The Drift, Distraction, And The Danger of Ulterior Motives

The title this morning is The Drift, The Distraction, and the Danger of Ulterior Motives. Anybody have ulterior motives? Well, I'll enlighten all of us that we all do, because it's part of our sinful nature. We're believers, we love the Lord, we're filled with the Spirit, but here comes a motive that's ulterior.

What that means is, hmm, what's the best way to word it? I'm going to do something, and it looks, man, he's righteous, he's holy, he's such a great guy, but my motive is not good. It's not that great. Perfect example.

I sometimes wonder if I share too much. But Morgan got home, I think a few nights, no, it was probably like Monday night or something, and all the laundry was done. Like the stuff in the washer I put in the dryer, I had my kids help me fold the dryer, it's all done.

And she's like, oh, that was so nice. I'm like, no, really, I just want to get to my stuff and get this stuff out of the way. Ulterior motives.

Like, I can't just throw this stuff on the floor. Have you ever done that? You have not heard somebody get upset until you get all the laundry out and just throw it on the Of course it gets bigger. There's bigger things out there.

The reason we do some things, the reason, even in ministry, I see this maybe to not the degree that all of you do, but sometimes people won't maybe call people out in ministry, nationally or different things, because that person gives to their ministry. So they have an ulterior motive, or you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. And so the motive isn't pure, isn't right.

Maybe young adults, teens, why you do something, the real motive behind it. So that's what we're talking about here. Having an ulterior motive, you're doing something to appear a certain way, but it's not really genuine.

The why, it's the why behind our actions. That's what motives are. The why, why do we do something? And the drift is a real challenge for all believers because we want to do things right with the right heart and be people of character, but there is a drift.

And the reason sometimes we have ulterior motives is number one, it's easier to go with the flow. It requires spiritual discipline to stay the course. So it's easier to say, you know what, I'll just tell them what they want to hear, or I won't really, I'll say this, but I don't really want to do this.

It's just easier. Isn't it easier? It's hard to walk out God's word. It's like, man, obedience and loving.

And you're constantly putting your attitude in check. You're checking your ulterior motives. You're humbling yourself, even when you don't feel like it.

You're disciplining your body, even when you don't want to. It's always, the flesh is always wanting more. Sometimes we have ulterior motives because it fulfills fleshly desires.

Number three, being used by God, used by God can cloud our vision. So blinded by pride, we can sometimes have ulterior motives. What I mean by that is a big push now with social media is followers and likes and views.

Many people get paid on YouTube. And so they have ulterior motives. They'll highlight a news story and they'll, what do they call that? Those when they give it a title that's not true, you know, gaslighting or clickbait.

Yes. And it's ulterior motives are very prevalent even in the Christian community. Just to say something for those pursuing social media and things like that, popularity must match character development.

As God raises you up, your character must be able to sustain you there because your ability will only get you so far. It's your character that keeps you there. And so what did we talk about last week? Simon, who was previously a sorcerer, sorcery, not a good thing in God's eyes.

He became a Christian, but I want to contrast that with Exodus where God said, you shall not permit a sorcerer to live. They should have killed him according to the old Testament, but in Acts, he's getting saved. Very interesting.

Now there is a difference that I don't have time to go into where the, what they would call it, the mosaic type of church governments where God, theocracy, a truth theocracy where God was the final say, it was under his control and there was punishment to things like that. And you're going to get a lot of pushback sometimes. Look how the Bible, that can't be true.

God said, kill people who were caught in adultery. Kill people who are sorcerers. I can't believe you follow a book like that.

Well, here's what we need to remember. Just because the consequences of our actions have changed, that doesn't mean that the sin is now minimized. Adultery is just as bad now as it was back then.

And here's what I try to get the point across. The punishment was great to show the seriousness of sin. From day one, God didn't, you know, it's not that big a deal.

Just, you know, slap him on the wrist, let him go. No, they would say, hey, if you do this, the punishment is this. It shows the seriousness that it shows the magnitude of what God was trying to convey and how important marriage was, how important sexual purity was.

And that's why they would, that's why it was punishable by death on certain things. They would go out and they would stone the people. It showed the seriousness of sin.

Now, again, we don't do that anymore. Thank God. Many of us wouldn't be here.

Oh, don't act like you're, how many of us would have been stoned a long time ago? And I'm not talking about marijuana. Hopefully second service will be a little more serious, but but I want to, I want to, I want you to know that because you're going to get attacked from people a lot. Atheists, agnostic, anybody looking for an excuse.

They, they, they pull the Bible apart, even though they don't know what they're talking about. They can't really pull it apart. But look how brutal the old Testament was.

Look at what God, I can't believe God would. Again, he's showing the seriousness of sin. And here's the thing they forget.

Don't commit adultery. You won't be killed. Don't be a sorcerer.

You won't be killed. You have the choice. But yes, we don't live in the old Testament in that sense anymore in regard to punishment.

And so we left off in Acts eight, and it's this now here's the interesting thing. It's called in my Bible, the sorcerer's sin, as they give it a heading there. And now, but think about this, though.

This is interesting. I mean, I, I don't know, I could be wrong, but I'm assuming he's a Christian now. He believed, he repented, and he's following the apostles.

Acts 8, 14. Now, when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God. So remember, they're in Jerusalem.

Samaria is not really a place Jews would be found, Samaritans, and they're hearing Samaria has received the word of God. And so they quickly sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, so they came down to Samaria, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet, he had not fallen upon them yet.

Interesting language, isn't it? So these people had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. So depending on what commentary you read, were these Christians that just had believers that had not yet received the fullness of the Spirit, or were they not yet Christians because it said they did not receive, they did not have the Holy Spirit.

So I think the angle for me is they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. So possibly they believed in Jesus, they were baptized in Jesus, but they had not yet fully understood the gospel. And this can be actually broken down a few different ways.

You can go back months ago when I talk about this topic, so I won't do it here. But because a lot of you are new and maybe you weren't here on that Sunday, there's a chance you weren't. When the Holy Spirit, it's an incredible, if you know anything about me or this ministry, this church, we love this, it's called pneumatology, the study of the Holy Spirit.

And I think apart from salvation, it's the most important topic that we can discuss. That's actually why, the only reason why I'm up here is the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the reason many of you are here.

It's the reason many of you are dead or imprisoned. It's the reason many of you have ministries. And in describing the work of the Holy Spirit, you'll notice there are different, like He comes alongside of you.

The Holy Spirit is obviously in you as a believer, but then the New Testament would use a different word, not just in you, but upon you. It actually says of Jesus too. And it uses three different prepositions, para, P-A-R-A, which means alongside.

And then E-N, the Holy Spirit is in you. So see, you can have the Holy Spirit in you as a believer, but not be experiencing God's power, His presence, not be doing much. When was the last time you witnessed months, years? When was the last time you got excited about God? Never, a long time.

And you can be clenching and grieving the Holy Spirit, but He's in you. But then there's another word, E-P-I-E-P, where the Holy Spirit comes upon you. That's the game changer.

That's what's like, what is going on? I love worshiping. I can't wait to get more of God. I can't wait to get in the Word of God.

I can't wait to testify. I can't wait to, and there's a hunger. There's a desire because the Holy Spirit has come upon you because He's upon you.

He's bubbling out of you. That's what we're excited about. That's what we go after during Rent in the Heavens.

And that's why I preach on Revival because I've seen lives radically change. People went from the Holy Spirit alongside of them to now He's in them. But man, I'm clenching and grieving the Spirit.

I'm in sin. I don't really know what you're talking about. The Bible's boring.

Church is irrelevant. I'd rather put on my Aussie than that worship or Metallica or blues or country. I'd rather, I just don't have this, shame I'm a Christian.

I know what you're saying. I'm going to heaven, but man, I don't have this abundant life. You know that song when you're little, I've got a river of life flowing out of me.

Makes a lame to walk in the, I've got a river. There should be, that's what it is, the overflowing life. And that's what many Christians are lacking.

They don't have that, but be encouraged. All you have to say is, Lord, I want that. I want that.

But our words have to be backed by actions. I want that, but I'm not going to change the way I live. I'm still going to watch that garbage, listen to that garbage, hang out with that person who's nothing but garbage.

Influence the wrong things, not be fed by God's Word, not fully surrender. Keep that sin close, because I like, I kind of like, is this one okay? This one's okay, right? I can have, can I have one sin, just a pet sin? Why is God so, and I talked about this in my twenties. I knew, I think it was a Christian.

I mean, you have this incredible experience with the Holy Spirit. Then you wonder if you ever were a Christian, but there was conviction, there was things, but three things kept me away from God. Arrogance, addiction, and anger, the flesh.

I was feeding the flesh, the motives of the flesh, building career, name, money, status. These things are, are opposite of what the Holy Spirit. And that's why God will sometimes get you to a spot of complete brokenness and utter despair.

And you say, God, I need that fullness of the Spirit. And that's what it is for the Holy Spirit falls upon them. And it's not just in them, because when, when, when the Holy Spirit's in you, you can quench and grieve the Holy Spirit by our actions, our attitude, our pride.

But when it comes upon you, there's an overflowing desire for the things of God. Now get ready, hold on a buckle up, because that does not mean life is easy. It doesn't.

It means it's more fulfilling. It means you have a love and passion for God, but it's hard. It is still hard.

And people immersed in the Holy Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit, they can still quench the Spirit. Can't they? You can come to a service, you're on fire for God, man, I feel so incredible. I'm going to start witnessing.

And then you do something you know you shouldn't be doing tonight. And then you keep up that pattern for a few days, that fire's gone. It's been removed.

But you can re-spark that fire again, through a wonderful word that we also use a lot. Repentance. Repentance.

That's why I love that word. It's realignment. It's realignment.

I remember, I think I was reading, I don't know what book it was, but Charles Spurgeon, a guy came up to him and said, when will you stop talking about repentance? And he said, when you do. And it's so true still today. So fall upon, you can see the dictionary here, the study Bible.

It's a complete immersion of the Spirit of God by which a person's motivations are set on fire by the power of God. Supernatural power to live and witness for God. And that is a great definition there.

Because our motivations, when the Holy Spirit's upon you, it really, it really cleans your heart as far as motivations. Your motivations get a lot more in tune with what God wants and not alter. You die to self.

You die to self. You start a ministry and say, I don't care if there's five people or 50. I don't care, Lord.

I'm dying to self. I'm yours. I don't, you know, Lord, if you never let us retire until we're older, hey, I'm yours.

If you never, and you can just go down the line, Lord, this life is yours. Let me just tell you a little secret about Christian living. That's the most peaceful way to live.

Because, you know, Lord, if this is where you have me, wherever you're at, if this is where you're not going to be able to move out of California, you're stuck here like some of us, you know, just be happy about it. Just be happy about it. You guys, I told, man, when Jack Hibbs said, Everett can move out, I'm like, what are you doing? But I understand what he's saying.

But you know, we got to just be happy with the Lord. My financial situation, what's going on, Lord? You know my health. I'm going to try to live the best I can, but God, and you give it to him and you're not worried about name and recognition and followers and tweets and likes and this, and you're not worried about keeping up with the Joneses.

Anybody have that problem? You watch Instagram, look how much fun they're having. My life sucks. But Lord, I'm so thankful.

I'm so happy. Look what you see, you get back to thankfulness. That life is so freeing, isn't it? Think about it.

You don't have to keep up with anybody. And the key is the Holy Spirit, again, needs to fall upon us. Now, again, if they weren't believers, they received the fullness of the Spirit.

But as believers, as a believer, if you've been quenching and grieving the Spirit of God, you can actually change that today. You can, during closing worship, you can get your heart right and say, God, I want that fire. Either some of you, you want it back or you've never had it.

I never had, I lived, I lived, you know, 15 years, my late teens and all my twenties. And I never had that until God finally broke everything out of me and called out and cried out. And then what it really was is an emptying of self.

And then as you empty of self, the fullness of the Spirit comes in. And that can happen in believers. Maybe you've never experienced that.

I've talked to Christians, they've never, they've never really experienced that because again, they kept the world alive in their heart. It's possibly become a Christian. I'm a Christian.

Okay. And okay, but I still, I'm going to pursue this and I want to be this and I want to, and you just quench and grieve the Spirit for months, years, decades. Because I've talked to people on their deathbed who have quenched the Spirit their whole life.

How sad is that? How sad is that? Often this coming upon a believer is hindered because of full surrender, because full surrender doesn't take place. We can't want all of the Holy Spirit, but only give him a portion of ourselves. And again, I know those disclaimer out there, but it's never about perfection because I'm sure many of you are thinking I could never do that perfectly.

I've got so many issues and hangups. Hello. I'm a very broken man with a broken past.

I do not fully surrender to God perfectly, but the difference is I want to die trying. That's, that's the difference. And God honors that heart, honors.

Now, here's another thing I need to say. I'm glad it came to me is it's not just about actions, but attitudes can quench the Spirit as well. Any modern day Pharisees here this morning? You know, you kind of, you love the truth kind of a little bit too much.

So how can you love the truth much? It's when you force rules on others and you think you're super spiritual and you walk around with this elite mentality and you're, you're easy to sin sniff. Well, they don't do that. Why don't they do this? What? And you, and you have a critical, you've developed a critical heart and that will, Oh, you don't think that quenches the Spirit? That's so sad.

Acts continues is if I just thought of that as Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees, it was always about issues of their heart, their heart. And if we have a judgmental, critical heart, we will be quenching and grieving the Spirit. The problem is, and again, I shared my story about when I went through the season 2005, very critical.

We think we're not critical. Oh, don't you know, I'm God's appointed prophet to point out, to point out sin in everybody. I have the gift of criticism.

You ever had that gift? See, her dress is too short. His shirt is this, did this. Did you go to the movies last night? The Cinemark? Which movie? Did you watch any of the trailers? Where'd hell? It's King James only, only, only.

Let me see. Let me check. Let's check as you leave.

See, but I think I'm spiritual, don't I? You know what I did last on Saturday? What I'm doing on Saturday? I'm celebrating the Feast of the Old Testament. Why aren't you? Why aren't you? I humble and realizing not everybody measures up to your standard. They sure don't measure up to mine.

The problem though, isn't that we don't want to lower our standard. We want to keep it high, but we also don't want to be judgmental. We want God to break us and humble us.

God, show me my own heart. But when Simon, here's the sorcerer, when he saw that through the laying on of the hands of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit was given. So there's something Jesus did it to that when they laid their hands on the people.

Can I pray with you? Sure. Okay. And they prayed for them.

And then something tangible, the presence of God fell upon these people who were prayed for. And possibly in many other cases, these people, as a result, they begin to either speak in tongues, uh, this, this, this, this, the, through the moving of the Holy Spirit, or they, there was some kind of emotion and a weeping and glorifying God. And something obviously happened because he knew I want that same power.

I want that power. And he said, give me that power. Here's some money.

I want this power. I want to lay hands on anybody and they received this power. Well, a good reminder, ulterior motives begin to quench and grieve the spirit.

When we have ulterior motives, see, it's one thing to have an ulterior motive, but what do you do with it? If you recognize it, you say, oh, this is not a good motive. Lord, get my heart right. You repent of it.

You take that thought captive. Remember temptation isn't yet sin. A lot of times we'll get that ulterior motive.

And then if we don't act on it, we say, that's wrong. God help me. And this is the moment.

This is the moment you can relight that fire with the flame of repentance. You can get, you can draw back to God saying, you know what this, this motive is not right. It's been said that your gift gets you into the elevator, but your character determines what floor you get off on.

It's a quote from the great theologian Instagram, but to borrow that one, isn't that true? Your gift gets you into the elevator, but your character, your motives, God looks at our motives. Why are we doing what we're doing? Why do we want certain things? Oh God, if you could just, if you could just, okay, just what, you know, you fill in the blank. What's your reason behind that? Would it elevate you? Maybe some of us who've had self-esteem issues when we were young kids, daddy, look, daddy, look, mommy, right? And so we're going to, our motor's going to be more of, of, of that's how we measure worth.

Is it, is it God would, would elevate me, but for the wrong reason. And it's, it's a, it's a shifting. It's a sifting of our heart, really.

And Acts eight, he continues in verse 20, but Peter said to him, your money perish with you because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter. Why? Because his heart is not right in the sight of God.

It's all about the heart. A right heart is key. That's the key.

But I love, you know, this is a great lesson for Peter too. He was direct. He didn't pull the, you know what, it's a new convert.

I don't want to upset him. We just want to love him. I don't want to, I don't want to upset him.

He's new to the church, but instead he said, he called him out. You cannot do this. You have no partner portion in this matter.

You're not, you can't be part of this ministry with your heart being like this. He was, Peter was bold. He was direct and he was truthful.

There's a time and a place for that. Don't you appreciate that from time to time? I can tell you that wishy-washy, beating around the bush doesn't help people too much because you're kind of beating around the bush and you're hoping they get it, but they're not seeing it. They see your sign of beating around the bush as no big deal.

It's no big deal. But when you're, when you're bold and you're direct and you're truthful, it really can change things. So what was the answer? He said, repent, repent therefore of this wickedness and pray to God and pray to God.

Perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. In other words, repent and pray and tell God, I'm sorry for that thought. I'm sorry for acting upon that.

For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. You know, it's open for debate, I guess, but the sorcerer here appeared to be a believer. So was he not really saved because he's doing all this or is all this stuff in believers too? Everything you just saw here is in a believer.

Poisoned by bitterness, bound by iniquity. If he's not a believer, okay, well, he needs to repent and get back on track. But we can, we finally confess Christ as Lord and Savior, but it says he did that.

He believed, but now he's got these issues in his heart. Anybody have issues in their heart still? Oh, a few of you. I don't anymore.

It took about three years and it's been a while. I'm good. Let me tell you, come Wednesday, I'll do a workshop on how to get your heart perfect before God.

Get through every struggle, answer just right. No bitterness ever. I will teach you 10 steps to your miracle.

But we laughed only because we can see how, that's why Paul said, do not let a root of bitterness grow, because we know where the fruit comes from. The root, maybe you won't notice, but if you go out in the corner, you see that little green tree starting to grow again, I'm kind of happy. Way to take down the big, it's cottonwood, I think, big cottonwood tree, because it was hollow inside of the danger during winds and falling on cars and people's like, okay, so the county made us take it down and it was all just dirt out there.

Now it's about this high, big green cottonwood saying, I'm coming back. I'm coming back. Why? You didn't get the root.

You didn't get the root. I'm here. I'm back again.

And that's what bitterness can do if you don't get that root of bitterness out. What it means is you don't just like, you know what, Lord, I don't want to deal with this today. Okay, I'm sorry.

And you do good with your thoughts. You're good. But then a couple of days go by, that root was never dealt with.

What's the root? What's causing the bitterness? What's causing it? Why am I bitter? Am I not where I'm at in life by now when I thought I'd be? These dreams, these goals, these accomplishments, the marriage. That's why, do you know what, that's why many people become bitter in marriage? Because this is not what I thought it would be. How about you? That's why most people, you know, you're thinking, the woman thinks, here he comes, my knight on a white horse.

Dishes will be done and rubs my back and listens. Just listens. Just listens.

Doesn't need to say anything. Sometimes when me and Morgan talk, I say, okay, now this, is this what we're going to talk about? You want me to solve the problem or just listen? I need to know what, I need to know what camp I'm in here. Just listen.

Just listen. Okay, just, and then like two minutes, I'm like, I know what, I know how to fix it. I know.

Can I talk yet? No, just listen. And you know, all of us, we, in case you're not aware, we married imperfect people. And so if we don't get rid of that root of bitterness, and that's why again, the marriages that a lot of them that fell, that root of bitterness was not removed.

And when it grows, that, that, that tree's ugly because it affects every area of our life. It's like cancer. Because when I'm bitter, I'm mad.

I mean, I'm arrogant. I'm critical. I don't know if some of you are poisoned by bitterness this morning.

I would encourage you to repent. Even as a believer. Why do I think maybe he was a believer? Because I look at his response.

And then Simon answered, how dare you challenge me? I used to be a sorcerer. I know what I'm doing. I want this power.

That's how somebody in pride would answer. But what did he say? Oh, please pray to the Lord for me that none of these things which you have spoken may come upon me. Now he could have been faking it.

I don't know. But you look, you, you, you can often look at the response, the response to something speaks volumes. How a person handles something.

Have you seen that? Our response shows us what's in our heart. So when they had testified and they preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem. So they, they spread the message of the gospel in Samaria because the Holy Spirit was upon them.

That's often a fruit of the Holy Spirit being upon you is you spread the message of the gospel somehow. Homeless ministry. We have the hospital homes opening now in your own neighborhood, your friends, the schools, kids associating, your kids are associated with other kids at events or sporting.

There's a, there's a desire to share the gospel because now that's your all consuming passion. It doesn't mean you do it all the time and you're talking all the time about it, but there's, there's that desire to do that. And so the word of God went out and they preached the gospel and many villages of Samaria.

And then they went back to Jerusalem. And let me just briefly tell you why this is a big deal. And on the title, I said the drift, the distraction and the danger of ulterior motives.

And again, these are ulterior motives when they're acted on. Have you noticed though, the more you act on it, on, on ulterior motives, the more you'll, you'll basically become a liar. If you don't nip that in the bud, because that's what ulterior motives, you're saying, Hey, I'm going to do this, but really no plans on doing that.

Or, or you have ulterior motives about maybe about finances for a tax write-off or this or marriage issues. Or, I mean, there's little things too, where we have ulterior motives, but the big things need to be dealt with. What happens if we don't deal with ulterior motives? Why are you doing what you're doing? Is it just for the money? Are you trying to impress people? Do you have, do you have a different goal in mind? Because what will happen is you'll begin to drift.

You'll begin to drift from God because of the ulterior motives in your heart. Because you're not doing to, when we drift from God, when our heart's not sincere, anytime our heart's not sincere, the drift continues. It's when we get our heart right with God and back on track.

So there's a drift. And that's why I'm giving the message this morning, I'm trying to get some of you to get back on board. If you've drifted no far, no matter how far you are down the stream, hop out.

Don't keep going with the current ulterior motives. But Shane, I've built my life on, on, on half truths. My marriage right now is built on a half truth.

Young adults, are you, are you, are you, do you tell your parents the truth or do you have ulterior motives? There's so many different things this could fit into. So there is a drift. It's a drift away from God.

And it's a distraction as well. Our relationship with the Lord is severely hindered. Instead of reflecting and repenting, we replace it with busyness and boasting.

So it's a big distraction in our relationship with the Lord. Of course, the danger is the Lord's patient, the Lord's patience can wear thin as he tries to get our attention. How many of you know that God is slow to anger, but slow doesn't mean absent.

And many times we confuse his patience with his approval. I've seen this many times, God's being patient. So he must approve of my actions.

No, no, that's not always the case. Patience will wear thin. And that's how God sometimes wakes us up as he exposes things or confronts, confronted by things.

And finally, you will never walk in the fullness of the spirit with ulterior motives. You will never walk, you will never walk in the fullness of the spirit with ulterior motives. Now again, I'm not saying you don't get them, it's what you do with them.

I have things come in my mind as well, that okay, I'll do this. But the motive is wrong. And you acknowledge it.

You say, God, that's not your heart. Help me stay on track. You won't be able to sing that song, I've got a river of life flowing out of me because it's clogged up.

Ulterior motives are a wonderful dam to the presence of the spirit. And I like what they said in the Bible here. Anytime you have to purchase something with money or earn money, it can sidetrack believers.

So be very careful in this area. Oh yeah, I wanted to mention that we often grow by confrontation and conflict. So if somebody's confronting you, or you're going through conflict, welcome it.

That's how you grow. That's how you become a strong believer. You grow through the conflict.

Purchase with money though. He thought the gift of God could be purchased with money. This is a sore subject, isn't it? And I don't want to go on a rabbit trail here, but in churches, the money aspect, it makes you wonder how many people were just totally missing the heart of God.

Missing the heart. We'll talk revival, and we have huge Christian events. But the money, I won't list it, but I know what some of these top guys make at their concerts, and it'll blow your mind.

Yet they pray, God, bring revival. Bring revival. Yeah, you just made $50,000 for the night.

I wonder if he's going to bring revival. He's reviving your finances. Now, workman's worth it.

So I know different people make different things. Some of these guys have best-selling books, and they give money back. It's always the issue of the heart.

That's why I'm not real quick to judge, because I don't know their heart. A friend of mine's got a large ministry out of Texas. I actually just talked to him a few days ago, and nobody would know it, but he has a private plane, one of those private planes with his work he does, like Franklin Graham, Samaritan's Purse.

So see, it's not the private plane. It's this showing off and boasting. Look at my $7 million jet, and I need to raise another $6 million so we can get rid of this hunk of junk.

It's that boasting. It's always about finances. I met down at Chino Hills two years ago.

Jack Hibbs, again, called some of the pastors there, and a billionaire from Texas flew in and just talked to the pastors, and they were getting ready to start up some type of platform back when YouTube was banning, so maybe three years ago now. Facebook, YouTube, they're getting ready to start up their own platform. You wouldn't even know it, just a simple Texas oil guy, literal billionaire.

How can I help the churches? The heart's right. I think God will raise up. Thank God for Christian billionaires.

Hello? Thank God for Christian millionaires. Hello? Thank God for Christians who barely get by week by week. Hello? Hello? By the way, that is most of our audience.

We're all in this Los Angeles County, Lancaster, Palmdale, not too many millionaires here that I'm aware of, a few, and you wouldn't know who they are. It's not the Lamborghini out front. And the $8,000 Rolex.

God puts us all in positions of where He wants to use us, and it's those people funding. Thank God for money, because we need to use it in the right way. Did you know there's a program out there where Hobby Lobby would actually buy us a church? A big building.

Buy us a church if they could get it at a distressed price. That's what they do. It doesn't happen very often.

And remember they gave Liberty University like $15 million for their college. There's people out there that do that, that help. But it's the love of money.

Not money. It's the love of money. And personally, I think you're going to see a lot of people become wealthy when a lot of this cryptocurrency even takes off more so.

Believers. It's where everything's heading. And God might use them to help others if they don't become greedy.

But that's what happened. I want to buy this power. And that's what a lot of the guys on TV, it's all about flashy and bling-bling and staying at five-star hotels for all this money.

And it's about the money. Whenever it's about that, you'll lose the heart of revival. You'll miss the presence of God.

Because God's looking for the heart and money become idolatry. And it sidetracks believers. Me and Morgan made the decision years ago, years ago.

We had a $16,000 loan for the books of different things. We said, you know, as I'm writing books, we have to make them available all as free PDF downloads. I stopped counting over 10,000, 12,000 downloads of the books.

Because I know my own heart. And whoever needs them, we just gave out 300 free ones Wednesday. And that you have to have, because you know the flesh.

And so you have to have things that there's accountability and there's transparency and things you have in place to make sure that money has not become your God. And it can sidetrack. I've seen this all the time, especially in larger ministries and things.

It's about the money and we don't want to offend. That's why it's good for leaders not to know who the big givers are. Think about it.

If I know somebody here gives 10,000 a month, do you think I'm going to maybe not say hard things? Oh no, that's, you know, who we let them do whatever they want. I won't because I've confronted we've come as elders. It doesn't matter because you have to do what's right.

But you can see how this can play a role in, or maybe you as a Christian, you know, somebody that's very wealthy and you're kind of, you're not shooting them straight because you have an ulterior motive. These guys that fly around on airplanes and they drop, go to churches and then they want this huge offering. About 15 years ago, I went to a church, a friend invited me actually right before we planned this one.

And there were three offerings in the one service. It's like, I wanted to get, how is God going to work? We're going to do this one more time. Ushers, get that thing going because I know there's some of you and in your heart, God is, God is tugging at those, those, those wallet strings.

And we're going to try this again. I know you can give a, I know we can beat the second offering. Let's do it.

Ushers, let's go. That's pathetic. It's pathetic.

It's all about motives. What will I get in return? What will I get in return? When you get to a point of saying I might not get anything in return, you are at a good spot. We mentioned it before.

I'm, I'm, I don't want to beat up anybody this morning, but I'm a little disappointed that more people haven't wanted to get involved. But we, we, we have some of the hospital homes back, about four hospital homes, like Rancho Vista. That's the one I went to recently, West Lancaster, where you can actually knock on the door, nurse will open.

How can I help you? I just want to talk with and pray with the patients. Okay. This is Sarah, room one.

Sarah, I'm here from the, can I pray with you? Where do you, oh yeah. And that's, is it hard? Yeah. But that's ministry 101.

And guess what? You're not getting anything in return. You might have to drive to Walmart and buy some socks and toothpaste with my own money. Yeah.

Nothing in return. Nothing in return. So if you want more information on that, ask the office or Paula AG.

It's incredible ministry. You're, you're actually going. I think that's as close to ministry as you can get.

You're going to those who can't go to you. What about Sunday after service? You just said, you know, I'm going to hit up this, I'm going to go to this one at this address over by the Rancho Vista golf course. And, um, it's incredible breakthrough.

The patients it's, it's, it's, it's, it makes their week and give them books. You can, you can have them listen to the, to the sermon. There's nothing.

You get nothing in return. It's the why it's the why behind what we do, what we do. Think about it.

Do I do it because of money? Do I do it because of recognition? Do I do it because of status? Why am I doing what I do? Is it to manipulate any manipulators out there? Manipulating your family dynamics, manipulating situations, things at work. Listen, trust me. God does not honor manipulation.

It's the why, why do we do what we do? Do you know, I've been told a lot. If I would just tone it down, we can have a much bigger audience. I shared this with you for a while.

I was, I was doing Fox news. Like every three to four months, I was going to their studios in Santa Monica. And then the lady emailed me privately from English to, Hey, just want to tell you, they're going to back off of things.

You're just, you know, I love what you say, but he's just, just a little bit too much. Like tone it down a little bit. Well, that's not who I am.

That's, that's an actor. That's like, that's like a politician. When you go to say, thus sayeth the Lord, you just, thus sayeth the Lord.

And, but it's hard because the motives, like, am I going to tone things down? There's a big Christian camp I've told you about before, about four hours North of here. I won't get more specific, but they canceled me off the speaker list because it was just too strong for the men. The message is all the guy, we need something more like, like, uh, we want all the guys to feel what's a good one.

We want all the guys to feel like Joel Steele and make them feel just loved and motivated. But man, you got guys at the altar. They're crying.

What's going on here? That's, that's preaching. That's, that's what it does. It rips open the heart.

The why, why do we do what we do? Look at Psalm 139. I think we have that verse. I love this verse.

Some of you, let's pray this this morning. Sincerely. Are you sure? Don't just shake your head.

You gotta be, if you are serious about this, watch out. Think about what he's praying. Search me, God.

Lord, search me. Lord, search me right now. My motives, my heart, my agenda.

Why do I do what I do? Search me. Oh God. Try me.

It's basically says, test me, put me through the test, expose whatever needs to come out. Where are these anxieties and fears coming from? And Lord, see, is there anything wicked in me? Is there anything wicked? And, and Lord, please, and then lead me to the right path. When you pray that prayer and I, it's God will just, sometimes just things will come into your, your heart.

Like, Oh, I need to work on that. Anybody ever experienced that with God? I need to work on that. God, show me how can I be more patient and loving and under Lord to help me search me.

And like the sorcerer, Simon, he had genuine repentance towards the end. And I want to show you what that looks like. And then I'll end.

Here's what genuine repentance looks like. Cause we, we use that word. I talked to people.

I have repented based on the fruit. You have not repented. You're sorry.

That's not repentance. Did you know that sorrow is not repentance necessarily? How many I've, I've, I've had men and they've, Oh, I'm so sorry about my divorce. I'm repentant.

No, you're not repentant. You're upset. She's going to get half.

That's why you're crying. That's not repentance. Repentance is, you know what? Whatever you need.

God's working in my heart. I don't want to fight. I don't want to argue.

I need to do this deep work in my spirit. I'm going to trust God and seek him. Watch what, watch what God does with humility.

Watch what God does with humility. It's like a magnet that draws the other person back. They'll say, Oh, I don't care.

You'll never change. You're always the way you are. And then day after are they changing? I wonder if they're changed.

God, he hasn't yelled at me. He hasn't sent me a mean text, cussing at me. He's at church again.

Here comes that magnet. That's how God works through humility, draws that spouse back. He does it, not you.

They take full responsibility. I hate that the half responsibility. I was going to say people, but I don't hate people.

So I don't like it when people take half responsibility. Now there are times where it's not always your fault. Hello.

But they, they own their part of it. They, they accept the consequences. They change their behavior.

They don't push for restoration. These are all signs of healthy repentance because it's a void of ulterior motives. You see, that's all these, the opposite of all these are ulterior motives.

This is when you're like, I have no ulterior motives. I need to own this. I need to work on this, whatever I need to do.

And I love what the verse, the Bible says, Simon who previously practiced, who previously practiced sorcery. Look at what he's done in some of our lives. Look at what he's done.

Thank God for that. He's been our hiding place, our strong tower, our shield, our ever present help in time of need. My King who carried my cross.

He was punished for what I did wrong. So much to be thankful for. Maybe you have ulterior motives because you don't truly know the Savior.

Maybe you've never repented. You've, you've gone to church. That's not repentance.

How many of you know that going to church all of your life is not repentance? That has nothing to do. That's what good people do. We go to church.

Repentance is, I'm a sinner. I'm not, I'm not right before God. I've never acknowledged what Jesus did on the cross.

I need to repent of my sin and acknowledge, cry out and say, God saved me. I need that redemption. I need that redemptive work of the cross.

That's what unbelievers need to do this morning. And believers, maybe you need to do what I have to do from time to time to get your heart right. A church this size, there's a lot of hurt hearts in here.

Any ulterior motives in this room? Balcony? Any ulterior motives? Bitterness? Any bitterness growing? Any quenching and grieving the spirit? Guess what? You can change it. You can lay it down at the foot of the cross. You can say, Lord, I want to leave.

And you can. I've known people. I've seen it.

You can leave here a different person. Absolutely different. You've, you've casted that care off of you.

And don't let the enemy be planting seeds in your thoughts like, yeah, but he doesn't know my situation. If you're, if you're, if you're, if, if these words are in your mind, yeah, but God might be trying to, I've done that. I've been hearing speakers.

I'm like, yeah, but Tim's like, everybody needs to go to re-engage even pastor. Yeah, but you know, Tim, I've got the time. I'm already here Wednesday, Friday, Sunday.

Yeah. But you know, the way you came across or what you're doing. Yeah.

But watch those. Yeah. But say, I got to get this bitterness out of my heart.

I've got ulterior motives. I've talked to people who have actually, they've ran their marriage for many years with ulterior motives. Do you know that happens? Ulterior motives.

It's kind of a facade in marriage or in life and parenting. And guys, I want to encourage you just repent of it. Just repent of it.

I love, I love that so much that God doesn't say, can you imagine if I turn to, you know, first, um, well, I don't know. Let's make up a book of the Bible. First distractions, chapter two.

And it said, after you acknowledge and come to repentance, it's going to take about six months and you have to follow this checklist. And then maybe I'll reconsider giving you my grace and filling you with my spirit again. Can you, I mean, God could do that if he wanted to, but he doesn't.

He just says, repent, repent, return to me. And I love reading those prophets. And you can, you can, sometimes can you ever hear the heart of God return to me? Oh, backsliding Israel.

And I will return to you and re return an Isaiah and Jeremiah crying. It's a heart of God returned to me and I will return to you. And so you got to wonder sometimes the problem's not on God's end.

I would say never on God's end, to be honest with you, return and watch what he does.