No one was a prophet, called to preach the word, tried to cry, prevented, but nobody heard, they weren't busy sinning, no one preached in pain, they wished they hadn't sinned when they saw the rain.
And in Jesus Christ's name we pray, amen.
All right, thank you all for coming this Sunday morning service. Title of this sermon this morning is Consistency. Consistency is a thing lacking in today's world.
Today we have such a hustle and bustle lifestyle. We have a lifestyle of entertainment and things that don't really matter and because of that it's easy to get swayed into things that don't really matter at the end of the day.
Consistency helps provide the Christian with a life that is fulfilling. It helps us to realize what is important and in 2nd or in Titus chapter 2 we see examples of the Apostle Paul telling Titus to teach believers to be consistent.
When people are not consistent, basically they destroy themselves and what do I mean by this? Well, you've heard it said, right? An idle mind is the devil's workshop and basically if we had in our lives an area where we draw consistency, when you do that thing over and over and over and over again, you become better at it.
Maybe you've heard it said that there are people who have a lot of natural ability and that's good. Every good gift comes from above. So the Bible is clearly teaching that every good gift comes from above.
To have natural ability and natural talent is good. Utilize the strength that God has given us. But I would trade natural ability with consistency all day long.
What do I mean by this? Well, let's take a sporting application. Let's say you are naturally really good at golf.
I use that analogy because I know little to nothing about golf. So for those of you who do golf, you know as well as I that even if you have a natural ability, you're just the first time you grabbed a club, the first time you smacked the ball.
You just naturally are good at this. It comes easier to you. Would you then disagree that that means you should not practice?
Would you then say that there are maybe parts of your golfing game that are better than others? Maybe you're really good at driving the ball, but you're not really good at, you know, getting it from the green into the hole.
So you can strengthen your weaknesses through consistency. And many sport analogies apply to this. There are people who do not have a lot of natural ability when it comes to let's say basketball.
But if you consistently practice and practice as if it's game time, for instance, my basketball coach once taught me a long time ago, practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
And what does that mean? When I go to practice, assume it is game time. Practice the way you would play the game because when game time comes, it's just practice.
You're just going through the motions and consistency is the vehicle that'll drive us into perfection, not being perfect as in flawless, but perfect as in well-rounded in our Christian life.
And if you will look down at your Bible at Titus chapter two, notice what it says in verse one, but speak down the things which become sound doctrine.
So the apostle Paul is telling Titus, say what is sound, teach what is been established, what is foundational, preach sound doctrine, doctrine that cannot be questioned or challenged.
Preach the fundamentals, so to say, because the fundamentals matter. Every great sport, every great concept can only be established.
And then it goes on to read in verse two, that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
The aged women, likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not giving them much wine, teachers of good things.
Notice that last thing, it says teachers of good things, teach the men to have sound doctrine, teach the elder ladies to be teachers of good things.
So teaching is a constant theme being brought up and it goes into verse four, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husband.
That the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men, likewise, to be sober-minded and all things showing thyself a pattern of good works.
In doctrine, showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity. There it is again in doctrine, in sound doctrine. Why?
Because the elder brothers and sisters in Christ, whether you're talking about grandma, grandpa, an uncle, it is your responsibility to give the next generation the foundations that have been established in you over a long period of time.
The Bible says, for instance, when it comes to consuming the Bible, it must be done line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.
And over an accumulation of the Christian life, you will consume more of the word of God and it's not enough just to consume it, but to apply it and that's where wisdom comes into play.
Consistently consuming and producing work for God so that the future generation can pick up the mantle and move forward with the things of God.
Let's stay consistent in our Christianity. And that being said, I'm going to go into three categories that I believe this text are clearly showing us that we should stay consistent in.
First and primary, most importantly, would be our Christianity, our spiritual walk with God. Second would be our personal life, our friends, our family, and then finally would be our professional life.
And we'll see it goes on into that later on. But for sure, we're talking about spiritual things, because it's talking about sound doctrine coming from the word of God.
And when it comes to staying consistent in your Christianity, understand this, it doesn't matter where on the spectrum you are in your Christianity.
You can be saved for 20, 40 years and have grown immensely in your Christianity, really learned a lot, but you could be facing in the wrong direction.
And when you do that, you basically have null and void all the work you've put into for the 40 years, because what good is it that at one point in your life, you were very zealous, learning, growing, but then you stopped or you slow down, or you decided that it was less important in your latter half of your life to contribute to the things of God, you became less consistent.
It is more important, not where you are on the spectrum, but which way you are facing. For instance, if there's a newly saved believer that came to the Lord yesterday, an hour ago, a week ago, a month ago, or a year ago, but they are facing in the right direction, and they're consistently stepping towards the mark of the high calling, which is in Christ Jesus, then you can know that that person is going to grow far,
he's going to go farther in his Christianity. Why? Because he sees the teaching of consistency of most important. And what do I mean by that?
Well, I here standing, I standing here today, find myself sometimes failing in consistency. We all do.
There's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. You know, he that knoweth to do good and doeth not to him it is sin. Meaning that even myself, I fail sometime in my consistency.
But when it comes to realizing where consistency is most valuable, the three points that I'm mentioning today, which I believe Titus 2 is teaching us, we should remember that staying consistent in our Christianity is of most importance.
After that, staying consistent with our personal life is second most important, and then your professional life. Because what is done for Christ is what will last for an eternity.
And when it comes to your Christianity, there are three avenues in which if you just stuck to only these three, you weren't consistent in anything else when it comes to Christianity.
Just these three things, I guarantee you that you will go farther in your life. And who knows what the Lord can use you for if you just stay consistent in these three things. One of which is Bible reading. One of which is prayer. And the final thing is evangelizing.
So let's take Bible reading for instance. A lot of Christians today, and I do put in parentheses Christians because there are a lot of people who professed Christ and say they are Christian. But what does it mean to be a Christian? It means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
Once again, they are not just people who consume Christianity and maybe they're theologians and they know a lot of what the text teaches, but they never apply it in their personal life. What good is it that you know so much teaching and doctrine and theology and philosophy, but you never apply it or teach the next generation these things.
There are a lot of professed Christians who they think it's more valuable to study the Bible than it is to read the Bible. And don't misunderstand what I'm saying. What I am saying is that study your Bible is important. You should study your Bible.
But if I had to choose between studying the Bible or reading the Bible, it is more valuable to read the Bible than it is to study the Bible. Did you know that the word study in the Bible is only mentioned three times?
And did you know when the Bible commands us to read the word of God, there's some 100 plus different verses on the subject of consuming the word of God through reading and exhortation and these things. Jesus' number one rebuke to the Pharisees was, have you not read? He's telling the Pharisees and the Sadducees, did you not read what it says in the Old Testament?
Proving that reading the Bible and staying consistent in your Bible reading is more valuable than fine combing the Bible and trying to study things. Now, once again, don't misunderstand me. I am not saying do not study your Bible. Study your Bible. The Bible makes very clear.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So what does that mean? Study to show yourself approved. But what is the reason for study? A workman that needeth not to be ashamed. You are to be a workman. You are to apply what you've learned, rightly dividing the word of truth.
When you evangelize and you go out preaching the gospel and you're very sound in your doctrine, as it said in Titus chapter two, then you can know where to navigate in your Bible to be able to present the gospel easily to people. But the two other times when it mentions the word study, it says, for instance, in Ecclesiastes 1212,
So right there, the Bible is teaching that if you study too much, it is a weariness to the flesh. Now, once again, don't misunderstand. It's not saying don't study. It's saying if you study too much, you will break down. A good example, back to another sporting analogy, let's say you're a boxer or you're an MMA fighter, right? It is important to do sparring.
Anybody who has done any type of boxing or jujitsu or MMA knows that sparring is, if not the one of the most valuable skills in the art of actually getting in the cage and fighting. Why? Because you are stress testing the things that you've learned in practice, whether you're hitting bags, mitts or things like that.
But if you spar too much, not only do you risk the chance of getting a concussion or hurting yourself, but ultimately you'll hurt yourself at the end. CTE is an unfortunate phenomenon that happens to sport athletes that are too invested in the sport.
And in doing so, they end up getting brain damage. And many young men and people who are interested in boxing or an MMA, they end up sparring too much or they end up getting in too many fights. And in doing so, they become brain dead.
This is why study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. When you spar, your sparring is supposed to be for your internal ability to know what you are capable of. You should not be sparring all the time because you will end up hurting yourself. The same applies with your Bible reading.
It is more important that you read the Bible than that you study the Bible. And the last verse I'll show you on that subject just so you're not taking my word for it. Remember, only three times is this word mentioned, study, and it's found in 1 Thessalonians 4-11 and that you study to be quiet and to do your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you.
So right here, the Apostle Paul is telling the people of Thessalonica, study quietly so you can work with your own hands so that you can live a peaceable and quiet life. The word study, the three times is mentioned, it says do it to God, it's going to wear you down, and do it quietly.
So therefore, when it comes to the Christian's life of staying consistent, how many of you have seen those Bible reading plans in a year? Raise your hand if you've seen it.
If you just put 15 minutes away, every day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year, you will read the whole Bible once through in a year, and I think that's great. I do believe that is going to be the standard here at Preach the Word Ministry.
I read the Bible twice to sometimes three times a year, but that's because I'm trying to preach the Bible, I'm trying to teach the Bible to you guys. But I would suggest and encourage you guys to read your Bible at least once a year.
If you can't put 15 minutes away of your day to Christianity, you're not staying consistent in the things of God. Read your Bible. I read some half an hour to an hour every day, kind of depends. I try to do 5 to 10 different chapters of the Bible every day.
Now depending on the length of the chapter and what book of the Bible I'm reading, I try to do 5 to 10 chapters every day, and I try to do at least half an hour to an hour of Bible reading.
So you guys can afford to do 15 minutes a day and anywhere from 1 to 5 chapters a day. Here a little, there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept. Prayer.
In the book of Daniel, Daniel is seen as a very wise prophet. Daniel at the time as a child was taken from Judah as one of the wise children of Judah so that he could learn the Babylonian language because that's part of imperialism.
When you take over a people, you basically discard their language and you give them your language. And Daniel was very consistent in his Christianity.
And you've all heard of the story of Daniel in the lion's den, right? Daniel gets told that if you worship God from these time periods or pray or anything like that, you will be cast into the den of lions.
And in Daniel chapter 9 verse 2, the Bible reads, in the first year of his reign, I Darius understood by books the number of the years.
That has to do with his constant reading. He's reading the Bible constantly so that he can understand when Judah was to come out of captivity because the Bible says in Jeremiah that it takes 70 years.
And it says, I Daniel understood by books, the number of years where of the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet.
But when it came to his prayer life, how often did he pray? Did he pray once a day? 20 times a day?
Well, in that story, when he gets cast into the lion's den, it says, now, when Daniel knew in Daniel 6 10, now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem.
He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did afford time.
So when they made this proclamation that you are not to worship or pray to any God during these time periods, what did he do?
He opened his window and got on his knees, faced towards Jerusalem three times a day and prayed unto God.
Do you pray three times a day? Are you consistent in your prayer life? I have failed in this aspect of my Christianity.
I have found times where I'm not praying enough. And my rule of thumb is having understood this text that if you're not praying at least three times a day, you're not right with God.
Why? Because God wants to have communication with us. God wants us to come to him in our hours of need.
And even when we're not in need, just to have a genuine relation with God, we need to let him know our thankfulness or pray for other people.
And your prayer life needs to be consistent. If, like I said, you just read your Bible every day as Daniel's, you know, understood by books and prayed at a minimum three times a day.
I mean, you eat three meals a day. What if all you did was just prayed for your meals? At least you're praying.
You should pray for more than just your meals. You should pray for your loved ones. But stay consistent in your prayer life.
And I know that in my life, that has helped my Christianity grow to higher heights more than I can even express to you because God wants us to communicate with him.
And we need to consistently remember we're all here, not because of us, but because God has something for us.
And if we don't acknowledge him, why would he acknowledge us? You want God to bless you, but you're not willing to do the first works and go out and preach the gospel unto the lost?
And that goes into my last point of your spiritual Christianity. It's staying consistent in your evangelizing.
Why would God bless you? Why? Well, because it's the thought that counts. I really want to share my faith with others, but I'm busy.
You know, the Bible talks about people who are the cares of this world will choke them out and they become unfruitful.
God is not wanting us to be unfruitful Christians. He wants us to go out and reproduce more Christians because that is why we're even here.
God has a plan and his plan is to see as many people saved as possible.
So when you read your Bible, you're going to see the constant teaching of like preaching unto the lost.
You're going to see the constant relation that you to have with God and prayer and then going and preaching unto the lost.
Are you consistent in your evangelism? I know for a fact here in the island of Kauai, most people aren't even evangelizing at all.
They may say they are. And what does that mean? God has not called us to humanitarian work.
God has not called us to build schools and wells and go to foreign lands when your neighbor doesn't know the gospel.
When the people of Kauai have never heard a clear presentation of the Bible.
God wants to use you where you are so that you can go to your neighbor, to your neighborhood and to your city and preach the gospel unto the lost.
Why else would you be here? What good is your personal career and things that don't matter when everyone around you has never heard a clear presentation of the gospel?
Let's stay consistent in our Bible reading, in our prayer and in our evangelistic efforts.
Here I preach the word ministry. We have two evangelizing times.
So there's no excuse why you can't contribute, you know, once a week, once a month.
So then you can say you've done work for God.
And Lord willing over time as you do it more often and stay consistent with it, the Holy Spirit will give you boldness to be more enthused to do this more often.
Here our stance is at a minimum once a week is a good threshold to get to.
And for you guys who are maybe young adults or singles and have a lot more free time on your hands, don't try to discourage, you know, elderly brothers or sisters in Christ or people who have like, you know, big families and be like, oh, you need to be evangelizing as much as I do.
You should be going three, five times a week.
No, going once a week is a good standard for anybody to work on the things of God.
And that's our stance here is if you at least come one day of the week, then you can know you're staying consistent in your evangelism.
What about our personal lives?
Well, obviously in our personal lives, it is important that we invest in our family.
Family here in Hawaii, ohana is a very important aspect of our culture.
And this is a good thing.
I believe that the revering of the family came from Christianity here in the islands of Hawaii.
I'm not saying before, you know, Christianity met its way here in the islands that, you know, people didn't care about their families.
I'm saying that once they learn to Christianity, family became a very valuable thing all of a sudden.
Why? Because the Bible teaches the importance of our relations with our family.
Our family should be our priority as men, women, and children.
Remember the text that we looked at in Titus chapter two, right?
The aged men teach the young men, the aged women teach the young women.
Why? Why do this?
Because it's the family that everything starts from.
The number one way to destroy a nation is to destroy the family.
Satan knows that if he can destroy the family bond, then he can destroy a whole nation, a whole city, a whole state.
Because the God ordained family is the first place where we see God's work being done.
A husband, a wife, and children coming together to love one another as Christ first loved us.
To grow in our faith and love each other.
And then from there we can contribute to our families in other ways.
The family, what about friends?
Once again, this is a good cultural custom here in the island of Hawaii.
The word hanae means adopted.
And for many of you who are raised here in the islands, you may have such a close friend that you may call him your hanae brother or sister.
Or notice when we go around talking to elders, kids when they talk to elders, they say uncle so and so and auntie so and so.
Are they biological siblings? Are they biologically related?
No, they're not, but they see the importance of their community being treated as if they are family.
And when it comes to our friendships, we need to realize that friendship is a very valuable thing in your life.
Friendships should be seen as a diamond in the rough.
To say you have a friend or even multiple friends is a very rare thing in today's world.
Because of things like social media and the internet, people are becoming more and more isolated from each other.
Obviously, people still come together and hang out.
But just because you have 5,000 friends on Facebook does not mean you have 5,000 friends.
The Bible says, for instance, in Proverbs 18, 24,
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly, and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
So the Bible is teaching that even your close friend could be seen closer to you than a biological sibling.
And once again, we should invest in our families first and then our friendships.
But let's face the facts. There are a lot of families that are broken today.
And there are lots of families that don't value the things of God.
Jesus says when he came into the New Testament that he's going to divide a mother-in-law against a daughter-in-law,
a dad against a son, and there will be three against two and two against three in a household.
Why? Because Jesus wants people to see him of most value.
It is more valuable to me, my relationship with God and the Lord Jesus Christ, than my relationship with my wife.
Does that mean my relationship with my wife is not valuable?
Of course not. She is the most valuable person to me on this planet.
This side of heaven is my wife and my family, but after them is my friends.
And there may be family members who kick you to the curb.
They want nothing to do with you because you're willing to stand on the things of God.
And then you get a friend and he's saved and he's in the Lord.
And then you guys invest in each other because you're friendly, right? Like the text said,
a man that has friends must show himself friendly.
You need to consistently work on your friendships.
And then there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
So when we're consistent with our family life, when we're consistent with our friendships and invest in these things,
I am not going to sit here and say that it's going to get hard to manage.
Because David, you're telling me, dude, I need to stay consistent with Bible reading and then prayer and then going on evangelizing
and then my family and now my friend. Dude, there's only so many hours in a day.
I can't give everyone consistency. And you know what? You're right.
You're right. There's only so many hours in a day.
There's so many days in a week and there's so many weeks in a year.
We are limited in the time that we have here.
This is why I was telling you to invest consistency, value to where it is most due.
Invest in God, in reading your Bible, praying and evangelizing.
Invest in your family when they need help.
If there's things that you can help them out or yourself, maybe you're the one in need and they're there for you, a friend.
But what about our professional life?
For instance, us as men, we go to work and let's face the fact the average work week is 40 hours in a week.
How can I invest in all these other things when I have to focus on providing for my family and put 40 hours in a week?
Well, once again, you're failing to realize that the Bible teaches if a man provides not for his own,
he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.
Now, what does this mean? That does not mean they're unsaved.
It does not mean that the infidel means unbeliever, just so you know.
You've denied the faith. This doesn't mean the faith of salvation.
The Bible says we live from faith to faith and as it is written, the just shall live by faith.
When a man doesn't provide for his own house, he's denied the faith, meaning he denies the trust in God to provide for their needs.
We as men need to go out, earn a living and provide for our families.
And if you do that and you're trusting in God, he will guide you into promotions and maybe raises and these other things.
But the workplace needs to stay at the workplace.
The home life needs to stay in the home life and your walk with God needs to be in its own avenue.
And in my personal life and in the lives here of us that preach the word ministry,
we want to stay consistent because when you're consistent in your Christianity, it seems like all the doors start opening up.
The Bible says in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.
The Bible says seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things shall be added unto you.
When you are consistent in your walk with Jesus, when you are consistent with your relations of your family and friends,
the other things all of a sudden become very easy like your professional world or your professional career.
Or what about people who don't actually work? They maybe have hobbies like we were talking earlier, sports.
Put it in its right place. I'm not saying don't invest in the sport.
If you're a teenager and you like basketball, when you're playing basketball, remember perfect practice makes perfect.
You're there to do the best you can. When you're at work, do the best you can to provide for your family.
When you're at your friend's house, invest in each other.
Deny yourself so that you can be there for them and vice versa.
And when you're with your family, be willing to be present in the moment.
Title of the sermon this morning is consistency.
Let's remember the importance of staying consistent.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for allowing us to be here this morning.
Thank you so much for helping us to prioritize what is most valuable in this world.
And that is number one, getting saved by putting our faith alone in you.
And then knowing what it is you want of us by reading your word daily.
We want to, like we are right now, stay in communication and prayer with you.
And help guide us in this world to remember to go out and preach the gospel to the lost.
To be there for our friends, our family, and be good stewards of our time.
Thank you for all that you provide for us and help us to stay consistent.
In Jesus Christ's name we pray, amen.
Like we'll see