Make Yourself at Home: What Satan Fears Most

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

Well, this morning if you’re new around here, I just want to say to you, welcome to Eastside. We’re glad that you’re here. And each week we open up God’s word to hear a word from the Lord, and we also look at the word of God to see how we are to continue to pursue the all in life for Jesus. And so if you have your Bible or your Bible out, let me encourage you to turn or to click to Luke chapter 15, and we’re going to be there this morning. And as you’re turning or clicking, I want to share with you what I believe is a very heartwarming and touching story. And it’s about a couple who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. And part of their celebration was to have a reservation at a very nice restaurant in New York City. And at the time, it was the most rated review Michelin Star restaurant in the entire world, if you can believe that.

And they had made reservations at a restaurant called: “11 Madison Park” in New York City. At the time, it was owned by the same hospitality group that owned “Shake Shack.” And so this couple, they were excited to honor their celebration at being married for so long and getting a table at this very fine restaurant. They were all excited. They get seated. The Captain comes around and discovers if they want tap water or if they want sparkling water. And then the Maitre D comes by, and he begins to explain to them what was going to happen during the course of their meal because this was an experience. This wasn’t just you sit down and eat and then you leave. It costs you, Andrew, an arm and leg to eat at this restaurant. In fact, the average meal at this restaurant is $600 a person. And so you can imagine that the Maitre D, was going over the evening, what the meal was going to entail and the wine pairings for each of the courses.

And at that particular point when the Maitre D talked about the wine pairings, the husband stood to his feet and said: “The champagne, the champagne!” And the Maitre D goes: “Well, what’s going on here? Let’s calm down.” And the husband goes: “The champagne!” And the Maitre D goes: “Well, can I ask, what are you talking about?” And the husband begins to explain that before he went to work today, on that particular day, that he was aiming to put the champagne in the refrigerator, but he forgot to put it in the refrigerator. He had bought a very nice bottle of champagne to celebrate when they got home. And so he forgot to put it in the refrigerator. So as he was getting a shower and getting ready for the nice evening, he stuck the champagne in the freezer. And then he got ready, him and his wife, they left their apartment and they left the champagne in the freezer.

And so the husband asked the Maitre D: “Well, what will happen to the champagne that is in the freezer by the time that we get home?” And the Maitre D said: “I am really, really sure that it will have burst by the time that you get home.” And so the husband begins to look for his coat ticket that he checked, in and he finds his ticket, and he says to his wife: “Honey, I’m going to go home and I’m going to get the champagne out of the freezer. I’m going to put it in the refrigerator. You just go ahead and enjoy the first couple courses of the meal” Because you understand, this was a meal that you didn’t rush through. It was an experience. It was something that you savor. It was something that you enjoyed because it would take three to four hours to get through the courses of the meal.

And so the husband is getting ready to leave and the Maitre D, he’s overhearing all of this. And he says to the husband: “You just sat down. You just enjoy the meal. Give me your keys, tell me your address, and I will go home and I will get the champagne out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator.” And the guy goes: “no, no, no, no.” He goes: “Yes, just tell me your address.” So he gave him the address, the Maitre D got on the subway, went across town, opened the door, opened in the freezer, got the champagne out of the freezer, put it in the refrigerator, got back to the restaurant. The couple has had a fantastic meal. They leave the restaurant after three or four hours, they get home. Sure enough, they open the refrigerator. And guess what?

There is the champagne chilling in the refrigerator. But in addition to that, there’s a tin of caviar and there’s some dark chocolate that was next to the champagne. And there was a note from 11 Madison Park that said: “Happy anniversary.” Now, that’s a touching story, but that is not from the goodness of the Maitre D heart. It’s from the goodness of the hospitality group because Danny Meyer, who is the owner of Shake Shack and the hospitality group that own several different restaurants. They have this principle that they want to instill into all of their employees, and it’s principle of going the extra mile. Now here’s the thing: going the extra mile is not something that Danny Meyer invented himself. It’s something that came from the lips of Jesus, like so many other wonderful things in our society, but we just don’t know it’s attributed to Jesus.

In fact, here’s what it says in Matthew 5:41. Jesus says:

“If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.”

Matthew 5:41

Or go with them an extra mile. And some of you’re saying: “Well pastor, where would there ever be an occasion where there would be a rule that you would have to go the extra mile with someone?” Well, you remember that when Jesus walked here on Earth, you’ll recall that the Israelites or the nation of Israel was under the rule of the Roman government, which meant that there was Roman soldiers that was going from territory to territory, from one assignment to the next assignment. And the Roman soldier, wherever they travel, they would have bulky backpacks because literally everything that they had was they was carried along with them. And whenever a Roman soldier would get weary from traveling from one assignment to the next assignment, all that the Roman soldier would have to do is to take out his spear, tap someone on the shoulder, and as soon as you got tapped on the shoulder, then it was required by Roman law that you had to pick up the bulky backpack and all the goods of the Roman soldier and you had to carry it precisely one mile.

And when you got done with the one mile, you could literally lay down the backpack and all the equipment and you could walk away immediately. And Jesus in this statement was saying: “I want you to go the extra mile. I want you to do more than is required of you. I’m not looking just for service.” Jesus is saying: “I’m looking for hospitality. I’m looking for the caviar, I’m looking for the shield. Champagne.” You understand what I’m talking about? Jesus wants us to go the extra mile and this story of what took place at 11 Madison Park is a story of inspiration of what God wants for his house. And I want to welcome you to week three of the sermon series: “Make Yourself at Home,” where we’re looking at the who, the what, the why, the where of what Jesus wants for his house, for the church.

And we’re trying to wrap our arms and minds and hearts around what Jesus wants for this house. Not what we want, not our desires, but what is his desire for his house, that is called: The Church. And the title of today’s message is: “What Satan Fears Most.” And we can understand God’s will for our lives by understanding what Satan hates or what Satan fears. And I hope that you understand, there are things that Satan himself fears. And by understanding what he fears, we can understand what is God’s will for my life and for your life. And it’s a study of contrast. Is anybody with me this morning? Say amen? Amen. Alright, we’re going to read from Luke chapter 11:1 I’ve chose to read it from the New Living Translation today to give you a different feel for it.

It says:

“Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people- and even eating with them! So Jesus told them this story: ‘If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he is found it, will he joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. And when he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there’s more joy in Heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one…'” Another way of looking at that is she’s had 10 diamonds in her wedding ring and she loses one of her diamonds. “‘…Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice or celebrate with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there’s joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.’ To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: ‘A man had two sons.'”

Luke 11:1

And what happens after that is calmly referred to as: “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” But what I wanted to do this morning, I wanted to read to you the introduction. I wanted to give you kind of the appetizer before the main course. I wanted to give you the opening bands before I give you the headliner for two reasons of reason why I’ve read this. It’s number one: I want you to go back and I want you to look, this is literally one parable. This is one story. This is not three parables with three different meanings. It is one story. It’s the story of the shepherd who lost, what? The sheep. It was the woman who lost one of her coins. And then there was a father who lost one of his two sons. And it is one story with three different movements to it. The second thing that I want you to see, and the second reason why I kind of gave you the appetizers or the opening act before I give you the headliner, is I want you to understand that Jesus is trying to help us to understand his heart for the house, for his house, through the criticism that the religious leaders was given to Jesus.

He was wanting us to see through the criticism, through the feedback that he was receiving from the Pharisees and the Sadducees, that this is the house that I want to build. I want to have a house where there’s a table where there’s seats for everyone. Regardless of the walk of life that you come from, regardless of the background that you grew up in, regardless of what kind of sin that you were involved in, it didn’t matter if you was a prostitute, a tax collector, a sinner, it didn’t matter. There’s room for you at the table. There’s a seat for you at the table. Come and let me love you. Jesus says: “Come and find healing. I love you. I want you at my table.” And this is exactly what Jesus did. He invited those who was far from the kingdom to have a seat at the table.

Now, because Jesus offered a seat at the table to anyone, this caused a tremendous tension in the hearts of the religious leaders. And I want you to understand, if you don’t give anything else that I say this morning, I want you to understand, the next five minutes of what I’m going to say, and then I just give you permission to go anywhere you want to go. Let your mind wander, okay? But can you give me the next five minutes, and if you can, would you say amen? Amen. Alright, if you can say amen back in the risers. See, I can’t even give ’em say amen. Can I get the risers to say Amen? Now, there we go. Good. So, this exposes the tension that needs to be addressed because we’re living in a world where we are increasingly being told, that if I don’t approve of everything that you do, I do not love you, and therefore I do not accept you.

Now, lemme say that again. That’s very important. We’re living in a world where we’re increasingly being told that if I don’t approve of everything that you do, I must not love you and I do not accept you. And I just got a question for all of you this morning. Regardless of wherever you’re at, Jesus never condones sin. Tell me one time in scripture where you can find where Jesus said to someone, doing something that was pulling them away from God’s word, pulling them away from God’s word, and he encouraged that. Tell me one time. Now Jesus did say: “I do not condone you…” But go and do what? “…Sin No more.” He was explicit about this. He called people to their best because every time that we sin, what happens is that sin causes you and I to suffer. Jesus never condoned sin, not one time, but he always accepted the sinner.

He welcomed them in a relationship. He welcomed them to his table. He welcomed them to do life with him. Even if they didn’t agree with what he agreed with, or saw the things that he saw, he welcomed them. He loved them, he accepted them. And even though he accepted them, it doesn’t mean that he accepted what they were doing, and he said that this is pulling you away from God’s very best. And I want to help you to understand that. And here is the truth: I can love you but still speak truth to you about what God says is best for you. What is good for you, and what is for your long term enjoyment. See, we need to understand this desperately or otherwise, you and I as Christians, one of two things will happen: we will become silent and say nothing, or number two, we’ll be pulling back the love that God wants to give to other people through our silence. Does that make sense?

So the devil, can I tell you something? He doesn’t care which side of the saddle that you fall off of. The devil just doesn’t want you and I to remain in the saddle. The devil doesn’t want us to be in the middle. But let me tell you something, we as Christians, we’re called to be in the middle. We are to remain in the messy middle where there is sin, but at the same time, we’re to say: “But this is God’s word. This is what God says about marriage. This is what God says about salvation. This is what God says about your lifestyle.” We can be in relationship with people, and we can have them to have a seat at the table and we don’t have to agree because what we are the best at, and this is what Eastside is about, is helping people to fall in love with Jesus and to pursue the all in life for Jesus.

This is what we’re called to do, and we are to call to be in relationship with people, but we don’t have to agree. We can continue to point people to Jesus, continue to point people to live the all in life for Jesus. But here’s the problem, the religious people don’t like this. The religious people doesn’t like this. The religious people of Jesus day and age, they didn’t like this. They were not big fans of this. And the reason why they were not big fans about this is: they didn’t want to be around messy people that Jesus was around. And you know why they didn’t want to be around messy people? Because they didn’t see themselves as being a part of the club of sinners. They didn’t see themself as sinful. They saw themself as better than everyone else. And in response to their criticism, what does Jesus do?

Jesus says: “This is the house that I want you to build, where broken people are welcome, embrace, called to God’s best plan for their life.” And he gave them this parable. And the reason that he gave them this parable is because God wanted us to see Jesus’s mission. Jesus’s mission was to seek and to save that which was lost, which we looked at last week. Luke chapter 19:10. And listen, it doesn’t matter the significance of the loss if there’s one loss. Whether it’s 1% out of 100, whether it’s 10% out of 10, or whether it’s 50% of one out of two, regardless if something is lost, it is valuable in the eyes of God, and we are to accept the same mission that Jesus accept and that was to seek and to save that which was lost. And that is Jesus’ whole purpose of coming.

Jesus didn’t come to give us some epic statements that will end up in fortune cookies. You understand what I’m talking about? That’s not the reason why Jesus came. Jesus didn’t come to be a “Mr. Rogers” with beard who says to us, that we need to recycle. Do you understand? The reason that Jesus Christ came is because we were a bunch of bad people who was not changing to good people, but we were a bunch of dead people who was brought back to life through the blood of Jesus Christ, that was sacrificed from the cross, buried in the grave and resurrected on the third day. And he came for you and I. And if you’re lost today, if you’re hurting today, there’s life in the name of Jesus Christ for you. And if there’s an ache inside of you that says that there’s got to be more, or if there’s loneliness that you feel even in the midst of a crowded room, if there’s an ache inside of you that says that there’s a nagging sense of there’s something more to this life, it’s just more than the survival of the fittest, that there’s purpose in life. And you lay awake at night wondering: what is the purpose? What is the meaning of life? Can I just say something to you? Is that there shouldn’t be an ache, there shouldn’t be a loneliness. There shouldn’t be a discontent. There shouldn’t be a wondering: is there purpose? Is there meaning to life? If we’re just a bunch of atoms that collided in the middle of the night and somehow or another we existed and then the monkey put on some pants, and here we are living as human beings. Congratulations. Great job. You understand what I’m saying? That is not what should be taking place if there isn’t a savior.

And see folks, the ache, the longing for immortality, the dream of greatness is there because there is a God. And God has a heart for this house. You know what his heart is for this house is for you and I to be the hands and feet of Jesus, giving everything that we can to his mission, and what is his mission? To seek and to save that which is lost. And when you and I, when we develop a spirit of hospitality, when we develop a spirit of accepting people as they accepted us, as we walked through the doors, you know what that does? That lights up the heart of God, and it creates fear in the Devil. And what does the Devil hate the most? What does Satan fear the most? There’s four things very quickly with a time that I have left.

Number one:

The attention on Jesus.

The Devil hates when the attention is on Jesus. Why does he hate that? It reminds him of his past. You understand that Satan’s original name was Lucifer, and you understand that Lucifer had a special role in Heaven. Remember, he was one of the angels that was falling and got kicked out of Heaven. And you wonder: “Well, what was his role? What was his responsibility?” He said he was the worship leader in Heaven. He was the one who was worshiping and leading the praises unto God, but he fell. And when he fell, he lost the opportunity to give praise and honor to God. As a result of that, and him being kicked out of Heaven, he hates when you and I are focused on Jesus. He hates when you and I are focused on the all in life. And what’s most important to us as a congregation? Our most important thing is to make Jesus Christ famous in this region; to tell people about the greatness of Jesus, to bring him glory. And we exist to bring him glory in everything that we do.

And because he is the head of the Church, listen to me. If the head is committed to seeking and saving the loss, what should the body be committed to doing? Seeking and saving the loss. Because folks, you can imagine when somebody is over here flopping with their arms going off, what’s happening? They’re having a seizure, which means their head is not in control of their body. Their body is out of control, experience. And here’s the reality: Jesus is the head. Jesus is to instruct the body, and what to do, and what are we instructed to do? It’s to seek and save the loss. Look what it says in Colossians 1:18:

“He’s the head of the body made up of his people. That is his church, which he started, which he began; and he is the leader of all of those who is in the church.” And if Jesus is committed to the mission to seek and to save the loss, then you and I are to do the same. We’re to be committed to seek and save the loss.”

Colossians 1:18

Revelation chapter 12:11, look what it says:

 “And they overcame the Devil. The blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.”

Revelation chapter 12:11

And this is the reason why every Sunday we seek to almost have someone who’s giving a word of testimony, because that word of testimony, the blood of Jesus, helps us to overcome. There is power in the name of Jesus. There’s healing in the name of Jesus. If we’re going to do anything in this church, we’re going to make Jesus famous.

It is Jesus, then everything else is way below that. Amen? Number two:

Willingness without understanding.

The Devil hates willingness without understanding. See, the Father, he was on a rollercoaster ride. You understand this?The Father, he starts out with two sons at the beginning of the story. He has one son that leaves. He goes into wild living, right? He’s having prostitutes, he’s living the “wild lifestyle.” He’s buying rounds for everyone at the bar. He’s making all the wrong friends. You know what I’m talking about? So he’s got one son that’s ran away from him. He’s outside, and we got the other son at home, and then the younger son comes to himself, he comes home. The father doesn’t have to accept him, the father doesn’t have to embrace him. But what does the father do? The father embraces him, welcomes him home, and calls him son, which he didn’t have to, but he did.

And you go: “Okay, everything’s good in the father’s house.” And you remember what happens, is that the story flips right? And now, not everything’s good in the father’s house, because what’s taking place? Now, the older brother is now outside and the father still has a son who’s outside. And the older brother is outside and his arms are crossed. And why are they crossed? Because the older brother, and this is where some of you are, lemme just tell you right now, this is where some of you are, is that your relationship with God is transactional. “God, if I do this, then you’ve got to do this. God, if I go to life group, then you’re going to heal my marriage. God, if I start serving, you’re going to give me a job promotion.”

Everything is transactional. You see it as a cause and effect relationship. And this is where the older brother was. Everything was transactional. And it just reveals the bitterness of the older brother’s heart. Because remember when his younger brother came home, he could not even say, “My brother,” but what did he say? He says, “This son of yours has come home.” There is some sense of him only being willing to comply if it made sense to him. It only made sense for him to comply if he got a goat, if he got accolades, if he got something in exchange for his effort. And many of you, that is where you are at. But can I tell you something? You know where God wants you and I to be at? He doesn’t want us to understand in order to move forward, God wants us to say yes. Now, God asks the question: isn’t that good?

We want to say yes. Then we say: “God, what’s the question?” Because that’s what Jehosaphat did when he was going into battle. Remember when he was going into battle, and God was leading the charge? And God says: “Here’s what’s going to happen, Jehosaphat. You’re not going to send out your best warriors. You’re going to send out a bunch of worship leaders and they’re going to lead the way.” And what happened is that they won victory through worship, not through weapons. And then what about Gideon? “Hey, Gideon, you know what? You’re facing a large army, but here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to keep reducing your army down until there’s only 300 men that is left.” Or what about Esther, who is going see her husband, the King? And if you were not called by the King, and you showed up unannounced, the King would oftentimes, most of the time, have you committed to death because you are unannounced, and you were not requested to be in his presence.

But Esther said: ‘For such a time as this, God, I will go and show up.” And she goes and shows up before the King and the King welcomes her and listens to her plea, and what she has. And folks, that is the kingdom of God, is that there’s God to be a willingness to do whatever God ask us to do without even knowing what the question is, because that is the kingdom of God living upside down. But the Devil wants you to know exactly what you’re going to get if you do: A, B or C. The Devil hates it when we live by faith. Look what it says in 1 John 5:4:

“This is the victory that has overcome the world- it’s our faith in Jesus.”

1 John 5:4

Number three, very quickly:

Hilarious generosity.

Hilarious generosity. Why is this? I’m getting tickled thinking about it.

Why does Satan hate this? Satan hates it. Listen to me, my friends, because he’s a taker, because he’s a thief. He’s a robber. He steals, he kills, he destroys. Remember what he did? Go read the book of Isaiah. Go to chapter 14 of Isaiah. It says that the Devil, Lucifer, at the time, when he was the worship leader, he wanted to put his star above the star of Jesus. He wanted to put his glory above the glory of God, because why? From the very beginning, all that Satan has ever wanted to do was to steal from the Lord. He wants to steal from you. But when you and I, when we step into generosity, is that folks, God loves us, cheer forgiver. Notice what it says here from the book of 2 Corinthians 9:7:

“Let each one give as a purpose in his heart, not grudgingly or necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Corinthians 9:7

Folks, listen to me. I don’t have to give. I must not give because I’m looking for something in return. I get to give. I get to be a part of God’s plan. I get to be a part of his house. I get to be a part of seeking and saving those that are lost, because why? Because of my generosity and because of your generosity. You know what I’m talking about? Lemme tell you something. Fattened calfs, they are expensive to slaughter and to have a celebration. It’s expensive to go and buy rings for those sons and daughters who returns home. It’s expensive to go buy robes for those sons and daughters who returns home, and we give them the best welcome that they’ve ever had. It’s expensive to heat up the baptism pool every Sunday and to have baptisms. It’s expensive to have buzz events Sundays every month, or a lot of times, throughout the year. It’s expensive to do mission and outreach. It’s expensive to give to the needy in our community. It’s expensive to give and to get a second campus. But folks, this is what we’re called to because when we give cheerfully, then we become more like God and Satan hates that.

Number four, just quickly: Satan hates it when all hands are on deck. Satan hates it. The thing that Satan loves the most this morning? Is for you that are here today, who’s a Christian, and you’re not serving. Because you know why? Because you’re being like Satan. You’re being selfish. You’re hoarding your time, you’re hoarding your talents, and you’re just kind of limping alone through the Christian life. And Satan loves that. Satan loves the fact that you’re not using your giftedness, you’re not using your talents, you’re not using your influence. You’re not using the gifts that God has given to you to build his house. Satan rejoices in the fact that you’re doing nothing but setting and souring and soaking into the second coming. He loves that. But notice what Paul says in Ephesians 4:7: “But to each one of…” The worship team members, and the tech members, and Eki members and the staff and the elders, you to use your gifts.That’s not what it says does it? What does it say?

“But to each one of us…” To everyone who’s a believer, what have we received? “…Grace was given to each and every one of us according to Christ’s gift.”

Ephesians 4:7

God has gifted you. God has equipped you. God has given you special talents and abilities, that when you’re not using them, the house is not as solidified as it needs to be. It’s weakened because you’re not doing your part. And Satan hates when all hands are on deck. And here’s what we’re asking you to do. In this next ministry season, we’re asking you to be all hands on deck. Because here’s what we’ve done. We’ve done something at Eastside that we haven’t done in a long time, is that we have stacked the deck in your favor. And what does God want you to do? To seek and save those who’s not in this house.

He wants you to reach out to those people that used to be in your life group, used to be in your serve team, used to be sitting next to you in worship, maybe family member or loved one who hasn’t even started their spiritual journey. And so what have we done? We’ve just stacked the deck. At the end of March, we’re going to have this thing called: “Stations of the Cross.” This is where we go through seven different moments of Jesus’s last week here on Earth. And so you get to experience the last supper, you get to experience the denial of Peter, you get the experience where Pilate wash his hands and says: “I’m done with this.” And so stations of the cross is a self-guided tour where you go through seven moments of Jesus’s last week here on Earth. And if you’ve never done this, it’s powerful.

This would be a great opportunity for you to invite someone and all you have to do is invite ’em. It’s not your responsibility to get ’em here, it’s just your responsibility to invite. And then Good Friday, we have Good Friday services, and that’s a great opportunity to be reminded of what Jesus did for all of us. Then Easter weekend, we have four services. We have two on Saturday, two on Sunday. This is a great opportunity to get someone reengaged. Then the month of April, we’re having Gene Appel to come in all the way from California and we’re going to have one big party that day. We’re have cookout after each service, hamburgers, hot dogs, all that good stuff. The youth is doing a big event that night; having a cookout after their event. So that entire Sunday we’re just going to have one big party. And then on Mother’s Day, we’re super excited about this brother and sister duo that we’re inviting Derek and Julie Tenet, and they’re going to come and share their heartwarming story with us and how God is using them. And the reason why we’ve stacked the deck is because here’s the reality. You’re going to invite someone, they may come to one, and then we’re gave you something to invite ’em to come back. And why we’re doing this, and some of you just wonder why we’re doing it, is because we want you to leverage these opportunities. To expand the seeding at God’s table.

We want people in our community to know that there’s a seat for them here. And some of the easiest way to invite people is to leverage one of these events that’s coming up. And so we pray that you’ll take advantage of that and to help you with that, there’s a card on your seat, and who’s the person? As the worship team comes back out, who’s the person that you’re praying for? Who’s the person that God has laid on your heart that you’re going to invite, not that they’re going to get saved, not that they’re going to get reengage in the church. That’s up to God. That’s beyond your scope of pay. But your responsibility is to invite someone. Who is it that God has put on your heart to invite? And so would you please stand? Father? May we have the same heart that you have for your house. And Father, I just ask right now that you would move in each of our hearts in Jesus’ name. Amen.