Guided by God's Word (Part 4)

Well, thank you very much, Melody. It's a very beautiful rendition, and we truly appreciate it. You know, the story of David is one of those that is just so fascinating. Someone so young absolutely just would not settle for the blasphemy of his God. You know, it's just such an incredible, incredible story, and one that is just interesting beyond all, not recognition, but just fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.

Well, my great—I've got to count this out—my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather—that's fourteen grades. Fourteen grades. Was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1445. His name was Wauter de Leicht, and as the speculation goes, he was a count of the House of Burgundy in an area that would later become known as the Spanish Netherlands. After the death of the Duke of Burgundy, a guy by the name of Charles the Bold in 1477, that area ultimately was lost to the House of Burgundy and became part of the Habsburg Empire when Charles' daughter Mary married Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor. Wauter had substantial land holdings in that particular area, a place called Leichtfeld, which was the family estate, which were held through four generations, subsequent generations after the fall of Charles the Bold, until they were ultimately forfeited in the middle of the sixteenth century during the Eighty Years' War, when my ancestral line decided that Belgium was a little rough and they left for Germany. They also, along the line, took a whole lot of other Belgians with them. It was kind of a mass migration at that point in time due to the conflict of the Eighty Years' War. Upon entering Germany in the 1500s, Leicht became Leicht, L-I-C-H-T, without the E, and four generations of Leicht men lived in the Palintimate, Germany region, where they were likely farmers, shepherds, or tending vineyards in the kind of just beautiful grassy areas that make up that particular area of Germany. Not all of them came to Germany during the war. In fact, a number of the Delight family remained behind in Belgium. One of them, my long-distant cousin, Jan Delight, is arguably our most famous and or infamous ancestor, depending on how you look at it. He was a Robin Hood-like figure, a robber baron, really, kind of a petty crook, who was ultimately executed for his crimes in 1723, but was immortalized in a very romantic way by Dutch author Louis Paul Boone, who was a very famous ancestor.

It's interesting to look at who came before you and where they came from and kind of getting into some of the history. I think it's one of the reasons why genealogy is so popular and why so many people at one point in time sit down and try to work out their family tree. Perhaps it was sparked by a story that somebody remembered from great-uncle So-and-so who fought in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, like my great-uncle Andrew. Or maybe it's stories from the old-timers of the family who knew all these things about all these people going back four or five different generations, and you're just frantically writing it down trying to preserve history before they pass. Whatever the reason might be, people in the United States are researching their family history in record numbers. In fact, chances are, as you were sitting around the table for Thanksgiving or in a comatose state on the couch afterwards, the topic might have shifted to family history and to genealogy or relatives and who they were and what they did. Genealogy research itself is a multi-billion dollar industry. 1.6 billion a year is spent on genealogical research in the United States.

And it's the second most popular hobby in the U.S. next to gardening, according to a 2014 article in Time Magazine. Now, the connectivity of the Internet and ultimately the connectedness now of this world through technology has made it a much easier process than it used to be. Some of you might remember, those of you that have been around for a little while might remember going down to the State Archives and spending your days hunched over books, looking at census records from various counties and various places, or even worse, scanning through microfiche. You know, at the library, trying to go through and find some of these things as they were cataloged and archived. But even recently, we had one of the members at our Thanksgiving was talking about, he underwent one of the DNA tests that they now have, where you can take a little cheek swab in your mouth, pop it in the vial, mail it back to him, and for a paltry sum of who knows. They'll send you your report back with, you know, your closest national connections, your individual genetics, and it allows you to kind of figure out, you know, whether the stories that you remember from your family origin are terrific. And some people have been very surprised by what they've gotten back in some of those DNA tests. We have very strong connection to our blood relatives, very strong connection. In fact, in our Western culture, there's a phrase that is sometimes used that states, blood is thicker than water. Blood is thicker than water. And then the insinuation is, at least the way that we use it in Western culture, is that we're very strongly connected by blood. That our ties to our family come first. That when it comes down to choosing between family or between someone else, family's supposed to win. At least that's the way that that generally is used in our culture. Interestingly, as I was looking it up online, there's some debate over this particular aphorism. The claim is, the original quote, is that the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, which would actually mean opposite of what we've used it from a Western culture standpoint, insinuating that that covenant of blood, whether it's physical or religious in context, would then trump a family relationship. Regardless of its meaning, it is utilized, at least in Western culture, as the former. That blood relations come first. That you're closest to those who you share the same blood with, the same DNA. Or that those familial ties always take priority. And how many times have you heard, Come on, we're family! Come on, lend me some money, we're family! That's usually how it goes when it's, Come on, we're family. Or, whatever comes our way, family sticks together. Maybe you've heard that as well.

Sadly, in today's day and age, those familial relationships are often strained. And, honestly, many of them are shattered. Many of them are shattered. You know, the popularity of friendsgiving, we were just talking about this the other day. There's a new thing called friendsgiving, for those that are not aware. And it's supposed to occur either on the day before Thanksgiving or the day after Thanksgiving.

And it's a non-family-related Thanksgiving. And the idea is you have your friends over, and you guys have a meal, and you enjoy your time. And we kind of talked about what brought that rise to the forefront. Why did people want to do friendsgiving as opposed to Thanksgiving? One of the distinct possibilities is people don't like getting together with their family. And so they want to be thankful for their friends as well, whatever. But, you know, the importance of family history and genealogy isn't anything new.

It was very important to the people of ancient Israel. Just quick, cursory reads through Genesis numbers, chronicles, a number of the books of the Old Testament and New Testament, we see listed genealogies for specific individuals. You know, we see very specific and detailed genealogies listed for some individuals. And in some ways, tracing your genealogy back to Abraham proved that individual's identity as a Hebrew. And the ability to then trace your lineage back to certain tribes was important for inheritance purposes, as well as service in the Levitical priesthood, for example.

You would have to trace your line back to the tribe of Levi, or you were unable to serve as a priest. You know, genealogy doesn't always look backwards. Prophecy foretold that Messiah's lineage would come from David. So it's equally important to keep solid records to allow individuals to then later be able to work the way back to prove the identity. And the Jewish people took genealogy and family history so seriously that Paul actually warned Titus, in Titus 3.9, to avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law.

Because, as he put it, they are unprofitable and useless. Sometimes they had a propensity to argue, to discuss and maybe speculate and strive about these kinds of things, maybe putting a little bit too much stock in the pedigree, so to speak. Let's begin today by turning over to John 8 to set the stage for where we're going to head. John 8, and we'll begin there today as we take a look at some of these places where sometimes the pedigree was given maybe a little bit too much importance, so to speak.

John 8, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 31. John 8 and verse 31. And in John 8, just to kind of provide some context, Christ is speaking to the Jews gathered just after the incident with the woman caught in adultery. And Christ begins to speak again, and the Pharisees accuse him of bearing a false record of himself.

He mentions in verse 19, the record's not false, you just don't know me or my father, is what he tells them. You don't know me or my father. He continues to build on this truth that he was sent by the father, and that if they knew him, then they would know the father. That if they heard his words and abided in them, then they would be his disciples.

We'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 31 of John 8 and verse 31. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, If you abide in my word, you are my disciples, indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We are Abraham's descendants. We know our genealogy. We know our patriarch, where our family goes back to. We are Abraham's descendants. We've never been in bondage to anyone.

How can you say you will be made free? So they kind of tell him, Hey, look, whoa, whoa, whoa. We are Abraham's. See, we've got the pedigree to prove it. We have the genealogy to prove it. We're not in bondage to any man. Verse 34, Jesus answered them, Most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in a house forever, but a son abides forever.

Therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Verse 37, I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill me because my word has no place in you. The Pharisees that were gathered who gave Christ so much grief at every turn were by genealogy the seed of Abraham. By blood, they were sons of Abraham. Heirs to the promise. But as Christ pointed out, as He continued, their actions, their behavior, their inability to believe on Him showed their hand. And He spiritually says, You may physically be Abraham's seed, but spiritually you're of your father, the devil.

They were corrupt. Their character was not of God despite the genealogy. In this case, blood didn't matter when it came down to who was a follower of Jesus Christ and who was not, which is really a large part of the theme of the book of Galatians. Let's go to Galatians 3 as we kind of continue to build this analogy here to get to where we're headed. Galatians 3.

Galatians 3, and we'll provide just a quick, brief little background. We've been through this before, but the Gentile believers in Galatia found themselves in a very difficult place. They found themselves stuck between the Roman world and the Jewish world. On one hand, their families were trying to call them back into the Roman world of gods and goddesses, trying to save them from the cult that they'd found themselves, cult, in quotes, that they'd found themselves drawn into. While the Jewish converts were essentially teaching the Gentile believers that for them to be saved, for them to come to Christ, they had to first become, quote-unquote, Jewish. That somehow, as Gentiles, they were second-class Christians. Paul illustrated, though, here in Galatians 3, that their pedigree, so to speak, didn't matter. They didn't have to become grafted into physical Israel in order to become a Christian. Let's go to Galatians 3, verse 26. Galatians 3, verse 26.

Essentially, belief in Christ, faith in Him, living by His teachings, was enough to become children of God. Your genealogy, your pedigrees, so to speak, didn't matter. You could be Greek. You could be Arab. You could be African, Asian, European, a slave, a free man, a servant, male or female. None of the physical stuff mattered. None of the physical stuff mattered. If they were Christs, then they were Abraham's seed, and ultimately, heirs, according to the promise. In other words, there was something that trumped blood-relatedness. There was something that trumped blood-relatedness. There was something that they had access to, which connected them more strongly than blood. Something that connected them more strongly than blood. You know, it's fascinating. I can look back over my family's history on my dad's side, back to the middle 1400s. Do I have access to any of those family lands? No. Am I royalty today because of it? No. It's one of those things where it's cool, it's neat, but what is it profit? There is a connectedness and a relatedness that does profit. When we were at the youth camp in Nigeria this last summer, Dari Akimbo said something on the opening night that honestly has been rattling around in my head ever since he said it. You know how sometimes you'll hear something and you just keep meditating on it, chewing on it, and kind of rolling it around and thinking about it? And he said in his opening address to the campers, he said, You may have heard it said that blood is thicker than water. But he told him, he said, I'm here to tell you that water is thicker than blood. He went on to talk about the strength of relationships formed with those of us in the youth corps program because we'd spent some time with him prior to camp. And he made the point that he could show up on our doorsteps in America, on the drop of a hat and be cared for, that he had friends instantly, wherever it was that he went, that he had brethren in those areas, that because of our commonalities, because of the Holy Spirit, which we share, which is often referenced in Scripture as water, that we shared a relationship that was stronger than blood, that we shared a relationship that was more connected than blood relation.

You know, as we've looked at this series of messages on the themes from the United Youth Camp, we've examined God's Word as the foundation upon which our lives are built. We started by examining that there is one source, and one source only, for the information about how we are to live our lives. What if God gives us that foundation? We see within that the way that we live, based on the Word that we see. And we see that we're building our lives on that foundation, contained within as essential. As we build our lives on that rock, and we continue to build our foundation through study, spiritual growth, we examine the importance of choosing God's blessings, making sure that, you know, we recognize God doesn't make the decisions for us and kind of kick us through the door that opens. You know, the door is open and you go, all right, which one am I going to take? You know, which one is the option? Which one do I go through? He provides the situations oftentimes where we have to make a choice, we have to make a decision. And that decision ultimately shows Him where we stand. We talked about how the decisions of our life, the choices that we make, tell the story of where our heart really lies, and how when we make certain decisions, it does show God where we stand. It shows Him where we are and where we're at in the process. Even sometimes those seemingly small and insignificant choices, the little compromises that we might make, can have far-reaching and just devastating circumstances. Sometimes they can undermine that foundation, dig it right up underneath us. In the last message, part three, we examined how our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion ready to devour and destroy, that He is looking for any little weakness in our armor, that He's looking for easy prey, those that are weak and those that are struggling or those that become separated from the herd, so to speak. We examined the attitudes of Satan broadcasts, and that we ultimately pick up on all too easily pride, gossip, lying, and the consequences of those attitudes in our life. Today's message, based on the fourth Christian living theme that we had in the United Youth Camp program, is building godly relationships. And it naturally builds off of the first three, because for us to build godly relationships with God and with our fellow man, it requires us to have a proper foundation in our life. It requires us to make the right kind of choices. And it requires us to resist the attitudes and the character traits of our adversary that undermine those relationships with God and with our fellow man. Until those three things are in place, then and only then can we begin to establish good, solid, godly relationships, both with God and with our fellow man.

Today we're going to take the time to examine the importance of building those relationships. The title for the message today is Guided by God's Word, Part 4, almost done. Water is thicker than blood. If you'd start...let's go ahead and turn over to John 14 to get started today. John 14...we read through this passage, most of you probably do, sitting, waiting to take the Passover. This is one of those sections that we tend to read through John 14. One of those sections we tend to read through in that this particular conversation was taking place as the meal was coming to a close or shortly thereafter. This is one of those conversations that is taking place in the aftermath, maybe not the right term, but the aftermath of the dinner itself and the revelation of what was going to be coming soon. In the beginning section of this particular passage, Christ asked His disciples, Do you not believe that the Father is in me? Do you not believe that the Father is in me, or that I am in the Father? That we are unified in this way? You know, the words that are spoken through me, Christ says, are spoken by the Father. They're His words. Do you not believe this most fundamental of concepts? That the power of the Father in Him was what enabled the great works that He did. We'll pick it up in verse 20 of John 14. John 14 and verse 20. It says, At that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judas, very clear here, not Iscariot, I love that forenthecy, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, we will come unto him and make our abode, as some translations put it, with him. The Greek word here for abode is the word mane, like the painter, which translates from mano, which is to stay, to abide, to continue to dwell, or to be present. He's saying, If any man loves me, he will keep my word, my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and abide, continue, dwell, or be present with him, that they will make a place of staying, that they'll make a home. There are numerous other places that reference this concept. There's a number of other places that reference the concept. 1 Corinthians 6, verses 19-20, and you can jot these down. We're not going to turn there for the sake of time. 1 Corinthians 6, 19-20 tells us that our body is a temple where the Holy Spirit resides, where it lives. 1 John 4, and verse 4 tells us that He who is in us is greater than He who is in the world. But He who is in us is greater than He who is in the world. 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5 very specifically says that Jesus Christ is greater than He who is in the world. He says that Jesus Christ is in you. Jesus Christ is in you. And for the last one, rather than simply reference it, let's turn there. Let's go to Romans 8. Romans 8. Romans 8. We'll see the words of the Apostle Paul here as he references this basic concept. Just knocked the water over. I'm so glad this was not open. It would have been a really terrible mess.

Okay. So Romans 8. Pardon me. And we'll pick it up in verse 9. Romans 8 and verse 9. Romans 8 and verse 9, we'll read to verse 11, says, But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Verse 11. But if the Spirit of him, if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Who raised Christ from the dead? God the Father, right? God the Father. Jesus didn't raise himself. He didn't raise himself. Jesus and the Father are one. The word was God. Okay, they are. But when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us on earth as Messiah, and God became a Father, the Father raised his Son from the dead. So when Romans 8 says that the Spirit of him that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, it is speaking of the Father in that particular spot. That's one of those places where both are very specifically mentioned, and Scripture is clear. The Spirit of the Father and Jesus Christ, as we saw in 2 Corinthians 13, dwells in us. Their essence is in us. The Holy Spirit is not a separate entity. It's not a third person in the Godhead. It is the essence of God. The Father and Jesus Christ are Spirit. The Father and Jesus Christ are Holy. The Holy Spirit in our lives is their direct presence dwelling within us. It's generated from them. After we make a commitment to God to live this way of life in baptism, and he grants that presence in our life, we become an earthly temple for that presence. We become a reservoir, so to speak. As believers, we are more closely related and connected to one another by the Spirit of God dwelling in us than we are through our own blood. Through own blood relations. For example, I have members of my own blood family, cousins, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, who are blood relatives. We share DNA. I am more genetically similar to them than I am to any of you. Yet I feel a closer connection with all of you than I do with them, simply because we understand the same things. We've had the same truth revealed to us. We've received the same Holy Spirit. Despite that genetic connection, despite that blood, that connection is stronger with others in the church than it is with people in our own family. Christ provided us with this example in a way in his earthly ministry. Let's turn over to Matthew 12. Matthew 12. Matthew 12. We'll go to verse 46. We'll get there fast so I can take a drink of water. Probably I'm not continuing to turn. Thank you, by the way. Whoever puts these up here. Matthew 12, verse 46.

Those of us who share a common bond of faith are brothers and sisters. We recognize that. We've said that before. Brothers and sisters in Christ. Christ gave them priority in this particular situation, those who did the will of his father, over his own blood. He was making a point. He was making a point. But this shows us an example where water was thicker than blood. Some of us are connected by both blood and spirit, which is an incredible blessing. It's such an incredible blessing because it's a far more superior connection. Blood and spirit is a very solid connection. My own family, there's only two. My mom and my sister and I, that's it. I guess that's three, technically. But two for me, that's how my math works out. That's how one plus one is three. But it's common core math. It's fine. I'm kidding. That was... Sorry. But my mom and my sister and I share both the blood and the spiritual connection. Many of you are blessed to have far more than that in your families. Many of you have four, five, six people that are even more, dozens maybe, that have had the truth revealed to them and are related to you as well. In addition to that, I'm also very blessed to share a marital and a spiritual connection with my spouse, which is a degree of unity that would not be possible without that common faith. God's Holy Spirit dwelling in us makes us brothers and sisters. It makes us an interconnected family of believers. And in our life, yielding to that spirit enables us to do certain things. Yielding to it, listening to God's lead in our life, allows us to love others. It allows us to have joy, to have patience, to be kind, to be good, to be faithful, to exhibit self-control. When we don't yield ourselves to that lead, however, and we act carnally, things such as hatred, depression, impatience, meanness... I couldn't come up with a better word for the opposite of good. Meanness, sorry. Unkindness, lack of faith, lack of self-control are present. When we are following the carnal lead, those are the things that are in our life. Those are the things that we see, the fruits that we see. When you think of what sorts of characteristics allow somebody to build a good, solid, godly relationship out of the former or the latter, is it door number one or door number two? It's the former. It's the former. Think about people that you know who act with hatred, with depression, with impatience, meanness and unkindness, lack of faith. Do you want to be around them? Of course not. Of course not. Because you walk away from an interaction with those kind of people just feeling worse than when you went in. Building godly relationships requires a person who exhibits godly character, and godly character is derived from the indwelling of the Spirit of God in our lives. The scope of Matthew 22, we're already close, Matthew 22. And we'll see Christ's words to the Pharisees as they test them. The Sadducees had already been handily dealt with and sent away. Now the Pharisees stepped up to bat. Matthew 22, and we'll kind of take a look at this example, it's verse 36 where the Pharisees kind of take their turn at something messiah, see if they can pull it off or the Sadducees couldn't. But picking up the account in verse 36, they ask Christ, teacher, what is the great commandment in the law? You know, thinking that, I don't know, maybe they might be able to trip him up or get him to say something that was wrong, that they could then bring an accusation against him by baiting him into a legal discussion. They weren't asking sincerely. Verse 35 states the purpose of the question was to tempt him. You know, they were trying to trip him up. It wasn't necessarily an innocent question, though they got a really solid answer.

Verse 37, Jesus said to them, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On all these two commandments, I apologize, hang all the law and the prophets. Now, a lot of people have read that and said, sweet! I don't have to keep the Sabbath anymore. I can do this, I can do that. Well, we recognize this is kind of a grouping of sections of this. One of them shows, you know, the first grouping shows how to love God, the second grouping shows how to love your neighbor. But God's intent for us as humans to satisfy the law is to love God with all of our hearts, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to focus on those two very important relationships in our life. The first one being our relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. Secondly, our relationship with everybody else, not just the people we get along with, not just the people we like, but with everybody else. And these are two sets of Godly relationships that we're expected to develop in this physical life. This is the finite amount of time that we've got, and we don't know how much time that is. You know, I could drop dead tomorrow. I don't know. I have no idea. That's why it's so important for us to learn it as soon as possible. Because you hate to have that happen, where you put it off, put it off, put it off, put it off, and then down you go, you know.

I mentioned earlier that we're like a reservoir for the Holy Spirit. You know, that's God's presence in our life that grants us this. When we ask God in prayer to provide us with more of His Spirit, sometimes we ask for a double helping, or we ask for more of His Spirit or the ability to discern it, what we're asking for is a greater presence of Him in our lives. That's really what we're asking for. Provide me with a greater presence of you in my life.

Which also means, when we ignore its promptings, we're ignoring His direction.

We're ignoring His direction in our lives. Our relationship with God is absolutely essential. It is the relationship of a father and a child. He's calling the shots. We are subservient. We're not in control. We're not in control. We submit ourselves to His will.

We listen to His direction. We don't negotiate. We don't... Okay, yes, we do. We shouldn't, but we do. We negotiate. We throw tantrums. We argue, sometimes, maybe.

We shouldn't, but we might. God's in charge. We're not. It all begins by accepting that supposition. Now, do we argue? Do we throw tantrums? Sure. Have I? I'd be lying to you if I told you I hadn't. I try not to. I try to listen to that prompting. I try to do what I hear God telling me to do. But there are times where I've fought it. I've argued it. I don't know if I've thrown a tantrum. I don't know if I've fallen down and beaten on the ground and... I don't know about that. But, you know, there are times where sometimes the things that it seems like God's asking us to do just aren't fair. It'll seem fair to us.

It's just our human perception. But sometimes it feels that way. You know, we're doing a parenting class in the third Sabbath. We're doing Love and Logic. And I hope I'm not going to give away something to the kids. This is not one of those, like, key learnings, hopefully, that I'm not going to end up giving away to the kids. We'll find out. But I'm going to take just a second to read a short passage from the parenting workbook that we're going through.

And some of you may be familiar with Love and Logic. Some of you are in the class. I missed the last class. I was in Ben, but I've been catching up on my reading to make sure that I get it. But I want to read just this short little section for you here real quick. It's on page eight, and it's paragraphs one through three. So if you have the book, you can reference it and make sure that I'm not telling you stories. Page eight, paragraph one through three. Under the section of putting an end to arguing, backtalk and begging.

Okay. Page five. I'm almost there. Sorry. Okay. Page eight, paragraph one through three. Under the heading, the importance of relationship. Have you ever disappointed someone you loved dearly? Someone who believed in you? Someone who always saw the best in you? If you're like most people, the feeling is crushing. The closer we feel to another person, the more devastated we feel when we do something that they disapprove of. Have you ever disappointed somebody you don't really care for? Someone who disliked you? Someone who maybe saw only the worst in you?

While the most conscientious of us still feel a little bit bad, the feeling is, well, just not quite as upsetting. When relationships are sour, it's far easier to blame the other person than to accept complete responsibility for our actions. Brethren, do we feel devastated when we sin? Do we feel devastated?

When we fall short, when we do something that God disapproves of, do we feel devastated? Are we tore up by it? I mean, I'm not getting at an unhealthy devastation. I'm not getting at an unhealthy level of devastation. But do we feel bad? Do we have guilt? Does it bring us to repentance? Or is it something that we rationalize, something that we accept, or worse yet, become numb to, or even blab God for? I would posit that if we do not feel something when we fall short, then the relationship that we have with God needs some serious, serious work.

Serious work. The paragraph mentioned that if we let someone down that we don't really care about all that much, it doesn't feel bad. It doesn't feel bad to us. We're almost not even concerned about it. Are we there in our relationship with God? I hope not. Just a little bit up from the passage that we left off in Matthew 7, verse 21. You go to Matthew 7, verse 21, just a little bit back. Matthew 7 and verse 21. I can help if I went the right direction in my own Bible. It turns out it's that way, not that way.

Matthew 7 and verse 21 contains a situation that we can't afford to fall into the trap of. It contains a situation we can't afford to fall into the trap of. Matthew 7 and verse 21 says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But again, we see this mention of He who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? Have we not cast out demons in Your name? Have we not done many wonders in Your name? Verse 23, and then I'll declare to them, I never knew You. Depart from me You who practice lawlessness. And we can't afford to fall into the trap of believing that we have a stronger relationship with our Father than we really do. While we shouldn't be self-deprecating, we should be realistic. You know, are there things that we're doing? Are there things that we're doing in our life where we're checking off the list, so to speak, that are making us think that we're doing better than we really are?

And I pick on this concept a lot. I do pick on this concept a lot, this idea of a checklist. But I think it's really important. I was born into the Church. I recently turned 36. I have been living this way of life, not perfectly, mind you, but I have been living this way of life to working through the process and trying to do what I can for the last 36 years.

You know, I can hang my hat on the last 36 years and say, I've done it! I've kept this, I've kept that, I've done this, check, check, check, check.

I can hang my hat on that 36 years and say, I've done it! I've kept this habit, I've kept the feast, and I'll just keep doing those things. And so I'm in! I'm good!

But I think God is asking the question of us all, Yeah, but what have you done for me lately? What have you done for me lately?

The checkbox isn't enough. It's not enough.

God expects that our attitudes are going to improve, that at our core we are going to change and we are going to grow in godly character.

And frankly, if we're not growing in faith and if we're not growing in love and if we're not growing in character, brethren, we're missing the point. We're missing the point of this entire existence.

The goal is to grow. The goal is to progress forward.

You know, the men in this passage that we saw up here in Matthew 7, they were wearing their hats on their works. They said, hey, we've done this, we've done this, we've done this. Haven't we done it? I mean, we're good, right? Everything's cool, isn't it? Christ said, get out of here. I never knew you. Away from me. Depart.

The relationship that we develop with God is absolutely essential. It's absolutely essential. Keeping His commandments is an important component of that. And I don't want to diminish that in the least bit. It's essential. But if it's done the wrong way, it isn't enough. If it's done in the form of a checklist, if it's done in a, I have to do this.

It's not enough. We have to be actively working each and every day to build a relationship with God. Notice the words, develop, build. This isn't an overnight thing.

This isn't an overnight thing, right?

Can we build a solid relationship with somebody overnight? Can it be a short-term thing where we can just decide, well, we're going to have a better relationship now?

The process can start overnight, but it's a long process.

It takes work. It takes time. And it's noteworthy to mention it's never too late to rebuild if the relationship is suffering.

If you are truly desiring to rebuild, it can always be redone.

Many of you have social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat. Making dog faces and stuff on Snapchat. And a lot of us have friends on these platforms. Friends, quote-unquote, on these platforms. How many of them that are on these platforms are truly friends versus acquaintances?

Now, I don't mean that in the wrong way. I don't mean that like, you're going to go home and look at your friends and say, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, and just start clearing things out and then end up with the five people that you know really, really well. That's not the point of what I'm trying to say.

But what I am trying to say is, how many people on those platforms do you feel like you could open up your innermost self to?

I'd venture a guess that it's half a dozen or less.

I would venture a guess that it's half a dozen or less. That you could truly open up your innermost self to.

Our relationships in today's day and age tend to be pretty superficial.

You know, and it's not a bad thing to know so many people. It's not. It's really cool. It's neat to be able to keep in touch, especially with church brethren.

I mean, we're still scattered these days. It's really cool to be able to keep in touch with people.

But what the Internet has done, the connectivity of the Internet has allowed us to know a great breadth of people.

Like, know tons and tons of people, but not really to a degree of depth.

Not really to a degree of depth. It's very shallow and superficial in many ways.

Our Father doesn't want a superficial, hey, how's it going in relationship with us?

And He's our Father. He wants to relate to us as a Father does to a child. He desires that we're going to open up to Him, that we're going to draw near to Him, that we're going to follow Him and His lead.

Again, that takes time and it takes effort. And it requires God to be a priority in our lives, not just the one that we turn to when things go wrong.

He desires that we will get to know Him, that we will understand what He expects of us.

When we build a solid relationship with God, His presence in our life increases.

When His presence in our life increases, our ability to utilize that Spirit to work with others increases.

Let's go to John 7. John 7, verse 37.

Mark 7. Mark 7. John 7. Sorry. Don't go to Mark.

John 7. And we'll pick it up in verse 37. John 7. And verse 37.

John 7, verse 37 says, On that last day, or on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and He cried out, saying, If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Not trickles of living water, not drips of living water, not small creeks and brooks of living water. Rivers.

Coarsing rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. When the presence of God is overflowing in our lives, that reservoir is filled to overflowing too. And we have the ability to have the Spirit of God flow out of us like a gushing river, just pouring out of us to those around us.

But if we don't continually refill that reservoir, if we don't keep going back, just like Detroit drove by it last week, it's getting a little low. It's starting to fill back up, but it was a little low after the summertime. That reservoir comes down. If we're not returning for replenishment, our ability to share those fruits and our ability to do good works like that diminish.

If it's diminished significantly enough, the Holy Spirit may come out of us like a trickle or a drip or not at all.

It's then that we struggle to remain patient, to love others, to be kind. And frankly, it's a sign that we need to spend more time with our Father building that relationship, strengthening that presence. Galatian 5 should serve as a litmus test in a way to our spiritual condition. You guys know what litmus tests are, right? There's little papers where you could test pH, essentially. It should serve as a litmus test to our spiritual condition. Because if we're not outwardly demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit, the second of the relationships mentioned in Matthew 22 are really difficult to maintain. Loving others is really difficult to do if the first relationship is not solid.

There's a parallel concept to Matthew 22. It's in Matthew 7. Come back just a little bit here to Matthew 7. I should have had you keep a bookmark in there or something. I apologize. Matthew 7. And we're going to pick it up in verse 12. This is essentially the same thing, but in just a slightly different manner. You may have heard this as a kid. Matthew 7 and verse 12 says, Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. I won't ask for a show of hands, but how many of you heard that from your parents growing up? Yeah, me too. Yeah, I did as well. We call that the golden rule today. Sometimes we jokingly say, He with the gold makes the rules. This is a totally different version of the golden rule. That's a lot more apropos these days, it seems. But the reality is, we treat others with love, we treat others with kindness, and we treat others with respect, because that's how we want to be treated in return. And when we love one another, and when we illustrate that love for others, it's beneficial. I'm going to bring this up here. I don't know if my kid's actually listening right now or not. My son, Aiden, drew this for me, probably closer than nine months ago. For those of you who can't see it, I'll explain it here in just a second. It's been sitting on my file cabinet next to my desk, magnified to my desk, ever since, just waiting for a chance to use it. He drew up this little graphic organizer. On one side it says, Good. On the other side it says, Evil. On one side it says, Love. And then the other side says, Hatred. That might be about the only word on here you can read as Love and Hatred, as large as the lettering is.

On one side it says, It's a heart, and it's got another person saying, You know, I hate you. It says, God's side, Satan's side, powerful, weak. And he told me when he gave this to me, he said, This is my sermon. And he said, He really wanted me to give it. He wanted me to give it. And over the last nine months, he's continued to ask, What are you going to give my sermon? And I told him, Be patient, son. It has to be the right time. It has to be the right time. Be patient. I wasn't putting it off. It does truly require the right time, as God inspires various topics in your mind. But that time is today. The time is today, as a component of this particular message, because it just fits so well. Brethren, would you take a second and look around the room, please? And not just glance, but look around the room, behind you, in front of you, to the side.

These individuals sitting next to you receive the Spirit of God at baptism too. Now, it's possible that it's been nourished. It's possible that it hasn't been nourished as strongly. But ultimately, that's not up to you to decide. The individuals sitting behind you, sitting in front of you, sitting to the side of you, because of the presence of God's Spirit in their life, you have a connection that supersedes familial boundaries. Because of that Holy Spirit being a begettle into the family of God, and because all family connections, all national boundaries, etc. are going to be broken down during the Kingdom, you are more closely connected to the person sitting next to you than you are to your own family. You are more closely related to our brethren in Nigeria, in Zambia, in Malawi, in Mozambique, in Europe, Australia, and South America, than you are to the people that you share DNA with. Brethren, our relationship with one another should be stronger than it is with anyone else. With anyone else, we share a common familial bond, a sort of spiritual DNA, if you will. It connects us. Our national and familial boundaries in the scope of eternity mean nothing. Wotardal liked, it would be cool to meet the guy someday, but when it happens, we are not family at that point. We might have been at one point in time, but things change when that Kingdom kicks in. Yet when we take a look at our track record in the Church, and how we have treated one another for so many years, as a whole, have we treated one another with love, with respect, with kindness, with patience, with self-control? To be honest, you could make the argument that we've done a pretty decent job of persecuting one another from within, to be perfectly frank, as time has gone on. None of us want to see these kinds of things happen. None of us want to be a part of it, but they do happen. And sadly, sometimes we're complicit. I've been complicit. Sometimes we're complicit. The reality is, if we continue to struggle to have relationships in the Church, how difficult is it going to be to build relationships with those outside of the Church? If we struggle to get along with those who agree with us, how much more are those that do not? When we have situations, or we have issues that come up, when we respond to someone on an issue, we have two options.

We can respond in love, or not. That's really the option. That's why I brought this in today. From the mouth of a nine-year-old, you can respond in love, or not.

Light side, or dark side. Rebels, or empire. No, I'm kidding. Probably a little too far there with the Star Wars reference, but, you know, it's like we said when we talked about choosing God's blessing in the second message. Our response to a situation illustrates our choice, and it tells the story of our heart, and really, where it lies. If our belief is known, it leaves a lasting impression on the person who we've responded to, of whom we serve. If people that we work with, for example, know that we're a Christian, that we leave for the Feast of Tabernacles, that we meet on Saturday, that we do this and this and this, and then at work, boy, we have some times when we're out of control, or we say something we're not supposed to say, or whatever else. What impression are we sending? What impression are we sending? When someone offends us or engages us on a topic, how do we respond? Do we respond in a godly way, or do we respond carnally? Do we respond in kind? Do we come right back at them? Because, oh, I'm not going to let this go. Or do we respond with patience, love, and respect? Do we inflame the argument? Do we stir it up? Do we quarrel? James 4 talks about where these things come from. Let's go ahead and go over to James 4. We go here all the time, so we won't spend a ton of time there. James 4 and verse 1. James 4 and verse 1, tucked in there behind Hebrews. James 4 and verse 1 says, Where come wars, or where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have, you murder and covet and cannot obtain, you fight and you war, yet you do not have, because you do not ask. Lust, kill, covet, fight, war. Are some of the action words that are used in just those two passages? Are these godly characteristics? Are these godly characteristics? Are these the kind of things that come from the Spirit of God dwelling within us? Of course not. Of course not. First John 4 and verse 4. We quoted it earlier, we referenced it, we didn't turn there. But First John 4 and verse 4. First John 4 and verse 4. First John 4 verse 4 says, You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world, therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us, he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error. Verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested towards us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. It is another of those places where we see both God and Christ referenced in Scripture. John recognized that the love of God was a hallmark of those who profess to believe in Jesus Christ. That they would allow themselves to be led, to give to others, to help others, to be encouraging, not to backbite, not to discourage or to snap at one another, not be quarrelsome. That they'd be willing to lay down one's life for their friends, as he states in John 15.

He makes the statement in 1 John 4, verse 8, that God is love. Which means that any characteristics which come from us that are not loving, rather by definition, not from God. By definition, they are our carnal nature, winning out over God's Spirit in our life. He makes the point that God loved us so much that he sacrificed his only son, echoing his words in John 3, verse 16. That Christ was to be the propitiation for our sins, and that if God so loved us, then we ought to love one another. And, of course, we say, but it's hard! But they're rude! But they don't want to reconcile! But, but, but... Brother, that's our carnality talking.

That's our carnality talking. If we're yielding ourselves to the Spirit of God, if we're allowing Him to lead us, yielding our carnal human nature, and allowing those fruits of the Spirit to flow from us, peace, love, and joy will be the result. That doesn't mean that nothing difficult will ever happen. We have no control over other people. We have no control over other people. We can pray about it. The only person that we have control over is ourselves, and the way that we respond, and our character in that situation.

As ambassadors for our Father on this earth, what side are we on?

How will we represent Him and our interactions with others? Will we yield ourselves to His Spirit?

You know, if our relationship with our Father is lacking, so too will our relationship with others.

I'm going to give you a piece of homework. I apologize, as we kind of wrap things up today. You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but it's tough to take the classroom out of the teacher. But please, don't worry. I'm going to do it, too. So I'm going to give us just a little bit of homework today. As this week progresses, be mindful of your responses to situations.

Think about, how have I responded? Where is my heart at right now? Am I yielding to the carnality, or am I yielding to God's will in my life?

Usulations 5 is the litmus test. Are the fruits of Spirit present? Are they present? Are they not? Are we responding to the situations in love? And if not, if you find by the middle of the week that the litmus test says no, dedicate additional time to focusing on rebuilding that relationship with God. Ask for the things you might be missing.

Because if we struggle to build good, godly relationships with our spiritual family, or with our father, I apologize, we'll struggle to build them with our spiritual family.

Water is thicker than blood. You are more closely related to the people in this room, in all the ways that even matter, than you are to your own family.

Building good, solid, godly relationships, both with God and with our fellow man, is a Biblical mandate. It is a Biblical mandate. Brethren, let's get to work on it.