There Are 3 Kinds of Christians - Which One Are You?

There are 3 kinds of Christians. Which one are you? It's time to find out. I want you to be honest with yourself as I talk to you about the 3 levels of Christian living. I wanna first lay a foundation by looking to Luke chapter 10, beginning at verse number 38, where we read: As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he taught, but Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me. But the Lord said to her, my dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details. There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her. Both Martha and Mary wanted to please Jesus. Both Martha and Mary recognized who Jesus was, but they approached Him in 2 different ways. Now, Martha's motives were good. She didn't do anything wrong necessarily. She wanted to do something that was of service to the Lord. She wanted to be there for him in a way that would help him to rest, that would help him to feel welcome. But what she did was miss an opportunity for fellowship. She missed an opportunity to spend time with him. She allowed what she was doing for him to distract from her time with him. And Jesus tells Mary that she has something that can't be taken away from her. Martha was distracted by doing for the Lord, Mary was obsessed with just being with the Lord. And this is many Christians today, but I wanna talk to you about how to go from legalism or performance to love. Because only one of these ways of living can produce this divine energy unending that enables you to serve the Lord consistently. If you're tired of going back and forth in your Christianity, you're tired of having the fire of God one week and then supposedly losing it the next week. You're tired of overcoming temptation and having victory over sin, only to in the next few days grow tired and weary and then go back to your old habits and ways of thinking. You're tired of going back and forth between frustration and fruitfulness. You're tired of growing weary in well-doing. You're tired of being inconsistent in your prayer life, inconsistent in your Bible reading, inconsistent in your worship and your devotion, and you wanna come to this place where the energy of the Holy Spirit is causing you to walk unhindered toward your divine destiny, then you need to be more like Mary. This is the foundation of what I'm talking to you today. This is love versus legalism. And the Holy Spirit gives to us this divine love. In Romans 5:5, we read that beautiful scripture that says, and this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loved us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. In Matthew chapter 23, verses 37 and onward, we read, Jesus replied, you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the prophets are based on these 2 commandments. In other words, everything that you ever do for God will ultimately be based on your love for God. And that love for God is cultivated in your heart by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to reignite in you right now the fire of your love for Jesus. and help you to live in that love. So let's take a look now at these 3 levels of Christian living. And again, I want you to be honest with yourself because I believe this is going to be a moment of transformation for you. I believe you're going to have a spiritual epiphany as you listen. I believe that the Holy Spirit is going to correct things in your attitude and in your thinking that will help you to have longevity. Because if you want to last in this hour, If you want to make it in this generation, then you're going to need to be grounded in love for Jesus more than anything else. Everything else will fail you. You need to be grounded in your love. Number 1, the first level of Christian living is serving out of need. The crowds were drawn to Jesus for very specific reasons. Mark 3:9-10 say this, Jesus instructed his disciples to have a boat ready so the crowd would not crush him. He had healed many people that day, so all the sick people eagerly pushed forward to touch him. Most of the people who came around Jesus came around Jesus for what could they could get from Jesus. They wanted the performance of his hand, not the knowledge of his heart. They wanted to see his power, not necessarily be in his presence. They wanted him for what he could do, not for who he was. Now, there's nothing wrong with approaching the Lord with our needs. In fact, we read in Philippians 4:6-7, don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for what he has done. Verse 7 says, then you will experience God's peace. By the way, as you make your prayer requests made known to God, He fills you with that peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Now, here we see that we as believers ought to approach God with our needs. In fact, we are to pray instead of worry. Far too many Christians worry because worry feels like control. Worry can feel like you're accomplishing something. But this is why we ought to pray, to make our needs known to God. So there's nothing wrong with approaching God with your needs. But if this becomes the only expression of your Christianity, if you see the gospel as simply a means of gain, if you look to Jesus as if he's there to simply perform on your behalf, if all your prayers revolve around miracles, if all your prayers revolve around needs, if all your prayers revolve around your wants, then you're missing something greater. And I'm not saying this to condemn you. I'm not saying this to make you feel ashamed. I'm saying this to let you know that there's something better that the Lord has for you, that there's more to Christianity than just receiving from him. Many times when we serve out of need, it affects the various different expressions of our Christianity. Take prayer, for example. When you serve the Lord out of need, You only pray when you need deliverance. You only pray when you need healing. You only pray when you're sensing heaviness come over you. You pray when you need a miracle or perhaps a breakthrough in a certain relationship. Or maybe there's a situation that you find extremely frustrating. And so that forces you to go into the place of prayer. Maybe your holiness now is simply because you wanna be free from guilt and shame. So serving out of need affects your prayer life, yes, but serving out of need also affects your holiness. You want to live holy not to please the Lord, not because you love him necessarily, but the primary motivator for holiness becomes avoiding punishment, avoiding guilt and shame, getting rid of that heaviness that comes over you. Or you're wanting to get rid of your vices. You want to stop smoking, you want to stop drinking, you want to stop doing those things you know you ought not to do. But holiness is more than the avoidance of the consequence of sin. When you serve out of need, it affects the way you read the Word. You go to the Word because you need to hear something that's encouraging. And again, nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but we have to move beyond that to where that's not the only reason we're approaching the Lord. We come to the Word for wisdom, for direction, for clarity, for peace, for for discernment. Good. There's so much more in the Word than what you can get out of it to apply in a way that will fix your life. We give resources. Think about how we give to the Lord. Well, some believers give simply because they want to receive. They sow money only because they think it'll give them money back. True, the Lord does bless the giver. True that when you sow financially, you reap financially. It's true that Paul the Apostle wrote, that if you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly, and if you sow bountifully, you reap bountifully. And by the way, yes, he was talking about money. But when you're serving out of need, that's all it ever is. I'm giving to get, I'm giving to receive, I'm giving for a breakthrough, I'm sowing for a miracle, as if you could ever sow for a healing or deliverance in the first place. Think too about how this affects your worship. When you worship It's not this opportunity to stand before God now. It's an obligation. I have to sing the songs. I have to clap really loud. I have to sing and shout and dance and jump. Otherwise, I'm not really giving my all, as the worship leader tells me in many instances. And in fact, many Christians— and this will upset some, but I'm saying it because I love you— many Christians, they worship the Lord as a form of therapy. They worship the Lord as a form of self-help. Driving on their way to church, they're telling themselves, man, I really need to get into the worship because of how I'm feeling today. Oh boy, that worship service was great. I feel awesome. Or man, the worship was beautiful. I was weeping. I was crying. I was just letting go of my burdens. It felt so great for me. Now don't hear what I'm not saying. Yes, worship can give you breakthrough. Yes, being in the presence of the Lord in a way where you're mindful of that presence can lift your burdens and bring forth joy. And it's good to cry in the presence of the Lord. And it's good to have your burdens lifted in worship. And it's good to have that form of therapy, if you will. But worship is so much more. Too many Christians have reduced worship to a form of therapy. Church attendance when you're serving out of need. It becomes about just wanting to connect with others, or I was bored, or I was feeling lonely. And this is the basis level of Christian living. Number 2, serving out of duty. When you begin to mature in your faith, you go from serving him out of need to developing a sense of duty. I need to serve the Lord because I owe him. I need to serve the Lord for the sake of his glory. I need to serve the Lord because he is worthy. And these are admirable motivators. But again, if these are the only motivators, there's something missing. Remember what Jesus told Mary? It will not be taken away from her. There's one thing that counts. Jesus had the 72 and the 12. Look at Luke chapter 9. I'll read to you verses 1 and 2. One day Jesus called together his 12 disciples And gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. So the crowds came around Jesus and they received healing and deliverance. The disciples came around Jesus and they received the ability to heal and to deliver. There was a sense of duty there. A sense of purpose. They were there to serve. In Luke chapter 10, verses 1 through 3, we read, the Lord now chose 72 of the disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. These were his instructions to them: the harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest. Ask him to send more workers into his fields. Now go and remember that I am sending you as lambs among wolves. So here we see the Lord telling us to pray that the Lord would send workers. So I'm not saying that serving the Lord out of a sense of duty is bad. In fact, serving him out of a sense of obligation is good because we are obligated. I mean, to serve him with all that we are is the least that we can do. Serving him out of duty is admirable. There's nothing wrong with it. In fact, Ephesians 4:1 says this, Therefore, I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. You are called to live a life that's worthy of that calling. You are called to live a life that brings glory to God. We spend our lives for his glory. Who cares about our legacy? Who cares about our fame? Who cares about our notoriety? Who cares about our accomplishments? When we're spending eternity with the Lord, all of that will have faded into the background anyway. It's all about Jesus. So yes, it's good to have a sense of duty, but if you're not careful, that sense of duty can so easily devolve into legalism. You serve out of need, well, that just can devolve into selfishness if you're not careful. You serve out of just a sense of duty, that can rapidly descend into legalism. When you pray out of a sense of duty, you imagine that you have to pray for hours and hours or God won't be pleased with you. I love prayer and I think every believer ought to pray more. And I think that every believer ought to make it a goal to pray as much as they possibly can. But if you reduce prayer to just that sense of duty, that's all you're going to have is a collection of hours, checking things off of a list, fulfilling an obligation, making sure that you're consistent. And we think that it's just about what we can pray for others, how we can impact the world. We pray for souls, we pray for our family, we pray for our church. That's all good. That's all good. But it can't stop there. Think too, and this is a little different of a point, but I want you to ask the Lord to open your eyes and ears. Think too of how when people pray sometimes, they're approaching it from a mindset of duty. They're approaching it from a mindset of obligation. So that they imagine that it's their prayers that are bringing forth revival. Now I know I'm gonna step on some toes here, but this mindset has to be shattered. We teach people to have pain for pain's sake, discomfort for discomfort's sake, sacrifice for sacrifice's sake, as if the Lord is going to say, wow, you made yourself uncomfortable And therefore, now I'm going to pour out revival. Well, the Lord pours out revival and moves of his Spirit based upon what Christ did on the cross, not based upon our prayer lives. Brother David, are you saying that we don't contribute in any way? That's not what I'm saying, nor am I saying that you shouldn't pray. But I'm saying that if you get stuck in this mindset where prayer is an obligation, where you're praying just for a sense of duty, then you are going to begin to think that you are the one who paid the price for the anointing, that you are the one who paid the price for revival, that you are the reason God is using you, that you are the reason God is moving, that you are the reason God is performing miracles. That's not it at all. We don't pray and then become the answer. We pray and God answers through our lives. It's about yielding to him. Amen. Not about sacrifice just for the sake of sacrifice. When we live under the sense of duty, holiness becomes about fulfilling a moral code, or we fear having a bad testimony because of the way it might affect our friends and family. Those are great motivators, but it can't stop there. Bible reading becomes about being well-learned or being ready to give an answer or to rightly divide the Word. Nothing wrong with those. That can't be the only motivators behind why we read the Word. We give resources because we feel that sense of obligation. Well, I have a responsibility to expand the kingdom. I have a responsibility to spread the Word. Yes, this is good. And as it goes with prayer, I'm not saying we don't have any part in it at all. I'm not saying there's no price to pay for the anointing necessarily. I'm saying that we can begin to think it all depends on us. That becomes the main issue. When you give, it's about giving because of a church project or kingdom expansion alone. Nothing wrong with those things, but that can't be the only reason. Worship becomes about setting an example, looking good for other believers, or because you think you need to keep your own fire burning. Church attendance is about checking off that box. I want to make sure I don't miss that Sunday because then that will ruin my perfect record. These are all good goals and these are great motivators, but we have to add to these the next level. So as you begin your walk, it starts with needs. I need breakthrough. I need healing. I need deliverance. I need freedom. And then you move into the sense of duty as a believer. For the glory of God, I want to, I feel obligated to, I have to. It's a great place to be, but you have to go beyond that. Number 3, you're serving out of love. And this brings me back to that point I was making about Mary. Martha was serving, yes, but she was missing the point. The kingdom of God is about so much more than hustle culture. I see it all the time, influencers and Christians commingling hustler culture. And by that, I simply mean they, they, they, there's this hustle culture where they're moving and You know, up at 5 and this kind of a breakfast and this kind of a workout. I drive this kind of car, I make this kind of money, I do these kind of investments. And I have nothing against success. I think that's all good. I have nothing against discipline. I think that's good. But I think that sometimes we've reduced the spiritual disciplines to be just another expression of this hustle culture, of this success mindset. And you see it all the time. You see a good breakfast and a workout thrown in with Bible reading as if they're all the same. No, my friend, these spiritual disciplines are far more important than the things they're often mentioned with. But you'll miss it if it's all about duty. You'll miss it if it's all about need. This is where it comes down to love and serving the Lord Jesus because you love him. In Matthew chapter 17, verses 1 and 2, we see that 6 days later, Jesus took Peter, and the 2 brothers James and John and led them up to a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus's appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as light. In Mark chapter 14, verses 32 and 34, we read, they went out to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, sit here while I go and pray. And he took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, my soul is crushed to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Here we see that the crowds weren't there, the 72 weren't there, not even the 12 were there. It was just Peter, James, and John that were with him at his pinnacle. And they were with him in the valley. They were with him at his transfiguration, a moment of greatness and victory. They were also with him the moments before he was to be crucified, in the moments of crushing. Why were they invited in? Why were they allowed into those secret places? When you begin to serve the Lord out of love, it changes everything about your Christianity. I wanna tell you how it does in just a moment. But first, if you're enjoying this content and it's blessing you, make sure to leave a like to help spread this teaching to other people. And also lets you and I stay connected. Don't miss a teaching, a sermon, or a livestream where the power of the Holy Spirit moves. Make sure you're subscribed to my channel and click the notification bell when you do subscribe so that you don't miss any of the content. So how does it begin to affect you now? Well, let's take a look at prayer firstly. When you begin to pray out of a love for Jesus rather than out of need or a sense of obligation, the hours in prayer feel like minutes and they fly right by. You see, when you're praying out of need, you pray until you've expressed the need and then you're on your way. When you pray out of a sense of duty, you're watching the clock to see how long you've been praying. And once you've met your quota, you step out of the room. When you pray out of love, you're not looking to fulfill an obligation. You're not looking to check something off of your list. Rather, what you're doing now is you're spending time with the one that you love. You're spending time devoted to fellowship with the divine. And out of this fellowship, Out of this love, out of this enjoyment of his presence, not a checklist, just friendship, you begin to lose track of time. Out of this flows that divine energy. Prayer now is no longer a strain. It's no longer a struggle. It no longer brings you to the point of exhaustion. It's no longer that thing in the back of your mind that you forget about all day and then come to the end of the day and say, oh my goodness, I have to pray. Rather, prayer becomes like breathing. It begins to invigorate your spiritual life, and out of this place flows that ease of service. Time goes by, energy is spent, and you're not even thinking about it. Now you're serving him out of love, and there's a fire beginning to kindle in your heart. Holiness changes. Holiness no longer becomes about trying to be rid of those burdens. or that heaviness that you're carrying, or the guilt and the shame. Holiness is no longer about just keeping a moral code or trying to be a good testimony for others. That's good, those are great motivators, but they're not the final ones. Rather, now holiness becomes about not hurting the one you love. Holiness becomes about not wanting to hinder that fellowship you have with him. Holiness becomes about not wanting to break his heart. Amen. You love him and you don't wanna hurt him. In fact, when you walk in this divine love, you become so full of his presence that you're not hungry for anything that sin has to offer. You become so consumed by his mercies and love that you are not even distracted by the things of this world. The world begins to lose its appeal. Sin begins to lose its appeal. And you go— Hear this now, this is gonna be key for many of you. You go from fighting the desires of the flesh to acquiring completely new desires. Bible reading now becomes vibrant and life-giving. You're reading so that you can know his voice, his mind, his nature. You're reading so that you can know more about the one that you love. And you're reading these communications that he has, that he sent to you through inspiration of the Holy Spirit. There are divine treasures hidden in the text, and you're pulling them out and consuming them. Now no longer out of obligation, you can read chapters and chapters and chapters, and before you know it, you're finishing whole books of the Bible and saying, I don't wanna leave this room. I wanna stay and read more. You become consumed by the things of God. Your giving now changes. You're not giving out of a need because you want a miracle. You're not giving out of a sense of responsibility because you're aware of what's before you in this world and the task that's at hand. Both of those are fine, but now you're giving for so much more. When you give, it's no longer about just the mission. It's no longer about just the breakthrough that you need. Now, when you give, you see it as putting gifts in the hands of Jesus through giving to his work, 'cause you believe that he deserves to reap the reward of his suffering. Worship's no longer a program or a song. Now you are so enamored with him that worship naturally erupts from deep within your spirit. And before, maybe you had to try to conjure the emotion. Maybe before you had to try to get into it or try to make yourself motivated to worship. When you serve out of love, worship flows and it takes everything in you to contain it. You won't even have to try to force it. Your church attendance. It's no longer about having to fulfill Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday. Now your church attendance becomes because you want to be around other people who talk about Jesus. You wanna go and hear more about Jesus. You wanna hear other people's perspectives on Jesus. You wanna get there and worship Jesus with fellow believers. You want to fulfill the mission for Jesus. Everything becomes about Jesus. You will not grow tired. You will not grow weary. You will not begin to faint. You will not go back and forth. You'll not do good one week and then bad the next. But you have to step away from the other forms of living and step into what Mary discovered, because what Mary discovered was never taken away from her. And once you discover this, my friend, it will never be taken away from you. To serve because you love Him. To serve because you enjoy his presence changes everything. Out of that divine love comes energy unending. Out of that divine love comes the proper perspective. Out of that divine love comes the grounding in your spiritual walk. Father, I pray you help them to do it. Holy Spirit, begin to fan into flame within their heart now the fire of a love for Jesus. Lord, we pray that we would find that one thing and that it wouldn't be taken away. That we would ground ourselves in you to live to know you. Help us to remember it's all about you. Teach us, Holy Spirit, to love Jesus like you love Jesus. In His name we pray. Wow, I can sense a real strong flow of power here. I want you to say it because you believe it. Say a big amen. Well, real briefly, I want to mention that if you'd like to take a personality test that we've conducted as a ministry, this won't be conclusive, but it will help to give you an idea of where you're at in your Christian walk. We base this, of course, on biblical principles. Go to davidhernandezministries.com/christian test. Now this will tell you whether you're serving out of duty, whether you're serving out of need, or whether you're serving out of love. And though it's not entirely conclusive, it'll get you praying in the right direction. So you could take that test over again. Davidhernandezministries.com/christian test. We'll also post it in the comments. Also, if this ministry has been a blessing to you. And you wanna stand behind us, you wanna help us, I challenge you today to give out of a love for Jesus. You know, when I give in an offering, the way I visualize it to help me understand the proper perspective, when those buckets come by, when that QR code is presented, whatever it is that's before me, whether it be a website link or a basket, you name it, I picture the hands of Jesus out like this, and I'm putting a gift in the hands of Jesus. When I'm in need, I recognize, yes, I'm in need, but I want to lavish him with my love. When I sense that sense of Christian duty, knowing that I have a responsibility to help win souls, that's great, but I have to come back to to giving because I love Jesus. When you give to the gospel, it's as if you're placing gifts in his hands. And if Jesus was standing before you today in physical form, what would you reward him with? How would you thank him? Would you be able to find a little extra to make that gift count? So I'm asking you to give to the Lord Jesus through this work For the sake of expanding the kingdom of God, for the sake of souls, that souls might be saved. So give today out of a love for Jesus. I challenge you, if you haven't done so already, to become a monthly ministry partner by going to davidhernandezministries.com/partner. You can begin a partnership for as little as $15 a month. If you've already signed up to become a partner or you're not ready to partner yet, you can give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate. Those extra gifts help tremendously. Whatever you do, single or monthly, large or small, I'm asking you to do your best, sacrificially, selflessly, lovingly. Put that gift into the hands of the Lord. By giving to the work of the ministry. I thank you for your support, and until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.