Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Trust and Obey

Hallelujah! Amen. We got word from Tony this morning that the trip through the western province was very successful. A lot of great things had occurred in that. We'll be sharing some more details with you tonight, but just continue to hold the ministry up in prayer. Things are going well. Eldoret is growing. The Umoja church is being strengthened daily, praise God. There are a lot of good reports going on! There's a real revival there in Kenya. One work that just opening up, and that we've just adopted and are becoming a part of, is a fellowship right down in an area that we've been believing God to get into. It's right on the Lake Victoria area just outside of Kisumu, but it gives us access to both Uganda and Tanzania. Some great things that are taking place there! It was a real surprise, Tony said, as the brother, for close to a year now, has been chasing us around looking for covering. He came to us through the Revival Springs articles, all of those free articles that they do of my teachings every month there. He got a hold of some of these and said, "I have to find this." He chased us down and was supernaturally led to some different meetings where he made contact with the men, and it looks now like some great things are going on. Tony said he went to one of the outlying areas and was pleasantly surprised. He said he showed up and it was a church, praise God, of very mature people. He said he was taken aback by the fact that they seem to be so mature not only in the faith, but a people that are disciplined, a people that are really serious about seeking God. Many exciting things are taking place!

Let's turn to the book of Joshua. I want to take a change here in the direction that we've been going. We've been talking about walking in the light. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." We saw in Ephesians that as children of light we're to walk in the light, and that many of these aspects of worldly wisdom and lascivious living cannot be so much as once named among us. Now, that doesn't mean that you're not going to commit a sin periodically. In fact, 1 John says, "When you sin, we can confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from, say it, all unrighteousness" (Verse 9). Praise God! What Paul is saying there is, these things can never become acceptable. They can't become part of our standard. Our standard is perfection. Out standard is Christlikeness. We don't compare ourselves with any other people or any other ministries, but only with Jesus. Paul said, "I press toward the mark, the prize, the high calling of God that is in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). He said, "I count everything else loss, dung, that I might obtain Christlikeness." With that being the zeal in our hearts and the standard by which we live we don't once let these things be named in our midst. They are not acceptable! Light reproves darkness, Paul said there in Ephesians. So in our midst, whenever we see sin in our lives, we confess it. "In other lives we bring reproof and rebuke and instruction into righteousness that the man of God may be perfect and thoroughly furnished unto every good work, the Scripture says" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Today we're so much of this mentality, "Judge not, judge not." The Scripture says we're to judge and we're to judge righteous judgment. Amen? The Scripture says judgment begins with us and we take the beam out of our eye so that we can see clearly to help our brothers and sisters with the speck that's in their own eyes. It's our responsibility. If we have love for one another we'll bring the chastisement because God chastens those that He loves. That's how we know who's among us, because if we're children of light and children of God we receive the chastisement with gladness. Now, it's grievous for the moment, but the Scripture says it works in us the peaceable fruit of righteousness. If I refuse your reproof, if I refuse your rebuke, if I don't want this correction, the Scripture says, I'm a bastard and not a son. So you can say you're a Christian, you can say you're a part all you want, but if you don't accept chastisement you're not a child of God. It's how God brings us into the character that's acceptable-Christlikeness. Jesus learned obedience by the things that He suffered or endured.

We're going to talk about that aspect of it a little bit now. What is it that this chastisement is supposed to do? We've seen that we're to chastise one another, but what is it suppose to do? It's supposed to bring obedience. It's supposed to get us to change our course, repent, which means to change course, to turn, and to begin to do things in a way other than how we were doing them. It doesn't just mean to say, "I'm sorry." It doesn't mean to just say, "Well, yeah, that's right," and acquiesce. The real question is, what are you doing about it? What are you doing to change? How is it that you're going to accept this now and get it applied to your daily life? Christianity is not the acceptance of a creed. It's the acceptance of Jesus' lordship, and He says, "Don't call Me Lord and not do the things I've commanded you to do." There's a cheap brand of Christianity that's being so propagated in the world today, especially in our country. There's nothing cheap about this course that we're on, about this kingdom that we're living in. In a generation when every man is doing what's right in his own eyes-what is the great message in America today? Tolerance; everyone should be free to do what they feel like doing. Not so, there's a course that we're on. The Scripture says, "It's straight, it's narrow and few there be that find it, but broad is the road to destruction." We're a people that are trying to get into this narrow path and to walk in the middle of it as God has called us and ordained us. We want to talk about that aspect and we want to talk about how it relates to faith.

We've come through generations and it's still a big segment of Christianity today in America; there's a lot of talk today about the faith movement and we've seen many of the false doctrines that have come out of it. People have mocked different aspects of that faith movement. They call it the blab it and grab it type of thing with the positive confession and this aspect. It's even so perverted, as we heard the report that came back from Africa the other day, where that young preacher was up there saying "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth." He's talking about positive confession. Man lives by every word that proceeds out of his mouth, whatever you say you can have. That's not what the Bible says! It says, "By every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." The problem is we have people living out of every word proceeding out of their mouths, their visions, human wisdom. We need to see that obedience is living by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. "Let God be true and every man a liar," the Scripture says.

Faith is choosing God's Word and God's will over our own understanding, over our own natural propensities. Faith is making choices over what seems right and doing what is right because God declared it. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. It's very important that we begin to understand how to walk and live in faith. Faith is obedience to the commandments of God. Faith is trusting in God more than in what we are perceiving in the natural realm. "Faith hopes against hope," the Scripture says. We want to see how to reconcile these two things so that we can rest in God's promises, because that's what faith is, it's trust, it's reliance, it's assurance that what God has said He will perform. "Heaven and Earth will pass away but My Word shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). How do we learn to rest in the Word of God, the promises of God? Very simply, by developing a life of habitual obedience to where you obey and you don't even think about it: you just do what God says. The more you think, the less likely it is that you're going to obey, because you're going to somehow convince yourself that there's another way to do it. You're going to rationalize you're behavior in the natural. You're going to justify carnal wisdom and methods. The Scripture says, "We're to pull down every thought, every evil imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge or the Word of God." It takes place in a much easier way when you pull it down before it has gained power and momentum. Don't even think on these things; just pull them down and obey.

Let's look at the lives of some people that have done that. We're going to go to Hebrews 11, of course, but not immediately. We're going to talk about the great champions of faith and the one thing that they had in common, which was obedience. There is no faith without obedience. There is no faith without acting upon the direction and the power of God. We'll find some great examples. One example, of course, is in the life of the great champion, Joshua. I'd like to go there for just a moment.

Turn over to the book of Joshua and let's start off with these Scriptures. I think they'll be a real blessing to us. The book of Joshua, Chapter 1. This is a passage of Scripture that I've spent a lot of time meditating upon over the years, trying to develop this very principle in my life. In Joshua, this great champion, this young man who had known the presence of God, the young man, of course, who had been up on the mountain with Moses. He hadn't visited Him face to face like Moses, but he was very aware of the presence of God. The thunderous voice upon the mountain that frightened everyone else-listen to what I'm going to say-that thunderous voice that frightened everyone else, that caused people to say, "This is a terrible thing, the presence of God. Moses, go up on the mountain, hear what God has to say, come down and tell us and we'll do it." Now, thank God for their willingness to be obedient. Joshua had another spirit in him, didn't he? Joshua and Caleb were men that had another spirit in them. Joshua didn't get to see Him face to face like Moses because that's at God's sovereign discretion, but he got as close as he could get, praise God! He didn't run from the mountain he ran to the mountain. He slept on the mountain. When others got caught up with all of the menial tasks in the camp of God-we remember how God specifically even ordered the laying out of the camp. I won't get into it right now, but the whole camp of Israel was laid out in the form of a cross as the tribes camped about the presence of God or the tabernacle of God in the midst. God's presence, we know, would descend upon that tabernacle. When God's presence was obviously-listen-obviously undeniably manifesting itself it had the attention of the whole camp of Israel. When the thunder stopped on the mountain or the Shekinah left the tabernacle the people went back about their daily activities and were distracted by daily functions.

The Scripture says not Joshua. Listen to what his spirit was. He stayed right at the tent door because you never know when God is going to show up, and when He shows up guess who's going to be there? Joshua is waiting, praise God! Amen? He wouldn't leave. What kind of a spirit are you of this morning? Are we those people that enjoy the obvious visitations of God when He's pouring out His Spirit, when we can tangibly sense His presence? Or are we a people that say, "I won't let you go until you bless me?" Are we a people that say, "I'm not leaving, I'm afraid I might miss the presence of God"? Oh, it's not exciting at this moment, it's nothing that's obvious but I'm available to God. This young man that had another spirit in him God separated to commune with Moses and to fellowship with Moses. "Be followers of those who through faith and patience are inheriting the promises of God." Hang out with Moses. Hang out with the people that know the voice of God, the presence of God, the people that are in pursuit of God. You'll imbibe another spirit, you'll become another man. You'll become a candidate to have a man of God lay his hands on you as Moses did Joshua and give him of his own spirit. What would you give for that? You know, if this were real to us, I don't know about you, but whatever it would take for me to be able to get Moses to lay his hands on me and put his spirit in me, that's what I'm interested in. We all know that this is part of what Joshua experienced, because he had a heart for God. The good news this morning is that God is no respecter of persons, is He? "The eyes of Lord are searching to and fro looking for a man in whom he can show himself mighty." Who is going to stand up here in this place and say, "Here am I, Lord, send me"? Who is it going to be? Is it going to be a man? That's usually God's first choice. But I want to tell you something: if it's not a man, God will use a woman. Ladies, are you ready? We know there are the Deborahs and Ruths. Thank God for the Esthers that have been used over the years. Thank God for that little girl Mary who was overshadowed by the Holy Ghost. Thank God for Priscilla as she was used to bring instruction to the prophets and apostles. God will use you, ladies, but I'm fully convinced He's looking for a man. Who is it going to be? A young man? An old man? "Here am I Lord, send me." Who is going to accept this challenge of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God to become available, a vessel to know the anointing and the power of God?

Joshua was that man. We know that spirit was conferred upon him. Joshua, Chapter 1 says it this way, as he's being admonished by the great prophet, the spirit of the Lord speaking to him, and it's an exciting thing to see this admonition. Verse 5, "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life." Hallelujah! When God speaks to you these promises, when this becomes a reality to you and fear is driven out, the fear of men's faces, the fear of failure, and I don't mean in just the failure of our goals that we've set, but the fear of failing God, the fear of failing our families, the fear of not being perceived as successful in this generation. All of these things that are natural to every one of us, and God speaks and says, "I guarantee you success." Now, it may not be as the world sets the standard, but God says, "I'm guaranteeing you success." Isn't that all we're looking for before God, to be successful? To hear what? "Well done good and faithful servant." That's success.

The admonition comes to this man and He says, "There is not going to be any man able to stand before you all the days of your life." I believe that. I believe that as long as I'm obeying what God is calling me to do I am invincible. Why do I believe that? Because Jesus said, "You can't take my life, I have to lay it down." You know what? My life is not my own. I've been bought with a price. I can't determine whether I'm going to live or die. I can't determine whether I'm going to succeed or fail, but Jesus can. Amen? He's the One that's made the promise. I can boldly say, "That's faith." My natural tendency, what's in me, the natural would be to be fearful, to know that I'm not able to succeed at this. I don't have what it takes to pull this thing off, but greater is He that is in me than he that's in the world. All things are possible to he who believes. Who's going to accept that this morning?

I told the guys, "Here's the title of this message, Trust and Obey." Do you remember the little Sunday school song? "Trust and obey, for there's no other way / to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." Are you happy this morning? "Well." How is your obedience factor? Are you at rest? If you're resting in the promises of God you're happy. You have the joy of the Lord. You're like Alfred E. Newman, "What, me worry?" (How many of you don't know who Alfred E. Newman is, let me see your hands. Hold them up real high. That's from the 1950's and 60's Mad magazine. Don't bother looking it up it's not worth it.) Now, some of us are too stupid to worry. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about faith. I'm talking about trusting in God. I'm talking about being in rest, laboring in the Word of God. "Labor, the Scripture says, that we could enter the rest." See, many of us labor in our own strength. Many of us labor for our own goals. That's not what the apostle is saying. "He's saying labor to die, labor to come to the cross, labor to embrace the wisdom of God, labor to lay down your own ambitions and your own methods, and embrace God, and believe and trust, and hope against hope, and come to the rest." We have to learn how to do that because I want to tell you something: every one of us is going to be called to the mountain and to bring our Isaacs before Him. Every one of us is going to have to take our treasure, whether it's your little son, Isaac the promise, the one that you know this is the promise of God, this is the gift of God to me. God says, "Bring it up here on the mountain. I want you to kill him and offer him up to me." Are you ready for that today? How many of you are ready to walk up that mountain today and offer up your greatest treasure? How do we prepare ourselves for those-you know what? Many of us don't just take one trip. It'll be based upon God's sovereignty and God's purpose for your life and those that are around you. What are you trusting in this morning? What brings you comfort and peace and rest? Environment, or the promises of God? Are you at rest because the environment is at rest, or in the midst of the storm are you asleep in the back of the boat? Are you at rest because all is well, your finances are in order, your body is healthy? Or are you at rest because you have the promise of God and you're saying it's faithful and sure to a thousand generations, praise God! The Word of the Lord is yea and amen. What's your rest in today? It should be in this promise right here, "No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee." I love this, you ought to see this, my Bible has these things so highlighted and re-highlighted and re-re. "I will not fail you, nor forsake you." Can you say, "praise God," for that? That's who I trust in this morning. That's who you trust in this morning. "As I was with Moses I will be with you." As I was with Joshua I will be with you. As I was with Paul I'll be with you. [As I was with] Peter, I'll be with you. [As I was with] John I'll be with you. [As I was with] the martyrs of covenant, the martyrs of history, I'll be with you. I will never fail you nor forsake you.

We all know the different stories and some of the stories of the martyrs. The one that so blesses me, a man was going to be burned at the stake back during the time of the great persecution and martyrdom. All of the horrendous acts of Rome against the Christians. We know the stories of the Apian Way being lined with human torches as Christians were taken and set on fire as a spectacle of the power of Rome and mocking the kingdom of God, the Church. The destruction, they set out to destroy the Church. Where's Rome today? The church is alive and well. Amen? There's no weapon formed against us that can prosper, praise God! The gates of Hell will not prevail against it! "On this rock I will build my church." Here we are an invincible people. God promises, "I will never fail you, I will never forsake you." The one brother, when he gets ready to go to his death, says to the other something along these lines, and the story has been told different ways but the message is the same. "When you get in there and the fire begins to consume you, could you give me some sign, just lift your hand up if God is present if His grace is sufficient." As they ignited the flames around this man and he began to be consumed and his flesh began to burn, there's nothing worse than a bad burn. There was not only an acknowledging of His grace as sufficient but an indication that showed him that His grace is more than sufficient. Amen? As the ropes burned and the hands are freed both just slip up to God to say that it's more than enough, praise God! His grace is more than enough. I will not fail you or forsake you.

Verse 6, "Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous..." I want you to see how he begins to emphasize these things. Be strong and courageous. Be strong and what? Very courageous. This thing is a war! This is not going to come easily. There needs to be the divine courage. Now, what is courage as it relates to spiritual principles? What does it mean to be courageous? Great courage is to choose against the natural, and to choose the invisible, the spiritual. The courage that we show is not to go the way of the masses. Not to go the simple way of humanism, of man's natural ability. It takes a courageous man to stand against everything that's visible, seen, known and choose the invisible, the unknown, to live by faith and not by sight. That takes courage. To call things that are not as though they were-that takes courage. Do you want to know the greatest act of courage that we as Christians have to take? The courage not to trust in our own strength. The simplest thing for me to do is try to take control of things. It comes so natural. I have so much faith in my own abilities. The courage it takes to cease from my own works and trust in God. To believe when God said, "I will not fail you nor forsake you." What a life of courage to give it all over to God. His strength is made perfect in our, say it, "Weakness;" in our refusal to be strong, in our refusal to take control and to do it in our own strength and in our own ways. "Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left." Don't compromise it at all. The Scripture says, "You can't add to it, you cannot diminish the Word of God." A lot of people want to be Christians and take a little bit out. Or we want to be Christians and we want to add a little bit to it. You can't add to or take away from the Word of God. It's not acceptable. You can't improve it and you can't diminish it. "Let God be true and every man a liar."

We're living in a generation that's so, so distracted by all of man's feigned ability; man's supposed wisdom and strength. So distracted by technology, by medical science, by molecular engineering. We stand in awe of the greatness of man that these things can be manipulated. Big deal! What they're manipulating God spoke into existence. It came from nothing. They're just finding it out. "Let God be true and every man a liar." The greatness of our God, we need to boast in that and trust in that and, "Don't turn to the left hand or to the right so that you may prosper whithersoever thou goest." Now, this word "prosper," get the dollar signs out of your eyes. Prosperity just means to go forth speedily, to be victorious, to be at peace, to go ahead. Prosper means to go ahead in this project called the kingdom of God. Prosperity is having more than enough. More than enough grace, more than enough peace, more than enough strength, more than enough finances. How about more than enough gifts to edify the body? How about more than enough friends? We're a prosperous people. Amen? Thank God for friends and family and people that are walking after the things of God. What a privilege to be a part of that. Verse 8, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth." We're to be a people of the Word of God. Does this book entice you? Do you understand that what's in these pages is more valuable than gold, than fine rubies? Beloved, this is the wisdom of God. It's not going to be something that you-how could we be so foolish as to look to human philosophers, whether it be Aristotle, Sartre, for wisdom? The pseudo-psychologists of our day, the blasphemy of Christian psychologists that are intermingling Freud with the Word of God. You can't go to the right or to the left. God's Word is true. His promises are sure to a thousand generations. Are you enticed by the wisdom of this world? Do you understand that in these pages is your success? That's where you get success! You don't get it from Napoleon Hill's, Think and Grow Rich. It doesn't come from any Christian derivative. Thank God for teachers, thank God for those that are motivators to us in our pursuit, but this is the wisdom of God, this is the power of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. "Don't depart from it," the Scripture says. Listen to what this says: "This book of the law 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: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

What do we need to do as a people in preparing for this hour that we're in? We must return to the fundamentals of faith. We have to return to the fundamentals. If we're going to be successful in this hour, we have to return to the fundamentals of understanding the power of the Word of God. Many of us have memorized so much Scripture that we don't go back to the Scriptures. There's something about going back and not letting your eyes depart from it. Absorbing it again through the eye gates and refreshing yourself with the washing of the water of the Word, letting your eyes, opening your ears and letting it be fresh as it pours into your spirit again, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. That word "hearing" as we've shared with you many times in the past, in the Greek, it doesn't just mean the audio perception. It doesn't mean turning on your tape recorder and hearing the Word of God played. It doesn't just mean sitting down reading or having someone read the Bible to you. Faith comes by an audience, hearing like a court hearing, an audience where you encounter the presence of God. When you open this book are you expecting to encounter God? Not principles, not theory, not wisdom, not a fortune cookie. This isn't a fortune cookie that you break open and take a little saying out of. To open this book is to encounter Almighty God.

Do you approach it that way? Do you have an appointment with God? Do you have set times when you sit down and fellowship with God? Let me ask you something: If you had an appointment, literally, with Almighty God, the same God that appeared in the Shekinah glory of the Tabernacle, the same God that came on the mountain with Moses where Moses had to hide himself in the cleft and God put His hand over him and walked by him and took His hand back so that Moses could see His hinder parts. If you had an appointment with God at eight o'clock in the morning, God Almighty was going to manifest Himself tangibly, would you make the appointment? "Well, I overslept. I stayed up too late watching a movie and I overslept and missed an appointment with God. I got a call this morning from my boss and I had to leave early. I missed an appointment with God." "I got distracted by the kids when they made a mess on the floor. I had to hurriedly clean all of that up and then I realized, because we goofed off over there, I had to get the laundry done because I had an appointment with my aerobics instructor and I didn't want to keep them waiting." Oh, by all means let's not keep our aerobics instructor waiting. "We'll catch Him later. He'll always be there. He'll be there on the coffee table when I get home." Do you believe God is in here or not? Is this where we encounter God or not? What type of love do we have? The prophet said, "I found your Word and I ate it and it became unto me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart." "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." "Your testimonies are sure, making wise the simple, more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. They're sweeter than the honey of the honeycomb." Is that what this is to you?

"Meditate therein day and night...for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Meditate upon it day and night. That word, "meditate," doesn't just mean to think, it means to mutter, it means to say it. Find somebody and talk to them about it. Say, "Guess what God told me today?" When you go out and excitedly share with other people what God just spoke to you it solidifies it, it becomes reality. Mutter it, meditate, and talk about it. Don't let anybody come up and talk to you about the Redskins game, the Nationals, American Idol, until they've first spoken to you about the Word of God. Amen? Next time somebody comes up and wants to spend small talk with you, there's nothing wrong with that, just say "Hey, wait a minute before we start let me share with you what God told me today." Amen? Then you can say, "Guess what? Praise God, we found a quarterback that can throw twelve yards." You can rejoice in that or whatever it is that got you excited, but have you talked about what God is doing in your life? Where are our treasures? How do we delight in them? If we're going to be successful, how can we not discuss among ourselves what will make us succeed? How to be strengthened. Oh, we're so quick to share the newest fad, "Guess what? I found this new diet and it really works." You want me to share with you the diet that really works? Take in fewer calories, exercise more. I just solved all of your problems. Now, we realize that we're quick to share all these things. "Oh, I just found this new investment, and there's such a great deal on this house, and you ought to try this." How excited are we about sharing the success formula of obedience. "Let me tell you what God told me, I did it and here's the fruit." Amen? Meditate upon it, mutter it, speak it, share among yourselves, build each other up in the most holy faith day and night and then shall your way be made prosperous, and then shall you have good success. Do you want to see what comes from the muttering the meditation that you may observe to-say it, "Do it. Do it. Do it." Set the course and do it so that you can say when somebody comes up, "How's this situation going-the promises of God." You can just look at them and say, "Got ‘er done." We realize that this is the commandment of God, sharing the goodness of God. Beloved, not only among ourselves but there are so many people out there that are part of the kingdom that don't have a clue about the promises of God, the power of God. They're so caught up in the world's methods and they have an appetite for God and they're reaching out, but they don't know the power of God through His Word, the life- transforming experience of coming into the presence of God and being consumed in His glory. Of falling on the Rock and being broken, of diligently doing these things so that God could prosper us. Instead they're out laboring in their own strength and then trying to put God's name on it and say, "Look how God blessed me." They're miserable and fearful. God has called us into a life of obedience and trusting His methods.

Turn over to Matthew for just a second and let me show you something Jesus says that's so important to us in relationship to this. In Joshua we saw that this book of the law couldn't depart from our mouths but we observe to do it. Then we'll have good success. In the passage that all of us are so familiar with in Matthew, Chapter 7, as Jesus is teaching on the mountain. Those of you who went to Israel with us, you remember the mountainside there. They call it the Mount of Beatitudes. How tranquil and peaceful of a setting that was as they overlook the shores of Galilee. The multitudes had come to hear and be taught, and all of the great truths of this first portion of Scripture that we call the Beatitudes. What a great passage that you could just meditate upon day and night so that your ways could be made prosperous so that you'll have good success. Beginning at Chapter 5, of course, being humble in spirit. He goes through, and I don't want to get distracted there, but He goes through, and just to give you a little bit of the context He talks about us being the light of the world. He talks about interpersonal relationships in the body of Christ and how to bring about correction and reproof. He talks about marriage, the fact that two are better than one. He that finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of the Lord. That what God has joined together no man can put asunder. Today, men seem to think men join them and we can make a decision to go our own ways. Christians who make a covenant have no choice but to obey God and let God be God and each one of them will find their roles and succeed. There should never be a divorce between two Christians, period, if Jesus is Lord. That settles it.

It's very easy to understand what our standard is here and what we believe, and we believe what the Lord says. He talks about the integrity of our mouth, let your yea be yea and nay, nay. Don't talk around stuff, just speak the truth in light. People want to always qualify. "I want to qualify what I'm going to say, I'm going to water down what I'm trying to say." Just let God be true. Speak the truth in love, and if we're seekers of the light and amendable to truth the people may not get it right all the time, but we want to hear what God has to say. He sets the standard of justice, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That's justice, but God is also merciful. He doesn't always demand these things but He sets the standard. He talks about us loving our enemies. These are all very difficult things in interpersonal relationships and the laying down of our lives, or as Paul says, of the taking up of the cross. This whole teaching on the Beatitudes is death to self, preferring others better than ourselves. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. The great commandment, "Love your neighbor. Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you and love God with all your heart, soul, body and mind, strength." In the midst of all this He's going down and in the summary as He gives the Lord's Prayer He talks about fasting. He talks about not being distracted by the world and seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. He talks about bringing proper judgment to the hypocrites. He talks about taking the beam out of our eyes that we can see clearly to help our brothers. He talks about entering in at the straight gate and the narrow way. He talks about the fruit categorizing of our lives. For every man is known not by his words but by his fruit. "Wherefore by their fruit you shall know them," the Scripture says. Don't tell me you're a Christian and all the fruit of your life is worldliness, carnality, and humanism. It's amazing how many people today want to call themselves Christians and live their lives totally in the arena of secular humanism.

A survey was just done, fundamentalists, people that are supposed to believe that this is the God-breathed, infallible, inspired, inerrant Word of God. People that say that's what they believe then come back and say, in the same breath, showing the vexation of secular humanism, "But there are exceptions periodically of application and we all know that there are some gray areas." Not in God. God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. How vexed we are! These secular humanists bring about and like to challenge us with situational ethics. Now, the reason is because they don't know the Word of God.

I was talking to a man just the other day, sharing the Gospel with him and just had a great time. We were sharing with a professed believer and I shared some things and it was just blowing his mind away. He had no concept of this. In the midst of all this, this other guy walks up and he starts talking about, I don't even know how the conversation came about, but he said something about his gun permit and carrying this gun. This other guy this other Christian man said, "Well, how can you being a Christian talk about carrying a gun and possibly using it?" I'll show you what I'm thinking, where I'm coming from. "Christians could never kill somebody else. If you're a Christian, thou shalt not kill." He went through his speech and I said, "Let me share something with you from the Scriptures." He said, "What's that?" I said, "Just a few things for you to think about. We as Christians are not pacifists. Christians are not pacifists." "Well, doesn't the Bible teach that if somebody slaps you on the cheek you turn the other one to them?" "Of course, that's what it teaches, but it doesn't teach to let someone pummel you to death or beat up your wife or your children and stand by and go, ‘Well, you know turn the other cheek.' In the context of that what he's saying is, if somebody smites you and mocks you, you turn the other cheek. You just swallow your pride. You're humiliated in the eyes of others and you humble yourself and you take the humiliation. It has nothing to do with self-defense. Being humiliated, swallowing your pride is one thing." He said, "I didn't know that's what that meant." I said, "Let me share some other things with you. The Bible says also in Romans 13, the powers that be are ordained of God so that if you resist the power you resist the ordinance of God. There's justice that's to be administered. Government has been put into place to keep social order, the law is for the lawless. There's to be enough power necessary to restrain the evil. Are you familiar with Romans 13?" "Well, no not really." I said, "Did you know in the Ten Commandments when it says thou shall not kill, in the Hebrew, that has nothing to do with killing; it has to do with murder, it has to do with motive, it has to do with vengeance, it has to do with lust and greed. Did you know that?" "Well, no." "But what you did know was tolerance, situational ethics." We have to know the Word of God. Amen? "Then shall your way be made prosperous and then shall you have good success." Then when all of this secular humanism and all of this secular wisdom comes and tries to challenge your position you say, "It is written," praise God! "Get behind me, Satan! Your wisdom is of this world."

In the midst of all of this, He's talking about the straight and narrow way, the fruit test. You see, I know if you're a Christian by whether or not you're choosing the wisdom of God and the Word of God over secular humanism, over man's natural abilities and methods. That's how I know whether or not a person is a Christian. Whether what they're doing they're doing for the glory of God or the glory of man. That's how you know whether or not somebody is a Christian. We'll end with this for this morning. He says these classic words, Verse 21, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." "Lord, Lord, I believe in Jesus, I believe in Jesus." "Do you believe in Jesus?" "I believe in Jesus." "What do you believe about Him?" "I believe that He's the son of God." "I believe that He came to die for the sins of the world. I believe that God raised Him from the dead on the third day." "Really?" "Yeah." "Praise God, brother! Jesus is Lord!" And I pursue the treasures of this world, I live by the wisdom of the world I use the methods of the world. Then you shouldn't be taking the name of Jesus into your mouth, because it's not those that say, "Lord, Lord." It's not those that adhere to a dogma, a doctrine and ideology, but those that what? Do the will of My Father which is in heaven. "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, [have we not done things in Your] name...[and He will say], I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them [Which sayings? All of these sayings that just preceded this, all throughout these chapters of five, six and seven of Matthew. Of course, all of His other Word. And doeth them, heareth them, knoweth them, gives credibility to and does them], I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. [The rock of obedience, the rock of doing, the strength of application.] And every one that heareth these sayings of mine [‘Amen, amen, oh, amen brother. Oh, that's the truth. Preach it, brother. Oh, yeah praise God!' Every man that hears these sayings, parrots these sayings, quotes these sayings, memorizes these sayings-No], and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; [it will fall] and great was the fall of it." What made this fall any greater than others? Because these were a people that went around shooting their mouths off about how great God is, the Word of God, living contrary and it brings a reproach on God. How great is that fall, if your light be darkness how great is that darkness. When you think your right, when you're just parroting these things and you think head knowledge is enough how great will that fall be, foolish man. The wise man, the doer.

As we go on in the study we're going to see it's not enough to say, "Oh, yes Lord," and give ascent as the two servants were challenged. "Oh, yes; amen. Yeah, praise God, I'm going to get around to it, amen. But you know, I'm a little busy now and maybe I'll get to it later. Well, you know it's not that big of a deal." He doesn't go and the other guy says, "I don't think I want to do that. That's sounds awfully difficult," and then he repents and he goes. There are a lot of us that talk a good game, but we're known by our fruit.

Father, we thank You for Your Word this morning. We just ask that as we embrace that strength of obedience as we habitually, without giving consideration, without bringing into the equation man's wisdom, circumstances, we just obey the Word of God. How great is that foundation, how solid is that rock! Make it real to us, Father. As we're called into a day of obedience, a day when every man does what's right in his own eyes. Ease and comfort is the typical standard. "When I get around to it. Oh, I'll put it on the list here." Meditate upon it day and night. Don't add to it don't take away from it. Seek it with all of your heart and then shall your way be made prosperous, and then shall you have good success. Thank You, Father.

Let's stand before the Lord this morning. As Gary plays for us and we just examine our own hearts. Every one of us here knows that we can do more, we can be better in our obedience. Don't be under condemnation. Be encouraged that as we do it our ways will be made prosperous. Be strong and of good courage because He will not fail you, He will not leave you. Amen? "Lord, I've messed up so many times, and I say I am, and I make an effort and then I fail again." The good man gets up seven times. Let's go after it again, praise God. Let's let His Word begin to work in us and let's go and be successful in the goodness of God, in the power of His might. Value Him more today. Trust in Him more and not in your own strength today, and then shall your way be made prosperous and you'll have good success. Oh, let's sing this together and worship Him this morning. "All heaven declares..."

Hallelujah! Just worship Him this morning. Just give Him His glory. Thank Him for His greatness in you this morning to do the works of God. It's He that's working in us to will and to do His good pleasure. Not you, it's Him! We choose to obey. Give us the grace, give us the strength. Gladly bow my knee. Thank You, Jesus.

Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Obedience is better than sacrifice." Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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