Thank you. Instead, we will be coming together
for a family fellowship. Everyone is welcome.
If you're here and you've been a son of my voice,
you're welcome to come and join with us, and
we'll be enjoying a kind of taco bar. If you
haven't been hit up yet to bring something for
the taco bar, or if you have some particular
thing that you'd like to bring for that, then
you go ahead and do that, and you can check with
Sherry or Risha or me or just about anybody to
make sure somebody else knows that you're bringing
something, that you ain't already bringing something,
okay? And if you didn't want to bring anything,
that's okay, too. Just come and eat with us,
and we'll have a good time. And we're also going
to be playing games afterwards. We'll have card
games and board games and some activities for
the kids and that kind of thing. And that's Friday,
so not Grand Prix Workshop this Friday. Amen.
Okay, if you're a follower of Christ, think about
when you were saved. That's kind of how this
song goes. Think about that. Thank God as you
sing this. As Amalia and Alicia were singing
that song, my mind flashed back to us worshiping
in Northwood High School in a classroom. And
we could not get Amalia to get closer than about
a foot to the microphone. And no microphone could
we get hot enough that we could actually hear
her singing, even though my omnidirectional microphone
was barely picking her up. And she's like, I'm
close enough. I'm close enough to the microphone.
And praise the Lord, many days later. That has
finally changed. Praise God for that. It's been
years now, but it just really struck me in that
moment. So we have a couple of pieces of business
that we need to take care of right away before
we get into the sermon because we're going to
hit a topic today that was harsh for me. So the
last time I took over about five hours to write
my sermon for a Sunday was probably well over
a year ago. And this sermon took me close to
12 hours to write. And for a good part of that,
I was in what I would call kind of like anguish,
realizing that we are maybe claiming to be something
that we are not. And we need to ask ourselves
if that is the case. And then we need to make
whatever adjustments are necessary. And that
had to start with me. But the 12 hours that I
spent... None of that was really me doing that.
I still had to do that on top of the 12 hours.
But I spent 12 hours studying. I spent four or
five hours getting to the heart of the matter
because I started with a misconception. I thought
I had the title and kind of the point of the
sermon. There's a mystery going on before you
as these sermons are being preached now as we're
leading up to Easter, which I'll explain in a
moment. At least I'll give you another clue toward
the mystery. So about four or five hours overcoming
that misconception and getting to the text that
we're going to use. And I thought, well, usually
when I have the text, it's only about an hour
or two after that, I'm good to go. And then it
took another almost eight hours for me to get
to what I'm going to bring you today. And the
truth is, I think I could have spent about another
five or six hours here and really honed it down
to something a lot more smaller, maybe not so
hard to chew, not so difficult to understand.
So I'm going to try my best to deliver it to
you. clearly. So the second thing then is this
is part, as I said, of a mystery. I started playing
a little game with you without telling you I
was doing it. And so the clue for today's sermon
is the phrase three of seven. Three of seven.
Last week's clue was two of seven and I forgot
to give it to you. So the clue for today's sermon
is three of seven. So your goal over the next
roughly month or so leading between now and Easter
is to try to figure out what the heck am I talking
about that I'm not talking about? Okay, that
is the goal. What is it that I'm talking about
that I'm not talking about? And your clue is
three of seven. I will fair warn you, if you
miss a sermon between now and then, completely
miss it anyway, you could catch it online, you
could listen to it on the podcast, but if you
completely miss it, you will have a bit of a
challenge getting to the bottom of the mystery.
Okay, so today's clue is three of seven. Then
we're just going to do a couple of quick things.
One, we talked about a little bit during our
inspirational moment. The first one is wisdom.
I want to talk about wisdom very just kind of
briefly, make sure we're all on the same page.
Wisdom is knowing God's knowledge or God's route
or God's path or God's understanding of a situation.
and in theory gives you the ability to apply
that or to tell someone else so that they can
apply it. So for example, I learned when I was
about three years old how to tie my shoes, and
I thought I was like Superman because nobody
else who was three years old could tie their
shoes. And then I raised Alicia and Amalia, and
Amalia started preschool, and she was three years
old, just over three, and she was the only one
in her school who could tie shoes. She spent
almost her entire recess tying shoes. Rather
than the teacher doing it, she would send everybody
to Amalia. And I thought, you know, being three
and knowing how to tie shoes maybe isn't such
a good thing. Because she would have a 25 -minute
recess and spend almost 20 minutes tying shoes.
Because there were 25 kids in her class, and
as soon as one would be tied, another one would
be untied. So she was tying shoes constantly.
And the rest of the time, she spent on the swing.
So that was her whole recess, tying shoes and
swinging. That being said, knowing how to tie
shoes. and then being able to actually tie shoes
seems like it's basically the same thing. And
wisdom is like that. Knowing what you need to
know and being in God's kingdom, God's ways,
God's wisdom, God's knowledge, whatever you want
to call it, and being able to kind of apply it,
that's wisdom, generically speaking. Understanding
is another thing. Understanding is kind of just
what it implies. Standing under the knowledge.
So you could have the wisdom and be able to apply
it, but then not actually understand it. Because
you're not standing under what you know. For
example, using the illustration I just gave you,
being able to tie shoes at three, I was thinking
I was like Superman. And for a short time, I
think Amalia was too, thinking she was Superwoman
when she was three because everybody would come
to her in need and she was fixing their problems
constantly. So she's feeling like that too. But
just a real quick second after that, you start
thinking, well, you can see if I'm going to spend
20 minutes a day tying shoes, I feel like I should
be paid for that, right? Or at least get a bigger
treat when we go to treat time, something like
that. And so there is an understanding of how
to tie shoes and what's going to result from
tying shoes, and then there is standing under
that knowledge, right? So she wasn't teaching
anybody how to tie shoes because while she knew
how to tie shoes, she couldn't get it across
to anybody how to tie shoes because she didn't
really understand how she was doing it. She couldn't
stand under the knowledge of how to tie shoes.
I couldn't stand under the knowledge of how to
tie shoes, but I could tie shoes. See the difference?
So if you can display God's wisdom in your choices,
you might be wise. But if you can understand
why you're doing what you're doing and apply
that to what comes next, you might have understanding.
There are two different things. Here we go. The
text is relatively short, but we've got quite
a bit of Bible between here and from when we're
done. So grab your Bibles, if you would, and
go with me to Proverbs 1. Amen. Thank you very
much for joining in. I fully understand I'm a
little bit weird, a little bit odd. And I appreciate
that you joined me in my oddness because you're
stuck with me. At least until you're not. So
we're right in Proverbs chapter 1. And we're
going to read verse 10. Yes, there we go. I found
it on the page even. So it says this. It says,
My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
Or consent thou not, if you're reading the King
James Version. So I want you to see something
before we go any further, okay? So the first
thing is, there are people in the world who do
the wrong thing. Raise your hand if you've ever
done the wrong thing. This is a participatory
moment, so every hand should be up, okay? If
not, you really need to address the fact that
you have a lot of pride and arrogance, okay?
Or you're just not really participating, which
would be okay too. So what's a sinner? A sinner
is a person who has done the wrong thing. And
the fact is, and elsewhere we could read, that
sinners have a tendency to kind of drag people
along with them. That's the reality of it. We
talk about peer pressure, and we mostly mean
that in a negative context. People who are kind
of like you about your age, about your skin color,
about your social standing, whatever, have a
way of pressuring you into doing what it is that
you want to do. And then they'll say, wait for
it, they'll say, well, it was your choice. You're
an adult. You could choose to follow my example.
You could choose to follow what I'm teaching
you to do or not. It was your choice. Who does
that sound like? Sounds like the devil. What
the devil does is he leads you, entices you to
do things that you should not do, and then when
you do them, he lets you take the blame. He's
already going to spend eternity in hell, separated
from God forever. He's got nothing more to lose,
so he may as well drag people down with him if
he can. We are not meant to be like that, but
the reality is that sinners often are like that.
They have a tendency to entice people to get
involved with what they do. But notice it does
not say, Do not do those things. Do not follow.
Do not mirror their actions. It says, do not
consent. Because all it really takes for a sinner
to drag you into their current situation, which
is maybe on the way to hell, or it could be a
Christian who's sinning and they're leading you
to sin along with them, and so they're suffering
a lack of joy in their salvation, a lack of feeling
like God is in their life, and they're doing
the things that... their flesh wants to do rather
than what God wants. And either way, all you
have to do is consent. Perhaps you've been talking
with someone and someone will start talking about
someone else. And you're like, well, I'm not
going to join in this conversation. I'm not going
to say anything. I'm just going to stand back
and not say anything while they're gossiping
or slandering that other person. I'm not going
to take part. But you're still standing there.
You don't mention the word gossip or slander.
You don't say, hey, we should change the topic
of conversation. You don't say, hey, I'm not
going to listen to this. You just stand there
while it's going on. You know what they call
that in the criminal world? They call that being
an accomplice. And what the writer of Proverbs,
probably Solomon, is telling us is that we should
not consent. Don't stand by and accept that that
action is appropriate behavior when they're attempting
to entice you into it. Even if you should say,
I'm not going to go then and do what it is, you
should still say, why? What is the difference?
The difference is you're wise enough to know
that the thing that they're trying to entice
you is not appropriate. I'm not going to do that.
But you don't have understanding because you
don't have a way of delivering the knowledge
that it's not appropriate and why it's not appropriate.
See the difference? We pursue both wisdom and
understanding not to get ahead of ourselves.
It's not good enough to just say, I'm not going
to consent. For example, it's not good enough
to just say, I am not personally going to watch
rated R movies or violent movies or movies that
depict sex acts on my TV screen in my living
room at home, or I'm not personally going to
watch pornography. That is not good enough. You
have to understand why that behavior is inappropriate.
You have to stand under the fact that it's inappropriate
and be able to explain to somebody else why you're
not participatory in it and be able to say, I'm
not going to send them my money in some other
way. If Playboy magazine opens up a beneficial
foundation that is doing something with its profits,
let's say teaching children to read or whatever
like that, that foundation is a separate entity,
but all the money is coming from Playboy. I'm
not going to go buy a subscription to Playboy
magazine so the foundation can benefit. I'm not
going to have anything to do with it. Because
I understand not only am I not interested in
participating in the thing that you're enticing
me to do, I do not consent. Politically speaking,
I do not consent to abortion. I don't consent.
Therefore, when I go to the polls, unless the
Lord specifically tells me otherwise, and I always
vote what God tells me to do, I cannot vote for
a candidate who supports abortion. I can't do
it because I don't consent. Am I political? Am
I trying to win you to political? No, I'm using
it as an illustration. It's all I'm doing. You
can think about the things that go on in your
household, the things that you do, your family
does, your church does, whatever, and you're
going to find something that you can say, I'm
consenting to it. I'm consenting to it. By saying
nothing, I'm consenting to it. And if you're
consenting to it, you have to realize this clearly
says, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
Then skip to 15 and 16. And it says, my son,
do not walk on the way with them. So we're continuing
to talk about... And he gets into a much more
wicked person than just a good person, like a
follower of Christ who's doing a little bit of
sin. He starts to talk about wickedness. And
he says, do not walk on the way with them. In
other words, don't go the path that they're traveling.
He says, keep your feet from their path. There
are many paths in life. One that we're called
to, that's the highway of holiness. Again, not
to get ahead of myself. there are many paths
that you will wind up on. And I submit to you
that if you are seen while on a path of wickedness,
if you're seen in a bar buying rounds of drinks,
then later, if you try to teach against drinking,
it's not going to hold water. It's not going
to work. If you're seen on a Sunday morning at
noon on the golf course, and then later try to
invite somebody to come to church on a Sunday
at 1130, When they know that if you were going
to do that, you wouldn't have been on the golf
course at noon on a Sunday, then it's not going
to hold water. They're going to be like, well,
why do I even need to go? I'm not golfing this
Sunday. I get that. I have a good reason not
to go, but I can find some other good reason
not to be there. And so what he's saying is you
don't belong on the pathways that they're walking.
Keep your feet from their path. Verse 16 then
says, for their feet run to evil. And they are
quick to shed blood. So basically, talking about
the wicked person, or a person who does not know
God, or a person who does not recognize God in
his authority, how easy it is for them to do
wrong. And we don't want to be like that. I'm
going to go on then and read now Proverbs 2,
verses 1 through 20. Before I do that, I need
you to ascend to a certain opinion with me. If
we're going to get to where we're trying to get
to today, we have to agree on one point. And
that is that life consists of many turns. And
by a turn, I mean a choice. Where you go one
direction or another. Or maybe one of seven directions.
Or maybe one of a hundred. You graduate high
school, do you go to college? Do you get a job?
Do you work at your job? Do you go and do a trade?
Become a plumber or electrician? Do you get married?
Do you not get married? Do you have kids? Do
you not have kids? On what particular day do
you attempt to have kids? What particular day
do you cook at home? When do you eat out? Can
we agree, I'm looking at eyes now, can we agree
that life consists of many turns? Do we agree
with that? I'm looking for somebody who does
not agree. I'm going to call you out if you do
not agree. Are we okay? Do we agree that life
consists of many turns? All right. So I think
we've got 100 % agreement, at least all of those
who are looking at me. Now that being said, I
want you to listen to Proverbs 20. I'm not going
to break, I'm sorry, 2, 1 through 20. I'm not
going to break down every verse. It says, My
son, if you will receive my words and treasure
my commandments within you, make your ear attentive
to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding.
For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice
for understanding. If you seek her as silver
and search for her as for hidden treasures. So
in other words, if you'll spend your life searching
out wisdom and understanding, then you will discern
the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge
of God. For the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth
come knowledge and understanding. He stores up
sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield
to those who walk in integrity. We'll stop after
that verse and explain the word integrity for
a second. The word integrity has the same root
as the word integer. An integer is a whole number.
A person has integrity when their wholeness,
all that they are, is the same through and through.
It surrounds one key point. And in the world
right now, people are trying to build their integrity
on all kinds of things. And it's respectable,
right? If you always show up to work on time,
give a hard day's work, draw your paycheck, maybe
do a little extra at the end of the day, they
will think you have integrity and they will pay
you well. Okay? Maybe you're all about the money.
You just want the money. You're looking for the
promotion. You're wanting them to think good
things of you, whatever. So you're building the
integrity of your life on one of those things
and they will pay you well. That's a reality.
But that is not integrity that lasts for an eternity.
That is integrity that lasts for a season. If
you get a boss who's a dirtbag, who maybe sexually
harasses you or talks bad about you behind your
back constantly or maybe shaves your hours slightly,
pretty soon you'll not be showing up on work.
to work on time. You'll not be doing the extra
work. You'll not be going the extra mile. And
you'll justify that by saying he's a dirtbag
or she's a dirtbag. Okay. Because the money is
not enough. It's not enough to make you put up
with what you're going through now. So an integer
is a whole number. A person who has integrity
is their whole being. All that they are centered
around something that guides and directs them.
It will last. All that we are now related to
something that will last. I submit to you that
our something is Jesus Christ. And he will last
for an eternity. I'll read that verse again so
we understand the context. He stores up sound
wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those
who walk in integrity. Guarding the paths of
justice. and he preserves the way of his godly
ones. Then you will discern righteousness and
justice and equity. Discern means you'll figure
it out. You'll be able to tell one from the other.
Righteous and justice and equity and every good
course. By the way, equity just means what's
right in that circumstance. For wisdom will enter
your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to
your soul. Discretion will guard you. Understanding
will watch over you to deliver you from the...
way of evil from the man who speaks perverse
things, from those who lead the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness. Now here we
got the guy, so now we're talking about people
who, remember Proverbs 1, they let themselves
be enticed or they consent, and now we're saying
that the seekers of wisdom and understanding
will be protected from people like that. You
understand? So in other words, if you follow
the Lord in the way that this person is calling
you to do so, you will be protected from people
who allow themselves to be enticed or who consent
to those actions. So we need protection from
them? When maybe right now we actually are them?
That's interesting. 12 says, to deliver you from
the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse
things. from those who leave the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness, who delight
in doing evil and rejoice in the perversity of
evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious
in their ways, to deliver you from the strange
woman, from the adulteress who flatters with
her words, that leaves the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God, for her
house sinks down to death and her tracks lead
to the dead. None who go to her return again.
nor do they reach the paths of life. So you will
walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths
of the righteous. The sermon title for today
is Absolutely, separate syllable. I hope that
made it up there, did it? It did. The dash is
between the E and the L. There you see it now.
Absolutely avoid overly agile adjusting. Wow.
Absolutely avoid overly agile adjusting. Where's
our tongue twister people? To avoid overly agile
adjusting is to realize there are many turns
in life, right? And you can very easily too quickly
adjust. The fact is humans are capable of adjusting.
We figured out what the problem is. When I was
playing junior high football, I could turn on
a dime. And because I could turn on a dime and
the people trying to tackle me couldn't, I was
all over the place. To run 50 yards, I would
probably run 120 yards. But I'd make 50 yards.
Right? Hold on one second. It is very possible
then to make a too quick turn, to be enticed
off the course of action, to be on the way that
is not appropriate for God. Two reasons most
people adjust to something not in God's plan.
Are you with me? Two reasons why most people
adjust to something. So you can be following
the Lord with all your strength, following the
Lord with all the wisdom that you currently have,
following the Lord with all your learning in
the Bible. currently have. And one of these two
reasons will lead you to do something that is
not God's will. The first one is simple. Agreement.
We agree with the plan. We agree with the turn.
It makes sense to us. This looks like the right
thing to do. It appears this offers better outcomes.
This happens to everybody who ever has to make
a decision between working and going to church.
Every time. I'm going to go to work, I'm going
to get a payday. I'm going to go to church, what
do I get? Right? And you go, well, providentially
hindered, God gave me a job that requires me
to work instead of being in worship today. So,
that's what I'm going to do. It appears to offer
better outcomes. Or, it avoids danger. This happens
to everybody who refuses to talk about Jesus
because they're afraid they'll be persecuted.
I'm going to get away with this one. This is
too much for me. I'm not going to risk whatever.
It conserves resources for other pursuits. Well,
you know, God wants me to serve in this way.
God wants me to study the Word and to preach.
So I don't have time for this other thing over
here that in the back of my mind and in my heart
I know God wants me to do because I've got to
conserve my resources to do the thing that God
wants me to do. When you're conserving your resources
to do one thing that God wants you to do, At
the same time, then, dismissing another thing
that God wants you to do, that's not God. That's
you. Because if you check your accounts, you'll
find that you are completely capable of doing
everything that God wants you to do and wait
for it, everything else that God wants you to
do. You have all the resources necessary to do
that. When you don't have enough resources to
do the thing that God's calling you to do, whatever
it is, if it's 7th on the list or 50th on the
list, if God is calling you to do it, if you
don't have the resources, it's you that's causing
the lack of resources, not God. Quick returns.
I'm going to get something out of this. Right?
Right now, if I do this, this will be the result.
And I want it. I want that result. It'll come
back fast. Following God, I might be patient
and eventually achieve that which God is ending
me towards. It's going to be great. Heaven's
going to be awesome. But this is going to be
like heaven on earth. This is going to be great
right now. Right? It's a misinterpretation of
God's will. I think this thing is God's will
for me to go and do that. It's easy enough to
look at something and go, this looks good. God
wants to bless me. God wants to take care of
me. God wants to provide for me. So this looks
like it does that, so I can do that, right? And
it's easy enough to misinterpret God's will if
you don't have understanding. A messianic complex.
You know what a messianic complex is? A messianic
complex is that moment in time in which you think
that it's your job to die like Jesus did. It's
your job to give up everything you want and everything
you are, sacrifice your life or your time or
your resources, just like Jesus did. Guess what?
Not your job. It's not your job. If there ever
comes a moment in time in which you have to take
a bullet from the Lord, you'll know that moment
when it comes. And if you're orchestrating that
now, you're blowing it. If you're suffering on
purpose, that's not God, that's you. You understand?
But it's super easy to make that turn when we
start thinking that we are like Jesus. Hold on
one second. I want to say something very clearly
that we all should already know. You are not
like Jesus. I am not like Jesus. Do we want to
be? Are we growing to be? Are we getting to be,
hopefully, if you're following the Lord, pursuing
wisdom and understanding, a little bit more every
day like Jesus? Yes. But are you close? I mean,
is it like you're about to cross the finish line?
Tomorrow you're going to be just like Jesus?
No, not going to happen. That's not going to
happen. You're not going to be just like Jesus
in this lifetime. You're going to get a little
closer, a little closer, or maybe sometimes a
lot closer, but you're never going to really
be close to being like Jesus. We perceive that
we have unique insight. I know something that
nobody else knows. I can get away with something.
I can do something behind everybody else's back.
Or I know exactly how to do this thing and nobody
else knows it like me. And they always say, if
you want something done right, do it yourself.
Right? So I have this perfect perception. Nobody
else quite has the understanding that I have.
All of that is just pride and arrogance. As I
stand before you today, I'm preaching the sermon
that the Lord gave me. And you want to know what?
If I was giving myself a sermon writing grade,
I'd give it a C. As far as how well the sermon
is written, I'd give it a C. After 12 hours,
at least two of those spent in tears and several
of them spent in sweat, I'd give it a C. But
I also know that by the time we're done here
today, you will have exactly what you need from
the Lord because you don't get that from me.
You don't get it from me. You don't get it from
my process. You don't even get it from my Bible
reading. You don't get it from anything that
I do. You get that from the Lord. And if it wasn't
like that, I couldn't be a pastor. I don't have
any unique insight. I worked 12 hours to be able
to say what I'm saying before you now. That's
not unique insight. If you had worked 12 hours,
you probably would have something to say too.
Maybe several somethings. I could probably write
six sermons in 12 hours. Perceiving that you
have unique insight will lead you to take in
a turn that is not in the Lord's will if you're
not careful. The persistence of temptation, it
just keeps coming. Just keeps coming. Yep, I
just keep getting distracted. It keeps coming
after me. I keep thinking. I've got it in my
flesh, in myself, in my mind. I think, well,
this could work. No, I'm not going to do it.
I put it off 20 times, 30 times, 40 times, and
finally I'm going to just do it. Poor self -esteem.
I know that we know that we're not like Jesus,
but you also have to realize you're not like
the world. You're so far above anybody that doesn't
know Jesus, right? John Vaps is a pretty cool
guy, right? John the Baptist is amazing. Thousands
of people walked up and downhill over broken
terrain every day to hear him be baptized. Hundreds
or thousands of people in the River Jordan. Pretty
cool guy, right? Do you know that Jesus said
about him that greater is every one of us individually
than he was? In fact, he even said that if we
would believe and trust God, call on his name
and believe that we have what we have, we'll
do greater things than Jesus did. you're pretty
incredible. And if you've got poor self -esteem,
if you're trying to look better, act better,
think better, feel better, so you can put yourself
up there, you can be okay because you have poor
self -esteem, then something's wrong. Your eyes
should be on Jesus, not on you. You don't have
to spend all this time judging yourself as like
you're worthless or something like that. That's
a big waste. But that poor self -esteem then
will lead you because you'll find somebody, a
sinner, who will entice you, who will say, you
can feel better, look better, be better, be richer.
You can get rid of your health problems. All
these things are available to you if you'll just
take this turn that I'm offering you. And that
turn leads you onto a way that sinners walk.
We have short memory of blessings. If you are
saved, you remember a minimum of one moment in
time in which the God of heaven did something
absolutely incredible. And if you've never seen
any other miracles, I think you probably have.
If you didn't know it, I'm sorry. If you've never
seen any other miracles, then you had at least
a minimum of one miracle. You had a showing up
of the Holy Spirit where you were transformed
and you said, from now on, this is me and Jesus.
A thing that previous to that you never would
have done. With this Holy Spirit in you and that
feeling, there's no way that we should have a
short memory of that. In sports, you make a play,
you blow up, you foolishly trip on the basketball
court, or you run the wrong way and score a touchdown
for the other team. Something really dumb, right?
You're supposed to have a short memory. You forget
that. Get back out there because if you can score
one the wrong way for the other team, you can
score one or two or three for your team going
the right way. And you're supposed to have a
short memory. But in the kingdom, we don't have
a short memory. We look at that moment. There
are two moments in time at which you must never
forget. You should guard everything and guide
everything in your life by these two moments.
And one of them was when you got saved and the
other one is when you walk into heaven. And one
of them you can see and personally experienced.
And the other... You can only believe it in faith
because it's not yet realized. But it's real.
And people forget the memory of the blessings
of the amazing thing of God when you prayed and
someone was healed, when you prayed and your
soul was saved, etc. Don't forget that because
the moment you start to walk onto that other
path, you should realize, hey, I'm walking away
from that. And the last one is very convicting.
A feeling of peace about the turn. How many times
have you ever had somebody, I've been praying
about it, I've been talking to the Lord about
this thing that I'm going to do, and I have a
feeling of peace. I submit to you that by the
time you have to pray about something so that
you can have a feeling of peace, you already
have considerable reservations. You have questions
as to whether that's the right course or not.
And there is a process in the Bible, one of those
parts is prayer, but it's not the only prayer.
But you say, well, I prayed and God is authorizing
this in me because I have unique insight. Wait,
that was on the list, wasn't it? Well, I prayed
and I know this is what God wants me to do because
I can see it's going to turn out. I can see how
God is going to use this for his glory. Something
amazing is going to happen. Wait, that's quick
returns. I can see how by doing this, God's setting
me up to be successful in this other area of
ministry over here. That's conserving resources
for other pursuits. And the list goes on. So
we need to be careful as we're looking at these
turns that we don't come into agreement with
that person who's trying to entice us and go
the wrong way, which we could very easily do
because you can see that all of those things,
none of those things are nuts. They're not insanity.
They're not inherently evil, right? Quick returns,
that's good. You go to McDonald's, you give them
the money, they give you the food, you're driving
on, you're eating your Big Mac. Yay! That's not
a bad thing, except McDonald's might be actually
bad for you. Probably, but that's another thing
altogether. There's nothing really wrong with
quick returns inherently, but it's when it's
quick returns in your own strength, quick returns
outside his wisdom or understanding, when it's
quick returns that leads you to be enticed or
to consent. That was the first one. So the first
one is the problem is you may actually agree
for one of those or other reasons, you may actually
agree that this turn is an appropriate turn to
take off the course that God has laid out for
you onto a course that sinners would tread. The
second one is what I call antagonistic alignments.
And this is a real problem because you have carrying
around with you, right now you are carrying around
with you the largest battery that you personally
will probably ever lift. And it's full of desire.
And it is your body. Your flesh has desires.
It has wants. It has needs. Just don't eat for
a few days and actually feel what real hunger
feels like. And we're all like, oh, it's four
o 'clock and I haven't eaten anything today.
I'm terribly hungry. No, you're not, right? What's
happening is the fat cells in your body and your
parasites and whatever are crying out to eat.
But the truth is people don't get hungry when
they don't eat for six or eight hours. That's
just not the math of it. People get hungry when
they don't eat for a couple of days. But we don't
know that in America. So we think the first thing
is hunger. Understand? So what I'm saying to
you is this. We have in us the capability of
antagonistic alignments where we start to think
that this other way is a way, even though it's
contrary to what God says. So first of all, this
is the list. I'll go quickly. First one is carpe
diem. Seize the day. Do it right now. Isn't that
exciting? If I seize the day and do it right
now, I feel powerful. If I can buy it, if I have
the money in my bank and I can buy it and nobody
can tell me no, that's power. If it's midnight
and I can choose to stay up and watch one more
episode, that's power because I can choose. If
somebody says something or does something and
I choose whether or not to rebuke them, that's
power. And so we think by seizing the day, by
making something happen, we're doing something
good. But in actuality, we're doing something
antagonistic to God. There is a rush. A quickness,
a sneaky rush, a sinful rush, a desire to do
something even though it's a bad thing. And we
get a rush out of our heart beats fast. Our lungs
process more oxygen because we're doing something.
We know we could get caught. We know we're not
doing something right and so on. We think there's
no downside. Well, I can do whatever I want to
do because there's no downside at all. There's
nothing bad that could come out of this. You
understand? There's nothing bad that could come
out of this. And so we go for it. This thing
is faster. This thing provides me with community.
I need somebody to love on me. I need encouragement.
I need relationship. This thing provides me with
community. You get surrounded by a gang of thieves.
Most gangs, by the way, run off a family mentality.
You get jumped in and after that you're a brother
or a sister. And if somebody says something kind
of snotty to you, they get beat. Any little thing
that they would do to upset you. They get beat.
The family protects its own. And so they're using
community to draw people into a wicked path.
And we start thinking community. We need simplicity.
We don't want to think. It's too complex. It's
too hard for me to figure out what the right
thing to do here is. I don't want to process
it. I just want to go. It's like, why is life
always so stressful that I always have to do
the right thing? Or revenge. Somebody hurt us
and we're going to teach them a lesson. Or anger,
undirected. I have this emotive energy to do
something about it, so now I'm yelling, screaming,
breaking things, whatever. All of those are off
the course that God has laid out for us. Misplaced
loyalty. So we think, I am for this person, my
brother, my sister, my friend, my boyfriend,
my girlfriend. When they do something wrong,
I'm not going to tell anyone what they did. You
follow? So I know they did something wrong, but
I'm not going to out them, no matter what, because
I am loyal to them. That's misplaced loyalty.
It's ungodly action. And we make it out to be
like that's a good thing. Because you get called
a tattletale if somebody tells when somebody
else did something wrong. Do you know how many
rapes have gone unprocessed because no one would
talk? Do you know how many murders have never
been caught? How many drug dealers continue to
push drugs on kids under the age of 12 because
nobody in their neighborhood will say anything?
That's all misplaced loyalty at best. Corrupt
love. Boyfriends and girlfriends say they're
going to do whatever. And we know that real love
does not act unseemly. That was in 1 Corinthians
13. We studied it heartily. So we get this idea.
Well, I love so -and -so and they want to do
it. In my early Christian days, we had a Bible
study. And there was a woman there. And the question
came up in the Bible study. What would you do
if your husband of 20 years told you to help
him rob a bank? And she said, well, I'd do it.
Because the Bible says submit to your husband.
And a huge debate broke out. Like, are we really
debating this? About whether or not if your husband
told you to rob a bank, you would do it? The
moment your husband tells you to rob a bank,
he has ceased to be your husband. You understand?
Because a husband does not drag a woman into
evil. A boyfriend or a girlfriend does not drag
their significant other into evil. That's unseemly.
That's corrupt love at best. That's the best
it is. The truth is, it's actually hate. A lack
of understanding. I just don't know and I don't
want to or I do know like I got the wisdom I
know that lying is wrong but I think I might
get away with this time or I might get good results
this time or it might be different now and so
on and so on. It's a lack of understanding being
able to submit to what you know. Giving in to
human nature. People say well everybody does
it so if everybody does it it can't be wrong
for me. Or Keeping up with the Joneses. Somebody
else did it and they got a good result. So I'm
going to do what they did to get the same result.
Facebook memes are all about that. Reels, right?
Here's 75 different guys want to teach you how
to start your own website, start your own business,
buy this supplement and be healthy and so on.
Because they all say it's all taking care of
everything. The bottom line is there are two
essential groups and you might find more. that
the Lord really led me to look at. And the first
one is that we will actually leave the road that
God has laid out for us because, number one,
we agree. We need a solution for that. We cannot
agree with what wicked people are enticing us
to do. We cannot consent to wickedness in our
presence. We cannot do it. If you're a follower
of Jesus Christ, you cannot do it. And therefore,
we need a solution. And secondly, we may actually
have antagonistic alignments. We may live in
our flesh, in our mind, in our own... ways that
we're doing things or others are enticing us
to do things. We may do them even though they
are contrary to God. If these things would lead
us to do things that are contrary to God, then
we know we need a solution. We need a solution.
Proverbs 4 says this, listen my sons to the instructions
of a father and pay attention so that you may
gain understanding. Hear that? Listen to the
instruction of the father and then pay attention
so that you may gain understanding. For I give
you good teaching. Do not abandon my instruction.
When I was a son to my father, tender and the
only son in the sight of my mother, he taught
me and said to me, let your heart take hold of
my words. Keep my commandments and live. Acquire
wisdom. Acquire understanding. Do not forget
nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do
not abandon her and she will guard you. Love
her and she will watch over you. The beginning
of wisdom is acquire wisdom. And with all your
possessions, acquire understanding. Prize her
and she will exalt you. She will honor you if
you embrace her. She will place on your head
a garland of grace. She will present you with
a crown of beauty. Listen, my son, and accept
my sayings and the years of your life will be
many. I have instructed you in the way of wisdom
and I have led you in upright paths. When you
walk, your steps will not be hampered and if
you run, you will not stumble. Take hold of instruction.
Do not let go. Guard her for she is your life.
Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not
proceed in the way of evil people. Avoid it.
Do not pass by it. Turn away from it and pass
on. For they cannot sleep unless they do evil
and they are robbed of sleep unless they make
someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence. But the path
of righteous is like the light of the dawn. This
is the path that we want to be on. It's like
the light of the dawn that shines brighter and
brighter until the full day. The way of the wicked
is like darkness. They do not know over what
they stumble. My son, pay attention to my words.
Incline your ear to my sayings. They are not
to escape from your sight. Keep them in the midst
of your heart. For they are life to those who
find them and healing to all their body. Watch
over your heart with all diligence. For from
it flow the springs of life. Rid yourself of
a deceitful mouth and keep devious speech far
from you. Let your eyes look. directly ahead,
and let your gaze be fixed straight in front
of you. Watch the path of your feet, and all
your ways will be established. Do not turn to
the right or to the left. Turn your foot from
evil. That last verse, do not turn to the right
or to the left. Turn your foot from evil, is
the key verse to what we are talking about today.
Everyone turns. Life is full of turns. But the
Bible says, Do not turn to the right or to the
left. Turn your foot from evil. Psalm 97 .10
says this. It says, You that love the Lord hate
evil. The highway of holiness has two boundaries,
essentially, speaking in three dimensions. They
are this. God as our shield and wisdom. and the
pursuit of understanding as our course. You ever
wondered in the family of God, if God is our
father, who is our mother? You ever think about
that? If God is our father, who is our mother?
And you might say, maybe the Holy Spirit. No,
the Holy Spirit is our father. God the Father,
God the Son. God the Holy Spirit, that's our
father. He is our father. So, who is our mother?
And the writer of Proverbs is telling you that
your mother is the pursuit of wisdom and understanding.
Now, this is cool because my mother and my father
taught me some pretty valuable lessons when I
was growing up. My dad was quiet, reserved. He
was an honest man, a hard worker. He was a professing
Christian from the time he was about 12 years
old, but backslidden from the time he was 17
to the time that he was 58, 59, something like
that. And so it wasn't anything about God. But
there was some integrity in him. But he was always
distant from me. He didn't make time for me.
He didn't play with me and stuff. Like I would
ask him if he didn't have anything else going
on and we might throw the ball in the side yard.
But that's about the only thing we ever did together.
We went places and traveled and stuff like that.
If I asked him to help on a project, if I could
be of help, he would let me help. That kind of
thing. My mother was always for me. She wasn't
even a Christian. She didn't know the Lord. She
didn't get saved until she was 56 years old.
And she would entice me to do things that I shouldn't
do. She taught me to lie as I was growing up
and it took a couple, two and a half years after
I got saved for me to break free from the bondage
of that. But she was sweet on me. She provided
for me. She was there. She protected me against
when a bigger kid and I were fighting, she would
protect me against them. And then if I would
get in trouble because some kid would pick a
fight with me and then I'd beat him up, which
was an unfortunate common circumstance from the
time I was about like fourth grade to the time
I was about eighth grade. And then their mom
would come complaining to me after he started
the fight, and I would win the fight, and then
she'd come complaining, and my mom would say,
get a lawyer. She was with me all the time. And
the pursuit of wisdom and understanding is like
that for us. In fact, the Bible says that the
Holy Spirit is the one, He is the one, who makes
us able to understand the Word of God. And out
of that, we should gain wisdom and understanding
as He teaches us all things that Jesus taught
us. So we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, who do you say that I am? You better
be able to say he's the son of God, God in the
flesh who lived and died for your sins and now
leads you every single day. Jesus said, would
you go away from me then after these tough teachings
and so many people left me? And he said, no,
how could I? How could we go away from you? You
have the words of life. So you come to Jesus.
and to the word of God and to Jesus' church who
is the body of Christ. David wrote, Thy word
have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against
thee. So we take in the word of God so that we
cannot be enticed, so we cannot veer off like
what we're talking about. Jesus himself was tempted
and every time presents back with the word of
God and stands up against those temptations.
Paul gives a great argument. in front of Herod,
why Jesus is who he said he was, and Herod said,
what would you want today? That even I would
become a Christian? We should be able to stand
up for what we know is right, and at every turn,
stay on the highway of holiness and do what it
is that God would have us to do. Here's the question.
What do you know? What do you know? That's knowledge.
And if it's knowledge of God, then it's wisdom.
And then out of that, the question that follows
is, how does what you know affect your steadfastness?
Your ability to stay on the right course and
do the right thing. Are you letting what you
have learned about God affect your day -to -day
choices? Do you understand it? Can you not only
do the right thing, but know why you are doing
the right thing and explain doing the right thing
to someone else? And you say, well, sometimes
I can and sometimes I can't. And that's exactly
where you're supposed to be, but pressing forward
always to gain more wisdom and understanding.
That's the pathway. That's the solution. And
if we are doing that, then we will arrive ultimately
at the destination that God has laid out for
us. Romans 12 says that by the renewing of our
mind, we will eventually be able to test and
approve what is the good and perfect will of
God. Do you want to know what God wants you to
do? then you should be pursuing wisdom and understanding
constantly. Is this starting to become convicting?
Because it was for me. And I've been to Bible
college and seminary. Ephesians 6 says, and after
everything, in the day of evil and after everything,
to still be standing. So you've still got to
be staying the course. The Word of God speaks
again and again about being calm in the face
of distraction, in the face of struggles and
a lack of peace and anxiety. Psalm 27 .1 says,
The Lord is my light and my salvation, so why
should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress protecting
me from danger, so why should I tremble? Are
you afraid? If you're afraid, I submit to you,
it's because you're so used to this turn, turn,
turn thing, and you've been on and off the path
of uprightness. You've been doing things without
really knowing why you're doing them. And that
makes you wonder if something you're going to
do is going to disqualify you somehow or is going
to take you out of the picture so you can't really
be the person, the man or the woman that God
wants you to be. That would be the only reason
to be afraid. But if the Lord is your light and
your salvation, then why would you ever be afraid?
Proverbs 3 says this, Did you catch that? Length
of days? Years of life? And peace? Do not let
kindness and truth leave you. Bind them around
your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart
so you will find favor and good repute in the
sight of God and man. Favor and good repute in
the sight of God and man? Holy moly. And what
are we supposed to do to get this? Pursue wisdom
and understanding. That's what we have to do.
From wherever you are, pushing ever forward,
staying on the highway, the best you know, not
enticed or consenting to those who would lead
you off. Rather, just pushing forward. What's
your progress? What speed do you have to travel?
Do you have to get the light speed on this? No.
What if it's a crawl? What if it's a creeping?
What if it's inch by inch like an inchworm? Like
a snail? Would that be good enough? Yes. Yes,
it would, because it's about the posture and
the direction, not about the speed. In fact,
when you start to think you've got a lot of speed,
you may be in danger of falling into the idea
of thinking you're the only one who has a certain
enlightenment, which could lead you off the path.
It is just about pursuing wisdom and understanding.
Five says, trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Do not lean on your own understanding. See, we
could have the wisdom, start to do the things
that God has called us to do, and not have the
understanding. leaning on our own understanding
of those things, he says, don't do that. He says,
instead, in all your ways, acknowledge him and
he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise
in your own eyes. In other words, not wisdom
by your own standards, but by God's. Fear the
Lord and turn away from evil. And it will be
healing to your body and refreshment to your
bones. Holy cow! Do you realize the list of stuff
that's here promised? That's here observed by
Solomon? It was a lot. It was everything that
anyone could ever want, including now healing
to your body and refreshment to your bones. Honor
the Lord from your wealth and from the first
of all your produce. That's tithing and offering.
Honor him with all your money. That's tithing
and offering. And he says, and so your barns
will be filled with plenty and your vats will
overflow with new wine. My son, do not reject
the discipline of the Lord or loathe his reproof.
In other words, when God corrects you, don't
get upset about that. Don't despise it. Don't
push back. For whom the Lord loves, He reproves,
even as a father corrects the son in whom he
delights. Did you catch that? I don't stand up
here and preach a hard word out of the Bible
because I'm mad at you or because I hate you.
I'm trying to deliver unto you that which God
has delivered to me so we can do something about
it together. God loves you. Ty, your dad has
never punished you because he hates you. You
understand? Haley, you've never been grounded
or got your phone taken away once because your
parents don't love you. Alex, Pastor Dan never
called you out in the hallway because he didn't
love you or hated you. You understand? If someone
will rebuke you, it means they care enough to
do so. And that's what he's saying. God cares
enough to do that for us. Isaiah 41 says it this
way. He says, You whom I have taken from the
ends of the earth. That'd be us. Yay! There we
are in scripture. And called from its remotest
parts and said to you, You are my servant. I
have chosen you and not rejected you. Do not
fear for I am with you. Do not anxiously look
about you for I am your God. I will strengthen
you. Surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold
you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all
those who are angered at you will be shamed and
dishonored. Those who contend with you will be
as nothing and will perish. Do you understand
the promises that God is saying? If you will
live your life this way in the fear of the Lord
and pursuit of wisdom and understanding, God
is saying that he will shame those who have dishonored
you. He will contend with them. They will be
as nothing and will perish. He says, you will
seek those who quarrel with you, but will not
find them. Those who war with you will be as
nothing and non -existent. For I am the Lord
your God who upholds your right hand, who says
to you, do not fear, I will help you. Do not
fear, you worm Jacob, that's Israel. He says,
you men of Israel, which these promises can carry
right over to the church as we have been grafted
into Israel. And he says, I will help you, declares
the Lord. And your Redeemer is the Holy One of
Israel. Do you not understand that the God of
heaven who created everything, died on the cross
for you, now owns you, leads you daily? And you
would give in to agreeing with sinners over what
the right thing to do is? Or you would give in
to your antagonistic approach of getting your
own way that goes contrary to the one who made
the universe and died for you? That doesn't make
any sense. That's just dumb. You may as well
head butt a semi at 90 mile an hour in opposite
directions. You're running against God. Why would
you ever give in to the enticement of sinners?
Why would you ever consent to what's going on
around you that is sin? Why would you not always
pursue wisdom and understanding if these are
the observations of how it works when people
do that? Then Jesus said, Come to me, all of
you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and
I will give you rest. I am leaving you with a
gift, peace of mind and heart, and the peace
I give you is a gift the world cannot give. So
don't be troubled or afraid. Don't worry about
anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell
God what you need and thank Him for all He has
done. Then you will experience God's peace which
exceeds anything we can understand. His peace
will guard your hearts and minds as you live
in Christ Jesus. That last was Paul in Philippians
4. Paul writes to Timothy, For God has not given
us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power,
love, and self -discipline. Stay the course.
And what is the course? Pursue wisdom and understanding.
Psalm 119, which is all about the Bible. It's
all about... The importance of staying on God's
path, walking in His law and seeking Him with
the whole heart. And here's a few verses from
there. Blessed are the undefiled in the way who
walk in the law of the Lord. Thou hast commanded
us to keep thy precepts diligently. That means
we were going to work hard to do what God has
told us to do. Oh, that my ways were directed
to keep thy statutes. I will praise thee with
uprightness of heart when I shall have learned
thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes
and forsake Oh, forsake me not utterly. It's
a prayer to God. I will keep what God told me
to do. Please, Lord, don't give me up. Colossians
2, as therefore you receive Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in
Him, and established in the faith as you have
been taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Let your
eyes look straight ahead and fix your gaze directly
before you. Ponder the path of your feet and
be sure that all your ways are good. Do not turn
to the right or to the left. Keep your foot from
evil. We read that. I press on toward the goal
to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of our faith, who for the
joy set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God. In your patience, possess your
souls. To him who overcomes, I will let him sit
on my throne with me as my father has let me
sit on his throne with him. Well done, good and
faithful servant, Matthew 25. I know in whom
I have trusted, I believe is able to keep unto
that day that which I have entrusted to him,
2 Timothy. Because we know the terror of the
Lord, we persuade men, 2 Corinthians 5. So I
ask you this. Will you walk in the way of good
men and keep to the path of the righteous? That's
Proverbs 4 .20, which we read. Two efforts will
make this so. Two things that you must do, that
I must do, that we must do as a community, as
the church, as the world. And they sound simple.
But I know in practice they are not always simple.
But they are doable in the Lord. And the first
one is trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord.
He'll get his part right. Trust in the Lord.
He'll get his part right. You don't have to do
it for him. Trust him. He'll get his part right.
If you don't trust him, if you can't trust him,
if you have not trusted him, then you're not
saved. Jesus Christ came to die on the cross
for your sins, to pay for your sins. And whosoever
believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting
life means you must trust him. Trust God. And
if you're getting out of bed some days, and some
days you trust him and some days you don't, something's
wrong. And I submit to you, we now know what's
wrong. If some days you get out of bed trusting
God and some days you don't, or some hours you
trust him and some days you don't, we now know
what's wrong. What's wrong is we're missing the
pursuit of our life. The one thing. The other
thing of the two. The two efforts that are absolutely
necessary. that other one is missing in your
life. If sometimes you trust him and sometimes
you don't, the other one is missing. And what
is it? Well, now you know, don't you? The purpose
of your life is to seek wisdom and understanding.
The highway of holiness has one gas pedal, one
shifter stick, one chariot that will carry you
forward. And it is seeking his wisdom and understanding.
And we come to the conclusion. Church organization
is a God -giving coping mechanism. The truth
is, based on this, what did we just say? The
two things you must do, you must trust in the
Lord. You must trust in the Lord. He'll get his
part right. And you must spend your life in the
pursuit of wisdom and understanding. Those are
the two things. Everything I read, every bit
of it says you'll get everything you could ever
really want. If you spend your life in the pursuit
of wisdom and understanding and trust the Lord.
But that would mean that we all have to go to
Bible college. We all have to go to seminary.
We all have to go on to the mission field. We
all have to spend hours every week, 10, 15, 20,
whatever it takes you, writing lessons and sermons.
And then, on top of that, we all have to be present
at the presentation of every one of those lessons
and sermons. There are 168 hours in a week, and
you sleep for 56 of it. If you sleep 8 hours
a night, some of us can't get 8 hours a night.
But if you sleep 8 hours a night, 8 times 7 is
56. That leaves 113 hours. And by all rights,
then, the two things you must certainly do, every
hour, every minute of every hour, every second
of every minute, Of the 113 hours are trust the
Lord and pursue wisdom and knowledge, wisdom
and understanding. Right? That's what we just
read. It's all scriptural. I'm not making it
up. You heard all those verses I read. Trust
the Lord and pursue wisdom and understanding.
Okay, but then where does working a 40 -hour
work week come in? Where does washing the clothes
come in? Where does eating? buying or cooking
your food come in? Where does taking care of
your loved ones come in? So what God has done
is God has ordained a structure, an organism,
if you will, and given certain people inside
that organism certain jobs. Since we can't all
spend 5 to 20 hours a week studying scripture
and writing lessons, we can't all go to Bible
college and seminary, and that was never going
to be an efficient way to operate the kingdom
of God. God gave pastors and teachers and preachers.
And servants in the church to do that very thing.
If you are called to that route. Then you will
probably have to do those things. So that you
can facilitate others. Pursuit of wisdom and
understanding. Subtle steps away from the Lord.
Business conducted. Tiredness. Reasonableness.
Doesn't matter why you get there, subtle steps
away from the Lord are still just that, steps
away from the Lord. The pastor's best or the
teacher's best will never be quite good enough.
It may be a little bit long or it might not incorporate
humor enough or enough popular references or
too many popular references. It might not use
the exact verses that you would have chose to
use. But none of that was included in the two
-part action plan that we have that yields all
those promises. Simply trust in the Lord. He'll
get his part right and live in pursuit of wisdom
and understanding. That's your job. So if you
walk away from the sermon and a week later or
a month later, you can't trace back anything
that you're doing differently. any strength that
you might have to anything that you heard preached
here, then there's a substantial possibility
that God's not in my preaching and you should
probably go somewhere else. I would. If I were
you and I was sitting here Sunday after Sunday
and I wasn't hearing from the Lord when the pastor
speaks, when I wasn't feeling the Spirit move
in me when the worship plays, I'd go somewhere
else. May as well just go to the first church
of Satan. I hear they have really good services.
Or a universal church over there. You don't have
to do anything. You go to heaven no matter what.
He's getting the same thing out of it. The truth
is, we are here as a church to reach new heights
in Jesus, which is to say, we are trusting the
Lord and pursuing wisdom and understanding. It
is not good enough for you to just know what
I said or what the Bible said or what the verses
say. It's not even good enough for you to just
know what they mean. That's wisdom. But it's
the pursuit of wisdom and understanding. You
have to know... how you know, what you know,
how you can use what you know, when it might
come in handy, how you can teach it to others,
that's understanding. You have to stand under
what you've learned. There is more work to be
done than just showing up on Sunday morning.
There's more work to be done than just showing
up on Tuesday night. Or just showing up on Sunday
morning and Tuesday night. But here we live in
a day where we are allowing business and tiredness
and... All of these other things, reasonableness,
logical steps that we might need to take in our
lives to get to where we think we're going, to
interfere with our ability to study the word
of God, to spend time in worship together, to
live in community as a church. And I know this
might sound self -serving, but I don't mean it
to. And to hear the preaching of the pastor.
I've already given you authorization to go somewhere
else if you think that's better for you. But
to not be here on a Sunday. And especially when,
like, if you're not here because you're sick,
you could just watch it online or listen to the
podcast and not get what comes out of every single
sermon. That's on you. It's not on me and it's
not on God. If you're on your phone and you're
only getting 80 % of what I'm saying, then you're
20 % a sinner. You're consenting to 20 % loss
of information. Willingly. Just the same as if
you had your earbuds in and they were turned
down. It's the same thing. Whatever comes of
us being together in community and working like
this to pursue wisdom and understanding at the
end of a hard -fought battle after the pastor
spent hours or after the pastor spent time in
the Word trying to figure out a battle that now
you don't have to fight. If you are willing to
prioritize gaining wisdom and understanding,
you won't get wrapped up in the human element.
You won't have to worry about, oh, so -and -so
did, so -and -so said, I don't like the drama,
I don't like what's going on, I don't like what
they seem to stand for, or I don't like what
he did last week. You won't have to get wrapped
up in any of that because your purpose of being
in the church will be pursuing wisdom and understanding
and you won't have time for it. You came here
to hear the sermon, you're taking notes, you're
studying, you're praying, you're thinking about
what is it God wants to do with my life. You
know, I preached a sermon just over a month ago
now about dreams. And after I preached that sermon,
beginning the next day, I have written a dream
journal, the first thing after my Bible study,
every single morning, every single day, without
fail. Now, a couple times all I have is just
like a little jot note because I don't remember
much, but I have a dream journal. Now, so I did
it. Is there anybody else who started a dream
journal? Is there anybody else who went home
after that sermon and prayed, God, if there's
something you want me to see tonight while I'm
sleeping, I'm open to that. Speak to me. Go ahead.
Is there something you want me to remember in
the morning? Because what I told you is that
you cannot afford to waste the seven hours you
were sleeping not listening to the Lord. You
can't do it. It says in Joel 2 that God will
speak through dreams. It says that in the Word
of God. You're not dreaming? Like, I'm dreaming,
but I don't remember anything? Have you prayed
and asked God to show you what out of your dreams
you might need to take? Now, I'm not saying every
single sermon is for every single person in the
same way. But you have to come here and to Tuesday
night Bible study, and I could just put a period
there, right? You have to come here and to Tuesday
night Bible study and to the men's study if you're
a man and to the women's study if you're a woman
and to the adult study if you're an adult to
learn everything that you possibly can learn.
You're like, but I'm too busy. So check yourself
and figure out, because the reality is as simple,
this is the math of it. If you don't come here
and do it where it's highly efficient, if you
don't come here and do it where somebody's already
spent hours digesting it for you and pour it
out to you, pour their heart and soul out to
you, if you don't do that, then you're going
to have to do the work yourself. I spent 12 hours.
If you walk away from this sermon and you get
nothing, you're committed to spending 12 hours.
Unless you're better than me, you can do it in
six. Go for it. Do it in six. You understand
what I'm saying? You will see things off the
highway for what they are. Enticements to turn
from trusting in the Lord and pursuing wisdom
and understanding. That's all they are. No matter
how good a thing is, if it interferes with your
trust in the Lord and your pursuit of wisdom
and understanding, then it is just an enticement.
Not only must you resist it, but you cannot consent
to it. We must live, work, bathe ourselves, clean
our houses, take care of our loved ones. And
God, God has given us provisions in all of those
areas so that not every one of us has to spend
long hours in a classroom and get a degree specifically
in Bible digesting. Or to get one concept and
thereby ignore our God -given responsibilities.
If you're not doing those things, then it is
not of His will you took a turn. If you are not
either A, present at every opportunity to learn
and grow in wisdom and understanding, or B, replacing
that with something else that achieves the same
goal that God has set for you, then that's not
God's fault. It's yours. A couple of illustrations
and then we'll be through. First one's a gas
tank. Most of us have driven a car. Most cars
have a gas tank. Some of the young people have
not, but you've ridden in a car. Haley, you've
ridden in a car, haven't you? Yep. You ever see
the gas gauge? Yep. They all got them. Did you
know that gas gauges are absolutely unnecessary?
You don't need a gas gauge at all. I've had two
cars that had a broken gas gauge that would not
tell you how much gas they had. And you know
what? While I was driving both of those cars,
I never once ran out of gas. I had two cars with
gas gauges that did not work. And while I was
driving them, I never ran out of gas. Now ask
me how many times I've ran out of gas in cars
that have gas gauges. So do you need a gas gauge?
About eight. I used to be the guy. Sherry would
pick on me all the time because I'd be calling
her. I ran out of gas. I'm on Woodville Road.
Again? Gas gauges are worthless. They have no
need whatsoever. You know why people use a gas
gauge? They use it because it's convenient. You
put it on the car because otherwise you have
to remember when you bought gas last. Oh, gosh.
You have to waste a whole 14 tiny molecules in
your brain remembering when you brought gas last.
With a cell phone, store all the contacts. Now
I can't remember anybody's phone number. We're
slowly letting our brains just die off. We don't
need it. Don't need your brain. Yes, you do.
Yes, you do. Eat eggs. It's good for your cholesterol
level. You need a brain. And you should be able
to remember the last time you brought gas. And
if it's been a couple weeks, stop and get some
for crying out loud. Do you know that if you
would just... Here you go. I'm shaming myself
a little bit here. So I know when my car is low
on gas, the little light comes on, and then I
keep right on driving it. Because it's not out
of gas yet, that's what the light says. It says
it's not out of gas yet. It says mostly out of
gas, but not yet. And since they put those lights
on there, admittedly, I have only run out of
gas once. And you're laughing at me, because
you shouldn't run out of gas. If the light comes
on, you're stopping at gas, right? But you know
how many times I have gotten gas in the rain?
Now why that? 60 miles left. It does not rain
the whole time, unless you're on the road, like
on the expressway, driving somewhere. It does
not rain the whole time, the whole 60 miles.
So anytime in the 60 miles left, when they get
whatever it is, when the gas light comes on,
you could get the rain. While the sun is shining,
at a gas station that has a roof over it. Most
of them do, but not all of them. When it's not
so stinking cold outside. But I've gotten gas.
At the coldest possible times, like it's warm
in the afternoon, but I've got to get gas at
5 a .m. because I drove it until there's next
to nothing in the tank and I can't call Sherry
again, so I've got to buy the gas. See what we're
doing? If you would just do this, if you would
just say, I'm going to stop and get gas on my
way to church or on my way home from church every
Tuesday, your gas tank would be filled three
to four days of the week and the last couple
of days of the week. It starts to get lower,
but it'd never probably go under half a tank
unless you drove a ton of miles. And how much
work is it to remember I just get gas every Wednesday
or every Thursday or every Sunday or whatever?
None. But because we have a gas gauge, we put
it off, and then we pump the gas in the rain.
Right? If you went to go get gas on the way home
from church on Tuesday night, and it was pouring
down rain, icy cold, You'd know I can drive for
another week if I have to because I got gas last
Tuesday. Or I'll just put it off until tomorrow
morning when it's not raining. But that's not
what we're doing. This is an opportunity, the
preaching is an opportunity to get a filling
of his word and a spirit -led teaching. I don't
mean to say that everything I ever say is spirit
-led because that's not true. But everything
you hear can be. Everything you hear in this
room can be. Every song can be. Every prayer
can be. If your posture is pursuing wisdom and
understanding, you'll be able to tell when there's
enticement not to listen to, and when there's
enticement not to consent to, and you'll be able
to stand for the Lord in the day of evil. Wisdom
is more than knowing. It is application. It's
not just knowledge, it's knowing what to do,
what God would have you do, and so on. It's the
ability to do it. But understanding is a different
thing altogether. It's knowing why you know it,
what the results are likely to be, what the outcome
is going to be, how to teach others that same
thing. And we must pursue wisdom and understanding
in every way we possibly can. We must stand under
what we know, and wisdom and together, Wisdom
and understanding together form the pursuit that
godly men and women must elevate above all other
pursuits. If you do not elevate the pursuit of
wisdom and understanding above all other pursuits,
then you will be dismissing all of those observable
promises that we read. Some of them straight
out of the mouth of Jesus. If we do elevate them
above all other pursuits, it will result in a
course of godly daily living as we gain more
wisdom and understanding. I am asking you to
ask yourself, are you committed to the pursuit
of wisdom and understanding? Or are you just
using this road of goodness, this road of uprightness
for God's protection as long as he'll give it,
and then when it seems to be falling through,
doesn't seem to be working out, whatever, you'll
just cope the best you can. All those promises
we read surround trusting the Lord he'll get
his part right and living a life in pursuit of
wisdom and understanding. When we had that inspirational
moment, I was encouraged by the Holy Spirit,
but I really wasn't encouraged by the activity
because we had several kinds of people in the
room. And one of those kinds of people were people
that could have answered and did not. They didn't
speak up. They couldn't bring themselves to restate
in their own words the same thing that we were
reading. That's discouraging to a pastor. Secondly,
there was another kind of person in the room
who was like, well, I kind of know what it means,
but I can't explain it. I've heard those verses.
Some of you probably had those verses memorized.
You're like, I get that. I know that. I do that.
But still couldn't just simply restate it in
their own words or would not. One or the other.
That's discouraging. This is a church about reaching
new heights in Jesus. Let's decide that everything
we do going forward is going to be about pursuing
wisdom and understanding while we trust the Lord
for it. That's the kind of church we want to
be. And as we go to this invitation, if that's
not the kind of person that you have been, I'm
asking you to repent. You're going to gain a
lot of knowledge in your lifetime, a lot of knowledge.
And none of that knowledge is going to see you
through to heaven. None of that knowledge is
going to give you all those other promises and
blessings. But wisdom, that's godly knowledge,
applied to your circumstances and understanding,
that's the ability to stand under what you now
know. Those things will give you. All that other
stuff that we read, all those promises of Jesus
and of Solomon, of Paul. And by the way, I narrowed
that list substantially. See why I'm so convicted?
If all the Bible from beginning to end is about
trusting the Lord and redemption through Jesus
Christ, Jesus said, live your life in pursuit
of wisdom and understanding. I'll ask the praise
team to come forward at this time. If you're
here today, while I've been preaching, you realize
I'm not actually saved. I really haven't trusted
the Lord for my salvation. I've submitted my
life in His hands. I can't count the moment in
time in which I was born again.