Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Freedom From Vexation

Let's go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Hebrews, chapter 5. The book of Hebrews. We want to pick up on where we were this morning and not talk so much about the signs of being vexed and how to know whether you're vexed and what happens when you're vexed, but we want to talk this evening more about how to get free from vexation--kind of where we ended up this morning. If you find yourself saying, "Boy, I can identify with a lot of those things we were seeing in Lot, and I recognize that spiritually I've become worn out, spiritually I'm weak; and I need help, and I need to be strengthened," there's some things tonight I just want to share with you very simply. The basics of how you can stay free from that vexation.

Hebrews, chapter 5, verse 11, says--and he's talking about the people that he's writing to--he says, "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered [and it's hard to speak of these things] seeing ye are dull of hearing." Sounds like they had become somewhat vexed, spiritually weak, immature. Verse 12, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a [spiritual] babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Tonight we just want to reveal some fundamentals, Christian fundamentals, biblical basics, that will help spare you and keep you from being vexed in this world that we travel through every day. We are just traveling through as pilgrims and strangers going to a city whose maker is God. We just can't wait to see that city. We long for that day where we can be with Him forever and ever. But in this, we want to talk a little bit about spiritual disciplines, spiritual basics.

You know when you play a game and when you watch sports, how many times do you hear the coaches talking about the fundamentals--getting back to the basics? That is what wins games. Many times when you watch a game, if you're not familiar with the sport, you really can't appreciate everything that's going on. You're sitting there at a baseball game just tapping your fingers, twiddling your thumbs, waiting for something to happen, and you're completely oblivious to how the infield and the outfield move back and forth, to the communication between the pitcher and the catcher, how the pitcher will change up the pitches, and why is this guy bunting? Why doesn't he just hit away? When you don't understand the strategy, you don't understand what's going on behind the scenes, the fundamentals.

When you watch a basketball game and you don't understand about setting a pick or blocking out, you don't have an appreciation for all of those fundamentals that really do win games. They're not spectacular. They're not splashy. Dunking has a lot more pizzazz to it, but dunking doesn't win games. People being in the right spot at the right time, doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing, and never getting any thanks or recognition for it--that's what wins games. So fundamentals, these basic disciplines, are very important.

Here in verse 14, he's drawing a distinction. What's the difference between the spiritually mature and the spiritual babe? What makes someone mature? He says here that one distinction you can draw is that the spiritually mature by reason of use, which means--you can translate it "habits." The spiritually mature have developed habits in their life, spiritual disciplines. With these disciplines, with these habits, their senses are exercised.

This isn't just a passing phase in their life. They don't get hyped up one service in this last two weeks, but over a lifetime they've developed disciplines: the fundamentals of Christianity, going back to the basics. When you go line upon line, principle upon principle, you win, and you finish the race. A lot of times it's not spectacular. A lot of times it doesn't attract a lot of attention, but it gets the job done; and it gets it done well. "...even those who by reason of use" or habit--they've established spiritual boundaries. They've established spiritual habits and disciplines, and they exercise these disciplines day after day. It's the consistency that wins battles.

Much the same as over in 2 Peter--you don't have to turn there, but 2 Peter, chapter 1, where Peter goes through, and he says, "...giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness..." What is he talking about there? He's talking about certain Christian virtues that you need to be very diligent to make sure are working and operating in your life. That's very similar to what we want to talk about tonight.

If you look over at Philippians, chapter 4, Paul speaks of such things. Verse 9, he says, "Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen [and where has he learned these things?] in me..." I'll wait for you to get there; Philippians, chapter 4, verse 9. "Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me [what?], do [the habits you've observed in me, the disciplines you've observed in me, how I walk out my walk of faith, what you've seen in me, do]: and the God of peace shall be with you."

Now, spiritual disciplines, we know, it can get tricky talking about them. One thing you have to realize right up front: spiritual disciplines do not save you, but spiritual disciplines will bring you to the One who can save you. Spiritual disciplines are not fruit. Because you've disciplined yourself maybe in some spiritual habit--and we're going to talk about these in a moment--that's not necessarily spiritual fruit. You can't claim that you're more spiritual than the next guy because you do these things. Spiritual disciplines are tools. They create the environment for spiritual growth. That's all they are, but you can't take pride in using the tool. You can't take pride in the discipline itself. That's the problem that the Pharisees had, isn't it? They disciplined themselves in the wrong way and then took great pride in it, but there's certain things, as we saw in Hebrews, chapter 5, that we need to exercise ourselves in.

First of all, as we're talking about how to be free from vexation, we need to understand what we are to strive for. Look over at Luke, chapter 13. We mentioned this, this morning just as we were ending. I kind of put it on the tail end of this morning because I didn't know whether or not I'd be sharing tonight. In Luke, chapter 13, verse 23, "Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."

One of the first things you need to understand is what you're supposed to be striving about. As we shared this morning, you're not striving to be more godly. You're not striving to bear fruit. You're not striving to cleanse yourself from all sin. That's all God's work. There's nothing you can do with your own efforts to be more godly. There's nothing of your efforts, there's nothing your efforts can add to God's work as He sanctifies you and cleanses you and purifies you. Well, if that's the case, then what are we to strive about? He says here, "Strive to enter in..." That's really what it's about: striving to enter in. Look over at Hebrews, chapter 4. Verse 9, he says, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." Aren't you glad for that rest tonight? Is there anything more frustrating than trying to be a Christian in your own strength? No. There's failure at every turn. Even if you happen by accident to do something right, you'd be so proud of it, you'd be in sin again. When you try to be a Christian in your own strength, you can't win for losing. It's just the way it is. There's no good in us.

Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 9, tells us the good news: hey, there's a rest to the people of God; you can cease your striving. "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own [what?] works..." That's the key. The Christian life is coming to the realization that it's no longer I that live, but it's Christ that's living in me. He's the one that does the work. I do bear spiritual fruit, but it's because of His life in me. I am more like Jesus today than I was yesterday, but it's because of the Christ that's in me. It's because I've ceased from my own striving, from my own efforts, and I've surrendered my life to Him; and He is the one that brings forth the fruit. It's the ceasing from our works.

Then he says in verse 11--and if you don't understand what's being said, it almost seems contradictory--"Let us [do what? Let us] labour..." What are we laboring to do; what are we striving to do? We're laboring and striving to enter in, to drink deep from His presence, to be filled afresh with his Spirit. In the language of John, chapter 15, we're striving and we're laboring to abide, to stay connected. As we talked about this morning, this whole aspect of vexation, the enemy, the world system, your flesh, will do everything they can to break the connection. Just dying to your own self-will and staying connected is an all-out war twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. That's where our labor is. That's where our striving is.

If we can strive to abide and stay connected in the vine, then He takes care of the rest. He does the work. He does the purifying. He does the molding and the making. He does the sanctifying. He bears the fruit. We have to know what we're striving about. Nothing will vex you quicker than striving about the wrong thing and trying to do that which is His work and His work alone. That's our focal point. That's what we're trying to do. We're continually pressing in to know and commune with Him more today than yesterday.

Let's go through some disciplines here. I want to review with you concerning this vexation and how to stay free from the vexation. Number one: never make decisions of consequence by yourself. Don't ever make decisions of consequence by yourself. Practice the discipline of submission and subordination to His will and to His lordship. This will protect you from the vexation of lawlessness, pride, independence, self-reliance. We were talking about that attitude of heart over in Proverbs, chapter 3, verse 5. You know the passage well. "Trust in the Lord with [how much of your heart?] all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways [do what?] acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

The next verse is just as important. "Be not wise in thine own eyes [don't think you know what you're doing]: fear the Lord, and depart from evil." How many decisions of consequence do you make during the day just off the top of your head without pausing in that holy pause, just to check with the Lord to see if He would have any input, to see if He would have any direction? How many times do we really think we know what we're doing? We really just presume upon the mercy of God to protect us once again even though we've taken our life back into our hands and taken the control back.

Let's look at some verses here. Look at Proverbs 28, verse 26. Proverbs 28:26, "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered." Do you trust in your own heart tonight? Who's the one that "walketh wisely"? The one that doesn't trust in his own heart; the one that doesn't lean to his own understanding. Approach every situation that you face like a newborn babe. Approach every situation you face by reaching up and taking the hand of your Heavenly Father, and saying, "Father, I don't know where I'm going. I don't know what to do. I'm in such need of Your help."

Look over at Jeremiah, chapter 10, verse 23. He says, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Now, we can come up with a lot of ideas on our own. We can come up with a lot of plans and with a lot of ambitions, but none of it's subordinate to the will of God, to the plan of God. When you walk in that way, you'll find yourself continually fighting against His will, continually fighting against His plan, continually at odds with the Lord. It's not in man to direct himself. Only God knows the beginning from the end. Only God knows how this situation fits into the tapestry of your life. Only God knows how this step is ordered amongst all the other steps that you will take. You're a fool if you think that you can direct your way.

You can just write this down, 1 Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 2. "And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." Do you think you know something? Do you really think you know what you're doing? You know nothing because if you knew anything, you'd know that you know nothing and how desperately you need His help. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Learn that spiritual discipline, learn the discipline of that holy pause, where before you make any decision of consequence, before you go ahead and move on any impulse, you wait and say, "Lord, what would you have me to do? What does your Word say about this situation? What would Jesus do in this case?"

Practice that discipline of submission and subordination to His will instead of just going through life, taking the control, making the decisions, calling the shots. James calls it evil, doesn't he, when he says if you say in your heart, tomorrow we'll go here and tomorrow we'll go there and we'll do this and we'll do that. What should you say? If the Lord wills. Father, how does this situation fit into Your plan? How does this step fit into the rest of the steps You will order for me? That's the wise man. It will protect you from being vexed with independence, with pride, with self-reliance. It's just a check on your own heart, and it's one of the spiritual disciplines that you develop.

Secondly, a second spiritual discipline: you need to commit to daily prayer and study. Commit to daily prayer and daily study. Let's look at some Psalms quickly here. Look over at Psalms, chapter 5. Psalms, chapter 5, verse 3, "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will [do what?] look up." Let me ask you a question tonight. In your schedule, do you have times that are committed to getting alone with God, free from all external distractions, where it's just one-on-one, you and your Heavenly Father? Secondly, how easy is it for that time to be interrupted or taken away? He says here, "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning."

Look over at Psalm 55. I just want to show you a pattern here in the Scriptures. Psalm 55, verse 16. He says, "As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice." David here speaking about appointed times that are set aside for just him and the Lord: evening, morning, and at noon.

That reference back in Psalm 5--he says, I'll direct my prayer to Thee, and I will look up. Those times that you set aside should be precious. Those are times for your Heavenly Father and you to commune in that sweet fellowship. Those are times when you can pour out your heart to Him, and He can share His heart with you. Those are the times when He whispers and calls you by name and calls you His child--lets you know how much He loves you. It says, I'll direct my prayer to Him and will look up. It redirects your focus, gets all of your attention off of the earthly things and gets it back on the heavenly where it should have been all along--causes you to look up.

Look at Psalm 119, verse 62. He says, "At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments." These weren't just random times, times of chance encounters. These were appointments with God, designated times. Look down at verse 164, "Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments." "Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments." It's kind of neat to set aside little times during the day, isn't it? To steal away 10 or 15 minutes here, 10 or 15 minutes at lunch, 10 or 15 minutes on the afternoon break, set aside that hour in the evening, just to have those times when everything stops, and you can become still and know that He is God. It becomes so important because in this vexation that we're talking about, Satan uses confusion. He operates in all of this noise.

Don't you hate the commercials of today? I mean the TV programs are bad enough, and then they've got these commercials. Usually I can't mute it fast enough. It comes on blaring with all that weird music and just noise. There's an intention behind it. It's distracting; it's confusing. Satan loves just to keep people distracted and confused.

Look over at Luke, chapter 5--we see this discipline at work in Jesus' life--verse 15. All of that confusion and all of that noise and all of those voices and all of those distractions, it's all part of his strategy to wear you down. He says in verse 15, "But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities." Hard to imagine what was taking place here, but Jesus is becoming very famous. Great multitudes, crowds are thronging Him, a lot of hustle and bustle. You can imagine the noise. You can imagine all of the bodies. You can imagine all of the confusion. And what does Jesus do in verse 16? "And he withdrew himself into the wilderness [separated Himself where everything would just quiet down, and He did what?], and [He] prayed."

"Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). It comes in the stillness. It comes when you've quieted everything down externally and internally, and you can concentrate on hearing His voice. That's when you can come to the place of understanding that He is God: God in my life, God in the circumstances, God upon the earth, God in the heavens. Thy will be done. "Father, just reveal to me what Your will is, and I'll do it." It's in those times of quietness and stillness that He speaks.

Look over at Psalm 62:6. This is the principle of the Psalms. How many times do you read in the book of Psalms to wait upon the Lord? You think, "Dear, Lord, God's always late. We're always waiting on Him." That's not it at all, is it? That term to "wait" upon the Lord means to become still, to become silent. It is this principle of making everything quiet inside and out. He says here in Psalm 62, verse 5, "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be [what?] be moved."

That's what Satan's after. He wants to move you. He wants to distract you. He wants to get you out there on your own, operating in fear, operating in pride, operating in selfishness, whatever motivation he can employ; but there's an anchor. That anchor is within the veil, and that anchor is within His presence, and that anchor is hearing His still, small voice. That anchor is communion and leaning upon the breast of Jesus. That's the anchor. "I shall not be moved." In the midst of all of the noise and all of the confusion and all of the havoc that Satan tries to throw our way, there's a peace and there's a calm and there's a stillness. "My soul, wait thou only upon God."

Become still; quiet everything down. Without that, without being able to hear His still, small voice, let's face it: you and I are lost. Is there anything more terrifying to a child than to be lost in a big department store and cry out, "Mommy, daddy," and there's no answer? Nothing more terrifying. We have to get away like Jesus did, and learn the discipline of setting aside those times, committing to those times, and then allowing nothing to interrupt those times. The value that you place upon your fellowship with God is quickly seen in how easily you let those times be interrupted. The value that you place upon your communion with Father is easily seen by how many times you keep putting it off. "Well, tomorrow, I'll get with the Lord." "Well, tomorrow, I'll have my devotions." "Well, tomorrow, I'll set aside time to pray." How precious is He to you, really? To be free from this vexation, we've got to come to this place of getting alone with God and being still.

Next: meditate on the Word of God day and night. Pretty elementary principles, aren't they? It's back to the basics. These fundamentals are what win wars. Nothing splashy or spectacular, but it works. Meditate on the Word of God how often? Day and night. I like the way Deuteronomy, chapter 6 expresses this. Look back there. As you're turning there, think of Joshua 1:8, "This book of the law shall not depart [from your heart, shall not depart] out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein..." The meditation day and night, day and night, upon the Word of God. The warfare that we are involved in, is it not a warfare of the mind? Is it not a warfare for your thoughts, for your intentions, for your motives? That's where the battles are fought. That's where the vexations start to creep in.

He says here in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 4, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all of thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

The Jews took this literally, didn't they? We see especially in Jesus' times the phylacteries that would be tied on the wrists and tied on the foreheads. In the phylacteries would be Scriptures written out, but the Lord wanted it to go a lot deeper than just tied to your forehead. It says here that I want these words which I command thee in your heart. Memorizing Scripture is great, but God doesn't want it just in your mind. He wants it in your heart. That's what it's all about. He wants it in your heart for a reason: Joshua 1:8 says that you may observe to do all that's written. Now, I like the way he expresses this, "Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand." So, many times they would take a phylactery and bind it on the back of their hand or around their wrist, and it was symbolic. It was symbolic of the fact that whatever I put my hands to, whatever work I'm going to do with my hands, the Word of God is there to guide me. Everything my hand produces must match the Word of God and be approved by the Word of God.

Then the phylactery that was right here, right on the forehead, kind of right between the eyes, it was positioned in such a way that no matter what you were looking at, you had to see past this phylactery. You couldn't see anything without this phylactery being there in your sight, symbolic of the fact that everything you saw had to be filtered and tested by the Word of God. Everything you saw had to line up with the Word of God. Everything you saw was compared to the standard of the Word of God--meditating upon it day and night.

Look over at 2 Corinthians, chapter 10. 2 Corinthians, chapter 10 talks about this warfare--the warfare of the lies of the enemy, his philosophies that would come and try to seduce us and entice our heart away. Like I said before, every situation you come across, you need to ask, "What would Jesus do? How does this fit into the Word of God?" If everything is not compared to the Word of God, there are going to be doctrines of devils that will seduce your heart. There will be devilish philosophies that creep in without you even knowing it. "Well, that seems right. That seems fair. That seems good. That seems moral. That seems..." but it's not the Word of God. Well, it seems good, but it's not the Word of God. There is a way that seems right to a man. There's a way that seems spiritual and religious to a man. "You know, I really think God ought to think this way because this way just seems right," but it's not the Word of God.

Watch what he says here. He says (verse 3), "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not [what?] war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)" This is why you need the Word of God and why you need to meditate upon the Word of God, because the Word of God is not a carnal weapon. It is a supernatural weapon. Left by yourself you'll be seduced and deceived by the enemy's philosophies. You need the power of the Word of God. You need the illumination of God's Word to break the bondage of those doctrines of devils. Otherwise, you'll end up believing the lie. The Word of God is "mighty through God to the pulling down of [what?] strong holds." The imaginations, the strongholds that Satan builds in your heart and in your mind.

Dear, Lord, how many of us are carrying around so much baggage? How many of us have in our minds been imprisoned by fears and insecurities, been in bondage to lies and deceits all of our lives, and then in a moment of mercy, God illuminates our heart and it all dispels and we find out it was all just a lie. It was all a smoke screen. We think, "Lord, I thought that way? That was my perception for so many years? You mean that thing tormented me all along, and it was such a lie?"

I want to tell you something. Only the Word of God has the power to set you free. Only the Word of God has the power to break the bondage of that darkness. Without it, we are no match for the deceits of the devil, but the Word of God has the power. That's why it has to be our meditation day and night. That's why we need to bind it upon our hands and upon our foreheads. Everything we do with our hands must be done to be approved by His Word. Everything we see and everything we think and everything that comes into these eye gates must be filtered by the Word of God. Don't take things at face value. When you see it, it has to be compared. It has to be judged. How does this line up with what Jesus would do? How does this line up with the Word of God? How does this line up with what God was speaking to me in my prayer closet? How does this line up with what we've been hearing from the pulpit? That's what saves you from vexation. If the Word of God is not the guard of your heart, you're going to be vexed. If the Word of God is not the filter of your mind, you're going to be vexed. Through his lies and deceits, Satan can bring you into a terrible bondage.

He says in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 2, he says, "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." "As the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty..." You know why I wanted to spend some time going through the basics, going through the fundamentals? Because so many times as Christians we know these basics and we know these fundamentals, but we've been going through this for a while now. "Now, because I have longevity and I've got some years under my belt, I've grown up and I'm mature, and now I don't need to do that baby stuff anymore. I've grown past the fundamentals, and now I'm mature." Yeah, you're set up for a fall is what you are. If you're going to ignore the fundamentals, you're going to lose.

The next thing: be thankful. Very simple discipline: be thankful. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 18, the giving of thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "In every thing give thanks..." Learn how to say thank you. Stop taking the Lord for granted. Stop believing the lie that somehow you deserve His mercy, that somehow you've been a Christian long enough that God owes you one.

This discipline of giving thanks reminds you of who the provider is, and just as important, it reminds you who the provider is not--meaning you. Because it's that power of seduction that Deuteronomy talks about where we go in, and we start to eat from tables that we didn't prepare and live in houses we didn't build and dig and drink from wells that we didn't dig. We start to experience the prosperity, and he says in the midst of this prosperity you forget the Lord. And you think somehow I've gotten this for myself. Somehow I deserve this. Somehow I'm just so good that all of these things come to me.

You're not the source. Your paycheck is not the source. You career is not the source. Your boss is not your source. Your great mind and intellect and wisdom, your genius, so-called, is not the source. God is the source of your life, and there's nothing that you have that has not been given by Him. This learning how to be thankful, just the simple discipline, reminds you of where it all came from.

Look over at Luke, chapter 17. If you forget how to say thank you, your heart's going to be lifted up, and you're going to forget where it came from. You're going to forget the Lord who blessed you. Luke 17, verse 12, "And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God. And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger [this Samaritan]. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole."

It's interesting. Those nine were so preoccupied with what they were going to do. "Bless God, we've been cleansed; we've been healed; we've been given a second chance." "What are you going to do?" "Go to Disneyland"--right?--as the commercial says. "I'm going to go see my family." "I'm going to do this; I'm going to do that." And they were so preoccupied, now, with their life, that in just a moment, they forgot where it came from. In just a moment, they forgot who the source was. Just a moment! How they took it for granted as if they deserved it. They were vexed, so preoccupied with getting on with their life, that they couldn't even return to acknowledge the giver, to say thank you. It's an important part of our life. Do you say grace over dinner, or are you so busy to eat you just start stuffing it in? Can you pause at those simple times to say thank you, to return to give thanks, to acknowledge Him as the giver? All of these simple things really do work if we keep them in focus. We're running out of time, and there's several we won't get to; but let me just get to as many as we can.

The next one: take up your cross; deny yourself. This is really an attitude of heart more than anything else. The attitude of self-denial, death to self. On a daily basis, we need to cultivate the awareness that we are not our own. We've been purchased. Now, we no longer live to please ourselves. We live to please the One who purchased us.

I like to think about Abraham a lot of times when you think about this. God came and promised him a son. If you do the math, Scripture tells us he waited 25 years for that son to come and be born. Twenty-five years of ups and downs, waiting, holding on to his faith, at some times apparently failing like with Hagar, but he held on to the end, never doubting his Heavenly Father. Then the promise comes, and Isaac is born; and don't you know he rejoiced. Man, he finally got this miracle child. He finally got his promised son. I'm sure he was full of pride, not necessarily the bad kind of pride. He was just so full of pride and just full of joy and rejoicing in what the Lord has done, and he had so many plans and so many ambitions and so many goals. He was going to take Isaac out and teach him how to fish and how to hunt. He was going to teach him so many things about life, and he was just so excited about this son.

Then he's told by the Lord to offer his son up and kill him, and all of those dreams instantly gone. But think about the faith of Abraham. Man, the immediate obedience--he set out the very next morning to the mountain that God was leading him to. He didn't try to hold on and possess Isaac. He didn't call Isaac his own possession, to have and to hold. He knew that Isaac's life and he knew that his own life belonged to God. So he didn't try to manipulate the situations or manipulate God. He didn't try to hold on and take control back, but he knew that he belonged to another and that he wasn't living to please himself, but he was living to please the Lord. In a moment, all of those dreams and plans gone. He was willing just to hand it all over because he knew who his life belonged to, and he knew who his son belonged to.

This is a daily discipline. This is something we must apply to our hearts. Every morning when you wake up, you can start to tell yourself, I do not possess myself. I do not own myself. My life does not belong to me to do with what I want. I belong to the Lord. My wife belongs to the Lord. My kids belong to the Lord. This family, this household, is the Lord's. I'm not free to do with it as I will. I'm just a steward, and I will answer one day for what I've done with my Master's property because myself and all of these belong to Him. They don't belong to me. It's an awareness that keeps you safe. It's an awareness that keeps you from the presumption of pride and selfishness.

Look over at Matthew, chapter 16, for a moment. We see just the opposite at work here in Peter. Matthew, chapter 16, verse 21, "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee."

Now, we got a conflict of interests here. Peter had his own plans, his own ambitions. And what the Lord's describing sure doesn't sound like what Peter had planned, and Peter didn't like it. He said, "Be it far from thee, Lord: But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, [who?] Satan." Now, see Jesus--here was an opportunity for Jesus to be vexed. Here was an opportunity for Jesus to be worn down spiritually, but He knew the discipline. He knew the fundamentals. He knew the basics--the very simple truth that His life was not His own to do with as He chose. And He said, "Get thee behind me, Satan: [you're missing one of the purest truths here--I'm not free to do with my life as I will] thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples [using this as an illustration, as a lesson], If any man will come after me, let him [do what?], deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

I made a statement to your children. I hope they understood it. It's something that could possibly cause confusion if it's not--if they didn't hear everything I was saying. I shared with them, I said, "You know, Christians don't make plans for their lives. Christians find out what God's plan is and then surrender to it. Christians don't rise up and say, Tomorrow I'm going to do this and do that." I was talking in context of making plans for their lives. "You know, by the time I'm 25, I'm going to be a millionaire and retire and own this company and do this and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." How many of you had plans for your life as a young person, and as your life has evolved, how many of you have realized that those plans didn't work out? Is there anybody in this room so totally in charge of their life that your life has turned out the way you planned it? No.

Now, is it wrong to make plans? No. I used the illustration with your children. You know, you're planning--your parents are planning to go to Disney for vacation this summer. Is that wrong? No. You're saving up money in preparation. Is that wrong? No. But what if the day before you get on the plane to go to Disney, God speaks to you and says, "Hey, don't go to Florida. Go to Africa instead, and spend all this money that you saved up. And all these plans that you've made, I want you to go to Kenya and minister there in the church in Kakamega. What do you do? You say, "No, Lord. I've got plans. I've been saving up for this." No, what do you do? You say, "The will of the Lord be done."

So it's not wrong to make plans, but you better make sure those plans are surrendered to His will. You better make sure your plans are surrendered to the master plan. So this is how we live our lives. We recognize that we've been purchased and bought with the blood of Jesus, that we've been bought with a price. We're not our own. In everything we do, it's to glorify God in our body and in our spirit which belong to God. One of the simplest, most basic, fundamental truths, but do you live in it? Or in all of your great wisdom, have you grown past that?

There's other things, and we've run out of time; and I don't want to go late tonight, but things like practicing carefulness in the areas of your weakness. Jesus said if your hand offends you, what do you do? Cut it off. What does the fool do? The fool walks past the corner of the harlot. He doesn't establish for himself boundaries, spiritual disciplines which keep him from harm. The fool walks right smack into the middle of harm and temptation.

Another aspect--praying about everything. Philippians, chapter 4 says in everything let your supplications be made known. In everything pray. Be careful for nothing. Cast all of your care upon Him. Praying about everything--how many of you can go through a day without praying? A lot of things happening, a lot of circumstances happening, and you're just kind of going through life, going through the motions, making due the best you can without even the thought of just praying and pouring your heart to Him.

The discipline of communicating--you know, we joke about it so much that men are terrible communicators. Their wives like to sit down and talk about everything, and husbands exercise the gift and don't really listen--just say "Uh huh" every now and then. Men don't like to express themselves or communicate or share the details. You better learn because the Bible says in there in Philippians, chapter 4, to pray about everything. Pray about every choice, every decision. Pray about every situation of consequence, and learn how to go and pour your heart out to Him. Why? Is God the big vent guy, and you just go and vent to Him; and after you vent, you feel better? No. You're going to Him and praying about everything to get His perspective on it so that you can see things through His eyes and see things as He sees them. That saves you from a whole lot of vexation right there, when you get His heavenly perspective. When we perceive things, we form opinions and conclusions that are completely wrong. We need His perspective.

It's like Job said. He says, Lord, I heard of you, but now I've seen you. After seeing you, I abhor myself, and I repent in dust and ashes. Job got a real quick attitude adjustment. His perspective changed 180 degrees when he encountered God. So many times, we can't trust our own heart. We're perceiving things through human eyes through our own selfish and proud filters, and our perceptions are wrong. It's not until we go into the house of God that we get a heavenly glimpse, and we start to see things as He sees things. The simple discipline of praying without ceasing, the simple discipline of being careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, letting our requests be made known unto God.

It's the basics. It's the fundamentals, and I don't want to take more time. Those are just some examples of what I'm talking about--the disciplines that make the difference between the babe and the mature. The mature is the one that day by day, hour by hour exercises his senses by the habits that he has developed, the spiritual disciplines, the spiritual trainings, returning back to the basics, returning back to the fundamentals. It wins wars. Maybe not always glamorous and splashy, but it gets the job done. It finishes the race.

Father, we look to You tonight. Lord, we want to keep ourselves free from the dangers and perils of vexation. You've given us so much. We're so thankful. We don't have to go through life vexed and worn down and worn out and beaten down. You've given us the victory. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" We can live in such victory. We can live in such overcoming faith. Father, You've given us so much, and we want to walk in what You've given us. We want to walk in the victory that You've provided in your Son, Jesus.

Father, we recognize tonight that so many times what distinguishes the mature from the babe is the one who has exercised his senses with spiritual habits. The habit of doing the basics, doing the fundamentals, not being deluded into thinking that somehow we have grown and matured past the simple truths. Father, help us. Cause us to see everything in light of Your Word. Cause us to allow the Word to be our meditation day and night. Cause us to come to You and pour our heart out to You about everything, seeking Your wisdom, seeking Your plan. Father, never let us think that our lives are our own, but let us return to the simplicity of the cross where You purchased us; and now You possess us and You own us. We're nothing more than servants longing to please You. We can't do with our lives what we want; we do with our lives what You want.

Father, the simplicity of just being thankful, the discipline of returning to give thanks, recognizing You as the provider, recognizing that none of this has come from our own power. It's all from You. We have nothing that did not come from You. You're the source of every heartbeat, of every breath. You're the source of every dollar we have in our wallet right now. It all came from You, Father.

Jesus, we thank You, and we give You all of the praise and all of the glory. Father, teach us the discipline of prayer. Teach us the discipline of becoming still and knowing that You are God, a silencing all of the confusion and all of the voices and all of the noise, and just getting to that place where we can hear the still, small voice, of waiting upon You. Father, we long to be with You so much. We long to hear You call us by name, to speak peace to us, to tell us how much You love us. We long to find our satisfaction in You and only You, to throw off every vexation and every weight that so easily besets us. Father, we thank You in Jesus' name.

Let's stand before the Lord and worship Him this evening. Father, we give You the praise and the glory. We come to You, and we do say thank You tonight. Thank You for all of Your mercy. Thank You for all of Your grace and kindness. We praise You, Father. We praise You, Jesus.

"To Your majesty..." Sing it once more. Father, we do surrender. You'll never be in a better place than in that place of surrender, absolute surrender, complete surrender, holding nothing back. That's where we long to be tonight, Father. We thank You for it. Amen.

God bless you. We'll see you Tuesday night in prayer.

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