WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:11.080 Elation Church. Today, our title of our message 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:17.019 is Loved and Blessed. How many loved people do 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:19.379 we have in the room? Somebody say, I'm loved. 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:23.079 How many blessed people do we have in the room? 00:00:23.699 --> 00:00:26.820 Everybody say, I'm blessed. So we're going to 00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:31.769 be talking about being loved and blessed. Here's 00:00:31.769 --> 00:00:34.369 some familiar verses hopefully to you. John 3 00:00:34.369 --> 00:00:36.070 .16. How many of you know that one? Have you 00:00:36.070 --> 00:00:39.630 heard that one before? For God so loved the world. 00:00:41.329 --> 00:00:44.409 Do you think He loved the dirt or the people? 00:00:45.530 --> 00:00:49.390 I think He loves people more than dirt. For God 00:00:49.390 --> 00:00:53.630 so loved the world that He gave His only begotten 00:00:53.630 --> 00:00:58.149 Son that whoever believes in Him, Jesus, should 00:00:58.149 --> 00:01:04.519 not perish but have. Everlasting life. Look at 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:06.159 the person beside you and remind them God loves 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:12.079 you. God loves you. God loves you. Romans 5 .8 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:16.140 Here's what I like to say when I read this verse. 00:01:18.659 --> 00:01:23.659 God just didn't say that He loved you. Because 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:28.980 talk can be cheap. Has anybody ever had someone 00:01:28.980 --> 00:01:33.299 tell them that they love them, and then it turned 00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:36.620 out that they really didn't love you? Anybody 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:39.659 experience that before? If you've never experienced 00:01:39.659 --> 00:01:44.459 that, it's amazing, right? And I believe most 00:01:44.459 --> 00:01:46.219 of the people in the room have experienced somebody 00:01:46.219 --> 00:01:49.079 telling them that they love them, but then the 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:51.079 love was not demonstrated. Actually, opposite 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:56.099 of love was demonstrated. Romans 5 .8 says God 00:01:56.099 --> 00:02:01.640 demonstrates, He has demonstrated His own love 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:06.239 towards you. And that while you were still a 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:14.439 sinner, Christ died for you. God loves you. He 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:16.919 not only says He loves you, He's demonstrated, 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:22.740 He's already demonstrated His love for you. John 00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:27.789 15 .12. Jesus is talking. He says, this is my 00:02:27.789 --> 00:02:31.789 commandment. Love each other in the same way 00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:37.370 I have loved you. There is no greater love than 00:02:37.370 --> 00:02:41.110 to lay down one's own life for one's friends. 00:02:43.650 --> 00:02:49.050 So God demonstrated his love by stepping down 00:02:49.050 --> 00:02:52.240 out of heaven, the eternal son of God. stepping 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:55.460 down out of heaven, adding humanity to his deity, 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:01.240 living a perfect life. We've all messed up. Look 00:03:01.240 --> 00:03:02.580 at the person beside you and remind them you're 00:03:02.580 --> 00:03:07.400 not perfect. We've all messed up. God's a holy 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:11.580 God. He can't let one sin into heaven because 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:14.479 if one sin gets into heaven, then heaven is messed 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:17.360 up just like this world because one sin messed 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:24.129 up this world. Right? Are you with me? He stepped 00:03:24.129 --> 00:03:26.210 down out of heaven, lived a perfect life, the 00:03:26.210 --> 00:03:33.150 only human who never sinned. So then He could 00:03:33.150 --> 00:03:37.409 willingly lay down His life and die for you in 00:03:37.409 --> 00:03:41.949 a demonstration of His love. But He didn't stay 00:03:41.949 --> 00:03:45.629 dead, just to remind you. He didn't stay dead, 00:03:45.689 --> 00:03:51.659 He rose again. He's alive. But His love was demonstrated 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:54.960 in the greatest way by laying down His life for 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.139 you. Look to the person beside you and remind 00:03:59.139 --> 00:04:02.860 them, that's love right there. That's love. 1 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:08.759 John 4, 8. Beloved, or beloved, however you want 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:13.379 to say it. Let us love one another. For love 00:04:13.379 --> 00:04:19.139 is from God. Did you know that nobody on earth 00:04:19.139 --> 00:04:22.000 would even, understand or even have a concept 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:25.560 of love apart from God, whether they acknowledge 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:30.800 Him or not. Love would not exist without the 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:34.180 Creator who is love. Beloved, let us love one 00:04:34.180 --> 00:04:37.240 another, for love is from God. Whoever loves 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:41.939 has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who 00:04:41.939 --> 00:04:47.720 does not love does not know God, because God 00:04:47.720 --> 00:05:01.019 is. God is love. He is love. Now, He does a lot 00:05:01.019 --> 00:05:07.620 of other things. And He loves, but He is love. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:15.600 It's who He is. God is love. That word love, 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:19.350 we did a whole series on love. You can go back 00:05:19.350 --> 00:05:22.589 to the podcast and look at that if you want a 00:05:22.589 --> 00:05:30.910 refresher course on love. But when it says God 00:05:30.910 --> 00:05:35.829 is love, it's using that Greek word agape. Here's 00:05:35.829 --> 00:05:41.370 what that word means. It means love. It means 00:05:41.370 --> 00:05:50.279 affection. Which we can say is liking. How many 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:52.019 of you have heard people say, well, I love you, 00:05:52.040 --> 00:05:57.540 but I don't like you? How many of you have said 00:05:57.540 --> 00:06:00.839 about somebody, I love them, but I don't like 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:04.000 them? Well, if you don't like them, you don't 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.339 agape them. Alright? Because liking is part of 00:06:08.339 --> 00:06:13.959 that. It also means benevolence. It means concerned 00:06:13.959 --> 00:06:17.800 about the well -being of someone. This is the 00:06:17.800 --> 00:06:22.959 God kind of love. It also means love feast. Look 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:25.959 at the person beside you and say, huh? Love feast? 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:30.660 I mean, love is love feast? Well, it's desiring 00:06:30.660 --> 00:06:36.740 fellowship and community, intimacy. So that's 00:06:36.740 --> 00:06:39.879 what the word agape means. So when we say God 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:44.560 is love and God loves you, it means God likes 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:47.939 you. It means God loves you. It means God is 00:06:47.939 --> 00:06:52.459 concerned about your well -being. It means that 00:06:52.459 --> 00:06:56.959 God desires fellowship and intimacy with you. 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:02.839 And He has that love for everyone. Same love. 00:07:02.939 --> 00:07:11.160 No degrees. God's love is full -on love. He doesn't 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:14.759 love anyone in this world any more than He loves 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:19.209 you right now. And He doesn't love anybody in 00:07:19.209 --> 00:07:21.589 this world any less than He loves you right now. 00:07:23.569 --> 00:07:27.670 We need to get a hold of this. I think it will 00:07:27.670 --> 00:07:31.990 change us if we really get a hold of this. God's 00:07:31.990 --> 00:07:37.089 love is unconditional. I'll say that again. God's 00:07:37.089 --> 00:07:41.569 love is completely unconditional. God's love 00:07:41.569 --> 00:07:44.850 is not based on your worthiness. God's love for 00:07:44.850 --> 00:07:48.910 you is not based on your worthiness. It's also 00:07:48.910 --> 00:07:52.709 not based on your behavior. We need to get a 00:07:52.709 --> 00:07:55.149 hold of this because sometimes we think if we 00:07:55.149 --> 00:07:58.050 do wrong and we know we do wrong, all of a sudden 00:07:58.050 --> 00:08:00.810 we feel like God doesn't love us. Has anybody 00:08:00.810 --> 00:08:03.449 ever felt that before? Come on. Has anybody ever 00:08:03.449 --> 00:08:06.310 felt that way before? I messed up, so God's disappointed 00:08:06.310 --> 00:08:10.490 in me and God doesn't love me. Listen, God's 00:08:10.490 --> 00:08:13.170 love for you is not based on your performance 00:08:13.170 --> 00:08:17.480 or your behavior. God's love for you is based 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:25.060 on His divine nature. God is love. God is love. 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.339 You know, there was one guy, at least one guy, 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:35.879 who really got it. And I wish that we could all 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:38.879 really get it like he got it. Does anybody know 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:41.500 who I'm talking about? Somebody who really got 00:08:41.500 --> 00:08:46.269 God's love for him. Anybody want to take a guess? 00:08:48.409 --> 00:08:51.950 Look to the person beside you and say John. John 00:08:51.950 --> 00:08:58.330 got it. If you read his gospel, here's just one 00:08:58.330 --> 00:09:01.549 instance. John 20, verses 1 and 2. Mary Magdalene 00:09:01.549 --> 00:09:04.549 came to the tomb. This is on Resurrection Day. 00:09:05.210 --> 00:09:08.529 Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that 00:09:08.529 --> 00:09:11.129 the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 00:09:11.929 --> 00:09:15.309 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, 00:09:15.429 --> 00:09:25.909 the one whom Jesus loved. You know who he's talking 00:09:25.909 --> 00:09:29.909 about? Himself. That's who he's talking about. 00:09:30.870 --> 00:09:34.549 He's talking about himself in third person. He 00:09:34.549 --> 00:09:39.350 didn't say that Mary ran and got me and Peter. 00:09:40.129 --> 00:09:43.809 No. She ran and got Simon Peter and the other 00:09:43.809 --> 00:09:49.830 disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. See, he got 00:09:49.830 --> 00:09:54.129 it. How many times have you referred to yourself, 00:09:54.370 --> 00:09:57.009 talking with somebody else, and you said, you 00:09:57.009 --> 00:10:03.110 know what? I'm the one who Jesus loves. I'm loved. 00:10:03.429 --> 00:10:08.429 I'm the one who God loves. God loves me. See, 00:10:08.549 --> 00:10:14.690 he got it. He got it. We could be bold enough 00:10:14.690 --> 00:10:21.190 to say, I'm the one who God loves. Right? I mean, 00:10:21.210 --> 00:10:24.809 He had it so ingrained in Him about this love 00:10:24.809 --> 00:10:27.909 of God. He just said, you know, I'm the one He 00:10:27.909 --> 00:10:31.870 loves. See, it didn't mean, by Him saying that, 00:10:31.909 --> 00:10:34.929 He didn't mean, well, you know what? He didn't 00:10:34.929 --> 00:10:36.870 love all the other disciples. That's not what 00:10:36.870 --> 00:10:39.340 He's saying. Some people could look at this as 00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:45.820 some kind of spiritual arrogance, right? If I 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:48.440 was to walk up to you and say, well, I'm the 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:52.139 one who God loves. You might think that I'm saying 00:10:52.139 --> 00:10:56.259 that He loves me more than He loves you. But 00:10:56.259 --> 00:11:00.340 that's not the case. That's not the case. So 00:11:00.340 --> 00:11:02.360 everybody in this room could say, I'm the one 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:06.240 who God loves. And we would all be correct. And 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:09.899 by getting a hold of His love and understanding 00:11:09.899 --> 00:11:12.600 and wrapping our little human brains around the 00:11:12.600 --> 00:11:15.440 love of God, the length and the height and the 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:21.960 depth, when we get a hold of it, it doesn't mean 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:26.240 that God loves anybody any less. We just got 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:28.740 a hold of His love, and that's what John did. 00:11:29.559 --> 00:11:34.299 He understood it. He understood the love of God. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:37.720 I want everybody to say this with me. Just repeat 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:43.720 after me. God loves me. God likes me. God is 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:51.659 concerned about my well -being. God desires fellowship 00:11:51.659 --> 00:12:00.179 with me. Can you take hold of it? Do you believe 00:12:00.179 --> 00:12:06.590 it? Here's a question. Will you quit Beating 00:12:06.590 --> 00:12:08.990 yourself up and thinking that God loves you less 00:12:08.990 --> 00:12:19.870 when you do wrong. Can you do that? God wants 00:12:19.870 --> 00:12:25.370 you to do that. God wants you to live in that 00:12:25.370 --> 00:12:31.529 kind of freedom. See, we put a lot of self -condemnation 00:12:31.529 --> 00:12:40.120 onto ourselves. But in Christ, there's no condemnation. 00:12:41.700 --> 00:12:45.879 No condemnation. Now that doesn't mean that we'll 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:49.960 never experience conviction. But the conviction 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:53.179 of God is not condemnation. If you ever feel 00:12:53.179 --> 00:13:00.340 condemned, it's not coming from God. Condemnation 00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:05.860 is not from God. Conviction, of the Holy Spirit 00:13:05.860 --> 00:13:08.519 who is in you if you're in Christ, looks like 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:12.440 this. Hey, let's go this way. Let's do this. 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:16.559 Let's move in the right direction. He's guiding 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:23.700 us from our failures to our victories. That's 00:13:23.700 --> 00:13:25.960 the way conviction works. Holy Spirit conviction 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:37.990 is leading us and guiding us out. of where we've 00:13:37.990 --> 00:13:44.509 been. He's bringing us out. I'm about to get 00:13:44.509 --> 00:13:47.129 happy. None of this was in my notes, by the way. 00:13:48.230 --> 00:13:53.029 You have a way of pulling things out. God's love 00:13:53.029 --> 00:13:55.549 is unconditional. Everybody say, God loves me. 00:13:57.830 --> 00:13:59.690 Here's what we're going to focus on the rest 00:13:59.690 --> 00:14:04.169 of the time. His love is unconditional, but His 00:14:04.169 --> 00:14:07.200 blessing, or His blessings are not unconditional. 00:14:10.980 --> 00:14:14.980 Now when you are in Christ, when you are in covenant 00:14:14.980 --> 00:14:20.320 with God, blessings are now available. And they're 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:24.740 readily available. And God's not holding back 00:14:24.740 --> 00:14:26.740 on us. We've talked about that a lot, right? 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.159 Who's heard me say before, God's not holding 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:34.990 out on you? His love is unconditional, but His 00:14:34.990 --> 00:14:39.590 blessing is not unconditional. It is conditional. 00:14:40.450 --> 00:14:44.909 Everybody say, blessing is conditional. Here's 00:14:44.909 --> 00:14:48.750 some Old Testament verses before we focus in 00:14:48.750 --> 00:14:51.129 on a New Testament text for the rest of the message. 00:14:51.669 --> 00:14:55.710 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:02.139 We can sing God bless America and God bless the 00:15:02.139 --> 00:15:07.360 USA all we want to. But we will experience His 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:11.740 blessing as a people. And it's not just our nation, 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:15.299 it's any nation. Blessed is the nation whose 00:15:15.299 --> 00:15:19.259 God is the Lord. Blessed is a nation who recognizes 00:15:19.259 --> 00:15:28.639 God as Lord. You can't help but be blessed. When 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:34.879 you recognize God as Lord. Here's another one. 00:15:35.500 --> 00:15:40.840 Psalm 1, verse 1. Blessed, everybody say blessed. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:45.299 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel 00:15:45.299 --> 00:15:50.740 of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:57.120 nor sits in the seat of the scornful. What does 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:01.600 that tell us? If we choose to walk in the counsel 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:05.200 of the ungodly, we will not be blessed. I mean, 00:16:05.220 --> 00:16:09.240 we can look at this both ways, right? If we stand 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:14.460 in the path of sinners, people who just live 00:16:14.460 --> 00:16:17.879 in sin and for sin, they don't care about God, 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:21.620 right? If we live there, we're not going to be 00:16:21.620 --> 00:16:24.379 blessed. If we sit in the seat of the scornful, 00:16:25.580 --> 00:16:27.980 If we're just judgmental and scornful all the 00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:30.080 time, looking down at everything and everybody 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:32.159 all the time, we're not going to be blessed. 00:16:35.539 --> 00:16:38.679 So we're blessed when we don't do those things. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:42.460 We're blessed when we don't walk in the counsel 00:16:42.460 --> 00:16:45.039 of the ungodly, when we don't stand in the path 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:50.120 of sinners, when we don't sit in the seat of 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:56.480 the scornful. But his delight is in the law of 00:16:56.480 --> 00:17:01.700 the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and 00:17:01.700 --> 00:17:08.740 night. So we're blessed when we delight in the 00:17:08.740 --> 00:17:13.839 word of God. We're blessed the more we meditate 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:17.259 in God's word. The more we meditate on what he 00:17:17.259 --> 00:17:19.339 has given us and what he has said to us, the 00:17:19.339 --> 00:17:23.099 more blessed we're going to be. It's proportionate. 00:17:26.730 --> 00:17:32.089 Some of you are thinking way too hard. It's proportionate. 00:17:33.470 --> 00:17:38.589 Your blessing is proportionate to your honor 00:17:38.589 --> 00:17:45.710 of God's Word, to the time you spend with God. 00:17:45.829 --> 00:17:51.529 Your blessing will be proportionate. Here's that 00:17:51.529 --> 00:17:55.410 Old Testament word we've been looking at. And 00:17:55.410 --> 00:17:58.769 those two verses along with all the other blessed 00:17:58.769 --> 00:18:03.210 that I can find in the Old Testament is Esher. 00:18:03.890 --> 00:18:07.390 Esher. And here's what it means. It means to 00:18:07.390 --> 00:18:10.349 be blessed. Everybody say blessed. It means to 00:18:10.349 --> 00:18:13.390 be happy. Everybody say happy. I tell you what, 00:18:13.410 --> 00:18:16.450 so many churches speak against God wanting you 00:18:16.450 --> 00:18:18.509 happy. I don't even know where it comes from. 00:18:18.869 --> 00:18:21.650 They obviously are not reading the Bible. God 00:18:21.650 --> 00:18:28.529 wants you blessed. God wants you happy. Some 00:18:28.529 --> 00:18:32.710 people think happiness is against God. Or that 00:18:32.710 --> 00:18:39.250 God is against happiness. He's not. I mean, this 00:18:39.250 --> 00:18:41.410 is the Word. I'm not writing this. I'm not making 00:18:41.410 --> 00:18:46.509 this up. This is the Hebrew Word. And how many 00:18:46.509 --> 00:18:49.190 times do we see people saying, well, God's not 00:18:49.190 --> 00:18:51.569 concerned about your happiness. He's only concerned 00:18:51.569 --> 00:18:54.329 about your holiness. Has anybody ever heard that 00:18:54.329 --> 00:18:58.160 phrase before? I'm here to tell you God's concerned 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:02.099 about both. We're not having happiness to the 00:19:02.099 --> 00:19:05.119 exclusion of holiness. No, that's not what I'm 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:13.319 saying. But this word blessed means happy. I 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:17.519 did some word study and I really like this so 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:19.380 I copied it and pasted it to share with you. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:28.779 Blessed is a God -given of blessedness and happiness. 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:34.259 Enjoyed by those who walk in covenant faithfulness. 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:38.759 Listen, it's not a fleeting emotion. Most of 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:41.440 us think that this happiness is just, well, I'm 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:43.920 either happy or I'm sad or I'm not happy. It's 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:48.359 not a fleeting thing. It's not a fleeting emotion. 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:52.920 Listen to what it is. It's a settled state of 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:57.299 well -being. grounded in the character and the 00:19:57.299 --> 00:20:01.940 promises of the Lord. I just got happy when I 00:20:01.940 --> 00:20:09.059 read that. So when you say you're blessed, what 00:20:09.059 --> 00:20:13.019 you're saying is, I'm living in a God -given 00:20:13.019 --> 00:20:17.119 condition of blessedness and happiness. I'm enjoying 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:19.559 it because I'm walking in covenant faithfulness 00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:22.700 with God. When I talk about being happy, I'm 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:24.539 not talking about some fleeting emotion that 00:20:24.539 --> 00:20:26.640 depends on what's going on around me. Because 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:28.880 some people say happiness depends on happenings. 00:20:28.940 --> 00:20:32.440 But this kind of happiness depends on the character 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:36.339 and the promises of the Lord no matter what is 00:20:36.339 --> 00:20:42.819 going on around me. Hallelujah. I get happy just 00:20:42.819 --> 00:20:47.539 talking about it. The New Testament word for 00:20:47.539 --> 00:20:54.349 blessed. is makarios. And here's what it means. 00:20:55.430 --> 00:21:03.109 It means supremely blessed. Now if we form two 00:21:03.109 --> 00:21:09.170 lines, and on this line you are coming to be 00:21:09.170 --> 00:21:13.009 blessed, and on this line you are coming to be 00:21:13.009 --> 00:21:16.630 supremely blessed, which line are you going to 00:21:16.630 --> 00:21:23.799 get in? Which line? You're going to go to that 00:21:23.799 --> 00:21:26.180 line. Who else is going to that line? Who's going 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:31.579 to the supremely blessed line? That's what the 00:21:31.579 --> 00:21:34.920 word means. Listen, every time, every time, every 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:37.660 time you read the word blessed in the New Testament, 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:41.759 it means supremely blessed. It also means happy. 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:47.799 Somebody say happy and smile a little bit. It 00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:54.460 means fortunate. It means well off. Hello? And 00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:58.539 you might say, well, why are you talking about 00:21:58.539 --> 00:22:00.400 Hebrew and Greek? Because that's what the verses 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:03.480 were written in. We just translate them in English, 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:07.740 right? Most of the Old Testament is Hebrew. All 00:22:07.740 --> 00:22:10.640 the New Testament is Greek. And these are the 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:18.309 definitions of the words. It doesn't depend on 00:22:18.309 --> 00:22:22.470 your preferred translation. Depends on what God 00:22:22.470 --> 00:22:30.049 said. God wants you supremely blessed. He's made 00:22:30.049 --> 00:22:32.529 being supremely blessed and happy and fortunate 00:22:32.529 --> 00:22:35.089 and well off. He's made that available to you 00:22:35.089 --> 00:22:41.730 and to me. Now the first condition is that we're 00:22:41.730 --> 00:22:47.920 in Christ. See, that blessing is not available 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:53.880 if you're not, first of all, in Christ. If Jesus 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:57.619 is not Lord, if you haven't asked for His forgiveness 00:22:57.619 --> 00:23:01.559 and confessed Him as Lord, then those blessings 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:06.079 are not available to you. But if you've done 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:09.980 that, every blessing of God is now available 00:23:09.980 --> 00:23:12.980 to you. But it doesn't mean that it's going to 00:23:12.980 --> 00:23:17.390 automatically just show up in your life. But 00:23:17.390 --> 00:23:19.690 it's available. Look to the person beside you 00:23:19.690 --> 00:23:22.049 and say, it's available. Blessing is available. 00:23:22.930 --> 00:23:26.750 Happiness has a, you know, let's take a look 00:23:26.750 --> 00:23:32.049 at the definition here, the word study. Blessed 00:23:32.049 --> 00:23:36.109 in the New Testament describes a believer in 00:23:36.109 --> 00:23:44.289 an enviable position. Three of you are smiling. 00:23:47.849 --> 00:23:52.190 Is anyone blessed? That means you're saying that 00:23:52.190 --> 00:23:59.630 you are a believer in an enviable position. How 00:23:59.630 --> 00:24:06.210 many people are looking at you and looking at 00:24:06.210 --> 00:24:09.750 your life and they're envious of your blessing? 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:18.900 I mean, this should be our testimony to the world. 00:24:21.900 --> 00:24:25.839 The problem is there's so many Christians that 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:28.180 walk around looking like their mama raised them 00:24:28.180 --> 00:24:44.859 on lime juice. We're different. We're different. 00:24:49.930 --> 00:24:54.569 Well, we're supposed to be different. Considering 00:24:54.569 --> 00:24:56.910 that all God has made available to us, if we'll 00:24:56.910 --> 00:24:58.930 take hold of that, we will definitely be different. 00:24:59.309 --> 00:25:02.529 We will definitely be blessed. We're peculiar 00:25:02.529 --> 00:25:09.009 people. Right? That's what the Bible says. We're 00:25:09.009 --> 00:25:10.609 supposed to be different than everybody else. 00:25:12.529 --> 00:25:16.869 Not because we're holier than thou, but because 00:25:16.869 --> 00:25:20.240 we're carriers of the presence and the life, 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:29.460 and the love of God. Hello? Are you a carrier 00:25:29.460 --> 00:25:33.839 of the presence, and the life, and the love of 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:37.619 God? If not, you need to step it up a notch. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:45.240 Bless describes a believer who is in an enviable 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:53.170 position. The reason why we're in an enviable 00:25:53.170 --> 00:25:58.430 position is because we've been receiving God's 00:25:58.430 --> 00:26:02.710 favor. We're taking hold of His grace benefits. 00:26:05.369 --> 00:26:12.690 This happens with receiving the Lord's in -birthings 00:26:12.690 --> 00:26:20.299 of faith. Hence, faith and blessing are closely 00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:26.720 related. I'm just letting you think about it. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:35.539 Why does faith keep showing up? Could it be because 00:26:35.539 --> 00:26:37.559 without faith it's impossible to please God? 00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:41.819 Could it be that we're supposed to walk by faith 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:45.480 and not by sight? Could it be that if we're going 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:48.119 to experience the abundant and blessed life, 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:51.579 it's going to take faith? Could it be? Could 00:26:51.579 --> 00:26:55.880 that be why it keeps showing up? How many of 00:26:55.880 --> 00:26:57.819 you read your Bible for years and years and years 00:26:57.819 --> 00:27:00.039 and never noticed all this faith stuff coming 00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:01.799 up right in the middle of all this stuff? I mean, 00:27:01.819 --> 00:27:09.839 I didn't. I'm glad you all did, but me and Mike... 00:27:10.460 --> 00:27:13.000 said that we read through our Bibles and it just 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:20.500 didn't... That part didn't even come alive. But 00:27:20.500 --> 00:27:23.339 everybody else did. Everybody else got it from 00:27:23.339 --> 00:27:28.539 the first day. I must be slower than you. Because 00:27:28.539 --> 00:27:30.519 it took me a while of preaching before it came 00:27:30.519 --> 00:27:42.450 alive to me. Is that a description of you? Are 00:27:42.450 --> 00:27:47.289 you someone in an enviable position because you've 00:27:47.289 --> 00:27:50.230 been receiving God's favor and His grace benefits? 00:27:55.769 --> 00:28:04.190 How do we take hold of His grace benefits? How 00:28:04.190 --> 00:28:09.230 do we take hold of God's acts of kindness and 00:28:09.230 --> 00:28:12.880 favor towards us? How do we take hold of them? 00:28:17.180 --> 00:28:22.539 I'm filled as a preacher. Thank you. By faith. 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:34.059 God's love is unconditional. But experiencing 00:28:34.059 --> 00:28:36.960 His blessings is proportionate to our faith. 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:41.039 I'll say that again. God's love is conditional, 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:46.000 but experiencing His blessing is proportionate 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:51.579 to our faith. And we preach whole series on faith, 00:28:51.779 --> 00:28:54.819 but for those of you who haven't experienced 00:28:54.819 --> 00:29:01.119 those series, it's simple. Faith is simple. Everybody 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:06.740 say, faith is simple. Faith is hearing what God 00:29:06.740 --> 00:29:13.029 said, Everybody say hearing. Faith is wholeheartedly 00:29:13.029 --> 00:29:16.990 believing what God said. Everybody say believing. 00:29:18.829 --> 00:29:23.990 Faith is being so sure that God is faithful that 00:29:23.990 --> 00:29:27.269 you're confident in what God said. Everybody 00:29:27.269 --> 00:29:31.089 say confidence. And you have so much confidence 00:29:31.089 --> 00:29:36.230 that you start talking like it's... true before 00:29:36.230 --> 00:29:40.710 you ever see it with your eyes. Everybody say 00:29:40.710 --> 00:29:44.750 talking. Because Jesus said he had faith in God. 00:29:45.670 --> 00:29:50.869 And then in that series in Mark, he says say 00:29:50.869 --> 00:29:54.829 three times, says believe one time. If I ask 00:29:54.829 --> 00:29:57.890 you what faith is, you would say faith is believing. 00:29:59.390 --> 00:30:03.190 Well, Jesus said saying three times and said 00:30:03.190 --> 00:30:06.960 believing one time. So faith has to do with your 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:10.180 words too. Because life and death is in the power 00:30:10.180 --> 00:30:14.720 of your tongue, the Bible says. So where are 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:21.900 we at? Hearing? Believing? To the point that 00:30:21.900 --> 00:30:28.339 confidence and hope is established? Then all 00:30:28.339 --> 00:30:30.220 of a sudden our words have to be in agreement. 00:30:30.279 --> 00:30:34.160 We can't speak against. the promise of God or 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:37.619 the blessing of God and expect to receive the 00:30:37.619 --> 00:30:44.880 promise of God? And then, many times, there's 00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:48.980 another act that needs to take place. Sometimes 00:30:48.980 --> 00:30:53.200 your confession is the act. So many other times, 00:30:53.240 --> 00:31:01.670 there's an act of faith. Where God tells you 00:31:01.670 --> 00:31:06.150 to do something. His Holy Spirit leads you to 00:31:06.150 --> 00:31:10.269 do something. He's inside you. If you're in Christ, 00:31:10.390 --> 00:31:13.569 you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He's inside 00:31:13.569 --> 00:31:17.390 you. So we need to be sensitive to His voice 00:31:17.390 --> 00:31:20.970 because He might tell us to do something. We 00:31:20.970 --> 00:31:23.990 might be standing in faith. Listen. We might 00:31:23.990 --> 00:31:26.369 be standing in faith and believing the promise 00:31:26.369 --> 00:31:29.480 of God. And we've wholeheartedly agreed with 00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:31.420 it. We have confidence in it. We're speaking 00:31:31.420 --> 00:31:34.099 in agreement with it. And then God may tell us 00:31:34.099 --> 00:31:36.640 to do something. He may ask us to do something 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:39.359 by the still small voice of His Holy Spirit. 00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:43.019 And get this, it may seem to have nothing to 00:31:43.019 --> 00:31:49.779 do with what you're believing for. That's the 00:31:49.779 --> 00:31:53.279 part that shocked me. When we did that series 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:56.630 on that, I was like... Do you mean what God is 00:31:56.630 --> 00:31:59.769 telling me to do concerning where I'm standing 00:31:59.769 --> 00:32:02.490 in faith, you mean it doesn't necessarily have 00:32:02.490 --> 00:32:09.690 to do with what I'm believing for? Well, Naaman 00:32:09.690 --> 00:32:13.430 had to go dip in a dirty river. What does that 00:32:13.430 --> 00:32:18.650 have to do with being healed? It's just one instance. 00:32:21.190 --> 00:32:26.720 So there may be an act that's missing. It may 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:29.359 be an act that's missing. An act of obedience. 00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:38.559 And that's how simple faith is. That's how simple 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:42.319 faith is. Here's our text. I'm going to read 00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:43.440 it and then we're going to break it down and 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:46.279 look at words. Look to the person beside you 00:32:46.279 --> 00:32:48.900 and say, listen fast. Because I'm supposed to 00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:50.740 be finished in like 15 -20 minutes. I'm supposed 00:32:50.740 --> 00:32:56.019 to be done. James 1 .22 How many of you have 00:32:56.019 --> 00:32:58.119 faith that I can be done in 15 or 20 minutes? 00:32:58.680 --> 00:33:03.500 Some of you are not raising your hands. James 00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:06.619 1, 22. Be doers of the word, not hearers only, 00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:09.779 deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer 00:33:09.779 --> 00:33:12.619 of the word and not a doer, he is like a man 00:33:12.619 --> 00:33:17.019 observing his natural face in a mirror. For he 00:33:17.019 --> 00:33:20.640 observes himself, goes away, and immediately 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:26.779 forgets what kind of man he was. How many of 00:33:26.779 --> 00:33:30.119 you look into a mirror and you say, hmm. But 00:33:30.119 --> 00:33:31.660 then after you leave the mirror you say, you 00:33:31.660 --> 00:33:33.500 think you look better than you did when you looked 00:33:33.500 --> 00:33:38.500 in the mirror. He who looks into the perfect 00:33:38.500 --> 00:33:42.640 law of liberty and continues in it and is not 00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:46.779 a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this 00:33:46.779 --> 00:33:51.440 one will be blessed. Everybody say blessed. Supremely 00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:56.519 blessed. Fortunate. Well off. Happy. In what 00:33:56.519 --> 00:34:01.660 He does. How many of you do some stuff every 00:34:01.660 --> 00:34:07.660 once in a while? How many of you want to be supremely 00:34:07.660 --> 00:34:13.800 blessed? Well off and happy in what you do? Hallelujah. 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:18.639 Here's the command, real quick. Be doers of the 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:21.699 Word, not hearers only. It's a two -part command. 00:34:23.420 --> 00:34:26.829 Two -part command. Now I know he's got it reversed 00:34:26.829 --> 00:34:28.869 in our way of thinking, but before we can be 00:34:28.869 --> 00:34:33.710 a doer, we have to be a hearer. Right? If we're 00:34:33.710 --> 00:34:35.730 going to be a doer of the word, the first part 00:34:35.730 --> 00:34:37.989 of that command is actually the second part of 00:34:37.989 --> 00:34:41.269 the sentence. Because you've got to be a hearer. 00:34:42.670 --> 00:34:45.010 You've got to hear. Look to the person beside 00:34:45.010 --> 00:34:47.309 you and say, you've got to hear. You've got to 00:34:47.309 --> 00:34:48.849 hear the word. You've got to hear the promise. 00:34:50.730 --> 00:34:54.280 There's three categories of hearing. First category 00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:59.360 of hearing is that you don't hear at all. You 00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:05.159 don't hear. Say walk by faith, not by sight. 00:35:05.219 --> 00:35:09.139 Sing it for them. He's not going to sing on command. 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:12.380 So the first category of hearing is not hearing. 00:35:13.559 --> 00:35:19.039 Yeah. Yeah. It's not hearing at all. The second 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:24.050 category is only hearing. How many of us are 00:35:24.050 --> 00:35:34.289 guilty of only hearing? If you're used to going 00:35:34.289 --> 00:35:36.590 to a worship service and listening to a preacher 00:35:36.590 --> 00:35:38.809 preach, and then you hear it and you say, well, 00:35:38.849 --> 00:35:46.489 that was nice, and you have no intention of applying 00:35:46.489 --> 00:35:50.210 it or taking hold of it or carrying it out of 00:35:50.210 --> 00:35:53.119 the door with you, You're just hearing only. 00:35:54.860 --> 00:36:01.840 And hearing only is not going to help you. Then 00:36:01.840 --> 00:36:08.579 the third category, here comes daddy. The third 00:36:08.579 --> 00:36:16.360 category of hearing is to hear and to do. Sometimes 00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:19.880 it takes effort to hear. This is a perfect illustration. 00:36:21.769 --> 00:36:23.969 Thank you for helping me with that perfect illustration. 00:36:26.230 --> 00:36:29.030 Because you cannot hear, even if you're hearing 00:36:29.030 --> 00:36:32.789 sound coming in, you can hear sound and not actually 00:36:32.789 --> 00:36:35.570 listen because your brain can be focused on something 00:36:35.570 --> 00:36:41.269 else. So not hearing, only hearing, and then 00:36:41.269 --> 00:36:46.570 hearing and doing. Two -part command. Hear the 00:36:46.570 --> 00:36:49.650 Word. Everybody say, hear the Word. Then do what 00:36:49.650 --> 00:36:56.829 it says. Do what it says. Be doers of the Word 00:36:56.829 --> 00:37:02.809 and not hearers only. I think this is an area 00:37:02.809 --> 00:37:08.289 that I have missed out on so many times in my 00:37:08.289 --> 00:37:14.289 life. Where I've heard, but I haven't responded. 00:37:17.289 --> 00:37:19.530 See, there are many books in this world. You 00:37:19.530 --> 00:37:23.650 can read books to gain information. You can read 00:37:23.650 --> 00:37:26.730 books to gain knowledge. You can read books to 00:37:26.730 --> 00:37:30.550 get intellectual stimulation. You can even read 00:37:30.550 --> 00:37:33.190 spiritual books to get spiritual inspiration. 00:37:36.289 --> 00:37:39.230 Some people read for amusement. Who just likes 00:37:39.230 --> 00:37:41.449 to read? And that's like what you like to do. 00:37:42.489 --> 00:37:47.550 God bless you. Some people read for entertainment. 00:37:50.250 --> 00:37:53.429 And guess what? You can read the Word of God 00:37:53.429 --> 00:38:00.889 for all of those things. It can be to you just 00:38:00.889 --> 00:38:02.889 like any other book that you've ever picked up 00:38:02.889 --> 00:38:09.230 in your entire life. But to be a doer of the 00:38:09.230 --> 00:38:14.349 Word demands action. See, the Bible is a living 00:38:14.349 --> 00:38:21.960 book. From a living God. And we need to respond 00:38:21.960 --> 00:38:26.119 to the Word of God. Other books you read, you 00:38:26.119 --> 00:38:30.480 don't have to respond to. Sometimes you do. In 00:38:30.480 --> 00:38:33.079 some business books and self -help books, I mean, 00:38:33.099 --> 00:38:36.900 they call for some kind of response. Listen, 00:38:37.039 --> 00:38:39.659 the Word of God is always calling for you to 00:38:39.659 --> 00:38:48.679 respond. Always. Always. Matthew 7 .21. Not everyone 00:38:48.679 --> 00:38:51.219 who calls out to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the 00:38:51.219 --> 00:38:54.440 kingdom of heaven. Only those who actually do. 00:38:54.659 --> 00:38:57.840 Everybody say do. Only those who actually do 00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:02.579 the will of my Father in heaven will enter. Matthew 00:39:02.579 --> 00:39:06.760 7 .24, just three verses later. Anyone who listens 00:39:06.760 --> 00:39:12.179 to my teaching is wise, like a person who builds 00:39:12.179 --> 00:39:14.360 a house on solid rock. Is that what it said? 00:39:14.900 --> 00:39:20.019 Be careful. That's not what it said. It's only 00:39:20.019 --> 00:39:23.480 half of what it said. Anyone who listens to my 00:39:23.480 --> 00:39:30.300 teaching and follows it, responds to it. Anyone 00:39:30.300 --> 00:39:32.500 who listens to my teaching and follows it is 00:39:32.500 --> 00:39:37.179 wise, like a person who builds a house on a rock. 00:39:39.539 --> 00:39:42.900 And we know from the rest of that story, when 00:39:42.900 --> 00:39:48.690 the storms of life go, Whether you're built on 00:39:48.690 --> 00:39:53.289 the sand or built on the rock, same storm. But 00:39:53.289 --> 00:39:57.449 the result is much different. For the person 00:39:57.449 --> 00:40:01.809 who is wise, for the person who listens to the 00:40:01.809 --> 00:40:16.320 teaching of God and follows it, I've got to hurry. 00:40:19.280 --> 00:40:24.000 Has anybody faced any problems in your life? 00:40:24.679 --> 00:40:33.420 Even recently? The outcome. See, this is what 00:40:33.420 --> 00:40:37.820 makes us enviable to the world. Because our outcomes 00:40:37.820 --> 00:40:42.980 from going through the same problems are supposed 00:40:42.980 --> 00:40:53.000 to be drastically different. I don't have time 00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:59.480 to park there. Information with application brings 00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:10.000 transformation. It's not just information that 00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:13.599 brings transformation. It's got to be applied. 00:41:16.519 --> 00:41:18.860 It's got to be applied. Look to the person beside 00:41:18.860 --> 00:41:24.269 you and tell them it's got to be applied. The 00:41:24.269 --> 00:41:28.210 Word of God has to be applied to bring transformation 00:41:28.210 --> 00:41:31.210 in your life, to bring transformation in your 00:41:31.210 --> 00:41:33.929 family, to bring transformation in everything 00:41:33.929 --> 00:41:38.030 that you put your hand to. The Word of God has 00:41:38.030 --> 00:41:42.389 to be applied. Here's a caution. The doers of 00:41:42.389 --> 00:41:44.349 the Word are not here is only deceiving yourselves. 00:41:44.530 --> 00:41:46.489 Do you know it's possible to deceive ourselves? 00:41:47.010 --> 00:41:54.579 To deceive yourself? It's possible. That phrase 00:41:54.579 --> 00:41:57.639 deceive yourself means to cheat yourself, to 00:41:57.639 --> 00:42:03.099 lie to yourself through false reasoning. Just 00:42:03.099 --> 00:42:07.619 in your mental, in your human reasoning. See, 00:42:07.699 --> 00:42:10.500 some people get into their human reasoning when 00:42:10.500 --> 00:42:14.099 it comes to the Word of God. You know, it started 00:42:14.099 --> 00:42:17.679 out in the garden where human reasoning was challenged. 00:42:17.820 --> 00:42:25.409 Did God really say? Is that? Is it really important? 00:42:25.829 --> 00:42:28.190 I mean, I hear Dean talking about this this morning, 00:42:28.230 --> 00:42:31.409 but is it really important? Is it really going 00:42:31.409 --> 00:42:39.670 to make a difference in my life? We can cheat 00:42:39.670 --> 00:42:42.849 ourselves, lie to ourselves through false reasoning. 00:42:43.389 --> 00:42:46.010 Is the Word of God really true? Did He really 00:42:46.010 --> 00:42:49.929 say that? Can I really expect God to keep His 00:42:49.929 --> 00:42:54.059 Word? The Bible says he watches over his word 00:42:54.059 --> 00:42:59.380 to perform it. Here's the illustration. I meant 00:42:59.380 --> 00:43:02.760 to bring a mirror. I couldn't find the mirror, 00:43:02.980 --> 00:43:04.860 the preaching mirror. I've had a preaching mirror 00:43:04.860 --> 00:43:09.980 before. Couldn't find it. If anyone is a hearer 00:43:09.980 --> 00:43:12.139 of the word, not a doer, he is like a man observing 00:43:12.139 --> 00:43:15.539 his natural face in a mirror. For he observes 00:43:15.539 --> 00:43:18.199 himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what 00:43:18.199 --> 00:43:24.329 kind of man he was. It's just like I said a minute 00:43:24.329 --> 00:43:28.130 ago. You know, I see myself as a lot younger 00:43:28.130 --> 00:43:29.989 than I am when I'm not looking in the mirror. 00:43:32.110 --> 00:43:36.829 I see myself skinnier than I am when I'm not 00:43:36.829 --> 00:43:44.530 looking in a mirror. I see myself more handsome 00:43:44.530 --> 00:43:49.369 when I'm not looking in a mirror. You got the 00:43:49.369 --> 00:43:51.690 same mirror? I need to get rid of that mirror, 00:43:51.750 --> 00:43:55.880 don't I? Again, I got glasses this year and I 00:43:55.880 --> 00:43:57.599 keep telling her, take off those glasses and 00:43:57.599 --> 00:44:03.119 I'll look a lot better. Here's an illustration. 00:44:03.199 --> 00:44:05.260 The mirror is God's Word. Everybody say God's 00:44:05.260 --> 00:44:08.340 Word. The mirror is God's promises. The mirror 00:44:08.340 --> 00:44:11.199 is God's blessing. We see that in His Word. We 00:44:11.199 --> 00:44:15.760 hear it and we see it. And like, there are different 00:44:15.760 --> 00:44:17.960 times when we see it. I hope you see it more 00:44:17.960 --> 00:44:22.019 than this. You're seeing it right now, right? 00:44:22.139 --> 00:44:24.440 Going to church, you're seeing the Word of God. 00:44:25.099 --> 00:44:29.800 You're seeing what it says. Sometimes when I 00:44:29.800 --> 00:44:32.260 look into the Word of God, I see areas in my 00:44:32.260 --> 00:44:34.760 heart and in my life that need some improvement. 00:44:34.960 --> 00:44:36.639 Like when I look in the mirror in the morning. 00:44:37.159 --> 00:44:39.719 I need to fix my hair. I don't need it. This 00:44:39.719 --> 00:44:43.820 is fixed, by the way. This is as good as it gets. 00:44:46.339 --> 00:44:48.639 So I look in the mirror and I see some things 00:44:48.639 --> 00:44:50.420 that need to be changed and wish some things 00:44:50.420 --> 00:44:52.400 could be changed. But it's not just wishing, 00:44:52.519 --> 00:44:54.980 but I can see it and then I walk away and then 00:44:54.980 --> 00:44:57.360 I forget it, right? So going to church, we're 00:44:57.360 --> 00:44:59.519 exposed to the Word of God. Reading your Bible 00:44:59.519 --> 00:45:01.980 personally, you're exposed to the Word of God. 00:45:02.219 --> 00:45:04.480 Going to Bible study on Friday night, going to 00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:06.539 life group, you're exposed to the Word of God. 00:45:06.900 --> 00:45:09.519 And we're exposed to the Word of God in these 00:45:09.519 --> 00:45:12.320 ways and maybe even you're exposed to the Word 00:45:12.320 --> 00:45:17.230 of God in some other ways. But God says don't 00:45:17.230 --> 00:45:23.329 look at it and see it and then forget it. If 00:45:23.329 --> 00:45:25.309 you do that, it's just like looking in a mirror 00:45:25.309 --> 00:45:26.969 and forgetting what you look like or thinking 00:45:26.969 --> 00:45:32.650 that you're better than you are. Right? Don't 00:45:32.650 --> 00:45:35.809 shout me down while I'm preaching to you. Then 00:45:35.809 --> 00:45:40.650 there's a promise. He who looks into the perfect 00:45:40.650 --> 00:45:44.880 law of liberty and continues in it, Everybody 00:45:44.880 --> 00:45:50.579 say looked. Everybody say continues. And is not 00:45:50.579 --> 00:45:54.059 a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. This 00:45:54.059 --> 00:45:57.840 is the one who's going to be blessed in what 00:45:57.840 --> 00:46:03.840 he does. So looks. Everybody say looks. This 00:46:03.840 --> 00:46:09.199 word in the Greek is, it's actually not just 00:46:09.199 --> 00:46:12.500 a glance. Not just a fleeting glance at the word. 00:46:13.579 --> 00:46:17.079 No, this look means to stoop down and to look 00:46:17.079 --> 00:46:21.000 intently. Everybody say intently. With penetrating 00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:28.239 absorption. So if you look at the perfect law 00:46:28.239 --> 00:46:32.320 of liberty with you stooping down, you're setting 00:46:32.320 --> 00:46:38.800 aside time. It's not just a casual thing. Stooping 00:46:38.800 --> 00:46:40.659 down, looking intently, penetrating absorption. 00:46:41.639 --> 00:46:46.360 Who looks into the perfect law of liberty. Perfect 00:46:46.360 --> 00:46:50.559 law of liberty. That word law here in the Greek 00:46:50.559 --> 00:46:53.139 means the complete law including the volume. 00:46:53.820 --> 00:46:58.280 Everybody say the Old Testament, the law. Right? 00:46:59.960 --> 00:47:05.719 It's the complete law including the volume. Here's 00:47:05.719 --> 00:47:08.539 the deal. We are so blessed. The Word of God 00:47:08.539 --> 00:47:12.019 is available to us. It's even available on your 00:47:12.019 --> 00:47:16.960 smartphone. It'll even read it to you for free. 00:47:17.440 --> 00:47:23.300 What if you pay your bill every month? This is 00:47:23.300 --> 00:47:25.320 written to people who have no Scripture in their 00:47:25.320 --> 00:47:29.320 house. There were Scriptures at the synagogue. 00:47:30.780 --> 00:47:33.260 There were some letters floating around at this 00:47:33.260 --> 00:47:39.539 time. We're so blessed. The complete law. included 00:47:39.539 --> 00:47:41.639 the scripture that would have been at the synagogue. 00:47:41.659 --> 00:47:44.760 It included the gospel which was in those letters 00:47:44.760 --> 00:47:47.519 and the people who were telling people about 00:47:47.519 --> 00:47:56.639 the great news of God's love. Real quick. I'm 00:47:56.639 --> 00:47:58.079 not going to spend much time on this, but how 00:47:58.079 --> 00:48:02.159 can law, everybody say law, which we think of 00:48:02.159 --> 00:48:05.260 as rules and commands. How many of you know that 00:48:05.260 --> 00:48:09.019 there are rules and commands in God's word? Right? 00:48:09.019 --> 00:48:11.039 How many of you know that the rules and the commands 00:48:11.039 --> 00:48:14.599 are not to hurt you? They're not to burden you. 00:48:18.059 --> 00:48:20.420 It's only been like 10 years ago when I thought 00:48:20.420 --> 00:48:21.980 about the Ten Commandments and I was like, that's 00:48:21.980 --> 00:48:24.139 not a burden, that's just setting you up for 00:48:24.139 --> 00:48:30.000 the best life that you could possibly have. How 00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:33.460 can law, rules and commands be liberty and freedom 00:48:33.460 --> 00:48:39.250 at the same time? How can that happen? Well, 00:48:39.269 --> 00:48:42.610 without the law and the gospel, everybody's just 00:48:42.610 --> 00:48:47.449 on their own. No moral standard. And maybe this 00:48:47.449 --> 00:48:49.150 is a bad illustration, but I want you to think 00:48:49.150 --> 00:48:54.690 of a wild dog. A wild dog. There's no moral standard. 00:48:55.070 --> 00:48:58.210 So there's freedom. A wild dog has plenty of 00:48:58.210 --> 00:49:02.829 freedom. Everybody look this way. Focus. Focus. 00:49:05.159 --> 00:49:09.099 A wild dog has plenty of freedom. There's no 00:49:09.099 --> 00:49:13.840 restraint. But they're completely unprotected. 00:49:14.579 --> 00:49:19.760 They're always subject to danger. Right? Let's 00:49:19.760 --> 00:49:26.500 continue. With the law, there was legalism. Everybody 00:49:26.500 --> 00:49:30.440 say legalism. That's kind of like a chain dog. 00:49:30.739 --> 00:49:33.840 Has anybody ever... Had a dog that you just put 00:49:33.840 --> 00:49:36.280 on a chain in your backyard. Now they kind of 00:49:36.280 --> 00:49:38.039 make, they won't throw you in jail for doing 00:49:38.039 --> 00:49:41.400 such things, but I grew up with chained dogs 00:49:41.400 --> 00:49:45.280 in my yard. Because dogs would run away. Right? 00:49:45.380 --> 00:49:49.239 They weren't chained. They'd be on the run. I'd 00:49:49.239 --> 00:49:51.360 only see them like one day a week if they weren't 00:49:51.360 --> 00:49:54.420 on the chain. They'd only come back when they 00:49:54.420 --> 00:49:57.800 got really hungry. Or if they weren't in a pen. 00:49:58.579 --> 00:50:04.820 So the law, can lead to legalism, and then there's 00:50:04.820 --> 00:50:13.179 restraint, but no freedom. But with the law and 00:50:13.179 --> 00:50:17.260 with faith, and with the gospel, I want you to 00:50:17.260 --> 00:50:21.099 picture a train dog. The perfect law of liberty, 00:50:21.219 --> 00:50:29.539 there's freedom in obedience. There's freedom 00:50:29.539 --> 00:50:34.539 in obedience. When you're lawless and you break 00:50:34.539 --> 00:50:36.079 the law, you're always on the run and you're 00:50:36.079 --> 00:50:44.059 always in fear, right? But when we respect the 00:50:44.059 --> 00:50:45.940 law, when we honor the law like we talked about 00:50:45.940 --> 00:50:49.360 last week, we can have freedom through obedience. 00:50:50.579 --> 00:50:56.260 There's freedom. There's freedom. Let's keep 00:50:56.260 --> 00:50:58.039 going. But he who looks into the perfect law 00:50:58.039 --> 00:51:02.079 of liberty and continues in it, the law and the... 00:51:02.250 --> 00:51:05.070 Principles of the gospel. When we continue. Everybody 00:51:05.070 --> 00:51:09.389 say continue. We got to continue. Continue. Continue. 00:51:10.969 --> 00:51:17.110 Continue in it. And not a forgetful here. It's 00:51:17.110 --> 00:51:19.510 like it's not just going in one ear and out the 00:51:19.510 --> 00:51:25.630 other. I don't have time for my joke. I'll tell 00:51:25.630 --> 00:51:27.389 you a joke if you wind up at my table eating 00:51:27.389 --> 00:51:30.789 barbecue with me. I'll tell you my joke. Not 00:51:30.789 --> 00:51:34.969 a forgiver here, but a doer of the Word. There's 00:51:34.969 --> 00:51:39.849 a response. There's an application. Right? When 00:51:39.849 --> 00:51:44.329 we hear and when we do, our hearing leads to 00:51:44.329 --> 00:51:49.989 doing. Then what? We'll be blessed in what we 00:51:49.989 --> 00:51:56.250 do. Who wants to be blessed in what you do? It's 00:51:56.250 --> 00:52:00.739 available. It's available and you will receive 00:52:00.739 --> 00:52:05.300 it proportionally to your faith. You can be supremely 00:52:05.300 --> 00:52:09.280 blessed, well off, fortunate, happy in every 00:52:09.280 --> 00:52:11.559 area of your life, every aspect of your life. 00:52:13.420 --> 00:52:15.639 That's the kind of life God wants you to have. 00:52:16.920 --> 00:52:21.940 To the degree that everybody without it wants 00:52:21.940 --> 00:52:33.739 it. They're enviable of your life. Let's pray. 00:52:34.719 --> 00:52:38.500 God, thank You. Thank You for Your Word. Thank 00:52:38.500 --> 00:52:41.699 You for Your promises. Thank You for what You're 00:52:41.699 --> 00:52:43.679 doing. Thank You for what You have done. Thank 00:52:43.679 --> 00:52:48.880 You for what You make available to us. I pray 00:52:48.880 --> 00:52:51.960 that we would receive Your Word today with joy 00:52:51.960 --> 00:52:55.760 and that we would respond, we would act according 00:52:55.760 --> 00:53:01.260 to what we've heard. God, I pray that you would 00:53:01.260 --> 00:53:03.599 help us be doers of your word, not hearers only. 00:53:04.920 --> 00:53:07.559 I pray that your word would be planted in good 00:53:07.559 --> 00:53:10.940 soil in our hearts. Not distracted by the world 00:53:10.940 --> 00:53:14.659 around us, but good soil and that it would grow 00:53:14.659 --> 00:53:19.980 up and produce a harvest in our lives. A harvest 00:53:19.980 --> 00:53:23.320 of faith, a harvest of truth, a harvest of life, 00:53:23.519 --> 00:53:29.099 a harvest of love, a harvest of blessing. In 00:53:29.099 --> 00:53:33.119 Jesus' name I pray, amen. This online worship 00:53:33.119 --> 00:53:35.639 experience was brought to you by the friends 00:53:35.639 --> 00:53:37.300 and partners of Eulation Church.