The Price of Popularity | Jason Martin

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The price of popularity, okay, the price of popularity?

Okay.

So how many of y'all want to be popular? How

many want to be popular?

Nobody?

Hey, I also want to be popular. You don't want

to be popular? Are you sure?

Yeah? Okay?

Then Micah wants to be very popular in front, But

I'm sure, okay, every one of us? What is popularity?

What is popularity? Popularity is you want people to like you.

Right, and all of us, of course.

We would rather people like us than this like us?

All right, So if you're honest with yourself, most of

us want to be popular.

Okay.

Again, is popularity good or bad? Is popularity good or bad?

It depends, all right, So popularity is.

Not good or bad.

It depends, it depends. It's the same thing as money.

Money is not good or bad, but the love of

money is evil.

Same thing.

Popularity is not bad, but the love of popularity will

be bad. Right, and so let me get my first

slide up today. So purpose versus popularity? Which will you choose?

Which will you choose? So?

Purpose is the road on your on my right, which.

Is the narrow road, and the word road on the.

Left is popularity.

Okay again, now you're if you watch any form of

social media, any form of social media, what becomes trending,

what goes viral? What causes something to go viral? What

causes something to go viral? I'm sure the kids all notice,

or adults. What causes something to go viral? Something goes

viral when it becomes very very popular, right.

It's like a snowball effect.

One person starts liking it and then they start sharing

it with somebody. Somebody else shares it with somebody else,

and soon it becomes like a snowball and it becomes

it goes viral right in terms of it, and that

is popularity. And right now, a lot of people we

are trying to find what is the next thing that

will go viral, you know, but most of the time,

the only thing that goes viral is you know what,

influenza or fever. We try so much, but you know

what goes viral. It's usually your coffee, your flu and

stuff like that. And it's sometimes when you try and

manufacture something to gain popularity, it does not work. It's

organic sometimes it happens organically, right. But on the right

is purpose. So how many of y'all know what your

purpose in life is? Already very big question? What's your

purpose in life? Deserve Jesus?

Wow?

See the kids, So the kids are really paying attention.

So we are going through this year is the year.

The team for this year in this church is disciple first.

So disciple first is we want to be disciples of Jesus,

not just follow us, but disciples.

And one of the purposes of us.

Being alive here is to be a disciple of Christ,

and it is to follow him. So can you follow

Jesus and be popular at the same time?

Are you sure?

Can you be asked that question again? Can you be

popular by being a disciple of Jesus?

Yes?

And no.

You see I'm asking.

Your questions right, because these questions are not straightforward, because

there are Christians who are followers of Christ who are

very popular. Right again, popularity is not bad, but the

love of popularity is bad. Okay, being popular is not bad,

but chasing after popularity is what causes us to go

away from what God intended us to be. All right,

So when we talk about purpose, we know that our

purpose is to be disciple of Christ, all right, So

when you are a disciple of Christ, sometimes it causes

you to be very popular. Sometimes, you know, like there

are some Christian musicians or like for example, you know,

some of the worship songs that we sang, they came

from hill songs, they came from planet shakers, they came

from Actis local return as well. And when they are

disciples of Christ and they came out with worship music,

this worship music became.

Very popular as well.

But it was a good kind of popularity because it

draw all men to worship God. So again, being a

disciple of Jesus doesn't mean that you will not be popular.

There will be times you will be popular, there will

be times where you will be unpopular. But the goal

here this picture, what I'm saying is popularity should not

be our destination. Popularity should not be your destination. Popularity

popularity can be the result.

Of living out.

Your purpose, but popularity should not be our destination.

What does that mean?

That means whatever I'm going to do, I want to

reach popularity. And if that means that I have to

walk away from God to reach popularity, I will do

it because my destination is popularity. Instead, our destination should

be living out the purpose that God has for us.

When you live out the purpose that God has for you,

and along the way, God causes you to be popular,

so be it. But it is not something that we chase.

It can be the result of something, but it's not

something that we should chase.

Right.

So the question is which will you choose? Will you choose.

Purpose and ignore popularity or will you choose popularity and

ignore purpose? Okay, another question I want to ask you

who do you want to be popular with?

Who do you want to be popular with?

Do you want to be popular with people or the

whole world, or do you want to be popular with God?

Because yes, we want to be popular with God.

Right.

And when we want to be popular with God, that

is the same part as our purpose, because we are

doing what God wants us to do. But if we

want to be popular with men, you can you know,

the Bible says you cannot love both God and Mammon,

so you have to choose one. So if you choose

to be popular with the world and that is your destination,

you will walk away from God.

Right.

So that's the question, which will you choose? So I

wanted to show you which one did Jesus choose. Okay,

so let's go to the next line, all right, So

reading from Mark chapter one, at the evening, when the

sun had said, they brought to him all who were

sick and all who are demon possessed.

Right, this was Jesus.

The people brought all who were sick and all who

were demons possessed to Jesus. Okay, and the whole city

was gathered at the door. You know which door was this?

This was the door of Peter's mother's house. Because Jesus

went to Peter's mother's house and healed her. And when

they saw that Peter's mother was healed, suddenly everyone wanted

to be healed. Everyone wanted to be if you had demons,

they wanted to be set free, if they were sick,

they wanted to be healed.

For every need, they came to Jesus. Okay, So they

came to the door.

And then he healed many who were sick with various diseases,

and cast out many demons. And he did not allow

the demons to speak, because they knew him. Now in

the morning, having reason a long way a long while

before daylight. He went out and departed to a solitary place.

Then he prayed, and Simon and all who were with

him search for him. When they found him, they said

to him, everyone is looking for you, so think about it, right,

Jesus went to a city. Okay, Jesus went to a city,

and then he started healing different ones. When he started

healing different ones, everyone, imagine you go to Clang gh

Clang hospital. Have you been a Klang hospital before? He's

really crowded, right, it's really crowded. There are a lot

of people who are going there for treatment. And imagine

if Jesus was there and he started healing one by one,

do you think everyone will come? Everyone came, The whole

city came. The whole city was looking for Jesus. That

made Jesus really really popular. Do you think Jesus was popular.

Everyone wanted to know Jesus, Everyone wanted to be with Jesus.

Everyone wanted to be touched by Jesus. He became very,

very popular, and he became so popular that the next

morning the disciples went out looking for him. They went

out looking for him because hey, everyone is looking for you.

Everyone is still looking for you. You are so popular.

Everyone is looking for you.

Where are you? You know they were looking.

So put ourselves in Jesus's shoes. What would we do

if we were that popular power? Everyone wants to look

for you. You are so popular, you are so famous.

Everyone likes you. Everyone wants to be your friend, everyone

wants to be with you.

What would you do? What would you do?

So the disciples saw that, and then they wanted Jesus

to like, Hey, go and meet all your fans. All

your fans are here, They're all looking for you. You know

what Jesus did next night, Jesus said, he said to them,

let us go into the next town. He ignored all

the fans completely. He ignored all the fans completely. He's instead,

imagine you're like, wow, you got a fan club. Everyone

is here. Everyone wants to throw a party for you.

They probably wanted to make him king. You know, they

probably say that, wow, this guy is amazing. Everyone wants

to be his follower. And instead of basking in the popularity, Hey,

I'm famous, Let people come to me. Let them serve me.

Jesus said, let us go to the next town. And

when he went to the next town, that I may

preach there also because for this purpose I have come forth.

So Jesus's purpose was not to become popular. Jesus's purpose

was to come and preach the gospel. He is the Gospel,

and he wanted everyone to come to know him. He

didn't want to be famous for the sake of being famous.

He wanted to become the person that draws all men

unto God. He wanted to restore God to men. And

because of that he walked away from the crowd. And

a lot of times do we seek for popularity instead

of doing the purpose which God called us to do,

Because again, Jesus was doing what God called him to do.

When Jesus did what God called him to do, it

made him very popular. So again, following Jesus can make

you popular. But the popularity could cause us sometimes to

stop living out of purposes because we just think that, hey,

I want to be popular, that's about it.

I don't want to continue the purpose already.

But for Jesus that popularity was just a fruit, and

he said, hey, I don't want that fruit.

I want to complete my purpose.

Right And if you go back one slide, okay, so

verse thirty five, look at this verse thirty five.

After Jesus is so popular?

Right the next morning, what did he do? Did he

go and check his Facebook post how many people like

chase it? Check his Instagram or Facebook reels, how many

people commented? How many has my followers increased? How many

people are waiting for me?

He didn't. What he did.

The first thing he did is he went out departed

to a solitary place, and there he prayed because for

him he wanted to be popular with God. He didn't

want to be popular with men. He wanted to be

popular with God. And that's why he said, God, I

want to pray to you. What do you want me

to do? And that was when God told him go

to the next city. So sometimes popularity, if we are

not careful, it can stop us from praying because we

think popularity means I have arrived, I am rich, I

am famous, I have everything I need.

It means I have arrived.

Again, popularity is not your destination. It might be the fruit,

but it is not the destination. And if we cause

it to be our destination, we will miss our purpose.

Okay, all right, So that that was actually the context.

So I wanted to now segue into the second part

of this message where I show you someone in the

Bible who was really popular, who started off walking the

purposes of God, but because of popularity, he decided that, hey,

I prefer popularity over my purpose, and because of that

he lost everything. Right, So let me so before we

go into that story, I will go into Matthew eleven.

Okay, next line.

Okay, So Matthew eleven. So Matthew eleven, this was Jesus.

Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John. So

this was Jesus talking to the crowd again. Jesus was

always very popular with the crowds. He was very popular

until he wasn't.

Right.

You see, sometimes popularity can be like that. You can

be very popular and then suddenly, when on the road

to Calvary, everyone left him. But this is Jesus talking

to the crowd about John the Baptist. Okay, so what

do you say? What did you go out into the

wilderness to see? Did you go to see a reed

shaken by the wind? You know, whats a reed?

Lalang? You know whats lalang? I think all our.

Those who don't go to Skala Kabangsaan may not know

what is lala okay, lalang?

Or tall grass?

Tall grass when the wind blows, it will start swaying.

It sways in the direction the wind is blowing. Okay,

So he asked the crowd, did you go out into

the wilderness to see John the Baptist, who is a lalang?

Or did you go in did you go to see

a man's clothed in soft garments? Soft garments most likely

is someone who is very rich, very rich, very comfortable,

has all the luxuries of life. Did you go into

the desert to see someone who is very rich and comfortable? Indeed,

those who wear soft clothing are in the King's house

next night. But what did you go out to see

a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than

a prophet, for this is he whom it is written. Behold,

I send a messenger before your face, who will prepare

your way for you. Assuredly, I say to you. Among

those born of women, there has not risen one greater

than John the Baptist. But he who is least in

the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. So the

multitudes of people they went to the desert. They went

to the desert Jesus asked them, did you go to

see someone who will be swayed by the wind? No?

Do you go out to see someone who is very

rich and very comfortable. No, you went out to see

a prophet. You went out to see someone who is

living out his purpose according to God's will, and that

church this morning. My three points right is actually all

from this scripture. So remember I mentioned you that there

was there is was someone in the Bible who was tall,

who was handsome, who had who was really popular. He

had everything, but he chose popularity and he lost his purpose.

And he guesses who he is? Saul, all right, So

it's correct, it's Saul, King Saul. So I'm not sure

that the video works. So let's let's see.

Your highness, King Saul, the prophet Samuel.

He is here, made the Lord bless you. I have

carried out the Lord's command.

What then is this bleeding of the sheep in my

ears and the lowing of the oxen which I hear.

It's true that the army spared the best of the

sheep and cattle, but they're going to sacrifice them to

the Lord, your God.

We have destroyed everything else. The Lord has anointed you

king of Israel, and the Lord sent you on a

mission and told you go and completely destroy the sinners,

the Amalekites until they are all dead. Why haven't you

obeyed the Lord? But I did obey the Lord. I

carried out the mission he gave me.

I brought back King Agak, but I destroyed everyone else.

Listen, Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better

than offering the fat of rams.

Yes, it's true. I have disobeyed your instructions and the

Lord's command. If the people and did what they demanded, Now,

please forgive my sin and come back with me so

that I may worship the Lord.

I will not go back with you. Since you have

rejected the Lord's command, he has rejected you as king

of Israel. Thus the Lord has torn the kingdom of

Israel from you today and has given it to someone else,

one who is better than you.

All right, Cliffhanger. So that's the short video.

I think if you if you haven't watched it, I

mean for parents and kids, you can watch it.

The whole episode.

And also right, I think this is on a side note,

there's recently been the show The House of David, So

the first episode was also this scene in terms of it, right,

So Saul was a very you know, Saul was the

first king after the people came out of Egypt and

they took over the Canaan land. Saul was the first

king because the israel Light wanted a king. So Samuel

is the one. God chose Samuel to go and say

to annoying Saul and make him the king. And you know,

right Saul, when they chose Saul, they say that, wow,

this guy was tall, he was strong, he was handsome,

he had everything he stood, He stood head and shoulders

above all men.

That means he was really big.

And God chose him to become the king of Israel.

So imagine that your purpose. God's purpose for him was

to become the king of Israel. And Saul was quite

a successful king. You know, he went to war, he

defeated a lot of enemies and this scene here he

just defeated the Amalakites. You know who are the amala Kites.

So the Amalakites are one of Israel's arch nemesis. So

they started attacking Israel the moment they left Egypt. The

moment they left Egypt, these people started attacking Israel. They attacked,

and they were really evil. They were into witchcraft. They

did human sacrifice, the sacrifice children, those kinds of things.

They were really into witchcraft.

So God detested the Amalakites because they were the complete

opposite of God.

God is a god of love.

They were a people of hatred and they wanted to

kill and destroy it. So the God told King Saul,

go and destroy the Amalakites. Go and destroy. And when

he said destroy, he men wipe out everything. That means

the goats, the cows, everything they have, all their jewelry,

everything destroyed, including the king. You must make sure that

you kill the king. And the king's name was agek.

You know, but what did Saul do. Saul, let's go

into Saul did not kill King Agag. He did not

kill King Agag. And you know what he did. He

took all the best cows and the best sheep. He

took the best gold, best jewelry, and he kept it

all and he said, hey, I want to keep all

this because all this is very good. I wanted to

keep this so that I will sacrifice it to God.

Do you think that's a good idea? It sounds like

a good idea of it. You got a good sheep,

goat cow, you got the best jewelry. Why do you

want to destroy it? Isn't it better if you sacrifice

it and give it to God? That's what probably Saul

thought and the people thought. But again God's command is

very clear. Destroy everything, including the king, and then he

will give the Israelites victory over over the Amalekites forever. Okay,

So the first point today is this, will you follow

the crowd when it comes to purpose versus popularity? Will

you follow the crowd? Will you follow the crowd? So

how does this tie to Matthew eleven? Next as they departed,

Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, what

did you go out into the wilderness to see a

reed shaken by the wind?

A reed shaken by the wind.

So when we are following a crowd, you know what

is the crowd?

The crowd is the wind.

So one day the crowd says that hey, let's all

go this way, and if you.

Are a read.

And alalam, you will follow wherever the wind blows.

And you say, the crowd says let's go left, You

go left.

But God asks you to go right, the crowd tells

you that, hey, actually going to church on a Sunday

is you don't have to really do it. You know,

it's better to sleep in on a Sunday, for example,

because that's what the crowd says. If you are a

read you will follow whatever the crowd.

Says.

If you're saying that, another example would be, hey, you

don't have to always you always have to look out

for yourself, you know, you know, survival of the fittest.

That means, right, I don't care who am I going

to hurt as long as I get to the top,

I don't care who am I going to stab? Because

the main goal is popularity. So if the crowd tells

you that, hey, don't care who you hurt, Let's go

this way because this is more popular, and.

You follow, then you will be like the reader.

But if you are a tree that is planted by

the river with strong roots, whatever the crowd tells you

to do, you will not move. You will not be

sweet by it. So let's see how Saul was sweet

next night, So Samuel said, when you were little in

your own eyes, were you not the head of the

tribes of Israel? So Saul was already the head of

the tribes of Israel, and did not the Lord annoying you,

king over Israel, Now that the Lord has sent you

on a mission and said, go and utterly destroy the sinners,

the Amalakites, and fight against them until they are consumed

or destroyed. Why then did you not obey the voice

of the Lord. Why did you soup down on the spoil?

Swow down on the spoil?

Is that they took all the gold, silver, all the

precious stuff and do evil in the sight of God.

You know what was Saul's reply when Samuel asked him this?

Next like then, Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned,

for I have truansscrased the command of the Lord and

your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

So sometimes the voice of the crowd is louder. The

voice of the crowd has more impact on your decision

than what God tells you to do. And why is that?

It's because we are tuning in our years to the crowd.

What did Jesus do the first thing in the morning

before day break?

He prayed.

When he prayed, it means he tuned his years to God.

He didn't tune his ears to the crowd. And that's

why when the disciples came and said where are you?

Everyone is looking for you, he already got his instructions

from God and said, okay, let's do go to the

next town, because that's what God wants.

Us to do. So for us as well.

Right, even as we are coming to the end of

this year, right, we're coming to the end of this year.

Most of the time we will do our New Year's resolution,

maybe like a few days before December, you think, or

if you're fortunate, sometimes thirty first of December eight next year,

tomorrow is New Year's I need to come up with

a plan for next year. Why not start today because

our purposes. As we plan for twenty twenty six, let's

ensure that we are listening to the right voice instead

of the voice of the crowd. Because who was King Saul?

The people needed to listen to Saul, not the other

way around. When when we listen to people who we

are not supposed to listen, then we will be directed

in their ways. But if we listen to God, then

he will direct our path. Right, So that's the first point.

Will you listen to the crowd second point, will you

chase comfort? Will you chase comfort? You know this picture

is this guy probably holding his purpose. That's the best

depiction of purpose again, gell A, you know, probably the seed,

the seed that God has planted in his life, the

seed of purpose. He is trading his seed of purpose

for come foot. He's trading the calling of God for treasures,

for the things of this world. He's trading something that

is eternal for something that will expire. Can you imagine

that you got something that is eternal and you trade

it to something that will expire tomorrow. It can expire anytime.

So next night, how does this tie to the what

Jesus mentioned? So this is a man clothed in soft garments.

The people go out to see a man who is comfortable.

They want to see John the Baptist. So for us,

is comfort our priority?

Or is God's purpose our priority? Let's see what sold it? Okay? Next?

First Samuel fifteen.

But soul and the people spared a gag, and the

best of the sheep, the oxen, the fattling, and the

lambs and all that was good, and were unwilling to.

Utterly destroy them.

But everything despised and worthless they utterly destroyed. So you see, right,

you know what is the enemy of God? Sometimes the

enemy of God? Sometimes right is good?

Do you know that?

Because all the treasures here they were good.

They were good.

I mean, when you look at it and then you

say that, hey, you have to destroy all this, you'll

be thinking, wow, so wasted, so wasted to throw all

this away.

But again.

The Bible says you shall love. You cannot love both

God and memony. So this is an example of God

tells you to throw it all away. You look at

it and you say that, wow, this looks good. What

do I choose? Saul chose the good over God, and

he maybe what he did is he rationalized? You know

why it's rationalized. Rationalized is rational lies. You are convincing yourself.

The bels best salesperson sometimes right is yourself. You convince yourself.

You have to sell it to yourself. Why do I

need to disobey God? I need to disobey with God

because I tell you this is very good, this is good,

and if I keep it right, God will understand, and

then I will then use this to sacrifice it and

honor him. That is how we are rationalizing lies to

justify our actions and that's what solved it. And because

of that, he wanted all the comfort that he ignored

what God.

Told him to do.

Right, which brings me to my last point is will

you follow God's calling? So the first point just now

is will you follow the crowd? Second point is will

you chase comfort? And the third point is will you

follow God's calling. God's calling sometimes causes us to step

out of the boat. The boat is the comfort zone.

But when God calls us, just like he called Peter

to step out of the boat, if God calls us

to do it, he will enable us to do it.

God is the one that enables Saul to defeat a Gag.

But then after Saul defeated ageg he decided he wanted comfort.

I want all the spoils of war. And you know

why he didn't kill a Gag probably to show everyone, Wow,

you see this king is now my prisoner.

He sits at my feet. You know, look who is

more powerful.

All this he did to prop himself up because he

wanted to become more and more popular, but that popularity

costs Saul everything.

Next, but what did you go out to see? Again?

This was Jesus a prophet, yes, I say to you,

and more than a prophet, a prophet is what God

has prophesied you to do. God prophesied for John the

Baptist to go into the wilderness and be the ones

who declares Jesus coming. God also prophesied that Saul will

be the king of Israel. But instead Saul chose comfort,

and he chose to follow the crowd.

So next on Samuel fifteen.

But Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you,

for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and

the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.

And as Samuel has turned around to go away, Saul

sees the edge of his robe and tore it. You

saw that in the cartoon. Just now, right, So Samuel

said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of

Israel from you today and has given it to a

neighbor of yours who is better than you. And also

the strength of Israel will not lie nor relent, for

he is not a man that he should relent. Okay, next,

so this is first Samuel thirteen. Just now, what's first

Samuel fifteen. When Samuel told Saul that he will no

longer be king his First Samuel fifteen, Okay, this is

First Samuel thirteen. First Samuel thirteen was another example of

Saul disobeying God. So you say that, wow, why God

didn't give chances? God gave Saul so many chances Saul.

Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly. You have

not kept the command of the Lord God, which he

commanded you for now the Lord would ever establish your

kingdom over Israel forever. Because Saul wanted to be popular,

he decided to sacrifice. He decided to do the sacrifice

to God on his own. Actually only the priest can

do it, but because he wanted to be popular, he

did it, and because of that he lost the kingdom.

The Lord has sought for himself a man after his

own heart. The Lord has commanded him to be a

commander over his people. Because you have not kept what

the Lord commanded you. And this is the last slide.

Even as I draw away as close, I get the

band up. So who replaced Saul?

David?

Was David perfect? David was not perfect as all right,

Saul also was not perfect. But why was David known

as a man after God's own heart? In fact, you

think about it right. David also committed murder. David committed adultery.

But still God didn't remove the Kingdom of God at

the Kingdom of Israel from David, as how he rem

moved it from Saul. Why it's because David knew how

to repent. David knew that when he made a mistake,

he went to God and asked for forgiveness. Saul, instead,

when he was caught, made excuses. He started blaming the crowd.

He started blaming and making rational lies about why he

kept the spoils. Saul did not repent, but David repented.

And that is reassuring for all of us, because all

of us have sinned, all of us have fallen shot

of the glory of God.

But if we repent and turn.

Aways and follow him, we can He'll accomplish the purposes

that God has for our lives. So, reading from the

last verse x thirteen, and when he had removed him,

this is Saul.

This is a new Testament.

When God had removed Saul, he raised up from them

David as king, to whom he gave testimony and said,

I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man

after my own heart, who will do my will from

this man's seat, from David's seed, according to a promise

God raised up for Israel a savior, Jesus, after John

had first.

Preached before his coming.

Can you see the Bible is all tied up together?

From Jesus sharing a about John the Baptist, from John

the Baptist declaring Jesus coming, and how it ties it

back all to David, who chose purpose over popularity. And

because he followed purpose, he was popular David, but that

was not his goal. His goal was to be a

man after God's own heart.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit as church org. We

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this week is going to be a good week, a

hit for you. God bless