How Does God View You?

Have you ever just stopped and asked yourself, what does God think of me? Sometimes I just stop and ask myself, what does God think about what I'm doing right now? And what does He think about me? What is your opinion of me, my Father in Heaven?

And sometimes, well, what do you think about what I'm doing right at this moment? Is this the right thing to do? In today's world, they now have scanners at the airports that present you naked and bare before the screener. They can determine whether or not you're carrying any kind of hardware, any kind of weaponry. So you have, on the other hand, in the medical field, their actuator machines, MRI devices, scanners that allows man to look on the inside of your physical body, and they can examine various aspects of your skeletal, muscular, and your nerve system. But none of these can really read the motive and intents of your heart and mind.

God is not as interested in the physical as he is interested in the thoughts and intents of the heart, because as a man, a thinketh, so is he.

And it's the things that come out of the heart that really make or break a person. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 4 and note there a lot of people spend a lot of money, and I'm not saying you should never go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but the Word of God is the place that you can go to really be able to examine your innermost being and to get an idea of what God thinks of you, what God thinks of me. What is his opinion of me? What is his opinion of you? What he says about you or I is that each one of us is his friend, that he really knows us, that he can really count on us.

In Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, that of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Now, unlike the machines they may have at the airport that screens you to determine whether or not you have some kind of weapon or whatever devices the medical field might have to be able to look internally into your body, none of these can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Verse 13, Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. So there is nothing that we can hide from God, either in our innermost being, in our hearts and our minds, or on our physical person, on our physical being. You cannot hide anything from God, spiritually or physically. He knows each one of us inside out. Scientists are feverishly working on various devices, and I read recently that they think they now are very close to having such a device ready for implementation, maybe at airports, that would read the mind.

They would, the machines would be able to pick up the neurological responses, the emotions, and how a person is responding before they ever able to board an aircraft and come eventually to the point where you would read the mind of a person. We're rapidly going toward George Orwell's Brave New World, in which Big Brother virtually controls everything, not just the physical, but also one of the goals is to control thinking. And thereby, if you control thinking, you remember that thought is a precursor of action, and action is a precursor of habit, and eventually habit is what you become or set your character.

You know that God states in Genesis 11.6 that nothing will be restrained from them which they imagine to do. Surely the world is returning to Babylon, where the nations are being melded together, and we now have the technology with virtually instant communication around the world through computers and various other electronic devices connected to satellites and satellite transmission. But you know, I don't believe that they will ever come to the point that they can control the mind and heart of a true believer, one who is really founded and anchored in the Word of God.

But our question today is, what does God think of me personally and individually? Now, let's note, first of all, how aware God is of each one of us. Let's go to Psalm 139. How aware is God of each one of us?

Now, grace has to do with divine favor. Grace has to do with God's love, care, and concern for His creation. You know, it talks about in Matthew 6 how that, why take an anxious stock for the morrow? And it talks about the lilies of the field, how that God takes care of them, and He clothes them in their beauty and splendor. So how aware of us is God? In Psalm 139, in verse 14, Psalm 139, verse 14, I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and through medical research we're coming more and more to understand how fearfully and wonderfully made we really are. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows right well. My substance was not hid from you when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect, and in your book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. Of course, God had planned out what humankind was going to look like, and He made human beings in His own image. How precious also are your thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! So sometimes we might wonder, well, is the so-and-so that I used to know, do they ever think of me, and do you ever think of them? And of course, we have been experiencing some of that in the past year and a half, as we have located here, and we have friends that we have had in other places, and the first few months they write and you write or you call and they call, and those thoughts are somewhat refurbished. And then eventually it just sort of fades away. But with God, it never fades away. His thoughts, how great are the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with you. Now to Luke 12 and verse 4. So God had a plan when He made human beings. Our parts were numbered in His book before we ever came into existence. He knew what He was doing. He made us in His own image. He ever thinks of us. You can wonder, does anybody ever think about me? Well, God says He thinks about you. In Luke 12 and verse 4.

And I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body. And after that, they have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you, whom you shall fear. Fear Him, which has the power, which after He had killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I say unto you, fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for too far things? Not one of them is forgotten before God. And in other places, it says, not even a sparrow falls to the ground unless God is aware of it. So God is aware of His creation from the plant kingdom to the animal kingdom and to human beings, those who are potential heirs of salvation. But even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. Also, I say unto you, whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God. But he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

So God is very aware of us. He's aware of us at all times. Let's look at one other place here. In Hebrews 13 verse 5. So we're seeing here that God's thoughts are toward us, that not even a sparrow falls to the ground unless He's aware of it. You're of much more value than sparrows. Even the hairs on our head are numbered. And here we see in Hebrews 13.5, Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Of course, loneliness, they are coming to see more and more as one of the great afflictions of modern times, even with people who may be surrounded with what ostensibly may be close friends or family members. Yet, there is an emptiness that seems within the soul of modern men that cannot be filled. And one of the reasons for that, they no longer have the anchors of the soul and the kind of spiritual life that they really should have based on their relationship with God and Christ and the Word of God and each member of the body of Christ. Verse 6, So that you may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man can do to me. But sadly, in our world, we tend to be more fearful of what man can do to us than what God can do. And ironically, we oftentimes are more interested in pleasing man than we are in pleasing God. Let's notice Acts 5 and verse 29. The first several chapters of Acts, especially up to chapter 8, fill with the early deeds and acts of the apostles as they began to preach boldly in the environs of Jerusalem and received great persecution from the various Jewish sects that were in that area, and especially the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. And sometimes they were beaten and actually they wanted to kill them. In Acts 5, 29, in the midst of this, then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men.

It's always been so amazing to me that people seem to be far more interested in what men think about them than what God thinks about them. So, once again, today we're asking, what do you think God thinks about you? And I ask myself the same question. What does he think about me? What is his opinion of me? You know, you can fool people to some degree as to what you think about them. However, if you're really a discerner of the spirits and so on, you'll be able to pick up vibes as to what people really think about you. And oftentimes, the perception that people have of you is totally wrong. You're not that way at all. But for them, that's the way you are. And as stated earlier, people will do all kinds of things to look good in the eyes of others, even if it means disobeying God. But with God, he really knows what you are. I mean, you can't... there are no pretenses, there are no put-ons with God. As we read from Hebrews 4-6, everything is very naked before his eyes. God is more interested in what we are becoming than he is in what we are doing, per se. God is more interested in us being good than in looking good. And trying to look good in the eyes of others is one of the great identifying signs of the Pharisees. Let's go to Matthew 23. Now, of course, to try to please others and do things in the right way to love your neighbors yourself, what we'll get to a little bit later is one of the ways that God develops his opinion of us. But to do things so that men will give you praise is something else. So, one of the great identifying signs of the Pharisees is trying to look good on the outside and trying to impress others. Matthew 23-24. You blind guides which strain at a net and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. You blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Now, there are two main ways that God forms His opinion of us, and it's really the two great commandments. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. The second is like unto it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And, as it says, on these two hang all the law and the prophets. Now, these two great commandments cannot be observed in isolation. In other words, you can't really love God with all your heart, mind, and soul without loving your neighbor. And you can't truly love your neighbor unless you love God and understand how to love your neighbor. So, in that sense, they are reciprocals. You cannot observe one without observing the other. But there are a lot of people who think that they can just serve God and, you know, to blank with everybody else. I'm serving God.

You know, we can't play games with God. He knows what you think about Him, and He knows what you think about your brothers and sisters, your brothers and sisters in Christ, for that matter, people in the world. Let's notice Zechariah 7, verse 9. Zechariah 7, verse 9.

Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Zechariah 7.

We read this area the other day when we spoke on judgment, mercy, and faith. We'll have more about judgment, mercy, and faith today, trying to reinforce. In Zechariah 7, verse 9, Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, show mercy and compassion, every man to his brother. Oppress not the widow, nor the fathers, the stranger, nor the poor, and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

But they refused to hearken, pulled away the shoulder, stopped their ears, and they should not hear. They made their hearts as adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent in his spirit. How did he send it? By his former prophets. So we sing the song occasionally. God speaks to us by his great hand we're led. And so if a minister is truly preaching the Word of God, you know, one of the things that you as a minister, you get sometimes quite discouraged. And one of my sayings has been, if preaching would save the world, we should have been saved a long time ago. Because a lot of words go out. But how much heed do we really take to it? You'll go on down to verse 14, and it'll tell you that because they didn't do this, they didn't exercise judgment, mercy, and faith. And they did imagine evil in their hearts against their neighbor. And they did oppress the widow and the fatherless. They went into captivity. And once again, we cannot play games with God. Let's notice further on this in 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4 and verse 20. And what we're talking about here now is one of the ways that God forms his opinion of us and what he thinks about us is based on the two great commandments. I hope I'm making this clear that these are reciprocal. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Remember what I said, you cannot love God with all your heart, mind, and soul unless you love your neighbor. And you can't love your neighbor as you should unless you love God. And they go hand in glove. And I think we'll see this very clearly here from 1 John 4 and starting in verse 20 when we frame it in that context. 1 John 4 verse 20. If a man say, I love God, so you remember we shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. If a man say, I love God, well, you say, you're doing that. If you say that, if you think you're doing that, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he that loves not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him that he who loves God loves his brother also. So it's a reciprocal. He who loves God loves his brother. He who loves his brother loves God. And thereby is one of the main ways that God forms his opinion of us, of what he thinks about us. And one of the main ways, and one of the main criterion, whereby we're being judged. Continuing, whosoever believes that Jesus Christ is begotten of God, Ganau, and everyone that loves him that begat, Ganau, loves him also, that is, Ganau, begotten of him. So, if you believe that Christ is born of begotten of God, so everyone that loves him that begats, loves him that also is begotten. That would be each one of us if we have God's Spirit. For this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we should keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. So, one of the main ways he forms his opinion of us has to do with these reciprocals of loving God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

You can diligently perform the letter of the law in several aspects of your life, and yet fail because of your relationship with others. Let's go to Matthew 23, 23 once again. We spent some time with this when we gave the sermon on judgment, mercy, and faith a couple of weeks ago, I guess it was, two or three, in Matthew 23, verse 23.

Woe are you scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, for you pay tithe of men and is incumbent. So that's the physical thing. That's the outward thing. You're supposed to do that, but that's not the weightier matter. And if omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith, these ought you to have done, that is, to pay the tithe of men and is incumbent, and not leave the other undone, that is, judgment, mercy, and faith. The exercising of judgment, mercy, and faith is in the spiritual and relational domain of our being. Say it again, it's in the spiritual and relational domain of our being. Judgment, mercy, and faith is exercised, first of all, before God in Christ, and secondly, with your neighbor, and it really goes back once again to these two great commandments. You have to have a usual love, the Lord your God, with all your heart, mind, and soul, and your neighbor as yourself. The Bible is beautifully woven together in a beautiful, seamless tapestry. And you put it all together, and it is just airtight.

There are really no holes in that tapestry. That's why it's called the weightier matters of the law. They go way beyond the physical do's and don'ts. Now somehow, some way, the members of the body of Christ must move from being corporate Christians to being Christ-centered Christians. Now, I'm not speaking of any kind of leaving an organization or anything like that, but speaking in principle about what God really expects of us. Whether our loyalty is to God and Christ and each member of the body of Christ and keeping the two great commandments, or whether it is on how we look and how we come across to others and how we think that we might be promoted or how we might think we might gain more influence or control or power or anything like that. What does God and Christ really expect of each one of us?

God expects us to lay down our lives one for another.

One of the things I used to tell students at college, it's hard to have a college without students. And it's hard to have a church without the brethren. You talk about the church. What are you talking about? You're talking about the brethren. If you talk about the college or the school, you're talking about the students. Church is just a name. They called out one school. That's where we go to have classes, but it's based on fulfilling the needs of the students. Let's go to 1 John again. 1 John 3 verse 12. I think we shall see this very clearly from the Apostle of Love.

It ties in beautifully here with the sermonette. I say once again, God expects us to lay down our lives one for another, and I preface this with moving from being corporate Christians to Christ-centered Christians in 1 John 3 verse 12.

Not as Cain was of that wicked one and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we pass from death unto life because we love the brethren, and he that loves not his brother abides in death. Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer, and we know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Of course, you could write in the margin there the reference that I would have as Leviticus 19-17, which says, You shall in any wise rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin for him. In other words, you are your brother's keeper. It actually says, and I'm paraphrasing, I didn't get all of it in there, Leviticus 19-17, that you shall not hate your brother in your heart. That's the preface. You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall in any wise rebuke him, and not bear sin for him. And of course, the implication is that if you are not your brother's keeper, you hate him, and then you are a murderer according to John.

Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Which would we do first?

We lay down our lives for some other cause, or lay down our lives for the brethren. Whoso hath his world's goods, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his vows and compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him. My little children let us love not in word only, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and we shall assure our hearts before him. See, God will form an opinion. What's he like? What will he do? Will he fulfill the two great commandments, or will he do something else? For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. You know, if there's that little gnawing, aching thing in there that just, you know, things are not just not right. It's not the way it ought to be. And our heart condemns us. It is very difficult to have peace.

So, some way, somehow, we have to move from being loyal from the wrong cause and love our brethren as Christ gave commandment. How many lives lie in Satan's spiritual junkyard because of our refusal to exercise judgment, mercy, and faith with our brothers and sisters? Oh, we can always say that they are in Satan's spiritual junkyard, and maybe they are, because they didn't do what they should have done. If they'd have done what they should have done, it's none of my responsibility that they're there. They wouldn't be there. But is that what the Bible says? Do we have any responsibility? Let's go to Revelation 3 and verse 11. Pursue that for just a moment. See what the Bible says. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 11.

Message to the church at Philadelphia, and we are reading this verse. Behold, I come quickly, whole fast that which you have, that no man take your crown. Now, there's a warning there. If someone, if the possibility didn't exist that someone was trying to take your crown, why would it be there? Why would that be there? Let no man take your crown. Notice quickly in Matthew 24, where Christ is describing an answer to the apostles' questions. When shall these things be at the end of this age? And you're coming, and Christ gives many answers. But we're looking at this one right here in Matthew 24 and verse 48. Matthew 24 and verse 48. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord, delays his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he's not aware of, and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion, where the hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And now quickly in Matthew 18. Matthew 18 begins, we read this with the blessing of the little children, permit the children to come unto me, and unless you humble yourself as these little children and become converted, you'll not be in the kingdom of God. That's paraphrasing the first two or three verses there in Matthew 18. And then we come to Matthew 18. 7. Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to the man by whom the offense comes. So do we have a responsibility? Have we in any way contributed to the spiritual junkyard, the lives that might be there? In that spiritual junkyard? It's just all their fault. I have anything to do with it. 8. Wherefore, if your hand or your foot offend you, cut them off and cast them from you. Speaking in an analogy, just saying that if there's anything that is offensive, get rid of it. It's better for you to enter into the life halt or maim rather than having two hands or two feet cast into the head of fire. And if your eye offends you, pluck it out, cast it out, and so on. Verse 10. 10. Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you that in heaven there are angels who always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven. For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost. How think you if a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray? He's headed to the spiritual junkyard. Maybe he's already there.

Does he not leave the ninety and nine and go into the mountains and seek that which is gone astray? I would think that virtually everyone in this room could say that we really haven't gone to seek that one which was gone astray. Well, I'm still in the church. It's too bad. They're no longer here. Really sad about that. I didn't really contribute to it in any way, but they're there. And if so be that he find it, barely I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Perhaps we are oftentimes too quick to pass judgment, and people ask me, well, what about so-and-so? Of course, I have those who are near and dear to me, some of whom have been baptized. They seem to have gone to the spiritual junkyard. And could I have done more? I'm sure I could have. And I know that in those situations it is a very tedious kind of thing. Sometimes with fear and trembling, you try to do the best you can. And of course, God is the ultimate judge. But what about God's opinion of you and me? What does he think about you and I in this situation? I believe that there must be change within all of us before we really become approved of God. Another way that God forms his opinion of us is based on how we respond to the trials and the everyday situations of life. Now, there are times in life where you have the great life-and-death trials. You know, Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac. And basically, Abraham didn't ask any question. Isaac said, well, you know, where's the sacrifice? And Abraham said, well, God will provide. And at the last minute he did. But as you read in Hebrews, that Isaac was as good as dead in Abraham's mind, but also received as a figure from the dead in resurrection because Abraham had that kind of faith, trust, and confidence in God. You read about the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. After the statue had been built and they were commanded to bow down and worship the statue when they heard a certain type of music, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to do it. They were cast in the fiery furnace, and God delivered them. You read about Daniel in the lion's den, if you pray to any other God. And Daniel, as his custom was, went up in his place of prayer, turned his face toward Jerusalem, and continued to pray in the same way. And God delivered him. Then you read about situations, other situations. They're not nearly as dramatic. Now, all of these men passed their test, as we would say, with flying colors. Let's look at one in the New Testament here is not nearly as dramatic in John 6. John chapter 6, beginning verse 1.

After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. A great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles, which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples, and the passover of the Feast of the Jews was near. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, this is this is very subtle here, said unto Philip, what shall we buy or where shall we buy bread that these may eat? Where can we get some bread? This he said to prove to test to try him, that is, Philip, for he himself knew what he would do. And of course, in these trials with the apostles, I've talked many times about the four enemies of faith recorded in Matthew account in 6, 8, 12, and 16, anxious care feared out in human reason.

So there are so many situations and circumstances that come about in our daily lives that we don't know for sure. Is this a test? Well, in one sense, everything is a test of whether or not we are going to live by faith and every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. But the apostles, until the day of Pentecost, tended to view basically everything first of all from a physical point of view. Verse 7, Philip answered him, We have two hundred penny worth of bread. It's not sufficient for them that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew Simon, Peter's brother, said unto him, There's a lad here with five barley loaves, two fishes. But what are they among so many? Jesus said, Make the men sit down. And of course, he performed the great miracle.

So one of the ways that God forms his opinions of us, how what he thinks about us, has to do with how we respond to the everyday trials of life. Let's go to Romans 14, verse 7. Romans 14 and verse 7, oftentimes we forget that we're daily standing before the judgment seat of Christ and that which might seem so trivial in one way, so physical, so mundane. And one of the things I've been reminding myself of in recent days is where it says, you know, he that has been faithful over a few things, I will make you, God will reward us accordingly. In Romans 14, verse 7, For none of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself. For whether we live or whether we die unto the Lord, I'm sorry, live unto the Lord, whether we die, we die unto the Lord, whether we live, therefore die, we are the Lord's. I mean, we're God's, either way you want to look at it. If we're in his will in doing what he assess to do, dead or alive. For to this end, Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be the Lord, both of the living and the dead. But why do you judge your brother or why do you set it not your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And as we'll read in just a moment, we are now, judgment is now on the house of God. And God forms his opinion of us and views us and thinks about us according to the way that we respond to not just these great things of casting the fiery furnace into the lion's den, but everyday living. For it is written as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God, so that every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Now we go to 1 Peter 4 and verse 12. We'll see more about this. God forms an opinion of what he really thinks about our character and our being based on our response to trials and difficulties and situations in everyday living.

You know, it would be interesting and I'm sure it would be frightful. They have these reality television programs at the present time in which they go into people's homes and they film and record the actions, conversations of the people throughout the day. And then they air it on television. How would you like it? I don't know if I would like that too well or not. They have that aired. You know, it's fairly easy to take a shower and put on our Sabbath best, as they say, and come to services and to look somewhat normal.

But then it's another matter of what transpired the six days leading up to this. What really happened? What are we really? And of course, all of that is barren naked before God. In 1 Peter 4 verse 12, Beloved, thinking not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you. It's happened to all of them, the very the ones that are most, you would count most faithful, Abraham, the father of the faithful. It has happened throughout history. That is the trying of our faith, which Peter says in chapter one here is more precious than gold tried in the fire. It's not a strange thing. And it's one of the main ways it's in the fiery furnace of life that God really gets to know us. To form his opinion. Is he, she faithful? Can I count on them when the going gets rough? But rejoice in as much as your partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If you be reproach for the name of Christ, happy are you. For the Spirit of glory and of God rest upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. So they may be speaking evil of you and doing bad things to you because you have faith in God, and eventually that will come to pass for some, at some point in time to come. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glory, but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come. The judgment must begin at the house of God, and that judgment has begun for all of us. And if it first began at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him and well-doing as unto a faithful Creator. And it's during some of those times when our song becomes a sweet hour prayer, sweet hour prayer, may I thy consolation share, in which you develop a far stronger bond in relationship with God and Christ, and sometimes with each member of the body of Christ, than you do at any other time. That God is trying to bring us to the point that flesh is crucified and that we totally surrender and submit to the will of God. The Apostle Paul came to this point, and he explains to us how we can also crucify the flesh. Let's go to Romans 7 verse 18. See, one of the difficulties we've already talked about, one of the great signs of Phariseeism is to look good in the eyes of others, but there's something about all of us that we want to maintain a certain outward kind of appearance, and I think that people should have. What about your opinion of yourself?

We ask the question, what does God think about us? What is his opinion of us? Well, what is your opinion of yourself? Are you a negative person? And then when God sees you coming, he knows what's going to follow. It's a series of, Lord, they're doing this or doing that and help me in all the various things that might go with complaining and laying out all of your trials and troubles before him. Of course, he says, call on him in the day of trouble and he will save us. But what about his opinion of us?

And what about your opinion of yourself? Do you view yourself as a person who is negative, positive, in between? I guess a lot of us say, well, I'm a realist. I'm a realist. I'm either negative or positive. I'm really God's man. I'm really with it.

Love your neighbor as yourself. So one of the ways that you develop respect for yourself and a positive opinion of yourself has to do with how well you respond to the Word of God and can you be free from guilt? No man, no woman can pay for their own sins. It is not possible. And no man, no woman can erase sin and erase guilt. But through God and Christ and the grace of God and the sacrifice of Christ and faith in that sacrifice, that pass can be erased. But we have to accept that in faith and act accordingly and to admit, just to admit, as Paul did here in verse 18. We're in Romans 7 verse 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, I'm in chapter 8, Romans 7 verse 18. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing. For to will this present with me and how to perform that which is good, I find not. So we've talked about the old man continually wars against the new man. It's not an excuse for sin, but to explain to you that the battle is going on. But until we can come to say, hey, you know, I know I'm a sinner and I know that there's nothing within me that is worthy of being saved, per se, except that which God creates within me, his holy righteous character. And we let that go, and we truly surrender and submit ourselves unto God. Now, Paul explains this battle that is going on of doing the things he doesn't want to do and not doing the things he ought to do. And then he comes to verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God. In other words, he mortifies the deeds of the flesh, but with the flesh the law of sin. That doesn't mean he acts on the law of the flesh, but rather he mortifies that of the flesh through the mind of the Spirit. And by doing that, of course, God comes to understand, to know us, and to realize, here's one at trust in me.

There's therefore now no condemnation, no judgment to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Yes, that old man is going to war and try to get up out of the baptismal grave. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus had made me free from the law of sin and death. The death penalty is no longer on your head. For what the law could not do. See, as I've told you in recent times, the only religion that really has an answer for the sin problem is Christianity, true Christianity. And there are two aspects of this. One aspect is that your sins from the past can be forgiven, and you can be viewed as sinless. And secondly, you can receive the very nature of God and its resurrection be born into the family of God. Whereas for various other religions, basically it has to do with, if you want to take reincarnation, various cycles, so that you can be purified, or whatever form of Eastern mysticism you want to name, or New Ageism, is basically that kind of cycle of life that has to do with the flesh.

For what the law could not do, and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sinned, condemned sin in the flesh. How so? That he lived in the flesh, and he kept the law, he obeyed it. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

You know, one of the great aspects here of being a Christian is that you can be conformed to the image of his dear Son. Your sins can be forgiven, you can crucify the flesh, you can walk in the Spirit. You don't have to be limited to your own ego and your flesh. Paul said of sinners I am chief. He later writes near the end of his life, you know, I have fought good fight, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, that the Lord shall give to me and to all those who love his appearing.

You can transcend the mundane limits of the flesh. You can be exalted to live in the heavenlies, living with God and Christ in the Spirit even now. Notice Romans 5 verse 20.

Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, so the law defined sin, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. As I said, Christianity gives true Christianity. It gives a remedy for sin, that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness, that through Jesus Christ he kept the law perfectly. He condemned sin in the flesh, that we might also do the same unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin? The grace may abound, God forbid, no way, no how. How shall we that are dead to sin live any more therein? No, you not, as so many as us, as baptized into Christ Jesus, or baptized into his death, therefore we are to crucify the flesh.

So as we see here that we should be able to see that one of the great keys to crucifying the flesh is to come to understand the nature of flesh, surrender our false pride to the will of God. And as we do these things, in summary, we learn to keep the two great commandments, they are reciprocals. You can't love God with all your heart, mind, and soul without loving your neighbor. You can't really love your neighbor as you're supposed to without loving God. And the Bible teaches us how to do that. God forms an opinion of us based on how well we respond to those two great commandments. God also forms an opinion of us regarding how we deal with the great trials of life and everyday situations. We have talked about Abraham, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel, the small little test that Philip had in a sense of, well, where are we going to get bread? Philip says, well, you know, somebody else maybe said it. We only have a little bit here. Christ said this to try him. We see that we're daily standing before the judgment seat of Christ, that he is forming an opinion of us. Now to James chapter 2, and we summarize all of this to some degree with this example that James here gives of Abraham.

God had a very high opinion and regard for Abraham, and we want to come to this same point. In James 2 verse 18, Yes, a man may say, You have faith, and I have work. Show me your faith without your works. I will show you my faith by my works. You believe there's one God, you do well. The devils also believe and tremble. But will you know, a vain man, that faith without works is dead. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? I have said many times. And finally, when I was teaching fundamentals of theology, I think some students finally came to the point that they could answer this on a quiz. What is faith in its simplest terms? Well, we know that the Bible says faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11.1. Faith has a firm foundation, and it is a spiritual matter. Faith is a gift of the spirit and the fruit of the spirit. And you can talk all of those things. But in its terms, faith means to believe God and do what He says. The devils believe and tremble. They don't do what He says. Abraham believed God and he did what he said.

Verse 21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar. See, God knew Abraham's heart, mind, intent of his heart, and He knew that Abraham in his heart was willing to give up his son. Therefore, he didn't go through with the act because he knew that he would do that. Because Abraham had already received him from a figure as from the dead in resurrection. See, when we face that trial, God knows what our heart is.

And I think sometimes along the way that we are strengthened and we develop more faith, trust, and confidence, and God is well pleased with that. And if we had never been in that fiery furnace in the crucible of life, He wouldn't necessarily know that.

Verse 22. Seeing you how faith wrought with his works, believing God, doing what he said, and by works, by obedience, doing what he said, was faith made perfect. And the Scripture was fulfilled which said, Abraham believed God, and was imputed. That means, reckon unto him for righteousness. And he was called the Friend of God. So, as we sit here today, ask ourselves, what does God think of me? And as you sit here today, can God say of you and me, he, she is my friend?