Music
you
Good afternoon, everyone.
Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church.
Thank you all for coming.
If you could find your seats, we'll go ahead and get started.
We're going to go ahead and start this evening off in song number 375, Work Before the Night
is Coming.
Song 375.
Work Before the Night is Coming, song 375.
Sing it out if you know it.
Work before the night is coming, work through the morning hours.
the dew is sparkly, earth bids ringing clouds.
Work when the day grows brighter,
work in the glowing sun.
Work for the night is coming, when man's work is done.
Work for the night is coming, work through the sunny noon.
Fill brightest hours with labor, rest on shore and swoon.
Give every flying minute something to keep in store.
Work for the night is coming, when man's work's no more.
Work for the night is coming under the sunset skies.
While their bright tints are glowing,
work for daylight flies.
Work till the last beam faded, faded to shine no more.
Work while the night is darkening,
when man's work is o'er.
Great singing, everybody.
Let's go ahead and bow our heads for a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this church
and all the people gathered here together.
Thank you for all the souls that were one today.
Lord God, we ask that you fill Pastor Shelley
with your Holy Spirit, help him to preach an edifying sermon,
so that we can always, we can leave better Christians
as we came, or better than we came in, Lord,
for your honor and glory.
It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
All right, next up, we have song number 244.
This one should be a little more familiar, Amazing Grace.
Song 244.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found.
Was blind, but now I see.
T'was grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear beyond my first belief.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already gone.
T'is grace that brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
When we've been there 10,000 years,
bright shining as the sun, we've
no less days to speak of praise than when we first begun.
Thanks for coming back this evening.
Step Fast Baptist Church, if you need a bulletin,
you could just lift your hand.
Ushers can come by and get you one.
We're working on Jonah chapter 2, verse 3.
And it's a little bit more challenging of verse,
so you might start working on it already.
On the inside, we have our service times and soul winning
times and our church stats.
Also, if you have any soul winning maps,
please turn those in.
If you have any soul winning to report,
just make sure to text or message your soul winning
captain, so that way they can report that.
We still have some expecting ladies
who can be in prayer for, as well as our prayer list.
Please pray for our church family.
On the back is a note about our conference
that's coming up in October.
We also have a Texas Chili Cook Off at the end of the month.
And then we have our Miami Soul Winning Marathon.
If you're interested as far as just what kind of events
and general timeline that we have,
we kind of have a schedule there for you.
And so you can pay attention to that as well.
That's pretty much all I have.
We'll go ahead and sing our third song,
Psalm 67, if you'd like to sing it out.
And your companion, hymnals, here you go.
All right, that is Psalm 67.
Sing it out together.
God be merciful unto us and bless us.
And cause his face to shine upon us.
God thy way be known upon us.
Thy saving health among all nations.
Let the people praise thee, O God.
Let all his people praise thee.
O let the nations be glad and sing for joy.
For thou shalt trust the people.
Righteously and governed the nations upon earth.
The nations upon earth see love.
Let the people praise thee, O God.
Let all the people praise thee.
O let the nations be glad and sing for joy.
Then shall the earth yield her in grace.
And God, even our own God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
Let the people praise thee, O God.
Let all the people praise thee.
O let the nations be glad and sing for joy.
Great singing, everybody.
As the offering of plates are going around,
would you please turn your Bibles to Psalm chapter number five.
Psalm chapter number five.
Psalm chapter five.
The Bible reads, give ear to my words, O Lord.
Consider my meditation.
Harken unto the voice of my cry, my king and my God.
For unto thee will I pray.
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord.
In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up.
For thou art not a God that hath pleasure and wickedness.
Neither shall evil dwell with thee.
The foolish shall not stand in thy sight.
Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing.
The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy and in thy fear
will I worship toward thy holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies.
Make thy way straight before my face.
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth.
Their inward part is very wickedness.
Their throat is an open sepulchre.
They flatter with their tongue.
Destroy thou them, O God.
Let them fall by their own counsels.
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions.
For they have rebelled against thee.
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice.
Let them ever shout for joy because thou defendest them.
Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous.
With favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
Let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day.
I thank you for the word of God.
I ask you to please bless Patrick Shelley as he preaches your word.
Please help us to be attentive and to be better Christians.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
I want to look at the very last verse of this psalm.
It says, For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous.
With favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
The Bible brings up this idea of favor with God.
Another way to word favor would just be blessing.
When we think about blessing, favor is a synonym, in a sense, and just hoping for good, wishing
for good, good things to happen, in a sense.
When we talk about favor, it's in the same context that God will give favor unto the
righteous and unto people.
What I want to talk about this evening is the idea of God's blessing and how God blesses
people.
The title of my sermon is this, God blesses what's biblical best.
God blesses what's biblical best.
And really the idea of my sermon is, and I don't want you to hear what I'm saying wrong
this evening, so I want to give a very clear caveat.
Obviously we should never sin.
Sin is wrong.
God does not want us to sin.
I'm not handing out licenses to sin, I'm not the Catholic church.
But what I want people to understand is that God is so gracious that God will bless people
despite the fact that we have sin.
Because if God was only going to bless people without sin, no one would ever be blessed
and no one would ever have favor.
And so in reality, God blesses people and allows people to have favor and grace in all
categories of error in their life and sin in their life and problems.
And I think because we as fundamental Baptists strive to follow God's commandments very
strictly because we care very much about getting sin out of our life, we can sometimes get
a weird idea that God will only bless us if we're perfect.
Or that God will only bless new I of B.
There's some people in this world that think if you're not going to a new I of B church,
God's not going to bless you.
And then some people think if you're not a soul winning, three to thrive new I of B person,
then God won't bless you.
And some people think unless you're just reading the Bible all day and going soul winning all
day and just singing hymns in your head and you never have a bad thought, that's the only
way God will bless you.
There's people that say you have to be a fundamental Baptist for God to bless you.
Some people say you have to be a Baptist for God to bless you.
Some people say you'd have to be a Christian for God to bless you.
And what I want to suggest is that God can bless people, period.
That it's not limited to a certain group of people and they're the only people that will
ever get God's favor, will only get God's blessing, that God can use.
But rather I want to suggest to you that God can use anyone at any point in time, but God
is always going to bless what's Biblical best.
So if we want to procure the most favor, the most blessing, and the most pleasure of our
Father in Heaven, then we strive to follow the Bible the best.
But at the same time, there's many people that God uses, cares about, and does good
things for that are not doing things very Biblically.
And so I want to give a lot of examples, but before I do, I want to just show what the
Bible says about favor.
Go to Psalm chapter 41, go to Psalm chapter 41.
The Bible says to procure God's favor, it's through being righteous.
That's what it said in Psalm 5.
Psalm 41, it's going to prescribe more detail on this.
Verse 7, the Bible says,
All that hate me whisper together against me.
Against me do they devise my hurt.
And evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him.
And now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more.
Yea, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up
his heel against me.
But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.
By this I know that thou favor'st me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
So notice again, this person is getting the favor of God, and specifically he knows that
the enemy will not triumph over him.
Says in verse 12,
As for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and saidest me before thy face forever.
Why is it that God is giving this person favor?
Why is he going to allow them to have triumph?
Because of their integrity.
So we notice that the more integrity you have, the more righteousness you have, the more
favor you procure from God.
So if we go to Psalm 119, I want to show a lot of verses on this.
Psalm 119, look at verse 58.
Psalm 119, verse 58 says,
I entreated thy favor with my whole heart.
Be merciful unto me according to thy word.
So here's someone, entreating is seeking for, wanting, asking.
So the psalmist is asking and treating wanting God's favor.
So they're trying to procure God's favor, specifically, and also recognizing what?
That they need mercy.
Because we all need mercy.
The person who thinks they don't need mercy is prideful.
Because we all need mercy, and we should constantly be seeking for and asking for God's favor
in our lives.
Now I want to go to some proverbs.
Go to Proverbs, chapter number 3.
While you're turning there to Proverbs 3, I'm just going to read for you.
The Bible says blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord.
The Bible says God's blessing comes to people who refrain from defiling themselves, who
decide to follow what the Bible says.
The Bible says blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the
whole heart.
So when you seek God with your heart, when you strive to keep God's testimonies and commandments,
he blesses you.
So I don't want you to get this idea that God's blessing is abstract from following
his commandments, because they're directly tied to following his commandments.
But at the same time, we have to recognize no one is perfect.
So the person that's even striving for God's commandments, striving for God's favor, is
still needing mercy even to acquire that particular favor.
So we have a balance there of, I'm trying to be good, I'm trying to follow God's commandments,
I'm trying to do what's right, and I'm hoping God will give me favor, but at the same time,
it's not something I always deserve, I still need his mercy in order to acquire that.
Proverbs chapter 3 verse 1, my son forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments,
for length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee.
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee, bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table
of thine heart.
So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
So how do you get favor with God and how do you get favor with man?
Well it's by keeping God's commandments.
So if you want God's blessing, if you want God's favor, it is tied to following the Bible.
The more biblical you are, the more blessed you're going to be.
And God is always going to bless what's biblical best.
Favor is the most biblical, he's always going to bless that the most, he's going to give
it the most favor, the most mercy in every category.
And we just see this over and over in the Bible.
Look at Proverbs chapter 11.
I just want to saturate you with several verses here and then I'm going to kind of make some
points but, Proverbs chapter 11 look at verse 27.
He that diligently seeketh good procureth favor.
If you want God's favor, how do you do it?
What does it say?
Well it's very clearly, you have to diligently seek good.
So by following God's commandments, by doing right, God is going to bless you more.
If you want God's favor, you seek him, you follow his commandments, you do what's right
and that's how you procure God's favor.
Chapter 12 we're right there, look at verse 2.
A good man obtaineth favor of the Lord, but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
Here again, God is illustrating that God does not give out favor to everybody equally.
The more you follow his commandments, the better you are, the more good you are, God
will give you more favor.
And if you end up crossing the line and you're a wicked man, God will punish you according
to your wickedness.
Look at chapter 13 and verse 15.
Good understanding giveth favor, but the way of transgressors is hard.
Notice again, the more you understand what you're supposed to do, the more you understand
the Bible and the more you implement that in your life, the better your life is going
to be generally speaking and the more favor and blessing you're going to have.
And the more you don't follow the Bible and go against what God's teachings are, the more
difficult and hard your life is going to be.
So the Bible is saying God is going to bless what's biblical best.
I mean, have I not just already just shown this verse after verse after verse after verse?
Look at chapter 14 verse 9.
Fools make a mock at sin, but among the righteous there is favor.
So notice favor is for the people that are following the commandments, being righteous,
doing right, whereas the people that make fun of following God's commandments, what
does the Bible say about these people?
Well, you know they're fools.
You can say, oh, you go to church, you read the Bible, you don't drink, you don't smoke,
you don't, you know, tat your body up, you don't do all these things, and they mock you.
Oh, you're a goody-two-shoes, oh, you're a fundamentalist, oh, you're a Bible-believing
Christian, oh, you're a Baptist.
And it's like, yeah, but you know what, I have more favor when I do those things.
I have more favor when I follow God's commandments, and God is going to bless what is biblical
best.
Now, I want to go to a few stories.
Go to 1 Kings chapter 20.
Go to 1 Kings chapter number 20.
We're going to do a lot of Bible tonight, so I hope you brought your Bible this evening.
But now that I've established that point, I want to talk about this in a different context.
Because there's no doubt, no question, that God will always bless what's biblical best.
But then here's this question, where's the line?
How biblical do I have to be?
How godly do I have to be?
How much do I have to follow God's commandments for him to be willing to bless me in my life?
And I want to show some examples of people that were not very godly, that we don't look
at as a good example, and yet God still used them and still blessed them.
Because I want you to have the right perspective on this issue.
Look at 1 Kings chapter 20 verse 13, and behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel.
Now before we get there, is Ahab considered like one of the greatest guys in the Bible?
In fact, how many people in here are named Ahab?
Who in here knows someone named Ahab?
Anybody?
You know why?
Ahab is not considered a good guy in the Bible, generally speaking.
In fact, he's one of the most wicked at times, it seems like.
Has a bad wife, okay?
Bad wife, bad life.
All right?
There you go.
It's not happy wife, happy life.
It's bad wife, bad life.
That's what it is for him, okay?
And behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord,
Hast thou seen all this great multitude?
Behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day, and thou shalt know that I am the
Lord.
And Ahab said, By whom?
And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces.
Then he said, Who shall order the battle?
And he answered, Thou.
This is a huge surprise in the Bible.
You're just reading about how Ahab is not a godly guy, not a good king, not doing right,
and then just all of a sudden, the enemies of the Lord come to challenge the children
of Israel, and he's like, Well, I'm going to use you, and you know why?
Just to prove that I'm the Lord, because there's no way anybody's going to give you the attribution
or the credit for this, so I'm just going to go ahead and allow you to order the battle
and you to win the victory to give God the glory, and so sometimes God will use very
sinful people, will use people that are not very right with God to do something for him
just simply to give him more honor and credit.
I mean, we look at the woman at the well in John chapter number four, not the most
godly woman in the Bible and arguably not a godly woman at all.
In fact, Jesus is like, Go call thy husband, and it's like, Which one?
It's like she's got all these past relationships, and the guy she's with right now is not even
her husband, but then in a moment, God uses her to reach a lot of people with the gospel
and to get saved, and I think that sometimes we think like the only way God could use somebody
is if they're a three to thrive, fundamental, Baptist, that's the only person God could
ever use or do anything in their life and the only people that God cares about, and
you know what?
That's just a weird idea, and we shouldn't look down upon others just because they're
more sinful than us and think like God's about to strike you dead just because you're not
like me, when in fact, many times, God is going to give grace and mercy to people that
really don't deserve it.
And I'm not justifying Ahab's lifestyle, I'm not saying Ahab's a good guy, in fact, I'm
using an example because he's not a good guy.
What I'm saying is that sometimes we get confused, it's like, How is this person doing something
for God?
How is this person making this positive thing?
How did this person do something?
And it's like, because God can use anybody, and he can especially use any saved person.
Go to Numbers chapter 16, go to Numbers chapter 16.
If someone's saved, God could use them at any point that he sees fit.
Now let's go back to the title of the sermon.
God blesses what's biblical best.
Is Ahab the most blessed king we have in the Bible?
Not even close.
Why?
Because he wasn't a very biblical king.
So am I saying, Let's be like Ahab, where our life's a complete train wreck, but one
moment in time we did something good for God.
Now, I would rather do something good for God my whole life, not just one random time.
But what I want to explain to you is that even an Ahab out there could still do something
positive for God once in a blue moon.
It's just like, Whoa, I can't believe that God used Ahab.
Now, you would think again, that people kind of have to be perfect and not make big mistakes
in order for God to use them.
But I want to remind you that Aaron, he made a golden calf.
Did you remember that story?
Who knows what I'm talking about?
Who's heard the story?
Aaron made a golden calf.
Who in here, if you were like, there's this pastor out there and he made a golden calf,
would you ever think God would use that person ever again?
Like you would think like, this guy's a false prophet.
I mean, can you imagine going to someone's church and they have a giant golden calf or
right in the front of their church, golden calf, Baptist church or something.
He was just like, What in the world?
You would think these people are out to lunch worshiping the devil.
And look, I'm not justifying that.
I'm not saying that was a good idea.
It was super wicked what Aaron did.
It was super wrong.
But then we get later in the story and we have a controversy between Korah, Dathan and
Abiram.
That's what it says.
And let's just read a few verses here.
Now Korah, the son of Issar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi and Dathan and Abiram, the
sons of Eliab and An, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, Tuchman, and they rose up before
Moses with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly,
famous in the congregation, men of renown.
And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them,
Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy.
Every one of them, flatterer.
And the Lord is among them, wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation
of the Lord.
When Moses heard, he fell upon his face, and he spake unto Korah and all his company, saying,
Even tomorrow the Lord will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come
near unto him, even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
Now in this story, God ends up performing a miracle.
He opens up the earth, and he literally causes these wicked people to go straight into hell.
It says they went alive into the pit, or quick into the pit, which means alive.
And so, it was like a special death where it's just an immediate death in hell.
They didn't have to descend, they were already there.
It was just like straight to hell.
Now additionally though, in chapter seventeen, it brings up that he had done this thing where
he asked them all to get a rod or a staff, and their censor, and bring it.
And he's going to show why he's picking Aaron, or a proof that he's picking Aaron and not
these people.
And in chapter seventeen, it says in verse number seven,
And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness, and it came
to pass that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold the
rod of Aaron, for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds and bloom blossoms
and yielded almonds.
So they all get these censors from all these guys, and they're all saying, like, I'm of
God.
No, I'm of God.
No, I'm the real prophet.
No, I'm the one that's God's chosen.
No, I'm the chosen.
And then, it's like, well, who's really chosen?
And it's the one who has the fruit, because you're going to know people by their fruit.
That's another thing.
You have all these people claiming to be the children of God.
You have Christians claiming to be the children of God.
You have the black Heber Israelites claiming to be the children of God.
You have Jews claiming to be the children of God.
You know how you know who's the children of God?
The fruit.
And hey, you know why we're the children of God, and what's the evidence of that?
The fruit.
That we get people saved, and that we have the good fruits and the works of the Lord
Jesus Christ, whereas these other groups don't have that fruit.
And the same is with Aaron.
But this is what I want to explain to you.
Why would God bud Aaron's censor?
Why would God bud his staff when he had committed this horrible sin of idolatry and making a
golden calf?
It's because God can use people despite their sin.
And sometimes we get this idea, like, well, this person is not a good person or not a
man of God because of this sin.
And we could all be guilty of this.
What if there's a pastor out there, he's right on the gospel, he uses the King James
Bible, but he has a big sin or he makes a big mistake?
Is it really ever even comparable to what Aaron did when it comes to making a golden
calf, and then we attack them?
And look, I'm not talking about any of my friends.
I'm talking about specific, like, frenemies.
I'm talking about people that have slandered, railed, and done serious problems.
You know, just because they've done that, and this is where I think people get confused,
doesn't mean that that person couldn't go out soul winning and get someone saved.
Like, I'm just trying to be honest with you and saying, there could be someone that is
a bad pastor, that makes bad decisions, that slanders and rails, and yet still go outside
and knock on someone's door and give them the gospel and get someone saved.
And it's like, what does that even mean?
You know what that means?
It means that God can use anybody.
But you know what it doesn't mean?
Let's do that.
Because God blesses what's biblical best.
You know which pastor is going to do the most fruit and the most good works for God is the
one that's following the Bible the best.
And so, at the end of the day, there's been people that I've fought with, that I've called
out, that I've said, look, this person sinned, and it wasn't even like a question.
It was like, here's how they sinned, here's the evidence, here's the proof, it's all on
the table.
And then I realized, I'm probably not going to go to that person's area, I'm probably
not going to preach the gospel to any of their neighbors any time soon.
So does it really make sense for me to just fight this person?
Or should I just kind of eventually back off and let them alone and say, well, I hope God
uses them despite their issues, and despite their sin, and despite their problem.
And it doesn't mean that I want to be like them, because God's going to always bless
what's biblical best.
But at the end of the day, you know, I can just leave it alone and just see what God
does.
Go to 1 Kings chapter 13, go to 1 Kings chapter 13.
But I want to show a pattern of how sometimes people, they just sin really bad, and then
immediately after, God uses them.
And it's weird.
I mean, think about, have you ever, I was reading this actually last night in our family
Bible time, it's Saul, it's the chapter, the chapter starts out, Saul wants to kill David.
It's like 1 Samuel chapter 18, I think, or 19.
He wants to kill David, and then he's like sending all these servants and messengers
to kill him, and every time they go out, they like stumble upon this camp, and they start
prophesying.
And you're like, that's weird.
And then he sends like another group, and then another group, and then Saul goes himself,
and then he prophesies, and he's naked, and it's weird, I don't know.
But it's just kind of weird that like he wants to kill David, like that's his goal, and then
all of a sudden he prophesies, and then they say, this is why we say, isn't Saul among
the prophets?
And it's like, that's so weird.
Like this guy has a bad heart, bad attitude, bad motives, doesn't even want to serve God
in the moment, and then randomly just starts preaching the Bible and the word of God.
Isn't that weird?
But again, is Saul the best representation of a king?
Did Saul accomplish the most works?
No, because God blesses with biblical best.
And you know who was better than him?
David.
And the Bible explicitly said that David was better than him.
So should we be like Saul?
No.
But could Saul do something for God still?
Yes, he could.
Yes, he can.
And in 1 Kings chapter 13, this is another crazy story.
Look at verse number 11.
Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works
that the man of God had done that day in Bethel, the words which he had spoken unto
the king.
Then they told also to their father.
And their father said unto them, What way went he?
For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass.
So they saddled him the ass, and rode thereon, and went after the man of God, and found him
sitting under an oak.
And he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?
And he said, I am.
Then he said unto them, Come home with me, and eat bread.
And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee, neither will I eat bread,
nor drink water with thee in this place.
For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water there,
nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
And he said unto them, I am a prophet also, as thou art.
And an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee
into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.
But he lied unto him.
Now this is crazy.
You have a man of God talking to another man of God.
You have two preachers, two prophets talking to each other.
And one just makes up a complete lie, a complete story, a complete fiction, to encourage someone
to break God's commandments, to go against the word of God.
This is what you call false teaching.
This is a man of God preaching lies on purpose to destroy another man of God.
That's really wicked.
And you know what?
It happens.
There are preachers out there, there are pastors out there that will lie and say things that
are not true in an effort to destroy another pastor or a church.
They'll exaggerate the truth.
They'll just make crazy stories up.
I've experienced it.
I've lived it.
I've made videos about it.
It's crazy when it happens.
But then this is where it gets even weirder to me.
Verse 19, so he went back with him and did eat bread in his house and drank water.
And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet
that brought him back.
What in the world?
This guy just lied to him and preached lies unto him to try and destroy him.
And then now the word of the Lord comes to him and he gets to preach the Bible.
How does that even make sense?
That's weird to me.
He says,
And he cried unto the man of God that came unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, For
as much as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment,
which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but came his back, and hast eaten bread, and drunk
water in the place of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water,
thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
This is just crazy.
The man of God, it's like basically if a pastor came up to you and said, Hey, you should
like rail with me, like we should rail on this person.
And then you do, and he's like, you know what, I'm going to have to kick you out of church
for railing.
You're like, what?
I mean, what if I just came up to you like, hey, you should drink this alcohol.
And then you drink it like, I'm going to throw you out for drinking that alcohol.
It's just like, you're like, what in the world?
This is this is just crazy.
And it's not only just crazy that he's a hypocrite, it's crazy that God gave him that word, that
God gave him the word of God.
It's also crazy that God punished the good guy in the story, not the bad guy.
Isn't that weird?
I'm just trying to explain to you that it's not so simple to just think like, I have to
be perfect with God for God to use me or for God to give me favor.
And sometimes even the good guy gets punished more harshly than the bad guy.
It's all over the place.
Go to Job chapter one, Job chapter one.
So point one that we established this evening was that God's going to bless the righteous
and he's going to give more favor to those who are seeking him and following his commandments.
Case closed.
But what I also want to show is how many stories and how many examples of God using people
that it didn't really make that much sense and that weren't really on the right path
and weren't even that righteous anyways.
Just because God gives favor to the most righteous people doesn't mean he doesn't just give favor
indiscriminately to other people as he sees fit, however and whenever.
And so God can use anybody at any stage in their life.
But of course, the people that are following God's commandments very well are going to
get the most.
Look at Job one verse eight.
And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job?
There's none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God in his
shoe with evil.
Then Satan answered the Lord and said to Job, Fear God for not hast thou hast not thou made
an hedge about him and about his house and about all that he hath on every side.
Thus blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land.
You know what the devil's saying?
Man, this guy, since he keeps your commandments, you blessed him as a result of keeping his
commandments.
He says, Is Job serving you for not?
Look, because of the fact that he's serving you, you're blessing him greatly and you're
protecting him and you're giving him favor and you have a hedge about him on literally
every side.
Does that not just prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that God blesses what's biblical best?
But what happens?
God still allows Job to be tested and to be proved and to be tried and removes that hedge
of protection and allows him to go through extreme trials to see where he's at.
But then after he goes through that trial, then God obviously puts that hedge back on
Job and allows Job's second half of his life to be even greater and more blessed than the
earlier stage of his life.
So just because you're righteous does not mean you won't have problems.
Just because you're righteous doesn't mean God won't test you and try you.
But also, just because you do bad and you sin doesn't mean God won't just randomly bless
you and give you grace too.
And this is why this is an important lesson is because many people think, well, I sinned
and I'm waiting and pending doom.
And then it doesn't happen and then they think, oh, I guess God doesn't care about sin.
Or they start making positive decisions in their life and maybe things don't automatically
go better and then they think, I guess serving God doesn't really work.
But you know what?
It's just a mixed bag.
And in general, when you serve God and you're doing what's right, you're going to have the
most blessing.
And when you're not, you're going to have the least blessing.
But don't allow your circumstances to dictate the decisions you make in your life.
Because you can see, and I want to go to a couple of examples, go to Proverbs chapter
18, go to Proverbs chapter 18.
Let's be honest, our culture and society is very post-Christian.
Our culture is not very biblical.
And one area of our society that is really poor is divorce and remarriage.
There is a lot of divorce in America.
And there's a lot of divorce and remarriage.
And then there's divorce after that and another remarriage.
It's just a rampant thing that's happening.
But you have to ask this question.
What marriages, when you have two people that are saved, what marriages will God bless?
And the answer is he can bless any of them.
But what marriages is God going to bless the most?
The most biblical marriages.
So if you stay with your spouse and you don't get divorced, you're going to probably have
the most blessing and the most favor.
But you know what?
If a couple made a mistake or they got divorced and they got remarried, what that does not
mean is that God could not bless those people in that marriage now that they've been remarried
and they did something that they shouldn't.
It just means they probably won't get the most blessing or the most favor.
And it's not even saying that they can't, it's just saying it's less likely.
Because God's always going to bless what's biblical best.
Proverbs chapter 18, look at verse 22, whoso findeth a wife, findeth a good thing, and
obtaineth favor of the Lord.
Being married, you procure God's favor.
And what marriages are God going to bless the most?
The ones that are doing it right.
If both parties are a virgin on their wedding night and they get married, they're going
to have the best chance for success.
Now let's say they committed fornication.
They're not going to probably have as much favor.
Let's say one was divorced, they're probably not going to have as much favor.
We can just dream up every scenario, but what the Bible is not saying is if you weren't
both perfect virgins that were saved and had the best marriage ever, what it doesn't mean
is that God can't bless you.
And this is what people do.
People will do bad things or make bad decisions and not get anything, no consequences.
And then they'll think that's good.
No, we don't want to encourage people to sin.
We want people to realize God's always going to bless what's biblical best.
But at the same time, we don't want to discourage people that have made mistakes into thinking
that they have to always look over their shoulder and worry that God's going to strike them
dead or something because they didn't make good decisions or they are in the best situation.
What about this?
What about schooling?
And I think that, you know, of course, we as a church as a whole try to teach and emphasize
home schooling.
And you know what, I think that home schooling is probably the best option, especially in
our society.
But what if people that come to our church, their kids go to public school?
Does that mean that God can't bless that family or that those kids are doomed or something
or those kids can't be good kids?
No, that is not what I believe.
But God's going to bless what's biblical best.
And so if you want the best chance of success with your children, if you want your children
to have a good education, if you want them to not be a democrat communist, then it might
be better to home school them.
Let's also be honest about home schooling though.
Some people, when it comes to home schooling, they have a wide array of what they are going
to do in their home schooling.
Some people do what's called no schooling.
And what that means is that they basically don't really teach their kids much of anything
because they are lazy.
And I'm not saying that's good.
But does that mean that their kids are doomed?
No.
But God's going to bless what's biblical best.
What if they use a lower curriculum or they use online or they do their own teaching?
I'm not going to sit here and condemn or doom anybody.
But I want to say this.
God's going to always bless what's biblical best.
But you know, if you're not perfect in that area, if you're not doing everything right,
I don't want you to feel like God's about to strike you dead and your kids are going
to be awful.
God could still bless you no matter what scenario or situation you're in.
But what are you going to get the most favor when you do things that are biblical?
Let's talk about Bible versions for a moment.
What is going to impact people the best?
It's the King James Bible.
It's not even a question.
But this is what I don't want you to get confused on.
Does that mean that no one could ever have any good thing happen out of a modern Bible
version?
I would say no.
There are verses in the modern versions that don't say anything wrong.
While they may say it differently, they still in some cases communicate the right message.
Some people go so far as to say, I don't even think someone would get saved unless it was
just exactly quoted from the King James Bible.
But I don't believe that.
I think you could show people from a modern Bible a lot of the same salvation verses and
someone could get saved.
But you know what?
What's more likely?
Is it more likely for someone to get saved from a King James Bible or from one of these
modern versions?
It's more likely if it's coming from the King James.
And you know what the evidence is that is the fact that most people that are doing soul
winning use a King James Bible because of the power of the King James Bible.
And God is going to always bless what's biblical best.
So I'm not saying let's use modern Bible versions.
But you know what I don't want you to do is I don't want you to get this weird idea that
unless it's the King James Bible, it can't even work.
Because then we start getting weird ideas and we start causing people that don't already
agree with us to think that we're nuts.
They're like, you're telling me if I don't have an E.F. at the end of the word, it's
like corrupting God's word.
And it's like, no, I'm not a rucktard, OK?
You're telling me if I use synonyms, it's somehow changing God's word?
No, I'm not a weirdo, OK?
There are weirdos out there, though.
And they get this hypersensitivity to righteousness to where they think everyone's doomed that's
not exactly like them.
And they become holier than thou.
And so I want you to understand that God's going to bless what's biblical best.
Let's talk about church denominations.
Could somebody make a positive decision in their life and hear a message from a church
that's not a fundamental Baptist church?
Yes, they can.
Could someone serve God in some capacity in a church that's not a King James Bible church?
Yes, they could.
But you know what?
God's going to always bless what's biblical best.
I've known people, they say, I got saved in a non-denom church or I got saved in a Bible
church.
Someone told me they got saved in a Pentecostal church, and I'm like, well, we might need
to preach through the gospel again, but no, I'm just kidding.
But look, maybe it's possible.
But let's be honest.
Is the Pentecostal church just turning people out, like turning saved people out all the
time?
No, it'd be despite the Pentecostal church that that happened, right?
But I'm just saying we have to understand that God's going to always bless what's
biblical best.
But that doesn't mean he can't use bad situations.
Let's just use the Bible for a sample here.
Go to 1 Corinthians for a second, because I want to give you real examples.
Do you realize that the church at Corinth was a real church that God respected, right?
Let's just get a rundown of what this church was like for a second.
I just want to expose you to something, what the Bible says.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 3, for ye are yet carnal.
Just objectively fact, the Corinthian church was a carnal church.
Look at chapter 5, verse 1.
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not
so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
So this is a carnal church with a guy in the church that is married to his dad's wife,
or with his dad's wife, okay?
Chapter 6, they have lawsuits.
They're suing each other.
Chapter 7, they're dealing with fornication.
Chapter 8, they're dealing with meat sacrificed unto idols that's in the church.
Chapter 11, they're so screwed up on the Lord's Supper, the Bible says that God is killing
some of them because of the Lord's Supper issues.
Look at chapter 14, verse 26.
How is it then, brethren, when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine,
hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation.
He's saying, you go to this church, everyone's screwed up.
Everybody has their own song.
Everybody has their own beliefs.
Everybody has their own interpretations.
There's no unity.
Chapter 15, look at verse 34.
Await to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God.
Chapter 15, he is saying there are some people in this church that don't understand the resurrection.
Now are you going to tell me that this church doesn't have problems?
This is a real church with real people in it that God is writing the word of God to.
How screwed up are they?
And then if we said, okay, now let's compare that to a Bible church down the street.
If we just, let's just say let's all just visit a random Bible church down the street.
Do you think we would expect to find that there's people with their father's wife eating
meat sacrificed unto idols and that many people in the church don't even understand the resurrection?
I mean, it's possible.
I would just venture that they're probably even better than that, aren't they?
So are we going to sit here and condemn them and act like they're of Satan because they
don't have Baptists on the front of their church?
Or are we going to say, you know what, there are some churches in the Bible that were probably
more screwed up than that one.
Let's keep going.
Go to Galatians chapter number three.
Galatians chapter number three, look at verse one.
Oh foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before
whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you.
The Galatians church was mixed up on the Gospel.
They had an infiltration of Judaizers, screwing them up on the Gospel, confusing them on the
Gospel.
Galatians chapter four verse 11, I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor
in vain.
This is a church that Paul thinks that some of them are not even saved, that many of them
are not even really Christian.
That's how bad this church is.
Yet God wrote an epistle to this church through the work of the Holy Spirit in Paul's heart
and his mind and he wrote the word of God to this church.
So does that mean that God can't use the Galatian church?
No, God could.
Does that mean that God couldn't use the church at Corinth?
No, of course God could.
But let me ask you this, does that mean that it doesn't matter if we follow the commandments?
No, because God will always bless what's biblical best.
And for a second time I'm not even going to go there, what if we just go to Revelation?
It's like wow, these churches have problems.
I mean one of them has a woman preacher preaching a profornication message.
How many of us would think like this church is doomed?
Imagine if we saw a Baptist church and we came in and they had a woman preacher getting
up saying it's okay to commit fornication.
Wouldn't we all say that God's about to just burn that church to the ground?
Like I might be struck dead for having even walked inside.
And look, I'm not saying let's not fear the Lord.
I'm not saying that God isn't about to because God ends up destroying her.
But he gave her grace and he's still writing the epistle to that church and God could still
even use some of that church to do things for him.
You know you have the Sardis and Laodicean church.
Let's talk about another issue.
What about the pastors themselves?
Pastors that make mistakes, pastors that do things that are bad.
Does that mean that God couldn't use that particular pastor?
No, of course God still could use that pastor.
You know I have a pretty high standard personally when it comes to like what I'm looking for
when I want to send someone out to start a church.
I want someone to have read the Bible at least ten times cover to cover.
I want them to have at least two kids above the age of two.
I want them to have been leading soul winning times and serving in the church.
A lot of that is just my own personal interpretation of what the qualifications mean.
But there could be some people out there that differ on what they believe those qualifications
are.
There have been pastors in the past where they didn't really meet my personal standard
or my personal interpretation of those verses.
But they weren't like a bad person.
They just didn't necessarily fit in what I personally believe.
I didn't want to go against that person and attack them just because I don't necessarily
agree with their qualification.
There have been pastors that I know of that friends of ours and other people have supported,
been friends with.
They have no kids.
They literally have no kids and I'm thinking like, how does that make sense when the Bible
says having faithful children?
It doesn't really make sense.
But you know what?
I didn't want to just attack that person necessarily and try to call God's fire down from heaven
on their head or something because you know what?
I'm sure that that person has still gotten people saved in his life.
I'm sure that that person maybe even preached messages or sermons at some point that helped
somebody.
But let me say this, God's going to always bless what's Biblical best.
There have been pastors who keep preaching when it's questionable whether or not they
should keep preaching.
And you know, a lot of people have called out Jack Hyles in the past because he had
some serious issues in his family.
He's had a lot of controversy at different times.
You know, if you look at his son David Hyles, Guy has committed some wicked horrible sins.
His daughter did like a TED Talk calling him like a cult leader and just like totally going
against him.
And you could say like, man, it just seems like he failed at raising his family.
And maybe that's the right opinion.
I don't know.
I don't know what the right opinion is on that.
What I do know is that Jack Hyles was still getting people saved all the way up until
he died.
And what I also know is that he preached some sermons at the very end of his ministry that
are some of the best sermons I've ever heard in my life.
And you would think like, how does that even make sense?
But wait a minute.
Didn't one of those prophets lie and then randomly preach the Bible?
So let me ask you this question.
Could a pastor be completely disqualified and should step down and then still end up
preaching a good sermon?
Yeah.
Now, is that right?
No.
Because God's going to always bless his biblical best.
But I don't want you to get confused and think like, well, this guy did something good, therefore
that exonerates everything he's done in his life.
Or vice versa, that because you've done something wrong, God couldn't use you.
Because God will always bless what's biblical best.
And the churches that are following the commandments the best, God's going to use the best.
That's why I believe when you look at the fruit of churches today and you say which
churches are doing the most for God, it's the ones that are using the King James Bible,
that are preaching the entire council of God, that are emphasizing soul winning, that are
keeping high standards.
What churches are God going to bless the most in this world?
The ones that are the most biblical.
And so we should always strive as a church to be the most biblical.
But we have to understand that does not mean that God can't use a random person to do a
random thing every once in a while.
And we want to have the right belief system on this.
What about people that use birth control?
Does that mean that God's going to strike them dead and curse their children?
Not necessarily.
But I don't agree with it.
I don't think it's right.
I think you're going to be more blessed if you don't murder your children through birth
control methods.
What about parenting?
What about marriage?
What about all these subjects?
It's like maybe you're not a very loving husband.
Maybe you're not a very obedient wife.
Does that mean your marriage is doomed?
No.
But you know what?
You're going to have the best blessing of God when you're doing what's biblical most.
When you're being an obedient wife, you're going to have a better marriage.
When you're being a loving husband, you're going to have a better marriage.
Because God's going to always bless what's biblical best.
But that doesn't mean even if you're not a very good person that God couldn't bless you.
What about music?
This has become controversial lately.
I don't know why, but it's just super controversial.
So I'm going to talk about it for a moment, okay?
You know, I don't want and I don't believe that we'll ever sing contemporary Christian
music for our church services, okay?
I never try to say things in an absolute manner anymore in my life, so just give me grace
on that.
I'm not about to.
It's not even a chance.
I don't think it'll ever happen, but I never like to say things in a never sense.
I don't like it.
I don't want it.
I want to only sing the hymns and the psalms and even the songs that I make, I want them
to seem like that and have a similar style.
That is my goal.
That's where I want to be.
That's what I want to be like until I die.
We're going to still sing from the hymn book, and God willing, maybe we'll put more psalms
to music.
Maybe people have written new hymns, but I want them to be a hymn style.
I want them to be hymn lyrics.
I want them to be like that, okay?
I'm not willing to change on this issue.
But can I really just say just objectively, if someone made a worship song that is contemporary
Christian music and they have lyrics that don't say any heresy, could I really say that
that's bad?
I just think that that's a wrong attitude.
Do you really think the normie Christian out there that hasn't been exposed to much and
he's just singing a song like Worship the Lamb or something, that God's just about to
strike them down from heaven because it's not a hymn style music?
That's just so weird.
In light of everything that we just read and seen, is God just about on a hair trigger
to just curse and destroy everybody?
He's using people that are lying and terrible kings and making golden calves and women preachers
and fornication in the church and all this crazy stuff.
I'm supposed to believe that somebody that made music with lyrics that match the doctrines
of the Bible, but the style of music is not your style of music, that God is mad at that
person.
You are a holier than thou.
I'm sorry.
Now again, I've preached against contemporary music in the sense that I don't want to use
it in our church.
And I don't like it when the lyrics aren't so doctrinally distinct that you can't tell
if you're even a Christian by singing it.
Like our God is an awesome God.
But deists can't sing that song.
I mean, a Hindu could sing that song.
But am I going to sit here and say, like, this Christian is wicked for singing that
song?
No, that is way over the top, folks.
There could totally be a person that loves Jesus Christ in their heart and mind and is
singing that song unto the Lord and God takes pleasure in that person just singing to God.
You know, it's way better that person singing this song than the person that's so pious
in their mind and their heart but they never even sing anything.
Like I think that sometimes we could get so over the top that we start condemning things
that don't make sense.
And there's been plenty of times in history where this has been the case.
Puritans, it starts getting to the point where circles and squares are satanic, folks.
And I'm just like, I don't agree with that.
This is what I believe.
God blesses what's biblical best.
So the more biblical our music is, the better it's going to be and the more of a blessing
it's going to be.
The more spiritual our music is, the more spirit-filled that we're going to be.
And you know what?
There's not even a question that the hymns and the psalms are superior in every way to
this other music.
But if you take music and you put the Word of God to it, I'm not going to fight you on
it.
And here's another thing.
If you listen to music that doesn't have any sin in it, I'm not going to fight you on it.
Because you know that everything gives glory to God?
The trees give glory to God.
The sky gives glory to God.
Everything gives glory to God.
If you just write a random song on a guitar or do whatever and you just do it like, hey,
there's nothing wrong with that.
It's just weird when people get these strange ideas.
I mean, do you realize that the song of Solomon, is it like a love ballad?
You realize that, right?
It's just a guy singing about how much he likes his wife and a wife singing how much
she likes about her husband.
So let's just say some random person out here makes a love song and they sing a love song
to their spouse.
Are they now of the devil because they sang a love song?
Like how radical are you going to get?
And look, some people probably hate what I'm saying right now.
Pastor Shelley's a liberal, you know.
Oh my goodness.
How liberal are you?
Look, I'm not changing.
I'm just saying let's not condemn people when there's nothing to condemn.
And let's hope for the best.
And let's just realize, hey, I'm not going to be like you, but I'm not going to get mad
at you.
And I'm not going to start just damning everything that doesn't make any sense.
What about clothing?
God is going to bless what's biblical best.
But you know what?
There's people out there that don't dress right, that don't follow our standards of
dress.
Does that mean that God's going to curse them?
You know, there's people that come to our church and they will only wear t-shirts.
And they go soul winning in t-shirts.
Well, you can't get someone saved if you go in a t-shirt.
Well, you know what?
Almost all of us have already proven that wrong.
And you know, frankly speaking, I don't even, I've never even thought like I get more people
saved dressed in a suit and tie than in a t-shirt.
I have no idea.
I don't even know what the date is.
I wouldn't even be surprised if that's not true.
You know, and I couldn't even say like, hey, coming to church dressed casually is of the
devil or something.
But you know what?
I do know this, that God's going to always bless what's biblical best.
And I think we're supposed to take church seriously.
And I think it's important to dress in a way that's God honoring.
And if this is the most important institution on the planet, then maybe I should dress so.
So I have high dress standards.
I even have high standards for our pulpit that people are not supposed to get up behind
our pulpit without a shirt and tie on.
Whether that's the music leader, the Bible reader, the preacher.
You know, I have a high, I'm trying to have my standard there.
Am I going to then say like, this person didn't have a shirt and tie on though, they're literally
of the devil?
No, but I believe that God's going to always bless what's biblical best.
And when we take church seriously, and we approach God with reverence and fear and holiness,
and we set a high standard for ourself, I believe God is going to bless that the best.
And I think people are going to take the reading of scripture more seriously than if a guy
gets up here in a random hoodie, right?
I think we're going to take the worship of the Lord a little more serious than we get
girls in miniskirts up here swinging and swaying and singing lyrics that don't have
any doctrinal significance.
So we want to make sure that we're being God-honoring and we're doing things the way that God would
have us do.
What about laws in our country?
The laws that are the most biblical are going to be the most blessed.
And the laws that are not very biblical are going to be the less blessed, the less favored.
Businesses that are more God-honoring are going to have more favor.
And businesses that are very ungodly are going to not have God's favor on them.
Jobs are the same way.
We could literally just plug and play anything here, folks.
Go to Galatians 6 and we'll wrap up.
This is the point of my sermon.
The point of my sermon is this.
I want to motivate you to serve God because you want to procure God's favor, not because
you're afraid God's going to strike you dead if you're not perfect.
And I think that unfortunately there is this attitude of thinking like God's going to strike
me dead if I make a mistake.
And this is why this mentality is dangerous, okay?
Is because God will not strike you dead just because you mess up a little bit.
And this is what people then do.
They finally fall.
They stumble a little bit.
And then they're kind of just waiting for impending doom.
And then it doesn't happen.
And then this is what they think.
Oh, I guess it doesn't matter what I do.
Oh, I guess God doesn't care what I do.
Oh, I guess there's no consequence to not following God's commandments.
And then it's like, wrong.
That is not what God's grace and longsuffering means.
In fact, there will be a consequence.
But at the end of the day, that doesn't mean God's going to doom you because you weren't
perfect.
What does it say in Galatians chapter 6, though, in verse 7?
Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap.
You know, could God use a non-Baptist church to every once in a while minister to someone
and get someone saved?
Yes.
But they're never going to be the powerhouse of soul winning.
They're never going to be the place and the institution that is preaching the hard truths
of the Bible and making radical changes in people's lives.
The people that are not using the King James Bible and not going out soul winning are not
going to get a lot of people saved.
Does that mean that someone that doesn't go to an art style church and is not an active
soul winner couldn't just have someone come to them and talk to them and ask them about
Jesus and they share the gospel and they get them saved?
No, I'm sure it happens.
But they're not going to do the most.
Are you going to have the best family by just winging it?
No, you're not.
So I want you to be motivated to serve God because you recognize you will reap what you
sow.
If you invest in the things of God, you will reap many spiritual blessings and procure
the favor of God in your life and I hope that you wish to have his favor.
But let us then come alongside the normies and explain to them why they should be like
us instead of trying to say, well, if you're like that, I can't believe God hasn't struck
you dead yet.
You dress like that, act like that, talk like that, and just condemning everything that's
not perfect and thinking, well, I have this standard and you're here, so therefore it's
horrible.
Well, you know, sometimes there's just good, better, and best.
And so we don't want to necessarily confuse people into thinking like, hey, I'm not saying
what you're doing is not good, it's just not the best.
Hey, you know, I'm glad that you read your Bible, but here's a better Bible to read.
Right?
Here's a better way to get people saved.
Here's a better music to sing in your church.
Here's a better way to dress.
Here's a better way to raise your kids.
Here's a better way to love your wife.
Here's a better way, here's a better type of pastor, right?
Not all pastors are created equal, folks.
And that's why the qualifications are there, okay?
And of course, does that mean that someone couldn't be used by God?
Well, I think God can use anybody.
God could use any church.
God can use sinful people.
People can be doing wrong and just randomly God allows them to be used, but let us not
get confused when that happens and think, well, then I'm going to be like that person.
No, I want to be like the best that I can.
I want to be the best version of myself.
I want to procure God's favor.
I want to have the best Bible.
I want to have the best church.
I want to have the best family.
I want to have the best standards.
I want to be dressed the best.
I want to speak the best.
I want to have the best soul-winning presentation.
I want to have everything be the best because that's what God will bless the most.
But at the end of the day, let us not look down upon people that aren't exactly like
us.
And let us encourage others to do what's best and what's most biblical to procure God's
favor and not try to scare them into serving God because, frankly speaking, I don't think
very many people do very good when they're scared.
And they're only serving God out of fear of just being struck dead.
And as soon as they realize that's not how the world works, then they just stop serving
God because they don't see the point.
But then it's too late because they start reaping what they sowed two years ago and
now they're down a bad path.
I listened to this Duggar children or whatever.
Some of them have kind of deconstructed their faith or turned away from their family.
And I remember listening to this lady explain how she did.
And she basically explained exactly what I told you.
One of the Duggar girls said, I was so afraid that God was going to strike me dead and kill
me for doing anything wrong.
And she said she was riding in a car with some friends and they turned on the radio
and it was just like normal music.
It wasn't godly music.
It wasn't even satanic.
It was just like normal music.
And she thought that God was going to cause the car to go off a cliff and they were going
to crash and die.
And it didn't happen.
But you know what?
A seed was planted in her mind that said, oh, I guess you can do whatever you want.
And then from there she just kept testing limits and testing limits.
And because she didn't die in a car accident right after listening to that song, she now
thinks that there isn't a consequence to her actions or something.
Or that she won't reap what she sows.
Or that serving God doesn't really have much of a point.
And you know what?
That's a bad attitude.
You know what?
You could probably, because here's the thing.
You could probably just quit church and just focus on making money.
And for the next six months of your life, it could be the best six months of your life.
And you think, how does that even make sense?
I'm not serving God.
I'm not reading my Bible.
I'm just doing whatever.
And yet everything seems to be going well for me.
Well, that's because God's long suffering.
But let me tell you, you do that for a consistent long period of time, you will reap what you
sow.
And God will always bless what's biblical best.
So I want to encourage you, let's do the right thing, but let's also recognize, even when
we're not doing the right thing, God is still gracious unto us often.
Don't allow His grace and His long suffering to make us think that He won't judge us for
our actions or that there won't be a consequence or that we won't lose out on favor and blessings
that we could have on our lives.
Let us desire to seek God's favor and always strive to do what's biblical because that's
what God will bless.
Let's go to some prayer.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, so much for all of your grace and all your long suffering
that you show towards us and not just us, the whole world.
I pray that we wouldn't take for granted the grace that you give us, but rather we would
recognize that it's important to serve God and to follow your commandments to procure
your favor.
I pray that you would help us to have the right motivation and the right desire to serve
you.
And I pray that you would continue to be gracious unto us, that you would give this church favor,
that you would bless our church, and that you could use our church, and that we would
understand the importance of serving you.
And that you love to use clean and righteous vessels.
And I pray that when we come alongside other people, we can motivate them to serve you
out of love and appreciation, and that they would seek to procure your favor too.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
Alright, our last song is going to be song number 280, Softly and Tenderly, Jesus is
Calling, song number 280, song 280, sing it out together.
Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me.
See on the portals He's waiting and watching, watching for you and for me.
Come home, come home, you are weary, come home.
Earnestly and tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, oh sinner, come home.
Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading, waiting for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercy, mercy's for you and for me?
Come home, come home, you are weary, come home.
Earnestly and tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, oh sinner, come home.
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing, passing from you and from me.
Shadows are gathering, death ends are coming, coming for you and for me.
Come home, come home, you are weary, come home.
Earnestly and tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, oh sinner, come home.
Oh, for the wonderful love He has promised, promised for you and for me.
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon, pardon for you and for me.
Come home, come home, you are weary, come home.
Earnestly and tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, oh sinner, come home.
Great singing everybody, you are all dismissed.