Avoid Overly Agile Adjusting Proverbs 1:10; 15-16

Thank you. Instead, we will be coming together

for a family fellowship. Everyone is welcome.

If you're here and you've been a son of my voice,

you're welcome to come and join with us, and

we'll be enjoying a kind of taco bar. If you

haven't been hit up yet to bring something for

the taco bar, or if you have some particular

thing that you'd like to bring for that, then

you go ahead and do that, and you can check with

Sherry or Risha or me or just about anybody to

make sure somebody else knows that you're bringing

something, that you ain't already bringing something,

okay? And if you didn't want to bring anything,

that's okay, too. Just come and eat with us,

and we'll have a good time. And we're also going

to be playing games afterwards. We'll have card

games and board games and some activities for

the kids and that kind of thing. And that's Friday,

so not Grand Prix Workshop this Friday. Amen.

Okay, if you're a follower of Christ, think about

when you were saved. That's kind of how this

song goes. Think about that. Thank God as you

sing this. As Amalia and Alicia were singing

that song, my mind flashed back to us worshiping

in Northwood High School in a classroom. And

we could not get Amalia to get closer than about

a foot to the microphone. And no microphone could

we get hot enough that we could actually hear

her singing, even though my omnidirectional microphone

was barely picking her up. And she's like, I'm

close enough. I'm close enough to the microphone.

And praise the Lord, many days later. That has

finally changed. Praise God for that. It's been

years now, but it just really struck me in that

moment. So we have a couple of pieces of business

that we need to take care of right away before

we get into the sermon because we're going to

hit a topic today that was harsh for me. So the

last time I took over about five hours to write

my sermon for a Sunday was probably well over

a year ago. And this sermon took me close to

12 hours to write. And for a good part of that,

I was in what I would call kind of like anguish,

realizing that we are maybe claiming to be something

that we are not. And we need to ask ourselves

if that is the case. And then we need to make

whatever adjustments are necessary. And that

had to start with me. But the 12 hours that I

spent... None of that was really me doing that.

I still had to do that on top of the 12 hours.

But I spent 12 hours studying. I spent four or

five hours getting to the heart of the matter

because I started with a misconception. I thought

I had the title and kind of the point of the

sermon. There's a mystery going on before you

as these sermons are being preached now as we're

leading up to Easter, which I'll explain in a

moment. At least I'll give you another clue toward

the mystery. So about four or five hours overcoming

that misconception and getting to the text that

we're going to use. And I thought, well, usually

when I have the text, it's only about an hour

or two after that, I'm good to go. And then it

took another almost eight hours for me to get

to what I'm going to bring you today. And the

truth is, I think I could have spent about another

five or six hours here and really honed it down

to something a lot more smaller, maybe not so

hard to chew, not so difficult to understand.

So I'm going to try my best to deliver it to

you. clearly. So the second thing then is this

is part, as I said, of a mystery. I started playing

a little game with you without telling you I

was doing it. And so the clue for today's sermon

is the phrase three of seven. Three of seven.

Last week's clue was two of seven and I forgot

to give it to you. So the clue for today's sermon

is three of seven. So your goal over the next

roughly month or so leading between now and Easter

is to try to figure out what the heck am I talking

about that I'm not talking about? Okay, that

is the goal. What is it that I'm talking about

that I'm not talking about? And your clue is

three of seven. I will fair warn you, if you

miss a sermon between now and then, completely

miss it anyway, you could catch it online, you

could listen to it on the podcast, but if you

completely miss it, you will have a bit of a

challenge getting to the bottom of the mystery.

Okay, so today's clue is three of seven. Then

we're just going to do a couple of quick things.

One, we talked about a little bit during our

inspirational moment. The first one is wisdom.

I want to talk about wisdom very just kind of

briefly, make sure we're all on the same page.

Wisdom is knowing God's knowledge or God's route

or God's path or God's understanding of a situation.

and in theory gives you the ability to apply

that or to tell someone else so that they can

apply it. So for example, I learned when I was

about three years old how to tie my shoes, and

I thought I was like Superman because nobody

else who was three years old could tie their

shoes. And then I raised Alicia and Amalia, and

Amalia started preschool, and she was three years

old, just over three, and she was the only one

in her school who could tie shoes. She spent

almost her entire recess tying shoes. Rather

than the teacher doing it, she would send everybody

to Amalia. And I thought, you know, being three

and knowing how to tie shoes maybe isn't such

a good thing. Because she would have a 25 -minute

recess and spend almost 20 minutes tying shoes.

Because there were 25 kids in her class, and

as soon as one would be tied, another one would

be untied. So she was tying shoes constantly.

And the rest of the time, she spent on the swing.

So that was her whole recess, tying shoes and

swinging. That being said, knowing how to tie

shoes. and then being able to actually tie shoes

seems like it's basically the same thing. And

wisdom is like that. Knowing what you need to

know and being in God's kingdom, God's ways,

God's wisdom, God's knowledge, whatever you want

to call it, and being able to kind of apply it,

that's wisdom, generically speaking. Understanding

is another thing. Understanding is kind of just

what it implies. Standing under the knowledge.

So you could have the wisdom and be able to apply

it, but then not actually understand it. Because

you're not standing under what you know. For

example, using the illustration I just gave you,

being able to tie shoes at three, I was thinking

I was like Superman. And for a short time, I

think Amalia was too, thinking she was Superwoman

when she was three because everybody would come

to her in need and she was fixing their problems

constantly. So she's feeling like that too. But

just a real quick second after that, you start

thinking, well, you can see if I'm going to spend

20 minutes a day tying shoes, I feel like I should

be paid for that, right? Or at least get a bigger

treat when we go to treat time, something like

that. And so there is an understanding of how

to tie shoes and what's going to result from

tying shoes, and then there is standing under

that knowledge, right? So she wasn't teaching

anybody how to tie shoes because while she knew

how to tie shoes, she couldn't get it across

to anybody how to tie shoes because she didn't

really understand how she was doing it. She couldn't

stand under the knowledge of how to tie shoes.

I couldn't stand under the knowledge of how to

tie shoes, but I could tie shoes. See the difference?

So if you can display God's wisdom in your choices,

you might be wise. But if you can understand

why you're doing what you're doing and apply

that to what comes next, you might have understanding.

There are two different things. Here we go. The

text is relatively short, but we've got quite

a bit of Bible between here and from when we're

done. So grab your Bibles, if you would, and

go with me to Proverbs 1. Amen. Thank you very

much for joining in. I fully understand I'm a

little bit weird, a little bit odd. And I appreciate

that you joined me in my oddness because you're

stuck with me. At least until you're not. So

we're right in Proverbs chapter 1. And we're

Proverbs 1 · chapter mention

going to read verse 10. Yes, there we go. I found

it on the page even. So it says this. It says,

My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

Or consent thou not, if you're reading the King

James Version. So I want you to see something

before we go any further, okay? So the first

thing is, there are people in the world who do

the wrong thing. Raise your hand if you've ever

done the wrong thing. This is a participatory

moment, so every hand should be up, okay? If

not, you really need to address the fact that

you have a lot of pride and arrogance, okay?

Or you're just not really participating, which

would be okay too. So what's a sinner? A sinner

is a person who has done the wrong thing. And

the fact is, and elsewhere we could read, that

sinners have a tendency to kind of drag people

along with them. That's the reality of it. We

talk about peer pressure, and we mostly mean

that in a negative context. People who are kind

of like you about your age, about your skin color,

about your social standing, whatever, have a

way of pressuring you into doing what it is that

you want to do. And then they'll say, wait for

it, they'll say, well, it was your choice. You're

an adult. You could choose to follow my example.

You could choose to follow what I'm teaching

you to do or not. It was your choice. Who does

that sound like? Sounds like the devil. What

the devil does is he leads you, entices you to

do things that you should not do, and then when

you do them, he lets you take the blame. He's

already going to spend eternity in hell, separated

from God forever. He's got nothing more to lose,

so he may as well drag people down with him if

he can. We are not meant to be like that, but

the reality is that sinners often are like that.

They have a tendency to entice people to get

involved with what they do. But notice it does

not say, Do not do those things. Do not follow.

Do not mirror their actions. It says, do not

consent. Because all it really takes for a sinner

to drag you into their current situation, which

is maybe on the way to hell, or it could be a

Christian who's sinning and they're leading you

to sin along with them, and so they're suffering

a lack of joy in their salvation, a lack of feeling

like God is in their life, and they're doing

the things that... their flesh wants to do rather

than what God wants. And either way, all you

have to do is consent. Perhaps you've been talking

with someone and someone will start talking about

someone else. And you're like, well, I'm not

going to join in this conversation. I'm not going

to say anything. I'm just going to stand back

and not say anything while they're gossiping

or slandering that other person. I'm not going

to take part. But you're still standing there.

You don't mention the word gossip or slander.

You don't say, hey, we should change the topic

of conversation. You don't say, hey, I'm not

going to listen to this. You just stand there

while it's going on. You know what they call

that in the criminal world? They call that being

an accomplice. And what the writer of Proverbs,

probably Solomon, is telling us is that we should

not consent. Don't stand by and accept that that

action is appropriate behavior when they're attempting

to entice you into it. Even if you should say,

I'm not going to go then and do what it is, you

should still say, why? What is the difference?

The difference is you're wise enough to know

that the thing that they're trying to entice

you is not appropriate. I'm not going to do that.

But you don't have understanding because you

don't have a way of delivering the knowledge

that it's not appropriate and why it's not appropriate.

See the difference? We pursue both wisdom and

understanding not to get ahead of ourselves.

It's not good enough to just say, I'm not going

to consent. For example, it's not good enough

to just say, I am not personally going to watch

rated R movies or violent movies or movies that

depict sex acts on my TV screen in my living

room at home, or I'm not personally going to

watch pornography. That is not good enough. You

have to understand why that behavior is inappropriate.

You have to stand under the fact that it's inappropriate

and be able to explain to somebody else why you're

not participatory in it and be able to say, I'm

not going to send them my money in some other

way. If Playboy magazine opens up a beneficial

foundation that is doing something with its profits,

let's say teaching children to read or whatever

like that, that foundation is a separate entity,

but all the money is coming from Playboy. I'm

not going to go buy a subscription to Playboy

magazine so the foundation can benefit. I'm not

going to have anything to do with it. Because

I understand not only am I not interested in

participating in the thing that you're enticing

me to do, I do not consent. Politically speaking,

I do not consent to abortion. I don't consent.

Therefore, when I go to the polls, unless the

Lord specifically tells me otherwise, and I always

vote what God tells me to do, I cannot vote for

a candidate who supports abortion. I can't do

it because I don't consent. Am I political? Am

I trying to win you to political? No, I'm using

it as an illustration. It's all I'm doing. You

can think about the things that go on in your

household, the things that you do, your family

does, your church does, whatever, and you're

going to find something that you can say, I'm

consenting to it. I'm consenting to it. By saying

nothing, I'm consenting to it. And if you're

consenting to it, you have to realize this clearly

says, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

Then skip to 15 and 16. And it says, my son,

do not walk on the way with them. So we're continuing

to talk about... And he gets into a much more

wicked person than just a good person, like a

follower of Christ who's doing a little bit of

sin. He starts to talk about wickedness. And

he says, do not walk on the way with them. In

other words, don't go the path that they're traveling.

He says, keep your feet from their path. There

are many paths in life. One that we're called

to, that's the highway of holiness. Again, not

to get ahead of myself. there are many paths

that you will wind up on. And I submit to you

that if you are seen while on a path of wickedness,

if you're seen in a bar buying rounds of drinks,

then later, if you try to teach against drinking,

it's not going to hold water. It's not going

to work. If you're seen on a Sunday morning at

noon on the golf course, and then later try to

invite somebody to come to church on a Sunday

at 1130, When they know that if you were going

to do that, you wouldn't have been on the golf

course at noon on a Sunday, then it's not going

to hold water. They're going to be like, well,

why do I even need to go? I'm not golfing this

Sunday. I get that. I have a good reason not

to go, but I can find some other good reason

not to be there. And so what he's saying is you

don't belong on the pathways that they're walking.

Keep your feet from their path. Verse 16 then

says, for their feet run to evil. And they are

quick to shed blood. So basically, talking about

the wicked person, or a person who does not know

God, or a person who does not recognize God in

his authority, how easy it is for them to do

wrong. And we don't want to be like that. I'm

going to go on then and read now Proverbs 2,

Proverbs 2:1–20

verses 1 through 20. Before I do that, I need

you to ascend to a certain opinion with me. If

we're going to get to where we're trying to get

to today, we have to agree on one point. And

that is that life consists of many turns. And

by a turn, I mean a choice. Where you go one

direction or another. Or maybe one of seven directions.

Or maybe one of a hundred. You graduate high

school, do you go to college? Do you get a job?

Do you work at your job? Do you go and do a trade?

Become a plumber or electrician? Do you get married?

Do you not get married? Do you have kids? Do

you not have kids? On what particular day do

you attempt to have kids? What particular day

do you cook at home? When do you eat out? Can

we agree, I'm looking at eyes now, can we agree

that life consists of many turns? Do we agree

with that? I'm looking for somebody who does

not agree. I'm going to call you out if you do

not agree. Are we okay? Do we agree that life

consists of many turns? All right. So I think

we've got 100 % agreement, at least all of those

who are looking at me. Now that being said, I

want you to listen to Proverbs 20. I'm not going

to break, I'm sorry, 2, 1 through 20. I'm not

going to break down every verse. It says, My

son, if you will receive my words and treasure

my commandments within you, make your ear attentive

to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding.

For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice

for understanding. If you seek her as silver

and search for her as for hidden treasures. So

in other words, if you'll spend your life searching

out wisdom and understanding, then you will discern

the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge

of God. For the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth

come knowledge and understanding. He stores up

sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield

to those who walk in integrity. We'll stop after

that verse and explain the word integrity for

a second. The word integrity has the same root

as the word integer. An integer is a whole number.

A person has integrity when their wholeness,

all that they are, is the same through and through.

It surrounds one key point. And in the world

right now, people are trying to build their integrity

on all kinds of things. And it's respectable,

right? If you always show up to work on time,

give a hard day's work, draw your paycheck, maybe

do a little extra at the end of the day, they

will think you have integrity and they will pay

you well. Okay? Maybe you're all about the money.

You just want the money. You're looking for the

promotion. You're wanting them to think good

things of you, whatever. So you're building the

integrity of your life on one of those things

and they will pay you well. That's a reality.

But that is not integrity that lasts for an eternity.

That is integrity that lasts for a season. If

you get a boss who's a dirtbag, who maybe sexually

harasses you or talks bad about you behind your

back constantly or maybe shaves your hours slightly,

pretty soon you'll not be showing up on work.

to work on time. You'll not be doing the extra

work. You'll not be going the extra mile. And

you'll justify that by saying he's a dirtbag

or she's a dirtbag. Okay. Because the money is

not enough. It's not enough to make you put up

with what you're going through now. So an integer

is a whole number. A person who has integrity

is their whole being. All that they are centered

around something that guides and directs them.

It will last. All that we are now related to

something that will last. I submit to you that

our something is Jesus Christ. And he will last

for an eternity. I'll read that verse again so

we understand the context. He stores up sound

wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those

who walk in integrity. Guarding the paths of

justice. and he preserves the way of his godly

ones. Then you will discern righteousness and

justice and equity. Discern means you'll figure

it out. You'll be able to tell one from the other.

Righteous and justice and equity and every good

course. By the way, equity just means what's

right in that circumstance. For wisdom will enter

your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to

your soul. Discretion will guard you. Understanding

will watch over you to deliver you from the...

way of evil from the man who speaks perverse

things, from those who lead the paths of uprightness

to walk in the ways of darkness. Now here we

got the guy, so now we're talking about people

who, remember Proverbs 1, they let themselves

be enticed or they consent, and now we're saying

that the seekers of wisdom and understanding

will be protected from people like that. You

understand? So in other words, if you follow

the Lord in the way that this person is calling

you to do so, you will be protected from people

who allow themselves to be enticed or who consent

to those actions. So we need protection from

them? When maybe right now we actually are them?

That's interesting. 12 says, to deliver you from

the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse

things. from those who leave the paths of uprightness

to walk in the ways of darkness, who delight

in doing evil and rejoice in the perversity of

evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious

in their ways, to deliver you from the strange

woman, from the adulteress who flatters with

her words, that leaves the companion of her youth

and forgets the covenant of her God, for her

house sinks down to death and her tracks lead

to the dead. None who go to her return again.

nor do they reach the paths of life. So you will

walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths

of the righteous. The sermon title for today

is Absolutely, separate syllable. I hope that

made it up there, did it? It did. The dash is

between the E and the L. There you see it now.

Absolutely avoid overly agile adjusting. Wow.

Absolutely avoid overly agile adjusting. Where's

our tongue twister people? To avoid overly agile

adjusting is to realize there are many turns

in life, right? And you can very easily too quickly

adjust. The fact is humans are capable of adjusting.

We figured out what the problem is. When I was

playing junior high football, I could turn on

a dime. And because I could turn on a dime and

the people trying to tackle me couldn't, I was

all over the place. To run 50 yards, I would

probably run 120 yards. But I'd make 50 yards.

Right? Hold on one second. It is very possible

then to make a too quick turn, to be enticed

off the course of action, to be on the way that

is not appropriate for God. Two reasons most

people adjust to something not in God's plan.

Are you with me? Two reasons why most people

adjust to something. So you can be following

the Lord with all your strength, following the

Lord with all the wisdom that you currently have,

following the Lord with all your learning in

the Bible. currently have. And one of these two

reasons will lead you to do something that is

not God's will. The first one is simple. Agreement.

We agree with the plan. We agree with the turn.

It makes sense to us. This looks like the right

thing to do. It appears this offers better outcomes.

This happens to everybody who ever has to make

a decision between working and going to church.

Every time. I'm going to go to work, I'm going

to get a payday. I'm going to go to church, what

do I get? Right? And you go, well, providentially

hindered, God gave me a job that requires me

to work instead of being in worship today. So,

that's what I'm going to do. It appears to offer

better outcomes. Or, it avoids danger. This happens

to everybody who refuses to talk about Jesus

because they're afraid they'll be persecuted.

I'm going to get away with this one. This is

too much for me. I'm not going to risk whatever.

It conserves resources for other pursuits. Well,

you know, God wants me to serve in this way.

God wants me to study the Word and to preach.

So I don't have time for this other thing over

here that in the back of my mind and in my heart

I know God wants me to do because I've got to

conserve my resources to do the thing that God

wants me to do. When you're conserving your resources

to do one thing that God wants you to do, At

the same time, then, dismissing another thing

that God wants you to do, that's not God. That's

you. Because if you check your accounts, you'll

find that you are completely capable of doing

everything that God wants you to do and wait

for it, everything else that God wants you to

do. You have all the resources necessary to do

that. When you don't have enough resources to

do the thing that God's calling you to do, whatever

it is, if it's 7th on the list or 50th on the

list, if God is calling you to do it, if you

don't have the resources, it's you that's causing

the lack of resources, not God. Quick returns.

I'm going to get something out of this. Right?

Right now, if I do this, this will be the result.

And I want it. I want that result. It'll come

back fast. Following God, I might be patient

and eventually achieve that which God is ending

me towards. It's going to be great. Heaven's

going to be awesome. But this is going to be

like heaven on earth. This is going to be great

right now. Right? It's a misinterpretation of

God's will. I think this thing is God's will

for me to go and do that. It's easy enough to

look at something and go, this looks good. God

wants to bless me. God wants to take care of

me. God wants to provide for me. So this looks

like it does that, so I can do that, right? And

it's easy enough to misinterpret God's will if

you don't have understanding. A messianic complex.

You know what a messianic complex is? A messianic

complex is that moment in time in which you think

that it's your job to die like Jesus did. It's

your job to give up everything you want and everything

you are, sacrifice your life or your time or

your resources, just like Jesus did. Guess what?

Not your job. It's not your job. If there ever

comes a moment in time in which you have to take

a bullet from the Lord, you'll know that moment

when it comes. And if you're orchestrating that

now, you're blowing it. If you're suffering on

purpose, that's not God, that's you. You understand?

But it's super easy to make that turn when we

start thinking that we are like Jesus. Hold on

one second. I want to say something very clearly

that we all should already know. You are not

like Jesus. I am not like Jesus. Do we want to

be? Are we growing to be? Are we getting to be,

hopefully, if you're following the Lord, pursuing

wisdom and understanding, a little bit more every

day like Jesus? Yes. But are you close? I mean,

is it like you're about to cross the finish line?

Tomorrow you're going to be just like Jesus?

No, not going to happen. That's not going to

happen. You're not going to be just like Jesus

in this lifetime. You're going to get a little

closer, a little closer, or maybe sometimes a

lot closer, but you're never going to really

be close to being like Jesus. We perceive that

we have unique insight. I know something that

nobody else knows. I can get away with something.

I can do something behind everybody else's back.

Or I know exactly how to do this thing and nobody

else knows it like me. And they always say, if

you want something done right, do it yourself.

Right? So I have this perfect perception. Nobody

else quite has the understanding that I have.

All of that is just pride and arrogance. As I

stand before you today, I'm preaching the sermon

that the Lord gave me. And you want to know what?

If I was giving myself a sermon writing grade,

I'd give it a C. As far as how well the sermon

is written, I'd give it a C. After 12 hours,

at least two of those spent in tears and several

of them spent in sweat, I'd give it a C. But

I also know that by the time we're done here

today, you will have exactly what you need from

the Lord because you don't get that from me.

You don't get it from me. You don't get it from

my process. You don't even get it from my Bible

reading. You don't get it from anything that

I do. You get that from the Lord. And if it wasn't

like that, I couldn't be a pastor. I don't have

any unique insight. I worked 12 hours to be able

to say what I'm saying before you now. That's

not unique insight. If you had worked 12 hours,

you probably would have something to say too.

Maybe several somethings. I could probably write

six sermons in 12 hours. Perceiving that you

have unique insight will lead you to take in

a turn that is not in the Lord's will if you're

not careful. The persistence of temptation, it

just keeps coming. Just keeps coming. Yep, I

just keep getting distracted. It keeps coming

after me. I keep thinking. I've got it in my

flesh, in myself, in my mind. I think, well,

this could work. No, I'm not going to do it.

I put it off 20 times, 30 times, 40 times, and

finally I'm going to just do it. Poor self -esteem.

I know that we know that we're not like Jesus,

but you also have to realize you're not like

the world. You're so far above anybody that doesn't

know Jesus, right? John Vaps is a pretty cool

guy, right? John the Baptist is amazing. Thousands

of people walked up and downhill over broken

terrain every day to hear him be baptized. Hundreds

or thousands of people in the River Jordan. Pretty

cool guy, right? Do you know that Jesus said

about him that greater is every one of us individually

than he was? In fact, he even said that if we

would believe and trust God, call on his name

and believe that we have what we have, we'll

do greater things than Jesus did. you're pretty

incredible. And if you've got poor self -esteem,

if you're trying to look better, act better,

think better, feel better, so you can put yourself

up there, you can be okay because you have poor

self -esteem, then something's wrong. Your eyes

should be on Jesus, not on you. You don't have

to spend all this time judging yourself as like

you're worthless or something like that. That's

a big waste. But that poor self -esteem then

will lead you because you'll find somebody, a

sinner, who will entice you, who will say, you

can feel better, look better, be better, be richer.

You can get rid of your health problems. All

these things are available to you if you'll just

take this turn that I'm offering you. And that

turn leads you onto a way that sinners walk.

We have short memory of blessings. If you are

saved, you remember a minimum of one moment in

time in which the God of heaven did something

absolutely incredible. And if you've never seen

any other miracles, I think you probably have.

If you didn't know it, I'm sorry. If you've never

seen any other miracles, then you had at least

a minimum of one miracle. You had a showing up

of the Holy Spirit where you were transformed

and you said, from now on, this is me and Jesus.

A thing that previous to that you never would

have done. With this Holy Spirit in you and that

feeling, there's no way that we should have a

short memory of that. In sports, you make a play,

you blow up, you foolishly trip on the basketball

court, or you run the wrong way and score a touchdown

for the other team. Something really dumb, right?

You're supposed to have a short memory. You forget

that. Get back out there because if you can score

one the wrong way for the other team, you can

score one or two or three for your team going

the right way. And you're supposed to have a

short memory. But in the kingdom, we don't have

a short memory. We look at that moment. There

are two moments in time at which you must never

forget. You should guard everything and guide

everything in your life by these two moments.

And one of them was when you got saved and the

other one is when you walk into heaven. And one

of them you can see and personally experienced.

And the other... You can only believe it in faith

because it's not yet realized. But it's real.

And people forget the memory of the blessings

of the amazing thing of God when you prayed and

someone was healed, when you prayed and your

soul was saved, etc. Don't forget that because

the moment you start to walk onto that other

path, you should realize, hey, I'm walking away

from that. And the last one is very convicting.

A feeling of peace about the turn. How many times

have you ever had somebody, I've been praying

about it, I've been talking to the Lord about

this thing that I'm going to do, and I have a

feeling of peace. I submit to you that by the

time you have to pray about something so that

you can have a feeling of peace, you already

have considerable reservations. You have questions

as to whether that's the right course or not.

And there is a process in the Bible, one of those

parts is prayer, but it's not the only prayer.

But you say, well, I prayed and God is authorizing

this in me because I have unique insight. Wait,

that was on the list, wasn't it? Well, I prayed

and I know this is what God wants me to do because

I can see it's going to turn out. I can see how

God is going to use this for his glory. Something

amazing is going to happen. Wait, that's quick

returns. I can see how by doing this, God's setting

me up to be successful in this other area of

ministry over here. That's conserving resources

for other pursuits. And the list goes on. So

we need to be careful as we're looking at these

turns that we don't come into agreement with

that person who's trying to entice us and go

the wrong way, which we could very easily do

because you can see that all of those things,

none of those things are nuts. They're not insanity.

They're not inherently evil, right? Quick returns,

that's good. You go to McDonald's, you give them

the money, they give you the food, you're driving

on, you're eating your Big Mac. Yay! That's not

a bad thing, except McDonald's might be actually

bad for you. Probably, but that's another thing

altogether. There's nothing really wrong with

quick returns inherently, but it's when it's

quick returns in your own strength, quick returns

outside his wisdom or understanding, when it's

quick returns that leads you to be enticed or

to consent. That was the first one. So the first

one is the problem is you may actually agree

for one of those or other reasons, you may actually

agree that this turn is an appropriate turn to

take off the course that God has laid out for

you onto a course that sinners would tread. The

second one is what I call antagonistic alignments.

And this is a real problem because you have carrying

around with you, right now you are carrying around

with you the largest battery that you personally

will probably ever lift. And it's full of desire.

And it is your body. Your flesh has desires.

It has wants. It has needs. Just don't eat for

a few days and actually feel what real hunger

feels like. And we're all like, oh, it's four

o 'clock and I haven't eaten anything today.

I'm terribly hungry. No, you're not, right? What's

happening is the fat cells in your body and your

parasites and whatever are crying out to eat.

But the truth is people don't get hungry when

they don't eat for six or eight hours. That's

just not the math of it. People get hungry when

they don't eat for a couple of days. But we don't

know that in America. So we think the first thing

is hunger. Understand? So what I'm saying to

you is this. We have in us the capability of

antagonistic alignments where we start to think

that this other way is a way, even though it's

contrary to what God says. So first of all, this

is the list. I'll go quickly. First one is carpe

diem. Seize the day. Do it right now. Isn't that

exciting? If I seize the day and do it right

now, I feel powerful. If I can buy it, if I have

the money in my bank and I can buy it and nobody

can tell me no, that's power. If it's midnight

and I can choose to stay up and watch one more

episode, that's power because I can choose. If

somebody says something or does something and

I choose whether or not to rebuke them, that's

power. And so we think by seizing the day, by

making something happen, we're doing something

good. But in actuality, we're doing something

antagonistic to God. There is a rush. A quickness,

a sneaky rush, a sinful rush, a desire to do

something even though it's a bad thing. And we

get a rush out of our heart beats fast. Our lungs

process more oxygen because we're doing something.

We know we could get caught. We know we're not

doing something right and so on. We think there's

no downside. Well, I can do whatever I want to

do because there's no downside at all. There's

nothing bad that could come out of this. You

understand? There's nothing bad that could come

out of this. And so we go for it. This thing

is faster. This thing provides me with community.

I need somebody to love on me. I need encouragement.

I need relationship. This thing provides me with

community. You get surrounded by a gang of thieves.

Most gangs, by the way, run off a family mentality.

You get jumped in and after that you're a brother

or a sister. And if somebody says something kind

of snotty to you, they get beat. Any little thing

that they would do to upset you. They get beat.

The family protects its own. And so they're using

community to draw people into a wicked path.

And we start thinking community. We need simplicity.

We don't want to think. It's too complex. It's

too hard for me to figure out what the right

thing to do here is. I don't want to process

it. I just want to go. It's like, why is life

always so stressful that I always have to do

the right thing? Or revenge. Somebody hurt us

and we're going to teach them a lesson. Or anger,

undirected. I have this emotive energy to do

something about it, so now I'm yelling, screaming,

breaking things, whatever. All of those are off

the course that God has laid out for us. Misplaced

loyalty. So we think, I am for this person, my

brother, my sister, my friend, my boyfriend,

my girlfriend. When they do something wrong,

I'm not going to tell anyone what they did. You

follow? So I know they did something wrong, but

I'm not going to out them, no matter what, because

I am loyal to them. That's misplaced loyalty.

It's ungodly action. And we make it out to be

like that's a good thing. Because you get called

a tattletale if somebody tells when somebody

else did something wrong. Do you know how many

rapes have gone unprocessed because no one would

talk? Do you know how many murders have never

been caught? How many drug dealers continue to

push drugs on kids under the age of 12 because

nobody in their neighborhood will say anything?

That's all misplaced loyalty at best. Corrupt

love. Boyfriends and girlfriends say they're

going to do whatever. And we know that real love

does not act unseemly. That was in 1 Corinthians

13. We studied it heartily. So we get this idea.

Well, I love so -and -so and they want to do

it. In my early Christian days, we had a Bible

study. And there was a woman there. And the question

came up in the Bible study. What would you do

if your husband of 20 years told you to help

him rob a bank? And she said, well, I'd do it.

Because the Bible says submit to your husband.

And a huge debate broke out. Like, are we really

debating this? About whether or not if your husband

told you to rob a bank, you would do it? The

moment your husband tells you to rob a bank,

he has ceased to be your husband. You understand?

Because a husband does not drag a woman into

evil. A boyfriend or a girlfriend does not drag

their significant other into evil. That's unseemly.

That's corrupt love at best. That's the best

it is. The truth is, it's actually hate. A lack

of understanding. I just don't know and I don't

want to or I do know like I got the wisdom I

know that lying is wrong but I think I might

get away with this time or I might get good results

this time or it might be different now and so

on and so on. It's a lack of understanding being

able to submit to what you know. Giving in to

human nature. People say well everybody does

it so if everybody does it it can't be wrong

for me. Or Keeping up with the Joneses. Somebody

else did it and they got a good result. So I'm

going to do what they did to get the same result.

Facebook memes are all about that. Reels, right?

Here's 75 different guys want to teach you how

to start your own website, start your own business,

buy this supplement and be healthy and so on.

Because they all say it's all taking care of

everything. The bottom line is there are two

essential groups and you might find more. that

the Lord really led me to look at. And the first

one is that we will actually leave the road that

God has laid out for us because, number one,

we agree. We need a solution for that. We cannot

agree with what wicked people are enticing us

to do. We cannot consent to wickedness in our

presence. We cannot do it. If you're a follower

of Jesus Christ, you cannot do it. And therefore,

we need a solution. And secondly, we may actually

have antagonistic alignments. We may live in

our flesh, in our mind, in our own... ways that

we're doing things or others are enticing us

to do things. We may do them even though they

are contrary to God. If these things would lead

us to do things that are contrary to God, then

we know we need a solution. We need a solution.

Proverbs 4 says this, listen my sons to the instructions

of a father and pay attention so that you may

gain understanding. Hear that? Listen to the

instruction of the father and then pay attention

so that you may gain understanding. For I give

you good teaching. Do not abandon my instruction.

When I was a son to my father, tender and the

only son in the sight of my mother, he taught

me and said to me, let your heart take hold of

my words. Keep my commandments and live. Acquire

wisdom. Acquire understanding. Do not forget

nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do

not abandon her and she will guard you. Love

her and she will watch over you. The beginning

of wisdom is acquire wisdom. And with all your

possessions, acquire understanding. Prize her

and she will exalt you. She will honor you if

you embrace her. She will place on your head

a garland of grace. She will present you with

a crown of beauty. Listen, my son, and accept

my sayings and the years of your life will be

many. I have instructed you in the way of wisdom

and I have led you in upright paths. When you

walk, your steps will not be hampered and if

you run, you will not stumble. Take hold of instruction.

Do not let go. Guard her for she is your life.

Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not

proceed in the way of evil people. Avoid it.

Do not pass by it. Turn away from it and pass

on. For they cannot sleep unless they do evil

and they are robbed of sleep unless they make

someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness

and drink the wine of violence. But the path

of righteous is like the light of the dawn. This

is the path that we want to be on. It's like

the light of the dawn that shines brighter and

brighter until the full day. The way of the wicked

is like darkness. They do not know over what

they stumble. My son, pay attention to my words.

Incline your ear to my sayings. They are not

to escape from your sight. Keep them in the midst

of your heart. For they are life to those who

find them and healing to all their body. Watch

over your heart with all diligence. For from

it flow the springs of life. Rid yourself of

a deceitful mouth and keep devious speech far

from you. Let your eyes look. directly ahead,

and let your gaze be fixed straight in front

of you. Watch the path of your feet, and all

your ways will be established. Do not turn to

the right or to the left. Turn your foot from

evil. That last verse, do not turn to the right

or to the left. Turn your foot from evil, is

the key verse to what we are talking about today.

Everyone turns. Life is full of turns. But the

Bible says, Do not turn to the right or to the

left. Turn your foot from evil. Psalm 97 .10

says this. It says, You that love the Lord hate

evil. The highway of holiness has two boundaries,

essentially, speaking in three dimensions. They

are this. God as our shield and wisdom. and the

pursuit of understanding as our course. You ever

wondered in the family of God, if God is our

father, who is our mother? You ever think about

that? If God is our father, who is our mother?

And you might say, maybe the Holy Spirit. No,

the Holy Spirit is our father. God the Father,

God the Son. God the Holy Spirit, that's our

father. He is our father. So, who is our mother?

And the writer of Proverbs is telling you that

your mother is the pursuit of wisdom and understanding.

Now, this is cool because my mother and my father

taught me some pretty valuable lessons when I

was growing up. My dad was quiet, reserved. He

was an honest man, a hard worker. He was a professing

Christian from the time he was about 12 years

old, but backslidden from the time he was 17

to the time that he was 58, 59, something like

that. And so it wasn't anything about God. But

there was some integrity in him. But he was always

distant from me. He didn't make time for me.

He didn't play with me and stuff. Like I would

ask him if he didn't have anything else going

on and we might throw the ball in the side yard.

But that's about the only thing we ever did together.

We went places and traveled and stuff like that.

If I asked him to help on a project, if I could

be of help, he would let me help. That kind of

thing. My mother was always for me. She wasn't

even a Christian. She didn't know the Lord. She

didn't get saved until she was 56 years old.

And she would entice me to do things that I shouldn't

do. She taught me to lie as I was growing up

and it took a couple, two and a half years after

I got saved for me to break free from the bondage

of that. But she was sweet on me. She provided

for me. She was there. She protected me against

when a bigger kid and I were fighting, she would

protect me against them. And then if I would

get in trouble because some kid would pick a

fight with me and then I'd beat him up, which

was an unfortunate common circumstance from the

time I was about like fourth grade to the time

I was about eighth grade. And then their mom

would come complaining to me after he started

the fight, and I would win the fight, and then

she'd come complaining, and my mom would say,

get a lawyer. She was with me all the time. And

the pursuit of wisdom and understanding is like

that for us. In fact, the Bible says that the

Holy Spirit is the one, He is the one, who makes

us able to understand the Word of God. And out

of that, we should gain wisdom and understanding

as He teaches us all things that Jesus taught

us. So we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, who do you say that I am? You better

be able to say he's the son of God, God in the

flesh who lived and died for your sins and now

leads you every single day. Jesus said, would

you go away from me then after these tough teachings

and so many people left me? And he said, no,

how could I? How could we go away from you? You

have the words of life. So you come to Jesus.

and to the word of God and to Jesus' church who

is the body of Christ. David wrote, Thy word

have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against

thee. So we take in the word of God so that we

cannot be enticed, so we cannot veer off like

what we're talking about. Jesus himself was tempted

and every time presents back with the word of

God and stands up against those temptations.

Paul gives a great argument. in front of Herod,

why Jesus is who he said he was, and Herod said,

what would you want today? That even I would

become a Christian? We should be able to stand

up for what we know is right, and at every turn,

stay on the highway of holiness and do what it

is that God would have us to do. Here's the question.

What do you know? What do you know? That's knowledge.

And if it's knowledge of God, then it's wisdom.

And then out of that, the question that follows

is, how does what you know affect your steadfastness?

Your ability to stay on the right course and

do the right thing. Are you letting what you

have learned about God affect your day -to -day

choices? Do you understand it? Can you not only

do the right thing, but know why you are doing

the right thing and explain doing the right thing

to someone else? And you say, well, sometimes

I can and sometimes I can't. And that's exactly

where you're supposed to be, but pressing forward

always to gain more wisdom and understanding.

That's the pathway. That's the solution. And

if we are doing that, then we will arrive ultimately

at the destination that God has laid out for

us. Romans 12 says that by the renewing of our

mind, we will eventually be able to test and

approve what is the good and perfect will of

God. Do you want to know what God wants you to

do? then you should be pursuing wisdom and understanding

constantly. Is this starting to become convicting?

Because it was for me. And I've been to Bible

college and seminary. Ephesians 6 says, and after

everything, in the day of evil and after everything,

to still be standing. So you've still got to

be staying the course. The Word of God speaks

again and again about being calm in the face

of distraction, in the face of struggles and

a lack of peace and anxiety. Psalm 27 .1 says,

The Lord is my light and my salvation, so why

should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress protecting

me from danger, so why should I tremble? Are

you afraid? If you're afraid, I submit to you,

it's because you're so used to this turn, turn,

turn thing, and you've been on and off the path

of uprightness. You've been doing things without

really knowing why you're doing them. And that

makes you wonder if something you're going to

do is going to disqualify you somehow or is going

to take you out of the picture so you can't really

be the person, the man or the woman that God

wants you to be. That would be the only reason

to be afraid. But if the Lord is your light and

your salvation, then why would you ever be afraid?

Proverbs 3 says this, Did you catch that? Length

of days? Years of life? And peace? Do not let

kindness and truth leave you. Bind them around

your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart

so you will find favor and good repute in the

sight of God and man. Favor and good repute in

the sight of God and man? Holy moly. And what

are we supposed to do to get this? Pursue wisdom

and understanding. That's what we have to do.

From wherever you are, pushing ever forward,

staying on the highway, the best you know, not

enticed or consenting to those who would lead

you off. Rather, just pushing forward. What's

your progress? What speed do you have to travel?

Do you have to get the light speed on this? No.

What if it's a crawl? What if it's a creeping?

What if it's inch by inch like an inchworm? Like

a snail? Would that be good enough? Yes. Yes,

it would, because it's about the posture and

the direction, not about the speed. In fact,

when you start to think you've got a lot of speed,

you may be in danger of falling into the idea

of thinking you're the only one who has a certain

enlightenment, which could lead you off the path.

It is just about pursuing wisdom and understanding.

Five says, trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Do not lean on your own understanding. See, we

could have the wisdom, start to do the things

that God has called us to do, and not have the

understanding. leaning on our own understanding

of those things, he says, don't do that. He says,

instead, in all your ways, acknowledge him and

he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise

in your own eyes. In other words, not wisdom

by your own standards, but by God's. Fear the

Lord and turn away from evil. And it will be

healing to your body and refreshment to your

bones. Holy cow! Do you realize the list of stuff

that's here promised? That's here observed by

Solomon? It was a lot. It was everything that

anyone could ever want, including now healing

to your body and refreshment to your bones. Honor

the Lord from your wealth and from the first

of all your produce. That's tithing and offering.

Honor him with all your money. That's tithing

and offering. And he says, and so your barns

will be filled with plenty and your vats will

overflow with new wine. My son, do not reject

the discipline of the Lord or loathe his reproof.

In other words, when God corrects you, don't

get upset about that. Don't despise it. Don't

push back. For whom the Lord loves, He reproves,

even as a father corrects the son in whom he

delights. Did you catch that? I don't stand up

here and preach a hard word out of the Bible

because I'm mad at you or because I hate you.

I'm trying to deliver unto you that which God

has delivered to me so we can do something about

it together. God loves you. Ty, your dad has

never punished you because he hates you. You

understand? Haley, you've never been grounded

or got your phone taken away once because your

parents don't love you. Alex, Pastor Dan never

called you out in the hallway because he didn't

love you or hated you. You understand? If someone

will rebuke you, it means they care enough to

do so. And that's what he's saying. God cares

enough to do that for us. Isaiah 41 says it this

way. He says, You whom I have taken from the

ends of the earth. That'd be us. Yay! There we

are in scripture. And called from its remotest

parts and said to you, You are my servant. I

have chosen you and not rejected you. Do not

fear for I am with you. Do not anxiously look

about you for I am your God. I will strengthen

you. Surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold

you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all

those who are angered at you will be shamed and

dishonored. Those who contend with you will be

as nothing and will perish. Do you understand

the promises that God is saying? If you will

live your life this way in the fear of the Lord

and pursuit of wisdom and understanding, God

is saying that he will shame those who have dishonored

you. He will contend with them. They will be

as nothing and will perish. He says, you will

seek those who quarrel with you, but will not

find them. Those who war with you will be as

nothing and non -existent. For I am the Lord

your God who upholds your right hand, who says

to you, do not fear, I will help you. Do not

fear, you worm Jacob, that's Israel. He says,

you men of Israel, which these promises can carry

right over to the church as we have been grafted

into Israel. And he says, I will help you, declares

the Lord. And your Redeemer is the Holy One of

Israel. Do you not understand that the God of

heaven who created everything, died on the cross

for you, now owns you, leads you daily? And you

would give in to agreeing with sinners over what

the right thing to do is? Or you would give in

to your antagonistic approach of getting your

own way that goes contrary to the one who made

the universe and died for you? That doesn't make

any sense. That's just dumb. You may as well

head butt a semi at 90 mile an hour in opposite

directions. You're running against God. Why would

you ever give in to the enticement of sinners?

Why would you ever consent to what's going on

around you that is sin? Why would you not always

pursue wisdom and understanding if these are

the observations of how it works when people

do that? Then Jesus said, Come to me, all of

you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and

I will give you rest. I am leaving you with a

gift, peace of mind and heart, and the peace

I give you is a gift the world cannot give. So

don't be troubled or afraid. Don't worry about

anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell

God what you need and thank Him for all He has

done. Then you will experience God's peace which

exceeds anything we can understand. His peace

will guard your hearts and minds as you live

in Christ Jesus. That last was Paul in Philippians

4. Paul writes to Timothy, For God has not given

us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power,

love, and self -discipline. Stay the course.

And what is the course? Pursue wisdom and understanding.

Psalm 119, which is all about the Bible. It's

all about... The importance of staying on God's

path, walking in His law and seeking Him with

the whole heart. And here's a few verses from

there. Blessed are the undefiled in the way who

walk in the law of the Lord. Thou hast commanded

us to keep thy precepts diligently. That means

we were going to work hard to do what God has

told us to do. Oh, that my ways were directed

to keep thy statutes. I will praise thee with

uprightness of heart when I shall have learned

thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes

and forsake Oh, forsake me not utterly. It's

a prayer to God. I will keep what God told me

to do. Please, Lord, don't give me up. Colossians

2, as therefore you receive Christ Jesus the

Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in

Him, and established in the faith as you have

been taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Let your

eyes look straight ahead and fix your gaze directly

before you. Ponder the path of your feet and

be sure that all your ways are good. Do not turn

to the right or to the left. Keep your foot from

evil. We read that. I press on toward the goal

to win the prize for which God has called me

heavenward. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the

author and perfecter of our faith, who for the

joy set before him endured the cross, despising

the shame, sat down at the right hand of the

throne of God. In your patience, possess your

souls. To him who overcomes, I will let him sit

on my throne with me as my father has let me

sit on his throne with him. Well done, good and

faithful servant, Matthew 25. I know in whom

I have trusted, I believe is able to keep unto

that day that which I have entrusted to him,

2 Timothy. Because we know the terror of the

Lord, we persuade men, 2 Corinthians 5. So I

ask you this. Will you walk in the way of good

men and keep to the path of the righteous? That's

Proverbs 4 .20, which we read. Two efforts will

make this so. Two things that you must do, that

I must do, that we must do as a community, as

the church, as the world. And they sound simple.

But I know in practice they are not always simple.

But they are doable in the Lord. And the first

one is trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord.

He'll get his part right. Trust in the Lord.

He'll get his part right. You don't have to do

it for him. Trust him. He'll get his part right.

If you don't trust him, if you can't trust him,

if you have not trusted him, then you're not

saved. Jesus Christ came to die on the cross

for your sins, to pay for your sins. And whosoever

believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting

life means you must trust him. Trust God. And

if you're getting out of bed some days, and some

days you trust him and some days you don't, something's

wrong. And I submit to you, we now know what's

wrong. If some days you get out of bed trusting

God and some days you don't, or some hours you

trust him and some days you don't, we now know

what's wrong. What's wrong is we're missing the

pursuit of our life. The one thing. The other

thing of the two. The two efforts that are absolutely

necessary. that other one is missing in your

life. If sometimes you trust him and sometimes

you don't, the other one is missing. And what

is it? Well, now you know, don't you? The purpose

of your life is to seek wisdom and understanding.

The highway of holiness has one gas pedal, one

shifter stick, one chariot that will carry you

forward. And it is seeking his wisdom and understanding.

And we come to the conclusion. Church organization

is a God -giving coping mechanism. The truth

is, based on this, what did we just say? The

two things you must do, you must trust in the

Lord. You must trust in the Lord. He'll get his

part right. And you must spend your life in the

pursuit of wisdom and understanding. Those are

the two things. Everything I read, every bit

of it says you'll get everything you could ever

really want. If you spend your life in the pursuit

of wisdom and understanding and trust the Lord.

But that would mean that we all have to go to

Bible college. We all have to go to seminary.

We all have to go on to the mission field. We

all have to spend hours every week, 10, 15, 20,

whatever it takes you, writing lessons and sermons.

And then, on top of that, we all have to be present

at the presentation of every one of those lessons

and sermons. There are 168 hours in a week, and

you sleep for 56 of it. If you sleep 8 hours

a night, some of us can't get 8 hours a night.

But if you sleep 8 hours a night, 8 times 7 is

56. That leaves 113 hours. And by all rights,

then, the two things you must certainly do, every

hour, every minute of every hour, every second

of every minute, Of the 113 hours are trust the

Lord and pursue wisdom and knowledge, wisdom

and understanding. Right? That's what we just

read. It's all scriptural. I'm not making it

up. You heard all those verses I read. Trust

the Lord and pursue wisdom and understanding.

Okay, but then where does working a 40 -hour

work week come in? Where does washing the clothes

come in? Where does eating? buying or cooking

your food come in? Where does taking care of

your loved ones come in? So what God has done

is God has ordained a structure, an organism,

if you will, and given certain people inside

that organism certain jobs. Since we can't all

spend 5 to 20 hours a week studying scripture

and writing lessons, we can't all go to Bible

college and seminary, and that was never going

to be an efficient way to operate the kingdom

of God. God gave pastors and teachers and preachers.

And servants in the church to do that very thing.

If you are called to that route. Then you will

probably have to do those things. So that you

can facilitate others. Pursuit of wisdom and

understanding. Subtle steps away from the Lord.

Business conducted. Tiredness. Reasonableness.

Doesn't matter why you get there, subtle steps

away from the Lord are still just that, steps

away from the Lord. The pastor's best or the

teacher's best will never be quite good enough.

It may be a little bit long or it might not incorporate

humor enough or enough popular references or

too many popular references. It might not use

the exact verses that you would have chose to

use. But none of that was included in the two

-part action plan that we have that yields all

those promises. Simply trust in the Lord. He'll

get his part right and live in pursuit of wisdom

and understanding. That's your job. So if you

walk away from the sermon and a week later or

a month later, you can't trace back anything

that you're doing differently. any strength that

you might have to anything that you heard preached

here, then there's a substantial possibility

that God's not in my preaching and you should

probably go somewhere else. I would. If I were

you and I was sitting here Sunday after Sunday

and I wasn't hearing from the Lord when the pastor

speaks, when I wasn't feeling the Spirit move

in me when the worship plays, I'd go somewhere

else. May as well just go to the first church

of Satan. I hear they have really good services.

Or a universal church over there. You don't have

to do anything. You go to heaven no matter what.

He's getting the same thing out of it. The truth

is, we are here as a church to reach new heights

in Jesus, which is to say, we are trusting the

Lord and pursuing wisdom and understanding. It

is not good enough for you to just know what

I said or what the Bible said or what the verses

say. It's not even good enough for you to just

know what they mean. That's wisdom. But it's

the pursuit of wisdom and understanding. You

have to know... how you know, what you know,

how you can use what you know, when it might

come in handy, how you can teach it to others,

that's understanding. You have to stand under

what you've learned. There is more work to be

done than just showing up on Sunday morning.

There's more work to be done than just showing

up on Tuesday night. Or just showing up on Sunday

morning and Tuesday night. But here we live in

a day where we are allowing business and tiredness

and... All of these other things, reasonableness,

logical steps that we might need to take in our

lives to get to where we think we're going, to

interfere with our ability to study the word

of God, to spend time in worship together, to

live in community as a church. And I know this

might sound self -serving, but I don't mean it

to. And to hear the preaching of the pastor.

I've already given you authorization to go somewhere

else if you think that's better for you. But

to not be here on a Sunday. And especially when,

like, if you're not here because you're sick,

you could just watch it online or listen to the

podcast and not get what comes out of every single

sermon. That's on you. It's not on me and it's

not on God. If you're on your phone and you're

only getting 80 % of what I'm saying, then you're

20 % a sinner. You're consenting to 20 % loss

of information. Willingly. Just the same as if

you had your earbuds in and they were turned

down. It's the same thing. Whatever comes of

us being together in community and working like

this to pursue wisdom and understanding at the

end of a hard -fought battle after the pastor

spent hours or after the pastor spent time in

the Word trying to figure out a battle that now

you don't have to fight. If you are willing to

prioritize gaining wisdom and understanding,

you won't get wrapped up in the human element.

You won't have to worry about, oh, so -and -so

did, so -and -so said, I don't like the drama,

I don't like what's going on, I don't like what

they seem to stand for, or I don't like what

he did last week. You won't have to get wrapped

up in any of that because your purpose of being

in the church will be pursuing wisdom and understanding

and you won't have time for it. You came here

to hear the sermon, you're taking notes, you're

studying, you're praying, you're thinking about

what is it God wants to do with my life. You

know, I preached a sermon just over a month ago

now about dreams. And after I preached that sermon,

beginning the next day, I have written a dream

journal, the first thing after my Bible study,

every single morning, every single day, without

fail. Now, a couple times all I have is just

like a little jot note because I don't remember

much, but I have a dream journal. Now, so I did

it. Is there anybody else who started a dream

journal? Is there anybody else who went home

after that sermon and prayed, God, if there's

something you want me to see tonight while I'm

sleeping, I'm open to that. Speak to me. Go ahead.

Is there something you want me to remember in

the morning? Because what I told you is that

you cannot afford to waste the seven hours you

were sleeping not listening to the Lord. You

can't do it. It says in Joel 2 that God will

speak through dreams. It says that in the Word

of God. You're not dreaming? Like, I'm dreaming,

but I don't remember anything? Have you prayed

and asked God to show you what out of your dreams

you might need to take? Now, I'm not saying every

single sermon is for every single person in the

same way. But you have to come here and to Tuesday

night Bible study, and I could just put a period

there, right? You have to come here and to Tuesday

night Bible study and to the men's study if you're

a man and to the women's study if you're a woman

and to the adult study if you're an adult to

learn everything that you possibly can learn.

You're like, but I'm too busy. So check yourself

and figure out, because the reality is as simple,

this is the math of it. If you don't come here

and do it where it's highly efficient, if you

don't come here and do it where somebody's already

spent hours digesting it for you and pour it

out to you, pour their heart and soul out to

you, if you don't do that, then you're going

to have to do the work yourself. I spent 12 hours.

If you walk away from this sermon and you get

nothing, you're committed to spending 12 hours.

Unless you're better than me, you can do it in

six. Go for it. Do it in six. You understand

what I'm saying? You will see things off the

highway for what they are. Enticements to turn

from trusting in the Lord and pursuing wisdom

and understanding. That's all they are. No matter

how good a thing is, if it interferes with your

trust in the Lord and your pursuit of wisdom

and understanding, then it is just an enticement.

Not only must you resist it, but you cannot consent

to it. We must live, work, bathe ourselves, clean

our houses, take care of our loved ones. And

God, God has given us provisions in all of those

areas so that not every one of us has to spend

long hours in a classroom and get a degree specifically

in Bible digesting. Or to get one concept and

thereby ignore our God -given responsibilities.

If you're not doing those things, then it is

not of His will you took a turn. If you are not

either A, present at every opportunity to learn

and grow in wisdom and understanding, or B, replacing

that with something else that achieves the same

goal that God has set for you, then that's not

God's fault. It's yours. A couple of illustrations

and then we'll be through. First one's a gas

tank. Most of us have driven a car. Most cars

have a gas tank. Some of the young people have

not, but you've ridden in a car. Haley, you've

ridden in a car, haven't you? Yep. You ever see

the gas gauge? Yep. They all got them. Did you

know that gas gauges are absolutely unnecessary?

You don't need a gas gauge at all. I've had two

cars that had a broken gas gauge that would not

tell you how much gas they had. And you know

what? While I was driving both of those cars,

I never once ran out of gas. I had two cars with

gas gauges that did not work. And while I was

driving them, I never ran out of gas. Now ask

me how many times I've ran out of gas in cars

that have gas gauges. So do you need a gas gauge?

About eight. I used to be the guy. Sherry would

pick on me all the time because I'd be calling

her. I ran out of gas. I'm on Woodville Road.

Again? Gas gauges are worthless. They have no

need whatsoever. You know why people use a gas

gauge? They use it because it's convenient. You

put it on the car because otherwise you have

to remember when you bought gas last. Oh, gosh.

You have to waste a whole 14 tiny molecules in

your brain remembering when you brought gas last.

With a cell phone, store all the contacts. Now

I can't remember anybody's phone number. We're

slowly letting our brains just die off. We don't

need it. Don't need your brain. Yes, you do.

Yes, you do. Eat eggs. It's good for your cholesterol

level. You need a brain. And you should be able

to remember the last time you brought gas. And

if it's been a couple weeks, stop and get some

for crying out loud. Do you know that if you

would just... Here you go. I'm shaming myself

a little bit here. So I know when my car is low

on gas, the little light comes on, and then I

keep right on driving it. Because it's not out

of gas yet, that's what the light says. It says

it's not out of gas yet. It says mostly out of

gas, but not yet. And since they put those lights

on there, admittedly, I have only run out of

gas once. And you're laughing at me, because

you shouldn't run out of gas. If the light comes

on, you're stopping at gas, right? But you know

how many times I have gotten gas in the rain?

Now why that? 60 miles left. It does not rain

the whole time, unless you're on the road, like

on the expressway, driving somewhere. It does

not rain the whole time, the whole 60 miles.

So anytime in the 60 miles left, when they get

whatever it is, when the gas light comes on,

you could get the rain. While the sun is shining,

at a gas station that has a roof over it. Most

of them do, but not all of them. When it's not

so stinking cold outside. But I've gotten gas.

At the coldest possible times, like it's warm

in the afternoon, but I've got to get gas at

5 a .m. because I drove it until there's next

to nothing in the tank and I can't call Sherry

again, so I've got to buy the gas. See what we're

doing? If you would just do this, if you would

just say, I'm going to stop and get gas on my

way to church or on my way home from church every

Tuesday, your gas tank would be filled three

to four days of the week and the last couple

of days of the week. It starts to get lower,

but it'd never probably go under half a tank

unless you drove a ton of miles. And how much

work is it to remember I just get gas every Wednesday

or every Thursday or every Sunday or whatever?

None. But because we have a gas gauge, we put

it off, and then we pump the gas in the rain.

Right? If you went to go get gas on the way home

from church on Tuesday night, and it was pouring

down rain, icy cold, You'd know I can drive for

another week if I have to because I got gas last

Tuesday. Or I'll just put it off until tomorrow

morning when it's not raining. But that's not

what we're doing. This is an opportunity, the

preaching is an opportunity to get a filling

of his word and a spirit -led teaching. I don't

mean to say that everything I ever say is spirit

-led because that's not true. But everything

you hear can be. Everything you hear in this

room can be. Every song can be. Every prayer

can be. If your posture is pursuing wisdom and

understanding, you'll be able to tell when there's

enticement not to listen to, and when there's

enticement not to consent to, and you'll be able

to stand for the Lord in the day of evil. Wisdom

is more than knowing. It is application. It's

not just knowledge, it's knowing what to do,

what God would have you do, and so on. It's the

ability to do it. But understanding is a different

thing altogether. It's knowing why you know it,

what the results are likely to be, what the outcome

is going to be, how to teach others that same

thing. And we must pursue wisdom and understanding

in every way we possibly can. We must stand under

what we know, and wisdom and together, Wisdom

and understanding together form the pursuit that

godly men and women must elevate above all other

pursuits. If you do not elevate the pursuit of

wisdom and understanding above all other pursuits,

then you will be dismissing all of those observable

promises that we read. Some of them straight

out of the mouth of Jesus. If we do elevate them

above all other pursuits, it will result in a

course of godly daily living as we gain more

wisdom and understanding. I am asking you to

ask yourself, are you committed to the pursuit

of wisdom and understanding? Or are you just

using this road of goodness, this road of uprightness

for God's protection as long as he'll give it,

and then when it seems to be falling through,

doesn't seem to be working out, whatever, you'll

just cope the best you can. All those promises

we read surround trusting the Lord he'll get

his part right and living a life in pursuit of

wisdom and understanding. When we had that inspirational

moment, I was encouraged by the Holy Spirit,

but I really wasn't encouraged by the activity

because we had several kinds of people in the

room. And one of those kinds of people were people

that could have answered and did not. They didn't

speak up. They couldn't bring themselves to restate

in their own words the same thing that we were

reading. That's discouraging to a pastor. Secondly,

there was another kind of person in the room

who was like, well, I kind of know what it means,

but I can't explain it. I've heard those verses.

Some of you probably had those verses memorized.

You're like, I get that. I know that. I do that.

But still couldn't just simply restate it in

their own words or would not. One or the other.

That's discouraging. This is a church about reaching

new heights in Jesus. Let's decide that everything

we do going forward is going to be about pursuing

wisdom and understanding while we trust the Lord

for it. That's the kind of church we want to

be. And as we go to this invitation, if that's

not the kind of person that you have been, I'm

asking you to repent. You're going to gain a

lot of knowledge in your lifetime, a lot of knowledge.

And none of that knowledge is going to see you

through to heaven. None of that knowledge is

going to give you all those other promises and

blessings. But wisdom, that's godly knowledge,

applied to your circumstances and understanding,

that's the ability to stand under what you now

know. Those things will give you. All that other

stuff that we read, all those promises of Jesus

and of Solomon, of Paul. And by the way, I narrowed

that list substantially. See why I'm so convicted?

If all the Bible from beginning to end is about

trusting the Lord and redemption through Jesus

Christ, Jesus said, live your life in pursuit

of wisdom and understanding. I'll ask the praise

team to come forward at this time. If you're

here today, while I've been preaching, you realize

I'm not actually saved. I really haven't trusted

the Lord for my salvation. I've submitted my

life in His hands. I can't count the moment in

time in which I was born again.