WEBVTT 00:00:01.719 --> 00:00:06.200 Let's pray together Father we thank you again 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:09.900 for this time now to open your word to Hear from 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:13.060 you. We pray that indeed you would speak through 00:00:13.060 --> 00:00:16.359 your word this morning That your word and your 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:19.699 word alone would go forth Like the Holy Spirit 00:00:19.699 --> 00:00:22.399 would empower your word to accomplish your purposes 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:25.660 in the hearts of people I pray you would give 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:29.780 us hearing ears and submitting hearts to submit 00:00:29.780 --> 00:00:33.030 ourselves unto the work of the Holy Spirit this 00:00:33.030 --> 00:00:36.109 morning, that indeed we would apply that which 00:00:36.109 --> 00:00:40.210 we learn into our very lives. Again, we ask for 00:00:40.210 --> 00:00:42.609 the loss that you might have mercy on some who 00:00:42.609 --> 00:00:45.869 are yet in their sins here and elsewhere, that 00:00:45.869 --> 00:00:48.390 you would grant repentance and faith to many 00:00:48.390 --> 00:00:52.750 who are yet apart from Christ. And so we pray 00:00:52.750 --> 00:01:01.070 in Christ's name. Amen. Is this right? Can you 00:01:01.070 --> 00:01:11.730 hear? More? How's that? Better? Yeah. Well, we're 00:01:11.730 --> 00:01:17.090 still in Proverbs, so I invite you to turn to 00:01:17.090 --> 00:01:24.969 Proverbs. I'm going to share something with you 00:01:24.969 --> 00:01:29.599 that not normally happens, but... I was somewhere 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:32.819 entirely different in Proverbs until about Friday. 00:01:33.019 --> 00:01:37.540 Well, until Friday. Not even early Friday. But 00:01:37.540 --> 00:01:39.700 in the middle of the morning Friday, I was given 00:01:39.700 --> 00:01:45.000 this text for this morning. I never had any peace 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.299 about what I was preparing and where I was looking. 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:53.299 So I continued to pray and ask and beg, really, 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:56.340 for a text for this morning. And this is what 00:01:56.340 --> 00:01:59.980 I was given. So I don't know if this is a special 00:01:59.980 --> 00:02:03.799 word for somebody here this morning or it's just 00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:06.439 for me. I don't know why it worked that way, 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:10.500 but I had an unusually difficult time determining 00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:17.800 a text to preach on this morning. So keeping 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:22.719 that in mind, I guess I'd like to start with 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:27.360 a couple of faithful sayings that scripture says 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:31.199 some of the things that we've perhaps we've already 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:36.659 learned from Proverbs so and what we're going 00:02:36.659 --> 00:02:41.780 to have reinforced this morning once again but 00:02:41.780 --> 00:02:50.259 God's Word cannot fail is that is that one of 00:02:50.259 --> 00:02:54.060 your bedrock beliefs, one of your bedrock positions. 00:02:55.300 --> 00:03:00.580 God's word cannot fail us. All the promises of 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:05.419 God are yea and amen in Christ. Everything that 00:03:05.419 --> 00:03:11.419 we need, everything that we desire, hopefully, 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:19.919 is ours in Christ. The spiritual reality of the 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:24.939 spiritual realities are far better than the material. 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:34.280 You believe that? You live like that. How much 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:37.439 time is given to each area? It's another way 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:42.939 of thinking about it. Are we really concentrating 00:03:42.939 --> 00:03:50.639 our best efforts, our best times to advance in 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:54.879 the spiritual realm or in the material realm? 00:03:57.219 --> 00:04:01.879 Well, you know, Proverbs obviously tells us that 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:05.199 the spiritual world is much better. Far to be 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:10.120 desired above the materialistic world. In fact, 00:04:10.500 --> 00:04:13.919 if you don't understand the Proverbs spiritually, 00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:18.680 they really don't make any sense. If you don't 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:21.800 get the spiritual reality, I mean, it's like 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:25.939 your head's spinning. How, what? We'll see some 00:04:25.939 --> 00:04:31.300 of that today. So in Christ is wisdom. Christ 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:36.100 is wisdom. There's no separation there. You can't 00:04:36.100 --> 00:04:39.439 be wise apart from Christ. You can have some 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:42.019 understanding. We know some lost men who've done 00:04:42.019 --> 00:04:44.560 some wonderful things and blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:04:45.100 --> 00:04:49.339 But true wisdom. Can only be had through Christ 00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:59.019 and in Christ We serve God because we love God 00:04:59.019 --> 00:05:07.959 That's our motive That's our motive for everything 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:12.060 that we do if it's not Then what we're doing 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:18.600 is no good It's worthless If you're not the best 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:22.519 employee you can be because you love God, you're 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:24.680 missing the whole point of the Christian life. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:33.920 And we love because God first loved us. Our love 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:36.899 pours forth out of us because God's love has 00:05:36.899 --> 00:05:41.759 been poured forth into us. We love because God 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:52.420 first loved us. We haven't heard much about this 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:56.680 last one that I'm gonna give you, but we will 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:01.819 today. We will reap proportionately what we sow. 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:09.019 Put another way, you reap exactly what you sow. 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:19.139 That's throughout the scriptures. So in this 00:06:19.139 --> 00:06:23.560 third chapter then we have, Five couplets. The 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:26.779 first ten verses of the chapter are five couplets, 00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:32.279 giving us some wisdom about life in Christ, about 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:36.240 life on this earth. So we're just going to read 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:39.939 these as couplets. We'll read the two verses 00:06:39.939 --> 00:06:44.680 and then we'll think about it. And again, as 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:46.600 long as we're understanding this spiritually, 00:06:46.699 --> 00:06:50.959 there's not a lot of difficulty here. God is 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.399 good to us. He knows how weak we are. He knows 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:58.759 our Inabilities and so he makes things plain 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:10.379 And so these are very plain Couplets So in verse 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:16.839 1 my son Forget not my law or my word But let 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:20.720 thine heart keep my commandments For length of 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:25.240 days and long life and peace shall they add to 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:32.279 thee." Now, does that mean, and I'm not going 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:35.500 to say this every time, so I'm saying it now, 00:07:36.339 --> 00:07:39.379 does this mean that we're going to earn a long 00:07:39.379 --> 00:07:43.100 life? Is that what he says? Is that how we're 00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:47.889 understanding this? If we don't forget God's 00:07:47.889 --> 00:07:50.629 law and we keep His commandments, we've earned 00:07:50.629 --> 00:07:55.949 a long life. Or we will achieve a long life. 00:07:56.009 --> 00:07:58.029 Obviously, if you're understanding it that way, 00:07:58.110 --> 00:08:17.670 that's not it. What is our life? Is a long life 00:08:17.670 --> 00:08:22.550 necessarily a blessing? How much of a long life 00:08:22.550 --> 00:08:30.629 is a curse? The fact that we live a long time 00:08:30.629 --> 00:08:34.230 doesn't necessarily mean we've had a great life. 00:08:36.370 --> 00:08:38.509 It could mean just the opposite. Our life has 00:08:38.509 --> 00:08:42.950 been nothing but pain and sorrow, abuse, whatever. 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:47.360 and we've just been miserable all of our lives. 00:08:50.539 --> 00:08:53.539 That would be very unusual for a Christian, so 00:08:53.539 --> 00:08:55.639 I'm not using that to describe the Christian 00:08:55.639 --> 00:09:00.379 life, but that is possible and it does happen 00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:03.840 countless times to unsaved people particularly. 00:09:04.820 --> 00:09:12.159 Their long life has been no blessing. What does 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:17.779 it say? What did Christ mean when He said He's 00:09:17.779 --> 00:09:21.919 going to give us life abundantly? Full life. 00:09:23.940 --> 00:09:29.340 All manner of goodness. I want you to live life 00:09:29.340 --> 00:09:32.580 to the fullest. My joy I'm leaving with you. 00:09:33.019 --> 00:09:35.919 I'm giving it to you. What is all that talking 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:40.960 about? We have a life. When you wake up in the 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:43.799 morning, it's your physical body that got out 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:50.000 of bed. We all are alive here But are we all 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:55.620 living the life the life the life abundantly 00:09:55.620 --> 00:10:01.539 The life that Jesus brought for us the life that 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:10.120 we celebrate Do you know it Do you know his word? 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:19.500 Do you strive after God? That's the kind of life 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:21.840 we're supposed to have and it's going to be a 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:26.620 full life. It's going to be a life of peace. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:31.620 It's going to be a length of days, a long life 00:10:31.620 --> 00:10:38.240 and peace. If we're living THE life. according 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:41.399 to God's commandments, according to His Word. 00:10:42.659 --> 00:10:48.440 You don't separate these things. This is what 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:53.519 is ours in Christ. You're not earning it. This 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:58.159 is what He's given to us. Are you living it? 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:09.919 Are you loving it? Are you experiencing it? This 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:15.559 is what Jesus wants us to experience. He doesn't 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:18.460 want us to be overwhelmed in the world. He doesn't 00:11:18.460 --> 00:11:22.379 want us to be worrying and fearful and miserable. 00:11:25.059 --> 00:11:33.019 He's telling us how not to be in this life. Now 00:11:33.019 --> 00:11:36.159 we all know that this is only the beginning of 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:40.019 our life. We never want to lose sight of that 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:42.320 long as no matter how many years we're alive 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:47.399 here. That's just a start The long life here 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:53.419 also includes the long life our long home heaven 00:11:53.419 --> 00:12:01.309 with God If you lose sight of that It's far easier 00:12:01.309 --> 00:12:04.250 to be discouraged. It's far easier to get entrapped 00:12:04.250 --> 00:12:06.809 by the devil and the snares of this world and 00:12:06.809 --> 00:12:12.029 even the weakness of our own flesh. This is not 00:12:12.029 --> 00:12:15.250 our home. We're not staying here forever. We're 00:12:15.250 --> 00:12:18.210 staying somewhere else forever. We're staying 00:12:18.210 --> 00:12:23.610 with the God Almighty and His precious Son, Jesus 00:12:23.610 --> 00:12:32.820 Christ. They love us. who loves us and has given 00:12:32.820 --> 00:12:41.240 us all things. So going on we read, Let not mercy 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:45.000 and truth for safety bind them about thy neck, 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:49.379 write them upon the table of thine heart. So 00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:54.440 shall thou find favor and good success in the 00:12:54.440 --> 00:13:02.279 sight of God and man. reputation and success 00:13:02.279 --> 00:13:06.840 that's you may have those words mercy and truth 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:11.940 you may have or you may have love and faithfulness 00:13:11.940 --> 00:13:17.379 find them around our necks keep them right here 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:23.299 right with us don't let them depart from you 00:13:23.299 --> 00:13:28.629 don't ever forget about This is how you find 00:13:28.629 --> 00:13:32.570 favor with God and with man? No, this is how 00:13:32.570 --> 00:13:36.929 you act if you are a Christian man or woman or 00:13:36.929 --> 00:13:42.809 a boy or a girl. Anybody who is related to Christ, 00:13:44.190 --> 00:13:58.039 love and faithfulness are evident upon us. Is 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:02.799 it important to have a good reputation? Is that 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:07.940 important to you guys? I spent years not worrying 00:14:07.940 --> 00:14:14.259 about my reputation. But that was a wrong approach. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:17.919 I should have cared more about what people thought 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:24.500 about. We all should. Why? Because we are Christ's 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:28.169 representatives. We are supposed to mirror Christ 00:14:28.169 --> 00:14:32.129 to the world. If we're not full of love and faithfulness, 00:14:32.149 --> 00:14:34.990 how are we showing Christ to the world? We're 00:14:34.990 --> 00:14:40.470 not. Does this verse mean that the lost people 00:14:40.470 --> 00:14:43.590 are all going to think that we're all just wonderful 00:14:43.590 --> 00:14:46.629 folks? They're going to be patting us on the 00:14:46.629 --> 00:14:53.769 back and telling us so? Of course not. Many people 00:14:53.769 --> 00:14:57.690 in the world are going to be angry with us. How 00:14:57.690 --> 00:15:02.289 about our brothers and sisters in Christ? Yes, 00:15:02.909 --> 00:15:07.929 we should have favor with God and with man. That's 00:15:07.929 --> 00:15:11.370 what we are to have. And that's when we have 00:15:11.370 --> 00:15:14.070 love and faithfulness. That's what we do have. 00:15:15.309 --> 00:15:18.789 They're inseparable. When you see somebody that 00:15:18.789 --> 00:15:21.470 you, well somebody from the church and they're 00:15:21.470 --> 00:15:25.240 just full of love and good works. They're faithfully 00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:28.740 serving God. They're faithfully serving us. We've 00:15:28.740 --> 00:15:33.940 got a lot of people like that here. I mean, we 00:15:33.940 --> 00:15:37.700 should just overflow with joy just to know them, 00:15:38.179 --> 00:15:41.019 just to be recipients of all the stuff that they 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:48.500 do for us. They've got a fine reputation with 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:54.750 God and with man. I'm going to read the Romans 00:15:54.750 --> 00:16:11.549 chapter here. Romans 12, 17. Let's see it. Recompense 00:16:11.549 --> 00:16:17.990 to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest 00:16:17.990 --> 00:16:22.759 in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:26.519 much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:30.480 men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourself, but 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.299 rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:38.500 Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. Therefore, 00:16:38.700 --> 00:16:42.659 if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, 00:16:42.820 --> 00:16:46.960 give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt heap 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:52.220 coals of fire on his head be not overcome of 00:16:52.220 --> 00:16:56.720 evil but overcome evil with good that's what 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.940 the proverbs talking about there and that's what 00:16:59.940 --> 00:17:02.500 paul's talking about that's what jesus is talking 00:17:02.500 --> 00:17:08.460 about as a christian nobody can rightly fault 00:17:08.460 --> 00:17:11.900 you when you treat men and women boys and girls 00:17:11.900 --> 00:17:14.799 of the world in that manner that doesn't mean 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:17.660 that they won't but there won't be any truth 00:17:17.660 --> 00:17:21.369 to it And anybody that knows Christ is going 00:17:21.369 --> 00:17:24.109 to know that those are false accusations because 00:17:24.109 --> 00:17:29.390 they know who you are and what you do. There's 00:17:29.390 --> 00:17:31.549 more, I'm not going to, but if you want to look 00:17:31.549 --> 00:17:36.890 at it yourself, it begins at 1417. You can look 00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:44.690 that up later. So we should be concerned because 00:17:44.690 --> 00:17:48.059 we are, as I said, Christ's... representative. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:52.980 And then we got this totally familiar couplet 00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:57.920 here, verse five. Trust in the Lord with all 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:01.119 thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:06.220 In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:13.740 direct thy paths. So again, that's the easiest 00:18:13.740 --> 00:18:17.680 one, isn't it? We all know what that means, right? 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:21.880 There's no problem understanding that. Have faith 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:24.559 in the Lord. Trust Him with all of your heart, 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:29.599 in all sincerity. There's no mixing there. It's 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.640 purity. It's all trust. Trust, trust, trust. 00:18:35.539 --> 00:18:38.140 That's what He's telling us to do. Trust the 00:18:38.140 --> 00:18:44.869 Lord. Don't lean on your own understanding. It's 00:18:44.869 --> 00:18:48.410 so simple, but how many times do we get fouled 00:18:48.410 --> 00:18:52.269 up? How many times do we trust our own understanding? 00:18:53.450 --> 00:18:56.650 How many times do we act without praying? How 00:18:56.650 --> 00:18:59.750 many times do we react the same way we always 00:18:59.750 --> 00:19:05.069 react when such and such happens? Because we 00:19:05.069 --> 00:19:07.650 think we know, we got it figured out. We don't 00:19:07.650 --> 00:19:12.329 need any help or anything else. That's not the 00:19:12.329 --> 00:19:16.630 way, that's not the Christian life. God doesn't 00:19:16.630 --> 00:19:21.730 take you by the hand here and drag you in the 00:19:21.730 --> 00:19:24.230 opposite direction that you're trying to go. 00:19:26.650 --> 00:19:29.569 Do you understand that? You can go on down that 00:19:29.569 --> 00:19:32.930 path if that's what you want. I mean it's not 00:19:32.930 --> 00:19:36.109 going to be the right path and you're going to 00:19:36.109 --> 00:19:40.630 have a long walk back perhaps. But if you're 00:19:40.630 --> 00:19:45.210 God's you're gonna have that long walk back The 00:19:45.210 --> 00:19:47.630 longer you go in the wrong direction obviously 00:19:47.630 --> 00:19:53.450 the harder it is on you When you finally come 00:19:53.450 --> 00:19:57.829 to your senses God finally grants you repentance 00:19:57.829 --> 00:20:13.220 Lean not on your own understanding folks It's 00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:17.799 paths of righteousness. It's telling us just 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:24.579 the same thing that Psalm 23 tells us. We make 00:20:24.579 --> 00:20:29.299 the declaration that our shepherd leads us. He 00:20:29.299 --> 00:20:32.880 leads us in paths of righteousness. And that's 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:35.420 where we should want to be. That's where we need 00:20:35.420 --> 00:20:38.809 to be. That's the way that we honor and glorify 00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:43.150 God in paths of righteousness. Not depending 00:20:43.150 --> 00:20:46.869 on us putting us there, but trusting and having 00:20:46.869 --> 00:20:49.450 faith in the Lord Jesus that the way that he's 00:20:49.450 --> 00:20:59.009 leading us is the path of righteousness. It's 00:20:59.009 --> 00:21:04.210 not sporadic. It's not compartmentalized. It's 00:21:04.210 --> 00:21:08.470 all of life. trusting the Lord with all of your 00:21:08.470 --> 00:21:14.210 life, with all of your heart, in full confidence 00:21:14.210 --> 00:21:16.910 and assurance that He's going to do you good. 00:21:17.410 --> 00:21:20.349 He's going to do right by you. He's not going 00:21:20.349 --> 00:21:23.410 to send you down some foggy bottom road. He's 00:21:23.410 --> 00:21:25.569 not going to send you on some fool's errand. 00:21:27.109 --> 00:21:30.190 This is the Lord Jesus, the holy one, the high 00:21:30.190 --> 00:21:34.089 and lofty one that dwells in the holy place. 00:21:34.700 --> 00:21:39.200 and the one who dwells with those of a contrite 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:43.480 heart, those who trust in Him. That's who we're 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:49.220 dealing with here. He's totally trustworthy, 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:57.660 isn't He? God's Word doesn't fail. You can base 00:21:57.660 --> 00:22:03.529 your life on it. You can live on it. Guidance 00:22:03.529 --> 00:22:09.509 and blessing will be ours as we acknowledge Him 00:22:09.509 --> 00:22:13.250 in all areas of our life, as we fully trust Him 00:22:13.250 --> 00:22:26.369 with all of our hearts. Verse 7, Be not wise 00:22:26.369 --> 00:22:29.410 in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from 00:22:29.410 --> 00:22:34.509 evil. It shall be health to thy body and marrow 00:22:34.509 --> 00:22:47.170 to thy bones. Be humble. Be not wise in thine 00:22:47.170 --> 00:22:51.170 own eyes. Be humble. That's what it's telling 00:22:51.170 --> 00:22:59.349 you. Be humble. It's like... I guess it was Jake 00:22:59.349 --> 00:23:03.430 that said we have to remember. We have to be 00:23:03.430 --> 00:23:11.230 reminded. Be humble. Be not wise in your own 00:23:11.230 --> 00:23:18.029 eyes. Be humble. Fear the Lord. Have the utmost 00:23:18.029 --> 00:23:22.589 respect for the Lord. How do you have fear of 00:23:22.589 --> 00:23:28.559 the Lord? Well, you have it. We don't refer to 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:33.980 it as the fear of the Lord. One man said, know 00:23:33.980 --> 00:23:39.059 the character of God. That's the first step in 00:23:39.059 --> 00:23:41.259 fearing the Lord, having respect for the Lord. 00:23:41.420 --> 00:23:47.579 Know his character. Know who God is. The women 00:23:47.579 --> 00:23:50.680 are having a wonderful opportunity to find out 00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:53.339 all about God. That's exactly what they're studying 00:23:53.339 --> 00:23:57.779 in this latest book. So I encourage all the women 00:23:57.779 --> 00:24:01.599 to get together for the study. Know God. Know 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:05.380 all you can know. That's how you fear the Lord. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:07.859 That's how you show utmost respect for the Lord. 00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:10.839 Know Him and know Him and know Him some more. 00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:15.359 You can't know too much about God. You can only 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:22.799 know too little. Know the presence of God. You 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:27.519 see, that's... How wise this guy was. It's not 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:30.480 enough to have, you can have all the knowledge 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:35.279 that you want. But until he's there in your presence, 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:38.339 it's just head knowledge. That's all that it 00:24:38.339 --> 00:24:42.880 is. You gotta experience this guy that you know. 00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:45.000 You gotta live with him. You gotta know that 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:47.960 he's living with you. He's living in you. You 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:52.519 have a relationship. You don't want to do anything 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:57.480 that jeopardizes that relationship. You've got 00:24:57.480 --> 00:25:04.680 to live in the presence of God. We should glory 00:25:04.680 --> 00:25:09.700 in that. That should never cause us to fear. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:12.920 That should never cause us to in any way draw 00:25:12.920 --> 00:25:17.839 back. To live in the presence of God is to have 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:21.589 the... Just know that He's there with you. He 00:25:21.589 --> 00:25:24.930 is guiding you. He is revealing Himself. He is 00:25:24.930 --> 00:25:30.529 teaching you. He is blessing you. Do you experience? 00:25:30.670 --> 00:25:35.029 Do you know it? When you come apart to pray, 00:25:35.049 --> 00:25:37.970 do you know the presence of God in your life? 00:25:41.089 --> 00:25:53.519 This is what God wants for His children. He's 00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:58.859 up there waiting to welcome us with open arms. 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:02.059 Is he going to welcome a stranger when we get 00:26:02.059 --> 00:26:06.839 there? No, he's going to welcome his child. He 00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:09.420 already knows us. He already knows all about 00:26:09.420 --> 00:26:14.240 us. Are we going to walk into a stranger's arms 00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:18.079 when we get there that we don't even have any 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:22.960 real relationship with? Of course not. We're 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:27.460 going to have the ultimate relationship Heaven 00:26:27.460 --> 00:26:33.059 is no heaven apart from God If you're going to 00:26:33.059 --> 00:26:36.019 someplace where God isn't you're not in heaven 00:26:36.019 --> 00:26:43.640 But if you're going to God you are in heaven 00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:56.470 Now that's That's the spiritual reality. That's 00:26:56.470 --> 00:26:59.849 the spiritual truth there. And that's true of 00:26:59.849 --> 00:27:03.069 every Christian. But every Christian's not healthy 00:27:03.069 --> 00:27:08.410 in his body, is he? No, of course not. Every 00:27:08.410 --> 00:27:11.589 Christian doesn't even have a food to eat every 00:27:11.589 --> 00:27:18.769 day. So how blessed and how thankful should we 00:27:18.769 --> 00:27:25.640 be to be where we are? We are rich, folks. We're 00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:28.960 rich in the blessings of God, both spiritually 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:34.099 and physically. Why were you born who you are? 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:38.039 Did you ever think about that? Did you ever contemplate 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:45.559 that? Why? Why didn't Mike Dickman turn out to 00:27:45.559 --> 00:27:49.980 be Joe Blow from Barneo or something? You know? 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:53.990 Why? It's all the mercy of God. It's all in His 00:27:53.990 --> 00:27:57.210 hand. It's all according to His plan and purposes 00:27:57.210 --> 00:28:04.190 that you are who you are. I mean, what more do 00:28:04.190 --> 00:28:09.130 we need to be pouring ourselves out in thankfulness 00:28:09.130 --> 00:28:14.190 and love and adoration to God? That He spared 00:28:14.190 --> 00:28:18.529 us so much hardship and rigors in this life. 00:28:20.779 --> 00:28:24.460 Does it take hardships and rigors of life for 00:28:24.460 --> 00:28:31.339 us to be thankful? Well, if it does you'll get 00:28:31.339 --> 00:28:41.240 them Okay, then we got nine and nine and ten 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:45.480 Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:50.099 first fruits of all vine increase So shall thy 00:28:50.099 --> 00:28:53.519 barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:59.960 shall burst out with new wine. So we're promised 00:28:59.960 --> 00:29:05.779 here wealth and abundance. Wealth, we're going 00:29:05.779 --> 00:29:12.759 to be wealthy. So here's where it comes in, you 00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:17.799 reap exactly what you sow. That's what this... 00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:21.279 That's a quote from the New Testament, and this 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:27.519 is saying the same thing. Honor the Lord with 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:31.779 thy substance and with the first fruits of all 00:29:31.779 --> 00:29:46.779 thy increase. Is that a principle that we adhere 00:29:46.779 --> 00:29:57.960 to? I don't know that it is, but I'm going to 00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:00.680 put it in New Testament language here, and then 00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:07.279 we'll consider it again. Now, we're not limiting 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:13.380 this to material things. We're not going to simply 00:30:13.380 --> 00:30:17.940 gain material wealth. We're going to gain in 00:30:17.940 --> 00:30:21.710 the spiritual realm as well. And that should 00:30:21.710 --> 00:30:28.369 be our primary concern. But in the New Testament, 00:30:28.869 --> 00:30:34.630 in 2 Corinthians chapter 9, you can read that 00:30:34.630 --> 00:30:36.990 whole chapter there. You want the whole story. 00:30:37.369 --> 00:30:42.190 But Paul is going to take up a gift. And in verse 00:30:42.190 --> 00:30:49.710 7, well, let's read verse 6 just to keep it. 00:30:50.089 --> 00:30:54.630 together here, verse 6, But this I say, he which 00:30:54.630 --> 00:30:58.309 soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and 00:30:58.309 --> 00:31:02.529 he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 00:31:03.569 --> 00:31:06.769 Every man, according as he purposes in his heart, 00:31:07.190 --> 00:31:11.289 so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, 00:31:11.789 --> 00:31:16.009 for God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able 00:31:16.009 --> 00:31:20.779 to make all grace abound toward you. that you, 00:31:20.819 --> 00:31:24.119 always having all sufficiency in all things, 00:31:24.579 --> 00:31:30.579 may abound to every good work. As it is written, 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:34.279 he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given it to 00:31:34.279 --> 00:31:37.779 the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever. 00:31:38.440 --> 00:31:42.799 Now, he that ministereth seed to the sower, both 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:47.500 minister bread for your food, and multiply your 00:31:47.500 --> 00:31:50.609 seed sowing. and increase the fruits of your 00:31:50.609 --> 00:31:54.589 righteousness. Does that sound exactly like Proverbs? 00:31:54.730 --> 00:31:57.250 Is that what you got out of the verses in Proverbs 00:31:57.250 --> 00:31:59.950 when I read it to you? Probably not, but that's 00:31:59.950 --> 00:32:03.690 what it's talking about. It's talking about spiritually 00:32:03.690 --> 00:32:10.589 and physically, both aspects. God's going to 00:32:10.589 --> 00:32:12.349 take care of us. That's what He said. He's going 00:32:12.349 --> 00:32:16.420 to make His grace abound towards us. But you're 00:32:16.420 --> 00:32:21.160 having all sufficiency in all things that you 00:32:21.160 --> 00:32:28.339 may abound in every good work What when you sow 00:32:28.339 --> 00:32:35.859 abundantly you're gonna reap abundantly So it's 00:32:35.859 --> 00:32:38.220 not just talking about our money in other words, 00:32:38.220 --> 00:32:41.859 it's talking about all of our lives What are 00:32:41.859 --> 00:32:45.789 you so into? It is talking about our money. It's 00:32:45.789 --> 00:32:49.789 talking about our first fruits. God expects us 00:32:49.789 --> 00:32:52.829 to be generous givers with everything that we 00:32:52.829 --> 00:32:56.750 own. Why? Because we're simply stewards. It's 00:32:56.750 --> 00:33:00.230 not ours. It's God's. He's given it to us. You 00:33:00.230 --> 00:33:03.049 say, I earned every penny of that. Well, that's 00:33:03.049 --> 00:33:07.130 the miser's approach. That's true. You did earn. 00:33:07.349 --> 00:33:09.970 You had a job, which is what you were supposed 00:33:09.970 --> 00:33:13.500 to do. And you did earn it. But who enabled you 00:33:13.500 --> 00:33:16.359 to? Who gave you the health? Who gave you the 00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:18.660 strength? Who gave you the knowledge? Who gave 00:33:18.660 --> 00:33:25.539 you the opportunity to get the job? And he gave 00:33:25.539 --> 00:33:27.839 it to you so that you could what? So that you 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:32.359 could be abundant in your giving and abundant 00:33:32.359 --> 00:33:37.079 in your in your sowing and in your reaping, helping 00:33:37.079 --> 00:33:42.900 the poor, giving the food. all of this read it 00:33:42.900 --> 00:33:46.539 again as many times as you want to get absolute 00:33:46.539 --> 00:33:51.700 clarity but there's no distinction between giving 00:33:51.700 --> 00:33:56.599 of ourselves and receiving from the Lord you 00:33:56.599 --> 00:34:02.079 will reap what you sow so that's what it says 00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:07.319 you heard me read it John got a quote from John 00:34:07.319 --> 00:34:15.130 Bunyan A man there was, some call him mad. The 00:34:15.130 --> 00:34:19.789 more he gave away, the more he had. Sounds just 00:34:19.789 --> 00:34:24.909 like John Bunyan, doesn't it? Yeah. You can't 00:34:24.909 --> 00:34:29.329 out -give the giver, I know the words. You can't 00:34:29.329 --> 00:34:34.989 do it. God's going to give you over abundantly. 00:34:35.190 --> 00:34:38.670 of anything that you ever had or anything that 00:34:38.670 --> 00:34:42.670 you ever give. That's what he says. He who lost 00:34:42.670 --> 00:34:45.909 father and mother or sister, you'll have multitudes 00:34:45.909 --> 00:34:49.170 of brothers and sisters. I'm going to give you 00:34:49.170 --> 00:34:51.010 multitudes. You're not going to lose nothing. 00:34:52.690 --> 00:35:02.889 Houses and land, nothing. But it's all it is. 00:35:03.239 --> 00:35:12.659 What do you desire? What is our desire? I've 00:35:12.659 --> 00:35:16.860 got to keep hold of this money for my retirement? 00:35:18.460 --> 00:35:20.940 I've got to keep hold of this money until I get 00:35:20.940 --> 00:35:25.440 this car paid off? Or I get my house paid down? 00:35:26.980 --> 00:35:29.820 Or I've got people out there that I can help 00:35:29.820 --> 00:35:33.699 with this money? I can honor God with this money. 00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:43.820 I can be of service to God with this money. God 00:35:43.820 --> 00:35:46.420 says He's going to take care of you. God says 00:35:46.420 --> 00:35:49.400 He wants you to be abundant in the giving. He 00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:55.400 wants you to be a happy, glad giver. Money, yes, 00:35:55.420 --> 00:36:02.050 but everything. Time, talents, all of that. You 00:36:02.050 --> 00:36:09.909 give from all of those areas of your life. And 00:36:09.909 --> 00:36:16.650 you will have a full life. You will. I mean, 00:36:17.190 --> 00:36:20.389 you won't believe how God takes care of you. 00:36:21.269 --> 00:36:23.989 I can testify. I probably shouldn't do that. 00:36:23.989 --> 00:36:30.309 I can testify. I raised up six kids. And I never 00:36:30.309 --> 00:36:35.230 had... Two nickels to rub together. We lived 00:36:35.230 --> 00:36:40.929 paycheck to paycheck for what? Yeah, I don't 00:36:40.929 --> 00:36:45.869 even know how many years. One time we wound up 00:36:45.869 --> 00:36:50.630 with eight people in a three room flat. And we 00:36:50.630 --> 00:36:56.969 had the greatest time. It was fun. Just seeing 00:36:56.969 --> 00:37:00.869 how it all works. How it all worked out. How 00:37:00.869 --> 00:37:05.469 God's using this in everybody's life Well not 00:37:05.469 --> 00:37:15.530 fun Rebecca So Yeah, I had a financial advisor 00:37:15.530 --> 00:37:18.829 once He says what are you ever gonna do when 00:37:18.829 --> 00:37:21.429 you retire? You don't have nothing you you do 00:37:21.429 --> 00:37:23.510 all you got is this little piddly. I don't know 00:37:23.510 --> 00:37:26.710 what it was Some amount, but didn't amount to 00:37:26.710 --> 00:37:28.909 nothing you got to start investing that you got 00:37:28.909 --> 00:37:31.550 to get going What's going to happen when you 00:37:31.550 --> 00:37:34.369 retire? And I said it's going to happen is the 00:37:34.369 --> 00:37:36.329 same thing that's happened all of my life. God's 00:37:36.329 --> 00:37:39.150 going to take care of me. He gave me six kids. 00:37:39.389 --> 00:37:47.329 That's my retirement fund. And it has. It's worked 00:37:47.329 --> 00:37:50.469 out exactly as I thought God would work it out. 00:37:53.630 --> 00:37:57.909 So you can't out give the giver, folks. Give 00:37:57.909 --> 00:38:03.210 yourself away. Trust your ways to Him. Don't 00:38:03.210 --> 00:38:09.650 lean on your own understanding. Don't be wise 00:38:09.650 --> 00:38:15.789 in your own eyes. So we're going to close here 00:38:15.789 --> 00:38:25.530 with this last saying here. And it's found in 00:38:25.530 --> 00:38:30.349 verses 11 and 12, my son. Despise not the chastening 00:38:30.349 --> 00:38:34.130 of the Lord, neither be weary of His correction. 00:38:34.670 --> 00:38:38.969 For whom the Lord loves He corrected, even as 00:38:38.969 --> 00:38:44.050 a father the Son in whom He delighteth." Okay, 00:38:44.070 --> 00:38:49.289 so is living like this going to be easy? Is this 00:38:49.289 --> 00:38:52.809 going to require some changes in us? Are we going 00:38:52.809 --> 00:38:56.349 to have to take an honest look at our life and 00:38:56.349 --> 00:39:01.159 say, I can't go on living. I've got to start 00:39:01.159 --> 00:39:05.039 doing New York. Are we honestly going to assess 00:39:05.039 --> 00:39:09.179 our lives in the light of God's Word and change? 00:39:10.739 --> 00:39:13.039 Now, how are you going to know? Well, God's going 00:39:13.039 --> 00:39:15.159 to bring discipline on you. That's how you're 00:39:15.159 --> 00:39:22.920 going to know. That's what it says here. Despise 00:39:22.920 --> 00:39:26.280 not the chastening of the Lord. neither be weary 00:39:26.280 --> 00:39:30.599 of his correction." Isn't it odd that we would 00:39:30.599 --> 00:39:34.559 find that after these five couplets? No, it's 00:39:34.559 --> 00:39:40.219 not, because God knows us. And He wants you to 00:39:40.219 --> 00:39:44.340 know that He's going to correct you. And He doesn't 00:39:44.340 --> 00:39:47.019 want you to despise it or get mad. He wants you 00:39:47.019 --> 00:39:50.599 to accept it, to embrace it, to love Him for 00:39:50.599 --> 00:39:53.460 it. Why? Because He's showing His love and His 00:39:53.460 --> 00:39:57.289 delight in you. when he brings chastening upon 00:39:57.289 --> 00:40:03.190 us. That's what it says. If you've never been 00:40:03.190 --> 00:40:05.110 chastened by the Lord, it's because the Lord 00:40:05.110 --> 00:40:09.789 doesn't love you. So don't brag about not being 00:40:09.789 --> 00:40:11.829 chastened because you might be bragging about 00:40:11.829 --> 00:40:20.590 not knowing the Lord. We always want to be quick. 00:40:21.469 --> 00:40:26.960 Sin doesn't cause sickness. Yes it does. Sin 00:40:26.960 --> 00:40:29.780 does cause sickness. Not every time. Not all 00:40:29.780 --> 00:40:33.039 the time. Who knows how many times. You don't 00:40:33.039 --> 00:40:35.719 think God uses sickness in our lives to chase 00:40:35.719 --> 00:40:40.420 us? Of course he does. But are we even conscious 00:40:40.420 --> 00:40:46.780 of it? Do we know it? When we're in our sickbeds, 00:40:46.780 --> 00:40:48.980 what are we thinking about? Does it ever occur 00:40:48.980 --> 00:40:53.219 to us to assess ourselves then? to see if perhaps 00:40:53.219 --> 00:40:56.840 we can be by the aid of the Holy Spirit able 00:40:56.840 --> 00:41:02.960 to determine what God's trying to tell us. That's 00:41:02.960 --> 00:41:06.599 not the only way, but it is one way. That was 00:41:06.599 --> 00:41:09.380 always believed by Christians for centuries. 00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:17.559 The Lord does chase in His people. So don't be 00:41:17.559 --> 00:41:20.860 discouraged. Again, He's showing His love and 00:41:20.860 --> 00:41:26.130 His... is delighting me. Apply yourself. Take 00:41:26.130 --> 00:41:31.130 proper assessment. Be guided by the Lord. Is 00:41:31.130 --> 00:41:34.449 there anything better than being guided by the 00:41:34.449 --> 00:41:38.769 Lord? Think about it. Do you not want to be guided 00:41:38.769 --> 00:41:42.849 by the Lord? Who would be nutty enough to say 00:41:42.849 --> 00:41:48.050 that? Nobody. But sometimes we act like it, don't 00:41:48.050 --> 00:41:51.199 we? we want to just have what we want to have 00:41:51.199 --> 00:41:54.199 we want we think this has got to be the way this 00:41:54.199 --> 00:42:01.539 has got to be right well no maybe it's not guided 00:42:01.539 --> 00:42:04.440 by the lord directed by him serving him loving 00:42:04.440 --> 00:42:09.880 him being loved by him well this is the end as 00:42:09.880 --> 00:42:14.500 far as i know of this type of a sermon i'm going 00:42:14.500 --> 00:42:22.170 to be moving on Whatever the Lord has, that's 00:42:22.170 --> 00:42:23.889 what we're going to have to get, right? That's 00:42:23.889 --> 00:42:26.230 what we want. So, amen.