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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 So let me just tell you what this whole series is about. We wanna look at culture, and we wanna look at television shows and some movies and and what's going on in the culture so that we can connect the dots to the0:12 common denominator human condition. That's a that's a mouthful, but common denominator human condition. These are the things we all wrestle with. And and there's a reason why shows take off. In fact,0:23 Yellowstone, I don't know if you know this, is the number 1 watched or streamed television show in the in the country right now, which tells me that because most of you didn't raise your hands, you are totally out of0:34 loop. Okay? But, anyway, you wanna watch it if you're interested in a Western. Westerns are making a comeback. How about okay. So you don't watch Yellowstone at all of our locations. Raise your hand if you watch a0:46 Western right now. How about Westerns? Yeah. We're New Englanders. We're like, nah. We don't do that. Okay. The belt buckles are cool, man. You're really They're, like, top in the charts0:58 right now. Justified is another big 1. I think Landmeyer. There's a bunch. There's, 15 westerns that are on television. 18 83. 18 83, the prequel to Yellowstone, also1:10 very good. It is it is a hit show. It's my wife's favorite show, and my wife is here tonight in the house. Say hello to Cheryl. It's a privilege to have her up here with us today. When I was1:22 introduced to the show Yellowstone, I was told it's the godfather in Montana. And it really is because the show centers on a guy named John Dutton. And John Dutton owns the largest1:34 fictional. The largest contiguous ranch in America based on, a lot of people believe, RT Wagner in Texas. But this is located up in Montana. And ever1:46 since we watched the show, my wife's like, let's start a Waters Church Montana. And I I agree. It is beautiful. It is gorgeous. It's set in this amazing picturesque location in our country. And1:57 yet, against the backdrop of all that glorious beauty of God's creation, you see the carnage of the human condition. I mean, you see hatred and envy and2:08 unforgiveness. You see people just attacking each other, and everybody is after John Dutton's land. He's got Native Americans attacking him for his right to own it. He's2:20 got land grabbing billionaires trying to move in with their airports and their malls and their shopping centers to exploit it. And and then he's got his own family members, his daughter and2:32 his sons arguing, fighting, fussing each other. Jamie. Oh, man. Poor Jamie. This kid wants to do his own thing, own way. And John says, no. You're not doing that. And it's really a picture, in2:44 my opinion, and and and let's have a lot of leniency with this series. Okay? We're gonna have some fun, like, you know, with the belt buckle. Alright. We're gonna have some fun. But, you know, we're gonna we're gonna2:55 talk about what matters to us as humans and look at these stories through the lens of scripture. Because I want you to give me some leeway here to tell you that I think that John Dutton and Yellow Yellowstone Ranch3:08 is a picture of the father and the earth. There's 1 owner. And it doesn't matter if you think he should have it or not. He's got it.3:20 There's there's 1 father that's over the whole property. And it's our job to honor him and live for him. And if we don't, then3:32 we're allowed to do what we want, but it's not gonna go well for us. We're gonna get taken to the train station, and you gotta watch the show to get that reference. It's a euphemism for wiping them out.3:45 And I I think about this. The show is is is led by funny thing is is led by all the people that our culture is presently teaching us to hate. The3:57 patriarchy, white people, and heter and heterosexuals. Like, if you're a millennial, do not watch this show. It would give you epilepsy. I'm just telling you.4:10 But, anyway, it is a picture, though, I think of that. I think it's a picture of how God is in charge, just like John Dutton is in charge. And God will do whatever it takes to protect4:22 his family. Can I get a good amen right there? He'll do whatever it takes to rehabilitate some people who need his grace in their lives, and John Dutton does that with a particular character named4:34 Jimmy. And most importantly, God will protect his property. And and I think that that's probably where we need to settle out here4:46 in this storyline. This Earth is the Lord's. Psalm 24 verse 1. The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. All of its habitants, they belong to4:58 him. You know how you're gonna make your life make sense? You know how you're gonna live happy? Here's how. Live in submission to the 1 who owns it all and owns you. And that's5:10 the theme that I wanna go with today. Anyway, John Dutton, he'll he'll do whatever it takes to defend his property, and that brings us to our first clip. I wanna I want you to watch this.5:22 Yeah. You gotta start watching this show. Alright. The secret to happiness is to live in submission to the 1 who owns it all. That's5:34 what the book of James is actually about, really. It's about saying, Lord, you gave us the prescription. You you gave us the tools on how to be happy. The reason why America is so unhappy is because America is5:46 disconnected from the 1 who made them. A University of Chicago study just came out. This is a study. It's in every 2 years. Do you understand that they just produced the study the report that we are, as a5:58 country, at a 5 decade low on the happiness level? 5 decade low. Of course, COVID and the pandemic, that had all everything to do with it. But but more to that is the disconnection,6:09 the the the superficiality of of our culture, the the confusion of our age. 1 1 person I read about why Westerns are making a comeback is because Westerns provide us6:21 with solid morality. Like, there's just right and wrong. And and family is center, dad and mom, and defending your honor. You know, these6:33 these these core values that that bring happiness, family, and and then and then bring in the worship of God, bring in surrender to Jesus. And6:45 and you've got a potent a potent solution to the unhappiness problem in our country. And and and James wants us to know, I'm writing to you so that you will6:56 find happiness. But the word is not happy in the scriptures. The word is blessed. Here's what he says in James chapter 1 verse 25 before we get to our text. He says, the 1 who looks into the perfect7:08 law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be what's the word, everybody? Blessed. In the Greek, it's makarios. It means7:20 happy. He will be blessed in his doing. Now, James has a brother. You might know his brother's name is Jesus. And 1 of the things about James, when you read James, the book of James, is that he sounds a whole7:32 lot like Jesus. In fact, he sounds way more like Jesus than Paul does. And Jesus said, this is how you find happiness. Matthew chapter 5 verse 3. He said, blessed or happy are7:44 the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. And James says a lot like7:55 Jesus because he's gonna tell us the way to be happy is not what you think. The way to be happy is not what the world or the culture tells you. In fact, it's actually counterintuitive8:07 to what you think naturally makes you happy. The world tells you to live for yourself, get what you can, create your own life, even define your own identity, disconnected from8:19 everything else around you, and you will be happy. And the more we have done that for these last 5 decades, the sadder we've become. Because here's the thing, and I want you to8:31 write this down. It's the first thing I want you to write down. God's way to be happy is not the world's way. Whatever they're selling you on television, whatever you are aiming at in8:43 your life, if it is disconnected from God's plan for you, I'm gonna tell you, it will not end happy. And that's why when I say that this message is Yellowstone and the8:55 secret to happiness, when I read this text, you gonna be like, really? This is the secret to happiness? Because because it doesn't sound very happy. So let's stand together with this in mind. God's way to be happy is not9:06 the world's way to be happy. All of our locations stand for the reading of God's word. Here's what James says, chapter 4 verse 1. What causes quarrels and fights among you? Is it not this that your9:17 passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not9:29 ask. You ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your pleasures or your passions. Now listen to these9:41 words. You adulterous people. By the way, he's talking to Christians, not not the world. You adulterous people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?9:53 Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is for no reason that scripture says, he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell10:05 in us. But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.10:18 Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you10:29 sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Told you it wasn't gonna sound like it was a happiness text. Let your laughter be turned to10:41 mourning, to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord. And now we get this last line. And he will exalt you. This is God's word. Let's10:53 pray. Father, speak to us, even through a combination of culture and scripture. May our eyes be opened. May our ears be11:04 opened. May our hearts be receptive, and may we see Jesus. Him and him only in his mighty name we pray. And everybody said Amen. Amen. God bless you. Have a seat.11:17 When it when it comes to happiness, it's it's not living for yourself. And I don't know how long some of you are gonna have to live to get to that point where you realize that's not the answer to happiness, but you'll11:27 get there. Like I talked about a couple weeks ago, we're always putting something up there as God. We're always putting something up there as the end game for our happiness, whether it just be getting out of mom and11:38 dad's house, getting out on our own, partying and having a lot of friends, having a lot of followers, social media, impact, influencing, getting a job, 6 figures,11:50 whatever it is. You set something up. Marriage, kids, the white picket fence, the American dream. I was having a conversation with my family the other day, and we were listening to some eighties music. And I I love12:01 eighties music. I just just miss eighties music. It's just so good. Sometimes I just say, Alexa, play eighties music. Well, actually, my wife did. So we were listening to it, and a song came on, and it was a song by,12:11 NXS. And we were talking about the fact that this lead singer killed himself. And my brother-in-law is like, man, why does he kill himself? And we're all like, because you get to the top and you realize you're still dark12:22 inside. You you think something's gonna make you happy. Doesn't make you happy. God's way to be happy is not the world's way. And some of you, I if you listen up to what James is saying, you're gonna save12:34 yourself decades of chases, something that will not make you happy. I mean, you just gotta look at culture in the world and the people and the celebrities who should be the happiest and12:46 sometimes the most miserable people on the planet. And you know who I know who's happy? Tell you who I know who's happy. The people who give their lives and their futures into the hands12:58 of Jesus Christ. They're just the happiest people I know. They they they and I mean that they don't have trials and troubles. I mean, they do. But they know that no matter what, God is working with them and God is13:09 walking with them and God is working through them to make them what he wants them to be. And so I got 4 points from James' text here on how to be happy. Write this down. Happiness happens, number 1, when13:21 I identify the problem inside, not outside. These often were so quick to say, the problem is out here. The problem is I don't live in the right neighborhood. The problem is I don't have the right house. The problem is I13:33 don't have the right friends. Problem is I married the wrong person. The problem is I don't have the right job. The problem is these people don't respect me. And thus James, he's taken on Christians who are looking just13:43 like the world because they're as they're miserable. They're fighting. They're fussing. They're they're acting a lot like John Dutton's family. They're hating on each other, unforgiving each other, not forgiving each13:53 other. They're they're attacking each other out to get each other. And then he says, he just I mean, diagnosis, friend. Here's the diagnosis. Sometimes you gotta hear a diagnosis that you don't wanna hear. Verse 1, he14:05 says, what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? It's this. It's your passion. Somebody say passions. Passions. Inside of you. The problem's not outside.14:17 The problem's inside. And that is the bible's number 1 prescription for your life every time. The bible will not try to solve things14:29 that we want solved. Like, there's this whole argument. Why doesn't the Bible address slavery the way we want it to rest to address slavery? Because the Bible is not out to reform the cultural laws. The Bible is out to14:41 redeem the human heart. And if we redeem the human heart, the culture will follow. But what we what we all do, and especially in this country, is we all get worked up every single 4 years14:53 about how if we could just get the right politician into the Oval Office, if we could just get the right senator, if we could just get the right governor, the right mayor, then we will fix these problems. And every year,15:02 every 4 years especially, we get duped into believing that someone could be the savior. My friend, there's only 1 savior. His name's Jesus Christ. And he's the only 1. And by the way, he's already been working15:14 for 2000 years to change the world. 1 soul at a time, not from the outside, but from the inside. And what we see in this show15:25 is what we see in ourselves, what we see in our lives. The rule is simple on the Dutton Ranch. Live up to the brand. It's a little bit weird. What he does when he takes somebody15:37 into the ranch is he takes a branding iron and brands them right here on their chest. It's weird. But, he gives it to them by grace. He says, this is you're now part of my home.15:49 And, he does this for people who don't have their lives together. He does this for people who are ex criminals, ex cons. He he does this for anybody who's willing to just work. You don't earn the brand. You live up to16:00 it. And people come into the ranch, but then they see that there's rules, and they see that there's you've gotta lay down your life. You've gotta start saying no to what you want and yes to what John wants to do.16:12 And they don't like it, so they start doing what we do. They start doing what casual curses do. Oh, thank you, Jesus, for salvation. Now I'm gonna go do my own thing. This is especially true in his own family with a guy16:23 named Jamie. Jamie wants to be powerful. There's a great moment where they ask his girlfriend asked him, what do you want? And he says, I want power. And Jamie would do almost anything to keep it and get it. And16:35 then Casey is kinda in a in a tough situation. His other son's in a tough situation because he married a Native American girl, so he's kinda, like, siding against dad with dad. He doesn't know where he is.16:47 And you see there's only 1 real loyal guy in the whole show. His name is Rip. Rip's the kid that he found on the streets, gave him a home, branded him, put16:59 him up in the bunkhouse, and he climbed a ladder and became his number 1 associate. I'm your Rip today, and you don't mess with Rip on the show, man. You you17:11 you do something wrong, Rip's gonna get you. He's a lot like the Holy Spirit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Pastor Rip. Yeah. But Rip is Rip is really like the Holy Spirit because the whole17:23 you know, if you disobey to a certain extent, Rip will kill you. Kinda like the Holy Spirit. That's what the Holy Spirit did to Ananias and Sapphira, didn't he? They wanted to use the17:35 ranch for their own glory. There's people under the auspices of the church. They wanna use God for their plan. They they they are in the17:47 house, but they lust for the foreign land like the prodigal son Because because they've made something their main thing. And and and it becomes their possession. And I want you to write this down in your own life because17:58 this is what James is diagnosing for us. When a possession becomes a passion, it creates friction. Whatever you're setting up is that's I've got to have this, or I'm just18:10 not gonna be happy. I've got to be this, or I'm just not gonna want to live anymore. You've just allowed a passion to become I mean, possession to become a passion. And18:22 what John Dutton keeps doing is defending the land and making sure that people understand, this is my house. This is my land. And you gotta follow the rules. You gotta listen to my word. I'll protect you.18:34 I'll guide you. I'll change things for you. I'll help you. But it's gotta be my way. There's this great scene where tourists come onto the property, and John Dutton's driving his truck. Lot of truck lot of truck18:46 driving in this show. Driving his truck down his property line, and he sees these tourists messing with a bear. And this little picture of us, we mess with things that could kill us. We think it's friendly, but it's not.18:57 And then they start saying, there's no reason for you to have all this land, and his response is amazing. So watch this.19:14 It's amazing this show's on television. Alright. When a possession becomes everything, when something becomes everything, there's friction. And that's where a lot of our problems come from19:26 because we want something. We want that. We we want what they got. We we want that position, that that place. Look. The book of James is filled with this in the church. In19:37 James chapter 2, he talks about the fact that they're showing favoritism. They're giving the rich man preference, and they're making a poor man sit on the floor. He's like, that's that's a child of God. You're19:48 mistreating. Why? Because you wanna you wanna cozy up to the rich people because you want their life. In chapter 3, he says, look. Not many of you should be teachers because you're gonna be judged more strictly. How many19:59 times I've seen in my own life, in my own ministry, that the people who wanted to be in charge didn't have the character to keep them there. How many know that talent can bring you20:11 where character can't keep you? And this is what God is about. He's not about giving you things before he's about changing your life, changing you,20:22 directing you into the things that matter, making you what he wants you to be. It's never about what you have. It's about who you are becoming.20:35 Number 2, happiness happens when I examine the sincerity of my spirituality. Me let me unpack this because I think there's a lot of people in the American20:47 church, particularly, who are in the church but not in Christ. They show up. They do the songs. They sing. They listen. They might even give20:59 some money, but but their heart is not really for God and his glory. And they're using like the Dutton family, like the Dutton kids, they're using the name21:11 to promote their own agenda. This is what James says in verse 2, diagnosis still. What does he say? You desire and you do not have, so you murder and you covet. You have you and you cannot obtain. You fight and you21:22 quarrel. And then he says, you do not ask. You have because you do not ask. That's like prayer. And then he says, but please, let's be honest about your prayers. Let's get real. He says, because when you ask, you21:34 don't receive because you ask wrongly. Your heart's wrong. You wanna just get things from God. You want him to bless you and21:46 not disturb you. Oh, that that should be tweeted right there. Because there's a lot of people in the church. That's what they want. They want God to bless them, but not disturb them.21:57 Don't take over my life. Just enhance it. No. It doesn't work like that. Doesn't work like that. This thing, this Christianity is like the brand of the Dutton Ranch. It comes with a cost, and22:09 the cost is your entire life. That's why Jesus said, you wanna come after me? Wonderful. Hate your life. Hate your very self. Hate your mom, your22:21 kids, everybody. You gotta set everything aside because your love for me has to be the number 1 thing above every other thing in your life. And he says, if you lose your life for my22:33 sake, then you'll find it. It's about the heart. I I I call it sanctified selfishness. Because we just think, oh, yeah. I'll do22:45 the thing. And and here's how you know if you're in the sanctified selfishness camp. Because you came to church today thinking that God will owe you on Monday. Well, I I went to church.22:57 I did what you wanted, Lord. It's like the older son in the prodigal story. The older son, what does he say to the father when this when the older when the younger son comes back? He's mad, and he won't go to the party.23:07 And what does he say to the father? He says, all these years, I've slaved for you, and you never ever gave me 1 goat to celebrate with my friends. Imagine having that attitude23:19 to think that that god just works you as a slave and never gives you anything. That's that's sanctified selfishness. You can look holy on the outside, but on the inside, you're just as hedonistic23:31 as the pagans you point your accusing finger at. And that's the problem of Pharisees. They wanted the glory. They wanted to use God's kingdom for their own glory. That's what Jesus23:43 that's why Jesus was always ripping on them, man. He he ripped them constantly. Blind guides, whitewashed tombs. You guys are full of dead men's bones23:55 because you want the glory, and you'll use God to get it. Oh, I wonder who's here. And this needs to be a gut check for you to say, look. Yeah. I do want this in my life.24:08 But if I don't get this, I'm okay. Like, that's okay. If God says no, I will still follow him.24:20 If God does not let me get the marriage that I want, if God does not let me get the child that I want, if God does not heal this disease, if God does not fix this situation, I will still trust my24:32 savior because he's got a bigger picture and a bigger plan than I understand. And I'm telling you, this is spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is learning24:43 to trust God when your flesh is ticked off at him. When you just don't wanna believe, when you just don't wanna talk about it, when you just manage your24:55 situation. And and you've been praying about it, but but really, if we dig way down deep to the recesses of your heart, if you find it, there's gonna be a little bit of selfishness there. And the Lord25:07 wants that out because only he can make you happy. Number 3, happiness happens when I commit to the God who loves me.25:19 This is this is what James is saying. I know it doesn't sound like a happy text, but it is. It really, really is. It's the secret. It's it's why I say it's the secret to happiness because it's not just do these 525:31 things and be happy. No. Let's examine your condition, your spiritual condition, and then we will find happiness. So25:43 here comes the scalpel. Verse 4, you adulterous people. Thank you, James. You adulterous people. What's25:55 adultery? Adultery is when you're messing around with the person you're not married to. And and this is a this is a sadness26:07 inducing spiritual reality for people in the church. Something is your god and is not god. He says, don't you know that if26:18 you are friends with the world, there's gonna be enmity? The word is enmity. It could be translated hostility between you and God. And then he says, because if you want to be a friend of the world, you're making yourself26:30 an enemy of God. Like, this is again, diagnosed adultery will jack up your life in a regular human marriage. Right? It will. It26:42 will mess up everything. It will give you no peace. It will give you no satisfaction. It gives you temporary pleasure and long term26:54 pain. And then you've gotta do secret management, and he's just not happy. In fact, this is where a lot of people27:06 end up, not because they're committing physical adultery necessarily, but they're committing spiritual adultery. They so desperately want the world to like them. They27:18 want to be known in the world. They want to measure up to the world in in popularity, in influence, in power, in27:30 income, monetary possessions. You wanna be just like the world. And what you real have to realize is that you are married to God.27:43 And this is why he says in verse 5, I love verse 5. It's the boast is the best is the best verse of this text. He says, don't you suppose it's no purpose it's no purpose that the scripture says? He yearns jealously over27:55 the spirit that he's made to dwell in us. In other words, here's what he's saying. I gotta put this actually, this verse in the New Living Translation. It says the scriptures say that God is passionate that the spirit he28:06 has placed within us should be faithful to him. Look at that passage again. The scriptures say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. Which I love this28:17 text. Because here's what it's telling you. It's telling you that when you are a Christian, when you've got the brand of God in your heart, you will not be happy apart28:29 from him. He put a spirit in you, the Holy Spirit. And when you wander, the Holy Spirit is sitting there in your heart saying, this ain't right.28:42 You shouldn't do this. You're not gonna feel you're you're not gonna find what you're looking for here. You're you're not gonna get what you think you're gonna get. And then we blow it. We mess it up. We're like, oh my28:52 goodness. And the Holy Spirit's like, come back to God. Come back to God. That's where you belong. He learn yearns jealously. Now we think, oh, God is jealous. That's that's not as negative. Isn't jealousy a sin? Not29:04 when you're jealous for what is rightfully yours. See, my wife and I were married, and, we have 3 kids and 2 dogs, and we're about as combined as you can29:15 get. And, we'll go on date breakfasts because we're in our forties now. That's what happened. You go from date night to date breakfast.29:27 That's what happens. Okay? And we have a special place. We like it. It's breakfast place down the street from us. If I woke up 1 Friday, which is our date breakfast day, and I said, what are you doing? And she29:39 goes, oh, I'm going to breakfast. Oh, okay. I'll come. No. No. No. Oh, why not? Oh, I'm going with another guy. Who? Who? What? I don't29:51 know. You are the every other week breakfast date guy. This is my other week breakfast date guy. As a husband, wouldn't I have the30:03 absolute righteous right to burn, to be ticked? Now Cheryl doesn't do that, so don't start looking at her accusingly. Well, when I have I30:15 mean, seriously, when I have and no 1 would fault me for that. In fact, you would say, that's a good husband. That's a good husband. He loves his wife. Don't wanna share it with anybody. Listen. This is what a good god30:26 is. Someone that don't wanna share you with anybody. He loves you. He wants you. He wants you to be close to him. That's what30:38 the spirit of God does inside of us. He refuses to let us be happy outside his will and purpose. So you gotta write this down, little little play30:49 on our cultural epitaph today. God sees our relationship like a marriage, not friends with benefits. There's so many Christians that want that kind of31:01 relationship with God, friends with benefits. I'll go cheat on you, Lord, but, you know, I know you'll be gracious enough to forgive me, so if you could just give me a couple of weeks off, and I'll just serve the flesh31:11 for while and come back. No, no, no, no. It's marriage, man. We're the bride of Christ. He is the bridegroom. When Paul talks to the Galatians, he weeps over them. He says, listen. I31:23 I I committed you to 1 husband. That's you're you're committed to him is Christ and Christ alone. And and anybody who's truly in Christ31:34 cannot be happy in sin because the spirit of God will jealously burn in them and bring them back to him every single time.31:45 Now, is 1 particular character on the show Yellowstone that I absolutely love other than Rip. His name is Jimmy. Jimmy is a former31:57 con. He's, in and out of jail. He's a drug addict. He's an orphan. He's got no life. He's living in a trailer. I think he's doing meth. And because of some agreement32:09 that John Dutton made with his father, early on in the show, you don't have to get very far into it, John sends Rip to go rescue Jimmy out of his life. And Jimmy doesn't wanna go. It's lot32:21 like some of us. We didn't wanna become Christians, and the Lord just said, no. You're gonna become a Christian. And, he pulls him out of that trailer, and he puts him onto the ranch, and he brands him. But Jimmy's32:33 old nature is still in him, and he keeps trying to do his own thing. He tries to go and ride bucking Broncos to make money on the side, and he breaks his word, and he's dishonest and costs him. He almost32:44 dies. He almost dies because of his own foolishness, a lot like many, many Christians. And, so to fix Jimmy32:56 be because of the agreement that John Dutton had with Jimmy's father, John Dutton doesn't kill him, doesn't bring him to the train station. He decides he's gonna train him. So he sends him down to Texas to33:08 a ranch called the 4 sixes, 6 6 6 6, and, the Sixes Ranch, sends him down there, and he's gonna learn how to become a proper cowboy because the love or the the vow, the commitment33:20 that John Dutton has made to his father compels him not to punish him but to transform him. And so this scene is particularly precious. He arrives on33:32 this Sixes ranch, and he's not even sure what he what he's doing there and what he's wanting what he wants to become. Watch this.33:48 You can't be happy if you're not doing what the Lord has made you to do. This is why John will say, first John 2 15, do not love the world or the things in the world. And then he makes this34:00 qualifier. If anybody loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. No. No. I'm not he's not saying don't love people. Of course, we love people. We're even called in scripture to love our enemies.34:13 We're called we're called to bless those who hate us and persecute us. But he's talking about the systems of this world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.34:25 Our culture has made a virtue out of pride. And every year, celebrate pride. Like, wait. What? This has totally changed, totally34:35 upended the scriptural truth that here's who God listens to, someone who humbles themselves, doesn't brag about themselves, lays down what they34:47 want, and becomes what he wants. Brings me to number 4. Happiness happens when I surrender to the God who loves me. See, the difference between34:59 a churchgoer and those in Christ is 1 word. Here it is. Surrender. Give up. You know why we35:11 raise our hands in church? You know why we do that? You know why we at the end of our services at all of our locations, we ask people to raise their hand as if they said the prayer to say yes to Jesus. You know why we do35:19 that? Because the universal symbol of surrender is and the funny thing is is the symbol of surrender is also another symbol. When our35:31 sports team wins, what do we do? It's kind of ironic that the same symbol for surrender is a symbol for victory. Here's why. Because the moment35:43 that you surrender to Jesus, you win. You win. You become a victor in Christ. You win over the flesh, the hell, the devil, and even35:55 your own stubborn sick self, which is why James does not close on a bad note. This is not a bad note. This is a hopeful note. He says in verse 6, he gives more36:07 grace. How many of you loves you some more grace? He says, look. Therefore, it says, God opposed to the proper but gives grace to the humble. Submit or surrender. Submit yourselves, therefore, to36:19 God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Listen, some of you are trying to resist the devil, but you're not yet submitted to God. And you can't properly resist the devil until you submit to God.36:30 You've got to say no to you and yes to him. And then the victory starts to happen. There's this moment in Acts 19 where the guy is trying to cast out the name to cast out the36:42 demons in the name of Paul, in of Jesus whom Paul preaches. This high priest's sons. It's oh, in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, cast you out, cast you the demon stalks back to them. He says, Paul, I know,36:55 and Jesus, I know. But who are you? And he jumps on the guy and beats them to a pulp because they tried to have this third party relationship to Jesus,37:07 and they had no victory over the devil. You've gotta surrender to God to get victory over the devil. Or as the great preacher Adrian Rogers37:19 once said, you gotta get under what God has put over you to get over what God has put under you. I'll say it again. You gotta get under what God has put over you to get over what God has put under37:31 you. And and you'll never have spiritual victory until you surrender it. I'm just telling you. And please beware of this, Christians. You will have a lot of material victory without surrendering to God, and37:43 it'll it'll it it might mess with you. It might play with you to make you think you're actually on the right course, but it's actually, it's not surrender. It's just sanctified selfishness. You gotta you gotta say no to37:54 that. This what's the answer? Okay. Here's the answer. Are you ready for it? Verse 8, draw near to God, and he would draw near to you. I love that verse.38:06 I tell you that that is 1 of my favorite verses in the entire bible. Why? Because it tells me that I am as close to God as I wanna be right now. You draw38:18 close to God, he will draw near to you. That's the promise. But the problem is we don't know how to draw near. Good news. James gives us the solution. Here's how you draw near. You ready? Cleanse your hands, you sinners.38:31 Admit you've messed up. Admit you're wrong. That's what becoming a Christian is. It's not going to church. It's not reading the Bible. It's not singing the songs. It's admitting you're wrong.38:43 And he's right. And this is his ranch, not yours. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and then purify your hearts, you double minded. Don't try to serve the Lord and the38:55 world. Be wretched and mourn and weep, and let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Why is that there? There's a there's a phrase that clears this up for us in Ecclesiastes when39:06 Solomon says, it's better for you to go to a house of mourning than to a party. Better to go to a funeral than to a wedding.Show more
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