1 Corinthians 18 is the great chapter, of course, of Elijah and the prophets of Baal.
And, you know, when we read this story, obviously we see it's almost like this action movie.
It's sort of this one guy, this one hero, taking on literally 450 prophets of Baal.
And with the help of God, he has victory over these wicked people and ends up wiping them out.
And it is a great story, and maybe we may not necessarily know how we can apply this to our lives,
but I want you to notice there in verse number 24, it says,
And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord,
and the God that answerth by fire, let him be God.
The title for the sermon tonight is, Let God be God. Let God be God.
And then it said, And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.
It is well spoken.
And so what I really want you, at the end of this sermon, is to go,
You know what? It is well spoken, to say, Let God be God.
And, you know, this is the end of the Perfect Man series, and I think it's Sermon 25.
I don't know. I may have skipped one or two as I was re-preaching it here to this church.
I don't recall exactly.
But, you know, most of that sermon series was about the changes we can make,
and last week we had a look at how, in order for us to make the changes, we need God's favor to be upon us.
And we want to increase that, the Lord looking down upon us and blessing us and smiling and shining upon us.
And so we do seek his favor.
But at the end of the day, if I want to summarize the whole series, really, it's just, Let God be God.
Let God be God.
And that is well spoken.
Let's just read up to that point in verse number 21.
It says, And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long, hochi, between two opinions?
Now, what are these opinions?
Number one, one opinion is God's opinion, right?
One opinion is what God has to say in his word, and the other opinion is what people were hearing from the prophets of Baal.
Then he says, If the Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him, and the people answered him not a word.
They say, Pastor, how do we apply this sermon to our lives?
You know, we're not really out there worshiping Baal.
We're not setting up these images.
We're not offering sacrifices unto Baal.
But the whole point behind this is that the people were listening to an opinion that was not God's opinion.
And so Elijah says, Hey, how long, hochi, between two opinions?
What I find even in our world today in 2023, because we're living in the information age,
because we have so much information available in our fingers, which is good, which is good,
but sometimes I see believers getting mingled with the standards or the opinions of the world, you know.
And instead of, you know, when you're going through a difficulty or going through a struggle in life,
instead of turning to God and saying, God, what do you have to say to me in this situation?
God, what is your answer to my problem?
Many times believers will turn to the world experts and say, Hey, what do they have to say?
And look, sometimes what they have to say contains truth.
Otherwise it'd be a waste of time.
But what you need to remind yourself is that God's word is always truth.
Like God's way is always going to help me.
And sometimes when I listen to the words and opinions and philosophies of men,
it's going to drive me away from God's will in my life.
It continues in verse 22.
Then said Elijah unto the men, I even I only remain a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.
We see a ratio here between how many good preachers there are versus how many bad preachers there are.
Okay, for every good pastor that you have in a church, there's going to be about 450 bad preachers.
So you better make sure that you attend a church that's going to preach to you God's word.
Because you say, I'm going to that church or that church.
It's okay, but I hope you've got that one out of 450 that'll tell you exactly what God has to say.
And so look, you've got one man, one preacher, obviously very unpopular.
He's preaching God's word, and the other 450 are of the same voice of a contrary opinion than what God's opinion is.
In other words, when you're looking for a great church and a great preacher, it's going to be an unpopular preacher.
It's going to be one that people generally do not want to listen to.
And that kind of gives you the idea, oh, okay, I might be on the right track.
Because there's 450 with another opinion.
But let's keep going there, verse 23.
And by the way, let me say that again.
When it comes to God's word, there is one Bible.
There are 66 books of the Bible.
When you need help, when you need to get advice, Reverend, go to the one voice which is God's voice.
Go to the Bible.
You will have 450 books at the library or at the bookshop telling you other things contrary to God's word.
And I want to make sure you go to the one that's going to tell you the truth.
Verse number 23,
And I will dress the other bullock and lay it on wood and put no fire under and call ye on the name of your gods.
And I will call in the name of the Lord and the God that answerth by fire, let him be God.
And all the people answered and said, it is well spoken.
So as I said, the title for the sermon today is Let God Be God.
Let God Be God.
Now before I continue, does someone have a pen?
A pen that I can borrow.
Okay, I'll grab it off you later, brother.
I'll let you know when I need the pen.
I just want to make sure someone's got one.
Okay?
Now, let's go to verse number 25.
Let's go to verse number 25.
It says,
So the challenge is I'm going to prepare one sacrifice.
The prophets of Baal are going to prepare the other sacrifice.
And we'll see which God answers to give a sacrifice, to burn this sacrifice with fire.
In verse number 25 it says,
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal,
Choose ye one bullock for yourselves and dress it first for ye are many
and call in the name of your gods and put no fire under.
And they took the bullock which was given them and they dressed it
and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying,
O Baal, hear us.
But there was no voice, nor any that answered,
and they leapt upon the altar which was made.
So they're trying to get Baal to answer their prayers, to send fire,
to offer this bullock as a sacrifice, and Baal doesn't answer.
Now, the lesson that you learn here, brethren, is when you're seeking help
and you're seeking advice and you're seeking wisdom,
and you go to the world, okay?
You say,
Oh, I'm not going to Baal.
Yeah, yeah.
But who's the god of this world?
The devil's the god of this world.
And Baal is just another name of the devil.
All right?
And you go and look, there might be some, again, some measure of truth.
I acknowledge the wisdom that's in the world has elements of truth,
has areas that's going to help you in life.
I acknowledge that.
But what I'm trying to say to you, just like these prophets,
you're going to be crying out for that wisdom,
and you're never going to be satisfied.
You will never be satisfied by the wisdom of the world,
by the philosophies of man.
You might be enamored with it for a period of time,
but eventually it's going to be like, this is all for nothing.
And I'm telling you, the only thing that satisfies,
the only thing that's going to give you full wisdom comes from God.
These prophets aren't getting the answer from Baal that they desired.
And then it says in verse number 27,
It came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them,
and said, Cry aloud, for he is a god,
neither is he talking or is he pursuing,
or he is in a journey,
or pro-adventure he sleepeth and must be awake.
So Elijah starts mocking the prophets of Baal.
And remember, when it comes to the wisdom of the world,
it's worth being mocked in comparison to the wisdom of God.
You've been given a great treasure when it comes to God's word.
Great, valuable treasure.
And look, let me just say to you,
the Bible is literally one size fits all.
Any issue in life,
you know, it doesn't matter how different your life is to mine,
any issue, the answer is in God's word.
And you just need to go to God and say,
God, give me your answer.
And the wisdom of men, just mock it,
look, understand, it doesn't even come close to the wisdom of God.
And it says there in verse number 28,
And they cried aloud and cut themselves,
after their manner with knives and lancets,
till the blood gushed out upon them,
and it came to pass when midday was past,
that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice,
and there was neither voice, nor any to answer,
nor any that regarded.
So the real lesson that I want to teach you,
and there's just two things that I really want you to focus on tonight
to summarize this Perfect Man series.
Let God be God.
Like, who knows you better than you?
I mean, we don't even know ourselves really that well, do we?
I'm sure there are things that you've done in life that you're like,
how did I do that?
Did I really get that low in life and I did this act?
And you can't even understand.
And that's why we need God to search our hearts, to try the reins.
I mean, God knows who you are.
He created you.
He gave you your personality.
He knows you're tomorrow.
He knows you're yesterday.
He knows you're today.
He knows how many hairs you've got in your head.
He knows how many days you're going to live on your life.
Don't you think God has given you every answer for your life in His Word?
It's there. It's available to you, alright?
And if you can come with me, keep your finger there in 1 Kings 18.
We are going to come back to that passage at the end of the sermon.
At the end of the sermon, come with me to Colossians 2, please.
Colossians chapter 2, verse number 6.
Colossians chapter 2 and verse number 6.
And look, what's wonderful about the Bible
is that we all come from different backgrounds.
We've all been saved at different points in our life.
We all have different experiences.
We're at different stages in life.
But we can read the same book and grow in the knowledge of God
and the wisdom that He wants to give us.
And in Colossians 2, verse 6, it says,
Look at this.
Rooted and built up in Him.
Look, you've been saved in Christ.
Praise God for that.
But now you need to walk with Him, being rooted and built up in Him.
It says,
Why is it so important that we stay rooted and grounded in Christ Jesus
and in our faith toward Him?
Because in verse number 8, we have this warning.
It says,
Look, the devil couldn't stop you from being saved.
I'm sure the devil would want nothing more than to have stopped you getting saved,
but you're saved now.
Okay?
So what's the next challenge that he's going to give believers?
Now he doesn't want you to walk in Christ.
He doesn't want you to be effective for him in this world.
And so the devil's going to throw all these things at you, right?
The vain philosophies of man, vain deceit, traditional man,
the rudiments of the world.
The rudiments means like the foundations or the...
What am I looking for?
Does anyone give me a better definition for rudiments?
The fundamentals.
Okay?
Again, like the philosophy of this world.
Let me just give you a little one.
Again, I'm not trying to boast or anything like that,
but with my family and a large number of kids,
that is not according to the rudiments of the world.
Like if you went to the world and say,
Hey, world, how many children should I have?
It would be like, well, have your 1.6.
Okay?
Because it's unaffordable and it's just too much burden on your life
and you'll never be able to live your life
and you'll never be able to enjoy life
because that's what the world teaches, right?
And like the world will always be contrary to God's word.
It just will be.
And look, if God gives you one, gives you two children,
that's up to the Lord.
Like you leave that in God's hand.
The Lord knows exactly what he wants to give you.
The fruit of the womb is his reward.
So don't think you need to sort of live up to a certain standard
or what have you.
You just do what God's asked of you.
But I'm trying to show you that we have this warning in God's word
that it's very easy, even though we're saved,
to slip into the rudiments of the world,
to slip into the traditions of men
which will lead us away from the walk and the guiding that God wants in our lives.
Drop down to verse number 20 in the same chapter.
It says,
Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world.
Again, why are we dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world?
Because if you ask the world,
Hey, how do I get saved?
How do I get right with God?
What's the world going to tell you?
Follow the commandments.
Be a good person, right?
Do unto others.
Hey, no, we've crucified the flesh.
We've died to self.
We've died to the flesh.
Hey, we know that this man, this body, this flesh cannot save.
And we're saved by the precious suffering of Jesus Christ.
And it says instead,
So wherefore then, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world,
why as though living in the world are you subject to ordinances?
Why are you giving yourself down to the leading, the guiding, the ordinances,
the rudiments of the world?
He goes,
Touch not, taste not, handle not,
which all are to perish with the using
after the commandments and doctrines of men.
I love that.
Because look, don't even touch it.
Don't even seek the world's wisdom.
Seek the world's guidance in life.
You know what?
Touch not, taste not, handle not, which are all to perish with the using.
Look, the wisdom of the world is going to perish.
The wisdom of the world is not going to satisfy.
The wisdom of the world is not going to give you the answers of life.
And the answers they give you will not be satisfying
and you will not be living in the joy of the Lord.
Come with me to another passage, please.
Romans chapter 12.
Romans chapter 12 and verse number 2.
You might say at this point,
Pastor, you never pick up another book.
Pastor, you never get an education from other places and other resources.
Yes, I do.
Okay?
But here's what I know.
Okay?
I try to find the best resources that might help me in life,
but I always go, as I go and open that resource,
I know it's coming from the wisdom of man.
Okay?
And everything that I hear, I challenge by the word of God.
If it's consistent with God's word, I'll take it on board.
If it's inconsistent with God's word, I'll mock at it.
I'll laugh at it.
Okay?
And we need to be able to do that, right?
Use God's word as a filter when we hear other pieces of information
which is trying to guide us in how we live our lives.
But in Romans 12, verse number 2.
Romans 12, verse number 2.
You guys know this passage very well.
And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed.
And look, the Perfect Man series, really, at the end of the day,
I want you to be transformed.
I want you going, if you're a babe in Christ, to grow up and be a toddler in Christ.
And then if you're a toddler in Christ, to grow up and be a teenager in Christ.
And if you're a teenager in Christ, to grow up to be ultimately an adult,
a well-rounded, matured person, a perfect man in Christ.
We need to make these changes in life.
We need to keep growing, right?
Like, I hope in 2023 you can say,
I know more about God this year than I knew in 2022.
I hope you can say, I'm working more faithfully with my God this year than I did five years ago.
I hope you can say, I know more of the Bible today than I knew 10 years ago.
I hope there is growth in your life.
Like, if you want to make me a happy pastor, just grow in the Lord.
And I see you guys growing in the Lord and praise God for that.
But really, I want to make sure that if God's going to utilize me to preach His Word,
at the end of the day, I don't want to just talk into the air.
I don't want to just preach for someone to say, oh, that was a great sermon pastor.
I want to see the changes in your life growing and maturing to be with the Lord.
That's what gives me joy.
Otherwise, I'm wasting my time.
Like, what's the point of coming to church if we're not ready to make the changes
and be transformed by the renewal of our mind?
I'll read verse number 2 again, Romans 12-2.
And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
What is the point of life?
To know what the will of God is.
And I mentioned there are two main points that I have for you today.
When we talk about let God be God,
if God knows more than I do, if He's got the greater wisdom than I have,
if He's given me everything to live life and He's given all those words in His Word, in the Bible,
to lead me, then number one, brethren, the first point is you need to submit yourself under God's will.
You need to submit yourself under God's will.
How long holds ye between two opinions?
And look, yes, we started with the prophets of Baal and the God of this world and the wisdom of this world,
but sometimes, you know, it's our own selfish will that is at odds with God's will, right?
Our own desires, our own understanding.
And brethren, in order for you to grow and be the perfect man, you just need to say,
I'm going to submit myself to God's will.
What does God have to say?
You know what, if I hear something from God's Word and I see it black and white in the Scriptures
and I'm not doing that, then I need to make the change.
I'm not going to make excuses.
I'm not going to turn around and say, oh, well, that's for that situation, or that's for that person at church,
or I hope brother so-and-so is hearing that, that's for him.
No, it's for you. It's for you.
And you need to learn how to submit yourself to God's will.
And like, you know, one of the main things that I commonly hear amongst believers,
I mean, not so much in my church, I think I've taught on this topic enough,
but growing up in church amongst believers, I often hear people say things like,
I just want to know what God's will is in my life.
And I'm just thinking, well, just open the Bible and that's God's will for you.
Whatever commandments, whatever guidance he gives you in his Word, that's his will.
I mean, sometimes we have this idea, oh, God's will is this mysterious thing,
this cryptic thing, and I need to go on this pilgrimage journey, you know,
and, you know, eventually buried deep in the canyon, I don't know,
maybe I've got to climb Mount Everest,
and when I get to the top of Mount Everest,
eventually the Lord's going to show me exactly what my plan of life is,
what his plan for my life is, what his will is.
No, no, all you need to do is open God's Word.
All you need to do is take that book, open it, read it, meditate,
say, well, God, that's what you say, I better do what you have to say,
and I'm going to submit myself to your will.
You know, just very quickly, 2 Peter 3, 9, I'll just read it to you.
God is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness,
but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.
Now, I'm just going to, I mean, I don't know everybody's testimony in this church,
I'm just going to assume you're all saved.
I'm going to assume you've all come to Jesus Christ and called upon his name
and trusted him by faith, and you are saved.
Well, if that's you, guess what?
You've done step one of God's will in your life.
Say, what is God's will in my life to be saved?
That you're saved, praise God, you've done that, right?
Well done, well done.
Come with me to, come with me to Matthew 4, please,
come with me to Matthew 4, Matthew 4.
And look, I'm just hitting some highlights here.
Anything you read in the Bible is for you.
God's commandments, God's way of holy living,
you know, God's direction, it's for you.
And you need to say, Lord, your will, not my will.
That's really point number one.
That's, look, it's not hard, is it hard?
It can be hard, because our will is, you know, I want to do what I want.
Yeah, that part is hard, but knowing God's will is not hard.
It just requires some basic reading.
You say, Pastor, I never learned how to read.
You know what's wonderful about now?
You can just download an audio Bible, go to YouTube,
type in King James Bible, the book of John, and some guy will read it to you.
Okay, so there's no excuse now for nobody to know,
for people to say, oh, I don't know God's word.
You know, that's where God's will is found.
But in Matthew 4, verse 18, Matthew 4, 18.
And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee,
saw to the brethren Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother,
casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.
And he saith unto them, follow me, and look at this, and I will.
What's your will, Jesus?
I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left their nets and followed him.
I don't know what God's will is for me.
You know what God's will is for you, what Jesus' will is for you?
For you to be a fisher of men, to preach the gospel.
Now that you are saved, how do I save others?
How do I show them the love of Christ?
How do I lead them in understanding the great gospel salvation?
Yeah, be a fisher of men. That is God's will in your life.
You're in Matthew, so come with me to Matthew 16.
Matthew 16.
Matthew 16, verse 18.
Look, I know we're a small church.
I know Blessed Hope is a small church, you know,
in comparison to many, many churches, right?
I hope by now you've settled, hey, my pastors,
you know, one of those Elijahs, and not the 450 prophets of Babel, right?
I hope you've settled that in your heart by now, right?
But Matthew 16, 18, I love this, and it says,
these are the words of Jesus,
And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Jesus, what is your will?
It's his will to build his church.
That's the role and responsibility of Jesus.
Look, church is important.
You know, one of the things at Blessed Hope is we only have two services a week.
We've only got the one on the Sunday and the one midweek service.
And I think, and again, I know it's not always easy to make the midweek service,
but I appreciate those of you that make the effort, give it time,
because you understand that, you know, that you are part of this church.
When we come together, right, the church is not the building, right?
The church is not the activities.
The church are the people coming together, the assembly,
for the purpose of worship and praise and learning from Jesus Christ.
For Christ to be in our midst.
And it's God's will to build his church.
You know, it's God's will that you are at Blessed Hope at this church
when services are available.
If you can come with me to 1 Timothy, please.
1 Timothy, chapter 5.
1 Timothy, chapter 5, please.
1 Timothy, chapter 5 and verse number 14.
Sometimes ladies, you know, have a hard time processing
what God's Word says about their life
and what the world is saying about their life, right?
And look, I understand there are going to be times
when ladies need to work a job and what have you.
I understand those times come up for whatever reason, whatever purpose,
but I want you to understand that God's will is different.
When it comes to 1 Timothy 5.14, it says,
I will.
You say, well, that's Paul speaking.
Yeah, but who moved Paul to write these words?
The Holy Spirit.
The Holy Ghost moved Paul to write these words.
When Paul says, I will, that's God's will.
I will, therefore, that younger women marry,
bear children, guide the house,
give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
Any young lady, you say, but pastor, what is God's will in my life?
Hey, that you marry, that you bear children, that you guide your house.
Okay, give no occasion to the adversary.
Don't give occasion to the adversary, the devil.
Don't give the devil any space.
You see, if you listen to the wisdom of the world,
they're going to tell you everything except that.
They're going to tell you this lady is how you're going to ruin your life,
get tied down, not enjoy life,
but this is what God has created you to do.
Look, the prophets of Baal aren't going to tell you that,
but Elijah will tell you the truth,
even if it's contrary to God's word.
Contrary to, yeah, the prophets of Baal will tell you things that are contrary to God's word,
but Elijah will tell you things that are contrary to the wisdom of the world.
Okay?
And, you know, there are a lot of ladies that are trying to further their career growth
and their education, and, you know, look,
I understand that the world is going to do what the world teaches,
but we're God's people, you know?
And you say, but, Pastor, you know, living life is just so unaffordable on a single income.
Look, God's will, if you do what God wants, if you submit to God's will,
he'll make it possible.
He'll somehow, like, you know, he's God.
You know, he's above all things. He knows the challenges.
He knows how unaffordable things are. He knows the pressures.
He knows that, you know, the devil's going to use family and friends and colleagues
to make you feel like a loser, ladies,
because you want to just get married and have kids and leave the house.
But, you know, how long are you going to hold between two opinions?
Are you going to listen to this world or are you going to listen to God?
You know, what is God's will for you?
And, you know, I'll just quickly read to you from Ecclesiastes 12.13.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Right? If we fear God and we keep his commandments, God, how you command me,
Lord, you know, how are you guiding me?
What is my will? What is your will for my life?
Open God's Word and find out.
It's really not that hard, but it is hard to apply, okay?
You want to grow and be the perfect man.
You want to grow and be the perfect woman.
You need to make sure you put God first.
You listen to his wisdom.
Say, what happened when God says something but the world says something else?
You go with what God says.
He'll bless you. He'll guide you.
He knows the challenges.
He knows the difficulty of making a certain decision.
He knows when you go God's way that the world's going to mock at you,
going to laugh at you, but in reality, what we saw earlier,
it's the wisdom of the world.
It's the wisdom of the prophets of Baal that needs to be mocked at.
It doesn't even come close to the wisdom of God.
Like I said to you, a lot of people say, well, I'm just waiting.
I'm just waiting for God to reveal his will in my life.
Just open the Bible.
Just go to a great Bible-preaching church.
Listen to the words of God.
Just apply what God has told you.
Again, sometimes, and if this is you, if you've said this to me,
brethren, I'm not having a go at you,
but a lot of people say this to me sometimes,
but pastor, my situation is, but I'm different from that, pastor.
Again, I'm not telling you do what I do.
I would hate for you to be just like me.
I hate that.
I'm saying do what God says for you to do.
The Bible, like I said earlier, it's a one-size-fits-all book.
You can never get to a point where you're like,
oh, but my situation, oh, but God understands my situation.
It's different to what we saw in the Bible.
It's no different.
The wisdom is there.
You say, but pastor, I've been married and divorced five times,
and I realize now God's will is to be married once,
and I ruined it.
Now you're on your fifth husband.
Now you're on your fifth wife.
Just make this marriage work, and don't get divorced.
Just do what you can with what God has said to you,
but don't turn around and say, oh, but that's not my situation.
It can't be.
This is the God of the universe.
Your creator has given you his word.
It must work in your life.
Oh, he's not God, but I'm telling you, let God be God.
The Bible works.
God's will works.
It doesn't matter if you live in 2023 or you lived in 1950.
If you lived in the first century, God's word is timeless.
It works.
It's applicable to every generation, okay?
Generation X, Y, millennial.
What's the next generation now?
The Zs.
Is that the last one?
No, I think there's another one.
There's another one now.
I think like 14 and under.
Is that Z?
I don't know.
Whatever generation you're in, okay?
God's word is applicable to your life.
Follow his will.
Submit yourself to God's will.
You know, instead of complaining, when you see God's commandments in his word,
and look, I want to be mindful of how I say this.
You are not going to go from being the baby in Christ, newly saved,
or maybe you've been saved for a long time.
You've just never grown.
You've just stayed a baby.
You're never going to go from one day to the next and be the adult.
And Christians that try to be the adults within a week,
the mature and perfect man within a week or so,
they're the ones that burn out and they're the ones that ultimately end up giving up
because it's hard, okay?
But you've heard of the term growing pains, right?
Sometimes I remember one of my kids, a couple of my kids,
when they were growing and I remember, which one was it?
Someone said to me, Dad, can you come?
He was in his room.
He was in a lot of pain that night.
He's like, I've got this pain in my legs.
And we went to see a doctor and he said, that's growing pains.
You know, the legs are starting to stretch and the bodies,
it's just a sudden growth there and the body's struggling to sort of keep up with that growth.
And when it comes to growing and maturing, it takes time.
It takes time.
And look, when I say to you submit your will to God's will,
of course I mean that, but I don't expect you to be this perfect Christian tomorrow.
And what I often say when I preach is, look,
if there's one point in this sermon that you can take away with you,
just one, one small thing,
make that one small change, okay?
If all you can take away from this sermon today is,
I know that I need to submit my will to God's will eventually.
Praise God.
You got something right.
You got something, okay?
Or if it's like, okay, my pastor warned me of the 450 prophets of Baal,
I better be more careful who I listen to, which books I read,
what churches I attend.
Well, praise God, just take that one small thing.
But always just take one small aspect from whatever sermon you're hearing
and make the change.
And with small little additions, small little changes,
after a year, you're going to have a lot of growth.
And after two years, you're going to have a lot of growth.
But if you try to apply it all straight away, you will burn out,
and you will give up, and you'll say it's just too hard.
Okay?
So I'm trying to be careful as well.
You know, I don't want you to get to the point where you're like,
oh, you know, I'm lacking in growth, I'm not as mature as I want to be,
and you start to get discouraged, and you start to give up,
I don't want to see that either.
Okay?
I'd rather see small growths than one attempt of a giant leap,
oh, look how well I'm doing, then you burn out and you give up,
and you walk with the Lord.
You know, I'd rather small steps, one thing at a time.
And like, I'm sure I've said this in a sermon before,
but, you know, when you are confronted with God's Word,
and you say, well, Lord, I don't know if I can do that,
instead of shutting down God's Word,
instead of shutting down what was clearly seen,
you say, God, I see it in your Scriptures,
I come short of your standard, but help me, Lord.
Help me get to your standard.
I don't think I can do it today, Lord.
I don't know if I can do it next week.
I don't think I can even do it this year, Lord.
But can you help me?
Can you prepare me?
Can you help me not to reject your Word?
Lord, can you help me to not listen to the rudiments of the world,
to the traditions of man,
to help me to have my ears and attention
upon what your will is in my life?
And I know the Lord will bless that prayer.
I know the Lord will come through,
guide you and help you as you grow and mature
and be that perfect man.
You know, the Bible says in Romans 3, 4,
God forbid, yea, let God be true,
but every man a liar.
Every man a liar.
You say, should I listen to God or should I listen to this man?
He's a liar.
Should I listen to God or should I listen to a pastor?
Just consider the pastor a liar,
especially if it's contrary to God's Word.
Go with what God says.
Oh, I want to go with what I think.
Yea, you're a man too.
You're a liar too.
Go with what God says.
God's way is always right.
God's way is always true.
Can you come with me to Deuteronomy 31, please?
Deuteronomy 31.
Why are we sometimes unwilling to submit to God's will?
You know, another interesting term that I often hear
when people are rebellious,
when someone's rebellious,
they say, oh, well, you know,
that person has a strong character.
You know, he's a strong person.
It's strange.
People that are rebellious are considered strong,
like in the world.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
It's just, oh, my child's very disobedient.
He's just got a very strong character.
I mean, strength is a positive attribute,
and rebellion is a negative attribute.
How can you describe a negative attribute
with a positive attribute?
You know, but that's the wisdom of the world, okay?
And you know what's interesting here?
Deuteronomy 31.
Deuteronomy 31, verse number 25.
We have this time when, of course,
I mean, it happens many times
when the Israelites are rebellious against God,
but in verse number 25 it says that
and thy stiff neck.
So when we talk about someone being strong,
God's way is not,
they're stiff of neck, all right?
Behold, while I am yet alive with you this day,
ye have been rebellious against the Lord,
and how much more after my death?
Okay?
So someone that, you know,
we talk about being strong-willed,
a strong character,
that person is unwilling
to submit themselves to God's will.
That is a negative attribute,
being stiff-necked, right?
Hardened and rebellious against God.
I hope that's not you tonight.
I'm glad you're at church,
but I hope you're not like,
ah, I can't do those things.
I can't submit my,
ah, what pastors preach is too high of a standard,
and you rebel.
Look, don't harden your neck against God, okay?
Don't think it's a positive attribute
to say, well, I'll just do it my way.
That's rebellion against the Lord, all right?
And I remember when Christ went
to the Garden of Gethsemane
before he was crucified,
and he asked his disciples to pray,
and they fell asleep.
And then Christ says in Matthew 26, 41,
Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.
The Spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak.
Oh, he's a strong character.
No, he's weak in character.
Oh, he's, you know,
no, he's stiff-necked.
He's rebellious, okay?
These are negative attributes,
but the Word puts a positive spin
on rebellion against God.
Look, I don't want you to be rebellious.
Look, what Christ said is true.
If you're saved today,
you know you have two natures.
The Spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak.
When you're like,
God, I just can't do your will,
I can't apply your will to my will.
Look, the new man, the Spirit is willing.
You know, you go and pray to God.
You go and pray to God.
Say, God, my Spirit is willing.
Lord, I do want to live the life
that you have for me.
Lord, I want to follow the commands
that you've laid out in your Word,
but Lord, you know,
you've said it yourself
when you were on this earth.
You saw your own disciples.
My flesh is weak, right?
Instead of hardening yourself,
instead of thinking that
you're strong of character,
say, Lord, I'm weak.
Lord, I need your help.
And look, when it comes to this
perfect man sermon, this series,
you can only do it with God's help.
Okay?
Any changes, you need God's guidance,
you need his help.
You submit to his will,
and you ask God, God, help me.
Help me to overcome the flesh.
Help me to overcome the wisdom
that I've received from the world.
Now I need that pen.
Can I borrow it, brother,
if you have it with you?
So point number one in this final sermon
is submit your will to God's will.
Submit your will to God's will.
Thank you, brother.
I'll give it back.
Or you'll find that under the pulpit.
The next one is point number two.
Okay, remember, what's the title?
Let God be God.
Okay?
So God knows.
God knows you.
So you submit to his will.
It's the best for you.
God's will is the best for you,
for your life.
Okay?
Next thing I want to say
is that we have, look,
everything that I've been covering
are changes that you can make.
Right?
Like, God wouldn't ask something of you
that he knows you can't do.
Everything in God's word,
every commandment,
he knows you can do it.
He made you so you can do it.
Like, what kind of God
would set a certain standard,
a certain will in his life,
for our lives,
and then knowing full well
that we can't do it?
Obviously, everything that we learn
in this series,
everything that we see
in the commandments of God
are things that we can change,
things that we can do in our lives.
But there also are times
when there are things in life
that you have no control over.
Would you agree with that?
There are things in life
that you can't change.
Okay?
So how do we let God be God
when there are circumstances
that you can't change?
Well, point number two,
this is the next one, Reverend,
is you need to leave the rest to God.
So you make the changes
that you can make,
but you leave the rest to God.
All right?
Now, I know,
I think it was during COVID
when I used this illustration,
but I want to use it again
just in case you missed that.
I'm going to use the back
of my notes here.
So I'll draw a circle
in the middle of my paper,
and I'll color it in a little bit
so you can see it clearly.
Okay?
Now, that circle represents your life.
That circle represents,
you know,
let's say if you're married,
that represents your relationship
with your wife,
because you have an effect
in that area, right?
And wives, you can have an effect
with how you relate to your husband.
We all have been given
responsibilities and roles.
You know, that can be your children.
That will be your church attendants.
That will be your workplace.
You know, you can change
how effectively you work.
You can choose to be a lazy employee,
or you can choose to be
an employee that honors God
and works hard
and be very productive.
So that circle represents,
let's say you have,
let's just use these percentages
you have, I know you can't read it,
but you have 100% of control
and influence in this area of life.
When I'm preaching to you
about being the perfect man,
I'm talking about this area of life,
all right?
For me, that just,
that goes a little bit past my family.
That also includes being
a pastor of two churches, right?
If you run your own business,
that can be your own business.
Whatever area that God has given you,
that God wants to direct you in,
that's your area,
that you have influence
in that area, right?
And so when I talked about
submitting your will to God's will,
that whole area there,
you need to say,
hey God, how do you want me
to be as a husband?
Hey God, how do you want me
to be as a church member?
Hey God, what do you want me
to be as a soul winner?
God, if I'm a child,
you know, I'm gonna try
to obey my parents the way
you want me to obey my parents.
When it comes to workplace,
Lord, I'm going to be
an obedient employee
the way you want me to be.
You've got control in that area.
You submit your will to God's will
in all these aspects
of your life.
But then I'm going to draw
another circle around that circle.
I hope you can see that,
another circle around that circle, okay?
And like, you know,
within that circle that was colored,
you had 100% influence and control.
And when it comes to this circle,
let's say, and look,
these percentages are not
exactly right, okay?
But just to give you an idea,
in this circle,
you've only got 10% of influence.
Okay, you say, what is that?
Well, that can be your relationships
with extended family members, okay?
People that you interact
on a regular basis,
but you really have no
major influence in their lives.
It might be you go through the shops
and you come across
the workers at the shop
and you have some interaction,
you have some element of influence,
right, in their lives,
but nothing in comparison
to the people God has you dealing with
on a daily basis
or the people that God
has given you authority over, okay?
You have some elements,
but very little, okay?
That comes with too,
with your larger world, right?
Let's say the extended family
and what have you.
Then I'm going to do another circle
around that circle.
And this time I'm going to put 1%, okay?
So there's another circle
around that circle.
We'll say this is where
you've got 1%, and again,
percentage, whatever.
You've got 1%.
In other words,
your influence is like
a drop in the ocean.
For example,
we just recently had a referendum, okay?
And if you're casting your vote,
your vote is less than 1%, okay?
You say,
do we have some influence?
I guess so.
I don't know.
If you believe voting,
if you really believe
you have influence or whatever,
I don't know.
I really don't know
how much of an influence we have, okay?
But it would be something very minor, okay?
This comes to global events,
laws that are passed,
let's say COVID, right?
The restrictions and what have you.
You may have some element
of a voice, right?
Even if you went in the streets
and protested,
I suppose you had a 1% influence
in that realm, okay?
But again,
as we keep going in this journey,
you notice that you have
less and less influence,
less and less control
over these areas of your life.
Then, around that circle,
I'll do another one.
This time,
you've got 0% influence, all right?
So, another circle,
now you've got no influence,
you've got no control.
This has to do with the fact
that the sun rises
and the sun sets, okay?
And you can't control the tides
and you can't control the weather.
Instead of a pastor,
I saw technology, whatever, right?
You can't control the comets
flying through the space.
You can't control when God says,
all right,
we're heading to the end times
and you can't control
the timing of Christ.
There are things outside
of your control.
Completely.
You've got no say.
You've got no influence, all right?
You don't know
when you're going to die.
You don't know
any of these things, right?
You've got zero control
in life in these areas.
So,
when we talk about
letting God be God,
and say,
God, I know your will
in my life
and I need to make changes,
where do you think
God wants us
spending our time in
when it comes to these areas?
Do you think God wants us
spending our time
where we have 0% control over?
Worrying about
some comet
that's going to hit the Earth?
You know,
worrying about,
oh, the next ice age
or the next global warming.
I don't know what it is.
Ozone layer.
When I was in school,
it was the ice age.
We were expecting
the ice age, okay?
Now, my kids,
they're being told
it's global warming, okay?
The scientists never know.
But there's always something
coming around the corner, right?
Are we going to worry
about the next cataclysm
on the Earth,
whatever that might be?
You know,
when we have this 1% control,
are we going to be
overly concerned
about what the governments
are doing
and how they're trying
to strip away our liberties
and how the rich get richer
and the poor get poorer?
Are we going to be
ultra, you know,
preoccupied with the 10% maybe
of other factors
that we have some element,
you know,
other extended people
that we come across?
Is that where God wants us
to spend our time on
or do you think God wants us
to spend our time
on that middle circle
where we have 100% control
and influence
in the things that we do?
It's right there.
What I'm trying to say
to you, brethren,
is God has given us his word.
He knows we can do
something about that.
God knows we can do something
about the commandments
that he's given us.
You need to focus right there,
okay,
then worrying about
what's happening there,
wasting time,
what's happening there,
okay?
God would rather you spend
your next hour
improving your marriage,
all right,
rather than worrying about
what's happening
with global warming
or whatever other factors
fall in this category
that's where God wants you
to be focused on.
And if you're saying,
Pastor, I'm worried about this,
I'm worried about that,
I'm spending time on this,
you have to let God be God,
okay?
Leave the rest
in God's hands.
And look,
if you're really worried,
you go before God in prayer,
you are God's children.
Like I said,
leave the rest to God
and say,
God, these are areas
of my life,
my flesh is weak,
I need to make these changes,
but Lord,
there's these other areas
of my life that frustrate me,
they give me a headache,
they worry me.
Look,
you say,
this is what you have to do,
you say,
God, I'm going to leave it
with you.
God,
you are God.
You know,
you know my life
and you know the wickedness
of this world
and Lord,
you know what the devil
is up to
and Lord,
you know all things,
Lord,
and instead of me
being concerned and worried
about these areas of life
that I have no control over,
you say,
Lord,
I'm going to leave
the rest to you.
Leave the rest to you.
The two points,
the last two points
that I have for this series,
brethren,
is submit your will
to God's will.
Talk about that center area,
okay,
and the rest of it,
just leave it to God.
Go to God in prayer
and leave it with him.
Come with me
to Philippians 4,
please.
Philippians 4,
verse number 6.
Philippians 4,
verse number 6.
Philippians 4,
6.
You all know this passage.
I love,
this is,
these are verses
that I love.
I love them
because they've changed my life.
I love them
because they give me
such peace in this world
when things are falling apart.
You know,
people,
you know,
I remember when Russia
and the Ukraine issue started
and, you know,
people getting worried
about that
and now we have
the Israel-Palestine issue
popping up.
People get worried about that.
You've got no control.
Look,
you say,
God,
it's in your hands.
I don't know what's going on.
I don't know who's right
and wrong.
It's all,
like,
war is wickedness.
You know?
And Philippians 4,
6 says,
be careful for nothing.
That's God's command to you.
Look,
all the worries,
okay,
God says,
don't worry about it.
Don't,
be careful.
Don't be full of care
for any of these things.
I say,
how, Lord?
How do I?
But in everything,
this is how you do it,
by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known
unto God.
You know what?
When something bothers you,
you go to God in prayer
straight away
and thanksgiving.
That's going to help you too.
Remind yourself
what I can be thankful for.
Oh,
the Israel-Palestine thing
is getting me a bit worried
but, Lord,
I'm thankful that you gave me
breakfast today,
lunch and dinner.
I woke up and you gave me life.
I'm thankful that today,
tonight,
that I can be in the house of God.
Whatever it is,
give God thanks.
And then,
verse number seven,
it says,
and the peace of God
which passeth all understanding,
that word,
passeth,
is how we would use the word today,
surpasses.
It surpasses all understanding.
Shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.
What do you mean by
surpasses all understanding?
And this world can be on fire.
And Christians are like,
it's all good.
It's in God's hands.
And the world goes,
how can you be at peace?
It's like,
I can't understand
how you can be at peace.
So, yeah,
because I took it to God in prayer
and I thanked Him
because this area of my life
is not on fire at least.
At least this area,
whatever area of my life that is, right,
is flourishing
and we're doing well
and God is leading me.
God is guiding me.
And when people can look at you,
you can have this great peace.
Why?
Because you've left the rest to God.
Like I said,
point out to you,
you've left it to God.
You know,
1 Peter 5 says,
humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God
that He may exalt you in due time
casting all your care upon Him
for He careth for you.
The biggest mistake we make as Christians is
we don't cast all our care upon Him.
I sometimes am amazed,
and I do a lot of praying,
but I'm still amazed how many times
I forget to pray for things
and I'm worried about something
and they can be small things
and I'm like,
did I take that to God in prayer?
Or did I just expect it to resolve itself?
Well God says,
cast in all your care upon Him
for He careth for you.
Come back with me to 1 Kings 18 please.
Let's finish up the story here
with Elijah and the prophets of Baal.
1 Kings 18,
verse number 30.
1 Kings 18,
verse number 30.
1 Kings 18, verse 30.
Brethren, this altar of the Lord
represents the fact that
He's going to call upon the Lord
to rain down His fire on His sacrifice.
This represents,
in this sermon anyway,
your prayers,
your ability to let God be God.
Let God be God.
Maybe that has broken down.
Maybe your prayer life has broken down.
Maybe it's not exactly
where you need it to be with God.
Where God can do an amazing miracle in your life.
Verse number 31.
And He put the wood in order
and cut the bullocks in pieces
and laid Him on the wood and said,
fill four barrels with water
and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.
And He said,
do it the second time.
And they did it the second time.
And He said, do it the third time.
And they did it the third time.
Look, Elijah is filling this sacrifice with water.
It's drenched,
it's dripping with water.
So to show that,
hey, God's fire is not just going to burn up that sacrifice,
but it's going to cause all that water to be evaporated.
So great is the power of God.
And then it says in verse number 35,
And then I have done all these things at Thy word.
Elijah says, look,
I'm doing all the things at Your word.
Whatever you've said, God,
I'm doing what You've told me to do.
And I hope you can say that, right?
At the end of this series,
as you read your Bible
and you listen to His commands,
that you can say to God,
God, anything You say to me,
I'm going to do it or I'm doing it
or help me do it, Lord,
because I'm struggling.
Elijah has the confidence,
I'm doing what Your word says.
And then verse number 37,
He is the God.
The title of the sermon was
Let God be God.
Look, let God be God.
Let the Lord be God.
He is the God.
He knows all things.
He knows your life.
He knows your limitations.
He knows your weaknesses.
He knows your concerns.
He knows your worries.
And He's given you all the answers in His word.
It's up to you.
You know, when you're challenged with a command,
it's up to you.
I can't control that in your life.
My job is just to preach it.
Actually, not just to preach it.
My job is to preach it
and to apply it to my life.
Because I'm not this perfect guy.
I'm not constantly making mistakes,
just like you are.
That's why I never want to be
the standard of church.
I never want to be the standard.
Christ is the standard.
Our eyes are on Him.
Right?
He's our Savior.
He is our sacrifice.
He is, you know,
the living Word of God.
And so, brethren,
I hope you can just take
these two thoughts away tonight
and you can really think about it.
You know, if this whole series,
you'd say,
Pastor, I don't remember anything
in this series.
All right, just remember these two points.
Number one, submit yourself
under God's will.
All right?
And number two,
leave the rest to God.
The title for the sermon was
Let God Be God.
He truly is.
The Lord God is truly God.
He knows all things.
He's given you His Word.
His will is perfect in your life.
Let's pray.