The Good Intentions Cage

Thank you for choosing this sermon from New Heights

Fellowship Baptist Church in East Toledo. Enjoy

and grow. We will rise with you, lifted on your

wings, and the world will see that. Oh yes, the

world will see that. It's a ghetto I promise

you it's a Bible verse. It's right here. Because

straight is the gate and narrow is the way which

leadeth unto life, and few there be that find

it. Beware of false prophets which come to you

in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous.

Ravening. I want to say ravenous, but it's the

King James, so it's ravening wolves. That's that

reference. All right. You'll notice that the

title of the sermon today is The Good Intentions

Maids. Shakespeare wrote, and I believe it was

Hamlet, that the road to hell is paved with good

intentions. And today we're going to talk about

the good intentions maze. I want to impress upon

you exactly how difficult it is, by the time

we're done, to be on the road to where we want

to be. That's all there is for my opening illustration.

I think it's short and to the point. And then

we're going to get into the text. So grab your

Bibles, take a breath, and it may be a little

challenging at times to be excited about the

book of Proverbs, but the book of Proverbs is

full of power and a lot of success for those

who will listen to it. So take a breath and say

amen. Give me a Yahtzee for Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 14 · chapter mention

14. Amen. Proverbs chapter 14, and we'll begin

Proverbs 14 · chapter mention

in verse 10. Okay, I'm going to read these verses

and I'm going to explain them a little bit, although

they are fairly self -explanatory. There's only

a couple of words and it's mostly toward the

end that are hard to understand, but I'm going

to explain them as we go through. And then I'll

come back and show you a couple of things. And

we have a few other texts, all New Testament

texts that we will look at in conjunction to

what we are reading. Proverbs chapter 14, beginning

Proverbs 14 · chapter mention

of verse 10 says this, the heart knows its own

bitterness That seems kind of obvious. The heart,

the center of your being, you know what your

bitterness is inside, internally. Now, mentally

you may have a hard time recognizing it. That's

why we get therapy sometimes to find out what

it was in our past that really provokes us. What

it was that really causes that problem for us.

But in our heart, it knows its own bitterness.

And a stranger does not share its joy. When you

truly have joy in your heart because you've seen

something, experienced something, whatever, a

stranger, somebody who does not know you well,

they don't share in that. They can't really understand

why you're really joyous. They might see that

you are, or that you're acting like you're really

happy, but they can't really understand why that

would be. Now, a close friend gets closer. A

spouse, very much so. Maybe a brother who's been

with you your whole life, who's been really close

with your sibling your whole life, something

like that. Maybe your parent. but a stranger

does not share in the joy of the heart. The house

of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent

of the upright will flourish. So the house here

is metaphoric, right? It means where you live,

where you act, where you control, where you do

your work, where you go. So the circle of your

life, if you will, of the wicked will be destroyed,

will be put down, done away with. But the tent

of the upright, again, that's that... that place

which is temporary, but it's where you work at.

It's where you do your stuff at, right? But it's

temporary. It's mentioned as a tent rather than

a house. Of the upright will flourish. I think

it's significant that it's mentioned as a tent

because we realize this lifetime is temporary.

Like Ron was talking about, the things we think

are really important right now, they can't become

baggage to you. They can't be stuck to you because

someday you're going to have to not take that

stuff with you into heaven, no matter how important

it is right now. The tent of the upright will

flourish, and flourish means to blossom out.

To expand, to grow rapidly. You can imagine that

happen as we come into heaven or even as we come

into the kingdom of God and God working in us.

Verse 12, there is a way which seems right to

a man. And this is kind of the center of our

verse. There is a way which seems right to a

man, but its end is the way of death. And so

you can be on a path doing what you think is

best. and I won't dwell on this too much right

now, I'll come back to it, but you can be on

a path that you're doing what you think is best,

and actually that path leads you to exactly where

you don't want to go. By the best training that

you've received, by your best understanding,

by your best figuring, calculating books that

you've read, you go, I think I need to do this,

and you study it, and you figure out how to do

it best, and by the best that you can do, you

can think you're on the right path, but actually

the path leads to destruction, because if the

path seems right to you, then of course you're

on it. Why wouldn't you be on it? but it leads

to destruction. And so that's not good. The end

of that way is death. Verse 13, we've got four

verses left. 13 says, even in laughter, the heart

may be in pain. So in other words, and you see

this in people, they laugh, the joke, right?

A lot of times when kids are being bullied in

school, they laugh. People are picking on them,

cracking on them, saying nasty things. I'm a

fat or ugly or mean or stupid or... You're ignorant,

or that was really dumb, whatever. And they crack

on them, insults. And the kid who's being bullied

will laugh. But really, inside they have pain.

Deep residing hurt, right? And so, though people

are laughing, they might actually be in pain.

So they're kind of, their outward emotions then

are a lie about what's really going on inside,

right? And it says, and the end of joy may be

grief. So in other words, even if for a while,

it seems like, yeah, I really feel good about

this. This is really right. Ultimately, the end

can be grief. You can wind up where you don't

want to be, sad, destroyed, you know? And then

it says, the backslider in heart, this is the

person who in their heart doesn't really want

to do what's right. They're slipping away from

doing what's right. They will have his fill of

his own ways. So ultimately, if you survive long

enough and you're walking on a road that isn't

good for you, you will ultimately figure out,

you know, I'm sick of this. I've had enough.

It never seems to work out. No matter what I

try to do, it always falls apart. And people

arrive at a place where, for all their efforts,

they feel like they're fed up. They're done.

They just want to quit doing it over and over

and over again, trying again and again. The backslider

in heart winds up there. Because the heart's

supposed to be right with God. The heart's supposed

to be upright. It doesn't have strength to keep

doing what's wrong over and over and over again.

It says, but a good man will be satisfied with

his ways. Notice it does not say that a good

man will come out on top all the time or will

not suffer at all or will get wealthy or any

of that. But it says that a good man will be

satisfied with his ways. So in other words, if

you keep trying to do what's right, no matter

how hard it gets, you will be satisfied. You

will realize, hey, I'm doing what's right. You'll

be able to support. your decision. It makes sense

to your mind. You'll be satisfied. It makes sense

to your heart. Two verses left. The naive believes

everything, but the prudent man considers his

steps. Hey, Tyler. Tyler. Sit up, buddy. Thanks.

The naive believes everything, but the prudent

man considers his steps. So the naive is the

one who's easily tricked. As I was reading this,

I was thinking of my daughter Alicia when she

was younger. Poor Alicia. I believe it was Ron

and I were driving down from Michigan one day

to give you an example, and we convinced her

that on the map they have those black lines.

She's like, you've got to tell this story again.

Don't worry, it was a long time ago, so you've

grown out of it. But the point is, we convinced

her that at one point in time they had actually

painted those black lines on the ground where

all the state lines were, but that they had faded

away. And so now they put up signs to mark where

the line used to be. And she believed it for

all of about, I think, three or five minutes

or something. And I said, Dad, that just doesn't

seem right. In your defense, I was just as naive

as you were. My uncle and my aunt one time invited

me to come over to dinner to go out for pizza.

And right before I got there, my uncle turned

the oven on. And then when I walked in, I noticed

that the oven was always warm in the house. And

I got suspicious. Are we going out for pizza?

And he says, you know, we were going to go out

for pizza, but at that time I didn't like lasagna

at all, and they knew it, and everybody knew

I didn't like lasagna. And he said, but your

aunt decided to make lasagna for dinner instead.

And I was like, oh, I was destroyed for like

10 minutes. I sat on the couch pouting, and I

thought, you know, I was like 8 or 9, and I was

like, oh, man, no way, we're not getting pizza.

And finally... My uncle went in the kitchen,

turned the oven off, and he said, there's nothing

in the oven. I was just kidding with you. So

it runs in the family. The naive, that's what

naive means. It means those who accept. It says

you'll believe anything. You'll believe everything.

When Satan comes along and nudges you in a certain

direction, when the world teaches you to go a

certain way, you start thinking, hey, I might

get some benefit out of this, right? The naive

believes everything. But the prudent man, and

that word is huge for our sermon today, the prudent

man considers his steps. And so when you read

that verse, you take the definition of prudent

to be wise, right? That's what we want to define

the word prudent as, but that's not the definition

of the word prudent. And we'll come back to the

definition of the word prudent before we're through.

But the prudent man, somebody that we want to

be, considers his steps. thoughtful about the

things that he's doing. And the last verse says,

that we're going to read anyway, a wise man is

cautious and turns away from evil. So we have

reason to fear, reason to be concerned, and there's

nothing wrong with fear, right? It's fear that

keeps us from putting our hand down on a burning

hot stove, because we learned a long time ago,

if you do that, you burn, it hurts really bad,

so we don't do that. So fear keeps, there's nothing

wrong with fear, okay? But there's a lot of fear

that is wrong. So to be cautious is wise, and

the wise man is cautious and turns away from

evil because he realizes that evil will take

him a place that he doesn't want to go. Okay,

so this is what I was thinking about as I was

writing this sermon. I was thinking about how

dangerous it is to be right and to be lost at

the same time. Ever had that happen? To be right,

to think you know what's right, you're doing

the right things, you're doing the best you can,

and to be lost at the same time. When I was in

junior high and I went through a period of time

where there was this gang of guys, about five

or six of them, and they were hunting me wherever

I went. And so I got really tricky and really

cunning at hiding from them because I didn't

want them to beat me up. And I knew the one guy

carried a knife. And I started carrying a knife

too, but the truth is I was afraid to ever have

to use it. I didn't ever want to have to use

it. The one time I did try to use it, somebody

took it away from me and tried to use it on me.

Fortunately, I was able to get to my car and

drive away before I was seriously injured. The

point is, I was afraid. And so I got cautious,

and I was lurking, and I was hiding, and I was

lying, and I was doing everything I could possibly

do to not get in a fight with these five, six

guys that I knew would beat the crap out of me

if I did. So I was right because I don't want

to get beat up and I don't want to face them

one on five or six. That was the right thing.

But I was so afraid. I was so scared. I was hiding

around corners. You understand? It's terrible

to be right, to be doing what you think is the

right thing the best you can, but to be lost

at the same time. I've heard stories of pastors

and leaders of churches that have told their

congregation or their flock, manipulated them,

pushed them hard to do something that really

is the wrong thing. I know people in my life,

and I never share their stories, but I know people

in my life firsthand that have experienced that

and it's ended horribly. It's terrible, terrible,

terrible to be right and to think in your mind,

I'm so right, I know, and yet to be lost at the

same time. So what we read in these verses in

10 through 16 here is about a bad way. This is

a bad way. But let me tell you about this bad

way. This is not about a bad way you might take.

Most people quote the verse, say there is a way

that seems right unto man but leads to death.

And you don't want to take that way. Right? Except

that's not even what this is talking about. This

has absolutely zero to talk for zero in it about

you not taking a bad way. Understand? Even though

it's written in the present tense, there is a

bad way, and I'm paraphrasing now, there is a

bad way. That seems good to somebody. That's

present tense. It seems good. Seems is present

tense. It seems. Right now it seems good. But

it leads to death. Even though that's in the

present tense, it isn't even about present tense,

is it? You understand? It isn't about present

tense. It's actually about the past tense. Because

how do you have a way that seems right to a man

but leads unto death unless the way already exists?

Unless there's somebody who's already been on

it. And I submit to you, it's talking about you,

me, having already been on it. This is about

a way that we already chose for ourselves. You

understand? This is about a way that we were

already on, have been on, could now be on, and

could in the future be on. This is a way that

persists, continues to exist. It's a bad way,

this is. And it's a bad way, not that we might

just possibly get on in the future, that we could

easily avoid if we just realized it exists. It's

a bad way that we were already on. And Jesus

said to Nicodemus when he came in the middle

of the night, do not be surprised that I say

unto you, you must be born again. First he said,

you have to be born again in order to see the

kingdom of God. And he said it to Nicodemus,

who was this... godly man who knew the Bible

like crazy, whole books memorized, prayed all

the time everywhere he went, was preaching probably

seven days a week. Brother Tim works about seven

days a week. This guy was preaching seven days

a week. Right? And people were paying him to

preach because they loved what he had to say.

They wanted to hear it so bad. He fasted two

days a week, went completely without food from

sundown one day to the sundown the next day,

two days a week. And Jesus said to him, you got

to be born again in order to see the kingdom

of God. And then he said to him, don't be surprised

that you have to be born again to see the kingdom

of God. It doesn't really make any sense that

God would let people go to heaven that are liars

and thieves and hypocrites, because if all the

liars and thieves and hypocrites wind up in heaven,

liars and thieves and hypocrites, guess what

heaven's going to be full of? Liars and thieves

and hypocrites. And that doesn't sound like heaven,

does it? Don't be surprised to say that you have

to be born again. And you could hear him saying

to Nicodemus, and Nicodemus should have known

this proverb, But don't be surprised when I say

to you, you must be born again, means you have

chosen that way which seems right to you, but

leads to death. Okay, now, just a straw poll

real quick. How many of you have ever memorized

an entire book of the Bible? How many of you

consistently fast two days a week? How many of

you have ever been preaching seven days a week

and paid for it every single day? Zero hands

go up. So here's a man that's that wise about

the ways of living for God. He's that wise about

the ways of living for God, and yet he was on

a road that leads to death. What hope had we

as ordinary human beings of not being on this

road this bad way? Ah, but there is hope. You

see, one of the qualities of this bad way is

it stinks suspiciously. Remember that a man who

goes his own way, eventually what? Tires of it.

He starts to realize, hey, this is not working.

I keep doing this, I keep trying, and this is

not working. It's because that man has chosen

his own way, a way that seems right to him. If

it's your own way, it must be a way that seems

right to you, right? But if it's your own way...

then it's a way that leads to death. There is

a way that seems right to you that leads to death.

And it's not God's way. It's not Jesus' way.

It's not depending on Jesus. You must be born

again. You have to have a fresh start. You have

to put your way down. Stop it. Cut it out. Quit

reasoning your way to the next step. This is

dangerous. Because this same teaching applies

for those who pretend or those who say they are

Christians and are not. So you know people in

your family. You know people in your school.

You know people at your workplace. You know people

maybe even in this room who are claiming to be

Christians. And while you would never say to

them, I don't think you're a Christian, or at

least you shouldn't if they're claiming to be

a Christian, because that would be judging their

salvation. You can see that their actions clearly

are some other way other than the way that God

is talking about, right? If it's the way of the

heart, the way that the heart truly desires,

it's with Christ and Christ is leading, then

it's godly and what comes out of their mouth.

And is this the point at which, by the way, I

did a couple of hours of... research. And I'm

wondering if this is the point at which I should

now put up the social media posts that I found

of a vast number of our church members that include

a proliferation of foul language, nastiness,

cussing at each other, talking about how lazy

and mean people are. Oh, but that doesn't apply

to you. What if I pulled out a recorder at this

point in time and I played back a recording of

the last time you were struggling with your car

breaking down or rushing to get to an appointment

or a kid was being, disbehaving. What kind of

language could I have recorded on that recorder

that I could now play? You see, there is a way

that seems right unto a man, but it leads to

death. And I submit to you that if you are living

like that, half in, half out, sometimes all real

nasty in your speech and other times pretty nice.

If you've been holding a wrong against somebody

and love, right, does not take into account the

wrong suffered. Last month's memory verse. You've

been holding a wrong against somebody. Jesus

said, for as you forgive others, that's how your

Father will forgive you. I changed the tense

slightly. In the Lord's Prayer, Lord, forgive

us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass

against us. If you've been holding a wrong against

somebody, then I submit to you that you are living

a way which you think is right. I don't think

you're doing that because you're an idiot. I

don't think you're doing that because you're

just a mean cuss that wants to be bad to people.

But if your life is like this, if your life has

those moments in time where clearly you are disrespecting

God, yet you are claiming the name of the Lord

Jesus, I submit to you that you, like any other

reasonably wise person, have chosen a way that

seems right to you. And you, like Nicodemus,

should be hearing the same words of Jesus. You

must be born again. You say, no, but I claim

the name of Jesus. I trusted Jesus, and now I

trust that Jesus is covering over my sins. Well,

if that's the way you see it, and it's not suspiciously

stinky to you, then maybe you're okay. But I

submit to you that repentance and living the

way that God would have you to live It would

be better. I submit to you that when you have

that irk inside you, that kind of feeling of

your heart that says, this behavior, well, ultimately,

I don't want the results of this behavior. I

don't want to hurt my spouse, my friend, my brother,

my sister. I don't want to not do what it is

that God called. I don't want the results of

this. If you could take, the last time you made

a nasty comment to somebody, Now I want you to

just, in your imagination for a moment, think

about if you do that, how long ago was it? Say

maybe it was a month ago. A month ago you made

your last nasty comment to somebody. And you

say, well, I think I could go another month without

doing it. And so I'm only going to make a nasty

comment once every two months. It's pretty likely

that, you know, that's a fairly reasonable estimation.

So six times a year. Now I'm going to live on

earth for 50 more years. Most of us might make

that. Some of us might be kind of pushing it.

Hard to say. Say, I'm going to live for 50 more

years. So six times a year. So 300 times. And

you think when you're 80, you're not going to

look back and go, you know what, I just need

to stop making those nasty comments to people.

Or would it go like this? When you're 80, it's

going to be like a nasty comment every day. Which

is it? Either way, it would mark or prove that

you are... on a way of your own choosing that

you think is right, but it stinks suspiciously,

and you will have your fill of it, and you need

to be born again. The second thing about this

bad way is it stalks skillfully. First of all,

it stinks suspiciously, and so there is the ability

for us to choose not to be on it, to choose Jesus

instead on a regular basis, but also it stalks

skillfully. It's stealthy. The opportunities,

are always there. So they're always hiding around

the corner. You know what I mean? Somebody will

provoke you when you're not expecting it. Somebody

that you are trusting to behave in a reasonable

way will behave in a completely unreasonable

way. And the next thing you know, you're behaving

in an unreasonable way. Not nearly as unreasonable

as they are. So it's all on them. But just a

little bit unreasonable. Right? It's stealthy.

It creeps up on you. And suddenly you're doing

what you should not be doing. Why? Because it's

a reasonable thing to do. It makes perfect sense

to me to behave this way. Someone just cut me

off in traffic. It makes perfect sense for me

to cuss them out a little bit. They can't hear

it. I'm not hurting anybody. I'm the only one

in the car. If you're the only one in the car,

you need to be born again because Jesus is supposed

to be in the car too. And if you think Jesus

would cuss them out for cutting you off, you

might want to look at the story where Jesus is

on the cross being crucified. He's on the verge

of dying. And he says, forgive them for they

know not what they do while they're crucifying

him. While he's struggling to get his next breath.

Oh, but them cutting you off in traffic, that

makes it perfectly okay. To have Jesus in the

car with you, that seems like maybe you're living

your own way. It stalks you skillfully. It's

right there around the corner, always looking

for an opportunity for you to diverge from the

course that you've set for yourself, which was

supposed to be Jesus' course. Also, it's good

at camouflage. Because it looks right. What are

we called to? In Christ, what are we supposed

to be? Right? Live upright. It's right in there.

The upright man. So we're just supposed to be

right. So if we're right by our own standards,

we're all good. Right? It's camouflaged. Because

if you're right by your own standards, you're

not good. Not unless your standards of what's

right have been completely regenerated in God.

And that doesn't even happen at the moment that

you're born again. Because we have... A progressive

regeneration. We understand better and better

and better. So you may be here today and you

say, okay, I'm a Christian. And I do understand

that some of these behaviors that I'm trying

to put out of my life, that they are still wrong.

And I need to once and for all put them out of

my life. But I've not been able to do that. That's

because this bad way that we're talking about

stalks skillfully. It's right there. And it looks

right when it happens. And so you wind up doing

something that you think is right. And that won't

cut it. That's not going to get you where you

want to go. And it has endurance. It can outweigh

you. You can get it right for days, weeks, or

months. It takes a human 40 days to build a habit.

Now let's imagine you wanted to build a habit

of right living in every possible way. That's

a lot of 40 days. Right? Let's say you get 10

things in 40 days. But there are millions of

things. So all it has to do is wait for you to

find that right way that isn't God's way again

and you will diverge. You will find something

else. You will take the steps that you should

not because this bad way stalks you skillfully.

What we need to do is be disciplined and recognize

that we are being stalked. In the movie, The

Hunger Games, which was out, the whole series

that came out back, I don't know, what is it,

five, ten years ago? Whatever. Everybody knew

that they were going to be in the games. And

everybody got access to the same training. And

they knew that the other contestants, all of

them, would be stalking them. Even the one that

came from their home area eventually would be

stalking them, potentially. It wasn't until the

last Hunger Games. The big one, if you will.

I don't know if it was even the last one. It

wasn't technically the last one, I guess. But

where two were allowed to survive. That was the

first time that ever happened. And so even your

friend from home, if you would call him a friend,

would have to kill you. And so if you're being

stalked skillfully, and if the opponent is trained

in camouflage, you had better be disciplined

about what you have learned in order to resist

the bad way. The third thing is that the bad

way... started specifically. And here it comes

to it. The bad way started very specifically.

When you got on the bad way and began doing the

wrong things instead of the right things, by

the wrong things, it's not putting God first,

not practicing spiritual disciplines, maybe not

worshiping, maybe not serving, maybe not caring

about others more than yourself, maybe allowing

your mouth to spout things that you shouldn't

or heart to feel things that you shouldn't, et

cetera, et cetera. So rather than doing the wrong

things, actually did, started quite specifically,

and it's going to surprise you, started with

all good intentions. It's a way that seems right.

You couldn't fall into it unless you thought

it was right. You started with good intentions.

So you never, ever cussed anybody out that didn't

deserve it. You know how many times I've heard

that on the street in the last 10, 15 years?

Well, I never cussed anybody that didn't deserve

it. I never put somebody down that didn't deserve

it. I've even heard people say, I never stole

from somebody that didn't deserve it. And so

they're doing what they think is right. And so

when you go out into the world, you need to realize

that a lot of times when people are doing this

stupid thing, they're cutting you off in traffic.

They're doing what they think is right. Maybe

they're not a very good driver, but they didn't

hit you. Maybe they are in a rush to get somewhere.

Maybe they are distracted because... Somebody

just died or they're on the verge of losing their

marriage that they care very deeply about or

whatever. You don't know what their situation

is and so they're just doing what they think

is right. Remember what God said to Jonah when

Jonah resisted going to Nineveh? Does anybody

remember? There's a lot of people there. They

don't know their right hand from the left. I

want you to go to them and tell them. Educate

them. You're my prophet. I'm paraphrasing, of

course. Right? Jonah didn't want to go because

he didn't want to save the Ninevites because

they were threatening to attack Jerusalem even

then. History tells us that 90 miles away from

Jerusalem was a Ninevite army ready to march

down and destroy God's people when God told Jonah

to go to Nineveh. He didn't want to save Nineveh.

He didn't want to let God relent of his anger.

He didn't want to let God spare Nineveh if they

should repent. And guess what they did when he

finally got around to it? They repented. And

guess what God did? He spared them. Their bad

ways started very specifically. They said, hey,

God has allowed us to build a great nation with

great armies and we can go and conquer others,

etc. Started very specifically with good intentions.

We are a good nation. We can rule others and

make their situation better. In the movie, A

Knight's Tale, late on in the movie, when it's

after the period of time which the main character

has tried to throw the joust, and now his love

tells him, if you love me, you'll win this joust.

And he gets up there, and he picks up his lance,

and he's about ready to go, and his squires tell

him the name of the guy he's jousting. And he

says, yeah, he sits at feast while he taxes his

servants all the more. He's taking all their

money. They starve while he feasts. And he's

like, yeah. And he rides out and he jousts this

guy because now he thinks this guy deserves it.

Now that guy deserves to be on the scene. He's

mad at the guy, whatever. I've heard people go

step up at a bat in softball and they say, I

want you to imagine the face of the person you're

the most mad at. These are all gimmicks that

people use because the bad way starts very specifically

with good intentions. You remember that word

prudent? Remember the word prudent? It was in

there and I said we'd talk about it. Let me tell

you what it actually means. What it actually

means is not to be wise. He could have just said

that. He said that in the other verse. What it

actually means is to take into account the future,

the destination, the goal, where you're likely

to wind up because of the choices that you're

making. To be prudent is to look forward. And

God says it over and over and over in His Word

that we are to be prudent. We're not to be arrogant.

We're not to think that we're right. We need

to be prudent. Ultimately, as wise as you may

ever get, as wise as you may ever get, you will

stand ultimately before the wisest being in the

universe and answer for your life. And will you

say, I thought it was the right thing? And if

you did say that, would it be enough? No. It

would not. You cannot rely on your own wisdom.

You need to be ready to stand before God and

answer for your actions. The way that we are

talking about getting on to, there's things like

you can never go wrong by worshiping the God

of the universe unless, of course, you're worshiping

the wrong God. That would be a problem. You can

never go wrong by studying the Bible unless,

of course, you're warping it to your own thinking.

You can never go wrong by praying to God unless,

of course, you're praying to Him like a candy

store owner or a teddy bear God, disrespecting

Him, asking Him for what you want, expecting

Him to give it to you just because you asked

Him, like a sorcerer. Then I guess you could

go wrong. See, these are all spiritual disciplines

and we have them. But when you order them, lay

them out next to each other and put them together,

they become a lifestyle. And that lifestyle respects

God. That lifestyle is the way that Jesus is

talking about. I'm going to read a few verses

from the New Testament that talk about thinking

ahead, and we are moving into the conclusion

now already, but it's a bit of a conclusion,

so give me a second. Titus chapter 2. If you

Titus 2 · chapter mention

want to flip there, you can. I'm going to read

five verses or so, six verses. Titus chapter

Titus 2 · chapter mention

2. Paul writes to Titus, and this is what he

writes, beginning in verse 7 of chapter 2. In

all things, show yourself to be an example of

good deeds. with purity and doctrine, dignified,

sound in speech, which is beyond reproach, in

order that the opponent may be put to shame,

having nothing bad to say about us. Urge bond

slaves. Listen to this. This is huge. Urge bond

slaves. Those are people who are in slavery to

masters, actual slaves owned by somebody else

that have pledged their service for life. Urge

bond slaves to be subject to their own masters

in everything. This is how much God wants us

to live strictly for Jesus. It may seem right

to be free, to have no other master in your life,

but if there is a master in your life, he says,

don't resist, don't talk back, don't fight back,

because the spirit of rebellion is more dangerous

than being a slave. Urge bond slaves to be subject

to their own masters in everything, to be well

-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering,

taking small stuff, but showing all good faith

that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior

in every respect. For the grace of God has appeared,

bringing salvation to all men, instructing us

to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and

to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the

present age. Looking, where are we looking? For

the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory

of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Christ

Jesus. If your focus is on what lies ahead of

you, then that stink that's around you is what

you're doing that doesn't honor where you're

going. And you go, well... And you begin to spew

a string of cuss words or well, and you begin

to talk back to an authority. And that stink

stands directly opposed to where you're going.

Do you think anybody is going to talk to people

like you sometimes talk to people when you get

to heaven? Will there be anybody in heaven talking

like that? Well, that makes it clear then that

that's a work that we have to get rid of. We

have to work. And I understand it's a work in

progress. I'm not saying it's an instantaneous

thing. But it's something that our heart should

desire to be rid of. Do we think that anybody

is going to think about other people in heaven

the way we sometimes think about people? And

you say, well, I don't say anything. I just feel

it. Why? Why do you feel it? Are you submitting

your feelings and your thoughts to the God of

the universe? God doesn't work only in the physical.

He works in the spiritual. More so, even, I think,

than the physical. But He's capable. Unlimited

in both. Why do you think that way? Is it because

you need to submit your thoughts to God? We're

going somewhere and the way it's going to be

when we reach that moment in time is going to

be, should, it doesn't fully depend, but it should

line up perfectly with the way you're acting

in these days. Hebrews 10 then. Hebrews 10 is

the next one. Hebrews 10, beginning in verse

22. We've got two more of these, an illustration

and a summary, and we're done. Hebrews 10, beginning

in verse 22, says this. And according to the

law, oops, that's wrong, that's 9, 22, here we

go. Let us draw near with a sincere heart in

full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled

clean from an evil conscience. and our bodies

washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the

confession of our hope without wavering. For

he who promised is faithful, and let us consider

how to stimulate one another to love and good

deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together.

That's one of the classic verses about making

sure you're in church and at Bible study and

like that with other believers, right? Not forsaking

our own assembling together, as is the habit

of some. Some people do that. We recognize not

everybody is... But encouraging one another and

all the more as you see the day drawing near.

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving

the knowledge of the truth. In other words, if

you're choosing to sin willfully after receiving

the knowledge about Jesus, there no longer remains

a sacrifice for sins. If Jesus paid for your

sins and then you go on and sin again, how can

anyone pay for that? It's an ongoing payment

or it's no payment at all. It's a payment for

sins that's for all the sins you ever did and

all the sins you ever will do or it's no payment

at all. But a certain terrifying expectation

of judgment and the fury of a fire which will

consume the adversaries. That's what we can hope

for. That's the destination. A path that seems

right to us leads to that place. Anyone who has

set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy

on the testimony of two or three witnesses. They

were put to death. Anybody of two or three people

witnessed against them breaking the law, they

could put them to death. That's the rule of the

Old Testament. How much severer punishment do

you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot

the Son of God and has disregarded as unclean

the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified?

So Jesus' blood is regarded as unclean by those

who continue in sin, willfully sin after having

accepted Christ. and has insulted the spirit

of grace. For we know him who said, vengeance

is mine, I will repay. And again, the Lord will

judge his people. It is a terrifying thing to

fall into the hands of the living God. But remember

the former days when after being enlightened

you endured a great conflict of suffering. So

you went through a lot of difficulties as you

started to try to live for Jesus. Partly by being

made a public spectacle through reproaches and

tribulations and partly by becoming sharers with

those who were so treated because you knew people

who were treated that way because of their faith.

For you showed sympathy to the prisoners. and

accepted joyfully the seizure of your property,

knowing that you have for yourselves a better

possession and an abiding one. And this is written

to those who had experienced those things. Therefore,

do not throw away your confidence, which has

a great reward, for you have need of endurance,

so that when you have done the will of God, you

may receive what was promised. For yet in a very

little while, he who is coming will come and

will not delay. But my righteous one shall live

by faith. And if he shrinks back, My soul has

no pleasure in him. You hear that? God says,

if you shrink back, his soul has no pleasure

in you. If I shrink back, his soul has no pleasure

in me. But we are not of those who shrink back

to destruction. That's the great blessing. We

do not shrink back to destruction. But of those

who have faith to the persevering of the soul,

we can continue. 2 Peter chapter 3. The last

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

two are fairly short. 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention 2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 beginning in verse 11. And let him

turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek

peace and pursue it. This is what we're supposed

to do. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the

righteous and his ears attend to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who

do evil. And I can put this paraphrase in there.

Who do evil even if they think it's right. You

understand? And who is there to harm you if you

prove zealous for what is good. Who will harm

you if you prove zealous for what is good? But

even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness,

you are blessed. Even if you actually do what's

right, you live for God and actually do what

God wants you to do and then you suffer because

of it, you're blessed. and do not fear their

intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify,

that means set apart, Christ as Lord in your

hearts, always being ready to make a defense

to everyone who asks you to give an account for

the hope that is in you. You always have to be

ready to tell anyone, why do you have this hope?

Yet will gentleness and reverence do that, and

keep a good conscience, so that in a thing in

which you are slandered, those who revile your

good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

So even those who speak out against you will

be put to shame. And then the book of Jude. The

book of Jude. It's the last one before Revelation.

The book of Jude just has one chapter, so it's

verses 24 and 25. In Jude 24, it says this. now

to him who is able to keep you from stumbling.

Do you hear that? Okay, let's stop one second

right here. This bad way, it stinks suspiciously.

You were already on it. You needed to be born

again. I hope you have been. If you haven't,

you need to be. Then assuming you've been born

again, be aware this bad way, it stalks skillfully.

It's after you. It's stealthy. It's camouflaged

and it has endurance. You need to be disciplined.

You need to be prudent thinking about where you're

going, not where you've been or what's going

on now or what seems right to you, but where

you're going, what you could do here that lines

up with where you're going. And then he says

that this one in whom you have trusted, if you've

been born again, he is able to keep you from

stumbling. He can stop that stealth. He can stop

that camouflage. He can let you see it for what

it is. He is able to keep you from stumbling

and to make you stand in the presence of His

glory blameless with great joy. He is able to

bring you to that place where you will stand

before Him blameless with great joy. Notice it's

not about us at all. It's not about what we think

about what's right. It's not about our opinions.

God is able to do that. That's what that whole

verse is about. To the only God, our Savior,

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, be these things.

Glory. Let us shine a light on God that all people

can see. Majesty. Let's recognize that God has

the character of a king. He deserves to be in

charge of all things. Dominion. That means He

rules. He governs. He directs. He guides. And

when I would start to say something that's inappropriate,

when I start to fail to do something that I should

do, I should hear God saying, Get up, Dan. Do

this, Dan. Don't do that, Dan. That's not right,

Dan. What are you doing? Repent and say you're

sorry, Dan. Apologize and make it right. Not

once, but four times over, Dan. That's His dominion

and His authority. He can rebuke that evil. He

can stop that way. He can make me think what's

right. He can help me see what's right. Not what

I think is right, not by my reason or my logic,

but by His standards. And it is so before all

time and now and forever. And then amen, which

means let it be so. So this is the check. If

there is a time or some kind of reason that you

have been allowing yourself to engage in behavior

that would not be logical in heaven, then you

need to repent. And you need to reinstate with

all that is in you and plead to the Lord for

him to reinstate because he is really the one

who can do it, his dominion in your life. The

tool of repentance, is a gift. And through repentance

now, there is the remission of sins. That's what

Jesus said. And that is the message of the Gospel.

Because we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who

died on the cross for us and rose again and taught

us that it was so, we can have our sins and the

consequences of them forgiven through repentance.

And what is repentance? It is not simply saying,

oh, I'll never do that again. It's not saying

I'm sorry or I'm sorry I was caught. It's not

making restitution. Repentance is turning to

God again. Not turning to a different sin or

another way. Not even turning to a way that seems

right to you. I'm here to say to you today that

turning to God in the flesh, in your humanistic

self, in your old man, would never seem right.

Right. How does that work? How does it work that

I say, God, I lied, I don't want to do that anymore,

I want you to be in charge of my life, and that

does anything at all? Because I lied, and then

I said that, and then a month later I lied again.

And I completed that process over a space of

two and a half years. I did it over and over

and over again. I kept saying, God, I don't want

to lie anymore. Change me, fix me, help me, help

me do it. And over that period of time, a little

more, a little more, a little more, every time

I lie, I would hear God's compulsion more. I

knew I was going to pray the next day and say,

God, please don't, or later that same day and

say, God, please help me not do that anymore.

And ultimately, the last time, God said, you

just lied. As loud as there was somebody standing

there smacking me in the back of the head. Go

fix it. Tell him the truth. And on that day,

I finally figured out how it gets better. Because

the more you want what God wants in that particular

circumstance, the less you can reason it, define

it, make it right. The camouflage falls away.

The stealth ends. It's no surprise to me to know

that what I'm doing is wrong now. Mom said it

was wrong. Dad said it was wrong. The brother

said it was wrong. Whatever. But now I know it's

wrong. Now I feel it in my heart. My heart is

telling me it's wrong because my heart is being

rejuvenated in Christ. And now I know I have

to let it go. And then you let it go and then

it's gone. And some things took a day. And some

things take two and a half years. But you have

to do the same thing every time and get off the

path that you think is right and get on the path

that He thinks is right. And that takes discipline.

And all the disciplines... Coming together is

weaving a life in Christ. So worship and serve

and give and love. Step out. Resist the spirit

of rebellion. Be faithful and be found obedient.

Stop being arrogant and thinking you know because

you don't. And so it comes down to this. Be born

again. And then be disciplined and be prudent.

That's the road that seems right to God. Be born

again. Then be disciplined. Choose to do the

right things. Failing to do so, repent. Figure

out what the spiritual disciplines are. There

are probably 35 of them. 10 of them are listed

in the green book that we use. Figure out what

the spiritual disciplines are and make an action

plan yourself to do more of each and every one

of those things and to do them in a more godly

way whenever you find yourself weak in some way.

Be born again, be disciplined, and then be prudent.

And when you are prudent, you will stop wandering

off onto the way that looks good to you. You

will instead choose a way that lines up with

where you're going. You can't go south to get

to Alaska. You can go south for a little while.

You can go around something. You can go southwest

to get to a certain expressway. You can go south

all the way around Antarctica if you could survive

it, which probably would not be the case. It

doesn't even seem right to you to try. So we

can figure out a little bit of what we think

is right. But as Shakespeare said, the road to

hell is paved with good intentions. It's like

a maze. Let me pray for you briefly. The Jail

of Intentions by Daniel Stevenson at New Heights

Fellowship Baptist Church in East Toledo. We

hope that you have learned and grown from it.

Check us out online at churchtoledo .com. Consider

partnering with the ministry. Show up for service.

Serve the Lord right where you are, reaching

new heights in Jesus. God bless you today.