The Way Of Wisdom Will Save Your Life – Part 2

0:00 Church, let's stand together as we read. We are looking in Proverbs chapter 2, and we're in the second installment of a message we're looking at called The Way of Wisdom, which is our theme through the entire book, Will Save Your Life. Wisdom will save your life. If you have young people in your life, you want to pray over them that they would have the wisdom of God. The greatest thing that you can do for them is to intercede for them and pray that prayer. God, give wisdom to my children. Wisdom to my grandchildren, right? We want to pray for ourselves. We'll see today, James tells us that we need to ask God for wisdom. Because without it, we will not know how to apply the knowledge of God. So we'll read it together. You guys know the drill. I'll read verse 1 if you pick it up in verse 2. My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you.

0:55 Yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding. Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Verse 7. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. Then you will understand righteousness and justice. I think that is so key. Then. That's a time stamp. That means only then will you understand righteousness and justice. Equity and every good path.

1:51 Discretion will preserve you. Understanding will keep you. From those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness. whose ways are crooked and who are devious in their paths. who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. None who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life. So you may walk in the way of goodness and heed to the path of righteousness.

2:47 For the upright will dwell in the land, and the blameless will remain in it. But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, and the unpaid will be unruited from you. And all God's people said, Amen. You may be seated. So God is announcing, God is saying, there is justice, there is equity, there is the right path, there is the good way. Down deep inside, even if you're not familiar with the Bible, you know that that's true. There is a way. In fact, I know this about you, though I may not know you personally. I know this about the God that made us, that he has written onto the human heart what is the right way and what is the wrong way. we call it a conscience. There's a moral compass that God has put within the human being. To me, I find this fascinating.

3:40 There is a moral compass that God has engineered within the human being, but as time goes on, people in their lives and living their lives make decisions. And over the course of their life, whenever they come to that age, we would maybe go so young as, say, the age of accountability, or maybe even sooner, when young kids are beginning to carve a path, as it were, in their minds regarding the decisions that they make, that those decisions that you make over time either put you on a trajectory for blessings or for cursings. And this is a profound truth. We often don't want to talk about it because we live in an age where we go to college or we go to school or we read certain books or we're raised in a culture where you can do whatever you want as long as it feels good. But don't worry, there's no ramifications to the conclusion to what you decide.

4:45 And that is absolutely false. Whatever you and I decide to do, there's the outcome. and we're not going to escape that. And here Solomon is speaking to his son about making the right decisions, having discretion, knowing that in the world of evil there is equity, there is justice coming. Sometimes it comes quickly, sometimes most often not so quickly. But God is the one in control and this book brings us comfort in this area. We started this last week together with this regarding the way of wisdom will save your life. We saw in verses 1 through 5 that we are to wise up, and that's the challenge. By the way, all of the five points, the chapter is divided up into five key points. Wise up, verses 1 through 5, and we saw this in verses 1 and 2, and that is you and I are to be receptive to what God gives us. He said to us, my son, if you receive my words, and he goes on there to challenge us because we are inserting ourselves into the hearing of what Solomon is saying.

5:48 But more than Solomon, remember what Jesus said? Jesus said to the disciples, Solomon said this, but behold, there is one greater than Solomon speaking to you. And that, in our context, would be the Holy Spirit speaking to us. And he's saying to us, if you would hang on or receive, take in, hug, if you would, my word. We're to be receptive. We saw last time that if we do that, God has us on a way of being complete. The fact that this world cannot complete us, but only God can complete us. I made the statement, it's still true, we'll hear it, I think, throughout the course of our lives if we're not paying attention. And that is you can pursue anything and everything this world has to offer you. And it will not complete you. And what we do is we get caught up in thinking, if I just had that home in Bel Air, or if I just had that sailboat in Newport, or if I just had that plane at John Wayne or whatever, your world is complete.

6:51 But why are those people so incomplete? Why are they still searching? Or what about health? Somebody might, you know, you think about it. There's almost two churches going on here right now on a Sunday morning. There's this one going on. And you can walk about, I'm really bad about, I can do yards. You can walk about maybe 200 yards away from here, and there's the Church of LA Fitness going on right now. And they're packed out, by the way. They're packed out, and there's people there. Look, don't tell your friend. If they're there, I'm not beating up on your friend. But what I am saying is this, that there are people investing in that, which is fine. You should take care of your body. It's God's body. You should keep yourself usable. but there are people who invest in that to the extreme and they neglect the spiritual and then they wonder why they're really healthy but they're so empty inside.

7:48 So what? They can bench 400 pounds but their emotions cannot cope with an ounce of difficulty. Who is the stronger? I would vote for you being stronger than any man or woman who can lift so much weight. only God can make you complete and we saw that and so now we uh jump into this and it's going to be from verses six to nine today and the way of wisdom will save your life this way and by the way if you're not uh knowing this you can take notes you guys can put the QR code up there uh let me say this if they have a QR code I have to tell you something I've never in 36 years I've ever had this happen. So this is a miracle today. First of all, it's a miracle that you have any notes that might pop up on that QR code. I'm curious to see if you get anything.

8:43 I'm old school. I have always, for years, I would use my notes, pen and paper. And then somebody invented the computer and the printer. And so then I started putting my notes on the computer. I don't remember what century that was, but that happened then. And never had a problem. But I had my sermon all but done for you today. It was all but done because we had a busy week. Like all of you guys, there's graduations going on in our lives, and there's all kinds of things happening. And I sat down yesterday to tune it up and never had this happened before. But the whole thing just blew up and vanished away, gone forever.

9:32 And that's why, listen, it happened in the Garden of Eden with an apple, and it happened on my table yesterday with an apple. Stay away from apples, folks. And so this morning, whatever you get today is a result of early morning this morning. I got up a little bit after 2 o'clock this morning and asked God for a miracle. So you're going to know by the end of this message if God performed a miracle or not. And I am the lamb going to the slaughter right now. But the next thing would be the fact that God is asking us to show up. Look at verses 6 through 9. He says, For the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth. Come knowledge, the scripture announces to us. Watch this. and understanding. Verse 7, he stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is able to shield to those who walk uprightly. He guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of his saints.

10:34 I love that. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity, and every good path. So church, if you would, write this down. When God is challenging us to show up, it all starts with this, and that is giving attention. Giving attention to a beautiful reality that God is giving to us right now. And look at verse 6 when it says, for the Lord gives wisdom. The Lord gives wisdom. I've got that underlined. I've got that marked. It's God who gives wisdom. None of us, if you can hear me, none of us are outside of this prayer being answered in our lives. Think about it. You don't have to be wise to get this prayer answered. In fact, you can say to God, God, I'm not wise. I'm foolish. I make all these mistakes.

11:27 I'm horrible at this thing called life. I want to stop that. I'm asking you for wisdom. And what does the Bible say? The Lord gives. God gives. I don't know how much you believe in the promises of the Bible, but God says in the Bible, I give. we suffer so much lack because we do not believe that God is going to give when he, in my opinion, is announcing the greatest giveaway of all time. Right here. The Lord gives. And we want to make sure that that gets our attention. And so when you look at that, when he announces to us that the Lord gives wisdom, the word gives, it's not that he's not going to drop. Look, he's not going to go like this and he's not going to give, here's a little bit of wisdom for you and a little bit of wisdom for you. He doesn't put, you know, like you're all sitting here with thimbles. it is the will of almighty God that you and I have wisdom and that is awesome and the Bible here tells us that from his mouth now listen carefully from his mouth come knowledge and understanding now you do understand that what Solomon is announcing he's not saying to his son nor is he saying to us sit real still and listen until you hear the voice of God Some of you are saying, well, wait, no, really?

12:48 No, but hear me out. Not the voice of God. Now, some people have said that they heard God speak with a voice. I don't know if I even want to hear that voice of his yet. I don't know if I can handle that. God will speak mostly to his people by, watch, strong impressions of his word upon our psyche or our heart. That's how God speaks to most believers. He can speak to us any way he wants. Look, he spoke to Balaam. How did he talk to Balaam, the prophet? With a donkey. That would be something to see. I actually think that would be cool. I'm not being silly. Wouldn't it be great to have an animal talk to you? I mean a certain kind of animal not a snake that doesn't go over well But a donkey?

13:47 How many of you remember Mr. Ed? How old is this group? Just so I'm encouraged. How many of you have never heard of Mr. Ed? Raise your hand. Oh, this is an old group. Man, when I was a little kid, I don't know what they did to make that horse go like this with his mouth. Okay, Wilbur. Remember that? I thought it was amazing. I thought that horse talked. But we talk to our animals, and we want them to talk back. Maybe someday, maybe in the millennium, maybe in heaven, the animals will talk back to us. I think it's going to be fantastic. But that said, when God speaks, he's going to speak to you in his word. And of course, God reserves the right. We hear, we hear, I've never spoke to anybody who had this happen, but we hear that many in the Islamic world, the Muslim world, predominantly in the areas of Africa and the Middle East, that there are those who are saying, I heard God speak to me, and Jesus said that he is the way, the truth, and the life.

14:56 And listen, I don't care about them hearing an actual voice. I'm listening to what was said. Oh, I heard a voice. Listen, people. You know, I heard this guy's a Christian, or she's a Christian, and he said that God said this, and it's like totally contrary to the Bible. you better be careful about that but if they're saying if Muslims around the world are saying Jesus appeared to me and said that he's the way the truth and the life he's the only salvation there is he died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the grave I believe that because that is gospel truth so when God says I speak to you with my mouth don't expect some sort of a mystical type of encounter, it could happen. But predominantly for your life, God is going to speak with these incredible impressions. And I say this with all due respect, God knows my heart.

15:56 When I say this, I would rather have God speak to me the way he speaks to me through his word, because every time he does, it causes me to have more confidence in his word. And I like that in this world. We were talking about on Wednesday night how AI is skewing now and bringing doubt into people's lives regarding the Bible. Listen, if it's new, I don't want anything to do with it when it comes to the Bible. By the way, if you don't own a Bible, buy a Bible because there's going to be a day when you probably can't get the Bible online. Get a real Bible and read it. take why would you take ai when you can take ri real intelligence and put it in here rather than artificial right put it in your heart hide it in your heart we looked at that last week but give attention to that and then the second thing is this in verses seven and eight is opportunity. In the way of wisdom, God is going to have you and I save the lives that we have been given because we're going to live these lives for his glory. We're going to give up. Listen, we're going to give up our lives that we think we've got to establish for ourselves and do it our way. And God says, no, I want you to give your life up to me and I want you to receive from me the direction for your life. I'm going to guide you. I'm going to lead you.

17:33 And I'm going to speak to you with my own mouth. And I'm going to guide you in the way. And all that, we look for opportunity. God-given opportunity. You may not like what you're about to hear, but it kind of stings. But let's look at verses 7 and 8. And it says this, He stores. God stores. God stores up sound wisdom for the upright. To be upright is not to be sinless. Don't discount yourself to think, well, I'm not sinless. But let me ask you this. If your life, if in your heart right now, you as a believer, if you understand how big of a sinner you are, but you also realize that since you come to Christ, you're not half the sinner you used to be.

18:30 You sin less, but you're not sinless. When you were not a believer, go ahead and leave the verse on the screen, when you were not a Christian, you thought you were pretty okay. And then you met Jesus, and then you realized the slightest thought in your mind that is off, nobody's aware. See, before you used to sin openly, You used to film it.

18:59 You used to tell people, you know what I did? You don't do that anymore. Now that you're a believer, you have a thought. Look, for those of you who are visiting from out of state, have you been driving California freeways? Sometimes you don't even have to drive California freeways because mostly it's just parking. You get on the 405 and you just park. but that wears on you, and you have a thought in your mind. Nobody knows, but God says, yeah, you know what? I don't like that thought, and then you know what? I know what you think, because it's the same work that the Spirit does in my life. I don't like that thought either, God. I am really sorry about that thought. Lord, that's the old Jack, and I can't stand that about me. Lord, please wash that out of my life.

19:51 I need to be more patient. When you are not a Christian, you didn't think like that. Paul the Apostle said of himself, he's the chief of all sinners. And when I first read that in the Bible, I thought, aha, he's a liar. How could Paul lie like that? The chief of all sinners. It took me years to grow up more in Christianity to find out, wait a minute, Paul's not the chief of all sinners. You know where I'm going. I see heads nodding. Who's the chief of all sinners?

20:23 Exactly. It's you. It's me. That's why the believer is not to look at other people's lives and be a sin sniffer and a fault finder in other people's lives. That's massive hypocrisy. People will say, I can't go to church because it's full of hypocrites. That's true.

20:44 But that goes for all humans. Because to know what to do is right and not to do it makes you a hypocrite. the thing about the church is we know so much that when we trip a little it's huge because we love him so much it's all love isn't it think about it it's love based it's not like oh no i had this bad thought i'm in trouble he's gonna kick me out of heaven that's not our thinking our thinking is i had this bad thought i had this temper and Lord, I am so sorry because your great love saved me at the cross. You died for me. You washed away that sin and I entertained it. That very thing put you on the cross.

21:30 God, please forgive me. I confess that sin to you, Lord, and I'm asking you, give me the power to not go that route again or to think that thought again versus, that's a relational experience, versus a religious experience, which is, please forgive me, I did this sin with no intention of stopping those sins. Are you hearing me? You're just going to do them all week long and go back a week later and ask for forgiveness again. That is called antinomianism, and it's completely unacceptable to God. It is to say to yourself, listen, I will sin now. Listen carefully. God calls this sins of the high hand in the Old Testament. God says, I will not forgive these sins that are declared, I'm going to go do this sin tomorrow at 8 o'clock.

22:30 And you go and do that, and then you ask God to forgive you, the Bible says God will not forgive you. And a lot of people bent on religion live that way. and there's no power in their life. There's no change. the upright if you could don't answer out loud if you could right now would you choose to walk perfectly before God down deep inside you know the answer to that and for the believer it's absolutely yes you're upright in heart.

23:09 By faith in Christ Jesus, God turns to you and he cancels out the sin debt that was against you because that's what Christ did at the cross. He died in your place and in my place. But when it says here, grab the opportunity, he's given opportunity. He's the one that stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He's the one that shields us to walk uprightly. He's the one who guards us on the paths of justice. He's the one who preserves us on the way.

23:40 Absolutely remarkable. Look at the word store or to store up or stores. To hide safely. Of course, this is the Hebrew word, but it makes total sense to us in English. To hide safely or safe within. Treasure up deep inside. To store away for safekeeping. That's very, very easily understood. store. But God is saying this, I have hidden this away and stored this up for you, Christian, for you, Christ follower. Very precious that he announces that to us. But you and I, listen, have opportunities to store up within us that which is good every single day. Folks, you and I have the opportunity every single day, maybe hour by hour, to take opportunity to store up Thank you.

24:31 what God wants to use or do in our lives because he's just announced to us, I'm for you, I'm gonna give opportunity. And so every day of our lives, you and I are living, think about in one hour of our lives, what opportunities God might bring our way because he has reserved this goodness for us that we can rely upon, that we can get up out of this place and go today and live a bold, strong Christian life because of what he does. and I love that when we talk about opportunities I'm going to show you a video here in a moment we talked in the introduction of this book the wisdom of the world is sensual the Bible says the wisdom of the world is demonic there is a wisdom of this world that is self-serving It's self-glorifying.

25:34 The wisdom of the world ends in destruction. And this seems kind of weird. What do you mean the wisdom of the world ends in destruction? I thought it would be wisdom. It would end in life and joy. No, that's the wisdom of God. And the two are competing. But at the end, listen, at the end of these things come the conclusion. so you take a course maybe you've taken a course and it doesn't matter what it is you've taken a three-hour course a three-week course a three-month course maybe it's a a three i don't know it doesn't matter you've taken a course and at the end of the course don't you think really right at the end of the course isn't there like a test or a quiz or something what's that for what is the test for All right. Who said that? Who said what did you learn right there?

26:30 It's to prove or to reveal what is it that you learned. That's what a test is for. Because the test, listen, you're sitting down to take the test. So I mentioned graduations and so many of us are going to graduations at this season. I get it. Here's the thing. those kids were tested to determine if they can walk or not. Right? Does that still happen in California? You're tested to see if you can walk or not? I don't mean walk. You know what I mean by walk.

27:02 At the end, there's always a test. By the way, a little side note. There is a test in Christianity at the end. But it's not what you know. Oh, you did good. Isn't that beautiful? Think about how... because you know the mathematician who's in the room right now is thinking oh I hope oh god I hope it's a math test and the person who's a is maybe a astrophysicist or something or is maybe thinking oh I hope it's all about space no no it's not about anything that you have your strengths in you like anything in life did you know there's a lot of really really smart people that are way smarter than us who know way more than us but they don't have our jobs do you want to know why that's true because you got your job most often most always by knowing somebody even if it's somebody saying you should go apply at that company all the way up to how is it that you work here My dad owns the company.

28:25 Right? Well, how did you get into heaven? Well, I was able to memorize 66 books of the Bible. That'd be nice, but that's not going to be on the test. By the way, it's only one question on the test. Who's Jesus?

28:45 If you know who the biblical Jesus is, and I have to say biblical, because the Jesus of the Bible is not the Jesus of the Koran. The Jesus of the Bible is not the Jesus of the cults. he's not the Jesus of Hinduism or Buddhism or Shintoism. There's only one Jesus.

29:07 And he's the Jesus Christ of the Bible. And the Bible makes that very clear. And there's one answer to get into eternity, and that is Jesus Christ. I have to make this up because we don't know, but if God was to ever ask the question, why should I let you into my heaven? The answer is Jesus.

29:29 It's not like, well, I've been pretty good. Every time I think that thought, I hear a, you remember the gong show? I hear a gong being rung and the door opens up and the guy falls right through the floor. A test reveals what you've been investing in.

29:52 I want you to watch this video. Pay close attention. Listen carefully. THE BOTTOM LINE IS SOBERING. THE BOTTOM LINE IS SOBERING. THIS WEEK WE ARE TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT EDUCATION IN AMERICA AS READING AND MATH SCORES HAVE PLUMMETED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. LET'S GO TO MARK MEALE. HE JOINS US FROM OUR NATION'S CAPITAL WITH MORE. GOOD MORNING, MARK. LAWRENCE AND AINSLEY, GOOD MORNING. THE BOTTOM LINE IS SOBERING. AMERICAN STUDENTS ARE IN A DECADE-LONG LEARNING RECESSION. KIDS PERFORMING WORSE ON MATH IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF THE DECLINE. IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF THE IT FOUND 83% OF SCHOOLS LOSING GROUND ON READING, 70% LOSING GROUND IN MATH, AND THESE LOSSES DATE BACK BEFORE THE PANDEMIC. EXPERTS TELL US THESE LATEST TEST SCORES SHOULD BE A WAKE- UP CALL AND THAT THIS IS TRULY A NATIONWIDE ISSUE.

30:46 BUT WHAT WE SEE WITH THIS DECLINE OVER THE PAST 12 YEARS, THIS IS A BIG PICTURE TREND, THE BOTTOM IS EVIDENT AND 49 STATES AND THE VAST MAJORITY OF URBAN DISTRICTS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. SO WHAT'S TO BLAME? THE ANSWER VARIES DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK. THE DECLINE APPEARS TO HAVE STARTED IN THE MID-2010s JUST AS KIDS FOUND EASIER ACCESS TO SMARTPHONES, TABLETS AND HIGH TECH. THIS IS ALSO AROUND THE TIME THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT WAS REPLACED. IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, THERE WAS A LOT OF ATTENTION TO EDUCATION THAT CONTINUED INTO THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION. But it's really, in the last, I'd say, 12 or so years, education hasn't been a high-profile national issue. And I think that, you know, in an indirect way, may be part of the problem. This is also an issue that extends beyond just public schools. Private schools are dealing with this, too.

31:38 People, though, are paying attention and looking at all possible solutions. Lawrence and Ansley? I've got to tell you. Thanks, Mark. I've got to tell you, the gentleman from Stanford, I actually disagree with his assessment for this reason. If you know your Bible, who's responsible for the education of your child? Is it the government or is it the parents? The Bible says, God says the parents are to instruct their children. Okay? And so when he says, well, you know what, this, this, I understand where he's coming from. And I'm not denying what he's saying is not true. What I'm saying is, it's built upon a flawed system. We entrust our kids to be educated by people we do not know. And the conclusion has been what? America leads the last. Our education system has failed unilaterally across all 50 states since 2010, maybe even before. But did you hear the warning? He said the advent of the smartphones.

32:41 If I was writing that story, I would have said, of course, politically incorrect, since the advent of smartphones in the hands of children still learning has resulted in them being dumb kids. Smartphone, dumb kids. I don't mean dumb like an insulting word, dumb. I mean dumb where they can't think critically. When you ask a child, maybe even an adult, why is that the case? You want to stump, listen, you want to stump somebody when they say, this is this. Ask them, why is that so? when your school teacher says this is the way it is two plus two equals seven in California if some child raised their hand and said why is that true if if they answer back and say because that's not an answer we got a problem everybody According to that report, we can't even say that we've got knowledge.

33:45 We have devices that have knowledge. According to that report, that was a nationwide report. Stanford chimed in on it. The American child cannot do math and cannot read. But they know all about Beyonce and they know all about condoms and... it's a pretty sad day when we have more in our history books to Marilyn Monroe than we do to George Washington, and that is a fact I happen to have that book, 7th grade. it's vitally important what it is that you're sowing into your life as a believer. And as a non-believer, what are you doing?

34:39 As a non-believer, I'd like to say to you today, why are you not a Christ follower yet? I want to make sure you understand, we're not asking you to become a church follower, we're not asking you to become anything else other than a Christ follower. Don't follow some man, some system. but why are you not following Jesus?

35:06 It's quite remarkable. And you know, we think that we're getting more enlightened. I don't think so. Did you see what happened in Canada this week? Canada voted and passed a law. It's now law. You cannot publicly pray you cannot preach the gospel. By the way, they didn't say you cannot preach. They said you cannot preach the gospel. You cannot evangelize in Canada publicly. Canada. How long do you think it's going to take before America gets to that moment? I want to read you this quote that's here. To lack the knowledge, the knowing, that you are in need of wisdom and discernment is to already be in a state of deception or deception decline or in the declining path of deception.

36:10 What follows is the evidence of being deceived. So when you think, I don't need wisdom and knowledge, I don't need any of this. I don't need to read the Bible. It's an old book. Watch out because we're being lied to if we think like that. There's a war out for your soul, people.

36:30 Satan's real and he hates your guts. See, I thought God loved me. He does love you. God loves you. You can say hallelujah to that. Satan hates you. And he tries to make you dumb to the things of God. The word, that word shield is a wonderful word. This is what God does. Watch, God, it's to be sound, efficient wisdom, abiding success. When he shields us, he delivers us helpful, resourceful insight, great success. When God says, look, he says right in the world, he's going to shield us. We need that. I need that. There's a tendency to become discouraged in this life. I need his shield.

37:20 Go try to get strength. When you get discouraged, do you ever find encouragement from the world? Even, listen, even when it's human friendship. I get it. When our friends come up and they say things like this. What do we do? When we don't know what to say, we say things like this. It's going to be okay. You know, we do say that. We all say that. Oh, what? Whoa, that happened? Whoa.

37:46 Hey, buddy, it's going to be okay. I think we're saying that for us more than we are saying it for them. But I know this. The world cannot comfort us. But God will say to us, I'm working here. I'm doing the work. Look, I need to remind myself of that right now. I'm doing a work. Lord, I want an explanation. I want to know. He's not like a slot machine or a Santa Claus. You don't rub the crystal ball and out comes a biblical answer.

38:28 I saw a great thing the other day. We were in Seal Beach. and there was a psychic, you know, a psychic storefront. and they went out of business they were out of business and I thought and I thought how is that possible they're a psychic and they went out of business couldn't they see that coming And I love the fact that he guards us. He not only shields us in this walk of ours with God, but he guards us. This is a beautiful meaning that God has promised you and I. This is why we can walk in life and be saved in life. This is God's doing to be a guardian. Don't you want God to be your guardian?

39:20 I live like this. I live for this. and look, this gets awesome. To be a guardian, a watcher, to be a protector, implying that the Lord is all around you. Isn't that great? I love that, that he is the watcher in the watchtower watching over you. So he's the one. Listen, when we're sleeping, he's the one scanning the horizon, so to speak. He doesn't have to look for something coming. He knows all things. He's trying to communicate a truth to our hearts. God is saying, as you're laying down or as you're living life, I'm watching. I'm watching over you to protect you, to guide you, to guard you. I love that about him. Mark this verse down. It's Psalm 128. Psalm 125, excuse me.

40:13 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved. Wow. By the way, why does it say that Mount Zion cannot be moved? Because the Bible says it's the city of the great king. God. but abides forever as the mountains surround Jerusalem. So the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forever. Now, obviously that's a promise to Israel, but the Bible tells us in the new Testament that all the promises of God are yes and amen for the believer. God can, God will surround you. Listen, you need to live like that today. When you go out, I want you to think about yourself being like a bubble wrapped. Bubble wrapped, guarded by God.

41:07 When you go out there, then the enemy's going to shoot darts, lies, evil, whatever comes. Think about this. The Lord God Almighty is guarding you just as he's promised to guard Zion. You shall not be moved. Marty Gatts sings that great song. It just popped into my head right now. I shall not be moved. And then look at Psalm 37. This is epic. We hit Psalm 37 verse 4 last week, but this is the whole of it, or most of it. Do not fret because of evildoers. Translation, the actual word is, do not fret because of Gavin Newsom is actually the Hebrew word. I'm kidding.

42:00 Maybe I'm not. nor be envious of the workers counting votes. No, just kidding. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good. Wow. Listen, no matter what the world does, people, we are to trust in the Lord and do good. Why? Because there are people who will do wickedly. Why? Because that's what they do. And that's what they're going to do until they come to Christ if they do. But look, we're not to point at them. We're to trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on what? His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord.

42:53 Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. Oh, I love that. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. Look at this next verse. Rest in the Lord. You just want to fall into his arms.

43:18 And wait patiently for him. That's the hard part. Do not fret. Don't get angst. because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Wow. Cease from anger. Forsake wrath. Do not fret. How many times is he going to say this to us? It's almost like we have a problem with it. It only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. for yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more.

43:58 Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more. Thank God for that. You won't be able to find the place of his wickedness. But God says to those who trust him, notice the qualifier. Did anywhere along that road that we just learned, did God say, now you be super, super right on and righteous. Do we want to be? Yes. But it's not based upon our grade. it's based upon our personal relationship with him. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 14. You guys okay? Hebrews 13, 14 says, For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Speaking of Abraham, speaking of the believer, did you know that you and I, we are seeking God's eternal city, even though we're here right now. we're not looking for the end to be some great retirement program we're looking for the end to be God's eternal presence forever and he talks about paths the paths of justice and we want to be very aware look at the word justice it's a word we don't see much justice in the world today all judgment The word means all judgment.

45:18 It relates to God. To enforce the ordinances. This is God's rule. To bring the perfect execution of the law in pure judgment. To do right. Abraham, remember when Abraham was questioning God and God said, I'm going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. And you remember Abraham starts out and he starts, will you destroy it for 25? Will you destroy it for 10? and God says, look, I will not destroy it even if there's 10 righteous, which means there wasn't because God wound up destroying it, right?

45:54 Abraham said, shall not the Lord of all the earth do right? Friends, in this world around us today, you have to remember with all of what's going on, don't fret because God says, I will do right. See, our problem, my problem is, but God, you're not doing it the right way that I think is the right way. If you do it the way I think is right, then that's the right way. So can you do it my way so I can feel better about it? And God says, I'm not going to do it that way. I'm going to do it my way because I'm holy and pure, and I'm the only one who can exercise and issue justice. No one else is equipped. They can't do it.

46:38 And he goes on in this verse. You're looking at verse 8. It says that and preserves, technically it's and he preserves the way of his saints. Don't cut yourself out on this one. To be a saint is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not making that up. You say, wait a minute, I thought you have to go through the Catholic Church. You've got to do miracles. Yeah, no, that's not the answer. The word saint is applied to all those who trust in Christ. throughout your entire scriptures, old, new, the believer is referred to in scripture as a saint. Isn't that amazing? You say, man, I have a hard time with that. So do I. But that's what God says. I'd like to see, I would love to have talked to Paul when he's writing his letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, to the saints that are at Corinth. If you knew anything about the Corinthian culture, it's so bad it would make Vegas blush but Paul goes on to write about in 1 Corinthians about the believers in Corinth and it's like are you kidding me that's the last I would never go to that church and Paul opens up and says to all the saints that are in Corinth and you're saying what in the world guess what they were messed up. They had a lot of problems, but they had been born again.

48:11 They had a lot to overcome, folks. They were in a culture that, I've been to Corinth, Greece, maybe some of you have, and when you go to that archaeological site, we, I mean, I didn't want Lisa to look at a few things. I just like, let's, hey, let's go over here and see, there's some Pepsi right there. I mean, it's bad. They have unearthed idols that they used to worship in those days, it is so pornographic. And Paul goes to all the saints, what happened? God called these pagan worshipers out of a dark world. They weren't perfect, but they were in route in their walk and their journey with Jesus Christ. And yes, even in that book, Paul challenged them to walk in wisdom and the knowledge of God. Paul told them that the Holy Spirit would come and indwell them as believers and guide them. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Remarkable and awesome. How does God, I'll wrap this up soon, how does God preserve us in the way as saints? You're going to want to write this down.

49:17 Very familiar, I would think, to most of you. Philippians 1, 6, it's still in the Bible. You want to check from time to time. Is Philippians 1, verse 6 still in the Bible? And thank God it is. and it is this, being confident. The word is in the continuous present tense, which means be being confident. It means that the believer never has to stop being confident. Is that falling on deaf ears this morning? Please hear this. Don't answer. But if you say that you are a follower of Christ, the Bible says, then be confident. and the only reason why you wouldn't be is because you are trying to be confident in yourself be confident in him watch be being confident of this very thing oh what is it what is it that fuels my confidence that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. You can clap at that. Once he starts to work, he will not stop. You say, well, I've been a Christian for 50 years and I haven't progressed much. That's because of you messing up that, but he won't stop. How about letting go of the wheel, let him drive, and see what happens.

50:44 I can't do that. You can, but you won't. So you're going to be a stunted little Christian. the rest of your life until you let your hands off and say, Lord, take it. You know, it's funny. These analogies. Do you own a Tesla or a self-drive vehicle? I see, do you see what I see? Do you see people driving? And they've got their, I guess their face is facing the detectors or whatever. Because if their eyes go somewhere else, the thing goes, hey, you're not looking straight ahead. Hey.

51:25 But they've got a book. They have a book. And they're driving their Tesla or their electric thing. When's the last time you've been to downtown LA or Santa Monica? You got it. It's terrifying. It's a Waymo, right?

51:45 What is that? What is that? Waymo. This car goes by. There's nobody in it. and it's supposed to be the way of the future. Really? Because we were there a couple weeks ago, and we saw one in the left-hand turn lane to go left. It decided to go right. Oh, yes. Waymo.

52:14 They're going to change it to Whammo. But people drive these vehicles. Yeah, it's good. It's good. Yeah, whatever. Hey, how's it going? And then I say, trust God, and you go, oh, I can't do that. thou trustest in Tetla too much.

52:38 Jude chapter one, verse 24. Now to him who is able, yes, to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. That's in the Bible, folks. God is the one who is able that when he starts that good work in you, he will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ because he's the one that's working within you. And it's, listen, it's his desire to present you before himself with exceeding joy. You're not gonna be, listen, to the believer, you're not gonna be in heaven. You just, man, I hope nobody notices me. Oh, you know, I've just,

53:22 the Bible says that God is gonna open up a grand, a broad entrance into the kingdom of God. You say, yeah, but I thought the Bible said narrow is the way. Narrow is the way. Narrow is the way. And when you get to the finish, the beautiful response is that God opens up the entry gates and you walk in. Wow.

53:52 Psalm 138, verse 8. Psalm 138, verse 8 says, The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Bring to pass. Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Did you hear David's heart? God keep working. He is going to keep working. The slightest work that God has begun in your life. He said he's going to complete it. Cooperate with him. Don't resist him. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 31 says, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. I put that verse in there, it popped into my mind, and I think about, Lord, that just seems out of context to me, but you brought it to my memory in putting this together this morning. What is this? Paul the Apostle said that. I believe it's Paul, doesn't matter, that wrote Hebrews.

54:45 It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. So do we have a contradiction in the Bible? It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God? Or are we safe and secure in Christ? The answer is both. When it says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, it means that you are going to meet God someday and he's not a human. God is spirit.

55:16 And Mary had a little lamb 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem. The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. God became human skin so that we could relate to him. and he lived that perfect life that you and I could never live and because you and I are sinners we're all S-I-N positive we do it because it's within us Christ goes to the cross takes that penalty and then on the third day, he's resurrected from the dead for our justification. What does that mean, justification? It means because Christ rose from the dead. After he paid the price, it's not finished, you know. On the third day, he rose again from the dead, which, listen, when he rose again, in fact, when he died, by the way, his death empowered the New Testament.

56:15 Just like when you die, someone's going to read your testament. Your testament, if you have a will, it's worthless right now. Did you know it's worthless? If you have a will, you say, Pastor, don't say that. I just paid thousands of dollars to get my will done. It's worthless. It's worthless. Something's got to happen for that piece of paper to become powerful. Anybody know what that is? You got to drop dead. when you die that piece of paper takes total control no wonder why God has written in his word in the book of Jeremiah I'm going to complete the old covenant and I'm going to make a new covenant and that new covenant is what God says I'm going to write on your heart on the tablets of your heart and God calls that we know that it's the revelation of not just the old testament which promises, but the New Testament records the fulfillment of the promise, a testament.

57:18 Remarkable and awesome. but think of this God it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God but as a believer it is a reverential thing when we fall into the hands of the living God he enters he takes us receives us walks us into eternity and we're safe do you know what's worse than this? to not fall into the hands of the living God to not so why would anybody do that because of pride verse 9 ends here show up by giving yourself to him then you will have understanding and righteousness and justice and equity in every good path the world says that matters to them I don't believe the world the world says that all these things matter I don't think so because only God knows the definition of these things I'm going to ask you right now to just close your eyes bow your head I don't want anybody moving around it's distracting I'm going to ask people right now to make a decision for the Lord Jesus Christ and I don't want you to be wanting to get out of here and so you're going to someone's thinking about do I accept Jesus and you step on their toes and it happens I hear about it you'll make it this is a holy moment right now when God says in his word, receive it.

59:07 Jesus Christ said, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open up, I will come in and be with him. Sup, the word is. Eat, be, one, with him. But the Bible says our sins have separated us from God. the Bible tells us if we believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead and if we believe that in our heart and confess that with our mouth we shall be saved the Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God the Bible also says

59:53 While heads are bowed and eyes are closed, I'm going to ask you right now, as I look across this audience today, if you were to die today, do you have the confidence that you'd go to heaven? Do you know the answer? You heard it earlier. Can you say it and be honest about it, that you are trusting in Jesus and him alone? if you know that you're a sinner you know that you've offended the almighty God in your life even by thought certainly by deed and you're this thing one of the great evidences you're hoping and you're praying to who I don't know that God never finds out he already knows and he's calling you this morning give it all to me and start by giving me your life if that's you today heads bowed eyes closed Christians be praying will you slip your hand up wherever you're at and you're saying Pastor Jack that's what I'm doing today God bless you in the front Anyone else? Raise your hand high so I can see it.

1:01:01 On the aisle, God bless you. God bless you right here. In the back, God bless you. The Holy Spirit is speaking to you. You've got a little bit of anxiety going on. You know you should do this. But there's something inside of you saying, don't do it, don't do it. Isn't it amazing? Just a few seconds ago, a little war started inside of you. God bless you, way in the back. A little war started. And you're having an argument with yourself. I should do this. No, don't do this. You look silly. But I want to go to heaven. Oh, do it later. Do it tomorrow. Do it next Sunday. You don't even know if you'll see the sunset today, folks.

1:01:36 Anyone else right now? Be honest with God and with yourself. If there's a tornado going on inside of you about this, all of a sudden there's this conundrum, this war, this knot. That's the Holy Spirit speaking to you. God bless the two of you right there. anyone else who has not yet raised your hand today you're saying I want Jesus to take my life awesome God bless you church family let's all stand together all of us stand together now some of you maybe some of you are a Christian and you wandered away and kind of gotten off the path we saw the word path quite a few times today and God is speaking to your heart and saying you need to get on the path you need to get back let's pray this prayer together let's pray this out loud those of you who raised your hands I'm going to ask you to pray this prayer out loud because we're going to obey what Romans chapter 10 is, if we believe in our heart, we're going to confess it with our mouth, right? So that very conviction, the Bible calls it, that you are feeling right now, it's a feeling where God has caught me. I'm in the spotlight of God. There may be a couple thousand people here in this room right now, but you feel like you're the only one. That's the Holy Spirit speaking to you because you're precious to him.

1:03:11 But right now, you are going to get that sin life removed, and the Holy Spirit's going to come in and take possession of you. Some of you might feel something. I've had people tell me they've had this various, when they prayed, they felt like warm water being poured on them. That's great, but it's not based on feelings. When I prayed that prayer almost 50 years ago, I didn't feel anything.

1:03:36 It's not based on feelings. Aren't you glad? It's based on what he has provided and what you decide to do with him. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, I come to you now in Jesus' name. I'm asking you to forgive me.

1:03:58 Wash me clean because today I confess Jesus Christ as my crucified Savior and my resurrected Lord and I receive him now.

1:04:19 Thank you, God. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Family, listen. I'm going to do this because of time. Those of you who raised your hands, I'm just going to do this based on honor system. If you raised your hands today, if you don't have a Bible, we want to give you a Bible. It's in that little room just to my right. There'll be pastors to give you a Bible. You can come forward as people are leaving. If you have a Bible, we still would love to give you some material on where to begin your walk with Jesus because it matters. If you live anywhere in the area, either come to this church or find a Bible teaching church. You don't have to come here, but find a Bible-teaching church. It matters. God bless you.

1:05:12 The Lord fill you. May he overwhelm you with his goodness and his favor. And may in everything of your life this week, may you not miss anything that he's doing. May he show you a beautiful sunrise or sunset. May he show you that amazing moment. May you sense that remarkable thing that he does to all of us from time to time where you just are overwhelmed for a millisecond of time that God is with you. There's nothing like it. May God hug you this week in his word. In Jesus' name and all God's...