Loved and Blessed

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. Today, our title of our message

is Loved and Blessed. How many loved people do

we have in the room? Somebody say, I'm loved.

How many blessed people do we have in the room?

Everybody say, I'm blessed. So we're going to

be talking about being loved and blessed. Here's

some familiar verses hopefully to you. John 3

.16. How many of you know that one? Have you

heard that one before? For God so loved the world.

Do you think He loved the dirt or the people?

I think He loves people more than dirt. For God

so loved the world that He gave His only begotten

Son that whoever believes in Him, Jesus, should

not perish but have. Everlasting life. Look at

the person beside you and remind them God loves

you. God loves you. God loves you. Romans 5 .8

Here's what I like to say when I read this verse.

God just didn't say that He loved you. Because

talk can be cheap. Has anybody ever had someone

tell them that they love them, and then it turned

out that they really didn't love you? Anybody

experience that before? If you've never experienced

that, it's amazing, right? And I believe most

of the people in the room have experienced somebody

telling them that they love them, but then the

love was not demonstrated. Actually, opposite

of love was demonstrated. Romans 5 .8 says God

demonstrates, He has demonstrated His own love

towards you. And that while you were still a

sinner, Christ died for you. God loves you. He

not only says He loves you, He's demonstrated,

He's already demonstrated His love for you. John

15 .12. Jesus is talking. He says, this is my

commandment. Love each other in the same way

I have loved you. There is no greater love than

to lay down one's own life for one's friends.

So God demonstrated his love by stepping down

out of heaven, the eternal son of God. stepping

down out of heaven, adding humanity to his deity,

living a perfect life. We've all messed up. Look

at the person beside you and remind them you're

not perfect. We've all messed up. God's a holy

God. He can't let one sin into heaven because

if one sin gets into heaven, then heaven is messed

up just like this world because one sin messed

up this world. Right? Are you with me? He stepped

down out of heaven, lived a perfect life, the

only human who never sinned. So then He could

willingly lay down His life and die for you in

a demonstration of His love. But He didn't stay

dead, just to remind you. He didn't stay dead,

He rose again. He's alive. But His love was demonstrated

in the greatest way by laying down His life for

you. Look to the person beside you and remind

them, that's love right there. That's love. 1

John 4, 8. Beloved, or beloved, however you want

to say it. Let us love one another. For love

is from God. Did you know that nobody on earth

would even, understand or even have a concept

of love apart from God, whether they acknowledge

Him or not. Love would not exist without the

Creator who is love. Beloved, let us love one

another, for love is from God. Whoever loves

has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who

does not love does not know God, because God

is. God is love. He is love. Now, He does a lot

of other things. And He loves, but He is love.

It's who He is. God is love. That word love,

we did a whole series on love. You can go back

to the podcast and look at that if you want a

refresher course on love. But when it says God

is love, it's using that Greek word agape. Here's

what that word means. It means love. It means

affection. Which we can say is liking. How many

of you have heard people say, well, I love you,

but I don't like you? How many of you have said

about somebody, I love them, but I don't like

them? Well, if you don't like them, you don't

agape them. Alright? Because liking is part of

that. It also means benevolence. It means concerned

about the well -being of someone. This is the

God kind of love. It also means love feast. Look

at the person beside you and say, huh? Love feast?

I mean, love is love feast? Well, it's desiring

fellowship and community, intimacy. So that's

what the word agape means. So when we say God

is love and God loves you, it means God likes

you. It means God loves you. It means God is

concerned about your well -being. It means that

God desires fellowship and intimacy with you.

And He has that love for everyone. Same love.

No degrees. God's love is full -on love. He doesn't

love anyone in this world any more than He loves

you right now. And He doesn't love anybody in

this world any less than He loves you right now.

We need to get a hold of this. I think it will

change us if we really get a hold of this. God's

love is unconditional. I'll say that again. God's

love is completely unconditional. God's love

is not based on your worthiness. God's love for

you is not based on your worthiness. It's also

not based on your behavior. We need to get a

hold of this because sometimes we think if we

do wrong and we know we do wrong, all of a sudden

we feel like God doesn't love us. Has anybody

ever felt that before? Come on. Has anybody ever

felt that way before? I messed up, so God's disappointed

in me and God doesn't love me. Listen, God's

love for you is not based on your performance

or your behavior. God's love for you is based

on His divine nature. God is love. God is love.

You know, there was one guy, at least one guy,

who really got it. And I wish that we could all

really get it like he got it. Does anybody know

who I'm talking about? Somebody who really got

God's love for him. Anybody want to take a guess?

Look to the person beside you and say John. John

got it. If you read his gospel, here's just one

instance. John 20, verses 1 and 2. Mary Magdalene

John 20:1

came to the tomb. This is on Resurrection Day.

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that

the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple,

the one whom Jesus loved. You know who he's talking

about? Himself. That's who he's talking about.

He's talking about himself in third person. He

didn't say that Mary ran and got me and Peter.

No. She ran and got Simon Peter and the other

disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. See, he got

it. How many times have you referred to yourself,

talking with somebody else, and you said, you

know what? I'm the one who Jesus loves. I'm loved.

I'm the one who God loves. God loves me. See,

he got it. He got it. We could be bold enough

to say, I'm the one who God loves. Right? I mean,

He had it so ingrained in Him about this love

of God. He just said, you know, I'm the one He

loves. See, it didn't mean, by Him saying that,

He didn't mean, well, you know what? He didn't

love all the other disciples. That's not what

He's saying. Some people could look at this as

some kind of spiritual arrogance, right? If I

was to walk up to you and say, well, I'm the

one who God loves. You might think that I'm saying

that He loves me more than He loves you. But

that's not the case. That's not the case. So

everybody in this room could say, I'm the one

who God loves. And we would all be correct. And

by getting a hold of His love and understanding

and wrapping our little human brains around the

love of God, the length and the height and the

depth, when we get a hold of it, it doesn't mean

that God loves anybody any less. We just got

a hold of His love, and that's what John did.

He understood it. He understood the love of God.

I want everybody to say this with me. Just repeat

after me. God loves me. God likes me. God is

concerned about my well -being. God desires fellowship

with me. Can you take hold of it? Do you believe

it? Here's a question. Will you quit Beating

yourself up and thinking that God loves you less

when you do wrong. Can you do that? God wants

you to do that. God wants you to live in that

kind of freedom. See, we put a lot of self -condemnation

onto ourselves. But in Christ, there's no condemnation.

No condemnation. Now that doesn't mean that we'll

never experience conviction. But the conviction

of God is not condemnation. If you ever feel

condemned, it's not coming from God. Condemnation

is not from God. Conviction, of the Holy Spirit

who is in you if you're in Christ, looks like

this. Hey, let's go this way. Let's do this.

Let's move in the right direction. He's guiding

us from our failures to our victories. That's

the way conviction works. Holy Spirit conviction

is leading us and guiding us out. of where we've

been. He's bringing us out. I'm about to get

happy. None of this was in my notes, by the way.

You have a way of pulling things out. God's love

is unconditional. Everybody say, God loves me.

Here's what we're going to focus on the rest

of the time. His love is unconditional, but His

blessing, or His blessings are not unconditional.

Now when you are in Christ, when you are in covenant

with God, blessings are now available. And they're

readily available. And God's not holding back

on us. We've talked about that a lot, right?

Who's heard me say before, God's not holding

out on you? His love is unconditional, but His

blessing is not unconditional. It is conditional.

Everybody say, blessing is conditional. Here's

some Old Testament verses before we focus in

on a New Testament text for the rest of the message.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

We can sing God bless America and God bless the

USA all we want to. But we will experience His

blessing as a people. And it's not just our nation,

it's any nation. Blessed is the nation whose

God is the Lord. Blessed is a nation who recognizes

God as Lord. You can't help but be blessed. When

you recognize God as Lord. Here's another one.

Psalm 1, verse 1. Blessed, everybody say blessed.

Psalms 1:1

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel

of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of the scornful. What does

that tell us? If we choose to walk in the counsel

of the ungodly, we will not be blessed. I mean,

we can look at this both ways, right? If we stand

in the path of sinners, people who just live

in sin and for sin, they don't care about God,

right? If we live there, we're not going to be

blessed. If we sit in the seat of the scornful,

If we're just judgmental and scornful all the

time, looking down at everything and everybody

all the time, we're not going to be blessed.

So we're blessed when we don't do those things.

We're blessed when we don't walk in the counsel

of the ungodly, when we don't stand in the path

of sinners, when we don't sit in the seat of

the scornful. But his delight is in the law of

the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and

night. So we're blessed when we delight in the

word of God. We're blessed the more we meditate

in God's word. The more we meditate on what he

has given us and what he has said to us, the

more blessed we're going to be. It's proportionate.

Some of you are thinking way too hard. It's proportionate.

Your blessing is proportionate to your honor

of God's Word, to the time you spend with God.

Your blessing will be proportionate. Here's that

Old Testament word we've been looking at. And

those two verses along with all the other blessed

that I can find in the Old Testament is Esher.

Esher. And here's what it means. It means to

be blessed. Everybody say blessed. It means to

be happy. Everybody say happy. I tell you what,

so many churches speak against God wanting you

happy. I don't even know where it comes from.

They obviously are not reading the Bible. God

wants you blessed. God wants you happy. Some

people think happiness is against God. Or that

God is against happiness. He's not. I mean, this

is the Word. I'm not writing this. I'm not making

this up. This is the Hebrew Word. And how many

times do we see people saying, well, God's not

concerned about your happiness. He's only concerned

about your holiness. Has anybody ever heard that

phrase before? I'm here to tell you God's concerned

about both. We're not having happiness to the

exclusion of holiness. No, that's not what I'm

saying. But this word blessed means happy. I

did some word study and I really like this so

I copied it and pasted it to share with you.

Blessed is a God -given of blessedness and happiness.

Enjoyed by those who walk in covenant faithfulness.

Listen, it's not a fleeting emotion. Most of

us think that this happiness is just, well, I'm

either happy or I'm sad or I'm not happy. It's

not a fleeting thing. It's not a fleeting emotion.

Listen to what it is. It's a settled state of

well -being. grounded in the character and the

promises of the Lord. I just got happy when I

read that. So when you say you're blessed, what

you're saying is, I'm living in a God -given

condition of blessedness and happiness. I'm enjoying

it because I'm walking in covenant faithfulness

with God. When I talk about being happy, I'm

not talking about some fleeting emotion that

depends on what's going on around me. Because

some people say happiness depends on happenings.

But this kind of happiness depends on the character

and the promises of the Lord no matter what is

going on around me. Hallelujah. I get happy just

talking about it. The New Testament word for

blessed. is makarios. And here's what it means.

It means supremely blessed. Now if we form two

lines, and on this line you are coming to be

blessed, and on this line you are coming to be

supremely blessed, which line are you going to

get in? Which line? You're going to go to that

line. Who else is going to that line? Who's going

to the supremely blessed line? That's what the

word means. Listen, every time, every time, every

time you read the word blessed in the New Testament,

it means supremely blessed. It also means happy.

Somebody say happy and smile a little bit. It

means fortunate. It means well off. Hello? And

you might say, well, why are you talking about

Hebrew and Greek? Because that's what the verses

were written in. We just translate them in English,

right? Most of the Old Testament is Hebrew. All

the New Testament is Greek. And these are the

definitions of the words. It doesn't depend on

your preferred translation. Depends on what God

said. God wants you supremely blessed. He's made

being supremely blessed and happy and fortunate

and well off. He's made that available to you

and to me. Now the first condition is that we're

in Christ. See, that blessing is not available

if you're not, first of all, in Christ. If Jesus

is not Lord, if you haven't asked for His forgiveness

and confessed Him as Lord, then those blessings

are not available to you. But if you've done

that, every blessing of God is now available

to you. But it doesn't mean that it's going to

automatically just show up in your life. But

it's available. Look to the person beside you

and say, it's available. Blessing is available.

Happiness has a, you know, let's take a look

at the definition here, the word study. Blessed

in the New Testament describes a believer in

an enviable position. Three of you are smiling.

Is anyone blessed? That means you're saying that

you are a believer in an enviable position. How

many people are looking at you and looking at

your life and they're envious of your blessing?

I mean, this should be our testimony to the world.

The problem is there's so many Christians that

walk around looking like their mama raised them

on lime juice. We're different. We're different.

Well, we're supposed to be different. Considering

that all God has made available to us, if we'll

take hold of that, we will definitely be different.

We will definitely be blessed. We're peculiar

people. Right? That's what the Bible says. We're

supposed to be different than everybody else.

Not because we're holier than thou, but because

we're carriers of the presence and the life,

and the love of God. Hello? Are you a carrier

of the presence, and the life, and the love of

God? If not, you need to step it up a notch.

Bless describes a believer who is in an enviable

position. The reason why we're in an enviable

position is because we've been receiving God's

favor. We're taking hold of His grace benefits.

This happens with receiving the Lord's in -birthings

of faith. Hence, faith and blessing are closely

related. I'm just letting you think about it.

Why does faith keep showing up? Could it be because

without faith it's impossible to please God?

Could it be that we're supposed to walk by faith

and not by sight? Could it be that if we're going

to experience the abundant and blessed life,

it's going to take faith? Could it be? Could

that be why it keeps showing up? How many of

you read your Bible for years and years and years

and never noticed all this faith stuff coming

up right in the middle of all this stuff? I mean,

I didn't. I'm glad you all did, but me and Mike...

said that we read through our Bibles and it just

didn't... That part didn't even come alive. But

everybody else did. Everybody else got it from

the first day. I must be slower than you. Because

it took me a while of preaching before it came

alive to me. Is that a description of you? Are

you someone in an enviable position because you've

been receiving God's favor and His grace benefits?

How do we take hold of His grace benefits? How

do we take hold of God's acts of kindness and

favor towards us? How do we take hold of them?

I'm filled as a preacher. Thank you. By faith.

God's love is unconditional. But experiencing

His blessings is proportionate to our faith.

I'll say that again. God's love is conditional,

but experiencing His blessing is proportionate

to our faith. And we preach whole series on faith,

but for those of you who haven't experienced

those series, it's simple. Faith is simple. Everybody

say, faith is simple. Faith is hearing what God

said, Everybody say hearing. Faith is wholeheartedly

believing what God said. Everybody say believing.

Faith is being so sure that God is faithful that

you're confident in what God said. Everybody

say confidence. And you have so much confidence

that you start talking like it's... true before

you ever see it with your eyes. Everybody say

talking. Because Jesus said he had faith in God.

And then in that series in Mark, he says say

three times, says believe one time. If I ask

you what faith is, you would say faith is believing.

Well, Jesus said saying three times and said

believing one time. So faith has to do with your

words too. Because life and death is in the power

of your tongue, the Bible says. So where are

we at? Hearing? Believing? To the point that

confidence and hope is established? Then all

of a sudden our words have to be in agreement.

We can't speak against. the promise of God or

the blessing of God and expect to receive the

promise of God? And then, many times, there's

another act that needs to take place. Sometimes

your confession is the act. So many other times,

there's an act of faith. Where God tells you

to do something. His Holy Spirit leads you to

do something. He's inside you. If you're in Christ,

you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He's inside

you. So we need to be sensitive to His voice

because He might tell us to do something. We

might be standing in faith. Listen. We might

be standing in faith and believing the promise

of God. And we've wholeheartedly agreed with

it. We have confidence in it. We're speaking

in agreement with it. And then God may tell us

to do something. He may ask us to do something

by the still small voice of His Holy Spirit.

And get this, it may seem to have nothing to

do with what you're believing for. That's the

part that shocked me. When we did that series

on that, I was like... Do you mean what God is

telling me to do concerning where I'm standing

in faith, you mean it doesn't necessarily have

to do with what I'm believing for? Well, Naaman

had to go dip in a dirty river. What does that

have to do with being healed? It's just one instance.

So there may be an act that's missing. It may

be an act that's missing. An act of obedience.

And that's how simple faith is. That's how simple

faith is. Here's our text. I'm going to read

it and then we're going to break it down and

look at words. Look to the person beside you

and say, listen fast. Because I'm supposed to

be finished in like 15 -20 minutes. I'm supposed

to be done. James 1 .22 How many of you have

faith that I can be done in 15 or 20 minutes?

Some of you are not raising your hands. James

1, 22. Be doers of the word, not hearers only,

deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer

of the word and not a doer, he is like a man

observing his natural face in a mirror. For he

observes himself, goes away, and immediately

forgets what kind of man he was. How many of

you look into a mirror and you say, hmm. But

then after you leave the mirror you say, you

think you look better than you did when you looked

in the mirror. He who looks into the perfect

law of liberty and continues in it and is not

a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this

one will be blessed. Everybody say blessed. Supremely

blessed. Fortunate. Well off. Happy. In what

He does. How many of you do some stuff every

once in a while? How many of you want to be supremely

blessed? Well off and happy in what you do? Hallelujah.

Here's the command, real quick. Be doers of the

Word, not hearers only. It's a two -part command.

Two -part command. Now I know he's got it reversed

in our way of thinking, but before we can be

a doer, we have to be a hearer. Right? If we're

going to be a doer of the word, the first part

of that command is actually the second part of

the sentence. Because you've got to be a hearer.

You've got to hear. Look to the person beside

you and say, you've got to hear. You've got to

hear the word. You've got to hear the promise.

There's three categories of hearing. First category

of hearing is that you don't hear at all. You

don't hear. Say walk by faith, not by sight.

Sing it for them. He's not going to sing on command.

So the first category of hearing is not hearing.

Yeah. Yeah. It's not hearing at all. The second

category is only hearing. How many of us are

guilty of only hearing? If you're used to going

to a worship service and listening to a preacher

preach, and then you hear it and you say, well,

that was nice, and you have no intention of applying

it or taking hold of it or carrying it out of

the door with you, You're just hearing only.

And hearing only is not going to help you. Then

the third category, here comes daddy. The third

category of hearing is to hear and to do. Sometimes

it takes effort to hear. This is a perfect illustration.

Thank you for helping me with that perfect illustration.

Because you cannot hear, even if you're hearing

sound coming in, you can hear sound and not actually

listen because your brain can be focused on something

else. So not hearing, only hearing, and then

hearing and doing. Two -part command. Hear the

Word. Everybody say, hear the Word. Then do what

it says. Do what it says. Be doers of the Word

and not hearers only. I think this is an area

that I have missed out on so many times in my

life. Where I've heard, but I haven't responded.

See, there are many books in this world. You

can read books to gain information. You can read

books to gain knowledge. You can read books to

get intellectual stimulation. You can even read

spiritual books to get spiritual inspiration.

Some people read for amusement. Who just likes

to read? And that's like what you like to do.

God bless you. Some people read for entertainment.

And guess what? You can read the Word of God

for all of those things. It can be to you just

like any other book that you've ever picked up

in your entire life. But to be a doer of the

Word demands action. See, the Bible is a living

book. From a living God. And we need to respond

to the Word of God. Other books you read, you

don't have to respond to. Sometimes you do. In

some business books and self -help books, I mean,

they call for some kind of response. Listen,

the Word of God is always calling for you to

respond. Always. Always. Matthew 7 .21. Not everyone

who calls out to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the

kingdom of heaven. Only those who actually do.

Everybody say do. Only those who actually do

the will of my Father in heaven will enter. Matthew

7 .24, just three verses later. Anyone who listens

to my teaching is wise, like a person who builds

a house on solid rock. Is that what it said?

Be careful. That's not what it said. It's only

half of what it said. Anyone who listens to my

teaching and follows it, responds to it. Anyone

who listens to my teaching and follows it is

wise, like a person who builds a house on a rock.

And we know from the rest of that story, when

the storms of life go, Whether you're built on

the sand or built on the rock, same storm. But

the result is much different. For the person

who is wise, for the person who listens to the

teaching of God and follows it, I've got to hurry.

Has anybody faced any problems in your life?

Even recently? The outcome. See, this is what

makes us enviable to the world. Because our outcomes

from going through the same problems are supposed

to be drastically different. I don't have time

to park there. Information with application brings

transformation. It's not just information that

brings transformation. It's got to be applied.

It's got to be applied. Look to the person beside

you and tell them it's got to be applied. The

Word of God has to be applied to bring transformation

in your life, to bring transformation in your

family, to bring transformation in everything

that you put your hand to. The Word of God has

to be applied. Here's a caution. The doers of

the Word are not here is only deceiving yourselves.

Do you know it's possible to deceive ourselves?

To deceive yourself? It's possible. That phrase

deceive yourself means to cheat yourself, to

lie to yourself through false reasoning. Just

in your mental, in your human reasoning. See,

some people get into their human reasoning when

it comes to the Word of God. You know, it started

out in the garden where human reasoning was challenged.

Did God really say? Is that? Is it really important?

I mean, I hear Dean talking about this this morning,

but is it really important? Is it really going

to make a difference in my life? We can cheat

ourselves, lie to ourselves through false reasoning.

Is the Word of God really true? Did He really

say that? Can I really expect God to keep His

Word? The Bible says he watches over his word

to perform it. Here's the illustration. I meant

to bring a mirror. I couldn't find the mirror,

the preaching mirror. I've had a preaching mirror

before. Couldn't find it. If anyone is a hearer

of the word, not a doer, he is like a man observing

his natural face in a mirror. For he observes

himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what

kind of man he was. It's just like I said a minute

ago. You know, I see myself as a lot younger

than I am when I'm not looking in the mirror.

I see myself skinnier than I am when I'm not

looking in a mirror. I see myself more handsome

when I'm not looking in a mirror. You got the

same mirror? I need to get rid of that mirror,

don't I? Again, I got glasses this year and I

keep telling her, take off those glasses and

I'll look a lot better. Here's an illustration.

The mirror is God's Word. Everybody say God's

Word. The mirror is God's promises. The mirror

is God's blessing. We see that in His Word. We

hear it and we see it. And like, there are different

times when we see it. I hope you see it more

than this. You're seeing it right now, right?

Going to church, you're seeing the Word of God.

You're seeing what it says. Sometimes when I

look into the Word of God, I see areas in my

heart and in my life that need some improvement.

Like when I look in the mirror in the morning.

I need to fix my hair. I don't need it. This

is fixed, by the way. This is as good as it gets.

So I look in the mirror and I see some things

that need to be changed and wish some things

could be changed. But it's not just wishing,

but I can see it and then I walk away and then

I forget it, right? So going to church, we're

exposed to the Word of God. Reading your Bible

personally, you're exposed to the Word of God.

Going to Bible study on Friday night, going to

life group, you're exposed to the Word of God.

And we're exposed to the Word of God in these

ways and maybe even you're exposed to the Word

of God in some other ways. But God says don't

look at it and see it and then forget it. If

you do that, it's just like looking in a mirror

and forgetting what you look like or thinking

that you're better than you are. Right? Don't

shout me down while I'm preaching to you. Then

there's a promise. He who looks into the perfect

law of liberty and continues in it, Everybody

say looked. Everybody say continues. And is not

a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. This

is the one who's going to be blessed in what

he does. So looks. Everybody say looks. This

word in the Greek is, it's actually not just

a glance. Not just a fleeting glance at the word.

No, this look means to stoop down and to look

intently. Everybody say intently. With penetrating

absorption. So if you look at the perfect law

of liberty with you stooping down, you're setting

aside time. It's not just a casual thing. Stooping

down, looking intently, penetrating absorption.

Who looks into the perfect law of liberty. Perfect

law of liberty. That word law here in the Greek

means the complete law including the volume.

Everybody say the Old Testament, the law. Right?

It's the complete law including the volume. Here's

the deal. We are so blessed. The Word of God

is available to us. It's even available on your

smartphone. It'll even read it to you for free.

What if you pay your bill every month? This is

written to people who have no Scripture in their

house. There were Scriptures at the synagogue.

There were some letters floating around at this

time. We're so blessed. The complete law. included

the scripture that would have been at the synagogue.

It included the gospel which was in those letters

and the people who were telling people about

the great news of God's love. Real quick. I'm

not going to spend much time on this, but how

can law, everybody say law, which we think of

as rules and commands. How many of you know that

there are rules and commands in God's word? Right?

How many of you know that the rules and the commands

are not to hurt you? They're not to burden you.

It's only been like 10 years ago when I thought

about the Ten Commandments and I was like, that's

not a burden, that's just setting you up for

the best life that you could possibly have. How

can law, rules and commands be liberty and freedom

at the same time? How can that happen? Well,

without the law and the gospel, everybody's just

on their own. No moral standard. And maybe this

is a bad illustration, but I want you to think

of a wild dog. A wild dog. There's no moral standard.

So there's freedom. A wild dog has plenty of

freedom. Everybody look this way. Focus. Focus.

A wild dog has plenty of freedom. There's no

restraint. But they're completely unprotected.

They're always subject to danger. Right? Let's

continue. With the law, there was legalism. Everybody

say legalism. That's kind of like a chain dog.

Has anybody ever... Had a dog that you just put

on a chain in your backyard. Now they kind of

make, they won't throw you in jail for doing

such things, but I grew up with chained dogs

in my yard. Because dogs would run away. Right?

They weren't chained. They'd be on the run. I'd

only see them like one day a week if they weren't

on the chain. They'd only come back when they

got really hungry. Or if they weren't in a pen.

So the law, can lead to legalism, and then there's

restraint, but no freedom. But with the law and

with faith, and with the gospel, I want you to

picture a train dog. The perfect law of liberty,

there's freedom in obedience. There's freedom

in obedience. When you're lawless and you break

the law, you're always on the run and you're

always in fear, right? But when we respect the

law, when we honor the law like we talked about

last week, we can have freedom through obedience.

There's freedom. There's freedom. Let's keep

going. But he who looks into the perfect law

of liberty and continues in it, the law and the...

Principles of the gospel. When we continue. Everybody

say continue. We got to continue. Continue. Continue.

Continue in it. And not a forgetful here. It's

like it's not just going in one ear and out the

other. I don't have time for my joke. I'll tell

you a joke if you wind up at my table eating

barbecue with me. I'll tell you my joke. Not

a forgiver here, but a doer of the Word. There's

a response. There's an application. Right? When

we hear and when we do, our hearing leads to

doing. Then what? We'll be blessed in what we

do. Who wants to be blessed in what you do? It's

available. It's available and you will receive

it proportionally to your faith. You can be supremely

blessed, well off, fortunate, happy in every

area of your life, every aspect of your life.

That's the kind of life God wants you to have.

To the degree that everybody without it wants

it. They're enviable of your life. Let's pray.

God, thank You. Thank You for Your Word. Thank

You for Your promises. Thank You for what You're

doing. Thank You for what You have done. Thank

You for what You make available to us. I pray

that we would receive Your Word today with joy

and that we would respond, we would act according

to what we've heard. God, I pray that you would

help us be doers of your word, not hearers only.

I pray that your word would be planted in good

soil in our hearts. Not distracted by the world

around us, but good soil and that it would grow

up and produce a harvest in our lives. A harvest

of faith, a harvest of truth, a harvest of life,

a harvest of love, a harvest of blessing. In

Jesus' name I pray, amen. This online worship

experience was brought to you by the friends

and partners of Eulation Church.