Truth Bomb: Part 4

as we get started I do want to clear up

a little misconception from last week a

little miscommunication on my part my

wife listened back to the uh sermon and

by the way if you do want to listen back

to the sermon you can go back and watch

it on video or you can join us uh with

our new podcast which is available on

Apple and Spotify podcast just look for

sawers Creek sermons type it in your

search bar you can find it I had about

five people uh that said they wanted to

be able to listen to the sermons through

their airpods without video based

content being turned on like in the car

at the gym or whatever I was like okay

cool um so here you go if if that's you

if that's what you want go back and

listen to the sermon if you missed it

last week and you can do it in podcast

form but uh like And subscribe too

anyway um I always wanted to say that uh

I watch a lot of YouTube with my

daughter so anyway um but I did say that

uh on my third date with my wife that we

went to Outback Steakhouse and that she

ordered the blooming onion uh she

reminded me that on our third date back

then that she did not eat onions she

actually hates onions and so she said

that uh it it wasn't an onion it was

actually cheese fries and if it was

cheese fries it was probably 100% me

that ordered that appetizer and she's

absolutely right I can it it makes sense

to me but friends that is why um truth

is not relative okay because it causes

trouble like that truth cannot be

relative truth has to be absolute it has

to be the same for everywhere uh the

same everywhere for everyone at all

times therefore truth has to come from a

higher power not my wife but actually a

higher power uh someone that created us

and created everything else and that

person gets to speak truth and of course

we know truth comes from God and His

truth was made flesh in the form of

Jesus so when Jesus speaks sometimes he

drops truth bombs that shake up our

culture that shake up the things that we

uh believe uh so I'm preaching through

this sermon series called Truth bombs uh

I was doing it to clear out space uh for

more people to um because I thought you

guys wouldn't like this very much but

actually our attendance has spiked as

we've talked about really difficult

truth so thank you for being willing to

come back and sit under the authority of

God and let him speak truth into our

lives even when it's like truth bomb

number one which says just because you

believe it doesn't make it true and then

we had truth bomb number two which says

putting ourselves first is one of the

most natural things that we do and then

last week we ched talked about truth

bomb number three which says you are not

enough and today we're going to talk

about truth bomb uh number four but

before we get there we have to play a

little game um so what I need you to do

is just repeat after me say

true now say false false okay we're

going to play true false I'm going to

ask you a question you tell me whether

it's true or false and you say it at

that exact same level so everybody can

hear you that way when you're wrong we

can shame you publicly no I'm just

kidding hey starting easy God loves

you good job God God has a wonderful

plan for your

life life is meant to be

enjoyed o that got weird yeah all right

maybe maybe all right number four last

one it doesn't matter what you do as

long as you're

happy all right so these statements get

a little bit more confusing near the end

they uh people are less likely to shout

out false than they are true because we

love to talk about how God loves us and

how he has a plan for our lives what we

don't often like to talk about is the

fact that it doesn't matter what you do

as long as you're happy is actually a

prevalent uh thought in our society and

we don't like to talk about that because

we we it sounds true but it's not

actually true so what I call that one is

the we're going to call it today the

happy little lie there there's this

happy little lie that's going out in our

culture uh today it's been around

forever but it says basically above all

God wants me to be happy above all God

wants me to be happy now that I've

brought that up you will notice it in a

lot of the marketing that is geared

toward you okay so just be ready this

week you're going to be like oh they're

trying to lie to me that's the happy

little lie it says that Above All Else

God wants me to be happy the Happy

little lie says that our happiness is

God's highest purpose now what happens

when you believe that lie is that it

completely inverts the role of God and

in our life when you believe that lie

you become the master and God becomes

the

servant if you believe that lie God

becomes like a cosmic vending machine so

let's say you want some Cheetos right so

you want some Cheetos you go to the

vending machine you put your money in

you push A10 and it drops some Cheetos

out you get your snack and you're happy

well that's the way a lot of people

approach God they're like well I want my

marriage to be better so I'm going to go

to God and I'm going to put my money in

so I'm going to tithe and go to church

and pray and do all the religious stuff

and and then you know push the button

and everything will be great at the

house and I'll be happy what happens

when your Cheetos get

stuck seems to have happened to a few of

you

before but what happens if your your

your Cheetos get stuck what well or even

worse what happens if you go and you

press A10 for the Cheetos but it drops

the A1

funions look friends there is nothing

fun about a

funion I hate funion funions have tried

to this is the premium content you pay

me for right here funions have tried to

kill me on numerous occasions don't

believe me okay fine I went and took a

youth group to West Virginia on a ski

trip uh these these uh kids were all

from Henderson North Carolina so many of

them had never been in the mountains

before and I had one one rule in my

actually two rules I had to the rule

number one was you had to leave six

inches between you and your boyfriend

okay that's called leaving room for the

holy spirit so when we're sitting there

in youth group holy spirit's got six

inches between you two the other rule

the only other one was that you could

not bring funions in the church van if I

was driving simple rule right well

Meredith I won't say her last name but

I'll say her first Meredith decided that

she was going to bring some funions on

the ski trip and she opened her bag of

funions in the van on the way to the ski

resort now I smelled them immediately

but what's worse is the students that

were in the van with her also smelled

them immediately and these Flatlanders

had never been in West Virginia

mountains before so their stomachs were

not used to that um and so as the smell

spread the stomachs did what stomachs do

and I had to pull over really quick

we'll just say that okay so I had to

pull off the side of the road really

quick and you know so I pull over and

there's a truck behind us and he's

coming down this snowy icy roads and he

loses control and he missed our church

van by this much funions are not fun

okay if you learn nothing else today so

I guess our podcast will not be

sponsored by funions all

right nothing fun about a funion all

right here's the

deal if you

believe that your happiness is God's

Chief concern for your life then then in

those moments where you are unhappy in

those moments where you go to get your

Cheetos and they get stuck in the cosmic

vending machine in those moments where

you say hey God I want this thing this

needs to happen this has to happen but

then God gives you the exact opposite of

what you've asked for if you believe the

happy little lie then you are going to

believe that God doesn't care you are

going to believe that God doesn't

doesn't love you or you may even believe

that God is not real I I have friends in

my my friend Circle that believe this

happy little lie they don't go to church

because they're like hey I I went to

church I did that I played that game I

put $20 in the offering plate you know I

went for a month straight and guess what

I'm still broke and I'm still living in

a difficult marriage and I'm working a

job that I hate see they believe the

happy little lie that God's priority in

their life is to make them happy and

when they're not they get upset at God

as if he is not taking care of them as

if he doesn't love them or maybe he

isn't even real all because of a happy

little lie here's the truth from

scripture God is real God loves you and

God cares about you and God Delights in

your happiness the same way that parents

Delight in the happiness of their

children I love it when my children are

happy when my daughter was much younger

she she loved chocolate covered Donuts

but she also hated

Donuts so we would go to the store and I

would get her chocolate covered donuts

and she would lick the icing off of the

donuts and I wish I could tell you today

that I did not eat the

donuts but this is a story about truth

right

so why did I pay for those donuts if all

she was going to do was lick the icing

off the donuts I did it because I love

my little girl and I Delight in her

happiness but friends her happiness is

not my top

priority when she wants donuts for

dinner every single night I say no when

she wants Snapchat on her phone you know

what I say no when she SK wants to skip

school and go to the mall I say let me

think about it okay no I said no why

because I have higher priorities for my

children's life life than their

happiness I have spiritual goals

educational goals physical goals that

I've set for them that are higher than

their happiness so here's truth bomb

number four God Delights in your

happiness but not at the expense of your

Holiness God Delights in your happiness

but not at the expense of your Holiness

join me in First Peter chapter 1 verse

1 Peter 1:14

14 God Delights in your happiness but

not at the the expense of your Holiness

this is what God

says as obedient children that's us do

not be conformed to the desires of your

former ignorance you didn't know any

better but then someone introduced you

to Jesus and you started to uncover the

truth about life and you started to

apply the teachings of Jesus to your

life you gave your life to him you were

saved and you were baptized but friends

that that old former life it still kind

of clings to you a little bit so you

have to make sure that you don't conform

to those old desires that you had when

you were ignorant about who God was then

he says in verse 15 but as the one who

called you is Holy you also are to be

holy in all of your conduct for it is

written be holy because I am

Holy God did not say be happy because I

am

happy God's Chief concern for your life

is not your happiness it's your Holiness

he says be holy as I am Holy so what is

the word holy well it's a it's a Greek

word here it's heos or heos it means to

be set apart it means to be different

from the world in the way that you are

dedicated to God and his kingdom to be

set apart for God's purposes you are

chosen you are loved Jesus died on the

cross for you Jesus gave you his holy

spirit as a gift on the day of your

conversion You Are Holy you are set

apart you are different you are

dedicated to God and you are dedicated

to God's kingdom purposes God says be

holy as I am Holy but the problem with

this happy little lie is that it says

whatever makes me happy must be right so

it causes us to overvalue things like

comfort and convenience and pleasure and

the inverse that this happy little lie

tells us that whatever makes me unhappy

must be wrong and what it does is

undervalues discomfort and inconvenience

and pain you see when happiness

supersedes Holiness we start to believe

that our purpose in life is to pursue

pleasure and avoid pain here's the

problem and there are several that I'm

going to list out the first one is what

brings us pleasure isn't always good for

us and what causes pain isn't always bad

for us now friends understand this God

does not cause the pain in your life

James says that God is not the author of

evil he does not bring evil into your

life he does not bring pain into your

life but what God does is he allows pain

to happen he will allow discomfort he

will allow inconvenience into your life

he will never let you be tempted beyond

what you can bear in his strength but

there are times where he lets things

slip through that that impact you and

make you feel unhappy but the good news

about our God is that he never wastes a

hurt he always has a plan to redeem the

pain and this difficulty that you might

be going through it's just a growing

season where you will learn something

where you will gain something where you

will become someone that you could have

never become aside from going through

this season of discomfort and

inconvenience and pain so that's prob

number one problem number two is when we

believe the happy little lie we're more

likely to rationalize our sin when we

believe the happy little lie we're like

well God must want me to be happy so I'm

going to engage in these things that

bring me temporary pleasure at the

expense of long-term Joy problem number

three when we believe the little lie

we're more prone to quit on

relationships when they don't make us

happy because covenants are here and

happiness is here so if that's not

making us happy we're more likely

to

leave problem number four when we

believe the laow we're more likely to to

gossip or problem three sorry when we

believe the LA we're more likely to

gossip why because it gives us immediate

gratification gossip is the slander and

criticism th those three things are the

easiest way to get attention if you want

to hold court and have people surround

you and listen to things that you have

to say start to criticize gossip and

slander and you will build an audience

and what happens is people are seeking

their their happiness they will engage

in these activities because their

happiness is based on how many people

notice them now problem number four when

we believe that lie we're more likely to

pop off at the employee at the fast food

place when they forget to put something

in our order or if they wheel into the

parking lot ahead of us and get the good

parking spot we're like I am a child of

the

king how dare you peasants pull into

that parking spot at the Walmart that I

had my eye on before you even though

you're getting ready to walk around the

wall anyway it makes no sense to me that

30 ft is such a big deal to so many

people but here's the point when you are

seeking your own happiness anyone and

anything that gets in the way of your

happiness automatically becomes the

villain they're the evil person and so

it's so much easier to engage in uh

behaviors that are Unbecoming of

Christians so look at this I could go on

forever but those are just four of them

the happy little lie is the Catalyst for

immoral Behavior broken relationships

widespread gossip and hurtful

Behavior that's why Jesus wants to drop

this truth bomb into the middle of our

culture because he wants you to

understand that Holiness and happiness

are not opposing

values Holiness and happiness are not

opposing

values Holiness and happiness do not

compete with each other they actually

compliment each other so the happy

little L would tell you that you have to

go somewhere apart from God to be able

to pursue

happiness it will tell you that God's

good on a Sunday between 10 and 12 but

the rest of the week you better find

something else to make you happy because

God is not going to be able to do so

living under the authority of God and

his word and his teachings is going to

be something that is not going to bring

you

happiness but happiness is not based on

what it's based on who so for example

the year was

1995 I know the the old days as my

daughter calls them the the olden times

Olden 90s uh so it's was 1995 and guess

what I got my driver's license and I had

a

1985 Toyota Camry it was white when I

got it I painted it black really bad

paint job but I also got the mirror tint

you know on the windows and I got those

uh those rims not the real rims but the

ones you get at Walmart that are like

plastic and you like push them over top

of your steel wheels so they look like

you have rims you know then they fly off

when you're driving but whatever yeah

all right so so I had the the the ratest

hoopie on the Block you know why because

it was the only car on the Block I was

the first person to get a car and it was

amazing girls would talk to me it was

incredible and then at school we we used

to have these like lunch table clicks

right and like there was the cool kids

table I got invited to sit at the cool

kids Table after I got my car and got my

license life was good until

Jared Jared got a 1993 fox body Mustang

and painted that baby bright red and all

those girls that used to talk to me

they're like who are you that cool table

that I used to sit at they're like

there's no room for you anymore why I

got replaced guess what happiness can be

replaced if your happiness is found in a

what that that what only lasts for so

long that what only makes you happy till

you think of something else that would

make you more happy that you don't have

then that what's not as good anymore or

that watt is not as cool as it used to

be and so now you're left unhappy

because you built your life around a

watt happiness found in a what is like a

dog chasing its tail it is pointless so

God tells us don't find your happiness

in idols

find your happiness in Who You Are We

Are Holy because God is Holy we are

chosen we are loved we are set apart for

God's purpose our identity is not in a

what it's in a who it's in who we are

and we Are

Holy Holiness leads you to happiness

real lasting happiness your new New

Testament would Define that as Joy by

the way Joy something that can never be

taken from you so let's look at an

example from scripture that I think kind

of shows us how this works it's a

negative example his name was King David

and he had it all he had wealth he had

influence he had a verified social media

accounts uh everybody knew who he was

and back in his time they had this crazy

tradition that every spring the Kings

would go to war they're like oh hey it's

springtime again we better go to war

talk about some real March Madness right

just imagine if like they had like Coach

K and and Roy Williams and they gave him

both broadswords and said meet at Center

Court and go to war Every Spring you

know that's what they would do they

would fight every spring and the Kings

would always join in the battle always

without exception the king would be a

part of the battle except for this one

time where King David believed the happy

little lie he thought you know maybe

I'll take this season off maybe I'll

just set this one out maybe I'll just

stay home when everybody else goes to

war because I mean surely God wants me

to be happy he he's like well I I I

UniFi I stopped the Civil War I brought

the northern kingdom and the southern

Kingdom back together he's like I killed

Goliath he's like I brought the Arc of

the Covenant back to Jerusalem you know

I've done enough I'm sure that God just

wants me to be happy so this season I'm

going to take some me time and I'm going

to just set this one out and be happy he

needed a mom like M which would come

alongside him at that point and say hey

an idle mind is the Devil's Playground

not in the Bible by the way but really

good advice but no one had the courage

to tell King David the truth and so he

stayed home and it was during that

season where he believed this happy

little lie that he noticed a beautiful

married woman and he committed adultery

with her he got her pregnant and then to

cover his tracks he had her husband put

on the front lines of the battle and

then asked the other soldiers to pull

back allowing her husband to be

killed this happy little lie LED King

David down a very dark

path but friends I bring him up as an

example because he's a great negative ex

example and a great positive example you

see after this season of his life after

he realized what he had done after he

was uh broken over his sinfulness King

David repented so if that's your story

today maybe you have been chasing

happiness instead of Holiness and you've

compromised a lot of things in your life

and you've caused a lot of problem I

want you to understand that as long as

there's breath in your lungs your story

is not over you can repent because

that's what King David did the word

repent means re which means turn and

pent means seek what is higher so he

turned turned away from the the lower

things of the world that he thought

would bring him happiness he he turned

away from these these low things and he

turned back to who he is in Christ and

he he wrote these words in psalm

16 he says I said to the Lord you are my

Lord I have nothing good beside

you I have nothing good besides you I

love these words he says Lord you are my

portion my cup of blessing you hold my

future you reveal the path of life to me

in your presence is abundant Joy that's

happiness that never goes away in your

presence there is abundant Joy at your

right hand or Eternal pleasure he says

God you alone are my portion you fill me

with joy happiness lasting happiness is

only found in his Holiness see when you

invest in the person that God created

you to be the person that God set you

apart heart to be when you prioritize

your personal relationship with Jesus

this happy little lie it it might give

you some temporary pleasure but it's

also going to open the door to some very

dark places addictions and broken

marriages and crippling financial debt

that's where the LIE takes you but if

you prioritize your personal

relationship with Jesus if you become

the person that he set you apart to

be then these

moments of pleasure that were followed

by months and years of of pain will be

no

more see the pursuit of

happiness at the expense of Holiness has

been verified to be one of the leading

causes of depression and anxiety and

self harm and hopelessness and

loneliness life is always going to be

hard you will not always be happy but

you can always find Joy because God is

good God loves you God cares for you God

is involved in every single detail of

your life God Delights in your happiness

not at the expense of your Holiness but

he Delights in your happiness and that's

why he sent his son Jesus to the Cross

so that you could be saved you don't

have to chase happiness in the world

anymore because the Jesus has given you

the ultimate Joy it said before he went

to the cross that for the joy that was

set before him that's you you get to

partake in his Joy so what we need to do

is stop prioritizing happiness over

Holiness and start prioritizing Holiness

over happiness and then we get to be

happy or as Craig Rochelle says God is

not my ticket to happiness he is my

happiness so let's

pray this very specific prayer

for those of us that are honest enough

to admit that we have prioritized our

happiness over our

Holiness what I want to do is I'm just

going to read the words that David wrote

after he realized what his sin had done

to him and his family and This Woman's

family after he

realized the mistake that he made after

he realized how his Pursuit of Happiness

had led him into a dark dark

path he got a moment of light he got a

Moment of

clarity and he did what David does he

wrote a song about it so if that's you

today you've prioritized your happiness

over your Holiness you you've put the

things of the world ahead of your

relationship with God you're basing your

identity on on what you do and what you

have not on who you are if that's you

your story is not over these words can

be your words so as I read them just

meditate on them and let them be the

prayer of your heart today as God

releases you from that state of sin and

fills you with the spirit and gives you

what you need to truly be happy today

this is Psalm

51 it's the words of

David be gracious to me

God according to your faithful

love according to your

abundance compassion block out my

Rebellion that's repentance block out my

Rebellion confess it this morning

whatever that Rebellion

is say God blot it out remember it no

more yeah I know there'll be

consequences but but God I can be free

and forgiven blot it out and he says

completely wash away my guilt don't let

that thing Define you

anymore completely wash away my guilt

and cleanse me from my sin God create a

clean heart for me

and renew a steadfast Spirit within me I

don't want to do this again I don't want

to fall into that Temptation again

forgive me but not only forgive

me take away the voice of the evil one

that reminds me of the sin and replace

it with a message of

Love renew me give me a

steadfast

Spirit do not banish me from your

presence

do not take your Holy Spirit from me God

won't then he says restore the joy of

your salvation to

me

restore the happiness restore the joy

God I've been seeking it in all these

different places on this earth and the

and the what I do and the what I have

and Lord help me to forget about all

that stuff

and give me real joy joy that's based on

who I am for I am Holy because you are

holy God you set me apart for a purpose

and that purpose was not to chase

happiness that purpose was to enjoy you

here on Earth and enjoy you forever that

purpose was to live out your kingdom

principles and the culture that you've

placed me in to represent Jesus in all

that I do to be your ambassador to be

your billboard to to show people the

love of Jesus the Forgiveness of Jesus

the salvation of Jesus Lord help me to

focus on those things because it's in

those things that I will truly find what

I'm looking for which is purpose and joy

and everlasting

happiness then for the rest of us let's

just focus on what he wrote in psalm 16

we all need to say it we all need to

reflect on it we all need to mean it so

as I read it just internalize it and let

this be the the prayer of your

heart you are my Lord and I have nothing

good besides you it doesn't mean other

things aren't good no what it means is

in comparison to everything else that I

have the best thing that I have before

Me Is You Lord you are my portion you

are my cup of blessing you hold my

future you reveal the path of Life To Me

In in your presence is abundant joy and

at your right hand are Eternal Pleasures

thank you Jesus for that precious

gift Christ's name we pray