Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW200025S
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello, and welcome to another edition 01:11 of 3ABN Family Worship, 01:14 where we worship as a family, 01:15 we come together and we open the Word of God. 01:18 Sometimes we do some singing, although today, 01:20 we're probably not going to do any singing. 01:22 But, hey, that doesn't mean 01:23 we're not going to get our worship on. 01:24 Because we're going to be uplifting Jesus in His Word, 01:27 we're going to be growing in Him. 01:28 And we are so thankful that you have joined us 01:30 and taken time out of your busy day. 01:32 We know you could probably be doing something else. 01:35 But, hey, get your pens, your pencils, your iPads, 01:38 your pen pads, all those things that you have to take notes, 01:40 because we have a very, very special, 01:43 special study today. 01:44 We're going to be talking about what it means 01:46 to be a man of God. 01:48 And, you know, this is all inclusive, 01:50 we're going to be emphasizing 01:52 what it means to be a man of God. 01:54 But these principles certainly imply 01:57 or apply to women as well. 01:59 And the reason why we decided to do a study on the man of God 02:03 is because, well, we got the fellows in the house. 02:06 We've got it's a... 02:08 it's a panel of all gentlemen, 02:09 we've got a youthful presence here. 02:11 And so we are so blessed and thankful 02:13 to have each and every one of you 02:16 with us here on the panel. 02:17 And again, thank you for all your love, 02:19 your prayers and your support of 3ABN ministry, 02:20 because we wouldn't even be able to sit here 02:22 and do this. 02:24 And nor would this gospel go out to all of the world 02:26 if it wasn't for your prayers, your love and support. 02:29 So thank you so much. 02:30 Before we go any further though, 02:32 I want to go ahead and introduce these fellows, 02:33 these gentlemen, my friends, my brothers in Christ, 02:36 and my literal brother, which we'll get to in a moment. 02:39 But I'm going to start on the far end, 02:41 and we're going to talk to Brother Jason Bradley. 02:43 How are you, Brother? 02:44 Doing well, man, happy to be here with you gus. 02:46 This is the first time I've been on a program 02:48 with who we'll introduce in a minute, 02:50 I'll let you do the part. All right. Nice. 02:52 It's a blessing to have you, Brother, 02:54 thank you for being here. 02:55 Thanks for the invitation. 02:57 And right here next to me on my right 02:58 is my little brother Dakota Day. 03:00 It's all a blessing to have you and, Dakota, 03:02 again for those who may not know you 03:03 or what you do, 03:05 introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do? 03:08 Yeah, so my name is Dakota Day, 03:09 I'm a public speaker and evangelist with a ministry 03:11 out of California called Amazing Facts 03:13 which most of the viewers here probably are familiar with. 03:16 And I do Bible prophecy seminars 03:17 all over the globe 03:19 sharing the three angels' messages 03:20 and the good news of Jesus 03:22 with everyone I can so it's a blessing to be here. 03:23 Amen. 03:25 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 03:26 And again, if you need an evangelistic series, 03:29 you know, look Dakota, 03:30 I'm sure he would love to come to your church. 03:32 And, of course, to my left we have some... 03:35 In my home we would call you a noob. 03:38 I don't know if that makes any sense to a lot of people. 03:41 Noob stands for newbie or a new person 03:44 because these two gentlemen 03:45 while Ben has done a program with us before, 03:48 this is technically your first introduction 03:50 to kind of a sit down Bible study conversation, 03:53 but we have also brothers on this end, 03:57 we have Ben Lingle and CJ Lingle. 03:58 Ben, tell us a little about what you do here at 3ABN? 04:02 Well, here at 3ABN, 04:03 most of the time I'm in the control room, 04:05 running audio and doing all those type of things, 04:07 but I'm honored to be here. 04:09 I also help lead music 04:11 at Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church. 04:12 So it's a real blessing. Praise the Lord. 04:14 It's a blessing to have you and, of course, 04:15 I didn't know this, 04:17 I for some reason thought you were the younger 04:19 or I thought you were the older brother, 04:21 actually, he was the younger brother. 04:22 But it's the opposite. 04:24 We have CJ, you're the older brother 04:26 by how many years or how much? 04:29 We like to say 17 months, it's about a year and five. 04:31 All right, nice. 04:32 And, CJ, what is it that you do here at 3ABN? 04:35 Well, I do a little bit of not everything 04:38 but do a lot of things. 04:39 Most time I am behind camera. 04:42 You notice film most of you folks most time. 04:44 Right. 04:45 Recently, I've been helping with the podcasts. 04:48 So we've launched Sabbath school panel podcast, 04:51 recently faith light, just kind of helping with that. 04:56 Yeah. Praise the Lord. 04:57 We're so grateful to have the both of you 04:59 and appreciate what you do to contribute to the ministry? 05:01 Thank you. 05:03 That being said, you know, 05:04 we have lots to just study and a little time to do it in. 05:06 So we're going to have a prayer. 05:08 And I'm going to ask my brother Dakota, 05:10 if you would lead us out 05:11 in a word of prayer at this moment. 05:12 Absolutely. Absolutely. 05:14 Father, we want to thank You so much 05:15 for waking us up this morning 05:16 and breathing Your breath of life 05:18 into every single one of us. 05:19 And right now, Lord, we ask for Your Spirit 05:21 to lead and guide us in this study, 05:23 that Lord, glory and honor will be given to You 05:25 and that Lord, we could learn 05:27 how to be godly men for You in these last days, 05:29 we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. 05:31 Amen. Amen. 05:33 The title of this is Men of God, 05:36 what does it mean in these last days? 05:39 In any given position in any walk or age of life, 05:43 what does it mean to be a man of God? 05:46 And I believe that there is an abundance 05:48 of biblical counsel, biblical principles, passages 05:52 that we can pull from 05:53 where the Bible clearly communicates to us 05:56 as to what it means to be a man of God. 05:58 If God has called you, 06:01 what does that mean for you personally 06:03 to be a man or a woman of the Lord? 06:05 And so what I want to do 06:06 is just kind of open us up here, 06:07 just kind of go around. 06:09 Jay, I'm going to start with you. 06:10 Personally, just kind of, 06:12 according to your personal opinion and idea 06:14 of what it means to be a man of God, 06:16 what is your thoughts on that? 06:18 I think it, 06:19 you know, it involves being a man of integrity, 06:21 a man of your word, 06:22 and submitting and committing your life to the Lord. 06:24 And, you know, anytime you want to be something 06:28 or be like someone, 06:30 you have to study the characteristics 06:32 and attributes of the individual 06:34 that you want to be like. 06:35 And so in this case, in being a man of God, 06:38 you have to learn about God 06:39 and we do that by studying His Word. 06:41 So I think that it's a matter of studying God's Word, 06:46 and living out those principles 06:49 that we will discuss in this program. 06:51 That's right. Praise the Lord. Well said, Brother, well said. 06:53 Dakota, what does it mean to be a man of God? 06:56 Well, man, I have to say, you cannot be a man of God 06:59 without coming into relationship with God 07:01 and knowing God as your Lord and Savior. 07:03 And, you know, we know in the scriptures 07:05 that teaches that in and of ourselves, 07:06 we can do nothing. 07:08 In John 15:5, it reminds me of what Jesus says, 07:11 "I am the vine, you are the branches. 07:13 He that abideth in Me and I in Him, 07:15 the same bringeth forth much fruit, 07:17 for without Me you can do nothing." 07:19 And so when we come into relationship with Jesus, 07:21 and we come to know Him, 07:23 then He's going to change our minds, 07:24 our hearts and our nature, 07:26 so that we would be partakers of the divine nature 07:28 and be godly men in His presence. 07:30 So yeah, got to get to know Jesus. 07:33 Amen. Praise the Lord. 07:34 That was a good answer as well. 07:36 Ben, what are you thinking of, man of God, 07:38 what's on your heart? 07:39 Well, Ryan, I would echo some of the things 07:41 my brothers here said. 07:42 I think being a man of God 07:44 not only applies to who we are individually, 07:47 but also how we treat people as well. 07:49 And how we end up, you know, interacting with people 07:53 and whether it's our brothers or sisters 07:55 or whoever it may be our parents. 07:57 I think that reflects who we are 07:59 and also knowing where our identity is, 08:02 which is in Christ. 08:04 Wow! Praise the Lord. 08:05 Great answer. CJ? 08:07 Well, it's... 08:10 What I have to say is pretty similar as well. 08:11 It's reflecting the character of Christ 08:14 in everything that we do. 08:17 When we're trying to be a man of God, 08:19 we're trying instinctually to be like Christ. 08:22 And so, you know, we'll study to know what Christ was like. 08:26 And as we go through this study, 08:28 I hope that we learn a little bit more 08:30 about what that is. 08:32 But one of the things that I think of as a man of God 08:36 is something that Paul told real quick, 08:38 Paul told Timothy, in 1 Timothy 3, 08:42 he was giving the description 08:43 of what a bishop and a deacon should be. 08:45 And someone who is... 08:48 He says, someone who's blameless, 08:50 if you're married husband of one wife, temperate, 08:52 sober minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, 08:56 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, 08:59 but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous. 09:02 So it's a man of good report. 09:04 It's a man who reflects God in everything that he does. 09:08 It's not a man who's so easily given over 09:10 to his emotions and his feelings. 09:12 It's someone who actually is careful in the way he acts, 09:16 and thinks reflecting 09:17 and always bring God into the picture. 09:19 Oh, well, wise. 09:20 That was really good, really, really good. 09:22 Very good. 09:23 You know, as I was studying for this topic, 09:24 and I was just going through, there was an abundance of text 09:28 that I just was so excited to use, 09:29 but I thought, man, if I keep writing down 09:32 and copying all these texts to read, 09:34 it's going to turn into a multi part series, 09:36 which is not a problem, but we'll say it may turn 09:38 into a multi part series anyways. 09:40 That being said, 09:41 I kind of found a couple of themed scriptures 09:43 that I felt like really set the foundation 09:45 for what it means to be a man of God. 09:47 And the first one comes from 1 Timothy 6:11. 09:51 Again, that's 1 Timothy 6:11. 09:54 And this is what Paul writes, he says, 09:56 "But you, O man of God, 09:59 flee these things and pursue righteousness, 10:03 godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness." 10:08 So, again, in these things when he says flee these things, 10:12 if you go read the verses prior to this, 10:14 he's basically highlighting a worldly man, 10:17 a man who is caught up in the world, 10:19 a man who is caught up in the lust of the flesh 10:21 and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. 10:23 And he's highlighting those negative aspects 10:25 of what happens 10:27 when we are a slave to the carnal nature. 10:28 But in this verse here, 10:30 verse 11 of 1 Timothy Chapter 6, 10:32 he says, "You will men flee from these things," 10:34 get rid of those things. 10:35 Come to the Lord and of course, pursue righteousness, 10:38 godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness, 10:42 which, you know, interesting that most of those are... 10:44 a lot... 10:45 Most of those are what we find within the fruits 10:47 of the Spirit. 10:48 You notice? 10:50 Notice how we're full of the Holy Spirit, 10:52 and we're being led by the Holy Spirit, 10:54 then God is shaping us and molding us into that 10:57 that child of God, 10:58 that man of God or that woman of the Lord. 11:01 Another one that came to my mind 11:02 was 1 Corinthians 16:13. 11:05 And while I do like the King James, 11:08 a New King James version, which I normally stick to, 11:11 every once in a while, when I'm studying something, 11:13 it will lead me to see what other versions, 11:15 other translations have to say. 11:17 And I really liked how 1 Corinthians 16:13 11:20 was worded in the English Standard Version, 11:22 which says these words. 11:24 It says, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, 11:28 act like a man." 11:30 That's what it says. 11:31 Act like a man, be strong. 11:32 And so, you know, oftentimes, 11:35 you know, and I'll open this conversation up, 11:37 you know, oftentimes growing up, 11:38 when I read that, you know, act like a man, 11:41 you know, I've heard that many times 11:42 while growing up as a kid or a teenager, 11:44 you know, you're, kind of, you're growing, 11:46 you're trying to learn what it means to, 11:48 you know, get out of those childish things. 11:49 You know, Paul writes about, 11:51 you know, I put away those childish things 11:53 and, you know, I became a man, right? 11:55 And so, you know, many times going up, 11:56 I would hear, you know, older people 11:59 or sometimes my dad would tell me, 12:00 you know, as I was growing up as a kid, 12:02 "Come on, son, be a man," you know, be a man about it. 12:04 And that's the question we're asking is, 12:07 what does it mean to be a man of God? 12:08 Because the world's picture 12:10 or idea of what it means to be a man, 12:13 you know, a man in the masculine sense, 12:15 you know, and the extreme manly sense, 12:17 you know, it's drastically different 12:19 than what we see in the Bible, because obviously, 12:22 the Bible is not talking about masculinity, 12:25 in the sense of, 12:26 you know, being manly and being strong 12:28 and, you know, taking it like a man 12:30 and, you know, some of these things 12:31 that you would hear, 12:33 but God really focuses in as we would expect, 12:35 the character of a man, the character of a being. 12:38 And so, the first question is, I was... 12:40 As I was dialing in my thinking on this, 12:43 is what spiritual counsel can we find in the Bible 12:46 about becoming or being a man of God? 12:50 So, Jay, I'm going to have you to go to Micah 6:8, 12:54 and CJ, I'm going to have you to read Proverbs 5:1. 12:58 I believe the Word of God 12:59 again has an abundance to say about this. 13:01 And again, we're going to kind of 13:02 just create some conversation 13:04 and if any of you guys have questions or comments 13:05 you want to make please, please let us hear them. 13:07 So Micah 6:8, take it away, Jay. 13:09 All right, after that, 13:11 I really want to comment on that 1 Timothy Chapter... 13:12 Oh, yeah, go ahead. 13:14 Yeah, go ahead. Okay. 13:15 So where it says, "But you, O man of God..." 13:17 this is 1 Timothy 6:11. 13:18 "But you, O man of God, flee these things." 13:22 But it doesn't just stop there. 13:23 It goes on to say, 13:24 "and pursue righteousness as you brought out godliness, 13:27 faith, love, patience, gentleness." 13:29 A lot of times you see a complacency, 13:32 where it's like, you know, 13:33 I'm abstaining from these things. 13:35 I don't do these things anymore. 13:37 I don't do that. I've come a long way. 13:39 I'm not, you know, in the same lifestyle 13:41 that I used to be and all of this other stuff. 13:44 But are you pursuing godliness? 13:45 Are you pursuing righteousness? 13:47 Are you pursuing faith? 13:48 Are you pursuing love, patience and gentleness? 13:51 So like that, I mean, when I read that verse, 13:54 I was just like, huh, 13:55 that's not just flee these things. 13:58 But now the second part of that is crucial as well. 14:01 I love that. 14:03 Yeah, that's awesome, 14:04 glad you highlighted that, pursue it. 14:06 Because a lot of people would think 14:07 that that is a work's approach to salvation, 14:10 you know, because many people have this idea 14:12 that, you know, I'm already saved, 14:13 I gave my heart to the Lord. 14:15 So, you know, this righteousness 14:16 just comes naturally, right? 14:18 But yet, we find in many aspects of the Scripture 14:21 and including this particular verse 14:22 in 1 Timothy 6:11, 14:25 pursue these things, 14:26 that means there's an active condition on our part, 14:29 that we have to do something, right? 14:31 So, you know, we can't just be expecting God 14:33 to just show up and show out 14:34 and do all of the work even though we understand 14:37 that, you know, He does the completed work in us. 14:39 We don't work in and of ourselves 14:41 to change ourselves because that's impossible. 14:43 It is fully 100% His work, 14:45 but there is an activeness on our side 14:48 in which we have to pursue it. 14:49 In other words, we have to surrender our will to His. 14:52 And I believe that's what that's talking about here. 14:54 Pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, 14:56 patience, gentleness, 14:58 all of which I can't create in and of my own self, 15:00 but He can do it in me as I surrender my will to Him. 15:03 I know that's a lot to think about. 15:05 But it's powerful to know that all I have to do is say, 15:08 Lord, I'm gonna hit the surrender button, 15:10 because I can't do this, Lord, You're gonna do it in me. 15:13 But he says, you know, 15:14 as you still have to step out in faith and say, "Okay. 15:16 Lord, I'm going to pursue you." 15:18 You know, I remember when I was... 15:20 when I was date... 15:21 when I was wanting to date my wife, 15:22 this was before we were together, 15:24 but I was really, really... 15:26 I really liked her. 15:27 You know, I didn't go home and be like, 15:29 you know, "hey, she likes me. 15:31 She gonna call me." You know! 15:32 No, that's not how that worked, right? 15:35 I pursued her. 15:36 I made sure that, you know what, 15:38 if this girl likes me and I like her, 15:39 you know, this seems to be the type of girl at the time, 15:43 you know, she was 14, I was 16. 15:45 I know, it's kind of that early puppy stage love, 15:47 but nonetheless, 15:49 I saw qualities in her that I liked. 15:50 And I thought, "Man, 15:52 this is the girl I want to be with." 15:53 But I didn't take this, 15:54 you know, relax, sit back and just let things happen. 15:57 No, no, no, I was out there pursuing, 15:58 I was calling her, 15:59 I was texting her out, I was emailing her. 16:01 Every chance I got, 16:03 I was in my truck going and visiting her. 16:05 I have heard her family was out at the baseball field, 16:07 I was out at the baseball field. 16:08 If they were out at the races, I was out at the races 16:11 because I wanted to have a relationship with this girl. 16:14 And that's no different than us as men, right? 16:17 You know, we want that perfect woman in our life 16:20 that God has for us. 16:22 But more than that, before that can work, 16:25 we have to have a relationship with God. 16:27 And is that relationship with God any different, 16:29 should we pursue Him? 16:30 Absolutely. 16:32 He's wooing us. Yeah. 16:33 But are we responding to that wooing? 16:35 Right? That's powerful. 16:36 That's a powerful point. Jay, Micah 6:8. 16:39 All right, "He has shown you, O man, what is good. 16:43 And what does the Lord require of you, 16:45 but to do justly, 16:46 to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." 16:48 Hmm. I like that. 16:51 What does the Lord require of you, but to do justly? 16:54 What do you think? 16:56 What do you guys think that means to do justly? 16:58 To be fair. 17:00 To operate with integrity. 17:01 To, you know, treat people justly. 17:06 And treat everyone fairly. 17:08 Hmm. 17:09 I think we're gonna see this next one come up quite a bit 17:11 where it says here at the end of that verse 17:13 to walk humbly with your God. 17:15 Hmm. Hmm. 17:16 Humility, is that a key factor in being a man of the Lord? 17:18 Absolutely. 17:19 You were talking about surrendering. 17:21 It takes humility to surrender certain things in your life. 17:25 And so, yeah, definitely that is one major part 17:29 of being a man of God. 17:30 You said it takes humility. 17:31 There's another story just popped in my mind. 17:33 Uh-oh! 17:35 I'm gonna tell off Dakota a little bit here. 17:37 So there was an incident, when we were younger, 17:40 we were really into wrestling. 17:43 And so we would whether it was on the trampoline 17:46 or is in our bedroom, my mom and dad was looking 17:48 because they didn't want us wrestling on the bed. 17:50 But one day me and Dakota 17:51 got in this battle with each other 17:53 and, you know, we're slamming each other 17:55 and putting each other 17:56 and like choke holds and submission moves. 17:59 Well, this particular day I'll never forget, 18:02 I felt so bad because I'm getting... 18:03 I'm five, I'm five, I'm nearly five years older than he is. 18:06 And one of it, you know, 18:07 I was always much bigger than him. 18:08 So one day we're in the wrestling 18:10 and I put him in this arm bar 18:13 and I've got him locked down in this arm bar 18:15 and I grabbed his wrist and I'm bending his wrist 18:18 and I'm telling him tap out, surrender, give up, you know. 18:22 I'm really pressing it. 18:24 Dakota was so stubborn. 18:27 He's over there going, "No, no, I'm not." 18:29 I'm like, "Tap out, tap out." 18:30 Well, I'm also so stubborn as well. 18:32 Then we were kids and literally have Jesus in our heart 18:35 and we're just being too unreal little kids. 18:37 But I started bending that arm a little bit more, 18:39 a little bit more because I'm thinking 18:40 the pain is going to cause him to surrender. 18:45 Now, he was hard headed. 18:47 He allowed me to break his wrist. 18:49 Oh! Wow! 18:51 I heard it snap. 18:54 And, of course, he immediately starts 18:55 you know writhing in pain, 18:57 but I've used that not to tell 18:58 that because Dakota is good man. 19:00 Well, we all know who's gonna make it in the end. 19:03 Torture me, I ain't giving up. 19:08 There we go. 19:09 Yeah, that's a spiritual application there, 19:11 you know, time of trouble. 19:12 Anyways, but it's interesting that, you know, 19:15 I just pulled from an illustration 19:17 that, you know, a lot of times 19:18 that's how we are with the Lord. 19:19 The Lord is wanting us to surrender. 19:21 And the wonderful thing about the Lord is, 19:22 He doesn't force us. 19:24 I was forcing Dakota, 19:25 I was trying to force him to surrender 19:27 by locking that wrist in 19:28 and it ended up snapping and breaking his wrist. 19:31 And, but the Lord doesn't snap us. 19:32 He doesn't break us unless we need broken, 19:35 but He does it with our consent 19:37 and we have to surrender to Him. 19:39 And that's one of the most important things. 19:40 I like that comment, Ben, that you made. 19:41 We have to surrender. 19:43 Our friend Jordan Ryan, he makes a statement. 19:45 He made a statement one time to me he said, "Dakota," 19:46 he said, you know, "We need to humble ourselves before God 19:49 because if God has to humble us, 19:50 He's not going to use anesthesia. 19:53 I got you. All right. 19:54 So being able to, 19:55 you know, understand the character of Christ 19:57 in relation to His Word and who He is, 20:00 if we let the rock fall on us... 20:01 Oh, I like that. 20:03 The Master Potter can always mold us 20:06 and put us back, right? 20:07 But, or rather, if we follow the rock... 20:09 There it is. 20:11 There it is, I got it backwards my bad. 20:12 So if we fall on the rock, 20:13 the Master Potter can mold us in. 20:15 But if He falls on us, like in Daniel Chapter 2, 20:17 He will grind us to powder. 20:19 And we have to understand that, Christ is... 20:22 that's not Christ's purpose. 20:23 He's not wanting to, you know, break us and all of that, 20:26 but we are broken already really. 20:28 We were born into a sinful world 20:30 that is and we're totally without God, 20:33 you know, into this world. 20:35 And so we have to humble ourselves, 20:36 you know, the first step in the sanctuary 20:38 was you had to bring your lamb right to the sanctuary. 20:42 In other words, you had to admit, I'm a sinner. 20:45 I'm messed up, and I need saving. 20:48 And only the lamb can do that for me. 20:49 Wow! 20:50 That's the first step to salvation. 20:52 You have to accept the sacrifice of Jesus. 20:54 Yeah. That's powerful, yeah. 20:55 Yeah. 20:57 I was gonna say something. 20:59 When we were talking about surrendering 21:00 and stuff I was thinking about how, 21:02 when you're a man of God you reflect, again, 21:05 you reflect the character of God. 21:07 And so God is just, 21:08 God is merciful and He is humble, 21:11 you know, He is the ultimate. 21:13 But I was thinking about something 21:15 that Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, 21:17 where he talks about love 21:19 and we know according to 1 John 4:8 that God is love. 21:24 So if we're reflecting God, 21:25 we're gonna reflect the way He loves and the way He loves. 21:28 His love suffers long which means patient is kind. 21:32 Love does not envy. 21:33 Love does not parade itself, it's not puffed up, 21:36 does not pay rudely, does not seek its own. 21:38 So, what I see Paul's getting at here is, 21:41 if you're a man of God, 21:42 the way you're going to love is going to look different 21:44 than the way that everybody else loves. 21:46 Jesus even put this point in Luke, 21:49 I believe Luke 6:26-35, 21:53 where he talks about and it's also in Matthew 5, 21:56 where he talks about how if we love 22:00 who we love or who loves us, 22:02 then we're no better than the tax collectors 22:03 and sinners. 22:05 And so, the way that Jesus loved 22:07 is the way that we need to love as well. 22:09 And that means that when we love people, 22:11 we are going to be fair to them. 22:15 We're going to be merciful, and we're going to be humble, 22:17 because we're not going to want to... 22:18 Because, again, we're not going to pray it ourselves. 22:20 We're not going to be all prideful 22:23 and full of ourselves 22:24 just hopped up on our own amazingness. 22:27 But we're also going to be righteous 22:28 because that's what Paul says here in verse 6, he says, 22:31 "Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoice in the truth." 22:34 Right. 22:35 And so, this kind of love that Paul reflects 22:39 is the same love that God gives 22:41 because when you look in the Greek, 22:42 the love here, it's agape, 22:45 and that's the love that God expresses towards us 22:47 and towards the other members of the Trinity. 22:48 Right. 22:49 And it's powerful that God bears an unconditional love. 22:51 That's right. 22:52 God loves us abundantly no matter what. 22:54 We've got that, you know, as Peter would say, 22:56 when Christ asked him, you know, do you agape me? 22:59 But Peter responded with the Greek word phileo, 23:02 I phileo you, which is, 23:03 you know, I'm fond of you Jesus, 23:05 you know, I know who You are, but I don't really know You, 23:07 you know, I love you as a brother, 23:09 kind of as a bro, 23:10 but I don't really love, you know, 23:12 that's why he responded, 23:13 you know all things, you know me and God knows us. 23:16 God knows us individually. 23:18 We want to be men of God, 23:19 but in order to be a man of God, 23:21 we've got to learn how to love how God loves and I like that. 23:25 It was a wonderful point there that you made, CJ. 23:28 CJ, while you read it, Proverbs 5:1. 23:31 Read that one for us there. 23:33 Okay. 23:34 "My son, pay attention to my wisdom, 23:36 lend your ear to my understanding." 23:38 My son and daughter, we can include that there, 23:43 pay attention to my wisdom. 23:45 Yep. 23:47 Is wisdom important? 23:48 Oh, 100%. Absolutely. 23:50 And most of us, you know, 23:51 I'm gonna be a little critical of this panel here for a moment 23:54 because we're all relatively young guys, right? 23:57 We still got a lot to learn. 23:58 So we don't want to be, 23:59 you know, thinking that we've got room to grow, 24:02 I know I have room to grow and that's why I love, 24:05 you know, being around, 24:07 you know, some of my older friends in Christ 24:11 because of the experience 24:13 and I'm so blessed to be around Pastor Lomacang here 24:15 and Brother JD Quinn, 24:18 and, you know, Shelley and Danny 24:20 and all of these wonderful people 24:22 that I can glean from and learn from 24:24 because there's wisdom there 24:25 but more than the wisdom of man, 24:28 which we learn that wisdom from experience, 24:30 we learn that wisdom over time, God is saying to us, 24:33 He says, "You know what, pay attention to My wisdom." 24:36 My wisdom is what counts, right? 24:38 "Lend your ear to My understanding." 24:41 There's a scripture that says, I think it's in Proverbs 14... 24:45 14:36 I believe that says, there is a way which... 24:49 14:12, that's what it is, Proverbs 14:12. 24:52 "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, 24:55 but the end thereof are the ways of death." 24:57 Sometimes do we allow our own wisdom, 25:00 our own personal understanding get in the way? 25:03 Oh, yeah. I think that's the case, right? 25:05 You know, Ryan, a lot of times people, 25:07 they make the mistake of not understanding 25:09 the difference between knowledge and wisdom. 25:11 A lot of people think that knowledge is wisdom, 25:13 but knowledge is not wisdom. 25:15 Wisdom is the application of knowledge. 25:17 Come on now. I like it. 25:19 And so, and so when Jesus is saying, 25:20 pay attention to My wisdom, He is saying, 25:22 pay attention to how I live my life, 25:24 how I do things is what I do, not just what I profess, right? 25:28 Because talk is cheap. 25:30 Ooh, that's right. 25:31 Talk is too cheap. 25:33 True. That's right. 25:34 I want to share this with, I love that. 25:37 This is Proverbs Chapter 3. 25:39 It's kind of long, but verses 1-9. 25:42 I'll read it rather quickly. 25:44 Go ahead, Brother. 25:45 "My son, do not forget my law, 25:47 but let your heart keep my commands, 25:49 for length of days and long life and peace 25:52 they will add to you. 25:53 Let not mercy and truth forsake you, 25:56 bind them around your neck, 25:58 write them on the tablet of your heart, 26:00 and so find favor and high esteem 26:02 in the sight of God and man. 26:05 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, 26:06 and lean not on your own understanding. 26:09 In all your ways acknowledge Him, 26:10 and He shall direct your paths. 26:13 Do not be wise in your own eyes, 26:16 fear the Lord and depart from evil. 26:19 It will be health to your flesh, 26:21 and strength to your bones. 26:22 Honor the Lord with your possessions, 26:24 and with the first fruits of all your increase." 26:28 All right. Yeah. 26:30 I think that highlights what we just read very well, 26:32 you know, pay attention to my wisdom. 26:34 And what does that say there in verse 6, I think, 26:36 "In all your ways acknowledge Him." 26:38 Yes. All right. 26:40 "Lend your ear to my understanding, 26:41 trust in the Lord with all your heart, 26:43 lean not on your own understanding." 26:45 That's one of those famous passages. 26:47 But yet, I mean, sometimes we fall short of that, right? 26:50 Yes. 26:51 And, you know, that's one of the challenges 26:53 of being a young man in ministry 26:55 is sometimes we were so... 26:57 I know sometimes I get caught up in this. 26:59 I'm so on fire and so excited 27:01 that, you know, sometimes I feel like, 27:04 "Man, I've really thought this through and I've got it," 27:06 and then somebody like JD or Pastor Lomacang 27:08 will come along and dial in that thinking, 27:10 and I'm like, "Oh, yeah, that make, that's it, 27:12 makes a little bit more sense what I was thinking." 27:14 You know, what are... 27:16 Let me just toss this out there for a moment. 27:17 What are some of the challenges 27:20 that, you know, we're all young here, 27:22 what are some of the challenges 27:23 that young men perhaps might have in ministry? 27:25 We're all in some type of ministry. 27:27 So what are some of the challenges 27:29 that a young man might face in ministry 27:31 and growing into that man of God persona? 27:36 I think it depends on what role we're in the ministry. 27:41 But I think if we are in a high role, 27:47 then we have to really worry about our own ego. 27:52 We have to worry about our own self 27:53 because we think that we're in this high position, 27:56 we're in this important position 27:59 of maybe having authority over others. 28:02 We have to be careful 28:03 and not allow that to cloud our thinking. 28:07 Because in that point, 28:08 we're going to think that we think 28:10 that we have this wisdom from God, 28:12 we know how to do everything. 28:15 But if we're not constantly seeking God, you know, 28:17 like what Solomon says here in 5 and 6 28:20 that this is the most commonly quoted verse, 28:23 I think out of any of the things 28:25 in Proverbs. 28:26 "Trust in Lord with all your heart 28:28 and lean not on your own understanding." 28:30 God is trying to get at that, 28:32 when we try to trust our own hearts. 28:36 We know that Jeremiah says in 17:9, 28:38 that the heart is deceitful above all things 28:41 and desperately wicked: who can know it? 28:43 So God is saying, 28:44 instead of trusting your own heart, 28:46 which is easily swayed, 28:47 because it's also the seed of the emotions, 28:49 instead of trusting your own wisdom, 28:51 which is very faulty, 28:52 for even the Bible says that the foolishness of God 28:56 is even better than the wisdom of man. 28:58 Think I butchered that a little bit 29:00 but the whole point is especially when he says, 29:03 "Do not be wise in your own eyes," 29:05 because when we're wise in our own eyes, 29:08 we think we can figure out anything 29:10 and we end up falling flat on our face. 29:13 And that's why I love that verse in and I just, 29:16 this verse just keeps popping up a lot for me. 29:19 In Proverbs 24:16, 29:22 "A righteous man may fall seven times 29:25 and rise back up." 29:26 And then it talks about the wicked, 29:28 but the righteous may fail, he may fall 29:32 but if he's putting his trust 29:34 and acknowledging God in everything that he does, 29:36 then he'll get back up. 29:38 God will give him the strength to rise again, 29:40 and learn from his mistakes 29:41 and not just wallow in his own foolishness. 29:46 Right. Right. That's great. What do you think? 29:48 I think something to keep in mind as well 29:50 as not only our ego 29:51 and this kind of goes in with the ego thing, 29:53 but our motives. 29:54 Why are we in ministry in the first place? 29:58 I even know like one of my own personal struggles, 30:01 especially being like, 30:02 you know, leading worship or whatever, sometimes, 30:05 you know, and it's of course, 30:07 a good thing to encourage people 30:08 and give them compliments and whatever, 30:10 but sometimes the compliments can give you an ego, right? 30:15 And it can change your motive 30:18 as to why you're in the ministry 30:19 in the first place. 30:20 So I think one of the things to keep in mind going with ego 30:23 is why are we in ministry 30:25 and how to keep that in check as well. 30:26 Absolutely. That's a great point. 30:28 You're saying that just brings up... 30:30 I was just sharing this with someone 30:31 just the other day. 30:33 You know, I came from a performance background. 30:35 So I, you know, I was in musical performance 30:39 and, you know, I was the person out there 30:41 doing DJing on the weekends, and playing music, but not... 30:45 I wasn't your average DJ, 30:46 I actually would go out on the floor 30:49 with the people who were dancing, 30:50 who I was playing music with, 30:52 and I would lead them out in these, 30:54 you know, guided dance moves and different things, 30:56 and I would also perform and sing and dance 30:58 and people paid me to come do special gigs 31:00 and parties and things. 31:02 And, you know, I've won several competitions 31:04 and that drove me that 31:06 because that was before my time with Christ. 31:08 I learned that, you know, I fed off of that debt, 31:11 it was almost like an addiction. 31:13 Every time somebody would clap for me, whoo-hoo, 31:15 you know, whistle, you know, it's just like, 31:17 yeah, yeah, it re-instilled, man, 31:19 I'm really great, I'm really good. 31:20 But when God got my heart, it's like, 31:23 it's kind of like Isaiah's experience, 31:25 you know, he comes into the court of the Lord. 31:27 He sees God high and lifted up, 31:28 he sees His righteousness 31:30 and then he immediately sees his unrighteousness 31:31 and what was his response? 31:33 Woe is me. 31:34 Woe is me, for I am. 31:35 He began to see his sin. 31:37 When I came to the Lord, I begin to see "Man, Lord, 31:40 I'm none, I'm nobody," 31:42 you know, I kind of felt like Jesus, 31:43 you know, there in Psalm 22, I'm a worm and no man, right? 31:47 But when God gets your heart, He begins to humble you, 31:49 He begins to show you who you really are. 31:52 And that's why even, you know, as I'm so blessed and honored 31:55 to be able to sing for the Lord today in ministry. 31:58 People don't realize... 32:00 And I understand people mean well, 32:02 and this is a lesson for even the viewers at home, 32:04 and this goes for anybody, 32:05 whether it's a pastor, whether it's... 32:06 It doesn't matter what position, 32:08 we have to be careful 32:09 that in giving praise and glory about someone, 32:12 we give that to God on behalf of that person. 32:15 In other words, 32:16 I would much rather hear someone come to me 32:18 and say, "Man, Brother Ryan, 32:19 praise God for the voice that God has given you. 32:22 Praise God for that song that He blessed you with 32:24 rather than, oh, you know, your voice is so amazing. 32:27 I'm very thankful that someone thinks that of me 32:30 and I'm very, you know, again, I'm very humbled by the fact 32:32 that, you know, I know God has given me a wonderful gift 32:35 and I cherish that. 32:36 But just the point you're adding to, 32:39 this is one of the big issues 32:40 why many so called men of God lack to truly be men of God, 32:45 because of their ego, 32:47 because they've heard so much of how great they are 32:50 and what they do that it gets to their head, 32:52 their head swells, and before you know it, 32:53 it becomes more about them than the mission. 32:56 Yep. That's right. 32:57 We all put our pants on one leg at a time. 32:59 That's right. 33:01 That's right. Absolutely, praise the Lord. 33:02 Two verses on that idea of flattering, you know, 33:05 that really convicted my heart soon as he said 33:07 that I was like, "Wow, that is a big one." 33:08 You know, and we don't think of that too oftentimes, Ben, 33:11 but... 33:12 And Job 32:21, it says, 33:14 "Let me not I pray show partiality to anyone, 33:18 nor let me flatter any man." 33:20 And then notice what Psalm 12:3 says, 33:22 this is a very, very convicting one. 33:24 "May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, 33:28 and the tongue that speaks proud things?" 33:31 And, you know, I think that 33:32 that's a smackdown point there, no doubt. 33:34 It's a really good one. Absolutely. 33:36 Who are some good examples? 33:38 I mean, when you think of the Bible, 33:39 you know, and those great Bible characters, 33:41 who were some good examples 33:42 of what it means to be a man of God? 33:44 Who comes to your mind? 33:45 I like to do things like this because I love those examples, 33:49 someone that I can relate to, 33:51 someone who really exemplifies 33:53 what it means to be like Jesus and in this case, a man of God. 33:55 So... Daniel. 33:57 Daniel, right. Okay, so Daniel, explain. 33:59 Okay, so let's look at Daniel 1. 34:02 And start in verse 4 and go to verse 8. 34:07 You said Daniel 1? Daniel 1:4-8. 34:10 And beginning in verse 4, it says, 34:12 "Young men in whom there was no blemish, 34:14 but good looking, gifted in all wisdom, 34:17 possessing knowledge and quick to understand, 34:19 who had ability to serve in the king's palace, 34:22 and whom they might teach the language 34:24 and literature of the Chaldeans. 34:28 And the king appointed for them 34:29 a daily provision of the king's delicacies 34:32 and of the wine which he drank, 34:35 and three years of training for them 34:37 so that at the end of that time, 34:39 they might serve before the king. 34:41 Now from among those of the sons of Judah 34:44 were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 34:47 To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names. 34:52 He gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar, 34:54 to Hananiah, Shadrach, to Mishael, Meshach, 34:57 and to Azariah, Abed-nego." 35:00 And here in verse 8, 35:02 "But Daniel purposed in his heart 35:04 that he would not defile himself 35:07 with the portion of the king's delicacies, 35:09 nor with the wine which he drank, 35:11 therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs 35:14 that he might not defile himself." 35:17 So, you know, when I think of a man of God, 35:20 I think of somebody operating with integrity, 35:22 no matter what the situation, 35:23 no matter what the circumstance, 35:25 and here you have a situation where you have Shadrach, 35:29 Meshach, and Abed-nego, and Daniel and like, 35:31 they're changing their names, 35:34 they're trying to reprogram them, 35:36 you know, by introducing them to their customs, 35:39 their culture, their, you know, their delicacies 35:42 and the wine and really trying to defile them. 35:46 But Daniel said, 35:47 "No, I'm gonna purpose in my heart 35:51 that I would not defile myself." 35:53 And so when I think of a man of God, 35:55 that's what I think of, I also think of Shadrach, 35:58 Meshach and Abed-nego in the fiery furnace, 36:00 you know, they're faced with death. 36:02 And first off, you're dealing with a situation here, 36:05 where you're talking to a king. 36:08 And this king is crazy like this, this king has, 36:12 he has pride problems, ego problems, 36:15 all kinds of stuff. 36:17 He's angry, he's frustrated, all kinds of stuff. 36:20 And yet they stand up to the king and say, 36:23 "Basically, we have no need to answer you in these things, 36:26 O king as our God can deliver us, 36:28 if He does, great, and if He doesn't... 36:31 Do what you got to do. 36:32 Yeah, we still won't serve you, you know, we serve God. 36:36 That's powerful. 36:37 And so they stood up and guess who stood with them 36:40 in the midst of their trial? 36:41 Jesus came down and stood with them. 36:42 Stand up for Jesus, Jesus will stand with you. 36:44 Absolutely. Absolutely. 36:46 Daniel's a great one, what's another one? 36:47 Well, I was thinking of Joseph. 36:50 All right. 36:51 Because Joseph in the most pagan, 36:56 wicked... 36:59 One of those places where you can get 37:00 easily tempted, Egypt, 37:02 full of beautiful women just like a lot of stuff 37:05 that the world would apprise 37:08 and yet Joseph was still able to keep his integrity. 37:11 Now one of the stories 37:13 that 'cause I was looking here 37:16 for just different examples of Joseph's faithfulness, 37:19 one of them was when Joseph was approached 37:23 by Potiphar's wife to lie with him now, 37:26 if you know anything about euphemisms, 37:28 you know what that means. 37:29 So, in Genesis 39:6, 37:35 this is going to kind of go through the whole thing. 37:37 I'm not going to read the whole thing, 37:38 but this is part here. 37:40 So Genesis 39:6, 37:46 so it talks about where, 37:50 you know Joseph is now the overseer 37:53 of Potiphar's house. 37:54 So in verse 6, this is where it kind of gets started. 37:56 It says "Thus he left all that he had in Joseph's hand" 37:58 talking about Potiphar, "and he did not know 38:01 what he had expected for the bread which he ate." 38:05 Now, this is the important part 38:06 'cause this is where it gets started. 38:08 Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 38:12 And so we know what happened next. 38:14 "And it came to pass after these things 38:17 that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, 38:22 and she said, 'lie with me.' 38:25 But he refused and said to his master's wife, 38:28 'Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house. 38:33 And he has committed all things that he has to my hand. 38:37 There is no one greater in this house than I 38:40 nor has he kept back anything from me 38:43 but you because you are his wife. 38:45 How then...' here's the important part. 38:47 'How then can I do this great wickedness 38:50 and sin against God.'" 38:54 So Joseph was pointing out here to his master's wife, 38:58 that to lie with you not only 39:00 would be a sin against Potiphar, 39:04 but a sin against God. 39:06 Because even though 39:07 the Ten Commandments weren't ratified, 39:09 they weren't on tables of stone. 39:10 He knew for a fact that this is not my wife. 39:14 I can't take her of my own, 39:15 God would not look favorably on me. 39:19 So he goes on. 39:24 So it says, 39:25 "So it was as she spoke to David day by day," 39:28 this was a continuous thing. 39:30 It wasn't like a one time thing, right? 39:32 No, no. 39:33 He did not heed her to lie with her or to be with her. 39:37 So what happened? 39:38 So to kind of sum it up, 39:41 she planned this idea. 39:44 I think after David... 39:45 Oh, sorry, Joseph. 39:47 Joseph refused her constantly 39:52 so she cooked up this plan after he left, 39:54 after he ran away, 39:55 that he attacked her and all that stuff, 39:58 which was a lie. 39:59 But Joseph even after that was still a man of integrity, 40:02 because he still wouldn't back down. 40:04 He wouldn't have, he would have said, "Oh, okay. 40:06 Yes, yes, I did it." 40:08 He wouldn't have lied to save his own. 40:10 Much interesting like today 40:12 because, you know, in the court systems now, 40:14 you have these, like plea deals where it's like, 40:16 you know, what, if you just say you did it. 40:19 We'll give you, you know, 40:21 we'll give you a lesser sentence. 40:22 But Joseph would have been that person to say, like, 40:24 "Look, if this, if I've got to go to prison for 25 years, 40:26 you're giving me an offer 40:28 that's only going to give me two years. 40:29 I would rather go to prison for 25 years 40:31 and tell the truth than to... 40:33 And so that does speak to the integrity 40:35 and the man of God that he was, right? 40:37 Joseph is a great example. 40:38 And that's a good example, because in the last days, 40:40 we know there is a mystery Babylon woman, 40:43 just trying to get us to lie down with her. 40:45 Oh, yes. 40:48 And we know we have to be faithful. 40:50 We don't want to lie down with this harlot woman, 40:53 because just like Joseph has said this would lose favor, 40:56 we would lose favor in the eyes of God. 40:58 And so, you know, I think, 41:00 I really do think that there the seductress power 41:05 that is spoken of women in the Bible 41:07 in relation to men has a prophetic significance 41:11 and why Jesus used a woman 41:13 to describe this seductress in the last days. 41:16 You know, we're told in Proverbs about Solomon. 41:19 Solomon had 700 wives. 41:21 Have mercy, 300 concubines, I mean, I can't imagine, 41:25 you know, that the problems that man has, 41:29 and the temptations that he had in his kingdom. 41:33 But, you know, even he said 41:34 after all those years of going away from God 41:37 and letting his wife, you know, lead him away. 41:39 That man said, he said, 41:42 "She has cast down many wounded." 41:44 Speaking of the woman, 41:46 and he talks about "Don't look in her eyes 41:48 and let her seduce you," right? 41:50 And I think speaking in these last days 41:52 related to the story of Joseph, 41:55 you know, I think men of God 41:56 are going to be tempted even by women in real life. 41:59 I mean, let's not kid ourselves. 42:01 We walk around out in public nowadays 42:02 and you see women half naked. 42:05 And we know this is a real problem 42:07 that men of God have to do like Joseph and say, 42:10 "I know that looks attractive, but we need to look away." 42:12 And you say, "This is not lawful." 42:14 And that's easier said than done. 42:16 But guess what? 42:17 We can do how many things through Christ? 42:18 All things. All things through Christ. 42:20 That's right. 42:21 I think of Caleb, you know, 42:23 we need some more Calebs, right? 42:24 That's right. 42:25 Caleb, man, I love this, Numbers 14:24, I love this. 42:28 This is again, Numbers 14:24 speaking of Caleb, 42:31 powerful point here, it says, "But my servant Caleb, 42:34 because he has a different spirit in him." 42:38 We need some men of God 42:40 that the world can see has a different spirit. 42:43 It goes on to say "Because he has a different spirit in him 42:45 and has followed me fully." 42:48 Okay, you can't go halfway with the Lord, right? 42:49 The Lord's like, "Man, 42:51 you know, I want you to have a relationship with Me, 42:53 but I need you to go all the way. 42:55 You need to be all in not just halfway not, 42:57 you know, with one leg in the world, 42:58 one leg in the church." 43:00 But again, as he says here, "Followed me fully, 43:02 I will bring into the land where he went, 43:04 and his descendants shall inherit it." 43:06 And also Joshua 14:10, 11. 43:09 Again, speaking of Caleb, 43:11 now this is powerful point as well, 43:12 because not only was Caleb a powerful man of God 43:16 in his youth, 43:17 you know, there are stories and instances 43:19 that we've all heard of, 43:20 and even stories in scripture where men start off strong, 43:22 and then they have kind of have this big, 43:24 great downfall, you know, downward spiral into, 43:27 you know, a big spiritual upset, right? 43:31 But notice what it says here in Joshua 14:10, 11, again, 43:34 speaking of Caleb, now he's 85 years old. 43:38 And notice this, brother, still going strong in the Lord. 43:40 It says, "And now behold, the Lord has kept me alive. 43:44 And he said, these 45 years 43:47 ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses, 43:50 while Israel wandered in the wilderness, 43:52 and now here I am this day 85 years old, 43:56 and yet I am as strong this day 43:58 as on the day that Moses sent me, 44:00 just as my strength was then, 44:02 so now is my strength of war 44:05 both for going out and for coming in." 44:07 This speaks to the longevity, the spiritual longevity, 44:12 and the committed mystic Caleb was to the Lord 44:15 as both a young man 44:17 and even all the way through to his old age. 44:19 And so, I think that that's a great example. 44:21 Speaking of people who give great examples, 44:23 another one that came to my mind was David. 44:26 What about David, right? 44:28 What about David? 44:29 You know, David made his mistakes. 44:31 Big mistakes. 44:33 He made his mistakes. 44:36 And, you know, he was... 44:38 He paid for those mistakes. 44:40 But ultimately, 44:41 this man never gave up on the Lord, he persevered. 44:44 Kept moving forward. 44:46 He kept moving forward in the Lord persevered, 44:48 and ultimately received a pretty cool title. 44:52 You know, a man after God's own heart, 44:54 wouldn't we all like to be that man of God 44:57 that can be said of the Lord, 44:59 you know, he's a man after my own heart, 45:01 that is powerful, powerful, powerful. 45:04 And, you know, also what is so awesome about David 45:06 is that he often emphasized obedience to the Lord. 45:10 That was one of his big things, you go read the Book of Psalms, 45:13 he really emphasizes being obedient to God. 45:16 And so what role does obedience play 45:18 in determining a man of God? 45:20 Is that important? 45:21 'Cause a lot of people would say, 45:22 "You know, obedience is okay 45:24 but, you know, faith is much more important," right? 45:26 Because they don't really properly understand 45:28 that relationship between faith and obedience. 45:30 So let's talk about that for a couple of minutes. 45:32 What role does obedience play in determining a man of God? 45:37 I think it's very important. 45:39 I mean, here in James 1:22 it says, 45:41 "But be doers of the word 45:43 and not hearers only deceiving yourselves." 45:46 So let me ask you this question, 45:48 how important is it to obey the traffic laws? 45:53 You know, you're driving in the car, 45:55 I find it interesting 45:56 that a lot of times we see people 45:58 and they just take a look at the Bible 46:00 as "This is suggestive, 46:02 there's suggestions for how I should live my life." 46:04 But then when we're driving our cars 46:07 and we come to that red light, we'd say, 46:09 "Oh, that's a suggestion on what I should do. 46:12 Maybe I should stop, maybe I shouldn't." 46:14 Or we come to a stop sign. 46:16 "I don't think I'll just stop at this one. 46:18 I think I'll... 46:20 Maybe I'll stop at the next one." 46:21 You know, and so, 46:22 we just go mosey on right through that light 46:25 and through that stop sign and then... 46:28 That's right, man. 46:29 And in those laws, laws of the land, those signs, 46:31 they're there for what purpose? 46:34 For our protection. 46:35 For our protection, right? 46:37 And what purpose is the law of God therefore? 46:39 Our protection. 46:40 For our safety and for our freedom, 46:42 like it's not meant to be restrictive, 46:46 but to set us free. 46:47 That's right. 46:48 Amen. Yeah. Yeah. 46:50 I love that. That's so beautiful. 46:51 You know, I think, you know, 46:52 obviously obedience is top priority. 46:54 But also being aware of your own disobedience 46:56 and coming back to the Lord in those situations 46:58 is important. 46:59 I mean, I love Psalm 51, where it says, 47:01 "Create in me a clean heart, 47:03 O God and renew a right spirit within me, 47:05 cast me not away from thy presence 47:06 and take not thy Holy Spirit from me." 47:09 So I think it's so important 47:11 that when we do kind of go off the right path, 47:14 that we make sure that we come and reconcile with the Lord. 47:17 That's right. Amen. 47:18 That's a very, very... That's a good point. 47:20 David said in Psalm 40:8, he says, 47:22 "I delight to do your will of God, 47:25 and your law is within my heart." 47:27 So it's a great text that even to me goes further 47:30 to prove and to show 47:31 that it's the will of God for us 47:33 to be obedient and keeping His law. 47:34 And I love what you said, Jay, 47:36 you know, the law is there to protect us. 47:37 The law is there to be a freedom. 47:40 I like to call them not necessarily 47:41 the Ten Commandments, but the ten freedoms. 47:44 You know, seriously, think about this for a moment. 47:47 It's not like God's showing up and saying, 47:48 "You know, you got to do this or else..." 47:50 I think it's more or less God saying, 47:51 "Look, I know you better than you know you." 47:53 I think I know a little bit of something 47:55 about human nature because I created you. 47:57 And I know what you've become, 47:59 and I know what needs to happen 48:00 in order for you and I to be reconciled. 48:02 So you can have eternal life, right? 48:04 And so it's not the 10, 48:05 you know, thou shalts and thou shalt not, you know, 48:08 'cause a lot of times we look at the Ten Commandments, 48:09 and we think of them in that way, "The law of God," 48:12 you know, "oppressive and burdensome," 48:13 even though 1 John 5 tells us 48:15 that the law of God is not burdensome, 48:18 that it's the love of God that we keep His commandments. 48:21 I love this in Ezekiel 12:13, speaking of man, 48:26 you know, man in general, man and woman, 48:28 but we're talking about 48:29 what it means to be a man of God. 48:31 Ecclesiastes 12? What did I say? 48:32 You said Ezekiel. Oh, I'm sorry. 48:34 I stand corrected. Ecclesiastes 12:13. 48:36 And I love the King James Version wording of this. 48:39 It says, "Let us hear the conclusion 48:41 of the whole matter." 48:42 And again, this is coming from the wisest man. 48:44 I think he knew a little bit of something about life. 48:47 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, 48:48 fear God and keep His commandments 48:51 for this is the whole duty of man, 48:53 not that the commandments save us, 48:55 it's not our means of salvation, 48:58 we are saved only through Jesus Christ 49:00 and what He'd done on the cross and His shed blood. 49:02 But if we are claiming that blood, 49:06 if we are claiming that salvation in Jesus Christ, 49:09 the natural response should be "Jesus, 49:12 I want to follow You. 49:14 Jesus, I want to obey You. 49:15 The fact that You've died for me on a cross 49:17 and You've given your life 49:19 that I can be saved undeserving, 49:20 I want to be obedient to You." 49:22 So that being said, 49:23 a man of God should be an obedient person in the Lord. 49:26 Obey God's commands. 49:29 And I love this, you know, also, 49:30 I love the example of David 49:32 because, you know, David stumped, 49:34 we talked about that already. 49:36 But how does God deal with the man of God 49:38 who is stumped? 49:40 Well, can I back up for a moment? 49:41 Yeah, let's back up for a moment. 49:43 There's just one thing I wanted to say about Paul 49:44 before we move forward. 49:46 Yeah, go ahead, man. 49:47 So, what I love about Paul... 49:48 And this is connecting with how he acted, 49:50 you know, we know the commandments 49:51 and obeying the law 49:52 is really the transcript of God's character, 49:54 the Ten Commandments 49:55 is a transcript of the character of God. 49:57 And Paul had something to say in 1 Corinthians 11:1, 50:01 that just blows me away. 50:03 I mean, I wish I could say this. 50:05 And I wish I could say this with absolute like, 50:07 no hypocrisy in my life. 50:11 But he said, "Imitate me 50:14 just as I also have imitated Christ." 50:17 Amen. 50:18 In other words, like, how many people can you look at 50:20 and say, "Look, look, just look at me." 50:23 Just do it I do, you know. 50:25 Like you can't follow my example. 50:27 We would never tell someone that, 50:28 but Paul was such a man of God, such a holy man of God, 50:32 was so connected to Jesus, 50:33 that he could tell someone 50:35 "Imitate me as I've imitated Christ." 50:37 Like, wow! 50:38 And one thing that blows me away 50:39 is about him keeping the commandments, 50:41 he understood one of the commandments 50:43 was to go and preach the gospel to every nation, kindred, 50:45 tongue and people. 50:47 In Acts 14:19-22, 50:50 we read about Paul going to Antioch, 50:53 and he gets there, and he's preaching the word, 50:56 and these brothers don't like what he's saying. 50:58 And they stone him to death. 51:00 I mean, I want you to imagine, you got all these rude, 51:03 just like very just, you know vulgar men, 51:05 very upset men very, you know, just strong men 51:09 and they got these stones 51:11 and they're all hanging over you, 51:12 throwing these stones hard at you, 51:14 I mean, stoning someone was to kill him, 51:15 it was to take their life, Paul took a brutal beating. 51:19 And notice what it says here. 51:20 We're gonna pick it up here in verse 19, 51:23 "The Jews from Antioch," this is Acts 14:19, 51:27 "The Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there. 51:29 And having persuaded the multitudes, 51:31 they stoned Paul 51:32 and dragged him out of the city, 51:34 supposing him to have been dead." 51:35 So he's like, "I got a lifeless body." 51:37 And then notice in verse 20, 51:39 "However, when the disciples gathered around him, 51:41 he rose up and went into the city. 51:43 And the next day he departed from Barnabas to Derby." 51:47 Now check this out, verse 21, 51:49 "And when they had preached the gospel to that city... 51:54 Hold on a second, Paul, you just got stoned last night. 51:57 Right. 51:58 You know, he's probably got blood spots on and bruises. 52:00 And he's like, "Hey, I ain't gonna let that stop me." 52:02 He goes out preaching the gospel at another city 52:04 and then check this out, this blew me away. 52:06 "When they had preached the gospel to that city 52:08 and made many disciples, 52:10 they returned to Iconium and Antioch." 52:14 It's like we didn't get enough of that stoning. 52:15 It says, "They strengthened the souls of the disciples, 52:18 exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying, 52:21 'We must through many tribulations 52:22 enter into the kingdom of God.'" 52:24 Wow. Wow. 52:25 I mean, what a inspiration. 52:27 Yes, yes. Powerful. 52:28 Boldness. That is powerful. 52:29 That is, that is. God is so good to His people. 52:31 I had to share that. No, that was awesome. 52:32 That touched me so much, man, 52:34 when I've seen that I was like "Wow!" 52:36 'Cause Paul was a true man of God, 52:37 I mean, what is it nearly two thirds 52:39 or more of the New Testament is written by Paul. 52:43 I mean, that goes to show 52:44 that God really entrusted this man. 52:46 He saw his sincerity, He saw his genuineness to say, 52:49 "You know what, this guy's not perfect, 52:51 but I'm gonna make him a perfect vessel 52:53 for My honor," right?" 52:54 That's powerful. 52:56 That's the man I want to be, right? 52:57 I know I'm not where I need to be, 52:59 Ryan's still striving, Ryan is still looking forward 53:01 and I'm certainly not where I once was. 53:03 But I'm looking forward to what man I want to be 53:05 and that's a man of God 53:07 and I hope that you watching at home right now, 53:08 I hope that's your goal, I want to be a man, 53:11 I want to be a woman of the Lord. 53:13 So that God can look upon me and say, 53:15 "Hey, that's My precious child. 53:17 That's My vessel of honor 53:18 that's gonna bring glory for Me and My kingdom." 53:21 That's the goal here. 53:22 This is probably going to turn in 53:24 I can already see what we're doing here. 53:26 This is gonna turn into a part two, 53:28 I'm just going to let you guys know ahead of that. 53:30 But in closing here, we have like four minutes. 53:32 Let's talk about how God deals with men who have stumbled. 53:35 Because David, I mean, we're talking about David, 53:37 we're talking about... 53:39 We can even throw Paul in there, 53:40 we can throw a bunch of people in here 53:42 who made some pretty big mistakes. 53:43 I mean, David was God's anointed and chosen person. 53:47 And he murdered a man 53:49 so that he could commit adultery with his wife. 53:51 Yep. Yeah. 53:53 And you would think that God's like, 53:55 "Hey, you know better," right? 53:56 And he did, you know, he handled, 54:00 I think he handled David 54:01 the way he should have been handled. 54:02 But, you know, what does it say about how God treats us, 54:06 even as His vessels of honor, either as His chosen followers, 54:10 His people whom is saved in the Lord, 54:14 but sometimes we may fumble, 54:15 we may take our eyes off Jesus and stumble and fall. 54:17 How does He treat us? 54:18 Well, Romans 5:6, beginning in verse 6. 54:22 "For one we were still without strength 54:24 and due time Christ died for the ungodly. 54:26 For scarcely for a righteous man, 54:28 one die yet perhaps for a good man, 54:30 someone would even dare to die. 54:32 But God demonstrates His own love toward us 54:35 and that while we were still sinners, 54:36 Christ died for us." 54:38 That's how, you know, that's how He deals with us. 54:40 That's how He dealt with us. 54:42 John 3:16, and then you also have 1 John 1:9. 54:48 1 John 1:9 says, 54:49 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful 54:52 and just to forgive us our sins, 54:54 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 54:57 And that's how God deals with us. 54:58 He doesn't cast us away. 55:00 He loves us and He's standing there 55:02 with wide open arms waiting for us 55:05 to just confess our sins and turn away. 55:07 Yeah. 55:09 One thing I was gonna say is, 55:10 especially to the point of David, 55:13 I literally was reading the story 55:15 of what happened to David, what he did. 55:18 And it's very interesting, towards the end, 55:21 you find where Nathan points out to David, 55:23 he tells him this parable. 55:25 He talks about this rich man who has a bunch of sheep 55:26 and this poor man who has this little ewe 55:29 that he treats as his own daughter. 55:30 And when a traveler comes in, instead of using... 55:34 The rich man using one of his sheep, 55:36 he takes the poor man's sheep and uses it. 55:38 And Nathan points out to David 55:40 that this rich man who's done this wicked deed is you. 55:44 You have taken from Uriah, his wife and you've killed him 55:47 by placing him at the front of the battle 55:50 and so when David realize this when he said, 55:56 when Nathan told him this message, 55:58 David says in 2 Samuel 11:13, 56:02 "I have sinned against God." 56:05 And one of my... 56:06 One of the most interesting and kind of sad, 56:09 but very poignant things that Nathan did, 56:13 then said to David was 56:15 "The Lord also has put away your sin, 56:17 you shall not die, but the child shall die." 56:23 And it's fascinating 56:24 'cause you can even go into that spiritually and say, 56:27 this child died for the sin of his father. 56:31 But we look at Christ 56:32 and how he died for the sin of His people. 56:35 And so... 56:37 That's a powerful point, we serve a merciful God. 56:39 We serve a merciful God. 56:40 I love this scripture in Psalm 37:23-24, it says, 56:44 "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, 56:47 and He delights in His way, 56:49 though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down 56:52 for the Lord upholds him with His hand." 56:56 Man, time has just flown by. 56:59 We serve a merciful God. 57:00 We're talking about what it means 57:01 to be a man of God. 57:03 This is part one obviously because we still have... 57:05 I'm going through these notes here, 57:07 we still got like three more pages of notes 57:09 to talk about 57:10 but we're gonna come back for a part two 57:12 talking about what it means biblically, in today's age, 57:15 no matter what age, 57:16 what it means to be a man of God. 57:18 We thank you so much 57:19 for taking your time to join us. 57:20 Again, this is part one. 57:22 Next time we get to come together, 57:23 we're going to do a part two on this very subject. 57:26 Thank you all so much. God bless you. 57:28 Have a blessed day in the Lord. 57:30 And hey, we hope to see you right back here, 57:32 3ABN Family Worship next time. |
Revised 2020-09-18