02 34 is verse 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Why did Jesus say seek first?7:14 He's talking about not just a sequence of priorities, he's talking about a statement of preoccupation. He says this 1 thing, and this 1 thing alone, in that7:26 inward, singular, inward focus, 1 thing that you need to pledge your allegiance to. Why? Without that, if you have divided allegiance, life7:37 becomes complicated. Divided allegiance. You know, there's a verse in the Bible in Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse 29. In the Good News translation, it7:49 says this, this is all that I have learned, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Many schemes is what they say in ESV translation. But look at8:01 this in Good News translation. It says, but we have made ourselves very complicated. In other words, who's the genius that complicated your life? You. God made life8:13 simple, but we have complicated it. Why? Because our heart wants too many things. Remember, we want both kingdom of8:24 God and the kingdom of this world. We want to serve God and mammon, and we are seeing too many things, and as a result, our lives are fragmented. So 1 of the8:36 core things that spirit of simplicity is about developing a singleness of heart. That's why Jesus says, you and I, we need to8:48 seek first the kingdom of God. See, even in the life of Jesus, when the disciples approached him 1 time, this is what he said in John chapter 4 and verse 34. My food is to do the will of9:00 him who sent me and to accomplish his purpose. In other words, Jesus' life was characterized by 1 thing. That 1 thing is to will the will of the father, to do the will of the9:11 father. So simplicity is all about willing the will of the father, willing to do that 1 thing. So simplicity is to will 1 thing, to pledge your allegiance to 19:23 person, to give your heart to 1 thing, and that is what Jesus was saying. It was not only the life of Jesus. You can also see this in the life of the apostles.9:35 In fact, apostle Paul says in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 13, brothers, I do not consider myself that I have made it my own, but 1 thing I do, forgetting those things that are9:47 behind and straining toward what is ahead. 1 thing I do. The psalmist David says this in Psalm 27 and verse 4. 1 thing I have asked of the9:59 Lord, and this 1 thing I will seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Hallelujah. This 1 thing is something that you and I, we need10:11 to cultivate. What is the 1 thing that characterizes your life? What is the 1 thing that you're passionately pursuing? What is the 1 thing that you're preoccupied with? What is the 1 thing that is defining your purpose10:22 in life? What is that 1 thing to a life of a disciple that 1 thing is discipleship unto Jesus? To help to make him the lord of their life and10:34 to live the rest of their life in obedience to him, in submission to him, fulfilling the mandate that he has for their life. Hallelujah. Jesus himself said to Mary, 1 thing10:46 is needed. Isn't it? To Mary and Martha in Luke chapter 10 and verse 42, Jesus said, 1 thing is needed. So let's come back to this. Inward reality of singular10:57 focus results in an outward lifestyle of simplicity. Without the inward reality, if you just have11:09 outward lifestyle of simplicity, you will end up with legalism. Because you would say, why am I the only 1 living like this? Everyone should live like that. And you will be comparing11:21 yourself with others, and you will become a Pharisee. But if you do have the inward reality of singleness of heart, but you don't have the outward11:32 reality, outward lifestyle change of being simple, living a simple life, what would happen is you will lack authenticity. So what we need is a combination of both. We need the11:44 inward reality of single heart, singleness of purpose, singleness of passion, singleness of pursuit, singleness of preoccupation in11:56 the same manner, we also have an outward lifestyle of simplicity. Praise God. Now, I started by sharing with you about John Wesley. Here's an interesting12:08 fact about John Wesley. He's the founder of the Methodist movement. So all the Wesleyan churches, the Methodist churches, he's the founder. Now John Wesley used to earn12:19 about 30 pounds every month. And when he was earning 30 pounds, his expenses were about 28 pounds. So he would spend 28,12:31 save 2, and give it away. Now, as he was continuing to increase in popularity, his books were received by many people. He was12:43 traveling and preaching extensively. As a result, his income actually doubled, tripled, and in 1 point, his income was about 1400 pounds per month. But his12:55 expenses were still curbed at 28 pounds every month, and he gave the rest away. Now John Wesley was a radical. Now John Wesley,13:07 encouraged his church, And in his days, he writes about 500 church members, 1 in 500, would do that. I want you to listen to me carefully. He13:19 was a radical. The reason why he wanted to live like that is because he wanted to curb, he wanted to escape the grip of materialism. He wanted to deny himself13:31 the god of this world. He wanted to escape the lusts of the world and the desires of the world. That was his own passionate pursuit. He wanted to keep 1 thing. The 1 thing was about pursuing13:43 Christ and his kingdom. Whereas, when you look at the world today, today we are caught up with such a busy life. Caught up with, the we are13:55 caught up with the, system of the world. And people there's no difference between a Christian and a non Christian in their pursuits, in their passions, in their preoccupations.14:07 That's why we need to examine our life. See, the double minded Christian, we've been talking about the double minded Christian. The life of a double minded Christian is fractured and fragmented. Why?14:19 Because they are caught up with the system of the world. They lose the art of simplicity, of life, a simple life of devotion before God.14:31 Now, when you lose, when our life loses the beauty of simplicity, it will take on the tyranny of fragmentation. Thomas Kelly, in his14:42 article, in his essay, The Simplification of Life, says this. 1 moment, he makes decisions based on reason. Another time, based on fears of what people say. Yet another occasion based14:54 on greed or jealousy. He has no anchor for his soul, no inner compass that consistently points to the true north, and no divine center to return to. How sad is that?15:07 See, listen to me carefully. A man with 2 watches will never be sure of the time. A man with 2 allegiance will never be loyal to 1. A15:19 man with true loves in his heart will always be complicated in his life. Listen to me. That's why what Jesus is saying is we need to have that that simplicity of life. And for us to develop15:31 that simplicity of life, it begins with a singleness of heart. So what do we need to cultivate? We must intentionally cultivate a singular inward focus and a singleness of15:42 heart. Hallelujah. Secondly, I want to talk about this fear of simplicity. This fear of simplicity is where do we want to exercise simplicity? I want to give you 415:54 things, and then we will break it down. Number 1, simplify your pace. Secondly, simplify your priorities. Thirdly, simplify your possessions. And16:06 fourthly, simplify your purpose. For today's study, we're going to focus on the first 1, simplify your pace. Now remember when I was teaching this at16:18 the Bible College. When I said simplify your pace, someone mistook it as simplify your face. Because my p and my f was pronunciation was different.16:29 Simplify your face. Do you think we need to simplify your face? Maybe. You know, a woman asked the pastor, how much makeup is too much?16:40 The pastor replied, it depends on the face. A young girl went to the priest, a Catholic priest, to ask for forgiveness. As she was confessing her sin, she said, father, I16:52 have sinned. What did you do? I I every every day, every waking moment, I keep thinking how pretty I am, how beautiful I am. And I keep thinking this, I know it is a17:04 sin. Please, I ask for forgiveness. And the father said, no, no, no. This is not a sin. This is only a mistake. You're mistaken. Listen to me carefully.17:16 Simplify your pace. What does it mean to simplify your pace? The modern man is hurried. He's stressed. He's obsessed with life in the fast17:27 lane. You and I, we have been examining this, that we rush here, we rush there, we become Russians. You know, do you know that right up to 19 fifties, there was no talk about17:39 stress? Stress is in fact a word that was coined in the 19 fifties. And the man who came up with it, Doctor. Selly. Doctor. Selly, S17:51 E L Y E. Doctor. Selly. And this is what he says. During those days, that means prior to 19 fifties, there was no telephones. There were no18:02 newspapers. There were no daily newspapers. There were no cars. There were no electricity. There was no TV. No late night. People went early to bed and early to rise. And there18:14 was no sense of urgency. The only time they ran was when there was a storm, and they had to bring all the livestock into safety. That was the only time.18:26 Otherwise, was no rush. There was no sense of urgency. But today, just think about it. Today, we have smartphones. Not just telephone, but smartphones. We not just have daily newspapers. We get instantly the news18:38 on our social media platforms. Today, it's all about luxury goods. It's not just about TV. It's about laptops, and iPads, and 1 device, a phone18:50 in your hand. And people are staying up late, and they work long hours, and they stay longer, and they sleep less, and there is a fast paced19:01 society. You and I, we know that this is how life is experienced in this modern day and age. All this is attributed to this 1 word called19:13 progress. Progress. When man made progress in the Industrial Revolution, when man made progress through advancement of technology and science,19:24 Education and materialism was brought into forefront. As a result, what happens? People's lives become complicated. That's why 1 of the core things you and I, we need to do is19:36 to simplify our pace. Listen to this interesting article. It is, Psalms 23, the antithesis. It says this, the clock is my19:48 dictator. I shall not rest. It makes me lie down only when exhausted. It leads me to deep depression. It hounds my soul. It leads me in circles20:00 of frenzy for activity's sake, even though I run frantically from task to task. I will never let it get it all done, for my ideal is with me.20:12 Datelines and my need for approval, they drive me. They demand performance from me beyond the limits of my schedule. They anoint my head with migraines. My in basket20:23 overflows. Surely fatigue and time pressures shall follow me all the days of my life, and I'll dwell in the bonds of frustration forever. How sad is that?20:36 I don't know how many of you can relate to those things. There is such a pace, like in 1 of my previous messages I mentioned, that our soul and our body are out of sync.20:48 There is so much disease because there's no ease. The pace is so fast. A pastor by the name of Wayne21:00 Oates in the year 19 68, he introduced the term called workaholism in his article for pastoral psychology. He's the21:12 1 who coined the word workaholism. And this is how he defined it. Workaholism is an addiction to our work as a source of our identity and self worth.21:24 Many times the pace is so fast because we are addicted to work. And he describes there are different types of workaholics. The first 1 is an21:36 identity workaholic. This identity workaholic, he defines the work defines his life. In other words, he gets his identity from the work that he does.21:48 So without that, he would be a nobody. Secondly, it's the perfectionist. The perfectionist is you must make every task flawless. He functions on that principle of22:00 perfectionism. I need to make everything flawless. So he will sit on it and make it perfect, even better, even better. Thirdly, it's the approval seeker. The approval22:12 seeker is someone who is afraid to say no to others, so he keeps on taking more in his life. The fourth 1 is an escapist. You you escape from22:23 other painful problems in your life. This is a person who doesn't want to deal with what's going on in his life, so he stays longer at workplace, or he focuses on work in order to22:35 ignore all the other pains in his life. Number fifth 1 is a materialist. This person has an insatiable desire for possessions.22:47 So he keeps driving himself to take increase his workload so that he can buy more gadgets in his life. Listen. Why is our life22:59 complicated? Our life is complicated because society in general, with the advancement of everything, has become a fast paced society. Plus, there are23:11 burdens and and and heavyweight responsibilities that are placed upon us. And 1 of them is the workaholism. But we need to identify these things because if you want to simp If you wanna simplify23:22 your pace, you need to examine why you do what you do. And 1 of the core things you and I, we are we are told, is to examine what are we carrying? What is in our23:34 plate? Like if you go to us, go to a counselor and ask, I feel very, I feel very stressed. I feel overburdened. I feel overloaded. I have all23:46 this, stress I'm carrying. What would they say? They would say, look at your life and your schedule, and they would say, slow down. But when you come to Christ, he doesn't say slow23:58 down. He actually says, center down. There is a big difference between slowing down and centering down. Because you can slow down24:10 on your external pace, and yet the condition of your heart is never addressed. The reasons why your plate is overloaded or the reasons why you24:22 feel so feel like you're in a pressure cooker environment. That's why 1 of the core things that you and I, we need to pay attention to in a disciple making church is this. It is not about slowing down, but24:34 it's about centering down. This is how Jesus said it to his disciples. In Mark chapter 6 and verse 31, he said to them, come away by yourselves to a desolate24:45 place. In other words, a lonely place, and rest a while. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. Look at that. Jesus had a busy24:57 schedule. Jesus had so many competing needs of the people. But you know what Jesus did? He took some time to come25:09 away. See, I already explained to you, if you don't come away, you will come apart. And part of coming away is not so that you would completely stop doing all that you25:21 do, but you need to come back and examine why you do what you do, and center down. So the key thing is not slowing down, but centering down. What does that mean? It25:32 means that I want to recalibrate my inner compass. So that I have a steady compass that navigates my life. So I'm not I'm not I'm not trying to I'm not trying to25:44 steady my life first, but I'm steadying my heart first. And if my heart is pointed to 1 core allegiance, what is of greater importance? Then25:56 everything else in my life will become aligned. So let's look at the difference between cutting down and centering down. This is what it means. Cutting down, it deals with our busyness. That means I want to slow26:08 down. I don't want to take so much on on my plate. So that's cutting down. Whereas if you do centering down, it deals with our lostness. See, sometimes in the middle of doing so26:20 many things, we forget why we do what we do. We have that sense of lostness. In other words, we have forgotten the God given mandate. We've forgotten the call26:32 of God, the missional purpose that we need to be engaged in. We forgot because our compass is not pointing to the true north. So there's a sense of lostness. Cutting down questions our capacity.26:44 I can't handle most. I gotta reduce. Centering down questions our confusion. Why am I confused in the first place? I wanna examine what is going on. What is26:56 my inner life? Why is there a churning? Cutting down offers us a consolation. Centering down offers us a compass. Cutting down focuses on27:08 relief, whereas centering down focuses on restedness. We already established this in 1 of our previous lessons. That what is of great importance is27:19 not seeking relief. If you feel overloaded, if you feel overwhelmed, part of the thing that people will say is, oh, take a break. Go on a holiday.27:31 Change the geography. Geographical location, you may change for a while. But then when you come back, it'll be the same. In other words, it's not about seeking relief,27:44 but it's about seeking restedness. How do you get that rest? We already have been establishing that in our previous lessons. Focus on restedness. Now, cutting down is27:56 about outward life, whereas centering down is about inner life. Cutting down helps us to catch our breath. Centering down helps us to recapture28:07 our vision. We need to recapture that sense of call, that sense of mission, that sense of purpose. Cutting down always blames the external environment,28:20 whereas centering down examines the inner roots. See, sometimes when you ask people why they are going through what they are going through, they usually blame, oh my there's a toxic environment at workplace.28:32 My boss is unreasonable. These expectations are placed upon me. There's too many things happening. It's always external factors. Oh, is it the new baby that is born? Or28:44 it's the new marriage. I'm in this marriage, and we are still in that struggling place where we have teething problems. All these things. Now listen carefully. External factors contribute, but there's28:56 more fundamental thing that's internal. That's why we've got to deal with the inner life issues, the inner roots. Cutting down is all about creating margins, but29:07 centering down is all about cultivating anchors. That means there is a team, there is a form of spiritual disciplines that you go through. You're cultivating29:19 anchors. Praise God. Finally, cutting down is about seeking to add Jesus to our crowded schedule, and centering down is all about anchor29:31 Jesus as Lord of our schedule. 1 is to go before God and say, Lord, I am doing all these things. I want you to bless this. But another 1 is to go before God and to29:43 say, Lord, what have I taken on my plate that you never meant for me to carry? What have I taken on my plate because of my ego, because of my pride, or because of my overestimate of29:54 myself? Or what do I need to do? You gotta come back before the Lord. That's why 1 of the core things we always talk about in this house is we30:06 need to do things from a place of rest. To me, restedness is not ceasing from work.30:20 Restedness is about working from rest. In other words, you and I need to come and develop that inner restedness, and out of which we do work.30:31 Jesus only ministered for 3 and a half years in this world. And in that 3 and a half years, he was so busy. And yet, there were30:43 so many anchors that he had built into his life. He had early morning time with his father. He had all night prayer with his father. He had time30:55 alone with his disciples. He had time alone with the father. Why these things? These are things that refreshes us. So that's why 1 of the core things we gotta do is to simplify31:06 our pace so that we can examine what we need to do. You know, in the old days, the Puritans used to do this. They used to call this31:18 a vacation with God. Is the Latin word. A vacation with God. In other words, they go out and just be alone with31:30 God, and the word of God, and a journal. And they worship, they read, they spend time alone with God, and they call it the vacation with God. You know, you take vacation with your spouse. You take31:42 vacation with your family. When have you taken vacation alone with God? And that sometimes is needed so that you can go before God and to bring your crowded plates31:54 and say, Lord, here is my life. As an open palm, I come before you. You take those things that are not meant to be there, and put those things that are meant to be there. Some of us, we go32:06 before God, and we we keep saying no to all the things he's calling us to do. He's calling you to lead a ministry. You say, no, I'm already oh, it's too much. I don't wanna do it. You put32:18 you you you say no to things that matter in eternity. You say no to things that matter for the Lord. But you take on your plate things that don't need to be there.32:31 So you need to examine what is crowding my schedules. If you really go before the Lord and say, Lord, these are the chunk of my time that's taken on TV, watching Netflix, watching32:43 Korean drama, doing things that don't really matter in the long run. Help me. Help me to rearrange my life. What is it that I have taken onto my plate that I shouldn't have taken32:54 on? What is the things that I you want me to put on my plate that I have not put on? Go and examine before God. And this is this, when you do before God, you will develop that restedness in your33:06 spirit. You will have a center that is anchored in God, a soul that is anchored in God, an undivided center. And when you have this undivided center, it'll remove all33:18 confusion in your life. It'll recalibrate your inner compass back to God. It'll help you to revisit your purpose. It'll help you to recapture the vision for your life. It will help you to redefine the direction that you33:29 need to head towards, and it will revive your sense of destiny. And once again, it will help you to restore Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. Simplicity33:40 of life begins with a singular inward focus. And simplicity of life requires that we simplify our pace. Be33:52 still and know that I am God. Hallelujah. Let's pray. Heavenly father, we thank you so much for this day. I pray that you open our eyes and give us listening ears and heart34:04 that is willing to obey mighty God. I pray that we will take to heart what you are saying to us. That we will examine all the appointments that we have in our lives. All the commitments34:16 that we have made in our lives. We'll examine in light of who we are and whose we are. And we pray father that you will help us to make purposeful decisions to simplify our34:28 pace in life. So that we can do things that matter in eternity. Things that matter in eternity are God, his kingdom, his word, and the souls of men. That34:39 we will spend time. We will Our pace will be dictated to do these things, and our schedules will allow us to do these things more and more for the glory of God and for the good of your kingdom. And34:50 by by doing these things, we cultivate a strong, composed, steady inner compass. And as a result, we have a good inner life. Thank you,35:02 Lord. In Jesus' name. And people of God said, amen and amen. God bless you.
Paul Jeyachandran
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