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Good morning, welcome to Queensborough Baptist Church. Take a seat if you're still around. Bring your song books to song 169, Come Thou Fount. Song 169. Song 169. Come thou fount of every blessing, To my heart to sing thy praise, Sweet of mercy, ever ceasing, Also song of loudest praise, Each piece of heaven and earth is on air, Sunlight gleaming from above, Praise the mountain, raise the holly, Mount the flag, we keep it glowing, Here I raise my elevation, In her light I hope I grow, And I know by my good pleasure, Safely I'll love by the morn, He's a sounding wind, a stranger, Wand'ring from the bowl of God, He to rescue me from danger, Interpose his precious blood, Oh, sweet grace, how great a debtor, Lately I'm constrained to be, Let thy goodness light the better, By my wandering heart to be, Come to wander, Lord, I feel it, Come to lead the God I love, Here's my heart, oh, take it, seal it, Seal it for thy course above. Heavenly Father, thank you for helping us all gather here this morning. I pray you bless this service. Thank you for helping us have a church with brothers and sisters like-minded. And I pray that you fill pastor with the Holy Ghost as he preaches. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's turn to the next song. Song 165. Oh, worship the King. Song 165. 165. Oh, worship the King, All glorious above, And gratefully sing his wonderful love, Our shield and defender, The ancient of days, A villain in splendor, And murdered with praise, Hotel of his might, And sing of his praise, Whose soul is a light, Whose canopy's face, His care is a crackling heat, Thunder clouds form, And mark his death on the wings of the storm, Thy bountiful care, What tongue can recite, It breathes in the air, It shines in the light, It streams from the hills, In descents to the plain, And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain, Hail, children of dust, And feeble as grail, In the dew we trust, Nor finally to fail, Thy mercy's outender, Now firm to the end, Our Maker, defender, Redeemer and friend. This time we'll go through our announcements together. If you don't have a bulletin, slip up your hand, and we'll get to you with one. On the inside, we have our service time, Sunday mornings at 1030, Sunday nights at 6, and Wednesday nights at 7 is our Bible study. This week will be in Psalm 66. We have the soul-winning times listed there below, as well as salvations and baptisms. Across the page is the Bible memory passage, Isaiah 40, 21 through 31, just wrapping that up over the next couple weeks. And then below that, next Sunday morning at 10 a.m., we'll have the donuts and coffee before the service in honor of all the October birthdays. We do that on the first Sunday of every month. And then the weekly shuttle to Tucson is back in service. So that will resume this Thursday, October 1st. It leaves at 3 30 p.m. sharp and doesn't get back until 10 or 11 at night. Dinner is provided. And then we're taking a break from the weekly singing classes on Sundays. Is it still happening tonight, though? Yeah, it's going to happen tonight, but then there's going to be a pause on that. On the back, Pastor and Mrs. Anderson want to thank everyone who helped us with our recent move. It was a tremendous blessing to us, so thank you to those that helped us out with that. And then the field trip is listed there for the Wildlife World Zoo Aquarium and Safari Park. That's going to be coming up on October 26. You meet at the zoo entrance by 9 30 a.m. And keep in mind, this is like 45 minutes away. So make sure that you get there on time. Please RSVP to Suzanne Forte by Facebook or email. All ladies and children are invited to join. Families with over five children, both parents are welcome to attend. Late arrivals will not be admitted with our group. And then below that, we've got our annual chili cook-off coming up on Saturday, October 31 from 4 30 to 7 30 p.m. And chilis have to be entered by 5 o'clock to make the cutoff to be considered in the contest. And we will provide the side dishes and the spiced cider. It's going to end at 7 30 so that we have enough time to clean up and get everything ready for Sunday because that is on a Saturday. That's about it for announcements. Let's go ahead and sing our next song. Come lead us. All right, still our next song. We're going to do rejoice in the Lord. It should be in your hymnal. A little sheet in your hymnal. Please raise your hand if you don't have one. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. God never moves without purpose or plan When trying, discerning, and holding a man Give thanks to the Lord Though your destiny seems hard In darkness he giveth a song For your joys in the Lord He makes no mistakes He know that the end of each path that I take For when I am tried and purified I shall come forth as whole I could not see through the shadows ahead So I look at the cross of my Savior instead I bow to the will of the Master that day Then his pain and tears went away For rejoice in the Lord He makes no mistakes He know that the end of each path that I take For when I am tried and purified I shall come forth as whole Now I can see destiny comes from above God's faith is his children and purges in love My Father knows best and I trust in his care Through purging or through God will bear For rejoice in the Lord He makes no mistakes He know that the end of each path that I take For when I am tried and purified I shall come forth as whole Alright, ready, one more song Starting to song 153, How Firm a Foundation Song 153 Song 153 How firm a foundation he sings of the Lord His faith for your faith in his excellent Word What more can he say than to you he has sent To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled In every condition and sickness and health In poverty's veil or abounding it well And a home in the blood on the land, on the sea As your days may be near, shall your strength ever be Laid through fiery trials, your bad faith shall lie My grace, all sufficient shall be thine supply Thy faith shall not hurt me, I only desire Thy cross to consume, and I go to refine Speaking out to old me, all my people shall prove My sorrow eternal, my chains of old love In memory here shall their temples adorn My lands they shall spill in my bosom before last The soul that on Jesus' path before he goes Heart of God, heart of God, he is heard to expose That soul all hell should endeavor to shed I'll never, no never, no never forsake As the plates go around, let's turn in our Bibles to Colossians chapter 3 in the New Testament the epistle to the Colossians chapter number 3 as we always do, we'll read the entire chapter beginning in verse number 1 follow along silently with brother Nick as he reads, Colossians 3 Colossians chapter 3 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience In which ye also walked some time when ye lived in them But now ye also put off all these Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering Forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons Father in heaven, thank you for the church and thank you for the Bible Thank you for all your blessings upon everybody Father, I pray that you please bless Pastor Anderson with the fullness and the power of the Holy Ghost as he preaches your word In Jesus' name I pray, amen Man, the title of my sermon this morning is Obeying Your Earthly Authority Obeying Your Earthly Authority I want to start out and emphasize there beginning in verse number 18 where the Bible reads Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh Not with eye service, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men So I'm preaching this morning about obeying your earthly authority And I want to point out right here that we have some instructions here from God to obey some earthly authorities He tells the wives to submit to their husbands, he tells the children to obey their parents He tells servants to obey their masters But I want you to notice something in common with all of these commands Look at verse number 18 It says, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord You see that last part there? And then look at the command to children Children, obey your parents in all things, verse 20 Look at that last part, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord Verse 22, servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh Look at those last two words of the verse, fearing God So each time he gives this command to obey an earthly authority He follows it up by saying, look, it's God that's telling you to do this He's reminding you of the fact that when you obey your earthly authority you're obeying God indirectly Because God is the one who told you to do that And God is the one who put that earthly authority in your life that he's telling you to obey And so you say, why should I obey my husband? Because that is what is fit in the Lord Well why do I have to obey my parents? Because it's well pleasing unto the Lord And that should be enough of a reason to obey your parents right there Because if we love the Lord, if we're saved and Jesus Christ is our Savior And the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, we should want to do something in return for him We should want to please him And the Bible says that if children obey their parents that's well pleasing unto the Lord You know, why do I need to obey the boss at work? Because you fear God, that's why I'm not afraid of him Okay, but are you afraid of God? So it's about being fit in the Lord, it's about pleasing the Lord, it's about fearing God And then it's all summed up in verse 23 when it says And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men And let me tell you something As a Christian, how you treat your earthly authority speaks volumes about your relationship with God Speaks volumes about your walk with God You know, if we want to diagnose your walk with God We could look at your attitude, your behavior, your relationship with your earthly authorities in this life Because God's all the way up in heaven It's pretty easy sometimes to obey somebody who's in a far distant office In a company headquarters somewhere, in another state But then there's your actual supervisor that's right there with you And you mouth off to him, you don't do what he says, you think you're smarter than him But I'm sure you're submitting to the CEO of the company over in Delaware or whatever Folks, the real test is how do you treat your immediate supervisor How do you treat the authorities in your life And you say, well you don't understand the authority that I have is not worthy of respect That's garbage because Christ is worthy of respect and he represents Christ in your life Now if he's telling you to do something unethical or sinful or immoral Then obviously we ought to obey God rather than man We need to follow the higher power in that sense But here's the thing, if we're talking about a job And your boss is constantly asking you to do something unethical, immoral or sinful It's time to just get a new job And not to just be disrespectful to that authority and look down on that authority Why? Because that's going to affect your spiritual walk with God If that's how you start acting toward your authority If you need to get a new authority, then get a new authority But do not treat your earthly authority in a way that's disrespectful Because you are disrespecting God when you do that And by the way, when Jesus talks about doing good unto other people And visiting those in prison, giving food to the hungry And those type of charitable acts, he says And as much as you've done it unto one of these, the least of my brethren, you've done it unto me So when it comes to visiting someone in prison, giving someone food when they're hungry Clothing the naked, helping those He didn't say do it for those that are worthy He said do it for the least And if you do it unto the least of them, you've done it unto me Well guess what? The same logic applies with authority He didn't say to only obey your authority when your authority is right That's not what the Bible says Only obey them when they are respectable When you think that they're smarter than you Is that what the Bible says? No, the Bible actually says for servants to obey their masters even when they are froward masters You know what froward means? That verse is not in my notes, but we've got technology I don't remember exactly where that verse is, but I'm going to find it right now because it's such an important point Unless somebody just knows where it is right off the top of their head Okay, look at 1 Peter chapter 2 This wasn't in my notes, but this verse popped into my mind 1 Peter chapter number 2 verse 18 The Bible says in 1 Peter 2 18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear Not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward So what does the Bible say? Obey the authority that you like Obey the authority that's good Obey the authority that's gentle No, it says obey your masters even if they're froward Now, here's what a froward person is You've heard of something that goes to and fro So you've heard that term fro I'm not talking about a hairdo, okay? So going to and fro Fro being the opposite of to means away Does everybody understand that? To and away, to and fro Froward is someone who is contrarian It is someone who basically just goes away If you say up, they say down You say yes, they say no You say left, they say right That is a froward person Someone who just has a tendency to go the other way Tendency to disagree A tendency to argue That's what the froward person is And in spiritual context, it's often the one who has a tendency to go away from the commandments of God To go away from what God wants for them And so when we see the froward master, this isn't the kind of boss that you want to have Because no matter how you want to take that word froward You could take that word froward as a contrarian boss that's constantly telling you to do stuff you don't want to do Or constantly wanting to go the other way than what you want to go God says obey Or if you want to take it as a spiritual condition That it's a froward boss, meaning a wicked boss A sinful boss, then you know what? Obey As long as he's not making you sin As long as he's not telling you to do something sinful He can do what he wants And you need to obey And you know what? This kind of preaching is not popular in America in 2020 Because everybody's doing their own thing And everybody's so independent But guess what? It's Bible It's biblical And a lot of people today are arrogant and prideful and narcissistic That's why we have the leadership that we have right now in the White House Because it's a reflection of who we are as Americans It's exact reflection Right? Someone prideful Someone arrogant Someone who loves money Someone who's narcissistic Someone who's full of himself Someone who thinks he's always right about everything Hey, that is a reflection of our culture today And you know what? We today need to, as Christians, get a biblical mentality toward our authority And you'll never convince me that you're right with God when you're not right with your parents You'll never convince me that you're right with God when you're not right with your husband You're not going to convince me that you're right with God when you're not right with the boss at work Because it's a reflection of that relationship that you have with God And whether you like to hear this message or not, you need to hear this message this morning Go, if you would, to 1 Timothy, chapter number 6 And when you preach sermons like this, you constantly hear from people Well, you know, what about you? You don't understand my situation And everybody's just all bent out of shape because their situation, if I only knew, and whatever Hey, I'm just preaching what the Bible says You know, you want to go out of here and mouth off to your authority, disrespect your authority, not obey your authority You know what? That's between you and God, that's your prerogative, go ahead and do that And if you want to convince yourself that that's a path to God's blessing, then go ahead But I'm here telling you that you're wrong Take it or leave it Look at 1 Timothy, chapter 6, verse 1 Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor That the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren But rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit These things teach and exhort Of course, Timothy is a pastoral epistle It's Paul writing to another preacher, Timothy, and he's telling Timothy, this is what you need to preach You need to preach that servants obey their masters and that those that have believing masters should not despise them because they're brethren Now why would someone who has a believing master despise him because he's a brother? I mean, wouldn't you think that if a guy has a boss at work that's a born again Christian That would make him respect the boss more and like the boss more and obey the boss more Wouldn't you think so? I mean, it makes sense, right? But yet that's not what the Bible is saying The Bible is saying that there's a tendency for someone to despise their master because he's a brother And if that tendency didn't exist, then Paul wouldn't be telling Timothy Hey, this is what you need to be preaching on, Timothy You need to preach this Why would he preach something that's not relevant? I mean, you think I'm just going to spend hours getting up and preaching against sins that no one does? Preaching against doctrines that no one believes I'd be wasting my time, wouldn't I? I mean, 1 Timothy is only six chapters long and Paul is talking to his young protege in the ministry saying preach on this Preach on the fact that servants should not despise their masters because they're brethren This is not some straw man that Paul has made up that doesn't exist It's out there Why is it out there? Why would there be a tendency to despise your master because he's a brother? It seems like the opposite of what reality would be But I'll tell you exactly why It's because of the fact that in Christ we're all one in Christ Jesus There is neither Jew nor Gentile and there is neither bond nor free in Christ Amen? In Christ the servant is free from his master In Christ the master is the Lord's servant And so we're all on an equal footing at the cross We're all equal, male, female, Jew, Gentile, bond, free, we're all one in Christ Jesus So you can see how somebody who has an earthly boss could say Well, I don't have to obey you, I don't have to listen to you, how dare you boss me? We're both brethren We're one in Christ Jesus Because if you think about the word brethren, what does it imply? It applies to people that are on the same level, doesn't it? You know, the Bible says Christ is your master and all ye are brethren So in that regard we're on equal footing, aren't we? We don't have a caste system or a class system in the church We don't have the nobility and the plebes here We're all one in Christ Jesus But does that mean that we don't obey our earthly authority? Does that mean that there's no chain of command in this world? You can see how some people could get that wrong idea And they could say, well, you're a brother, I'm a brother So look, I'm just going to come to work and do my job the way I want to do it And I'm working hard and I'm doing it as unto Christ And I only take orders from Jesus Christ himself You know why you love only taking orders from Jesus Christ himself? Because Jesus never shows up and chews you out, ever Who here has been yelled at and chewed out by Jesus? I never have In fact, I've never had Jesus stop me in the middle of an activity and say Excuse me, you need to stop doing that You need to change that I've never had that happen So that's why it's so easy for people to talk about How they obey God, they obey Christ Why I'm following Christ But then it's funny how I can't see you following any of your earthly authorities I don't see you following your parents I don't see you following your pastor I don't see you following the boss at work I don't see you following your husband I don't see you following anything or anyone Except what you want to do and the parts of the Bible that you like But you're following Christ Folks, it's easy to say, well, I'll follow Christ But then despise your earthly authority When your earthly authority has been given authority by Christ And you're to treat them as Christ So when you go to work for your Christian boss And look, I'm not going to ask for any kind of a raise of hands But I guarantee you there are people in this auditorium Who work for other people in this auditorium I mean there are probably some people Who work for another member of this exact church Or I can ask a broader question I will ask for a raise of hands on this Who has a boss at work that's a born again Christian of some kind? Put up your hand if your boss at work is saved Wait, you work for people who go here? No, I'm just kidding Here's the thing If you have a boss at work that is saved You should respect them more, not less Okay, and since that doesn't apply to a lot of people in here Most people in here seem to work for the heathen Well then how about this? Then try this on, okay? How about if we apply this to the husband and wife? Would you rather have an unsaved husband or a saved husband? You'd rather have a saved husband, right? So you'd think that if somebody has a saved Christian husband They would just obey him and submit to him with alacrity And just be ready to be humble and submissive and obedient, right? And then you'd expect the one who has the unsaved husband to struggle more and whatever But you know what? We need to apply this same principle and say Hey, those that have a believing husband Don't despise him because you're brother and sister in Christ Just because you're brother and sister in Christ And spiritually you're on the same playing field Guess what? Your husband has authority over you according to the Bible The Bible says that the husband is the head of the wife As Christ the head of the church The Bible says that the head of the woman is the man The head of the man is Christ and the head of Christ is God That's what the Bible says, 1 Corinthians chapter 11 Now is that what our society teaches? Is that how TV is going to portray the marital relationship? Is that how the popular movies are going to portray it? Is that how the music on the radio is going to portray it? Is that even how most churches today are going to portray it? The answer is no They're going to just tell you it's equal, it's equal, it's even Sure there's equality, but you know what? There's also equality between me and my boss at work In Christ, there's also equality between father and son There's also equality between mother and daughter But equality does not mean that there isn't any authority Folks, Jesus is equal to God the Father Jesus made himself equal with God He thought it not robbery to be equal with God But yet Jesus said, I do always those things which please him I came not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me We see Jesus, well that's just when he was on earth, that was just the man Jesus Folks, there's only one Jesus, and he's the man So don't sit there and say like, well that's the man Jesus Well you know what, there's only one Jesus There's only one Jesus The man Christ Jesus Hey, there's one mediator present tense between God and men The man Christ Jesus So who's mediating right now? The man, Christ Jesus Is that who's mediating right now? Okay, well what about when Jesus submits himself to the father And delivers up to the kingdom to the father after the millennial reign? After Jesus reigns for a thousand years Then he delivers up the kingdom to the father Still submitting The man, Christ Jesus Still mediating, still submitting Still obeying the father, but is he equal to the father? Yeah, is he equal? Amen Are my wife and I equal? Amen But am I in charge? Or is she in charge? Or are we both in charge? What does the Bible say? You know the Bible clearly states That there is a chain of command So those that have believing masters Let them not despise them because they're brethren But rather do them service Rather say, you know what? This is a chance for me to serve my brother in Christ Here's a chance for me to serve Christ Because when you serve your brother in Christ And as much as you've done it unto one of the least of these my brethren You have done it unto me So if you serve your brother in Christ, you just served Christ If you served your sister in Christ, you just served Christ That's what the Bible says They are partakers of the benefit These things teach and exhort Again, he's telling Timothy preach on this That's why I'm preaching on it I want to preach what Paul told Timothy to preach Go if you would to Titus Here's Paul's other epistle to a protégé in the ministry Titus chapter 3 Titus chapter number 3, just a couple pages to the right in your Bible He's mentoring Timothy, he's mentoring Titus These are called the Pastoral Epistles He says in Titus 3.1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers To obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work Another way of saying put them in mind would be remind them Remind them, bring this up Keep this in front of them, put this on their mind That they would be subject to principalities, powers, obey magistrates Be ready to every good work What is a magistrate? A magistrate is a local authority who decides the law This would be like a judge or something Somebody who says, look, this is the verdict This is the way things are going to be It's a local official that makes those kind of decisions And it's saying, hey, obey them, be ready to every good work Be subject to principalities and powers Go back one page to Titus 2 Titus chapter 2 verse 4 It says that they may teach the young women to be sober To love their husbands, to love their children To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home Good, obedient to their own husbands That the word of God be not blaspheme Same wording as 1 Timothy 6.1 Don't turn there, but I'll remind you 1 Timothy 6.1 Let as many servants as are under the oak count their own masters worthy of all honor That the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed Why does the servant need to obey the master? So that God's word and name will not be blasphemed So that his doctrine will not be blasphemed What does it say in Titus 2? The exact same thing at the end of verse 5 That the word of God be not blasphemed Intelligent people are going to look at A rebellious wife that's a Christian And say, that is not the religion for me If they see that wickedness They're going to say whatever she's doing Whatever belief she has Something tells me that isn't right Now you say, well I don't get that Pastor Anderson Because I think worldly people Are probably more offended by women submitting their husbands Than not submitting their husbands So wouldn't that cause them blasphemy Folks, that's just because we're living in an insane society We are in a society that's in decline We are on the tail end of the American empire Of an empire of a nation that is culturally, spiritually And in every other possible way On a decline Our country has peaked and is declining It's happened all throughout history You can look at the great empires of Babylon And Greece and Persia, Rome You can look at the Mongolian empire The British empire Hey, this is an empire in decline We're a culture in decline All the signs are there And so because we are a culture in decline We've moved into just the crazy insanity phase Like where Nero is just doing all these crazy perverted things Caligula, wasn't it Caligula Who he's supposed to name a consul And he names a horse He appoints a horse It'd be like if Trump just appointed an animal To the supreme court or something You know it's like, hey you have to appoint a consul Did I get that right, was it Caligula Who knows their history So that's kind of where we're getting In our country In our country just to the point where things are starting to get absurd In our society, just absurd The feminism has gotten absurd The sodomy being accepted The transgender, all this crazy stuff It's so absurd And you know what, I look at it and I just say You know what, just keep going Because the weirder it gets and the more absurd it gets The more people are going to listen to Bible preaching Because eventually it's going to become so absurd That no normal person is going to think it's okay And they're going to say, wait a minute Let's see what Christ has to say Let's see what the word of God says So that's why it doesn't get me down When I see our country just going into total insanity Because you know what, it's just going to make people Want to listen to Bible preaching more And more people are going to get saved And all things are going to work together for good To those that love God in the end And so in any normal society You've got to remember the Bible's written 2000 years ago The Bible's written for all ages, for all times, for all nations So in most times, ages, and places throughout this world When wives are disobedient to their husband That's going to cause people to have a bad testimony That's going to make them blaspheme God Just because we're living in a society that calls good evil and evil good And they put sweet for bitter and bitter for sweet And light for darkness and dark for light That doesn't mean that that's normal Or that that's been the historical or geographical norm Throughout this world, let me tell you something There are still a lot of places where a wife Disobeying her husband, being rude and belligerent Would actually bring shame to the cause of Christ And probably even in America, deep down Probably people know that isn't right No matter what they outwardly say I think in their gut, when they see a rebellious wife They're probably thinking, you know what, this isn't godly If that's what faithful word Baptist church is about Then count me out Oh, oh, a rebellious, mouthy wife Well if that's what so and so the Baptist church is about Well then count me out Think about it, do you think somebody could have that kind of a reaction? They know you, they know that you're a godly Christian Quote unquote They know that you're an independent fundamental Baptist And then they see you acting that way Is it going to make them want to come to Christ? Or is it going to make them say, well, blank that Right, bleep that You know what that is, that's the name of God And his doctrine being blasphemed at that point So the Bible says, and here's the thing What I'm saying this morning is in the Bible Look at verse 5, I'm not just coming up with some theory Here's my theory about how people are going to react When they see a rebellious worker on the job Or a rebellious child with their parents What about a kid who throws himself on the floor in the grocery store If that's who you knew as the Christian in your life You know, the fundamental Christian that you know And you saw that, you'd say, well that doesn't seem to have much to offer That religion Can you see someone thinking that? But this isn't just my theory, it's what the Bible says Verse 5, to be discreet, chaste, keep us at home Good, obedient to their own husbands That the word of God be not blasphemed Servants need to obey their masters In 1 Timothy 6-1, that the word of God be not blasphemed I didn't come up with that God is saying you act that way You're going to cause the word of God to get blasphemed Go if you would to Ephesians chapter 5 Ephesians chapter number 5 Ephesians chapter 5 It's to the left in your Bible there Ephesians 5 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord For the husband is the head of the wife Even as Christ is the head of the church And he is the savior of the body Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ So let the wives be to their own husbands in everything Chapter 6 verse 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord For this is right Honor thy father and mother Which is the first commandment with promise That it may be well with thee And thou mayest live long on the earth And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath But bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters According to the flesh With fear and trembling and singleness of your heart As unto Christ Not with I service as men pleasers But as the servants of Christ Doing the will of God Grudgingly Is that what it says? Doing the will of God and saying, well you know, I don't want to do it I don't want to do it, but You know, the pastor was just preaching about how I'm supposed to obey my boss So I guess I'll just say yes sir and do it Is that enough? Is it enough? Is it enough for you to go to your job every day and do exactly what you're told? Is that enough? The Bible says it's not enough The Bible says you need to do it from the heart And this is not an isolated scripture When we started in Colossians 3, he said Whatsoever you do, in the context of what? Obeying your parents, obeying your husband, obeying the boss He said, whatever you do, do it heartily As unto the Lord What's the operative root word there? Heart-ily Do it heartily And what does the Bible say here? It says, with fear and trembling In singleness of your heart In verse 5 Do you see that? Singleness of your heart What does that mean, singleness? Singleness of your heart You know what the opposite of singleness is? Duplicity Duplicity Where part of your heart's like, I don't want to do it I don't think I should have to Well I think he's wrong I think this is stupid I think he's unreasonable But God said to do it Is that singleness of your heart? That's not singleness That's a duality You know the Bible says, hey just have a right attitude Let that right attitude permeate you Let that right attitude permeate you So that through and through That's what's on your mind Hey you know what? I'm thankful for this job I'm thankful that I have a way to provide I'm thankful that God gave me this job I'm thankful that I can earn money in America And provide and have a comfortable life And you know what? I don't care If the boss does something that I don't agree with Because it's none of my business You know what I'm going to do? I'm just going to with singleness of heart I'm just going to obey I'm just going to submit And you know what? I'm running scared Fear and trembling You say, well I don't think fear really means fear there How about trembling? What's that represent? Running scared You know what? You know what we should do at our job? We should run scared And who do we fear? God What did it say in Colossians 3? You remember that little phrase? I'll remind you You don't have to turn there But Colossians 3, 22 Servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh Not with eye service as men pleasers But in singleness of heart Sound familiar? Singleness of heart Fearing God Singleness of heart Fearing God What are we comparing that to? Ephesians 6 It says what? Fear and trembling Singleness of heart Singleness of heart Fearing God Fear and trembling Singleness of heart Who are we supposed to be fearing and trembling? Fear and tremble the boss? Fear and tremble before God You need to understand that your attitude toward authority impacts your attitude toward God And vice versa This is a two way street You can have a great attitude toward God And then you start having a bad attitude toward your earthly authority Next thing you know you'll start having a bad attitude toward God Whether you believe that or not And vice versa The other way around as well You start having a better attitude toward your earthly authority I suspect you'll start having a better walk with God And a better attitude toward him Not with eye service as men pleasers But as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart With good will doing service as the Lord and not to men What does good will mean? What does it mean? I mean what about when the Christmas cards roll in and what do the Christmas cards say on them? Peace on earth and good will toward men What does it mean when the Bible says that God has good will toward men? It means that God wants you to be blessed God wants you to do well God wants you to succeed God loves you and he wants the best for you Wants to help you Isn't that what good will? I mean if I had good will toward someone I want good things for that person Will means want and good means good I want good things for you I have good will toward you Well you know what? Do you even stop to think about the fact when you go to work That you're there to make the company succeed Is that what you think about when you go to work? Do you go to work and think, you know what? I have good will toward this company Or not like, oh man this stupid company I can't wait until I retire in two years It's a stupid attitude to have Have good will toward the company You know the company that feeds you The company that puts meat on your table The company that pays you You ought to respect that company You ought to respect And if you can't respect the company that you work for Then you need to get a job at a company that you respect I'm not saying that you have to consider the company perfect I'm not saying you have to agree with every product they produce Or everything that they do Or every policy that they have But you better respect and say hey This is the company that I work for I'm going to support them I mean think about it What if I worked for a company Let's just pick a grocery store What if I work for a grocery store And I run around telling people Don't shop there Go shop at the competition Is that right? Do you think that that would be right? Or do you think God's just neutral on that And God's just like well he doesn't care where you shop He doesn't care what you say He doesn't care about grocery stores Well I submit to you That you have a bad attitude And that you are disloyal and disrespectful To the company that has hired you And you're not right with God That's what I say Going around talking trash About the company that you work for Is wrong Okay You either, look if you don't approve of Or like or respect things that your company is doing Then you know what Then just keep your mouth shut If you have nothing good to say at all And try to work on having the right heart And saying you know what Let me find the good things that I like about the company Let me focus on those things Let me think about those And look like I said If it's some godless unethical thing Then you need to get a different job But you can't go through life Taking money from someone That you stab in the back And disrespect And are disloyal to You know what It makes you a rotten person You can talk all you want about bad that companies I think you're the bad one I think you're a bad person Because you work for somebody And take their money All while not supporting the company You're not, you don't have good will toward them You say well preach the Bible Pastor Anderson You're just meddling No I'm preaching the Bible The Bible says with good will doing service Are we going to remove those two words Those words with good will And just say Well just do service Do service And grin and bear it No Do service with good will With good will Wanting what's best for them Wanting their success Wanting good for them By the way this kind of sermon Is why a lot of people Don't succeed in the business world It's why they don't succeed at their job It's why you don't succeed This is why some people Just can't seem to Get out of an entry level type position Because right now They're listening to what I'm saying And thinking Pastor Anderson doesn't know my situation Pastor Anderson doesn't know The seven jobs that I've had How they were all Exceptions to what he's preaching Right now All of them All ten of them Sure With good will doing service As to the Lord And not to men So you know what I want you to do I want you to go out tomorrow And I want you to mow Jesus' lawn I want you to serve Jesus' food I want you to build that machinery That Jesus is going to have installed I want you to fix Jesus' plumbing I want you to wire Jesus' electrical I want you to do service As unto the Lord and not to men Hey I bet that'll change How you do your job Right? And you know let me get on the kids For a minute too You know kids You don't have a job do you kids But you know what you have Your education Your school work You know I hope that you're doing Some kind of schooling I hope you're in homeschooled I believe that that is The ideal situation I know some people aren't in that situation And they go to public school Or Christian school Obviously I would strongly Advise you to homeschool your children Because of so many wicked things That are out there In elementary school We were just talking about The sex education For kindergarteners And everything I mean that's right here in Arizona So you gotta watch out It's a jungle out there And I am strongly against that But here's the thing Let's just put that aside for a minute That's not what the sermon's about You know you're either in Christian school Or you're in public school Or you are homeschooled Right? Because God forbid you just fool around all day And can't read or something And there are some parents That are raising semi-feral children That are not It's called unschooling I don't believe I think that that's wrong That's not the right way To raise your children A child left to himself Will cause his mother shame And we need to make sure that we teach And train our children And so You know I'm assuming that virtually Every child out there That I'm speaking to Is doing some kind of schoolwork Am I right? You're either homeschooled Or you're in public school Or you're in Christian school Let me explain something to you kids Are you listening to me kids? Everybody? Hey That's your job That is your job And you know what If you're a slacker at your schoolwork You're going to be a slacker at your job It's the same thing No, no, no When I go to my job I'm going to work It's just that schoolwork's boring Hey newsflash Your job's going to be boring Rarely does anyone have a job That is fun all the time I mean who here has a job That's just always fun Go ahead and raise your hand Don't be shy Couple people You guys are living the dream So we got about 4 or 5 people max 3 or 4 people in here Out of 300 Whose job is fun all the time Hey you know what I enjoyed my job I'm not saying I didn't like my job When I was doing fire alarms I liked it I enjoyed it But let me tell you something It was often Frequently Extremely boring Extremely boring I mean going in a hotel How about going in a hotel And every single room in the hotel Has a fire alarm device That has 2 wires coming in And 2 wires coming out And they're all exactly the same And I have to install 200 of them And then when I'm done with that I got to install 200 smoke detectors And I got to install Just the same thing Just cup 2 wires Just red Just make sure you put The reds together And the blacks together You know That's not fun And you know Working 12 hour days Of just doing that same repetitive motion I mean that's boring Now the fun part It was fun Then after I installed all those Then it was fun To fire up the panel Plug in my laptop Program the panel That was fun And then you know Troubleshooting A couple problems Troubleshooting is fun It's like solving a puzzle But let me tell you something There are going to be huge I don't care what your job is You're going to have to do boring stuff You know I'd go out and do all the fun Fire alarm stuff And then I'd have to do Stacks of boring paperwork And I'd have to do long boring drives Now on I-5 and I-10 Boring Just driving The same drive And it's like It's just fields And emptiness And then Hey look There's a giant pile of manure That's what I've been smelling For the last 10 minutes It's not exactly the scenic route On I-10 and I-5 Those are the two Very boring freeways Folks that's life Life includes Buckling down And doing some work That's boring And so you kids out there Who are like Well I'm a slacker At my schoolwork Cause my schoolwork's boring But when I grow up You know I'm going to be A marine biologist And I'm going to be The president And I'm going to be A rock star You know I'm going to be A professional athlete No you're not You know what you're going to be? You're going to be An electrician You're going to be You're going to be A plumber No no no I'm going to get Okay you're going to be A computer programmer I wonder if they ever do Anything boring Folks I guarantee you They do some Mind-numbing coding Super And look I don't care what you go into It's going to get boring sometimes It's going to get repetitive And you know what? You are a slacker In your schoolwork You're not right with God You're not right with God Because you know what? Your parents are breathing Down your neck Telling you to work Telling you to do Anything you don't do it Why are you disobeying your parents? Well because I just don't think this matters Well you know what? It doesn't matter what you think It matters what your parents think matters Because they're the boss And so we need to get this teaching Of the word of God Into our hearts and minds And you know what the Bible says? Even a child is known by his doings Whether his work be pure And whether it be right And by the way If you cheat at your schoolwork You know what you're going to do when you grow up? You're going to cheat at your job You're going to steal from your job You're going to lie at your job Why? Because that's the habit that you're developing Now look Obviously I know we can repent from sin And we can clean up our lives and do better But I'm just telling you right now If you're a kid Now's the time to repent Today You've been cheating on your schoolwork Repent today Okay You've been slacking on your jobs Or how about this It's not just schoolwork When you're a kid You know what else your job is? Chores Chores What's your job as a kid? You don't go to work Are you just some little noble Little Lord Fauntleroy That your parents exist to serve you? Or do you have work to do? Hey If you sweep the floor Sweep the Lord's floor If you wash the dishes Wash the Lord's dishes If you fold the laundry Fold the Lord's laundry You know sometimes I get laundry folded and put in my drawer And I look at it And I can only shake my head At just how Just the geometry of it You know what I mean? And I'm wondering Is that how Jesus' shirt would be folded? If Jesus If Jesus came and stayed at our house And folks This is not just some wild story Because Jesus lived on this earth for a long time Jesus lived on this earth for a while Didn't he? I mean wasn't Jesus actually physically here On this earth For 33 some odd years And for about three and a half years He was actively in ministry Right? He's preaching the word of God And you know what the Bible records? The Bible records him staying at people's houses People cooking him meals People taking care of him Financially meeting his physical needs Cooking him food That's what the Bible tells us about Well think about it What if that was you? You go back in time Jesus is coming over for dinner Is he gonna be a hungry man in the microwave? Think about that Oh Jesus is coming over Phone it in Oh Jesus needs his laundry done Let me explain something to you Jesus Christ When he was on this earth Needed his laundry done He either had to do it himself Or somebody had to do it He wasn't just walking around Floating around He lived an actual human existence He ate He drank He slept He is clothed He sweated He bled The Bible records all this And you know what? His clothing needed to be laundered Okay well Why don't you fold the clothes The way you would fold Jesus' clothes Why don't you cook the food The way that you would cook Jesus' food Why don't you go to work man And work as if your boss is Jesus And this is what the Bible expects Go if you would do Romans chapter 13 I'm almost done Romans chapter 13 Romans chapter number 13 verse 1 The Bible says Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers And what does that mean Be subject unto the higher powers This is explaining the concept That there is a chain of command There are powers And then there are powers that are higher than them And then there are powers that are higher than them There's an echelon of authority in this world And so we need to be subject unto the higher powers Sort of like if you're in the military And I've never been in the military Who here has been in the military Put up your head if you've been in the military Lots of hands Okay Well you understand the fact that you might have An immediate commanding officer And then you have another commanding officer above him And then there's another commanding officer You know then the general is up at the top Or the admiral or whatever Now if you were to get two conflicting directives You know you're gonna obey the higher power Am I right If the higher power tells you to do one thing And the lower power tells you to do something else And you're at an impasse You're gonna obey the higher power Am I right about that Okay well that is what the Bible's telling us here So here's the thing As a child my parents are my authority God is the higher power So if my parents tell me To lie, cheat, steal I'm not gonna do it Because I'm obeying the higher power That's what the Bible's teaching If the government tells Daniel Hey you can't pray for 30 days He's gonna pray anyway Because he's obeying the higher power That commands us to pray Let every soul be subject to the higher powers For there is no power but of God The powers that be are ordained of God Here's what the Bible's saying Power exists because God is the one who ordained it So why do children have to obey their parents Because that's an authority that's ordained by God God decided that That power is of God It's ordained by God Whosoever therefore resisteth the power Resisteth the ordinance of God So would I be accurate to get up and say Disobeying your parents is disobeying God Disobeying your husband is disobeying God Disobeying your boss at work Disobeying your supervisor is disobeying God Is that accurate? Or if you go to school Disobeying your teacher is disobeying God You're supposed to obey the teacher Right? That's the authority And by the way How you view them is gonna impact how you view God Whosoever therefore resisteth the power Resisteth the ordinance of God And they that resist Shall receive themselves damnation Don't let that word damnation freak you out It means the same thing as condemnation It's just an order It's not saying like you're going to hell Because you disobeyed your authority We've all disobeyed our authority We'd all be going to hell Because we've all sinned And come short of the glory of God Damnation is a stronger word for condemnation They're used interchangeably in scripture For rulers are not a terror to good works But to the evil Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power Do that which is good And thou shalt have praise of the same The Bible says if you do that which is good You will have praise From your earthly authority But I bet there's a lot of people right now Who are thinking no I won't You don't know my situation Now listen People who are disrespectful And disobedient to their authority This is what they often claim Well my authority is impossible to please But you know how many people Say the same thing about God Well God's just impossible to please It's just impossible to please God It's just impossible to make God happy You think there are people out there That have that attitude All day long And you know what That's spoken like every rebellious punk That has ever existed My authority is impossible to please But you know what's funny I was once a young punk teenager myself And when I was a young punk teenager You know what I thought My parents are impossible to please That's what I thought And I remember one time I even said to my brother I said if Jesus Christ were living in this home He would get yelled at by our parents every day That's what I said to my brother When I was a teenager I said if Jesus had grown up in this house He would be getting chewed out on a daily basis And you know what I was wrong Because guess what The most liberal period in my life Was from the time I was around 12 through 16 During those five years We were in liberal churches And you know That was probably my most backslidden condition And I remember And you know That was probably my most backslidden condition During that time From like 12 to 16 And that was a time that I had a bad attitude toward my parents And isn't it interesting That around my 17th birthday When I got into an independent fundamental Baptist church I got soul winning I got ready with God I started reading the Bible cover to cover I started getting serious about things of God Isn't it interesting That at that time I decided you know what I'm going to start obeying my parents I'm going to start being more respectful to them I'm going to help them I'm going to do housework that I'm not even asked to do I am going to make things right with my parents And let me tell you something It was so easy Super easy To just do a few nice things Obey Stop arguing And then it was just like It was just like My parents just changed overnight And it's just like What can we do for you Steven? I'm serious They're just like They're just like What can we do to help you? Is there anything you need son? I mean they were just so helpful to me And they had such a great attitude toward me And they treated me so well Look folks I do not believe that it is a coincidence That in my life At the same time I got right with God And I got right with my parents at the same time And I remember before that I kid you not If you would have talked to me when I was 13 And I'm not proud of this I'm just being honest with you When I was 13, 14, 15, 16 If you would have talked to me And I would have been honest with you I can tell you I was counting down To my 18th birthday Cause when I turn 18 I'm moving out on my birthday That was my mentality When I was 13, 14, 15, 16 I kid you not I was literally Counting down Like 3 years 5 months I mean I was just like I was like I just gotta hang in there And I just wanted to be out I wanted to move out And I'm sure a lot of you could relate to that feeling I'm telling you That is what was going through my teenage brain And you know what When I got right with God When I turned 17 I got right with God I changed my mentality And I made the decision I'm gonna keep living with my parents until I get married And guess what My 18th birthday rolled around And you know what I did I still live with my parents 18 and a half Still living with my parents Why? Because I decided You know what The Bible says that A man leaves his father and mother And cleaves unto his wife And that's what I want God's perfect will for my life You know I want And you say Well that's in a perfect world Well you know what I wanna walk in the perfect will of God Any chance I get And so I decided You know what Hey I wanna be right with God I need to get right with my parents And you know what Getting right with my parents Is way easier than I thought it would be Just made a few little changes Changed my attitude And by the way When you have the right attitude Doing the right things easy When you have a bad attitude Doing the right things hard You get the right att You know Some of you are just like Oh it's just so hard To obey my parents Oh it's just so hard To keep my mouth shut at work Oh it's just so hard To go with the flow Oh it's so hard To respect these people You know what You're Because you're You're trying to keep A wrong heart And have the right actions On the outside And it's hard But you know When you actually change Your attitude Then the right actions Just flow And then you don't You don't have to work so hard It's just It just Because out of the abundance Of the heart The mouth speaketh So if you got all this Rancor in your heart And then you're trying to Say respectful things It's like It's hard Just hey Get your heart right And then you can just let it flow It's not a coincidence That when I got right With my parents Is when I got right with God I'm not an isolated incident That's what the Bible teaches If you do that which is good You will have praise of the same You will have praise of your authority Okay Now does that mean that Authority's never gonna give you a bum deal I mean look Let's think about the guy in the Bible Who had the worst possible boss Jacob and Laban Agreed? The boss nightmare Okay Jacob did that which is good Did he have praise of the same? Now look Laban totally ripped him off But here's the thing At the end of the day What did Jacob walk away with? Enormous wealth 20 years He retired with enormous wealth Number one But did he have praise of Laban? Well what did Laban say? Laban said I have learned by experience That God has blessed me Because of you Is that Jacob getting praise Of his earthly authority? Yeah So we see in scripture Laban praising Jacob for his work A bad boss A froward boss Still praises the awesome worker And the awesome worker gets paid That Bible story's there for a reason Do that which is good And thou shalt have praise of the same And then lastly I just want to end on this point In Matthew 22 You don't have to turn there But you know Jesus asked What is the greatest commandment in the law? And Jesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God With all thy heart With all thy soul With all thy mind This is the first and great commandment And the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself On these two commandments Hang all the law and the prophets Right? These two commandments Love God Love your neighbor They all hang on that Well think about it The Bible tells that The ten commandments The ten commandments Were delivered on two stone tablets Right? Two tablets of stone And I submit to you That one of those tablets of stone Had to do with our walk with God Loving God And one of those tablets of stone Had to do with loving our neighbor Because if you look at the ten commandments And you just cut them right down the middle You can see that commandments one through five Have to do with our relationship with God And commandments six through ten Have to do with our relationship with our neighbor Because what are six through ten? Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not bear false witness Thou shalt not covet Aren't those all about your neighbor? Don't steal Don't covet Don't kill Right? Don't commit adultery These are all things that you would do harmfully unto your neighbor So what about the first five that have to do with God? Thou shalt have no other gods before me Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy Pretty obvious that all four of those have to do with our relationship with God, right? But then what about the fifth one? Oh, Pastor Anderson's theory is falling apart Because the fifth one is honor thy father and mother But I submit to you that that's no exception at all Because you honoring your father is identical To you honoring God the Father Because honoring your father and your mother Is a reflection of your love for God If you love your neighbor Think about it now And I'm not the one grouping these that way The New Testament will frequently quote the latter five by themselves In their own unit Multiple scriptures quote those Both Jesus and the Apostle Paul separate out those latter five as one unit You know where it says Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not bear false witness Thou shalt not covet Those are put in a group So God grouped it that way If I love my neighbor I'm not gonna steal from him If I love my neighbor I'm not gonna lie about him If I love my neighbor I'm not gonna kill him If I love my neighbor I'm not gonna commit adultery with my neighbor's wife And if I love my neighbor I'm not gonna bear false witness against them Or covet their goods I'm not gonna desire their stuff Because I want them to have that stuff and I'm happy with my stuff And I love them Good for them Okay, well if I love God I'm not gonna have any other gods before him If I love God, I'm not gonna make a graven image. If I love God, I'm not gonna take God's name in vain. If I love God, I'm gonna remember the Sabbath to keep it holy in the Old Testament when that was a thing. And Jesus Christ is our Sabbath in the New Testament. But number five, if I love God, not if I love my neighbor. If I love God, I'm gonna honor my father and mother if I love God. Why, because our earthly father is the closest representation of God that we have on this earth. I mean, we have other relationships that could represent our relationship with God, but one of the most perfect illustrations is your father, right? Think about it. God the father, isn't that what he's called? If you love God, you will honor your father and your mother, not just your father. Honor thy father and thy mother if you love God. Because why? Because that's your earthly authority. And the way that you treat your earthly authority is like a spiritual thermometer for how you feel about God. Oh, my earthly authority is impossible to please. You're probably the same type of person that sits around thinking that God's impossible to please. Well, I just don't always agree with what, I bet you frequently disagree with stuff God says. I've just, who here has disagreed with something in the Bible? I have, I mean, obviously we shouldn't, but I'm just saying humanly, we read it and we're like, I don't think that makes sense. Or I don't think, I don't think that's the right way. But you know what, if we're smart, we do though, but we go, but you know what though? You know, who am I? He's God, I mean, I was born yesterday. I don't know. Well, you know what, that's the kind of attitude, hey, you know what, okay, I don't agree with the way the company's making this move, but you know what though? Who am I? Hey, I'm not the boss. I need to just get on board. I need to be a team player. I need to get on the company's program with Goodwill singing this apart. Folks, this is an important message this morning. Maybe not the funnest message because it hits close to home for a lot of people. But this is an important message. I want you to have a good marriage. I want you to have a right relationship with your parents. And I want you to succeed at your job. That's why I'm preaching this to you. I preach this because I love you and I'm trying to help you. And I'm telling you, this is how you're gonna succeed is by doing these things. This will change your life, this one thing, if you put it into practice. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and for all the wisdom that's there. Lord, just help us to be smart enough to listen to that wisdom and to get on board with your program. Lord, help us not to just obey grudgingly, but help us to actually submit in our hearts, Lord, and actually follow what you've taught here. Because it's pleasing to you, yes, because it's fit for you, yes, because we fear you, yes, but Lord, also just for our own goods. Lord, we know that your commandments are not grievous and you've commanded us these things also for our benefit and so, Lord, help us be wise enough to take heed under these things. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen, let's do one more song in your hymnals. Song 325, Trust and Obey. Song number 325. Song 325. When we walk with the Lord In the light of His Word What a glory He sheds on our way While we do His good will He abides with us still And with all who will trust and obey Trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey Not a shadow can rise Not a cloud in the skies But His smile quickly drives it away Not a doubt or a fear Not a sign or a tear In a life while we trust and obey Trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey Not a burden we bear Not a sorrow we share But a toil heed of which we repay Not a grief or a loss Not a ground or a cross But a class if we trust and obey Trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey But we never can prove The delight of His love Until all on the altar we lay For the favor He shows And the joy He needs shows Are for them who will trust and obey Trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey And in fellowship sleep He will sit at His feet Or will walk by His side in the way What He says we will do Where He sends we will go Never fear, only trust and obey Trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But there's no other way To be happy in Jesus