Transcription
If you have a Bible, would you open up please to 2 Corinthians 1, 2 Corinthians 1. And if you can also turn to Matthew 22. 2 Corinthians 1 and Matthew 22. I'm going to move quickly today because of our time spent with Father's Day celebration.
But we started a series about 10 weeks ago actually called God Wants You Healed. I believe it with all of my heart. I believe it. I believed it when we started. I believe it more now because the Bible says so. God says, "I am the Lord who heals you." The Bible says, "He forgives all our iniquities and heals all our diseases." The Bible says, "By his stripes we are healed." Jesus paid an enormous price, not only for our sins, but also for our healing. And we'll read in just a minute that the promises of God are true.
But we began answering this question: Well, if God's promises are really true, then why don't they always come to pass? I think that's a good question. I think that's a valid question. And there's a sort of a popular answer that's pretty widespread that says, well, it's because God in his sovereignty and in his wisdom, he knows what's best for us. He knows the future. And so, he knows if it's the best for us to bring the promise to pass. And if he doesn't bring it to pass, well, that's his decision, and we just have to trust him.
Now, that's a very common teaching. However, that's not what the Bible says. I said, "That's not what the Bible says." That was something that's been concocted and it's a very easy doctrine and it makes logical sense, but it's not in the scripture. The Bible says something different. The Bible says that the promises of God are true.
In fact, let's just read this from 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians 1, and we're going to read the 20th verse, and we'll read it from the New King James Version. And if you don't have that version, that's all right. But follow along on the screens if you would so we can all read the same words. 2 Corinthians 1:20. Loudly and together. Let's read. "For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him, amen, to the glory of God through us."
Now, let me say it back to you. For all the promises of God, how many? All. All. For all the promises of God. Then it says in him. That means if you're in Jesus, if you're in Christ, this is not to the whole world. God is not obligated to keep his promises in the Bible to all the sinners of the world. No. But if you're in Jesus, then you're in a different category than everybody else. Can you say amen to that? If you're in Jesus, you're in a different category. You're born again. You're part of the family of God. You have a covenant with God by the blood of Jesus. See, so for all the promises of God in him, what's the answer? Yes. Yes to what? Yes to how many promises? To all the promises of God. For all the promises of God in Jesus, the answer is yes. And the answer is amen, which means so be it or let it be done.
See, now that's where we run into, wait a minute, but then why don't they come back? That's exactly what we're answering because they don't always come to pass. So, how could it be that God says yes and amen to all the promises if you're in Jesus and yet they don't always come to pass? That's a good question, isn't it?
So, instead of just speculating, say, well, I think or someone said, we're looking to see, well, does the Bible have anything to say about that? And it does. So, we set out and I told you from the very beginning that I've been studying this subject for several decades. In fact, over 30 years I've been studying this and I found at least 30 reasons in the Bible of why God's people did not receive a promise that belonged to them, but it didn't happen. And not one time in the Bible did it say, "Well, they did what they were supposed to do to receive the promise, but God just decided." I said, "It's not in the scriptures." See, so what's popularly the answer is that God just decides and you never know. See, that answer is an easy answer because why? You don't have to think about anything. You don't have to check to see if you're in a position to receive or maybe if you've let—you know the Bible says give no place to the devil. But what happens if you did? Jesus said he'll come to steal, kill, and destroy. Does that mean God's saying no to the promise because somehow the devil got in and is stealing, killing, and destroying?
See, some people, they just take that one answer and blanket everything and it just mushes everything together and says the bottom line is God chooses and you just trust him. And let me tell you what's unsaid, but it's exactly what is meant. We kind of set the Bible aside and say we don't know if we can rely on what he said and promised, but we trust him. See, that that is the prevalent doctrine because what he says sounds too good to be true and sometimes it doesn't come to pass. And so let's just trust God. We just put our faith and trust God.
But what I'm telling you is that's not the way the Bible reads. That's not what the message of the Bible is. The message of the Bible is that God is faithful to his word. The message of the Bible is his promises are yes and amen. The message of the Bible is, "So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please and prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11. And, "Forever, oh Lord, your word is settled in heaven." Psalm 119:89. And, "I am watching over my word to perform it." Jeremiah 1:12.
See, this is the way the Bible reads that God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said and will he not do? Has he spoken and shall he not make it good? Numbers 23:19. See, over and over in the Bible, Titus 1:2, God cannot lie. Jesus: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away." See, again and again and again, the Bible is telling us, no, look, what God said, he meant that, and that's what he will do.
But we have this reconciling issue. Well, how do I reconcile these promises that sound too good to be true with what actually happens in life? That's the right question. But where should we look to answer that? We should look to the scriptures and not look to reason and logic.
In fact, this week, you know, we're in our Bible reading program. We have a Bible reading program that we do. It's on the Bible app. You can search for it under the reading plans, uh, on the, you know, the big Bible app, the main one, the YouVersion, under Soliv or Jesus disciple and it'll pull right up. But this week we were reading in Matthew and Jesus said this in Matthew 16:6: "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." And the disciples thought he was talking about the leaven of bread. But in verse 12, it says, "Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees." So here's Jesus saying to the disciples, "Hey, listen. The religious leaders here of the day who were the teachers of the Bible, there's some some of their doctrine is not right and you need to beware." Well, how many of you know that's true today? I said that's true. Is it? That's true today. That not all the doctrine is right. And I'm not being critical of anybody. I'm just saying that not all the doctrine that is taught out there is correct.
And so we read just yesterday in Matthew 22 where the Sadducees, and by the way, the Sadducees were less accurate in their doctrine than the Pharisees. The Pharisees, this is where Paul came from, a Pharisee, but the Pharisees were more strict to the Bible. But the Sadducees believed things that were out there. Like for example, the Sadducees didn't even believe in life after death. They didn't believe there would be a resurrection from the dead. And so, how could you not believe it? You got the scriptures. They had the Old Testament. How could you not believe it? Well, they just got off and they began to believe more of what they could see and experience.
And so, listen to what happened yesterday as we read in Matthew 22:23: "The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection," see there it is, "came to him and asked him, saying, 'Teacher, Moses said.'" Now, when they say Moses said, what does that mean? They're talking about the first five books of the Bible. Those are the books Moses wrote. Genesis through Deuteronomy. "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now, there were with us seven brothers." Now, see, they just went from what the Bible said to now they're going to give a story. Okay? "There were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also and the third even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection," see they don't even believe in the resurrection. So why are they bringing it up? They're trying to give a story, an experience of a family to prove that what Moses wrote is not—cannot be taken literally as if there's an afterlife. They're given a story. Okay. "Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?" Now, I'm sure they had a straight face on, but inside they're going, "Yeah, answer that if the Bible's true."
But watch this. "And Jesus answered and said to them, 'You are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.'" Notice Jesus brings it right back to the word. "You are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures." You might know about those seven brothers and their wife, but you don't know the scriptures. And you don't know the power of God that has the ability to bring things to pass that seem impossible. Is that right? Notice Jesus brings them right back to the scriptures. And watch this. "For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection," now that you brought it up, right? "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God?" This is the scriptures. "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." So Jesus brings them right back to the text of scripture and says when God said that, he was not saying, "I'm the God of dead people." Yes, they had already died here on earth, but they're still in existence. Remember the story in Luke 16 of Abraham's bosom and the beggar Lazarus was carried by the angels there but the other guy went to the place of torment. You remember this story, right? See, and so until Jesus was raised from the dead, they had to be in this holding place until he died and been raised from the dead and then he can lead captivity captive and take them on to heaven. See, but they were still living but just not in their physical bodies on earth. And Jesus was saying, "Oh, no, there's life after death." See, and you don't know the scriptures or the power of God.
So Jesus helps us to understand that some of the some of the teachers will use reason and logic and experiences to discount what the Bible says, thinking that's too good to be true. So let me give you this story over here to explain that that's not exactly the way it reads. And and Jesus said, "Beware, beware, beware. God's word is truth." Can you say amen to that? And the promises of God are true. Even if they sound too good to be true, they are true. They are true. And God is well able. You do not know the scriptures nor the power of God. God is well able to bring them to pass. Even when it seems impossible. Do you remember Lazarus dead four days? Lazarus. You remember this?
Okay. So, this is what we just learned in our Bible reading this week. That's why when you're reading, don't read too fast, because the Holy Spirit will show you things and teach you. All right. Now, I'm going to give you—I've already given you 18 things that we learned of what can shortcut the promises like God—all the promises of God are in him are yes. Well, then why don't they always come to pass? Well, it's kind of like this. Have you ever ordered something from Amazon and uh you even got a message that said it's been delivered and then you get home from work and it's not there? Anybody? You ever had a package stolen? I have. Well, did that mean Amazon didn't send it? You could call it—You never sent it. Well, no. They said it. We sent it and delivered it. But how many of you know it could have been delivered to the wrong address? People make mistakes. Isn't that right? See, that didn't mean they didn't say yes and amen to the package being sent. That just meant somebody missed it, delivered it to the wrong address, and then somebody could steal it. Didn't Jesus say the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy? Does that mean God—God changed his mind and didn't say yes and amen? No. It meant there's a thief. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
So that was the number one reason we looked in the scriptures to see that Satan and demons steal health. Steal health. We saw where there was a a young man that was mute and the Bible says when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. What do you know? What do you know? See, it wasn't really a physical problem at all. There was a spiritual problem there. And once that demon was cast out, the physical problem went away. Now, that's not always the case. That's not with every physical problem. But that's just one reason. One reason. Second is ignorance. "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge." Some people just don't know. Third is sin. Jesus said, "Go and sin no more, lest the worst thing come upon you." See, so sin can open the door to these things happening. Judgment. Judgment. Being disobedient to or dishonoring parents. We saw in the scriptures that this brings things into your life that you don't want. Number six, unforgiveness. Unforgiveness. Unforgiveness shortcuts our prayers from being answered. And uh if you want to listen to these and go back and get the scriptures on all these, all these are documented in the word. Number seven, offense. Offense. Being offended in Nazareth. They were offended at Jesus. And the Bible says he could not do a mighty work there. Didn't say he would not. Said he could not. They got offended at him. And then we put four together: covetousness, deceitfulness of riches, love of money, and greed. All those go together. But those things shortcut the prayer—our prayers from being answered. Next, tradition. Jesus said, "Your tradition makes the word of God of no effect." See, so it's not God changing his mind. It's our traditions blocking passivity. Passivity. Peter said, "Be sober and be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him steadfast in the faith." But what happens if you don't? He'll devour. Does that mean God changed his mind? He's saying no to the promise now. No. It means that we're not resisting the devil. See, all this is in the Bible for our learning. Isn't that right? All this is in the Bible so we can learn how to do it. And if you don't know how to do some of this, that's—that's why we're here. Let's stay together. Let's help. Let's learn together and learn how to pray and learn how to take advantage of these blessings. Uh, number 11, laziness. And this includes things like, you know, if—if you need healing or you need God to restore some—or like I was when, you know, about 40 years ago when I was bound with a spirit of lust and I needed to be set free from those spirits. And the Bible had good promises like if you continue in my word, you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Well, that was in the Bible, but I wasn't free. See, and so the Lord had to teach me what to do. What to do. And so I had to stop being lazy. I had to get out. I'm going to go in the Bible. I'm going to find the promises of God that address this. And I began to meditate on those and speak those. And guess what? I got free. See, if you continue in my word, but if—if I continued to be lazy, it wouldn't have happened. See, I've got to be proactive here. It's available to me, but I had to go after it. Pride. God resists the proud. He doesn't just ignore the proud. He resists the proud. How many of you can see if you're being resisted, then it's hard to get him to answer prayers with somebody he's resisting, right? Rejecting correction. Let me just go quickly. A lying tongue or a perverse tongue. Uh, unthankfulness or ingratitude, complaining, negative words all go together. Number 16, lack of unity or being in strife. Number 17, not walking in love. Number 18, mistreating the poor, needy, and widows. Okay, you ready for this? Number 19. Ready? I'm going to give you six, but I'm going to go quickly. Grieving the Holy Spirit. Grieving the Holy Spirit. Let me show you this in Ephesians 4:29 and 30: "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification." Notice, notice what the Apostle Paul says here. "Let no corrupt word." All of us have let corrupt words proceed out of our mouths. So don't think you're the only one. You're not the only one. But notice what the Bible tells us. "Let no corrupt word." What is corrupt word? Something that is not edifying to people, but it's actually tearing people down. It's speaking critically against people. And it's so easy to do. We live in a world like that. We just say what we think about people. But the Bible says to us as believers, "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification." What does that mean? Building up. Building—strengthening. Instead of speaking what the person is doing wrong and the weakness. It doesn't mean we don't have conversations to talk about the reality of what's happening. But he's saying, but don't be that critical person, but instead speak something that can strengthen, that can help, that can build up, that it may impart grace to the hearers. "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." So notice when—think about this, when you get born again, the Holy Spirit comes into your spirit. So now the Holy Spirit of God is inside of you 24/7. Watching everything you do, listening to everything you say. And so he's not just a spirit, he is the Holy Spirit. So he's holy, but often what we do and say is unholy. What we watch, what we listen to can be so unholy. And when we speak these kinds of things that are so against the way that God talks and acts, it grieves the Holy Spirit inside of us. So the Holy Spirit's right here. Wherever we are doing this and saying this, he's right there with us. And it grieves him that we would—that we would invite him to come in so that we could follow Jesus and yet speak this way, speak something so unholy, without grace, harsh, unloving. See? And so here he is inside being grieved. And we're trying to come and say, "Lord, I need healing or I need restoration or I need provision. I—I need deliverance from this addiction." We're trying to get God to release the power of the Holy Spirit while we're grieving the Holy Spirit. How many of you can see this is—this is a problem. Well, that's why it's in the Bible. God's not condemning us. He's just saying, just realize you're the same person trying to get healed and he's the same God. And so you can't compartmentalize and say, "Well, right now, God, I'm just talking to you about healing. I'm not talking about how I speak about other people. I'm—I'm—I'm not talking about what I watch or how I behave. I'm talking about healing. Can we just compartmentalize that?" That's not the way God is. God's saying, "No, it's you."
And it's me." And so I'm asking you to, with the Holy Spirit's help inside, come into alignment with how I speak: with love, with righteousness, and holiness. Can you see this? And what that's called is coming into a position to receive. It—it'd be like if you ordered something that was going to take a month to get to your house, and in the process you move to another house and there's no mail forwarding, right? And so it'll show up, but you're not there. You're not in a position to receive it because you don't live there anymore. And that's what happens where we can come to God in prayer. Lord, I'm believing you for this promise. You say yes and amen to it. But then in our lives, maybe—maybe an hour later, we moved out of the position of being there with the Lord, and we're saying something and living something that's different. We're not in a position to receive it. We're grieving the Holy Spirit. See? And so this is what the Bible's teaching us.
Here's an example in James 4:4. James says, "Adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" That's hatred and hostility. Don't you know? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. So if you're making yourself—by the way, he's talking to believers. He's talking to believers—you're just going to hang out and talk like the world. Talk that perverse talk, criticize everybody, talk the way the world talks. And he's saying, you're—you're—you're making yourself a friend of the world, but you're making yourself an enemy with God. Because in this family, we don't talk like that. In this family, we don't act like that. So, notice he says, "Make yourself a friend of the world, but you make yourself an enemy of God at the same time." Well, how are you going to get God to heal you if you're putting yourself in a position of an enemy of God? Can you see that? How many of you can see this? Right.
Verse five. Or do you think that the scripture says in vain, "the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?" Why? This Holy Spirit inside saying, "We want you to be with us. We want you to be in this family, the family of God, and live like God and talk like God." The spirit in us is yearning for us to not be like the world, but to be like our Father, to be like the Lord Jesus. See, and so this—this can too shortcut—short-circuit our prayers. Okay.
Number 20, overworking. Overworking or not having a Sabbath. Now, let me just qualify this though: not having a Sabbath because we're not under the Old Testament law. So, we're not under the law of Sabbath. But there is a principle of Sabbath that we need to rest. We can't just go 24/7 endlessly and think that that's going to be okay. We weren't designed for that. So the Sabbath was helping us to understand our design and our rhythm that we need times of rest. How many of you know every 24 hours you need to sleep? You can't sleep? No. No. I—I used to sleep daily, but now I just do it weekly. How many of you know that's not going to work, right? There are rhythms. We were designed to function with these rhythms. See, and so did you know you can overwork even for a good cause? Did you know that? Let me give you a scriptural example of how somebody overworked for a good cause and they overworked and became sick. It's one of the rare examples in the New Testament where the Bible talked about a minister being sick as opposed to who they're ministering to.
Watch this. This is in Philippians 2:25. And Paul said, "Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need." Verse 26, "since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick." You heard that he was sick. Verse 27, "for indeed he was sick almost unto death." How many of you know that? That's bad. He was sick almost—he almost died. "But God had mercy on him and not only on him, but all on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore, I sent him the more eagerly." In other words, once he recovered, I sent him the more eagerly that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be less sorrowful. "Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem." You know, we're used to doing is we see somebody that overworked and they got sick and we would just want to criticize them. And it's not that they can't learn anything because they can say, "Hey, you really need to take care of yourself." There's nothing wrong with saying that. But I want you to notice some people just attack them. Well, it's their own fault. I mean, just be very loveless in their approach. But I want you to notice Paul's not like that. Paul was very thankful that Epaphroditus was trying to help him. Notice what it says. It says, and end of verse 29, "And hold such men in esteem because for the work of Christ, he came close to death." See, you can overwork for a good cause. Isn't that right? But nonetheless, it'll still cost you. Can you see that? How many of you have worked so hard and gotten not enough rest and you ended up being sick? Anybody? Am I the only one? Okay, that's happened to me a number of times. And I knew I could start to feel something coming on and I just knew, oh, that's my fault. I—I have not taken time to rest. I've been overdoing it and I got sick. Well, is that because God said no to his promise? Oh, I'm feeling this sickness coming on. So, maybe God's saying no. No, no, but I'm overworking right now. I'm not—I'm not given the rest that his scripture tells us you need. Right. Well, in this case, Epaphroditus did this for a good cause. Because for the work of Christ, he came close to—close to death.
Listen to this. "Not regarding his life to supply what was lacking in your service toward me." So Paul says, "Hey, I was really needing some help from you, Philippian church." And it's not just a church, it's a network of home churches. I was really needing some help, but I wasn't getting any help. And Epaphroditus is overworking, trying to help me with what I needed, and he got sick doing it. See, so this is not condoning overworking, but it's just saying, look, it happens. It happens. But here we have documented in the New Testament somebody who was sick, not because God was saying, well, you know, I just for you, I think it's better if you're not healthy. No, it wasn't God. He's overwork, but for a good cause. How many of you can see this? Right. So, just know this is another reason why some people, if they're not taking care of themselves, could be sick, not because God's changing his mind on the promise. Okay? Uh, don't overwork to be rich. Proverbs 23:4 says, "Do not overwork to be rich." That's what you definitely don't want to do, and many people do it. All right? Let me get to these other ones.
Number 21. You reap what you sow. Sowing and reaping. The world says what goes around comes around. They have their own way of saying it, don't they? Listen to Galatians 6:7 and 8. "Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows that he will also reap." I don't like that part when I sow bad things. Right? I like it when I sow good things. "For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life." Let me give you an example. There's so many examples of sowing and reaping. But let me give you a scriptural example when it comes to temptation in Proverbs 5:3. When I—when I was a young man and I needed to be—to be delivered from the bondage of lust, I was consuming the word because the Lord was teaching me how to break free. It wasn't just that I needed the power of God to snap the chains that were enslaving my soul. I needed to change things that I was doing. I was putting myself in places of temptation, not realizing I was telling sexual jokes because all my friends did it. They were funny and they just came to my mind because I was around that. And so I'm saying these things not realizing the Bible says, "he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil." James says your body follows your tongue. See? And so the Lord had to teach me, look, I can release my power to change you, but you got to change some things. You keep putting yourself back in a place of temptation. So listen to this. Proverbs—Proverbs 5:3. "The lips of an immoral woman"—of course, this be an immoral man, too—"the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is smooth as oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lay hold of hell. Lest you ponder her path of life." This—this chapter starts off with "my son." "Lest you ponder, son, don't that immoral woman." What does that mean? Or an immoral man. It means somebody that's willing to cross the godly lines, the—the moral lines. Immoral, not moral. They're willing to do it. And you know, you get around some people, and let's be honest, sometimes people you get around and you can sense that they would if the opportunity was there. You just feel it. Well, guess what? That's the person you don't want to be around. Is that right? That's the person you don't want to be around. And so, notice here it says verse five, "her steps, her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell, lest you ponder." Don't even think about it. Well, yeah, but she's just on my mind. Or he's just on my mind. Well, get her off of your mind. Right. That's what the Bible's saying. Don't do it. Don't even ponder it. Why? "Her ways are unstable. You do not know them. Therefore, hear me now, my children, and do not depart from the words of my mouth." Listen to my words. "Remove your way far from her." Remove your way what? Far. Close. What does it say? Remove your way far from her. And do not go what? Come on. This is an open screen test. And do not go what? Near. Don't go near. You know what? You know what the flesh likes to do? Oh, I'm not going to do anything. I'm just—I'm just—I'm just going to go over there, right? No, I—I mean I—I—I'm—I'm—I'm not going by her desk because I'm trying to flirt or anything, but I'm just—I—I got to go to the office anyway. And so I'm just—I'm just walking by. See all these things and down inside the Holy Spirit may be saying, "Don't—don't go over there." No, I'm—I'm good. I'm good. I'm—I'm—I'm not going to do anything. Right. But you want to walk by and the flesh finds a—you know what? I—I want to walk by again. The flesh just finds a way to put yourself in the temptation. Is that right? But what does the Bible say? The Bible says no. No. "Remove your way far from her." Go around the other. Oh, that's an extra five minutes though. Take the extra five minutes. Spend the five minutes and not lose your life. Isn't that what the Bible said? Didn't Jesus say, "Pray, lead us not into temptation." He didn't say, "Lord, lead us close to temptation but not falling into temptation." No. Jesus said, "Lead us not into temptation." Right? And this is what the Lord had to teach me because the flesh likes to just stay in the area of temptation. But Lord, help me not to give into it. And the Lord kept bringing these passages and saying, "Stay far away." Jesus said, "Cut the hand off. Pluck the eye out. Removed the opportunity. Isn't that right? See, I had to learn these things. I wanted to be delivered and the power of the Holy Spirit was available to me, but my behavior was putting me in a place to get sucked in again. And so, the Lord had to tell me, I need you to change. I need you to change. See why? "Lest you give your honor to others." Verse nine, "lest you give your honor." Oh, the enemy wants to steal your honor. "Lest you give your honor to others and your years to the cruel one. Lest aliens"—this is talking about people you don't even know from another place—"be filled with your wealth and your labors, everything you work for goes to the house of a foreigner, somebody else. And you mourn at last when your flesh and your body are consumed." Look at that. "Your flesh and your body are consumed and say, 'How I have hated instruction and my heart despised correction. I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me.'" I was on the verge of total ruin where in the midst of the assembly in the congregation. I'm right there at church. I'm right there among the people of God. But in my private life, I'm on the verge of complete destruction. Why? Because I'm putting myself in a place of temptation. In other words, if you sow to the flesh and put yourself in these places, you're going to reap. You get—you get close to the fire, you're going to get burned. Isn't that right? Okay.
Number—number 22. Robbing God. There are certain things that belong to God and we don't want to rob them. Listen to what it says. Let me see what the time is. Oh, okay. Got to hurry. Here we go. Clock be still. Jesus. Joshua did it to the son. Okay. Malachi 1 verse 6. "A—this is what the Lord is saying—a son honors his father and a servant his master. If then I am the father, where is my honor? And if I am the master, where is my reverence? Says the Lord of hosts. To you priests." The New Testament says we are a whole kingdom of priests. "Now to the priests who despise my name. Yet you say, 'In what way have we despised you?'" This is—this is Christians today. What did I do? I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. And God says that's what these people were saying. So God answers verse seven. "You offer defiled food on my altar. But say, 'In what way have we defiled you?' And when you offer—" Oh. Oh. And then by saying, wait a minute. But say, "In what way have we defiled you?" By saying, "The table of the Lord is contemptable." So God says, "What you're bringing and offering is defiled." is defiled. And then you're bringing contempt on the altar itself. And let me tell you, this is easy to do. You know who—You know who? Well, I'm not even going to go there. All right? I'm—I'm not going to do it. But watch this. Verse eight. "And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer that to your governor, would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?" What is he saying? Well, God had told them, you know, they would bring lambs or goats or whatever as sacrifices. But God would tell them, you know, bring the firstborn and bring the ones that are qualified like this. But they would say, man, I don't want to give the good ones. They're just going to die anyway. Let's take—let's give God the runt of the litter. Now, of course, they didn't say it like that, but it's just going to die anyway. Let's give God the runt or let's give—here. This one was born blind. Let's sacrifice that one. Why? We don't want to sacrifice the ones that have sight, the leftovers, right? We're not going to give God the best. Why? Just going to die. Let's—let's—let's keep the best and let's give the one that, you know, might die anyway. And this is what God said. This is what you guys are doing. You guys are not coming to give the best because I'm the most important to you. You're coming and giving me the leftovers. But then when you come and ask for your prayer to be answered, you say, "God, give me your best. Give me your best." And he's saying, "You don't give me your best. You give me whatever you don't want." And notice this. He said, "Would that work for your governor if you had somebody of esteem over to your house? Would you serve them something that was, you know, leftovers in the refrigerator? Or would you prepare your best dish?" See, this is what God's saying. God said, "I watch the way you treat other dignitaries, but why don't you treat me like that?" Notice verse nine. "But now entreat God's favor that he may be gracious to you. That he may be what? What is God saying? I want to be gracious to you. But for me to be gracious to you, I need you to honor me. But if you'll honor me, I'll be gracious to you. And then he says this. While this is being done—in other words, the way you're doing it, the wrongdoing—while this is being done by your hands, will he accept you favorably, says the Lord of Hosts?" What's the answer? No. See, so if we don't honor the Lord the way he's supposed to be honored, then we're not in a position to receive his graciousness. It's not that he's saying no to the promise. It's that he's saying no to that behavior. And he's saying change that. Repent. Get into alignment and the promise will flow. See, this is what the Lord is saying. Psalm 96:8, "Give to the Lord the glory. Do his name." There is glory. Do his name. Why? He is creator God. He created this universe. He created us. He gave us food to eat, water to drink, air to breathe. Every day is a gift from God. And so, it's inappropriate that we go a day without saying, "Hey, thank you, God. Good morning. Hello. Thank you for your goodness." Isn't that right? But so many of God's people, they don't give him the glory that's due his name. And so, the Lord's calling this out. Hebrews 13:15. "Therefore, by Jesus, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that fruit of our lips." All right, last two. Not discerning Jesus' body. Not discerning Jesus' body. And then lack of the fear of the Lord. Watch this. I'll just give you a scripture on each of these. When Paul was writing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 about communion, he said this in the 29th verse. "For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." Not discerning the Lord's body. Say that with me. Not discerning the Lord's body. Now, we would think it's talking about Jesus' physical body on the cross. But if you read the whole context, you'll find out that Paul was talking about the body of Christ because they would come to their homes to gather for the word and for sharing the Lord's supper and such. And some people would be able to get there on time or maybe even early and they would eat the food. But some of the other people who maybe weren't the business owners, they were more of what society would call the blue-collar. Finally, when they would show up, all the food would be eaten. And Paul said, "And you guys," and we don't know exactly what they said, but Paul said, 'You guys are saying, "Hey, should have been here—was delicious. Oh, so good. Wish you would have been here. Snooze, you lose." And Paul said, "You're not discerning the Lord's body." See, the way we do communion in churches today, you know, we used to hand out these trays and pass them around. And now we do those little cups with the seal, but it doesn't give the picture that Jesus gave in the upper room. When he pulled out that middle matzo, we'd call it a large cracker, but he said, "This is my body which is broken for you." Now, we know it's going to be broken on the cross and by the stripes, but he broke it and he began to distribute it. And now this one body is now all over the upper room with the disciples. And so they can visually see, oh, his body is not in one place anymore. His body is with all of us. And this is what Paul's saying. Paul's saying that's the way Jesus sees it. And if you're not discerning that, then you'll mistreat his body by mistreating a brother or sister in the Lord. And you're coming, you're eating, and you're not caring for the other people. And Jesus takes it personally. And notice what he said, "not discerning the Lord's body." Verse 30, "for this reason, many of you—many are weak and sick among you." This is Christians, the body of Christ. Many are weak.
And sick among you, and many sleep. What does that mean? You died before your time. Wasn't that God chose? No. For this reason. For this reason, the way you're treating the body. For this reason, many are weak and sick and many died early. Is that what the Bible says? For this reason, I mean, just as clear as anything. But how many people bring this up? Well, no. We just want to say, well, no, just God just chooses. But that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says there are other reasons.
Now, don't—I've said this before—don't take any of these reasons and try to apply them to somebody because, you know, man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. We don't know all the factors going on. Let's just receive them for ourselves and say, "Lord, teach me. Teach me. I don't want to use these to be critical. Teach me."
And in Hebrews 10, the Bible says, "Let us consider one another to stir one another up to love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together." And the next verse says, "Because if we sin willfully." So what does that mean? When we're coming to church, we're not just coming to get fed. We're coming to minister to the body of Jesus. And if we don't realize that, we'll be all about ourselves, self-centered, and just think about what I get out of it. And not coming to give and to stir one another up and minister to the body of Jesus. See?
Okay, last one. Lack of the fear of the Lord. Actually, I had one other one, not touching God's anointed, but let me just say, but Abraham, God says, "I'll bless those who bless you. I'll curse him who curses you." So, if you're against the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then you got to be careful. Not only that, Galatians 3:29 says, "And if you're in Christ, then you're Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." See, so when you come against a brother or sister in the Lord, you have to be careful because you could put yourself in a position of retaliation because God swore that he would come against those who come against his people. See? So be careful.
Okay, last one. Lack of the fear of the Lord. Let me just give you one scripture. Proverbs 10:27. "The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened." The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened. What does it mean by wicked? Those who don't fear the Lord. Now, the fear of the Lord, we're not talking about being scared and running away from God. We're talking about reverence; the reverence of God, realizing, "Oh my goodness, this is creator God. He doesn't have to give us the time of day, but he's loving. He loves us." And when you fear the Lord, you realize, "Oh man, he is God. He makes the rules. What he says is right. I need to pay attention to what he says. I need to honor what he says more than anybody else, including myself." Is that right? This is the fear of the Lord. And it says the fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the wicked who don't fear the Lord will be—uh—the years of the wicked will be shortened. The years of the wicked will be shortened.
So let me ask you, according to the Bible, can a lack of the fear of the Lord shorten your life? Let me ask again. According to the Bible, can a lack of the fear of the Lord shorten your life? Right? You know what somebody will say? Well, you know, we just—God just chose. He knows why. Well, he does know why. But but could—could it be this that some folks have a lack of the fear of the Lord and their life was shortened? That doesn't mean that God was saying, "No, I'm saying no to the prom." No, God's still saying yes, but their lack of the fear of the Lord shortened their life. Not that God doesn't want his promise to come to pass. He does. But see, this is—this is what God is doing. God is helping us to—to see in the Bible how to get into a position of alignment with his word so we can receive. Isn't that right?
Let me close with this illustration of the previous number 23, touching God's anointed. And I won't take time to read the passage, but when David was bringing the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem, he was so happy because the ark of the covenant represented the presence of God. He took off his kingly robe and he would just—had just more of a common attire on and he was dancing and whirling and praising God and bringing the attention of Israel to God. But Michal, the daughter of Saul, who was the king's daughter, but now also the king's wife, she's watching through her window, him, not bringing the attention to the royal family, right? But just being like a commoner and just rejoicing. And so when he shows up, she sarcastically says to him, "Oh, wasn't that a nice show today? Undressing yourself before the maidservants of the kingdom." And he said it was before the Lord. But you read the passage, it goes on to say this, "And because of that, she was barren to the day of her death." It says that because of that she was barren to the day of her death.
Now see, some folks would say, "Well, Michal, that—that was her name, Michal." Well, Michal, you know, the Lord knows and he just probably knew that, you know, maybe the child would have had problems or maybe, you know, you wouldn't have been able to carry out your calling if you'd have had children. And see, we speculate and start throwing it out like, "God chose, God chose, God chose." But when you read the Bible, that's not what it says. It says that that attitude and her talking to the king like that and discounting him that God said, "No, that's not—that's not okay. That's not okay. And she remained barren." Now, now don't you apply that to somebody else, say that's probably—no, don't you do that. See, that's why you got to be careful with this because some folks try to take it and just immaturely try to apply it and say things that they shouldn't say. Only the Lord knows what's going on in all these situations. They're always factors unseen. Isn't that right? But what we can do is we can learn from the scriptures and say, "Lord, help me not to do—to violate like this again."
And let me just tell you what you already know. Every one of us have violated more than one of these. Is that right? Every one of us. And thank God for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we can come and say, "Lord, thank you for shedding your blood to wash us." And secondly, thank you for teaching us your precious word, so that we can grow and not be like that anymore and come into alignment with how we are in this family, the family of God. How we are in this kingdom. This kingdom is not like the old kingdom of the devil. This is a loving kingdom, a righteous kingdom, a holy kingdom. And Lord, with your strength, I can be like this. And the Lord's saying, "Yes, you can. I'm here to help you." Isn't God good? Bow your head right where you are, would you? Would you do what I like to do after I hear these things? Would you join me and let's say, "Lord, first of all, forgive all of my sins. Every place I missed it, Lord, forgive me. Forgive me. I confess. And anything I'm not remembering, I confess that, too. Wash me, Lord, by the blood of Jesus. Thank you for your grace. Thank you that I don't have to earn my forgiveness. Jesus paid for it with his own life on the cross. And you said, 'If we confess our sins, you're faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'" So Lord, we repent today. We turn from that. We turn to you and we receive forgiveness. Just right where you are, tell the Lord, say, "Lord, I receive forgiveness today from all my wrongdoing. Thank you. And thank you Lord for teaching me. Thank you Lord for helping me to see these pitfalls, these errors that folks have made and that I have made so that I can by the help of the Holy Spirit walk in obedience and righteousness before you." Thank God. Thank God. Praise God.
Now, whatever you're—you're needing from God, oh, thank God. There are promises for every issue we face. Whatever you're needing from God, right there, you and God, right there under your breath, say, "Lord, now that I've received forgiveness, I'm calling on you for this situation." Go ahead, mutter it to God right now. "Lord, this is what I need. This is what I'm calling on you for." [Music] Thank God. Now, let me lead you in some prayer right now. Everybody say, "Father God, Father God, thank you for your word. Thank you for your word. I know it's inspired. I know it's true. Thank you for teaching me. And thank you for your promises which are yes and amen. I believe your word. I believe your promises. And today I'm calling on you in faith that you will bring the promise to pass. It seems impossible or at least improbable, but you said yes and amen. And I'm standing on your word today. I'm trusting what you said. Show me what my part is. What do I need to do to be in alignment with you? To be in a position to receive." [Music] "Lead me, Father, by the Holy Spirit. And may Jesus be glorified as you bring the promise to pass. May the credit not come to me, but may the glory go to Jesus. I pray it in Jesus' name. And if you agree with that, would you say amen? Can we clap in agreement today?"