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Alright, we are in Jeremiah chapter 17, we've done this Bible at verse number 5, it says, Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth the man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be left a heap in the desert, and shall not see what good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, and a soft land, and not inhabit it. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as the tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see what heat cometh, but her leaves shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drop, neither shall see from yielding fruit. The heart is deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? And the title of the sermon this evening is The Cursed Man and the Blessed Man. The Cursed Man and the Blessed Man. Now, go with me if you would to Ephesians chapter number 5, if you would. What does it mean to be cursed? Well, to me, you know, often when we think of the word curse in context of the Bible in and of itself, it's often used in context of someone who is like a reprobate, someone who is far from the hope of salvation, who can no longer be saved, and that is a correct definition to that. But often, even there are times in the Bible when the Bible talks about someone being cursed, it's actually referred to someone who is troubled, someone who is afflicted, or even someone who is destroyed. So in that context, we can see that even Christians can become cursed. That does not mean that they can become a reprobate, or they can be far from the hope of salvation, it could just mean that they are just afflicted, they're destroyed, something evil is going to come upon them because of their bad decisions, because they set up a platform for destruction in their personal lives. Let me read to you from Job 3 verse 1, it says here, So here you see that Job, who is the saved man, cursed the day that he was born. Why is that? Because of the affliction, because of the darkness that came upon him in his latter days, and the misfortune that he had when Satan afflicted his flesh based upon the fact that he was a godly man, and so on and so forth. So every Christian can evoke evil upon themselves. If you make bad decisions in your life, you can evoke curses upon yourself. You can evoke evil upon yourself based upon the decisions that you make in your personal life. Look at Ephesians 5 verse 14, look at this warning that God gives us. It says here, See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. So here it says, hey, you need to be wise. Why? Because if not, you're going to succumb to the evil of the day when it comes upon you. Look at chapter 6 and verse number 11. Chapter 6 and verse number 11, it says here, Put up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. You see, evil comes upon many people, right? But the Bible tells us here that we're to take on the whole armor of God, we're to prepare for that, so when that evil day comes, we're able to stand against the wiles of the devil. And so as we look at the characteristics found in Jeremiah chapter 17, go back to Jeremiah 17, keep that in mind. Because it's talking about a cursed man and a blessed man. And I believe this is applicable to a Christian. Now, look what it says there in verse number 5 about the cursed man. Thus saith the Lord, cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. As we look at the characteristics of each of these, we will see that a lot of these are just determined based upon whether someone's walking in the spirit, or if they're walking in the flesh. You see, the cursed man and the blessed man is just another way of saying the one who's walking in the old man, or the one who's walking in the new man. The one who's walking in the flesh, or the one who's walking in the spirit. If you walk in the flesh, guess what? You're going to be cursed. But if you walk in the spirit, the Bible says you will be blessed. If you're constantly giving heed and feeding the old man, you're going to be cursed. You're going to be afflicted. Evil's going to come upon you. Whereas if you walk in the spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, the Bible says you will be blessed. Now, what do we see here about the cursed man? First and foremost, we're going to look at where he places his faith. What he trusts in. It says there in verse 5, Thus saith the Lord, cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm. So what does this mean? It means he's no longer trusting in God. And Christians can get to a point where they're no longer trusting in God. They're not being dependent upon the Lord for their personal needs. They're not trusting when they read the Bible and they see that God says, Hey, thou shalt not, or thou shalt not. They say, well, I'm the exception to the rule. You know, at that point, you're not trusting in God. Well, you know, I know it says that God will kill fornicators and that fornication is simple, but I can be the exception to that rule. No, you can be a cursed man is what you can be. And once you give in to that, you'll be afflicted. Evil shall come upon you. Why is that? Because you're trusting in your own self. The Bible says this, Lean not upon thine own understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. It's good for a person, a Christian, to simply place the faith in the Lord. Obviously for salvation, but after salvation, the Bible tells us as he had received the Lord Jesus, so walk ye in him. So that same faith had been placed in Christ for salvation. We ought to exercise that same amount of faith for our daily needs. Now, this is true, even when it comes to just work in general, right? The Bible tells us there, maketh flesh his arm. What does it mean when it says maketh flesh his arm? His arm is referred to as strength. So in other words, he's depending upon the flesh to strengthen him. He's depending upon a physical man to strengthen them. Whereas the Bible tells us that our strength should come from the Lord. The joy of the Lord is our strength, the Bible says. Look, go to Isaiah chapter 30. Hold your place there in Jeremiah chapter 17, and go to Isaiah chapter 30. You know, a Christian who's not dependent upon the Lord is a fleshly Christian. They can be at church, carry a King James Bible, say all the right things, but if they're not depending on God, they're fleshly. If they're not depending on God, they're depending on the works of the flesh. Look at Isaiah 30 verse 1 says, Woe to their rebellious children! Save the Lord that take counsel, but not me, and that cover with the covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin, that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. You see, logically speaking, we have this natural bet to just trust in our flesh. You know, if you know how to work, you have a job, it's easy to just work and do what you're supposed to do to provide for your family. Whereas we don't think, hey, you know what, I need to ask God to give me my daily bread. I need to make sure that I continually pray for the rain and the latter rain. I need to make sure that I ask God to provide me with the strength to work. Because here's the thing, God can remove your ability to even work. God can remove your ability to think and to be proud for your job, and at that point, then you're going to start trusting in the Lord. Then you're going to start realizing, man, I was wrong in my ways, I should trust in God and what I need for my daily needs or whatever it may be. We need to make sure we're still trusting in God, even when we're doing well, even when we're blessed of God. That's the time we need to trust in the Lord even more. Because at that point, if everything's going well, the bills are being paid, the food is on the table, it's easy to trust in your flesh. Now the Bible tells us now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Go to Romans chapter 8, it goes on saying in Hebrews chapter 11, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, it was not found. Because God had translated him, for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God, but without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So when we exercise faith in God, when we trust in him for our daily needs, that pleases God. Why? Because faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Most people won't make a decision unless they see it. What's the end result? Whereas the Bible tells us that faith cometh by here and here by the word of God, we need to be able to trust God in his word and obey him when he says, hey xyz obey this and you'll be blessed. Look at Romans 1, excuse me, Romans 8 verse 1, it says here, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Excuse me on verse 8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Well I'm in church, but are you in the flesh? I don't know, but I'm King James Earl, but are you in the flesh? You see, church attendance is great and everyone needs to be in church, amen? But if you're a hearer of the word and not a doer, you're deceiving your own self. Oh, I believe I'm right about that because I'm in church, but are you even listening? Hey, are you even applying what's being preached? You know, are you even putting to work that which the principles that are coming from the pulpit and the Bible? If not, you're just deceiving yourself. You can go home and have this alleviated conscience that you came to church, but if you didn't listen, if you're on your phone the entire time playing video games, you could have done that at home. So here, do yourself a favor, stay home and listen to the sermon on YouTube, amen? Stay home, play video games there because if you just come here on your own playing video games or you're not paying attention or you're not willing to apply that which is being preached, guess what, you're deceiving yourself. You're not deceiving us, you're not deceiving God, you're deceiving yourself. You see, we need to make sure that we are coming to church for the right reasons, obviously. What's the right reasons? The right reasons is I want to learn, I want to be challenged, I want to be convicted, I want to change, I want to make sure that I'm growing in my faith. It's not just me or church attendance so you can fill up a puke. You know, it's not just so you can bring a Bible and look like you're doing that which is right inside of the Lord. No, the purpose of coming to church is so you can learn. But if you walk away, you are a forgetful hero. If you leave here and you don't listen, you're just a forgetful hero. You're deceiving your own self is what you're doing. Look, I don't like self-deception. I don't want to lie to myself. I don't want to think that I'm doing well when I'm not. That's a bad position to be in. So we need strength, as I mentioned, for work, for providing for our family. But that takes faith, doesn't it? It takes faith for the man to fulfill his role in the home and pay all the bills. You know, to keep his wife home. Amen? To provide for his family. That takes faith. The Bible tells us that if a man provides not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. The Bible says you're worse than an infidel if you don't provide for your own family. And you know, in 2018, that's a difficult statement to say. But at the end of the day, we need to trust God. We need to trust God in not our flesh. Oh, but it logically doesn't make sense. But you know what, biblically, it does. Yeah, that's right. Oh, you know, blah, blah, blah. Here's the thing. No, no. Here's the thing. Here's the Bible. Kids close. Conversation going on. You know, we need to make sure that we're not like the cursed man. The cursed man trusteth in his flesh. The cursed man trusteth in man. The cursed man has allowed his heart to depart from the Lord. Whereas those who are exercising faith are those who are drawing nigh unto God. Good. You draw nigh unto people, I would say. The blessed man is the one who's drawing nigh unto God, who's reading the Bible, who's exercising his faith, who's doing the best he can to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord. How about just trusting the Bible even when it doesn't make sense? Good. Good. Okay, good. Here's a good one. How about when wives need to submit to their husbands? We gotta hit on that like at least once a month. Hey, that takes faith. Why is that? Because you may have a husband who's just not the spiritual aptitude as you are. Or you might have a husband who's just not all he's cracked up to be in your eyes. Or you may think, oh, you know, yeah, but I'm much wiser than he. Why don't you submit anyways? Because the Bible doesn't give the condition, submit it to your husband if he's wiser than you. Submit it to your husband if he's godlier than you. It just says submit. Submit. I mean, is God foolish for saying something like that? Does he not know what he's talking about? No, what it is is it takes faith to say, if that's what God says, I'm gonna believe. You're not the exception to the rule. There's no exceptions to the rule when it comes to the commandments of God. God is no respecter of people. This is an all-encompassing, one-size-fits-all commandment for everyone. Amen. The Bible tells us blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly which standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law that they meditate day and night. How about when you want counsel for life and you go to your unsaved aunt or your unsaved family members or people, you know, typically Christians who do something like that are not trying to get counsel. They just want people to tell them what they want to hear. And don't ask for counsel if you just want to hear something that you just want to hear. If you ask for counsel, get counsel so that people can tell you directly what God would have to say. The Bible says that the man is blessed when he doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly. God's ordering marriage where the man is ruling over his home, submitting to your husband, children, obeying your parents, not disrespecting your parents. Amen. You know, we ought to reverence, obey our parents, no matter how old we are. I'm 32. Am I 32? 33. 32? 33. Thank you. I forgot I was 30. Amen. Thank you, brother, for that testimony. I see that hand. You know, I have my own family. I have my own home. I provide for my wife and my children, but my mom's still around. And guess what? I still obey her and respect her. And, you know, don't think, don't get so high and mighty this next generation, just because you probably know more technology than your parents, that that gives you an excuse to disrespect your parents. Look, you said, well, tell me like a practical way. Well, don't roll your eyes at your parents. We look like you just need to be exercised. You know, look, I was taught. Yes, sir. No, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. Thank you. You know, things like that, right? You know, no child should ever rebuke their parents, right? Or give them an attitude. My dad, you know, he's providing for you. He's your father. And look, guys, you need to make sure that the woman that you marry respects your dad. Exactly. Because once you marry her, she's going to treat you the way she treats her dad. Bam. How do you like them apples? You know, that ought to be a motivation to the girls to say, whoa, I need to make sure that I'm being respectful, that I'm reverencing, that I'm loving my father, because that same attitude that you have towards your father, you're going to have towards your future husband. That's fact. That's, I mean, that's one of the reasons that I really wanted to marry my wife. Why? Because I saw how she treated her dad. She reverenced him. She respected him. She served him. And I said, that's what I want right there. Amen to that. I went old IV on that. Well, why? Because it's fact. You look at the girl that you want to marry. You better observe how she treats her father. You better observe how respectful she is to her father. Oh, that's such a high standard. No, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. It's a right thing to do. And look, why just my dad and my mom, they just don't know. It doesn't say if they know, if they don't, it just says do it. Why don't you go ahead and exercise faith and just trust God? You know, stop being a cursed man, depending on the flesh and your own wisdom, because you have so much wisdom, you know all about life, because you've lived for like 17 years, 18 years, 20 years. You just have this insurmountable, just all kinds of wisdom and knowledge. Why don't you put that to the side? And be a blessed man. Trust God. If that's what he says, do it. Look, you'll benefit from it in the long run. Don't give your parents lip. You know, what is that? You need to suck on a lemon or something or what? You know, we need to raise up a generation of young people who are respectable. I'm sick and tired of our society putting out these brats for teenagers who don't know how to respect any kind of authority. They don't know how to respect their elders. You know, they don't know how to just be respectable. You know, sir, whatever happened, do you guys know that word? Sir and ma'am. Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. No, sir. No, ma'am. No, thank you. Teach your kids to look people in the eyes when they talk to them, too. I know this is real deep, but this is needed. Look, and this goes for everyone. If you're talking, let me show you just regular, just manners. When you're talking to someone, look them in the eyes. Come here, John. Stand right here. You know, when I talk to John, how's it going? Great. Good. How was your week? Great. Good. You know, don't do this. Hey, how's it going? You know, that shows like you got something to hide. You know what I'm saying? And I've met people like that. And look, John, talk to me. How's it going, Bruce? Good. Tell me a story or something. Uh, it was just that I can't even continue. Don't do that. He could even like continue. You know, when you talk to someone, give them their full attention. I'm talking to young people here. Obviously, this is all encompassing to everyone. Don't be a disrespectful little brat. Learn how to be a functioning member of society, a respectable young man, a respectable young lady. You can have a seat, John. Thanks for being respectable. The cursed man leans upon their own understanding. The cursed man depends upon their flesh. The cursed man does not trust God at his word. And look, you maybe have gone to the point where you've grown in your faith where you're going to do a lot more growing now. You know, because it's important to be respectful to your elders. It's important to be respectful just to your parents in general. And look, a good motivation for you to start doing that is if you want to get married, you know, brother Bruce just killed your game. Because I'm telling you, you need to observe how that person treats their parents. Because that's going to switch over to your marriage, okay? Go to 2 Chronicles chapter 16. I spent a lot of time on that, but it's important, okay? Don't be cursed. Be blessed. Look, how about for physical ailments, okay? When you get sick or something happens to you physically. I'm all for doctors, okay? I'm all for doctors. We have doctors in our church. I'm all for seeking the advice of doctors. But at the end of the day, you know, we need to make sure that we go to God first. And so what do you mean? Like, how does that work? How about prayer? How about saying, Lord, my life is in your hands and I need wisdom. Please, you know, heal me of this. Help me to get through this. I'm looking to you. Oh, no, you need to make sure that you just go take care. Yeah, I'm all for drinking water, vitamins, and making sure that you're staying healthy. But you know what I'm for more than that is actually seeking God first. Look what the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16 verse 11. And behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of kings of Judah in Israel. And Asa in the 30 and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet. He had athlete's foot to the highest degree. All right, I'm just kidding. Until his disease was exceeding great. Yet in his disease, he saw not the Lord, but to the physicians. And look, I don't think God is like against him going to the physicians. I think he just completely disregarded God. This is called compartmentalizing God. You know what that means? It means, oh, yeah, I need God for soul winning. I need God for my Bible reading. I need God for the things that he tells me to do. But all the other stuff, I'll take care of on my own. No, God should permeate every aspect of your life. Prayer should permeate every aspect of your life. Pray for the small things. Pray for the big things. Pray for the small needs. Pray for the big needs. Look, when we go home on Sunday nights and on Thursday night, the parking is terrible where I live. No parking. You know what my wife and I do? We pray for parking. All right, are you serious? Come on. Yeah, we pray for parking. 98% of the time, God opens up a parking spot right in front of our house. Always, right? Right in front of our house. What about the big needs? Yeah, big needs, small needs. I want God to know, I need you for everything. Even a parking spot. Even my athlete's foot. You know, whatever disease, whatever need that comes up, seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. You'd be surprised how much money you can save if you just ask God first. You'd be surprised what the things that you can avoid if you just seek God first. The cursed man does not seek God. The cursed man has made arm his flesh. The cursed man is trusting in his own wisdom and knowledge. Look, I'm not disregarding wisdom or knowledge. I preached about that a couple weeks ago. We need knowledge. We need to have some smarts. We need to grow and understand and have wisdom and understanding, but not at the expense of seeking God and praying and asking God to help us in our needs. Go back to Jeremiah 17. So the cursed man trusts in his flesh. He trusts in his own wisdom. Look at verse number seven. Look at the contrast. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is. I'll read to you from Psalms 18, verse two says, The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower. Go with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter six. Hold your place there in Jeremiah 17. Proverbs 10 29 says, The way of the Lord is strength to the upright, but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. You know, we need to make sure that we live a life that's blessed. Amen. The way of the blessed man is the one who trust in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is. And look, this is in regards to work, too. I mentioned that in the beginning. You know, don't take on a job that's going to take you out of church. You know, forget the extra finances. Forget your desires and the possessions you want to buy with that. Forget your money. Let it perish. Stay in church. Forsake not the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. If I can accredit my success in the Christian life over the last 11 years, one of the elements to my success is that I stayed in church. Not that I was godly or that I was something special. It's just I went to church. I remember when I first got saved, I went to church at Pacific Baptist Church. Pastor Steve Myers got up and he said, if you want to grow in your Christian life for to flourish, come to all four services. Of course, they had Sunday school class. And I said, what in the world? They have more than one service here. You know, I never really been to church. I went to Sunday morning and that was it. He's like, yeah, if you want to grow, go to all the services. You know what? I believed him. And you know what? He was right. I did not miss one service. And look, it got to a point where even my secular job required me to work. On days that I would be in church. And I said this, I said, I can't miss church. I can't miss church. I said, but I'll make a deal with you. I will produce that which you need me to produce for that day that I will miss because I will be in church and I'll make sure I'll meet that quota. And he says, if you can do that, you can have that day off. You know what I did? I prayed. God, help me to meet that quota. Lord, help me to produce that which I need to produce so I can stay in church. And guess what? He answered the prayer. I mean, is that a big surprise? He's telling, he's commanding me to be in church to not forsake the assembly. And now he's enabling me to produce that which needs to be produced so I can stay in church. Don't undermine the importance of church. Now look, if you're throwing up and you're sick and like blood is coming out of your eyes, stay home. I don't want you to come. Don't even come near me. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about just regular things that will take you out of church. And some, and in my experience over the last 11 years, the thing that takes people out of church the most is a job. Making money will take people out of church. You need to be in church. What am I going to do? Pray? Yeah, but what am I going to do though? Seek the Lord? I mean, is there anything too hard for God? Because in other words, that's what you're saying is that, well, this aspect is a little too hard for God won't do that. Then you're faithless. You know, why don't you exercise some faith? You know, and look, if you don't need that extra job, get rid of the extra job. Why need it? Because I want a boat. You don't need a boat. You know, why don't you just exercise godliness with contentment, which is great gain. Instead of trying to get monetary gain, why don't you get great gain? Which is godliness with contentment. It's the greatest. Look at Matthew 6, verse 27. What, which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow and they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow's cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you? O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. God is saying, Seek God his righteousness, and I will add these necessities to you. You see, we have it backwards. We think we need to get out of church to get the things that we need. God says, No, stay in the things of God so you can get the things that you need. And by the way, it's the things that we need, not the things that we want. And that's not to say that God will not bless us with things that we want. I can testify many times that God has given me something that I wanted that I didn't need, but I wanted and he gave it to me. That doesn't happen all the time. Because if he gave us everything we wanted, we'd just be brats. Spoiled little brats. But he gives it to us in measure so we can be grateful. It increases our faith in him. But it also increases our faith when we know that God can just provide for our regular needs. The Bible tells us, go to Psalms 84. I'm gonna read to you from Psalm 20, verse 7. It says, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright. What is someone, who is someone that stands upright? It's someone who has integrity. Someone who has integrity, someone who's trusting in the Lord, who will not try to get money by unjust means. Okay, unjust gain. Look at Psalm 84, verse 11. For the Lord God is the sun and the shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Do we believe God or not? He said no good thing. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly in the integrity of their hearts. No good thing. Do we trust God or not? Okay, now what is the result of this misplacement of faith? Go back to Jeremiah chapter 17. So we see that the curse man, what does he do? He depends on his flesh, upon his own understanding. He doesn't seek the counsel of God or the men of God. He seeks his own counsel and the counsels of his heart. And what does the Bible tell us? That the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? The blessed man seeks the Lord. The blessed man goes to the word of God. The blessed man does that which he's supposed to do even when he doesn't feel like doing it. He exercises faith. Look at verse six. But what is the result of his misplacement of his faith? For he shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabited. So number one, what happens? Well, he'll no longer grow. Bible says there, for he shall be like the heath in the desert. What is a heath? It's a wasteland. It's a land that's not cultivated. So what happens when someone stops growing or excuse me, when they stop exercising faith, when they stop depending upon the Lord, they stop growing in their Christian faith. They have nothing new to offer. They're no longer reading the Bible. They're no longer growing in their faith. They're no longer getting the fresh oil. They're not filled with the Spirit. They're not walking in the Spirit and not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. They're simply dying spiritually is what they're doing. They're uncultivated. They're a wasteland of a Christian. Go with me. Hold your place or go to 2 Peter chapter one. 2 Peter chapter one. Look, I want to make sure that in my Christian life, I'm always growing. The pace could be different throughout my life, but I always want to be growing. What's your agenda this week, brother Mejia? Grow. What are you going to do tomorrow? I'm going to grow. What are you going to do Tuesday? I want to grow. I want to continue to grow in my Christian life. Why? Because I don't want to backtrack. What happens when you backtrack? You backslide. You know, there's no such thing as just saying, well, I'm just going to remain here. No, if you're not going forward, you're probably regressing in your Christian life. And look, they used to say the Christian life is two steps forward, one step back. And that's true because, you know, the just man follows seven times. But the fact of the matter is it's always two steps forward. You want to be growing in your Christian faith. Look at the Bible says, where did I have you turn? 1 Peter, or excuse me, 2 Peter chapter one, verse five. It says, and beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity. That's a lot of growing right there. He's like, you got to add, add, add, add, add. Verse eight, for if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you should neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So what is he saying that we will neither be barren nor unfruitful? Well, we won't become a wasteland. We won't become like the heath in the desert. We're going to be fruitful. Well, he said, what happens if I don't look at verse nine, but he, the lack of these things is blind and cannot see a far off. And that's forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Don't become a blind Christian. What is a blind Christian? You'll see later on in Jeremiah chapter seven, they can't even see what good cometh. But the blessed man, he will flourish. It says in verse eight, for he shall be as the tree planted by the waters that spreadeth out her roots by the river. So what is it telling us here? What's the contrast between the cursed man and the blessed man? The cursed man, he's just dry, dry personality, dry words, nothing fresh to give out, out of his mouth, out of her mouth, just kind of like a heath, just like a tumbleweed going through the desert. What is the blessed man? He's flourishing. He's growing. The tree may not look as beautiful as others, but it's growing. In fact, the Bible tells us in Psalm 92 verse 12, the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. So what is it saying there? It's telling us that a main element to our growth is being planted in the house of God. You see, you ask anybody who does not have an independent fundamental Baptist church in their area, who's part of our movement, they'll tell you it sucks. Why? Because they want to grow and they understand in order to facilitate their growth, they need to be in a church. Okay. They need to be in a church where there's preaching, where they're being sent out to go preach the gospel, where they have fellowship. And some of those people, they have a hard time growing. They're doing their best that they can, but they understand this principle that they need to be planted in the house of the Lord in order to grow. But here we are, we got a church. Hey, we got preaching. Hey, we got soul winning times. Hey, we got fellowship. Don't be like the Heath in the desert in the garden of Eden. No, don't be a dry Christian where a river is just flowing on a week in, week out basis through all those elements. Be the type of Christian that takes advantage of those things. Okay. Go back to Jeremiah 17. Jeremiah 17, verse six, excuse me, verse seven. It says, and shall not see when good cometh, the Bible says. So it's telling us there that the curse man, he can't, his attitude changes. Now then here's the interesting thing. So the curse man does not see when good cometh, the blessed man does not see when he cometh. Catch that? The curse man cannot see when good cometh, the blessed man cannot see when heat cometh. So one cannot see when good is there, the other one cannot see when bad is there. You get what I'm saying? The one who's cursed, his attitude has changed. His perspective has changed. Everything is just negative. And let me just help you out with something. If you want to make friends in life, don't be a complainer. Don't be a murmur. Oh, it's just so hard. What's hard? Let's start off with salvation. Was that hard for you? Well, not that. I mean, I'm just saying things in life. Yeah, well join the club. What do you think? This is like a sitcom where nothing bad happens? You think this is candy land? Grow up. Bad things happen. How you deal with those things determines what's going to happen to you. Change your attitude. Don't try to change your circumstances. Change your attitude. Don't try to change the situation in your life. Change your stinking attitude. Have a good attitude. That's what's going to change because circumstance, sometimes we just got to deal with the cards that were dealt with. And sometimes those cards aren't very good, but you know what? That doesn't have to change your attitude. I've met some people who have a really bad situation, but they have a really good attitude about it. You know what that person is doing? They're flourishing. They're growing. They're being a blessing to people. Don't be a murmur. God killed a lot of murmurers in the Old Testament in the wilderness. Just to show you what he thinks of murmuring. He's like, I can't take this. I'm just going to kill these murmurers and complainers. Because the worst thing in life, one of the worst people to hang out with is just a complainer. He's like, good night. Is there anything? Can you say anything good? Is God even good to you? You know, we need to make sure that we're not complaining. We're not murmuring. We're not like the cursed man who can't even see when good cometh. I mean, that's a sad statement right there. The Bible tells us that God loads us with benefits daily. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God hath done. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings. See what God hath done. Amen. If you're having a hard time having a good attitude, count your blessings. And if you say there's no blessings, you're a liar. Because God loads us daily with benefits. Look, don't, you know, if you're having a bad attitude because you want people to feel sorry for you, you know, you need to grow up. Okay. If you're having a bad attitude because you want people to, oh, what's wrong? What's wrong? Come here. Come here. You need to grow up. Look, ladies, I'm not saying ladies should have, they should do that, but men have no room to do that. Especially if you want to get married or if you're already married. We do not have the luxury to wear our emotions on our sleeves. Why? Because we're leaders. We're conquering things. We are accomplishing great tasks for the Lord. We are leading about a wife. We're raising children. We're doing great things for God. I'm not saying men don't get emotional. There's times when men get emotional. I get that. We all have our bad days, but you should not be characterized by always having a bad day, especially if you want people to feel sorry for you. That's not how you get help. You know, you need to learn how to encourage yourself in the Lord. David, when the Philistines came and they just completely took everyone from his village, even his own men spake of stoning him. You know what he did? He said, I'm so sorry guys. Look, it's been a hard day. I'm so sorry. Can you help me please? No, you know what he did? He's like, I'm going to encourage myself with the Lord. He took the leaders. He took the, he saw the need and he took the lead. And he said, Hey, we're going to get all our people back. And you know what they did? They retrieved everyone. Why? Because David was not this guy who just wore his emotions on his sleeve. Be a man of God. I'm not preaching to the ladies right here. I'm preaching to the men right now, because the strength of our church is based upon the strength of each individual man, married or unmarried. But I'm just like a teenager. I don't care. You need to grow up. Amen. Be a man. You need to get some fortitude. Learn how to be a man because this is a spiritual battle. And you know what? This church is, if we're going to succeed in a spiritual battle, we cannot have sissified, effeminate, emotional men, just having like an emotional breakdown. Okay. Suck it up and do what God tells you to do. And look, if I'm not saying don't come to, he's like, man, Hey, I need some prayer. I'm struggling. I'll pray for you. I'll encourage you. We'll go out to eat. We'll do whatever we can, but don't mope. What's wrong? Nothing. Don't do that. My son does that. That's acceptable for my son. Okay. Because he's two years old. But if you're a lot older than that, that's not acceptable. Okay. And I hope this is not coming off as I'm just being insensitive, but you know what? I can't be sensitive with men. Okay. We just need to make sure we grow up. I grew up in a single parent home with just my mom. Okay. My sister, my brother, and there was no room for that. Even with my mom, you know, and a day and age in which we live, there's no room for that. We need to start taking serious the fact that we're in a spiritual warfare. Okay. So his attitude changed. He can't see when good comes. And look, if you're going to succeed in, even in your Christian life, you need to look at the silver lining in every situation because there's going to be a lot of bad stuff that happens to you. You need to come out from that and say, okay, what's the good that's come out of this. Let's, let's, let's, let's look at the good stuff that comes out of this because you're going to get married. You're going to have a wife and she's going to have a breakdown. And if you are used to having a breakdown, you're both are going to be destroyed. I don't know what to do. I don't mean either. I can't do it, but you're supposed to lead me. I know, but I don't know what to do. That's going to be you. You know, we need men that when the women come and say, Hey, all right, come here. Let me give you a hug. This is how you fix the situation. Point number one, go to Ezekiel chapter five. No, I'm just kidding. But you know what to do. You know, be emotionally fortified to lead about someone. Okay. The Bible says the spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear the heart of the prudent getteth knowledge in the year of the wise seeketh knowledge. You see, the Bible tells us that our spirit will help us to sustain our infirmity. I, man, I've met people who are going through a hard time and they just have a good attitude. And I'm like, man, that person's got a strong attitude. They got a strong spirit because that's sustaining their infirmity. Okay. Now let's see here. Go to Psalm 73. This is, this is an interesting verse here. Chapters Psalm 73. So if you are one of these people who are going through this hard time, this is what's going to help you. And it's something I've been saying over and over again in church or in the sermon. This is what's going to help you. Look at Psalm 73 verse one. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had a well nice slip for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. So already this guy's complaining. He's like, God is good. But I mean, as for me, what was me? Then he goes into this entire dissertation, how the wicked are prospering and they're succeeding and why is God allowing them to succeed? Blah, blah, blah, skip down to verse 11. And they say, how does God know? Is there knowledge in the most high? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain. I mean, good night. We just need a violin. I've cleansed my heart in vain and wash my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued and chasing every morning. If I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. Look what he says in verse 16. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. Until, this is a good until, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I therein. So he said, I had this attitude until I went to the house of God. And then I understood, oh, okay, they're going to die and go to hell. I'm saved. I'm not going to hell. Hey, that's a good start. Amen. And his attitude changed. So this is what something's going to help you. If you're having a bad attitude, just come to church. You get your face ripped, you know, you hear a sermon, you fellowship with the brethren and you leave energized saying, man, you know what? I'm in the right place. Let me, let me fix my attitude a little bit. Be a blessed man. The blessed man shall not see when the heat cometh. In other words, they just control their perspective in life. Okay. Go with me if you would to, let's see here. Go to John 15. So the cursed man cannot see when good cometh, but the blessed man cannot see when he cometh. Why? Because he's so busy thinking about the goodness of God, looking at the silver lining in every situation, he doesn't have time to be negative all the time. And look, there's, there's a time and place to be negative. Amen. This morning sermon was a negative sermon, but I planned that negativity. Amen. I was ticked off for a reason. Amen. So that was needed, but you know what? We don't live our lives based upon how we're feeling at that moment. Okay. The Bible says he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. If you're able to rule your spirit and control your emotions, God says you're stronger than he that can take a city. That says a lot about a person who's able to rule their emotions. The blessed man can't see when the heat cometh. When bad stuff happens, it just rolls off his back like water off a duck's back. Now what's another thing? The curse man, the Bible says here that he, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabited. So what will happen to the curse man? He will dry out and just wither away because it says there he shall inhabit the parched places. Parts means dry in the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabited. Why does it say a salt land? Well, if you have read the Old Testament, something that the kings would do to make sure that the land could not be cultivated is they would pour salt all on the land. So nothing's growing on there. In other words, okay. And it's saying that the curse man is just like that. He's just not growing. Look at John 15 verse five. It says, I am the vine ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him. The same bringeth forth much fruit for without me he can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. What does that mean? They become useless because they're no longer growing. They're not bearing any fruit in their personal lives. Now let me contrast that with the blessed man. It says in Jeremiah 17, but her leaf shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. You know what that means? The one who's blessed, the one who's trusting in the Lord, the one who has a good attitude, a good perspective, who's reading the Bible. They're not going to cease from yielding fruit. Whereas the curse man, he's dry. He's not being filled with the spirit of God. He's not yielding any fruit because he's not placing himself in a position to yield fruit. Look at John 15 verse seven. If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit. So shall you be my disciples. Go with me if you went to Philippians chapter number four. You see, a person who bears fruit is a person who is filled with the spirit of God. Why is that? Because at the end of the day, the fruit that they're bearing is not themselves. It's the fruit that's actually bearing that spirit. It's the spirit that's bearing that fruit. So when you're filled with the spirit, you're walking in the spirit, the spirit begins to bear fruit in your personal life. And we see that in Galatians chapter six, the fruits of the spirit. But it also says that he's not going to be careful in the year of drought. A drought is when there's dryness. There's no rain coming down. But you know what the Bible says? He's not careful. What does that remind you of? Look at Philippians four verse six. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God that passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. So what does that mean? He's not worried. You know, the cursed man is always worrying. Man, what's going to happen? How am I going to make it or what's going to happen? The blessed man is just like, I'm careful for nothing. That doesn't mean they don't worry. It just means that when they worry, they pray. They give thanks. And what happens? The peace of God, which passeth understanding, keeps their hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. You know, the Bible tells us that that will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. And that's the person who's praying throughout that time. See, both of these guys are going through the same struggles. They're going through the same parchment, the dry stuff. But the difference is one is reacting to it in a different way than the other. The Bible tells us in John 7, He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Go to Romans chapter number 8. We're done. Romans chapter 8. You see, obviously we shouldn't just go around judging people. You know, that's not the goal. But you can tell who's bearing fruit in their Christian life. You can tell. You can tell based upon their attitude, their countenance, their spirit, their soul winning. You can tell who's progressing, and you could also tell who is regressing. And who is that? It's the consciousness between the blessed man and the cursed man. And look, you don't have to stay a cursed man. At the end of the service, you're going to hit the altar, amen? I'm just kidding. You can change that as soon as the piano plays. You can change that today. But here's the thing, unless you're deceiving yourself, unless you're hearing it and you're not going to do it, then at that point nothing will change. You will remain a cursed man. Look what the Bible says in Romans chapter number 8. You see, the good thing about looking at a chapter like this is we can recognize, okay, I'm doing some of those things. Let me go ahead and change that. Let me go ahead and be renewed by the spirit of my mind. Let me go ahead and be transformed by the renewing of my mind. Let me go ahead and repent and just change what I'm doing so I'm not cursed, I'm blessed. And just keep in mind, these guys are basically the same type of guys. The only difference is how they're dealing with the circumstances around them. You know, you're nothing special just because you're going through something rough. You know, there's no temptation taking you but such as is common to man. What you're going through is something that someone went through three months ago. What you're going through is something that someone's going to go through in three months from now or someone who's going through the same exact thing in a different church. It's nothing, there's nothing new under the sun. We're rooting for every single Christian. We want everyone to make it and run the race that is set before them. But you need to make the decision to change and be a blessed man. I want to be blessed, amen. I want God's favor on my life. I want his blessing. I want to bear more children. I want my wife to bear more children. I want to win more souls. I want to succeed in my Christian life. I want to learn more Bible. I want to learn more deep doctrine. I want God's hand to be upon me. But you know what? That's determinable upon what I do. Don't wait for someone else to do it for you. Don't wait for someone else to change your circumstances. Your circumstances probably won't change, but your attitude can. That's what's important, amen. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for your word and thank you for the preachers in my life who helped me to understand these concepts and principles. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us not to be like the cursed man who's just trusting in the arm of the flesh, trusting in man. Help us to trust in you. And in times of doubt, help our unbelief. In times of doubt, help us to just step out in faith and grow us, Lord. Help us to continue to be fruitful. Help us to walk in the spirit that we may not fulfill the lust of the flesh, but not just walk in the spirit. Help us to be filled with the spirit so we can see people saved and do great and mighty exploits for thee. And I pray, God, that if there's anyone in here who may be struggling in that area, that they would just change. Lord, I've had to do it. People in times past had to do it. It's just a common thing within the Christian life that we can just slip sometimes. And I pray that you'd help us to progress and not regress. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.