Stand By Me

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Morning, CCW.

Amen.

Thank you for those claps.

Starting our summer series, The Summer Songs, and uh through the book of Psalms.

And uh, I thought about the title, The Greatest Hits.

It would be really hard.

We'd spend all year and we probably wouldn't get through the greatest hits.

Some of you grew up though, and you've bought a greatest hits album, right?

And you know if you bought that greatest hits album, you'd get some of the favorite songs of the artist that you love.

And so we're gonna be looking at some of those favorites.

Um I have preached many times on Psalms 1, so when I say today that the greatest hits is not fully inclusive, I would have started with Psalms 1, but I preached that uh not too far in the past.

So today we're gonna open our Bibles to Psalms 15, and uh we're gonna jump uh right into it.

And uh I'm thankful for this church body.

I missed y'all.

Uh we were going for, I don't really know, we were in teen camp, so we were in the area, but not really in the area, if you know what that means.

We were in Talladago back and forth, and before that, Heather and I went to the Southern Baptist Convention, and uh I was telling the team this morning, I've heard 21 sermons in those days, and uh man, God has filled me, but I've missed y'all.

I've missed preaching to this church body.

Um, y'all give Pastor Dave a round of applause who preached and finished our series, preached on prayer.

That was an awesome message.

I got to listen to that going back and forth to camp.

And Scott Dawson last week did a great job.

Hey, he complimented this church body.

He said, Rick, you've got a great group of people here who seem to love the Lord and are very hospitable.

So thank you, church.

And uh we're gonna dive right in this morning.

Psalms chapter 15.

Psalms 15 · chapter mention

A couple of things that just for fun, if you like statistics and things about scripture, Psalms has the most chapters of any uh book in the Bible.

It is the third longest book by words.

Uh Jeremiah and Genesis beat it out.

Psalms is quoted more by Jesus than any other Old Testament book in the Bible.

The key word of the book of Psalms is praised, used 211 times.

Psalms was written, you might not know this, written over a thousand years in time.

The earliest Psalm was written by Moses, Psalms chapter 90.

Psalms 90 · chapter mention

The last Psalms that were written were Psalms 1 and Psalms 119.

There's some interesting Psalms.

The first verse in chapter 15 says, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle?

Who may dwell in your holy hill?

So as we went to the convention a couple of weeks ago, one of the really neat things that I've not experienced before was being in the same vicinity as 17,000 other ministry-related professionals, pastors, missionaries.

Um, and it was a really neat feeling to be in a room with that many people, whether it be worship or listening to preaching and just having this sense of unity.

Last time I ever felt like that, I went with uh Christy and David and Benji and Sarah to an Auburn game.

And a hundred thousand people were all screaming the same thing, War Eagle.

Um, and I thought, wow, this is amazing.

But the preaching and worship was powerful.

But I got thinking this question, because then we went to camp and there's a thousand teens in worship.

What do you do when there's not a 10,000-person choir and not a camp?

What do people, Dave, or not Dave, but the psalm writer writes here, what do people do to dwell in the presence of God?

I want you to think about that this morning, that question.

What do people do to dwell in the presence of God?

Moses dwelt in the presence of God.

In fact, when you hear the scripture, who may abide in your tabernacle?

Moses literally went and met with God in a tabernacle, in a tent, away from the camp, outside of the norm.

Abraham was called a friend of God.

Abraham met with God.

David was called a person after the heart of God.

So people that dwelt with God.

How do we do that?

Well, the word dwell means, it's the same word for the word abide.

And that word abide has the sense of a stay.

To dwell with God means you're there to stay.

It's not a stop in, it's a dwelling place, it's a place where you stay.

Well, all through this series, so far, God has given me titles to songs.

So as we look at the greatest hits of Psalms, there's some songs that you'll recognize, and I thought this was neat.

Ben E.

King wrote a hit song that the world has sung ever since 1961.

That hit song was called Stand By Me.

How many of you know Stand By Me?

So we're gonna talk about the message titled this morning, Stand By Me.

Who may dwell in the presence of God?

Who can stand by me?

Pray with me.

Father, we love you, and we are thankful, God, to meet in your presence this morning.

God, we're thankful that you would dwell with us and we can dwell with you.

Lord, we pray that you meet with us this morning.

Help us, God, not to sit here through a sermon and check out.

God, I pray that our minds and our hearts would be, God, fully devoted to what you have to say.

And Lord, I pray that you open our hearts, Lord, to what that is.

Help us to leave differently than when we walked in.

We love you, Lord, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

First point this morning is this in order to dwell in the presence of God, you gotta walk right.

You saw that sign.

Many of you have disobeyed it.

Many of you have been at a crosswalk and you've seen a hand up or a walking sign, you decide you were gonna do what you wanted to do, right?

Heather's giving me a look right now.

I did this at the pastor's convention in Indianapolis.

Right?

And that sign is there for a reason.

It's to tell us to walk right at the right time.

Look at verse 1 and 2.

Again, the question was asked, Who may abide in your tabernacle, who may dwell in your holy hill?

Verse 2, it is he who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart.

So the first letter we see, letter A, right walking is without accusation.

It said, He who walks uprightly.

You know, if you've ever been around a doctor, they tell you one thing almost every visit, you need to walk.

Right?

10,000 steps a day, they say, for good heart and lung fitness to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

It reduces high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint and muscular pain, and reduces the potential of diabetes.

I every time I've been to a doctor, they either say walk or drink a lot of fluids.

Am I right?

Drink fluids.

It's like the cure to most problems.

That's a good thing because if you've watched any commercials these days, right?

I don't know if they're trying to sell me or sell me not to take medicine because they'll say previous, it helps with inflammation, side effects, nausea, headaches, hives, burning sensations, paralysis, and in some cases death.

I'm like, I don't want to stop inflation at the cause of death.

Inflammation.

Like, can I just drink fluids or walk?

Well, I want you to look at a passage with me.

Turn over to 1 Timothy chapter 3.

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

How?

If we're to dwell and walk uprightly and to dwell in the presence of God, how do we do that?

Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 3.

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

In 1 Timothy 3, we're given a list.

And it's intended to be a qualification of an overseer or bishop of a church, but I want you to hold on to the idea and we'll get back to how it applies.

1 Timothy 3, 1 through 5.

It says, this is a faithful saying.

If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.

A bishop must be blameless.

Highlight that word.

That's a scary word.

The husband of one wife, highlight that.

Temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous.

One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.

For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, he will take, how will he take care of the church of God?

It's important for you to see this list because we're trying to understand how it is that we can walk uprightly to get to the presence of God.

I want you to know something about this list.

It says blameless, which I said is scary.

But this list is not a binding list, it's a centered list.

What do you mean, Pastor?

Well, if you look at this list like I look at this list, this list is impossible.

Always, at every moment, Pastor Dave, do you manage your household perfectly?

Have you ever, like you've never, ever been quarrelsome?

Like it's impossible, right?

But as I looked over the list, I say it's it's centered.

I'm gonna get to the point.

Spiritual maturity makes you like to be quarrelsome less and less.

The more that I grow in my walk with God, less and less do I have these things fall on me.

But I got think about it, have never ever, have you never ever been greedy?

Blameless is not sinless.

And here's the reason this list was created, because in the New Testament days, when it was written, the churches didn't go out and looking for a pastor and form a search committee.

They didn't form a search committee and go listen to a pastor's sermons online and try to decide did they like his preaching and then go find a qualified man, steal him from a church, meaning that his church needed a search committee so they could go find.

No, what they did, they had a list and it was centered.

The man who most fell into that list was the man that they would have called to their church area.

And so that's how they found pastors.

What are you getting at?

Well, what why do we where are we getting to our walking?

Well, God has a prescription for us, and it's from the top down, and I want you to know that.

Top to bottom, his prescription for leadership.

First, there is the chief cornerstone, which is Jesus Christ.

And then he gave us his church.

And then we have our households, and all of it is a representation of each other.

The husband is responsible to love and lead his wife like Christ the groom loves his bride, the church.

And in the husband, we all get, you know, people get riled up about this because the next verse talks about, well, a wife is to submit to the leadership of her husband.

But it says, for a husband is to love like Jesus and to die, has to be willing to surrender and die.

She is to submit, but a husband is willing to give his all.

And so, top to bottom leadership.

So while this is for pastors, it's God's trajectory of headship.

I want you to hear this.

Don't miss this because people today, I'm I may be getting off a little bit, people today wonder what's going on in the life of the church.

It says, a bishop, a pastor, should be the husband of one wife.

And by the way, the word of God is never confused about pronouns, church.

Did you see that?

The pastor is to be the husband, he is to be the husband of one wife.

God inspired the word of God, and God in heaven is not confused by pronouns.

Society might have gotten confused by the pronouns.

But God meant to say what he said, and he said what he meant.

I want you to understand that.

If you ever wonder what the word of God says about a topic, just look because he says it.

He says what he intended.

So Jesus Christ is the first example, then the church, then the home.

And I said this to alleviate today, because you cannot be blameless.

But you can be blamed less and less.

Romans 3.23 tells us, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Romans 6.23, for the wages of that sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.

So how though?

What am I supposed to do with that?

Well, you can walk towards it.

You can walk towards blamelessness.

1 Peter 1.15 is still in the book.

It says, Be ye holy, for I am holy.

So if right walking is without accusation, how do I do that, Pastor?

Well, first you need to understand it's not about a to-do, it's about a relationship love.

You must fall in love with Jesus Christ to walk right.

You cannot, hear me, you cannot do this by checking boxes.

That's religion.

And religion will get you no place but a pat on your own back.

It's about a relationship.

Let me ask the ladies here a question.

Now, some of you might leave here upset after I ask you this question, but ladies, how many of you, your husbands, since they've been with you, are actually a better dresser?

Raise your hand.

Since they've been with you, a lot of hands going up.

Some of you, you need some work.

That's all I'm gonna say.

If you're here today and you got a black belt and brown shoes, okay, ladies, I have learned a few things.

And here's why.

One of the funniest questions you ever get asked as a husband, as a man, the funniest, one of the fun, is you're walking out, you get ready to go somewhere, and you guys have experienced this, and she looks at you and goes, You weren't gonna wear that, were you?

No, I hadn't thought of it.

But here's my my thing.

Your man didn't get better because it was his New Year's resolution to dress better.

It is an outcome of a relationship.

He's not paying attention to anything better, he's paying attention to you.

If he's dressing better, it's because of the relationship.

And because he's liking what you like.

Heather has told me before, those are not my favorite pants.

I just threw them away.

If you don't like them, then why would I wear them?

You're gonna give me that talk.

You're not wearing that, are you?

I don't want to hear that.

It's in the trash.

Here's my idea.

Because Jesus is in me, I avoid a lot of things.

I'm not blameless, but I get blameless because he's in me.

Paul said in Galatians, all things are lawful, but not everything is expedient.

I can do today, you're free.

You got the freedom of choice.

You can do what you want to do.

It's not that, but what do you want to do?

I can do what I want to do, but how do I want to walk?

And that takes us to letter B.

Right walking is working actively.

Working.

The second part of that verse, too, said, and works righteousness, you see, because God is not stagnant, waiting on the sidelines.

He's not a stagnant God.

He's not waiting for a calendar date to then send a trumpet to awaken his reign one day.

He's not up in heaven taking, you know, a holy siesta.

He is active and he works.

God works and he wants us to work righteousness.

He says, works, righteousness, works.

Look at somebody next to you and say, work.

Nothing in life works until you do.

The word works, it's a Greek word payal, and it's to make systematically and habitually.

To systematically and habitually do something.

Letter A was the intention to love God.

Letter B is the outcome of that love.

The outflow of your walk should be, because of the love of God, should be works.

Ephesians 2 10 says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.

You see that word workmanship?

If you reverse it, it's a man on a ship to work.

It's work, it means you're heading towards something.

Today we're not looking for spiritual osmosis in church.

We're not hoping somehow this just gets in there.

It has to be a work in you.

My sons, they have this conversation that's been ongoing.

Dad, when I become a basketball player, that's the start of a lot of conversations these days.

When I become a professional basketball player and I'm rich, what are you going to do, Dad?

When I'm rich and I'm a basketball player, what are you going to do?

I said, I'm going to work.

What do you mean, dad?

I'm going to be the pastor of the best church in Alabama, CCW, right here where God has called me.

I'm going to work.

God hasn't called me to be your gardener.

I don't know what they wanted out of that.

You're going to come move into the mansion?

What will you do?

Is my question today.

What will you do?

You can leave here better.

Are you actively trying to be better?

Every day better at being better, daily improving?

Righteousness is about a walk towards something.

What are you doing?

If you don't come away from church, if you don't come away from sermons with adjustments, why are you here?

You can leave the same way you came, but that is a waste of an hour and a half.

I want to leave better.

What will you do today?

Working actively.

Now, here's a list of the opposite of that.

Here are these words.

These descriptors.

The opposite.

Mediocre.

I sure hope I leave just the same today as I walked in.

No better, no worse.

Apathetic.

Subpar.

Anybody want this labeled under your, you know, your office, your work?

Boy, that coach sure is lackluster.

Unexceptional.

Average.

Ordinary.

Boring.

Well, how, Pastor Rick?

What are some practical ways that I can work actively towards this?

A few things, okay?

How to walk in that righteousness.

Number one, Galatians 5.16 says to walk by the Spirit.

This is the most practical I can get to you.

Literally, hour by hour, day by day, when you wake up from your sleep, you've got to wake up and say, This is a day that I'm yielded to your spirit.

Lord, don't let my flesh get the day on me.

Let my spirit, let the Holy Spirit in me.

I'm yielded to you.

What will you have from me today?

And the next time an hour comes and a decision comes, you've got to be re-yielded again.

And so that walking by the Spirit, it says, when you walk by the Spirit, you'll not gratify the flesh.

Okay, that's one thing.

Walk by the Spirit.

The second thing on walking, the Bible says in Psalms 1, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.

You need some people around you that are going to build you up.

If you want to walk uprightly, if you want to walk in righteousness, close to God, if you expect God to be close to you, I'm going to tell you, he's not going to have a whole lot of fellowship with somebody who's not real close to him.

And so you've got to consider the circle of your life, of your living.

He said, Blessed, happy is the man who walks not in the council of one God.

Further, in Proverbs, he says, Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise.

So you need to think about your circle.

Walk by the Spirit, walk with good people.

Number three is Ephesians 4 and 5.

We don't have time to go through, but it's all about the walking.

And he says, walk worthy of your calling.

And then it says, walk circumspectfully, because the enemy's trying to attack.

Right?

I'm yielded.

I've got good people in my corner.

And then I'm walking aware that Satan wants to anger me, that Satan wants to get me when I'm tired.

That Satan is ready for an attack, so I'm careful and I'm walking worthy of my calling.

And the fourth practical thing is just this John 15 says, Abide in me.

You want to dwell with me, then abide in me.

What do you mean?

You're just saying the same thing over, Pastor.

You need to be in his word.

You need to be in the things that God is in.

Okay?

Oh man, 21 sermons later, I felt like I was walking with God for 10 days.

Let me tell you, it was just all in me.

Why?

Because not every day am I listening to the word of God 21 sermons full.

Man, I was filled.

And the worship of God, I've got to get into the things that make me abide with him.

Man, if I want to be close to Heather, I've got to get with Heather and do things with Heather.

I got to abide.

Not a stopping, not a 7 a.m.

stopping.

I've got to dwell all day and dwell with him.

And it says, and then those that abide in me, you'll produce much fruit.

So I stay.

The second point this morning is this we had walk right, and now secondly, talk right.

We have to talk right.

Look at what it says.

Verse, the end of verse 2 and the beginning of verse 3.

It says, and speaks the truth in his heart.

He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend.

Talk right.

Letter A is wrong talking is disastrous discourse.

It says, he does not backbite.

That word backbite is ragal, and that means to foot it or to walk towards harm with our words.

We're walking towards, we're looking for a conversation that involves somebody else.

Hear me?

Because I think this is way too prevalent.

We bypass a lot of Christian things and we go, I just want to experience the presence of God, but what is in the way?

Well, it's very clear.

It says, do not backbite.

If you want to walk with God, if you want to be in his presence and experience, he says, don't do this.

I'm not just gonna sideswipe it.

I think this is a large reason why people are not closer to God.

Simple conversations become an opportunity to complain or speak about somebody.

We weave in opinions into conversations and then we try to get others to agree.

We say things like, oh, he is so much like this.

And we wait.

Or it's so horrible, how she.

Dot, dot, dot.

In backbiting, we throw a name out and encourage others to join us in the backbiting.

Oh, let me tell you about a prayer request.

Proverbs 16, 28 says, A perverse man sows strife with his lips.

A whisperer separates friends.

It's disastrous and it's way too common.

On backbiting, Clark said, He is a knave who would rob you of your good name.

He is a coward that would speak of you in your absence, what he dared not to do in your presence.

Only, oh man, listen to this, an ill-conditioned dog would bite your back when your face was turned.

A good man does not spread an ill report, true or not, concerning his brother.

Jesus Christ said, You want to be close to me, you want my fragrance on you?

Don't bless God and curse man with the same tongue.

The crowning glory of my creation is around you.

And we'll worship his name and go home and talk bad about his people.

That's called hypocrisy.

There was a lady in my former church who uh, when I met when I got to her, she was in a huff, and I'd found out Brandon's over here, and he had his nose bloodied, and it was because of this boy over here, this lady's son, and I'm like, what happened?

Why did this why did they get in a fight?

And I'm looking at Brandon, he's bleeding, he's trying to explain it to me.

And this lady says, Well, did you hear what Brandon called my son?

I'm like, what did he call him?

I mean, he called my son this name.

And so he deserved to get punched in his.

I'm like, are you crazy?

This mama bear shaking her head at me was dead serious too.

He called my son this name.

He deserved to have his face punched.

I'm like, are you serious?

Listen, people don't like it when you talk about people.

The presence of God is not happy about people talking about people.

Listen, it goes further than that.

Don't make passive aggressive posts on the Facebook pointed towards others, just not saying their name.

I don't know how many times I heard people say, I had to erase a whole conversation that I wrote out on Facebook.

I'm writing a mean response, and I had to like, don't text, don't whisper, don't gossip.

If someone else brings someone else up, I'll tell you how to solve it.

So and so comes to you and they want to talk to you about someone, this is what you do.

You say, okay, grab them by the hand, say, let's go talk to them right now.

Either they're gonna go talk to them and fix it, or they're gonna shut up and run the other way.

The mark of the Christian, hear me, is the love of the brethren.

The love of the brethren.

If you're going to talk about someone, only say what you would say if they were present.

It's nearly impossible also to harbor evil thoughts or backbite against someone in which we're praying for.

Pray for them.

I'm not saying what a person did to you was right.

I'm not saying they hadn't in some human way deserved what you're feeling, but pray for them.

Proverbs 26, 20 says this, where there is no wood, the fire goes out.

So we have got to stop that.

Letter B is this.

Right talking is cheerful chatter.

Ephesians 4.29, I've shared this before, became the right family verse a few years ago.

My kids could quote it.

It says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is used to edification, that it may administer grace unto the hearers.

The kid version said, That which is used to build others up.

If you're gonna open your mouth and build people up, I had a guy, maybe you've had a guy in your life, I'm gonna call this fella that we used to know Glory Rod.

Rod couldn't speak to you for about 15 seconds without saying glory.

Rod had a traumatic accident happen in his life.

Car flipped, he wrote a track about it, how God saved his life.

And after that happened, it seemed like every conversation Rod had was glory.

Oh, I went to the store, the grocery store today and got milk and cereal.

Glory to God.

And like, that's that exciting, Rod.

Glory, brother.

Church, we're here at church, glory.

He went to camp with me one time, and I'm getting up early in the morning.

I was trying to keep to my fitness routine tonight.

There wasn't a gym, so I get down, we're in Kentucky, and I start pumping out some push-ups.

Rod is like almost 60 at this point, and he looks down from the top bunk and he's scratching his eyes and he starts shaking his head and he says, push-ups.

He hopped down off the back.

He said, Well, glory.

And he got down and he started doing push-ups with me.

And I was like, What?

This guy all the time, he can't even help but be positive.

I bet that the people that are like that in your life, you like to be around.

Are you one?

But that which is used to edification, that word edification is the same as architecture.

It is to build so that we can administer grace.

You want to dwell close to God when you open your mouth, it has to be a builder and it has to be better.

Colossians 4 6 says, Let your speech always be gracious.

Well, what is grace?

It is the undeserved, unmerited favor.

Maybe they have hurt you.

God says, be gracious.

Build them up anyway.

It's unmerited.

It doesn't mean they have to deserve it.

But when you open your mouth and minister grace, they've not deserved it because they've not been nice, but you build up.

Because that's the fragrance of someone who dwells close to God.

He says, walk right and talk right.

Because the opposite fragrance just smells bad.

You know somebody that's like that in your life.

You've been around people, no matter what, it's negative.

Today we have a glorious sunshiny day, or boy, that sun sure is beating down my back.

Thank God for the rain.

The crops were dying.

I hate this rain.

This is right, like which one are we?

Third point this morning is this.

We have to walk right, we have to talk right, we have to balk right.

Look at verse four and five.

In whose aisles a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord.

He who swears to his own hurt and does not change who he who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

Letter A is worldly friendship gains.

We have to balk at worldly friendship gains.

It says a vile person is despised.

Now that sounds probably harsh to us.

But he who dwells with the Lord has no need of affirmation, acceptance, or the applause of worldliness.

Church, if I'm honest, at 16 I was trapped by the idea of the acceptance of the friendship of the world.

I was trapped.

I grew up in a Christian home, was always in church.

I went to a Christian school, and here was my mindset.

My parents have, you know, just they've drugged me through all this.

I was so protected that I thought I deserved the right to experience what other teenagers were experiencing.

I deserved what my cousins and what public school kids were experiencing.

I deserved to be normal.

I was wrapped up in this idea that the world had something that I had never got and I had never experienced.

So two years I set my Christian testimony aside.

I knew the Lord, but I ran fast and I ran hard towards the friendship of the world.

I got my hands into everything I could get my hands in.

And let me tell you about the results.

I did a lot of bad things and I hurt a lot of people.

That's what I got after two years.

I praise God today that we serve a God who is relentless in pursuit of those who are his.

Because I woke up one day and I was sick to my stomach, not because I had a disease except for myself.

I was sick of myself.

Friendship with the world, the Bible says, is enmity with God.

I cannot possibly ask myself, how can I get in the presence of God and hold on to the presence of the world?

The presence of God requires that I be different from that.

He says, a vile person is despised.

We're either for him, scripture says, or we're against him.

Joshua said, Choose you this day whom you will serve.

That word vile is mawath, and it means reprobate or morally worthless, people without any care for morality.

And I want you to know as a Christian, you're not, you were not created, segmented with equally the ability to be with the world and devoid of God, and then to have the presence of God.

Now, don't miss here today.

It is our absolute job and joy, responsibility, and love to love the world.

Bible says that love the world.

We are to love people and to be friendly to everyone who is lost.

But there is a huge difference in friendliness and being someone's friend.

There's a big difference in someone that you're hanging out with and being friendly.

We'd be kind, we're to be an example.

When Matthew 5, 16 says, Let your light so shine, that's that light so that the world may see it and see the good works of the Father which is in you.

We're to love the world.

But the world isn't what we run after.

If we want to be close to God and dwell with God, then we have to set down worldly friendship gains.

How many of you think about it in the job and the arenas that you're it's easy to get in that rat race of running and trying to rub elbows with certain and specific people because that pushes you up the ladder and that makes you more liked.

And if you get in that social circle, then you'll be something in that circle.

And the circle you're in, you're not happy with because not enough people are paying attention to it, and everybody everywhere is keeping up with those Joneses and pushing and trying to run at that game, and it leads you to emptiness.

Secondly, he says, in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord.

Bible says, give honor to whom honor is due.

One of the neat stories about God bringing us full circle to CCW is Heather was in a church growing up, and shh, it was, there was a time period.

I'm not down on our church.

I don't think all the pastors knew what, you know, we just go through different phases, but it was a lot of legalism.

When I say legalism in the church, you had to dress a certain way, you had to listen to a certain thing, and that made you saved or accepted or whatever.

And if you weren't in that box, so the legalism was strong.

And Heather says she never knew like a happy Christian.

Like these people were just mad, and that's how they preached.

Like, you're gonna go to hell, and you know, you make sure you don't wear pleats on your pants.

Like they had all kinds of weird rules, and like it was so she went to a Jesus is awesome rally, which was led by Pastor Danny Lovett.

And when she went to that Jesus is awesome rally and she heard a preacher not only preach, but embodied that enthusiasm as a Christian.

He smiled.

Maybe the first time she saw a Christian smile, I don't know.

He smiled, he was happy, he seemed to like it.

He wasn't just doom and gloom and mad.

Well, when she saw that, she had decided God had called her and she prayed over it, and she decided to go to Liberty University, where Danny Lovett was the president of the seminary at that time, and Susan Lovett was there.

And Heather has there's stories of Heather chasing the Lovets around campus, just trying to get near them because she had seen a happy Christian, she wanted to go be around happy Christians, and so if they were on campus, her friends would say, you know, the Lovets are over here, and Heather would try to find them.

Well, isn't it interesting in God's plan that we're on staff in a church in Indiana?

I never heard of the guy, and all of a sudden, within the first two weeks I'm at this church, Danny Lovett and Susan Lovett are coming to do a rally at our church.

Isn't it interesting?

Over years, God allows us to become friends with them, and we come say, Hey, Danny, we need to bring our teens to this church and run your vacation Bible school.

And we come here, next thing I know, I'm on a job interview at the Huddle House.

But it started with someone wanting the honor whom honor was due.

She saw the love of God.

Do you want to be around godly people?

And we were at camp, and Rick Gage has run this go-tell ministry that Joe's taking the teens, and we've been there about 17 years.

And it was important to me.

It wasn't that important to him, but I wanted to go up before we left, and I had to shake him his hand and look in his eye, and I said, Thank you for being a godly example to me.

We've had 140 students come to know Christ over 17 years.

I'm thankful for the faithfulness of godly people.

I love people who love God.

I'm drawn to many of you here because the light of God is resting on you.

It shines from your life and lips.

If you want to be close to God, you have to be close to those who are close to God.

So he says, balk right against worldly friendships.

Well, last thing, letter B.

Balk from worldly financial greed.

First, it takes understanding whose money it is anyway.

When you get that reconciliation in your mind, it makes things a little different.

But let me define this term.

It says, does not put out money for usury.

You're gonna have to go back to Leviticus.

I know you didn't think you were getting into a message in Leviticus this morning.

Leviticus chapter 25, I want you to see.

Leviticus 25 · chapter mention

There were laws in the land about how to treat those who were in need.

Usury, let me define it, is the act of giving alone with the intent to collect interest.

Leviticus 25, 35 through 38 says, If one of your brethren becomes poor and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him.

Like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.

Take no usury or interest from him, but fear your God that your your brother may live with you.

You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit.

Why?

He says, I'm the example.

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

God said, I brought you out of slavery.

I brought you out of the hand of the Egyptian taskmasters who had you out in the hot sun going and finding the brick.

And he's saying, if someone among you, listen, here's the point.

The psalmist said, if you want to dwell with God, this cannot be found in you.

So let's get to the point.

You say, why are we going off on a money tangent, Pastor?

Because the psalmist says if you want to walk with God, if you want to dwell with him, this can't be found in you.

Walking right, talking right, and the third thing, he says, walking right at this idea.

This idea of greed.

The Gospel Coalition says this about this kind of greed.

It's an internal sin.

It's a species of covetousness, and it is more evident in a long-term corrosion of our souls.

Greed is the opposite of trust in God's provision.

Some of you have a work greed.

Like if I just do some more, I'll get to the place that I need to get to.

That's the opposite of trust in God's provision.

I'm not saying don't work.

You heard me earlier.

Work, work, work.

I'm saying where's your heart at about it?

It's a grasping for security instead of resting in Him.

There's people here today, I know this in a crowd this size.

You're tied up about money.

You're gonna live 80, 100 years, and let me tell you, you know this, but you're not taking anything with you.

But many are tied up.

Because I brought it up, it tied some people up.

I probably mentioned money from this pulpit 15 times in two years of pastor.

I bring it up when the text brings it up.

I don't look for a specific topic.

The Bible is my topic, and when the Bible brings it up, I bring it up.

But greed is a serious step in not walking close to God.

To have wealth is a serious responsibility to do good with what God has entrusted.

The psalmist said if you want to dwell with God in this life, if you want the blessing of his presence, then balk at being greedy.

I don't understand why we would trust God.

With all these other areas of life, but not trust him with this.

Let me tell you what James 2 says about the same thing.

James 2, 15 and 16 says, if a brother or sister is naked and destitute of food, and one of you says to them, Depart in peace and be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed, what have you profited?

If you dwell with God, that has to be dropped in your mindset.

You see, the early church flourished and continued because it says they went together and some over here had and they gave.

Some over here had and they bartered and they traded and they worked with one another so that the gospel could continue.

And I want to tell you, church, that's how this church moves forward in community.

If we see somebody here that has needs, we should meet the need with everything that we can.

If we have the ability, then we should meet it.

We don't send them a well, I'll pray for you, brother.

Go and be warm.

You don't have a coat.

That's what it said.

Oh, you don't have electricity.

Well, I'll be praying that, you know, I know the God in heaven can bring down the thunder.

It says, with whatever means we have.

And then he, you know, the part of that verse, most of you may not be doing this, but it's the heart intent.

He says, if somebody needs something, give them the loan.

Don't charge them interest.

Don't try to make profit off of something.

Don't try to make profit off of it that way.

God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the hills that the cattle are on.

God will take care of you.

Don't be greedy.

Well, if we're to dwell with God, you'll be able to hear this song in our heart.

It's interesting when I told you the title because I sent this sermon for the sermon notes over a month ago.

And I had the title on there.

And I really didn't look into the song, but God got a hold of my attention this week.

I want you to hear about the song Stand By Me.

Do we want to stand by him?

Ben E.

King described the song that would go number one in the rhythm and blues charts in 1961.

It then came back in 1986 when the movie of the same title came out.

And King said this, hear this about the song.

It was a song inspired by two hymns.

One hymn was called Stand By Me Father.

And the second hymn was entitled The Same, Stand By Me.

I want you to see the spiritual words.

It says this, if you've sung the song, I wish I could, I wish I could do the beat.

If you know it, you know it.

But when that song starts, there's a distinct sound.

When you go home today, Google, stand by me.

Listen to that opening.

You'll, it'll come right back to you.

But here's the words.

When the night has come and the land is dark, and the moon is the only light you see.

No, I won't.

No, I won't be afraid.

Just as long as you stand, stand by me.

Well, right before we get to that second verse, I want you to see Psalms 46.

Then E.

King said the second verse came directly from Psalms 46.

Look at what it says.

Psalms 46, verse 2 and 3.

Psalms 46:2

Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.

The song says, if the sky, he said the earth, that you look upon should tumble and fall, or the mountain should crumble to the sea.

I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear just as long as you stand, stand by me.

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