[0:00] You know, it's good to be a Christian. Do you think so?
[0:12] Amen. There's no better life. It's not always an easy life, but it's a good life. I hope you bear with me and you don't get tired of the subject I've been preaching on some lately.
[0:32] On biblical convictions, that subject hasn't left my mind and my heart. And I guess until it does, I'll probably just keep coming back to that.
[0:45] And maybe on different angles and so on. And just continue in that. I wasn't sure where to go with it this time, but I believe we'll end up in the Sermon on the Mount.
[0:59] But just to go back, there's always some thoughts that come back after a message. And there's one or two that I'd like to share yet about the last message that I had preached on, which was the subject of modesty.
[1:17] So I'd like to just recap again a little bit and also just to remind us the difference between, you know, preferences or religion or whatever you want to call it versus biblical conviction.
[1:36] And if you remember, I know we're forgetful. And that's why I know I am. So I like to refresh where we were on this subject.
[1:51] And that is that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
[2:01] That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto good works. And I had shared about how many authors there were in the Bible approximately and how many books in the Bible.
[2:19] And over a period of 1,500 years, it was written and it doesn't contradict itself. And how can that be? How could anybody write a book like that if we were to try?
[2:37] The only way is Peter answered that question. He said, knowing this, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private or personal interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man.
[2:50] He said, it wasn't written by man. Not the will of man. But holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
[3:02] That is one of the most comforting verses perhaps in the Bible. To know that the book we believe in was moved and written and inspired by the Holy Ghost, by God himself.
[3:18] God is the author. And with that in mind, and I appreciated the children's lesson this morning, you know, about Aaron's sons and how lightly they took those things of God.
[3:31] They made a mockery out of the holiness of God. And how much of that do we see today? Where people make light of the things of God. They think it's a joke.
[3:42] They think it's optional. It's whatever you think. And they make light of it. And yes, we're in a day of grace. But like Joe said, God is still the same God.
[3:55] Maybe they're not falling over dead. God didn't kill people that make mockery of him today. He's giving them that other chance that Daniel was talking about. But someday, this book, this word will judge everyone.
[4:13] And that realization should make us tremble at the word of God. It should make us take it very seriously. If the Bible says it, we believe it.
[4:25] Right? We don't question it. We don't, you know, by faith, we believe it. Not because we're afraid, but because of a reverence and a love for God.
[4:37] And yes, a holy reverence of God. There's a difference. Our number one conviction needs to be that the Bible is true. And it is the word of God.
[4:49] We need to drink it and meditate upon it. Jesus said, how did Jesus say? Blessed are they that thirst, hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
[5:02] We can drink this word. David said in Psalm that, Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I won't sin against thee.
[5:13] I would not sin against thee. It's not just preferences. It's not something man came up with. But a true conviction will always come from God and will always be in line with His word.
[5:29] You see, it's not about your opinion or your wishes or how you feel about things. It's about what God says. That matters.
[5:41] It's about what God says. Biblical convictions are based on a reverence of God Himself and a deep desire to do His will and to walk in His ways, not man's vain ideas.
[5:56] And then our theme verse was Hebrews 10, verse 16. Where the Hebrew writer said, This is the covenant. This is actually a prophecy from God.
[6:10] This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them.
[6:21] Into our hearts and into our minds will I write them. How does that work? And that's the subject of the messages that I believe God has given me or put on my heart, is that God wants to write them into our hearts.
[6:43] Not just something we read on paper and we think, Wow, that's powerful. That's interesting. That's a good word. But more something that God instills and puts into our hearts.
[6:57] Something that you can't get away from. You take it with you wherever you are. It's something that's deep inside. And it'll carry us through life.
[7:08] It'll change our life. That's the will and the purpose of God in the New Testament, in the new dispensation, in the new covenant that God will make.
[7:20] This is the covenant that I will make with them in those days. He will write it in our hearts, in our minds. And then one of the statements that I had made, not original with me, but I had made and I'll probably keep saying it, is freedom without boundaries is bondage.
[7:43] Freedom without boundaries is bondage. It's not freedom. We talked about that. The Apostle Paul said that he is a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ.
[7:56] A dedicated servant of God will always strive to live by this book. And yes, the last time we looked at the subject of modesty and about that, those laws being written in our hearts, both men and women.
[8:18] And just a few thoughts I had on that later. I believe it was a thought of the Lord.
[8:32] And if I could challenge us again with that subject, just for a moment, not because I think that you have a need or in this area that we're necessarily lacking or anything like that, but just to challenge our own hearts.
[8:51] Because this thought challenged me. And that is that the most immodest clothing that you are willing to wear in public is how modest you are.
[9:09] Think about that for a minute. It's not the most modest clothing you sometimes or usually wear that defines you.
[9:24] It's the most immodest clothing that we're willing to wear in public that will define how modest you are. because of that willingness.
[9:37] That will describe or that will show or tell what's in your heart. And I'm not talking about a private family time down by the river or that sort of thing.
[9:53] I think you know what I mean by that. But rather, you know, you and your husband or husband and wife going on a picnic. It's more private, right?
[10:05] I'm not talking about those things. I'm talking about in public what we men and women are willing to allow other people to see us in. That's who we are.
[10:20] Not necessarily how you dress coming to church. So let's just let that thought challenge us. Maybe bring a conviction to us if it's from God.
[10:34] And take that to the Lord and ponder it for what it's worth. And ask God. I think it's okay. It's good to ask God.
[10:46] Lord, would you write your law upon your heart? Would you write the thoughts you have about these subjects to be my thoughts? Put it in my mind.
[10:57] Lord, would you be the temple for God to live in? We're the temple of the Holy Ghost. So we should be holy as He is holy.
[11:11] Amen. You know, these designers of clothing, I am shocked at some of the newest and latest styles you see of clothing that these manufacturers make.
[11:28] And I am convinced that they are evil people. They are evil people. And if we're not careful, we'll allow them to influence us and to let down our guard when it comes to the subject of modesty.
[11:45] You know, the only way that these truths will sustain or keep us and sustain us or last on into the next generation is if God writes them in our hearts.
[11:59] Having them in a book or a paper or just as a rule or a tradition, that will not sustain us. But when God writes them in our hearts, it'll carry us through.
[12:13] It'll be there. It'll become part of our lives. That's why it'll take us through. It'll sustain us. And if we can teach them to our children the precepts and the things of God, do we know what we're talking about when we talk about a conviction from God, a Holy Spirit conviction?
[12:36] something that is in your heart. It might vary a little bit from person to person, but it's something that God wrote into our hearts. Do we know what we're talking about? What does that mean to you?
[12:51] Not just an idea or a rule. Can somebody tell me what that means to you? I'm just going to open it up for a second.
[13:01] I don't want to put you on the spot, but you know what I'm talking about, right? Is it making sense that when God puts the difference between knowing something and actually having it in your heart, like this is a conviction I have and it's a blessing to me.
[13:19] It's part of my life because I really believe in God wrote it into, he took it from the law or the book and put it into my heart. You know what I'm talking about.
[13:30] Amen. Somebody has a thought on that? Feel free to share. Amen. Amen.
[13:59] Amen. Amen. Amen. Yeah, it becomes part of you. It becomes part of, it's your, it's something that is instilled in us that helps us make right choices and right decisions.
[14:12] And it's a guide, it's a lamp unto our feet. Thanks for that. In Proverbs, I mentioned children, or teaching them to our children. And there's a lot of verses, most of them in the Old Testament, about parents' responsibility to teach their children, or God's heart, in passing on these things to our children.
[14:37] There's scriptures in Deuteronomy, but here in Proverbs, it says, My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother.
[14:50] Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee.
[15:03] And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. And reproofs of instruction are the way of life.
[15:15] You know, I believe that God's heart is that us parents teach our children these things, and we don't just teach them as a law, but as a part of God, a part of knowing God.
[15:31] And those are the things that will sustain us, and that we can pass on to our children. Let's turn our Bibles to Matthew chapter 5.
[15:41] And I want to continue with this thought going into Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, on some of these things.
[15:57] I titled it a little bit different today. But Biblical Convictions in Daily Living. You know, in our everyday life, how we live, how we, what Jesus taught us, how to live.
[16:13] So we're just going to start the Sermon on the Mount. I don't know how far we'll get today. But we'll read down through here, and then just preach along as we go.
[16:28] Matthew 5, verse 1. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[16:47] Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
[17:02] There's that verse. That we hunger and thirst after righteousness, after the things of God. And the promise that if we do that, we will be filled.
[17:15] Verse 7. Blessed are they, wait. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
[17:26] Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[17:40] You know, you could take, and I've heard messages preached on just those verses, and you could easily do that. I thought about that, but I think I'll just keep going through the next few verses here.
[17:57] But there's so much. When Jesus opened his mouth and he began to teach and bless, and what he said here is just so, you know, let us take these promises, let us take these blessings, and apply them to our lives.
[18:14] Verse 11. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.
[18:31] And we'll keep going here. This is, I want to keep this thought going, but if people accuse us because we, of where we stand on the Bible, then it's for the sake of Jesus.
[18:43] If we, you and I, take a stand on something in the Word of God, and there's, they revile us, or they speak evil, or they accuse, or whatever it is, and it's for the sake of the Bible, the sake of Jesus, then the next verses apply to us.
[19:03] But if we are accused because we're not living the Bible, that's not what Jesus is talking. We're not going to be blessed then. If somebody is accusing us of being a hypocrite because we're not living the Bible, we have no right to claim the verses that we are to be blessed.
[19:24] But if it's for the cause of righteousness' sake, in verse 12 it says, Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
[19:38] You know, the world has always persecuted God's people, the people that truly serve Him, and they always will. The world will always come against the old nature, the old Adam, the unconverted Adam will always, doesn't like the conviction that comes from the Word of God.
[20:01] So that will always be against us. Even in the old days, the old prophets that were speaking for God, they persecuted them. They killed them, actually.
[20:13] And Jesus promised that in the New Testament, it says that, I'm trying to think of where, but all that shall live godly, all they that live godly shall suffer persecution.
[20:30] So if you live a godly life, you live by the book, meaning by the Word of God, you shall suffer persecution. It's okay to be persecuted.
[20:41] It's okay to not be liked by everybody. It's hard for some of us. Some people seem to not mind that too much. I kind of mind, you know. I kind of take things too personal when you're not liked.
[20:56] But the Bible promises that's how it's going to be. If you're going to take a stand and you're going to have this, the conviction, biblical convictions in your life that you live by, there's people that don't like that too much.
[21:13] Because it might convict them too and they don't know what to do with it. It doesn't mean they're always bad people, but it just means that you're going to be persecuted. Jesus was persecuted.
[21:25] Paul was persecuted. Look at the apostles. How many of them got along with everybody? At one point it was so bad after the Holy Spirit came upon them, it says they turned the world upside down.
[21:38] It was just like a lot going on. I don't know what that was like, but I'd like to have been there. Maybe God will do that again someday for us in this life.
[21:51] But Jesus promised that when these things happen, when people revile you, persecute you, whether it's physical or just emotional, whatever it is, people coming against you, falsely accusing you, for His sake you are blessed.
[22:10] In fact, He says to rejoice in that. Rejoice. Be glad. Because why? Great is your reward in heaven.
[22:22] So, let's not let it get us down. I'm too easy to do that, to let us get it, get us down. And, but great is our reward in heaven.
[22:32] If it's for Christ's sake and for truth, our job is to make sure we're walking in the truth and that that's the reason we're being persecuted. Not because we're selfish or because we're out of line of God's will.
[22:50] I remember there was a man in our church. I was thinking about him this morning and I feel sorry for him. I don't know where he's at now today, but at least 20 years ago, there was a man in church that we were a part of and he had a hard time.
[23:08] He had a hard time with following the word and he just felt like the church was always persecuting him. You know, just getting all this persecution from the body of Christ and we tried to explain to him, no, nobody's persecuting you.
[23:25] You know, he might be getting challenged, but that's different than persecution. Living a carnal life and being challenged is not what we're talking about. Verse 13, You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?
[23:48] It is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. You are the light of the world. A city that is on a hill cannot be hid.
[24:02] Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house. What good is light if it's hidden, is really what he's saying.
[24:17] What good is the light that is in you if you hide it? If you don't want to maybe talk about it or give God the glory.
[24:28] Jesus is saying, Let your light so shine before men in the next verse. Verse 16, That they may see your good works. Why? So that they will too glorify God in heaven, your Father which is in heaven.
[24:44] See, God wants glory. He wants glory from our lives and the way we live. And yes, it's not just talking. It's how we live. How we live.
[24:55] How we do business. How we treat other people. And maybe whether we have joy or not. You know.
[25:07] It's pretty hard to see the light in somebody that's just a grump. Just doesn't look very bright. Maybe there's light there, but it's under a bushel.
[25:20] And you know, after all, and I didn't look up this verse, but where it talks about the marvelous light, being transformed.
[25:33] You know, we were in times past in darkness, but we've been translated into the marvelous light. And if we've been born again and translated into that marvelous light of Jesus, then we have a light to shine.
[25:48] Let's let it shine. Jesus is calling his followers to let their light shine. Let your good works shine and come out of you so people will glorify, not you, but God, our Father.
[26:03] It's not to be proud, but it's to bring glory to him. Don't hide the good things that God has done in your life. And here's an example. This is something that God was impressing on my life lately.
[26:16] And I say this to all of you carefully because we can very easily take glory to ourself and become proud.
[26:30] But how about this? If God has blessed us with a body of believers that we are blessed in and we're happy with where we fellowship, it's okay to say that.
[26:45] You know, if it's for God's glory. And, you know, in the last six months or so, and especially when we were down in Florida and talking with a lot of people, there's so much of church problems and people that are just frustrated and they're not happy.
[27:10] They're just not happy with church life. And I had the opportunity to say, you know, that's not our case. I know what you're talking about. But God has blessed us.
[27:22] And for his glory, if God did it, let's give him the glory and share that with people. That it doesn't have to be that way. You know, that thing about committing to each other to love each other.
[27:35] that thing we did, you know, that teaching we had on that and so on. To love every member in the body, every person in the body that you're with.
[27:47] You know, that was not original with us. That wasn't our idea even. But another church shared that with us, that that's what they did and they were so blessed by that. You see what I'm saying?
[27:58] It's okay to share with people about the good things God does as a body. And so if God has blessed us, let's give him the glory for that.
[28:08] After all, Jesus said, I will build my church. It's not something man can do. It's, you know, try as we might. We couldn't make that happen. But God can do that if we allow him, if we humble ourselves.
[28:25] And having said this about, you know, speaking out and sharing the goodness of God and his mercy and, you know, think about it this way.
[28:38] As soon as somebody's not happy with the church they're part of, their friends will all know it. They'll be very quick to share it. So that's why I think when we are blessed, we are happy, then let's also share that for God's glory.
[28:56] Not just when things go bad. Everybody knows how to share that. But let's be careful and use wisdom, especially when we're talking about doctrines in the Bible or teachings in the Word of God.
[29:12] This is a burden I have, not necessarily here for us, but just for God's people. Social media is a very bad place to share biblical doctrines or convictions that you have.
[29:29] And here's why. Now hear me out on this and see if you don't agree with me. But to present biblical doctrines and teachings out there for everybody to see and all the naysayers to look at is a bad idea.
[29:51] You might be thinking you're doing God's name a favor. Sharing your personal testimony, that may be one thing. But trying to get other people to see your convictions, the things that God has done, those things that are personal to you, that He wrote His law into our hearts to exploit that in that way, I have seen no good results ever come out of it.
[30:18] That's a platform where it is open for argument and debate. And this precious Word of God and the teachings that we hold dear to our hearts because God has written them in our hearts should never be placed on a platform where men and women have the opportunity to attack it from every angle and anyone that wants to see it can and will.
[30:41] This is probably the closest thing to what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount and we'll get to this verse in chapter 7 about casting our pearls before the swine.
[30:56] Yes, He calls them pigs. Perhaps because they dig around in the dirt and try to turn the things of God into mud. This literally happens on these platforms.
[31:10] You watch it. And see where it goes with the comments that come. In Matthew 7, verse 6, it says, Give not that which is holy.
[31:23] What is more holy than the Word of God? Unto the dogs. Neither cast ye your perils before swine. Lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you.
[31:36] And that's exactly what I see happening. It happens when folks try to teach Bible doctrines on social media where the devil has the opportunity to talk back and make fun of what is precious in the sight of God.
[31:55] That was never God's intent. That's the method. And I'm not saying that you can't share testimony or give thoughts or things like that. But I just don't want to...
[32:08] To me, it's the opportunity of, like we heard in our children's class, making light of the things of God. And, in fact, I was reading one such thing just the other day, or actually my wife was and she just told me.
[32:26] But one of those biblical teachings in the New Testament that we practice today and one that had left that belief, you know, threw it away, what did he call it?
[32:48] The Antichrist. Yeah. Yeah. Call it the Antichrist. Now, unbelievers have to look at that and say, well, who's right? You know.
[32:59] And it just, it's just not good. The whole thing isn't good. And that's possibly, it'll keep people from coming to Christ when they see, quote, Christians acting like that.
[33:14] So anyway, I thought I'd get that off my chest. I just don't like it. I don't think God is pleased to have, to see His word thrown around like that and through the mud and it's not His plan.
[33:29] In verse 17 in Matthew 5, Jesus said, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill.
[33:44] Why would Jesus destroy His prophets and the law that He Himself made? Right? And He's saying, no, He wouldn't do that. Verse 18, For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.
[34:08] You know, later, in another place, Jesus said that on these two commandments hang all the law and prophets. What are they? Dan, do you know?
[34:20] You're nodding your head. Yeah, Jesus said on these two commandments hang all the law and prophets. And I don't know where that verse is found, but love God.
[34:42] Amen. To love God and your neighbor as yourself. On those two commandments hang all the law and prophets. Verse 19, Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
[35:01] But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. To teach them, you know, to take this book, take the word of God and to handle it lightly and carelessly and make things optional that are clearly spelled out and so on.
[35:26] Jesus is already warning in his first sermon that to do that, to mess with the word of God is not good.
[35:39] Verse 20, For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
[35:53] Now what were the, what was the righteousness? righteousness. You know, if we are supposed to be, if our righteousness has to exceed that of the religious leaders of the day or we can't see the kingdom of heaven, then we should probably know what their righteousness was.
[36:16] Jesus said that it needs to exceed, it needs to be beyond, much beyond. What do you think about when you think about the Pharisees?
[36:29] What was their righteousness all about that Jesus is referring to anyone? That and, but they also taught the word of God.
[36:46] Their own interpretation. Their own interpretation. Their own interpretation. Their own interpretation. Exactly.
[36:59] That was probably the biggest one is that they taught men about God and what God thought and his word, but they didn't do it.
[37:12] They had no power within. They had no, they had no life. That's what Joe is referring to. It was just dead. It was dead religion. And Jesus is saying that unless your righteousness exceeds that, the most righteous people of his day, and here comes Jesus and he starts teaching out in a mountain and he says, except your righteousness exceeds the most religious people of today, then you can't be part of my kingdom.
[37:42] God's sake. He's saying the same thing today. We need more than religion. We need the Holy Spirit in us.
[37:55] The Holy Ghost in you, the hope of glory, the Bible says. He is our only hope. God's sake. It's more than just knowing something, having been taught something like in a tradition, but it's life.
[38:11] It's the very life of God within you. And I believe that's what Jesus was talking about. That if your righteousness, if your righteousness isn't my righteousness, then you're just going to be like the Pharisees.
[38:26] You're just going to do a lot of religious stuff. But God's looking for something much deeper than that. It's something where, and you know, without Him, without the Holy Spirit in us, and giving us life, I believe it's impossible for God to write His laws into our hearts.
[38:50] See, He's talking about the new covenant in Hebrews, that verse, our theme verse. In the new covenant, then I will write my laws into your heart.
[39:02] But without the Holy Spirit in us, without the life of God in us, if it's the old nature, the old Adam cannot, it is impossible to write, for God to write the law, His laws, His thoughts, into our hearts and into our minds on the old Adam.
[39:23] people try it, but they become Pharisees. All it is, is religion. And the Pharisees could do much of the scriptures.
[39:35] They could follow, they could keep the commandments, you know, at least outwardly, like Joel shared. But to have it inwardly, we need the new life, we need the new Adam.
[39:49] It's the only way. We'll keep going here.
[39:59] Verse 21. You have heard that it was said of them of old time, thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.
[40:11] But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council.
[40:27] But whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hellfire. I have one thing about this verse that someday, if I get time, I want to study it a little bit more, but I was told, I remember this from my dad, he used to say that King James added a clause in here.
[40:46] That wasn't in the original other manuscripts. But he had a thing with his brother or somebody, and he wrote in without a cause. Now think about this.
[41:01] I tend to agree with that, because, you know, whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, when would you not be, when would you be angry and not have a cause?
[41:21] We always have a cause, right? But anyway, just something to think about. Maybe you all want to look into that and study that. But anyhow, shall be in danger of judgment, and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raka, yeah, therefore, in verse 23, therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, if there are things between brothers, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way.
[41:58] First be reconciled to your brother, and then come offer thy gift. Very important. There are other scriptures as well that line up right with this, almost word for word.
[42:14] In verse 25, Agree with an adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
[42:29] You know, we can make, and I'm not defending, or I don't want to defend our corrupt government unduly, but there are times that we get tempted when we see something that wasn't just to argue with them, you know, and I think Jesus is addressing that.
[42:57] If you have, you know, we're the ones with the light, we're the ones, and in reality, we have nothing to fear, because really we are, God's people are under God's authority, and we have nothing to fear of our other authorities, but he's saying rather than causing a fight about something and having to be right, just agree with your adversary and just get it over with, you know, keep on letting your light shine.
[43:30] There's a lot of people that kind of skip over that verse. In verse 26, Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, this is talking about when you're in prison, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
[43:47] Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery, but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
[43:59] what a high standard. There's a law of Christ. Has he written that in our hearts?
[44:14] He said in old times, you just couldn't, if you were married, you couldn't commit adultery. But I say unto you, he just took that law and he just put it up about ten notches, maybe more, and he said, but I say unto you that if you look after on a woman to lust, you have already committed adultery with her in your heart.
[44:42] What a high standard. What a call for holy living. What a need we have in our day for God to write his law upon the hearts of men.
[44:55] This is one of them. this is one that we cannot do.
[45:09] And there are many like this. We cannot. Loving our enemies is another one. We'll get to some of those. But there are so many things that Jesus taught, the New Testament teaches, that are impossible for us to do.
[45:24] they're impossible for the old Adam. He's never going to make it. He has to be crucified. And the seed of God, that life from God living in us, let's promote that, let's talk about that, let's fellowship about that, let's stir each other up in the most holy faith, as the Bible tells us, and encourage one another to live this kind of a life in our daily living, not just Sundays, it's easy when we come to church, the challenges is when we're out at work.
[46:05] I find that the challenge, and we're working or playing or whatever we're doing, that we actually live this. And when we stumble, that we're quick to repent, we're quick to remember the law of God, the high standard that Jesus has given us to live by in these areas.
[46:29] I think I'll quit there for today, and maybe some of you have something you want to share as well, but let's just give it to God and give ourselves to God.
[46:42] Father, we just come to you this morning. Lord, we thank you. Lord, we thank you that you want to write your laws upon our hearts and in our minds.
[46:54] Where would we be, Lord, without that? Father, I pray that they would become real and even more deeper in my own life. Lord, that your laws would be written there, that when we need it, at the spur of the moment, that we would remember your laws.
[47:13] We would meditate upon them and think of them like David did and love them, to love and cherish everything that you have done in our hearts, Lord, and that they would be real and that our righteousness would in fact exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, which you detested.
[47:36] Lord, if you didn't like that, help us not to like that either. Lord, help us to love what you love and to hate the things you hate. Father, I pray that your word would go deep into our hearts and that it would change us from glory to glory.
[47:54] And as we grow and mature, and I pray for these young men and young ladies here in this body, Lord, I pray that as they think about their future that they would purpose in their heart, Lord, you'd give them the strength to purpose in their heart to allow you, God, to write your laws upon their heart.
[48:15] While it is still young and soft and tender, Lord, in these tender years, that it will carry them through the tough times that come. And as they face persecution in the future, that it would carry them through and they would know what they believe and they know who they believe.
[48:34] And Lord, that they would be able to stand all the fiery darts of the devil. Lord, just bless them, bless each one for being here today, Lord. And we just give ourselves to you.
[48:46] And Father, we ask that your spirit would continue to draw us and to speak to us and continue to knit our hearts together as a body, Lord. Lord, we thank you for what you've done in this body.
[48:59] God, help us to never be proud. But Lord, that we would only rejoice in you and give you all the honor and all the praise. In Jesus' name we pray.
[49:11] Amen. There's one thing I'd like to read yet I forgot. This came from Brother Abe this morning.
[49:27] And it's just a picture out of a book that he must be reading. And it's called The Call of Christ. Just a couple paragraphs. To be called to follow Christ is a high honor.
[49:40] Higher indeed than any honor man can bestow or men can bestow upon each other. Were all the nations of the earth to unite in one great federation and call a man to head that federation, that man would be honored above any other man that ever lived.
[50:03] Yet the humblest man who heeds the call to follow Christ has an honor far greater than such a man. For the nations of the earth can bestow only such honor as they possess.
[50:18] While the honor of Christ is supreme over all, God has given his name that is above every name.
[50:29] This being true and being known to the heavenly intelligence, the methods we use to persuade men to follow Christ must seem to them extremely illogical, if not downright wrong.
[50:43] And he goes on, but then it's the end of the page. So I'm not quite sure where he's going there. But the point when I read that, I just thought, wow, the most honorable man in the whole world, if he was to be the ruler of the whole world, does not have as much honor, honor, would not have as much honor as for one of us that just humbly want to follow Christ.
[51:09] Because Christ is supreme. He is the ruler of the whole world. It's a powerful thought. So be encouraged. If you're following Jesus, there's nothing greater you could do.