So in Matthew chapter number six, come on in, have a seat if you'd like.
Matthew chapter number six, the Bible reads in Matthew chapter number six beginning in
verse one, take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them, otherwise
you have no reward of your father which is in heaven.
Therefore when thou doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites
do in the synagogue and in the streets that they may have glory of men, verily I say unto
you they have their reward.
But when thou doest thine alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth,
that thine alms may be in secret and thy father which seeth in secret himself shall reward
thee openly.
And when thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, if they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men, verily I say
unto you they have their reward.
But thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou shut thy door pray to
thy father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
But when you pray use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they
shall be heard for their much speaking.
Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what things ye have need of
before ye ask him.
After this manner therefore pray ye, our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily
bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen.
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.
Moreover when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their
faces that they may appear unto men to fast.
Verily I say unto you they have their reward.
But thou when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto
men to fast, but unto thy father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret
shall reward thee openly.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The light of the body is the eye, if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall
be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
No man can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or
else he will hold to the one and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life what ye shall eat or what ye
shall drink.
Nor yet for your body what ye shall put on, is not the life more than meat and the body
more than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into
barns yet your heavenly Father feedeth them, or ye not much better than they.
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Why take ye thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin.
And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these.
Therefore if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast
into the oven, shall ye not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat?
Or what shall we drink?
Or withal shall we be clothed?
After all these things do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall
be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought of the things
of itself.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Let's go ahead and do a quick word of prayer.
Dear Lord, again thank you again for the time to come together, for the preaching the word
of God.
I ask again that you help me to preach your word tonight, that we might be edified by
it.
We ask in Christ's name, amen.
So I'm going to preach a quick sermon tonight on this paradox that sometimes you might see
in scripture, and that's the paradox of planning ahead.
That's the title of the sermon tonight, the paradox of planning ahead.
Because what you'll see in scripture is that, you know, for example here we're told not
to take thought of the morrow.
And sometimes, you know, people can maybe take that the wrong way and not understand
the entire context of scripture of what it's teaching us when it comes to this idea of
looking ahead to the future, of how to plan and live our lives, and how we ought to behave
and conduct ourselves even day to day.
So it could seem like there's a paradox, but really what we have to understand is the principle
that the Bible is teaching here, and that will kind of resolve that paradox.
And of course, a paradox just being, you know, two things that seem to be at odds with
one another, and yet once they're understood, we see that there's just a deeper meaning
that they actually work together, and hopefully I'll be able to kind of resolve that paradox
if it's there.
Some people do kind of get this idea that we're not to be overly concerned with the
future.
You know, you could read passages like Matthew chapter 6, and you get into verse 31 where
he says, therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat, or what shall we drink,
or wherewithal shall we be closed.
He goes on and says, for after all these things did the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father
knoweth that he have needed all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall
be add unto you.
Verse 34, take thought, therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take
thought of the things of itself sufficient unto day as the evil thereof.
You know, people could read verse 34 and kind of think, hey, take no thought for the morrow.
You know, we're just not supposed to really think about the future, we're not supposed
to think about what's coming ahead.
And you know, you can kind of see what he's saying here, but the Bible does teach us elsewhere
that we are to consider the length of our lives and that we are to conduct ourselves
in a certain manner that we should actually plan for the future.
This is something that's been on my mind because this is something that I do, I like to plan
things out even on a day to day, weekly, monthly, and even sometimes out to a year.
I have goals and things that I set for myself.
And you know, you could read Matthew chapter six and say, hey, you know, that schedule
you'll set up, you know, that you shouldn't do that, right?
Because the Bible's telling us to take no thought for the morrow, that we should just
live for the day moment to moment and not worry so much about what's coming.
Now, keep something in Matthew six and go to James four.
There's other passages that do instruct us to not be overly concerned with the future,
right?
There are certain aspects of the future, those things which are beyond our control that we
should not overly concern ourselves with.
The Bible says in Proverbs 27, boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what
a day may bring forth, right?
Even the best laid plans of mice and men are often brought to naught.
They, you know, we can sit there and plan, but you know, honestly, we don't know what's
going to happen even tomorrow.
So does that mean we should just live our lives just carefree, unconcerned and not planning
and not thinking ahead and not having any kind of foresight?
No.
But that could be a paradox that people begin to develop.
They could start to get this attitude, well, I've read Matthew six, I've read Matthew,
or excuse me, Proverbs 27.
We're looking at James four and it just seems to me like, you know, because we don't know
what's going to happen tomorrow, we'd, you know, anything could happen.
Why even bother setting goals, planning ahead and thinking ahead?
In fact, the Bible, it seems to tell us that we shouldn't be concerned about these things
that to the point, you know, where if we do so, it might even be considered sinful.
But look at James chapter four, verse 13, go to now ye that say today or tomorrow we
shall go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain.
Whereas you know not what you'll be on tomorrow, just like we read in Proverbs for what is
your life?
It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away, right?
Our lives are just like the steam coming off of a kettle.
It's it's that it's just a vapor.
It's just something that's very vapid.
Something that's just going to be there and gone in an instant.
We might not feel that way from our perspective, but in the scope of humanity and time and
from God, certainly from God's perspective, you know, it is like that.
We are just a drop in the bucket, right?
That's what our lives are.
So he's saying here, because your life is just this vapor that vanishes, you know, don't
go and say, hey, tomorrow and this day and so on and so forth, we're going to go and
buy and get gain.
This is vanity.
Verse 15, for that ye ought to say, if the Lord will.
We shall live and do this or that, you know, if God wills it, we don't know what's going
to be on tomorrow.
But if God wills, you know, this is what we plan to do.
So it's not saying don't plan at all.
What he's saying is keep in mind that you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring.
You know, it's not against planning ahead.
You know, that's the paradox people could develop and say, hey, the Bible seems to say
that we should just not even worry about tomorrow, not even think about the things that are lives
going forward.
But we'll see here in a minute.
That's actually not the case.
But we need to understand the way we kind of resolve this paradox is we understand that
it's if the Lord will, you know, and there is a way that we ought to plan and live our
lives.
God does have a will for our lives.
James chapter number four, he goes on and says, verse 16, but now you rejoice in your
boasting saying, hey, we're going to go to here.
We're going to do this.
We're going to do that.
And he's saying all such rejoicing is evil.
You know, we can't just live our lives assuming, hey, you know what, I'll get to that next
year.
I'm going to do that, you know, later in life, I'm going to do these things.
That's an evil boasting.
You don't know.
You know, that's why it's so important, you know, I'm kind of getting ahead of myself
to serve God day to day because, you know, we don't know what's going to be on tomorrow.
If we just sit here and plan, hey, you know, I'm going to get involved in the things of
God.
I'm going to start living for the Lord and serving God and doing the things that I know
I ought to do later.
You know, that's an evil boasting because of the fact your life's a vapor.
You don't know what's going to happen on the morrow.
You know, the opportunity that you have to serve God is here and now.
And it can be taken away from you like that.
It happens every day.
You know, people from all walks of life, from all backgrounds, from all, at all ages, you
know, they're here one day and gone the next.
You know, caskets come in all sizes, you know, and we could be in the prime of our youth
and be cut down tomorrow, you know, or, you know, we could live on to a very old, old
age.
But we can't just sit here and bank on the fact that we have our whole lives to serve
God.
That's an evil boasting.
We don't know what's going to happen.
Our life is a vapor.
So it's not this idea of just not being overly concerned with the future, being carefree
and not concerned with things.
It's understanding that, hey, we don't know what's going on in the morrow.
We need to focus on today sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof because it seems
like, you know, you could get this idea, you know, that the Bible is just telling us to
not care about tomorrow.
Right.
But what does he say in verse 17 of James 4, therefore to him that knoweth to do good
and doeth not to him it is sin.
You know, if we know what it is that we're ought to be doing and we're not doing it,
the Bible says to him that knoweth to do good and doeth not to him it is sin.
You know, a lot of times we just think about sin as the bad things that we do.
Right.
But a lot of sin is also leaving the good things that we ought to do undone.
Okay.
Meaning this, that there are things we ought to be doing.
You know, God does want us to be doing things.
God does have a plan for us.
God does have a will for us.
God has some good for us to do in this life and we can't just leave it undone or assume
that we're just going to get to it later because we don't know if we have tomorrow.
So again, we're told it seems in Matthew 6 and James and other places that, you know,
to not be overly concerned with the future, you know, people could walk away that that's
all it's saying there.
Hey, just don't worry about tomorrow.
You don't know what's going to happen.
But scripture also tells us to consider the brevity of our life and we kind of saw that
there in James.
Right.
He's saying you don't know what's going to be on the morrow.
You know, what he's really getting at is your life is brief.
So do the good that you ought to do and don't just bank on the fact that you always have
tomorrow because you don't know.
You know, we are told to consider the brevity of life in scripture and that's kind of the
paradox there.
Hey, don't worry about the morrow.
Don't take care of these things of the morrow.
They'll take care of themselves, sufficient in the days of the evil thereof.
But also in light of the fact that your life is brief, you know, you ought to conduct yourself
in a certain way.
If you would go over to Psalms chapter 90, Psalms chapter 90.
The Bible says in Psalms 103 verse 15, as for man, his days are as grass as a flower
of the field.
So he flourishes.
You know, that's what God likens us unto.
God looks down and God sees our lifespan.
God sees our existence like a vapor that's just here and gone.
God sees us like a blade of grass that springs up like a flower of the field that is there
for a short time and then withers away.
You know, it's like these, these weeds that I get in my yard and we got all that rain
a couple of weeks or two ago and there was this little weed and just within a few days,
that weed was practically as tall as I am to the point where I finally said, I got to
go pull that thing out and I finally got around to pulling it out.
But it was just, I didn't want to pull it out right away cause I was just amazed at
how quickly that thing grew.
You know, and it grew and it got tall and I got that one little like dandelion on the
top and you know, it kind of made me think of this verse, you know, that man is like
the flower of the field.
You know, it grows up quick.
It comes to full strength very quickly.
But then you know what, some, then the very next day someone just comes along and pulls
it up and it's gone.
It's like it was never even there.
And the Bible says, as for man, his days are as grass.
That's what we, our lives are like.
Now it's hard to really understand that.
It's really hard to come to terms that sometime, sometimes in our youth, you know, that's something
that in our youth we really don't understand.
You know, I kind of mentioned that this morning, you know, when we're in our teens and twenties,
maybe even to our thirties, we might think that we've got all the time in the world to
do whatever it is that we want to do.
But when we get into, you know, our thirties, forties and onwards, that's when we really
start to consider, you know, the afterlife, the things that have come, what are we doing
with our lives that really matter in light of eternity.
And that's really what the Bible, I think, is trying to express to us here.
This paradox of planning, you know, he's not saying don't, don't, you know, just live however
you want.
He's saying, look, yeah, you don't know what could happen tomorrow, therefore, you know,
make sure that you're living your life in such a way that your life is going to count
for something.
And don't just think that you've got all the time in the world, because none of us knows
how much time we have.
The Bible says in Psalms 39, I'll just read to you verse four.
This is a verse I remember reading early on in my Christian life, you know, when I was,
you know, in my twenties, a young man, and this is something that has stuck with me throughout
the years.
Lord, make me to know my end and the measure of my days, what it is that I may know how
frail I am.
Behold, thou hast made my days as a handbreadth, and my age is as nothing before thee, verily
every man at his best state is altogether vanity.
You know, that is a verse that has run through my mind so many times over the years.
And it's a prayer that I've prayed and asked God to help me to know my end and the measure
of my days, what it is, how truly short my life is that I may know how frail I am.
And not to walk around with this attitude that I'm six feet tall, although I am six
feet tall and bulletproof.
And not to think that I've got the world by the tail, but to know that we are all frail,
that God, you know, has made us of the dust.
He remembered that our frame is but dust, right, that's what the Bible says.
He says, thou hast made my days as a handbreadth, right, and handbreadth being, you know, like
the span of a hand from one point to the other.
You know, in the scope of everything that is, the breadth of your hand really doesn't
measure up too much, does it?
You know, if you were to take some great, you know, structure and say, well, look how
big my hand is, and then compare it to some vessel or some building, you know, or some
construction, you know, you would say it's nothing, you know, that's not impressive how
big your hand is, right?
And that's what he's saying.
Our days are as a handbreadth.
That's what our life is.
It's just here and gone.
It's like a flower of the field.
It's like a vapor that is here and it's gone.
That's our life.
It's over that quickly.
And he said, mine age is as nothing before thee.
You know, before God, our lives are very, very, very brief.
That's an understatement.
And every man at his best state is altogether vanity.
So we have to keep this in mind, that this is the paradox of planning ahead.
We don't want to have this attitude where, yes, we don't want to be overly concerned
with, with things that are beyond our control, but that doesn't mean that we just don't plan
that we don't think that we don't consider how we're conducting ourselves in light of
eternity, in light of the fact that we are not promised tomorrow.
Okay.
The Bible says in Proverbs 21, a wicked man hardeneth his face, but as for the upright,
he directeth his way.
You know, we want to be upright.
We want to direct our way.
We don't want to hear a message like this.
We don't want to hear, you know, things from the word of God that maybe convict us.
We don't want to hear things that maybe tell us what we're doing is wrong.
Maybe hear things that are telling us what we're not doing is sinful, that we're leaving
the good undone.
We're doing the wrong things, not doing the right things.
We don't want to be like a wicked man who hears those things and what hardens his face,
you know, gets mad at the preacher.
You know, stiffens our neck, harden our hearts, harden our face, and be like, you know, the
horse that needs a bit in bridle, right?
We don't want to kick against the pricks, as the Bible says.
We want to be somebody who directs his way.
We want to go to the word of God and we want to understand how it is that we have to live
our lives day by day with eternity in mind.
The upright directeth his way.
Here in Psalms 90, verse 9, it says, For all our days are passed away in thy wrath.
We spend our years as a tale that is told.
Our years are just counted out unto us.
Three score and ten, and if by reason of strength they be four score and ten.
Our tale is told.
It's counted out to us.
That's what our days are like.
It's like somebody could just check them off.
The days of our years are three score years and ten, and if by reason of strength they
be four score years.
It's eighty years.
Yet is there strength, labor, and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away.
Again, it's this idea that life is fleeting.
You think, oh, eighty years, that's so much time.
No it's not.
Eighty years is going to come and go quickly.
Who knoweth the power of thine anger, even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
Verse twelve, very famous verse, so, so he's saying because of all this, because our days
are passed away in thy wrath, because we spend our years as a tale that is told, because
our years are three score and ten, and if by reason of strength they be four score years.
Because of these things, he says in verse twelve, so teach us to number our days.
Teach us to number our days.
It's a very wise thing to sit down and consider and keep in mind the fact that you only have
so much time on this earth.
That's it.
And people, that's a message that even the world brings, but what do they tell you to
do with that time?
They tell you, hey, you only go around once, so you better go live it up.
You better go get your fill of sin, you better go out there and just have all the fun and
enjoy all the pleasures of sin for a season, because that's all you got.
You might as well go out there in your youth and sow your wild oats.
They don't like to tell you about the harvest that comes at the end of it.
We can't go out and sow our wild oats and then hope for a crop failure, as they say.
If we go out there and sow wickedness, we're going to reap sin.
The wages of sin is death.
That's what the Bible says.
There's no getting around that.
The world understands our life is short.
They say, hey, you only got so much time, live it up.
That's not the message of the Bible.
The Bible does teach us what?
Number our days.
Your life is short.
It's a vapor.
It's like the grass.
It's like the hand breath.
It's going to pass and be gone.
It's three score and ten if by reason of strength.
It's four score.
It's 60, 70, 80 years, maybe more if you take care of yourself at best.
And that is going to go by quickly.
Our days, he's saying, teach us to number our days, why?
That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Apply our hearts unto wisdom.
The idea of planning ahead is not this attitude of, hey, well, you know, nobody knows what's
going to happen tomorrow.
What it's saying is we don't know how much time we have.
We know how much time we have at best and in light of that, we ought to live our lives
day to day with wisdom.
We ought to direct our ways and we ought to apply our hearts unto wisdom.
We ought to understand what it is the Bible says about how we ought to be living.
We need to know that because we only have so much time.
So this paradox of planning, it's not just about, you know, this idea of just not being
overly concerned with the future.
It's considering the brevity of your life and really what it comes down to, how you
kind of resolve this paradox that maybe not everybody sees, but it's to understand that
the way we ought to live is a matter of priorities, right?
Like I just got done saying, everyone understands our days are numbered, that it's going to
be short.
The world's message is, you know, just go out there, don't worry about the things of
God, just live it up, do as thou wilt, right?
That's that satanic law that's out there.
You know, do whatever feels good, do whatever you want.
Don't worry about tomorrow, deal with the consequences later and there will be consequences.
That's the message of the world.
They understand life is short.
God impresses upon us repeatedly that our life is short, it's here, and then it's gone.
So you better wise up and apply your heart unto wisdom because you only get one chance.
Go back to Matthew 6.
I mean, that's what we read there and we're going to reread this again in light of that
understanding, because again, you could read Matthew 6 and kind of just think, oh, you
know, we're just kind of have this carefree attitude, you know, don't worry about this
and don't worry about that.
And what he's saying is, you know, to not be careful for these things, he's saying careful
in the Bible is like the word that we would use, worry.
What God is saying is he doesn't want us wringing our hands and fighting our nails and wondering
where, you know, how we're going to be taken care of, right?
Because he clothes the lilies of the field like, you know, he takes care of the sparrows,
he feeds the birds, he takes care of all the creatures of earth.
We're better than them.
You know, God will take care of us.
That's a promise that we have in the word of God.
So it's not this idea that we just live however we want.
What he's saying is don't be worrying about it.
God will take care of you if you seek first the kingdom of God, right?
Matthew 6 verse 19, lay not up yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth
corrupt and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through
and steal.
You know, if we just make our lives all about the things of this earth, all the treasures
of this earth, you know, they're going to rust and decay.
They're going to be taken from us and they will have no eternal value.
Whereas if we direct our way, if we apply our hearts unto wisdom and we begin to lay
up treasures in heaven, as we talked about this morning with the resurrection, you know,
that we're going to receive that resurrected body.
If we're saved and we know Christ and we're born again, we have the promise that we are
going to be like he is and on top of that, we can even be rewarded for our efforts here.
You know, that's what it's saying here in the scripture is saying, hey, don't just live
for this life.
Don't just live for this world.
Live for the things of God and the reward is eternal.
What you'll reap in this life is fleeting at best because one, your life is going to
end, could end at any moment and two, the treasures, the things that you build up on
this earth, they're vain, they rot, they go away.
And it's funny how many, when you see, when you see people who have it all, right, you
see these celebrities, these musicians, these actors, these other, you know, other people
who have got a great abundance of wealth.
They've got a lot of things that people look at that and they think, oh, that's the life.
They think they must be so happy.
They are some of the most miserable people in the world.
You know, that's why they're drinking themselves to death.
That's where they're always ODing on drugs.
That's where they're dying violent deaths.
That's why they're always trying to get more.
And they've even come out, a lot of them have come out and just said, I'm miserable.
They're miserable people, but people, you know, oh, if you have all this fame and popularity
and this wealth, you're going to have all these friends.
They're just, the people that are, their friends are just there to use them.
You know, they're just there that they're just there because they want to get something
from them.
They're not really their friends.
So, you know, if we just make our lives about just building up wealth on this earth and
just the things of this earth, it's fleeting, it's vain, it has no value.
That's what he's saying here.
That's why he goes on.
It says in verse 33, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall
be added unto you.
What?
The food, the raiment, the care that we need, you know, our daily needs.
He's saying, look, if you seek first the kingdom of God, these things will take care of themselves.
They'll be added unto you.
But the key is to seek first the kingdom of God.
Verse 34, take therefore no thought for the, for the morrow, for the morrow shall take
thought of the things of itself.
So that's the understanding.
It's a matter of priorities.
That's how you resolve this paradox.
It's not just do whatever you want to worry about anything.
It's no, seek first the kingdom of God and then you're not going to have to worry about
these other things because God is going to bless you and God will take care of you and
God, and things will fall into place.
Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself
sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
We've got enough on our plate day to day to take care of, to not sit there and worry so
much about some, something off in the future that we might not even have.
So we need to direct our, our, our, our way.
We need to apply our hearts into wisdom, right?
That's what the Bible is saying here.
How do you do that?
Through obedience to God's word.
That's how you do it.
Through obeying the Bible.
That's how we do that.
If you would go over to Proverbs chapter number six, we'll just look at several verses here
quickly and then we'll wrap up.
You know, there's the story in Genesis 24 when Abraham sends his servant to go and take
a bride, Rebekah, he doesn't know it's Rebekah at the time, from, he goes out and sends and
take a bride for his son Isaac, right?
Of his own people, right?
He sends them back to where he was from to take, take a bride for him and he sends that
servant and that servant doesn't, isn't really told exactly where to go.
He isn't told, you know, you know, the exact specific person that he's supposed to find,
right?
And he takes this vow with Abraham where he says, you know, if I don't find these people,
you know, you're, you're free from the vow, but you can't just take a bride from him,
from these, these heathen nations.
So the servant goes out, if you know the story in Genesis 24 and he finds Rebekah and he's
kind of led, he prays and asks God, you know, if, if she comes out and she waters the flock
in him before her own, then you know, this is her, right?
He gets the sign from God and he makes this statement and this is a statement that I've
thought about, you know, that I think fits in with the sermon and he said, blessed be
the Lord God of my master, Abraham, who had not left destitute my master of his mercy
and in his truth, I being in the way the Lord led me, right?
I being in the way the Lord led me, you know, that's why if we're in the way, if we're seeking
first the kingdom of God, God is going to lead us, but we have to be in the way.
We have to be doing the things that the Bible teaches.
That's how we're going to be guided by the, by the Lord in, in our lives and not have
to, you know, if that's how we seek first the kingdom of God, this through obedience
because, you know, the Bible, you know, obeying the Bible, it's like putting on blinders.
Like you put it would do for a horse, right?
You know, and then, and that's a very needful thing.
You know, if you have a bunch of horses that are hitched up to a wagon, you don't want
them just getting distracted by everything and just running, you know, one's running
off this way, one's running off that way.
You want them focused on the path ahead.
So what do they do is a lot of times they'll put those blinders to block out the peripheral
so they don't see the cabbage field over here, you know, and go running over there.
They don't see, you know, some snake or whatever.
They keep their eyes where they're supposed to go.
You know, they keep them staring ahead.
That's kind of what obeying the Bible is like.
It's like putting on these spiritual blinders.
Not that we're being ignorant or stubborn or refusing to see something, but that we're
not allowing ourselves to be distracted by things that are in the peripheral of this
life.
All the things that are trying to get us away from serving God.
And look, there's a lot today.
You know, living in modern day America, you know, has its, is like, it's, you're walking
a razor's edge.
You know, it's, it's a very privileged thing to live in the society that we live in where
we don't have to think about a lot of things that people have had to worry about down through
the ages.
You know, food just kind of comes to us pretty readily.
Unless you go to IHOP, then it's a little bit of a struggle sometimes at the service,
but that's a story for another day, right?
But I mean, you know, oh, my food was 20 minutes late and it got cold.
Well, you know, chicken and waffles isn't something that everybody has, right?
That's just something that, it's a privilege, right?
But the problem with everything, and I'm just using illustration, you know, we have a lot
of abundance.
We have a lot of things that are vying for our attention.
We have a lot of things that are what?
Trying to distract us from the way we ought to go in, right?
That's why we need the spiritual blinders.
Look, Satan's out there, the devil's out there, the world is out there, the world, the flesh,
the devil, these things are all trying to pull us away from serving God.
They're trying to get us to lay out treasures on earth.
They're trying to get us to, you know, harden our face and go after the things of the world
and to not direct our way, to not apply our hearts unto wisdom.
They're trying to pull us away.
We need the Bible as a guide, as a blinder for us to keep us in the way so that the Lord
might lead us, okay?
You know, God is kind of like that coach master, right, who's driving that team of horses,
you know, who's trying to get to a specific destination.
He's the one that's putting on that blinder, look, this is our blinder to block out the
things that would pull us away and distract us.
The Bible says in Proverbs 23 verse 19, I'll just read to you, hear thou my son and be
wise and guide thine heart in the way.
And then he gives some real specific instructions about how you do that.
How do you guide your heart in the way?
Because that sounds real mystical, that sounds very esoteric.
But what does that mean specifically?
Give me some details on how I ought to do that, right?
Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh, you know, the party crowd.
That's what he's describing here.
People just want to live it up.
The winebibbers, the riotous eaters of flesh, the gluttons, the drunkards, right?
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty and drowsiness shall clothe a man
with rags.
You know, and I understand a lot of people today can be a functioning drunk, right?
They can live their life as a drunk and still hold down a job and still manage to survive
in this world.
But you know what?
Even if they don't come to a temporal poverty here in this world, they're not going to have
the riches laid up for themselves in heaven.
They're not going to be sowing to the Spirit.
Drunkards are not sowing to the Spirit.
They're not.
That's what the Bible tells us, to not be drunk with wine where it is excess but to
be filled with the Spirit.
These things are contrary one to the other, okay?
So this idea of guiding our heart, of being wise and guiding our heart in the way has
a real specific application.
There's a specific blinder that God is putting on us.
Be not among winebibbers.
Be not among the drunkard.
Be not among the riotous eater of flesh.
Be not among the glutton who just wants to take their fill.
You know, and you can apply this, the gluttony, you can apply this riotous eating of flesh,
this idea of being a glutton to other sins.
You know, all the sins of the flesh.
The drugs, the alcohol, the fornication, people who just want to live to satisfy and gratify
the flesh.
You know, those are things that are what going to bring us to poverty.
You know, in this life and in the next.
I mean look at the people, you know, and it's very sad.
I'm not trying to pick on them.
They have a very serious problem but we see it everywhere in this city.
People who are living under the underpass, people who are living in tents and tarps,
living in their vehicles that are what?
They're quite frankly, they're drunkards, they're gluttons in one shape or form, aren't
they?
Because all they're thinking about, and obviously there's a lot going on with, you know, their
brains and the whole thing surrounding addiction, I understand that, but they're brought to
poverty aren't they?
You can literally see this playing out in front of us.
The drunkard who just wants to get a few more dollars so he can go get his next bottle.
You know, he's living on the street because he's a drunkard.
He doesn't want to work, he just wants to drink.
You know, you can see that that is a literal, that's the Bible coming to life in front of
our very eyes.
But think about this, even the person maybe who can, you know, keep themselves off the
street but is still, you know, a drunkard or still a glutton, they're not going to have
the spirit, they're going to be spiritually impoverished.
They're not going to go to heaven and have any kind of reward because they haven't guided
their heart in a way.
They have not sought first the kingdom of God, they have not applied their hearts unto
wisdom.
Did I have to go to Proverbs 6?
If you're there, look at verse 20, my son, keep thy father's commandment.
Again, so what are we talking about?
How are we going to guide our heart?
How are we going to apply our heart?
How are we going to seek first the kingdom of God as we're told to, okay?
Keep thy father's commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother, bind them continually
upon thine heart and tie them about thy neck.
You know, hopefully we have moms and dads who are teaching us the things of God.
They're giving us these laws, these commandments.
But if not, you know, if we're saved, we have a heavenly father who has given us these commandments,
the same commandments any godly parent would give their own children.
You know, we need to be binding these things, you know, upon our heart continually.
We need to tie these things around our neck and allow the Bible to direct us and guide
us through this life unless, you know, if we don't want to, come to poverty.
If we don't want it, sow to the flesh.
If we want to be found in the way that God might lead us like Abraham's servant.
If we want to seek first the kingdom of God, it's done through obeying the commandments
of scripture.
That's the only way to do it.
Line them upon continually upon thine heart, tie them about thy neck.
When thou goest, it shall lead thee.
When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee.
When thou wakest, it shall talk with thee.
For the commandment is a lamp and the law is a light and reproofs of instruction are
the way of life.
Reproofs of instruction are the way of life.
What's a reproof?
It's being told you're wrong.
A lot of times, you know, that's why a lot of people don't like what the Bible has to
say because it says you're wrong, because it says you're in sin, because it says you
need to stop and you need to start.
It reproves you.
That's what instruction often is, isn't it?
I mean, just think about, you know, just think about instructions and like, you know, some
piece of furniture.
You know, I have five kids, so I've assembled a few cribs in my day.
You know what I found out real quick, the first kid?
Instructions matter.
You know, the other thing I found out is make sure you build the crib in the room it belongs
in, okay, because otherwise you're gonna be taken apart, right?
But if you just say, you know, I don't need these instructions, I can just figure this
out on my own, you know, and then you end up with like a bunch of bolts and barrel nuts
left over.
You're like, eh, where does it belong?
And then you're putting your child in a death trap.
No, I'm just, I'm exaggerating.
It's a joke, right?
But it doesn't turn out what, you know, the way it's supposed to.
Why?
Because, oh, no one's gonna tell me what to do.
You know, I'm not, no one at Kia is gonna tell me how to assemble something, I'm my
own man.
I'll figure this out on my own, that's pride, right?
No, we need instruction.
You know, that's something I've learned over the years, you know, take the time, read the
instructions, at least look at the pictures that they draw.
You know, they show the thing and the thing turning and all that, it's like, oh, okay.
Read the one that says do not tighten all these screws, you know, do not tighten until
all assemblies, you know, tighten everything at the end, right?
That's a very other important one, right?
But I'm just using it as an illustration, right?
That the reproofs of instruction are the way of life.
That we can't just live our lives just saying, well, I don't like what the Bible has to,
I don't like these instructions around here because it's telling me this is how it's supposed
to be done.
It's telling me this is how you ought to live.
It's telling me this is how you raise children.
This is how you have a marriage.
This is how you live a life that is pleasing to God.
This is what it means to be obedient to the word of God.
I don't like that instruction.
Well, you know, that's where life is.
That's the, you know, those reproofs, that's, you know, the instruction of life.
That is seeking first the kingdom of God.
That is applying your heart unto wisdom.
Either we want that or we don't, okay?
Go to Psalms 37, we're just going to look at some verses real quick here.
The Bible says in Psalms 37, you're going to, Psalm 37, Proverbs 5, the ways of man
are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings.
The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings.
You know, I've thought about that verse exactly.
What does it mean?
Is it God that's pondering or is it the man that's pondering?
But I believe what it's saying there is it's the man, it's the, it's God that's pondering
the goings of man.
Some people might not like that thought.
Some people might not like the thought that God is pondering, what does it mean to ponder,
God is observing, God is looking at what we're doing, he's looking at our ways.
Some people would look at that and say, well, I don't like that.
We don't want to come to light because our deeds are evil, right?
But if our deeds are good, we come with the light that they may be made manifest.
We don't fear that light.
We like the fact that God is shining a light.
We ought to like the idea that God is pondering our goings.
We ought to like the idea that God wants to get involved, that God wants to direct
and guide us.
God's not trying to lead us down into some, some way that's going to harm us.
That God is loving, God is kind, God is merciful, far more than we'll ever comprehend.
God only has our best interests in mind.
Why wouldn't we want God pondering our ways and instructing us and guiding and lead us?
It's only going to benefit us.
You know, I, I, I'm not trying to lift myself up or boast or anything like that, but I look
back at my life where I was, the direction I was headed at 20 years old when I got saved
and got into things of God and God in church and started obeying the Bible, keeping these
commandments and doing these things to the best of my ability.
And I can say that being in the way the Lord has led me.
And you say, well, do you regret on all the, all the partying and all the friends you cut
ties with and all the sin you didn't take part in?
Not for a second.
I wouldn't trade this life for any, any other life that's out there.
You know, God has been very good, you know, and why is that?
Because of obedience, because of being willing to put on the blinders to the world and say,
God lead me in the way I ought to go through the reproofs of instruction.
The Bible says in Psalms 37 verse 23, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
So does the Lord order every bunch of steps?
Is everybody being guided by God?
No.
The Bible says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
The good man who is, you know, following the things of God cares about the things of God.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way.
God delights in the way of the good man.
He wants to bless him.
He wants to guide him.
He wants to lead him and bring him to a good end.
That's the goodness of God.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his
hand.
You know, life's a struggle.
It's great to know that God is pondering and that God are ways and that God is there to
lift us up.
If we are the good man, if we're obedient, you know, if we're disobedient and we're just
going to stumble through life, God might just kind of sit back and say, are you done yet,
dummy?
You know, do you, are you, are you stunned?
Are you done struggling?
You know, God would like to help us, but, you know, we will eat the fruit of our own
way.
Go to Psalms 32 verse 8.
Bible says in Psalm 143, teach me to do thy will for thou art my God.
Thy spirit is good.
Lead me into the land of uprightness.
We ought to be, want to be led by God.
Why?
His spirit is good.
Teach me to do thy will.
You know, doing the will of God is a good thing.
Doing the will of God is something we should desire.
Psalm 32 verse 8.
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go, meaning that God
has a way for us to go.
You know, God has a way for us to live.
I will guide thee with mine eye.
You know, I would love to, to, to know that, you know, that could be said of me and God,
that God is guiding, God is leading, but notice I will instruct thee, right?
These were proofs of instruction in the way of life.
Verse 9.
Be not as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding.
He's saying, don't be a dumb animal who has to be what?
Whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
Don't be somebody who has to be continually corrected and not learn their lesson.
Don't be somebody who has to be constantly pulled back into the way they ought to go.
We ought to get in the way that we ought to go and let God lead us and guide us.
Get the blinders on, right?
Go to Proverbs 3.
We'll end there.
Proverbs chapter number 3.
The Bible ends there in Psalms.
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass,
compass him about.
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, right?
Going back to the idea earlier from Proverbs of the drunker, the glutton, who hath woe,
who hath wounds without cause, they that tarry long at the wine, right?
People who are wicked or living sinful lives, they have a lot of sorrow.
A lot of sorrow they don't need.
A lot of unnecessary regret.
Things that they could have gone without.
But many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall
compass him about.
Look at Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5.
Trust the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding, and
all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
If we want God to direct our paths, we must acknowledge him.
If we want God to lead us, then we have to trust in him.
We can't lean on our own understanding.
We have to come to the word of God and say, teach me, instruct me, guide me through the
word of God, and be obedient to what it says.
We have to accept there are proofs of instruction.
Or we cannot do those things and have sorrows and have regret and have sin.
Proverbs 3, this particular verse is another one that was very, it's kind of one of the
milestone verse, if you will.
But I remember very clearly one day being, when we'd first moved here to Arizona about
10 years ago, and being at a job where I was not making a lot of money, I had several children,
I was apprenticing as a locksmith, and not really knowing what God wanted me to do, and
being very frustrated and being very, you know, just kind of downtrodden or just frustrated
with the way things were going, and not really knowing if I was doing what I was supposed
to do or what God had in store.
And I remember this verse, I remember it clear as day, standing at that counter in that lock
shop in Mesa, and this verse that I'd read many times and heard preached many times coming
to my mind, this is how the Holy Spirit works.
God will bring to remembrance these things, what you've spoken.
And this verse, trust the Lord with all thine heart and lean out of thine understanding
and in all thy ways acknowledge that he shall direct thy paths.
It just came to me.
And I remember just having a sense of peace and just saying, you know what, if I just
trust God, if I just work hard and continue to be obedient to his word and to stay out
of sin and not do the things I ought to, to do the good and deny the bad, all of that,
and to live for the Lord, I just knew, like, things are going to turn out, things are going
to be okay.
I couldn't tell you exactly how that was going to happen, but I remember this verse and having
that peace, and it was a Wednesday night, I got off of work, and I went to church that
day, and pastor had had that exact verse painted on the mural behind him.
Like he used to have the verse right up there above there, it was this verse that was painted
that day.
And I just said, well, praise God.
And that was something that brought a lot of peace to my heart.
And look, it can do the same thing for you.
If you're willing to trust in the Lord and not lean on your own understanding, if you
are willing to acknowledge his ways, God shall direct your paths.
And God's word is a light, it is a lamp onto our path and onto our feet.
That's what the Bible says.
There's a word that will guide us and lead us, but we have to be obedient to it.
The Bible says in Psalm 73, I'll just read to you,
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
That's the Christian life in a nutshell, right there.
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
That's what you could say of the obedient Christian's life.
Anyone who lives for the Lord, they're going to live a life that is guided by the counsel
of God and the word of God.
And afterward, they're going to be received to glory.
So that's the message tonight.
This idea that we need to seek God's guidance and that we need to be obedient to it.
Because God's guidance isn't just a suggestion for sinful people.
It's a guarantee to those that are obedient to it that we will have a blessed life.
Not a perfect life, not an easy life, but a blessed life that will be blessed by God,
guided and led by God, and will lead to an eternal reward.
So plan.
Think about your life.
Think about how you're going to spend your days, however many days you have.
Think about how you're living your life right now.
Is it lining up with scripture?
If we were to go through the Bible and look at certain passages and say,
are you obedient to this or are you not obedient to this?
Ask yourself that.
Because that's how you're going to know whether or not you're in the way.
That's how you're going to know whether or not God is leading you and guiding you through
this life.
It's to the degree to which you are obedient to his word.
Let's go ahead and pray.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for the promise of your guiding and leading.
Thank you for a book, Lord, in the Bible that teaches us what it is that's expected
of us.
That we don't have to wonder about what God expects from us in order to be blessed, Lord.
That you have given it all to us in your word.
Lord, I pray you help us to read it and to understand it and to believe it and to obey
it.
That we might live a blessed life.
We ask these things in Christ's name.
Amen.
Alright, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we're dismissed tonight.
What do you got for us, brother?
323.
Let's go ahead and sing one more song before we're dismissed tonight.
Let's sing one more song before we're dismissed.
Let's sing one more song.