Anything Goes

[Music] I was talking with one of our ministers wives one day and she mentioned the fact that her daughter's boss the CEO of the company has a mohawk haircut and this ministers wife asked her how could that be that someone in that high position would have Momo hawk and she said to her mother she said mom you know today anything goes yes indeed today anything does go in some ways that can be helpful most of time is not but for example there was a time back in the 60s where all the ladies had short dresses and that's about all you could buy in the stores you had to be a little bit creative but today you can see everything from short - all the way down to the ankles it's helpful in that way but in general the anything-goes attitude is problematic and it's human nature to say the least the Bible described a similar time and past history found in the book of Judges we're going to spend a little bit of time there but in the 18th chapter we often go to other scriptures that say something similar and judges but this is the first time that it mentions it here and it makes a very simple statement that is profound it's one of those statements we could rewrite over and not notice it says in those days there was no king in Israel now is in sermon out we know that a long list of very bad Kings but nevertheless it's making a statement here about government about some sort of central authority some sort of moral authority this is also found in the 19th chapter just a chapter later it says it came to pass in those days when there was no king in Israel that there was a certain Levite and it begins to tell a story about this I could or Levite we go back to the 17th chapter in verse 6 I said the first time with verse 18 chapter 18 but that's little misstatement there says in those days judges 17 verse 6 there was no king in Israel everyone did what was right in his own eyes and that's the result of no central moral authority everybody does that which is right in his own eyes and so this sermon is about anything goes that's a title if anybody wants the title on it anything goes anything goes or went at that time everyone did that which is right in his own eyes in Israel during the times of the judges and what was the result of that it was one of the most bloody horrendous times and as Israel's history we find that Israel would have a savior a judge that would come along would bring them back into power and also into some sort of moral attitude they're not very much but a little bit but God would give them a savior and they would then after that go right back into immoral behavior continue down a very bad path until God sent another judge another savior for them it was a bloody time in Israel's history we have the story of the Levites concubine which we'll look at here a little bit more detail we have Jephthah's foolish Val we have Samson and all the problems he had with women and we have a number of other instances as we go through the book of Judges of times where it was very bad very bad decisions that people made and a lot of heartache a lot of suffering that took place during that time so today we're going to see that any world where anything goes in the living Church of God the anything-goes attitude does not go and we're going to see what it is that helps us to hold the nine in a world where anything goes let's go back to judge's the 19th chapter and I'll read verse one again it came to pass in those days when there was no king in Israel that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim and he took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem and Judah and his concubine played the harlot against him now in that moral vacuum that they had there this was not unusual no doubt she played the harlot against him we live in a similar time today we have a moral vacuum where people think that they can outvote God if enough people are doing it it must be okay as weave comes a place in our society where young people but not just young people older people as well think that it's okay to have the privileges of marriage without the obligations of it and the results are catastrophic in so many ways we have disease we have unwanted pregnancies we have heartache we have breaking up of families time and again and it isn't just in the world it affects the church as well it's a very sad state where when you see two people going together for any length of time you almost assume that they're sleeping together that's not always the case but it's so often the case that you almost assume that that is the situation hopefully not in the Church of God but it does affect the Church of God and why it is that people think that just because everybody else is doing and it must be okay I don't know but it must be the attitude that well we can outvote God but can we so here was a problem that he had his concubine was playing the harlot and she went back to her family home verse three then her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back I think that's rather interesting to speak kindly to her and bring her back when we see the rest of the story here having a servant and a couple of donkeys with him so she brought him into her father's house and when the father of the young woman saw him he was glad to meet him you get the impression that he had met him there before that this was some some introduction there to her his father-in-law you see it was not the way that things should be his father-in-law the young woman's father detained him when he stayed with him three days so he ate and drank and lodged there and so then we had the story of how every time he was ready to go the father said well why don't you stay a little bit longer here we got a meal ready for us and so let's let's have a meal and then it got later in the day and he very leave and he said look it's it's getting late in the day why don't you stay over and we'll have something to eat and drink and enjoy ourselves and get to know each other better and you can leave in the morning but the next morning he detained them and so finally after three days of this the young man decided that it was time to go verse 10 however the young man was not willing to spend that night so he rose and departed and came to opposite of Jebus that is Jerusalem so it was late in the afternoon that he came there and his servant who was with him suggests that they could stay there but he said no I don't want to stay at a Gentile City let's go on a little bit further and stay in a city of Israel of the tribes of Israel and so they went on and then they ended up in a place called gibeom and they got there as the Sun was going down verse 14 and they turned aside to Lodge there and he went in and he sat down in the open square of the city for no one would take them into his house to spend the night and so about that time an old man came along verse sixteen from his work and he invited them to stay with him and he really pressured him in that sense to stay with him he knew what kind of a city he lived in and didn't want this man to stay outside in the open square so they brought him in and it says they ate and drank and the verse 22 as they were enjoying themselves suddenly certain men of the city perverted men surrounded the house and beat on the door and they spoke to the master of the house the old man saying bring out the man who came to your house that we may know him and the New King James here says carnally adding that word because that's a sense of it they wanted to know him in a car away when it says he knew somebody that's a euphemism for a more intimate relationship it's used in the scriptures there and so it was understood what it was these were perverted men these were homosexuals they wanted to get to know this man some new individual that they wanted to get to know and I may have mentioned this before but my wife one time asked the question we were going for walk and she was thinking of this and thinking of Sodom and Gomorrah and wondering will we have a society that is like that or roving gangs of men prey on other men and that very thing happened when we were living in the United Kingdom just last year within the last year some of the refugees that had come out of the Middle East two or three of them I don't remember the exact number did pray on somebody that was there locally and when you read these things it's easy to think well this could never happen in our society but when you look at how our society has degenerated how it has changed there are many things in scripture that just seemed so far out but if you look at history how it's come down let me give an example when we read about Sarah suggesting to Abraham that he could take Hagar to be a surrogate mother as it were that seemed pretty strange but now we have many instances maybe it's done more clinically as it were but nevertheless we have many surrogate mothers in our society today and in fact is the happened there in Ontario they passed law that there can you may have read that already there can be four parents on a birth certificate of course they've also suggested that you not I think suggest that it's mandatory now that they don't put gender they don't put male or female unless the parents want it that way but they can leave that off but you can have four parents and that has to be arranged even before the child is conceived and so here's a child he's got four parents now that's really exciting you get to have four parents I was watching a program when I was in in Canada that came on before our our telecast and I wanted to see what was on before and there was something called seed se Edie I'd never seen it before never heard of it before and this was exactly the theme I believe it was a Canadian program not not produced here in the US but it was about a young girl who's in the principal's office at school and she's got her parents there and he's got the sperm donor there and she's got somebody else a lesbian who somehow came into play here I really honestly don't know because I didn't watch it that long i watch maybe ten minutes just to see what it was that was proceeding our program and I don't think that those people be too interested in our program anyway that would watch that and I did happen to to catch where there were two these two women kissing on the lips it was disgusting but this is the world in which we live this was unheard of forty years ago we could not imagine where we are today when we read in the book of revelation about sorcerers the word is pharmakeia and I know there was a time we thought well maybe that somebody shouldn't be a pharmacist but in reality when you look at it it's talking about drugs and you look at our society it probably has far more to do with drug abuse the kind of recreational drugs that we have in our world today and it has to do with legitimate drug use for the benefit of people who are sick we have a world that is filled with drugs that's not the world I was born into and many of you as I look out here are my age and you know that was not our world that we grew up in when I went to high school I would have no idea where to find even marijuana but today you can find that and a whole lot more in fact that's now legal isn't it funny how we run away from smoking you can't smoke any place without being fined but you can smoke marijuana which frankly is more dangerous and for a number of reasons and there are you know doctors that will point that out it smoked at a higher temperature and that creates problems for the little Celia and your cilia and your lungs and it's got all kinds of chemicals and all kinds of effects but now we're on the bandwagon our society is that you know anything goes marijuana is fine don't smoke a cigarette a regular cigarette though because that's awful that's terrible and that's bad which it is but the the contrast where we say this one is wrong but let's legalize this one it just seems rather hypocritical and it is but nevertheless these individuals were preying on this man or they wanted to and it says in verse 24 the old man said look here is my virgin daughter and the man's concubine let let me bring them out now tumble them and do with them as you please but to this man do not do such a vile thing in other words he was a guest and there was a an approach at that time that you were responsible for anybody that came under your roof but I guess your own daughter you weren't responsible for it's a sick world it was a sick world then we have a sick world day we say well that would never happen to us today well I can't imagine how but don't bet on it so the men would not heed and as it turned out the concubine was sent out to them and the men abused her all night is verse 25 until morning and when they began to break they let her go then the woman came as of the day was dawning and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was till it was light verse 27 when her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way there was his concubine fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold and this fine compassionate Levite said get up and let us be going you talk about calloused and hard it was a woman that had been abused all night long and in fact as we see here to the point of death she died and all he can think of is let's get on the road let's be going no compassion whatsoever and there was no answer so the man lifted her on to his donkey and the man got up and went to his place and then he courted her he chopped her up and sent a piece to all the tribes of Israel now even in this society as bad as it is that we can see I mean it's bad enough what we've already seen that was going too far and so all of Israel gathered together to find out what happened verse 8 of chapter 20 the people arose as one man saying none of us will go to his tent nor will any turn back to his house but now this is the thing which we will go we'll do to give you up we will go up against it by lot and so they cast lots and they took every tenth person and all the men of Israel gathered against the city United together as one man verse twelve then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribes of Benjamin saying what is this wickedness that has occurred among you now therefore deliver up the men the perverted men who are in Gibeah we may put them to death and remove this evil from Israel so they recognize that that was an evil act and they wanted to put an end to it but what happens when a particular group a tribe a nation has people who violate various laws we circle the wagons don't we and we protect the perpetrators of crime someone goes over to another country violates the laws of that land very clearly remember the case some years ago of the young man that went to Indonesia and spray-painted some graffiti on the walls and of course that's a violation and so they were they were going to cane him hit him on the backside I guess with a cane a kind of a whip like switch a couple times apparently very very painful and what what happened well the government the parents everybody screamed and hollered and we didn't want that to happen to him and it did and he came back and last I heard some time after that he got back he got in trouble back here in this country you know we protect the evil person and that's what was happening here that the Benjamites said well he's a Benjamite no you're not or they are we're not going to touch them we're going to protect them even though they had committed murder and worse in the way that they committed it and so the end result was that Benjamin and Israel went to war there were 26,000 Benjamites 26,000 700 actually it was 700 left-handed ones that could sling a stone or the hair's breath and not miss verse 18 then the children of Israel arose and they went up to the house of God to inquire of God and they said which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin an eternal said first now there's a lesson in this for us and I know that some of the old-timers are aware this but some of our newer people some of our younger people may not fully understand what was going on here they asked God they asked for his advice they said which should go up first and he said Judah so the children of Israel verse 19 rose in the morning in a camped attempt against Gibeah and the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites now here they asked God's advice and God gave them advice and they went out and they lost twenty-two thousand men what's going on here what went wrong well you see they'd already made up their mind what they were going to do they didn't want to know shall we go up against our brother what shall we do in this case they had already decided they were going to go up against their brother they just wanna know which tribe should be number one and going up against them it's a very subtle thing but how often do we as God's people sometimes have the answer we're looking for and then we go to God and ask his advice but we've already decided what we want to do sometimes people say to young people they fall in love and everybody knows that this is not a good match except them and they'll say well we prayed about it we fasted about it but so often the mind is made up in the praying the fasting is just to confirm what one has already decided it's very difficult isn't it it's very difficult to go to God with an open mind with a truly open mind seeking God's advice seeking what God wants and not what we want because even when we go to God as was done here if we've already made up our then you know God said okay you want to who goes up first Judah goes that's what you want you want to go up against them send Judah first well then the children of Benjamin came out look we read that verse 22 and the people that is the men of Israel encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they have put themselves an array on the first day then the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening and asked counsel Lord saying shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin and the eternal said go up against him there saying shall we go up against him and God said sure go up against him what's the problem here well notice they'd already set the battle lines in array as they had done the first day again they still knew what they wanted to do they had determined they are going to go up against their brother but they in order to get God's approval they asked God it reminds me of how sometimes people come to a minister and they'll ask a question and I've been suckered by this I don't how many times over the years I remember one young lady many many years ago on to ask if she could play in a band concert on Friday night and you know I'm I was very young in the ministry and I'm asking her questions about well what kind of music is it and this and that and everything else and and finally I said well well what do you think and she said I don't think I should and you know boom I realized she was looking for papal dispensation she already knew what the right answer was but she was just looking for me to give her permission and in a way that's what's happening here these people already decided what they wanted to do the Israelites but they want to go to God and see if God will give special permission to do what they already want they want God to confirm what they've already decided so the children Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day and Benjamin went out and cut down 18,000 more so they've lost 40,000 in two days that's a lot of lives lost a lot of young lives a lot of husbands a lot of brothers a lot of potential husbands a lot of fathers were cut down 40,000 all these drew the sword now finally verse 26 all the children of Israel that is all the people went up and they came to the house of God and wept and they sat there before the eternal and fasted that day until evening and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the eternal and then it shows that they they asked the right question or questions verse 28 Phineas the son of Eleazar son of Aaron stood before the Ark there in those days saying shall I yet again go out to battle against the children my brother Benjamin or shall I cease and the eternal said go up for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand they finally came to God with an open mind of wanting know what what God's will was was in this and you know that's a very difficult thing for for any of us to to really go to God in such a way that we want to know what his will truly is not have him just put his stamp of approval on what we want and when they did the end result was that they were victorious in this battle against Benjamin in fact by this time after losing forty thousand of their brothers and friends and relatives and so forth they they went to an extreme and they just about wiped out the entire tribe of Benjamin and only about 600 of the men survived but they killed men women children just about destroyed the entire tribe chapter 21 now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Misbah saying none of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin his wife so the people came to the house of God and remained there before God to leave nning they lifted their voices and wept bitterly and said Oh eternal God of Israel why has this come to pass an Israel that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel well you know they had a little bit to say about all that didn't they so it was on the next morning that the people rose early and built an altar there and offer burnt offerings and peace offerings and they tried to figure out how do we solve this problem because there's 600 men there they don't have wives and if they don't have wives then this tribe is going to cease to exist on the face of the earth and so they they searched around to find out who had not gone up to fight against them because all the ones who had gone up had made a vow that they would not give their daughters to any of these Benjamites and they found that there was one city that didn't go up jabish Gilead and so they they went out and they destroyed jabish Gilead but they preserved 400 women who had not known men intimately and they gave those women to the Benjamites rather incredible thing when you think about it but this is what happens when anything goes when everybody is a law unto himself when they reject God they come up with solutions that are not very good solutions I guess this was a solution they had to do something I suppose but to get themselves into this place what a mess so they gave these four hundred young virgins to the men but they're still missing two hundred and so what to do whether they concocted another scheme and all of you young fellows need to listen very carefully and you young ladies because there's there's an important lesson here for each of you there was a festival every year at Shiloh and it was near the vineyards and so they came up with a scheme at least some of the leaders did apparently not everybody was in on what was going to happen they they told the the Benjamites of two hundred Benjamites that hide out in the the vineyards and when the young ladies come out and dance run out and grab one two come home sir ohm over your shoulder and take them home like a caveman and that way the the daughters are the fathers of these girls could literally say that they hadn't given them to them and so they would be free of their their oath so there's a lesson here for our young fellows and young ladies fellows if you need a wife and can't get any of wanting any of the way hide out in a vineyard near where there's a dance going on and young ladies don't dance if there's a vineyard close by well it was quite a quite a scene wasn't it the end result was that Benjamin did survive and in verse 25 the very last verse of the book of Judges in those days there was no king in Israel everyone did what was right in his own eyes this is a lesson everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes you see there was no central authority there was no order in that way everybody just did whatever he thought was right in his own eyes and the end result was this horrendous time in ancient Israel now real faith and trust in God flies in the face of our current anything goes society and culture and Deuteronomy the 12th chapter in verse 8 Deuteronomy 12 Moses instructed the people or God did through Moses in verse 8 it says you shall not at all do as you are doing here today every man doing what is right in his own eyes everyone doing what is right in his own eyes you know that's a that's what we're counseled to do isn't it we're counseled all the time on doing our own thing there's a good commentary actually it was a couple days ago by mr. Roger Meyer it's on the website and it begins this way in movies and songs and as advice from actors singers and celebrities we often hear the messages follow your heart and trust your feelings some extol the supposed virtues of listening to their inner $0.06 or their psychic intuition does the fact that we feel something make it so is it generally a good idea to trust our feelings or is doing so fraught with danger if anyone is ever attended a high school graduation ceremony at least one person will stand up and say follow your dreams don't let anybody tell you what you can't do just follow your dreams follow your heart we even find that in a religious sense I remember talking to a gentleman who attended services for a short time in one of our congregations and he says that God just speaks my heart God just speaks my heart that's that's how I know what's right what's wrong and so I went over to Hebrews the eighth chapter and the idea was that God's Spirit just spoke to him and that's how he knew it was right and as I point out here that the law of God is still in effect and the glow of God is what shows us what is right and what is wrong Hebrews the eighth chapter it says for this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the eternal I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts you see God writes it in our minds we academically understand something first of all and then the heart follows we do what's right because we know it's right and after a while we find that that's what our heart wants to do I know a couple chapters later it reverses that order but the point is that it has to be in the mind as well as the heart we don't just follow what the heart says we also follow what the mind is able to properly discern from the Scriptures he says I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts so it is God's law is not our own laws or whatever we think is right and I will be their God and they shall be my people so we find that to follow our heart apart from God's law is is fraught with many dangers there are some scriptures that we kind of cut our teeth on years ago I don't know that we hear about them as much as we did because they're memorization scriptures and we we kind of take them for granted that everybody knows them but in proverbs 14:12 says there's a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof are the ways of death that's the old King James as a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof are the ways of death mr. Myers commentary brings that out very clearly that we can feel something like this is right but the end result is not so good we wake up sometime thinking well how did I get here how did I end up here those the decisions that we made this is so important it's repeated in the sixteenth chapter verse 25 of Proverbs as a way that seemed right to a man but the end thereof are the ways of death where the end is ends and death you can read the New King James but either way the meaning is the same it seems good it looks right but the end result is not now a scripture that we well let's turn over to proverbs 28 first of all 28 and verse 26 it says he who trusts in his own heart is a fool but whoever walks wisely will be delivered I saw on 20 sub Prager University little shorts that they have as it micro the fellow that does all the dirty jobs and he talks about how he wanted to be I think with a carpenter growing up and he tried it and everything he tried to do all this wood craft and finally his uncle told him he said son this is not you you may want to do it you may think this what you want to do but you're no good at it now how many times you see where today we have people you can watch any of these talent shows American Idol or America's Got Talent or Britain has talent or any of those and you'll find that there are people that get up there and make a fool of themselves but they think they can sing or they can do some particular act whatever it might be and judges who know something about the subject will tell them that they're no good and they will argue with the judges and go off and follow their dream because they know this is what they want to do not everybody can do it how many people have been told you can grow up the president someday well there were 16 Republican candidates who found out they couldn't be and a couple Democratic candidates right a lot of people that have the dream of that I think that we would have to say that mr. Clinton has had that dream for a long time and her husband for as well and her daughter probably cheering her on great disappointment how many men how many women have thought they could be something but they can't be you know we have to understand that it's not what we want but if what God wants and we find out sometimes what we're able to do with good counsel from other people and Jeremiah is 17 9 we're all familiar with that are we not there's a it says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it how many times have we thought that something was the right thing to do only to find out how wrong we were later you know the 10 commandments I heard this explained by one of our men at summer camp back on worldwide days he pointed out very clearly the 10 commandments are there to show us how to make right decisions because there's there's a time in life when any one of those Ten Commandments with the violation of it could seem like the thing to do you shall not commit adultery there are times in people's lives when they get into a situation where they might think that that's the thing to do what was the old song that that went how can it be wrong when it seems so right or something along that line there are times when something is going to look good stealing can look good under certain circumstances it may not right now as you sit here but there are times what may be cheating on income tax or something else but it might seem like the thing to do but it's not an anything-goes society we have people who think that they don't have to pay taxes we've actually had people who attended our services I know at least one case who went to jail because he believed that you don't have to pay taxes now they have all kinds of arguments I've heard some of my sure I haven't heard all the arguments but what is the money they get into definitions of money they get into all kinds of things but what did Jesus say render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar into God what belongs to God we don't have to wonder about that and and behind the attitude of not wanting to pay taxes it's not a it's not a noble cause it's a cause of I don't want to give anybody I don't want to you know pay them mine I want to keep it it's coveting that's what's behind it now no one will admit that if they were caught up in that but nevertheless that's what's really behind it and Jeremiah the tenth chapter you might hear me refer to this from time to time because I think it's one of the most profound passages in the Bible here's Jeremiah the prophet and he says in verse 23 Jeremiah 10:23 Oh eternal I know the way of man is not in himself it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps now Jeremiah could say that do we understand that the very heart core of our being and though then he goes on to say something that is so difficult for us as human beings to pray he says Oh eternal correct me but with justice Oh eternal correct me not in your anger lest you bring me to nothing so do we pray that prayer do we ever pray that prayer that's one prayer that God uses the answers pretty quickly you pray that prayer and then you find yourself doing something really dumb not too long afterward and you realize that okay that's correction now what we ought to pray is that that God will use his word to correct us that will be easily corrected you know some some children are easily corrected you just you look at them a certain way and they break out crying not putting on but they really they really are broken up others no matter how many times you spank them they just don't get the point we ought to ask that God would correct us easily that would have a tender heart that we not have to be so hardened that God has to put some terrible sore trial upon us we ought to want God to be able to correct this and be able to be easily corrected there are people that you know you can correct them time and time again and they never get the point and others you tell them one time and they get the point we have a choice which way we're going to be but we should ask for God from time to time to correct us but with justice not in his anger unless you bring me to nothing I remember young fellow one time said I'm ready God give it to me I don't know whatever happened after that but I'm thinking hope I don't do that I think I told him please don't say that because God can God hears God hears and he'll answer weird money's to put our trust in God and not ourselves over in proverbs 3 this is a scripture that is well known I think that even the kids that were in the class I think this is one of the passages that they they would learn but in proverbs 3 verse 5 it says trust in the eternal with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your pounds such a powerful passage do not be wise in your own eyes fear the eternal and depart from evil it will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones in Romans the 12th chapter Romans 12 verse 16 a lot of wise counsel in the Word of God about not putting our trust in ourselves but trusting God proverbs 12 verse 16 says via the same mind toward one another do not set your mind on high things but associate with the humble do not be wise in your own opinion don't be wise in your own opinion I remember having to read a scripture to someone I was near and dear to although I haven't had much contact with with this individual for some time because this individual is always right and everybody else is wrong you don't agree you're not converted and as I to him proverbs 18 verses 1 & 2 a man who isolates himself seeks his own desire he rages against all wise judgment a fool has no delight in understanding but in expressing his own heart you know there are people who are so sure that they're right they may be the only person in the world that believes that way but they're sure that they're right when everybody else believes something else especially when it's in the church or in the ministry or whatever then maybe we should at least ask the question maybe I could be wrong just maybe I could be wrong in Philippians 2 verse 2 Philippians 2 and verse 2 says fulfill my joy by being like-minded having the same love being of one Accord of one mind so we are to be of one Accord of one mind we ought to be able to see things for the most part in the same way in the Church of God says let nothing be done through selfish ambition and that's the problem that we run into or conceit but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself now what does it mean to esteem others better than himself well the next verse really clarifies it says let each of you look out not only for his own interest but also for the interest of others that your needs are more important than my needs right now that's the attitude that we ought to have you are more important at the moment than just what I want have you ever noticed that it's never convenient to help somebody out they always catch you at the most difficult time and so you even say that people say that well but why now why now it's never convenient because we're all busy and when we're all busy and some problem comes up we hate to set down what we're doing and go and help someone it's never convenient I say never convenient it's never convenient here doing anything but even if you're doing nothing you might have to put Facebook down or Twitter or something else and and go help somebody else or miss half the television program that you're watching it's not always convenient to help others but let each of you look out not only for his own interest but also for the interest of others let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation he emptied himself taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men now I have to believe that when Christ got to a certain age there and he knew that the end was coming he might have liked to lived a little bit longer I mean humanly speaking I'm sure he was anxious to get back to where he once was but we all want to hang on a little bit don't we but he was willing even though he agonized on the garden dairy nevertheless he was willing to put our interest above his wow it's pretty pre profound when you think about it these are all familiar scriptures but we have to be careful that we're not dull of hearing you can read how in Isaiah 6 verses 8 to 13 about those who are dull of hearing and have eyes to see but don't see and ears to hear and don't hear but let's go to 2nd Timothy the fourth chapter 2nd Timothy 4 and verses 1 through 4 it says I charge you therefore before God in the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom preached the word be ready in season and out of season now here is the young evangelist Timothy and he's told to convince to rebuke to exhort with all longsuffering and tea King for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires because they have itching ears they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables now we are living in a time such as that we have all kinds of people out there with all kinds of ideas and people have itching ears they want to hear something new well I could refer back to mr. Wahhabist sermon that he gave here and if you were missing you might want to get that out of the library would be on website I'm sure at some point in time about the milk and the meat of the word there are those who want to hear something new and they consider anything new as the meat of the word when it's not at all and so Paul was telling young Timothy there that the time would come when people would not listen when everybody in essence would want to do their own thing in so many words we could go back to Isaiah the 30th chapter he was prophesied for Israel Isaiah 30 verse 8 he says go write it before them on a tablet noted on a scroll that for time to come forever and ever verse 9 Isaiah 30 verse 9 that this is a rebellious people lying children children who will not hear the law of the Lord who say to the seers do not see into the prophets do not prompt sight to us right things speak to a smooth things prophesy deceits get out of the way turn aside from the path cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us now that's our world today and sadly it affects people who are a part of the Church of God in acts of 20th chapter acts 20 important point I'd like to make here acts 20 will begin in verse 25 the Apostle Paul is talking to the L at Ephesus they had come out to meet him so they didn't have to go to Ephesus himself he was in a hurry want to get back to Jerusalem and he says here that indeed now I know that you all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God will see my face no more therefore I testify to you in other words he thought maybe this was last time he'd see them I testify to you that this day that I am innocent to the blood of all men for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God now this is something that dr. Meredith has pointed out a number of times over the years I it's funny how you can be in the church for years and never quite see something and all the years I was in worldwide I never really focused on this the whole Council of God but after worldwide went into rebellion against the law of God and everything and coming out of that this became very important because we had groups going every which direction and the whole Council of God is important because some have this little bit of truth somehow that bit of truth but it's the whole Council of God we have to have the whole thing not perfectly no one does but we've driven in the Church of God to have the living Church of God to have the whole Council of God as Paul said there verse 28 therefore take heed yourselves in to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit is made you overseers to Shepherd the Church of God to Shepherd the Church of God now there is a loving relationship between the Shepherd and the Sheep yes there is a shepherd that has to lead the Sheep but it is a loving relationship a caring relationship going after the one that is lost caring for them they're people who have raised sheep can tell you all the stories of how you have to there they're high maintenance you have to take good care of them and that's important for those in ministry opposition to Shepherd the Church of God which he purchased with his own blood for I know this that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock Paul understood that when you look at the the church in the early years he was only in an area a very short period of time relatively speaking it was a three years I guess he was at Ephesus something like that three and a half as we read here for three years he was there but that's relatively short period of time and he was having to ordain elders or having someone that he had trained to ordain elders in every city some of which there was only a short period of time that they had been there and so you had a lot of people going all different directions there was not the the communication that we have today and so it would be very easy for a group to go on a wrong direction and he said I know that after my departure savage wolves are going to come in he says also from among yourselves men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn every one night and day with tears now the point I want to make about all this is very simple do we think for an instant that the people who lead people astray suddenly got away from the Sabbath and holy days immediately I don't think so but there's an attitude I think that sometimes exists in those that came out of worldwide that as long as they keep the Sabbath and the holy days it's okay but there are people who keep the Sabbath and holy days who are nothing but wolves barely in sheep's clothing there are those who abuse the Sheep who teach all kinds of perverse things that are not to be taught especially those that seem to claim the most that they want to follow mr. Armstrong I could only imagine what mr. Armstrong would do if he were back hearing some of the things from these individuals but somehow people think if you keep the Sabbath holy days it must be okay it's not I'm not saying that there aren't God's people in some other groups I'm not saying that but what I am saying is that just because somebody keeps a Sabbath and holy days don't be fooled by it Paul spoke of the whole Council of God and these individuals who rose up amongst them or those coming in from the outside some cases they were keeping if you relook at Colossians they were they were keeping them more strictly than what God intended their ascetics they were you know they had different ideas about how things were to be done now the anything-goes attitude rejects sound understanding so how does the body of Christ stay on track how do we because we're here together aren't we and we want to be on track so how do we stay on track well first Timothy 3 verse 15 first Timothy 3 verse I'll begin in verse 14 it says these things I write to you though I hope to come to you shortly but if I am delayed I write to you that you may know how you this is Paul talking to the young evangelist Timothy how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God so he's talking about how he was to conduct himself what is appropriate behavior in the Church of God what is proper conduct what is proper you know decorum how things are to be done he says and I write to you these things and he gives them all kinds of instructions including well you go back to chapter 2 verse 9 and like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing not that those things are wrong of themselves but it you know the Hollywood approach of just outlandish stuff I mean you it says modest apparel so you have to have apparel you have to wear something but the idea that you know you the focus is on the outward appearance instead of the inward appearance that which is modest and not a lust arousing and this sort of thing so he says that you know how to conduct yourself in the house of God this is verse 15 which is the Church of the Living God the pillar and the ground or bulwark of the truth this is what holds up the truth now it is the Church of God that is going to uphold the truth it is the Church of God that's going to teach us the truth but of course we've got nowhere the Church of God is that's the first thing you know when I came out of world wide I was I'm just happy to be back with quote the truth and a broad sense and it took some time to rely really realize how far we had drifted we drifted a long way in a short period of time and it was through dr. Maris and Carl McNair and various other ones that helped in a sense bring us back to where we should be because what I notice is that some other groups out there didn't have that strong foundation they were still trying to sort things out as one person said that I mentioned about the that way you need to have more than just the Sabbath and holy days and he said Oh that'd be a huge mistake we need to get everybody together first and then we'll sort those things out and so you had people that were scattered somewhere between time of mr. Armstrong's death in 1995 approximately and then it's gone from there but they had different parts of the apostasy that they may have accepted and it was through the leadership of the global Church of God that it really brought us back to a sound foundation once again and we need to be so thankful for that but the church the Living God is the pillar and the ground of the truth you could go over to 1st Corinthians 1st Corinthians the 11th chapter and here the Apostle Paul is talking about something so mundane in a sense as hair links and he speaks here in verse 2 he says I praise you brethren do you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you and then he talks about how ahead of of of every man is Christ on the head of woman is man and the head of Christ is God so there's a relationship there there's that's a very important thing that in our modern world we've lost sight of that we've lost sight of the relationship between men and women and we can go to extremes in all of that you can go from an abusive relationship to loving leadership that God is given to the man to to take in the household and he starts talking about hair lengths and how some women are you know it's not appropriately long long enough to be able to discern that this person is a woman from behind and he points out that a woman should have long hair and then he shows that a man if he has long hair it's a shame to him and he says verse 16 but if any one seems to be contentious we have no such custom nor do the Churches of God somebody wants to argue about it were you simply not going to argue about it he says there are things like that there are traditions there's understanding and we trust that Christ is able to lead his ministry and we know that because his ministry is human it's not going to be perfect it won't be perfect never will be in this physical flesh but their safety their our safety when we we stick with what's where we should be now when it goes off track and is against Scripture then we don't have to worry we can see that pretty quick and we recognize that but we're talking about things that are what we might call gray areas and we have to be careful as ministers not to try to rule in grey areas in the wrong way but we need to understand that we have to to make decisions we have to give guidance in Ephesians the fourth chapter we have a passage of scripture here that I've brought up to a number of people over the years especially when you get into these discussions about church government and I've never had anybody explain it away they just go off to some other place but notice Ephesians 4 and verse 11 it says he gave some to be apostles some prophets some evangelists and some pastors and teachers now why did he give us these individuals or individuals with those designations for the equipping of the Saints for the work of ministry for the edifying the building up of the body of Christ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so we can come to that stature of Christ the fullness of Christ that we no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ though we can strive to follow the example of Christ from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does it share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love God has given us a ministry this is really kind of coming to the bottom line of it he's given us a ministry really for the purpose of keeping us on track we're not to do is to anything that we think the ministry is not here to run people's lives we're not here to micromanage what everybody does but he does give the Ministry to give broad recommendations and sometimes specific things as Paul was talking about hair lengths they're pretty specific you know shaved shorn etc he's talking about certain things and he does give the ministry to try to keep us all unified but in our world today we are living under a regime of do your own thing don't let anybody tell you what to do just follow your own heart and that's the most dangerous things that any one of us can do we need to understand that there's God the Father in Jesus Christ and wherever his church is and that's something we have to prove for ourselves he's going to guide his church through Christ who is the head of the church and he's going to help us to see the right way to live and to grow because this is a continually growing situation we don't just get baptized and then okay now whatever I think is okay we have to understand that there's growth and it takes place over many many years I've been here now I guess in the church over 50 years and you know I realize there's a lot of growth yet to come I'd probably grow more if I knew exactly what I had to grow up but God knows I already know enough that I'm not doing you know just being focused you know not wasting time there are all kinds of things that I know that I've got to change already but sometimes we just have to cry out to God and say correct me show me what I need to do we live today and anything goes world it's a lawless attitude where each man is a law unto himself yet God's way is a way of unity of working together now moving forward together for a common cause and a common way of doing things and the focus of our lives is not to be one of self expression of just wanting to express ourselves because this is who I want to be or this is what I what I think I am but to life of character development of serving of sharing and of exalting or putting the needs of others before our own and when we concentrate on the right areas then we are going to be unified we are going to have the love that that we should have and we're going to be pleasing to God so brethren in a world where anything goes the anything-goes attitude does not go in the living Church of God [Music] you

Channel: Living Church of God

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Length: 68min 37sec (4117 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 23 2017