Keep God at the Center of Your Life

Let me quote from that editorial. He mentioned that after Alexander the Great and his death, that there was the death of the Greek kingdom that sprang from its empire, and eventually it was swallowed up by Rome, the Roman Empire. And in so doing, the Roman Empire absorbed much Greek thought, Greek culture, and adopted much of it as its own ways. Although the Roman Empire, and though the Roman Empire, many of these ancient Greek ideas, have been woven into the Western civilization and thinking. So there are a lot of philosophies. You go back to Socrates and Plato and many of these philosophers, and the students that they taught that have been carried on down through the Roman Empire, through Europe, into the Western civilization, and very much influenced what we're doing today.

One idea in particular was central to Greek thought and culture. That man was the center of the universe. That each man was the center of the universe. And human thought, human creativity, and ideas were the epitome of what was to be respected and admired. So he goes on to ask the question, so what do ancient Greek ideas and concepts have to do with our world today?

With us today? With you and me? Very simply, they're the heart of an ongoing war of worldview, a battle to determine which values are going to govern our lives and our actions. Which values will do that? It's a struggle over what will shape our societies and civilizations in our future. Now, if you have been attuned to what's been going on in politics and in our government today, you will see that there is a dramatic reshaping of this country and even the values that it was founded upon. Now, Scott had, if I could summarize, he mentioned that when he was a boy in school, that they would actually bring Bibles or New Testaments into the school and give them away.

I remember growing up, I was a member of the 4-H Club, and about once a month, 4-H Club would take a couple hours out of the afternoon. They would come in and you would have to memorize a number of Bible verses. And if you could cite those Bible verses, they would give you a New Testament. And, man, I remember those. I don't remember them today, but I memorized what they wanted us to memorize.

And almost everybody there got a New Testament. Now, how much has changed? You, when the founding fathers began this nation, you find that one of the first Acts they had was to have Bible reading in all the schools. And that was something that was just done. Some of the more prestigious schools that we find up in the East were basically, to start with, schools of divinity.

And people don't realize that today. But here we are living in a day when prayer and reading of the Bible is banned from our school. Well, we used to start even in high school. I was in high school every morning, started with somebody reading a Bible verse or two out of the Bible, and then a student leading the student body in prayer. I mean, it was just done. Nobody thought anything of it. You also did the Pledge of Allegiance. Now, they don't even want that done. So, in the place of what this country was initially founded upon, you find children are being indoctrinated today with secular humanism, the same old Greek philosophy, that man is the center of the universe, and we are our own authority in determining what's right and wrong.

And so often, you'll find people beginning to argue on television. You hear them on the radio, and they'll say, don't you tell me what to believe. I have values. And it seems to be an insult when you say, well, you don't have the proper values. I have values just like you do.

But when you begin to ask them, well, are those values based upon the Bible, on the Scriptures? Well, that's a completely different subject. Now, you and I know. I sure hope you do, because I've given sermons on it, and it's been mentioned many times, that our worldview must be based upon the Bible, on the Scriptures.

Not on human intellect, not on Greek philosophy, not on humanism, not on secularism, not on whatever man comes up with. So, if that's true, then what must our worldview be built upon? If we say it's built upon the Bible, what does that mean? Well, we'll answer that question by posing another one to you. What is meant by the expression that God is, or should be, the center of our life? I think you've seen us talk about that.

It's been written about. I think it's certainly a biblical principle that God is the center of our life, or the core of our existence spiritually. Well, the word center, just look it up, means a focus or focal point, a single-mindedness, a heart, a hub, a nucleus, a foundation, and a mainstay. The word core, again, means essential, main, central, primary, the center, or the most important part of something.

I think you all know that the earth is built around a core, and they'll show you a diagram of the earth, and they'll cut through it. Here's this core, and everything else is built around the core. We eat an apple, and guess what we end up with? An apple core. It's right there in the middle of the apple. We have uranium cores that they talk about. The word core is used in many different ways. We want to see today why it is most important, why it is absolutely essential that you have God as the core of your existence. We all want to be in God's kingdom. We all want to make it. We all want eternal life.

We want to make the resurrection. In order to do that, there's something that you've got to do, and that is you've got to make God the center of your life, the core of your life. Now, what does that mean? Well, let's go over here to 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 10. 1 Corinthians 3, 10. We read, According to the grace of God, this is Paul writing here, which was given to me as a wise master builder. I've laid the foundation, and other builds on it, but let each one take heed how he builds on that foundation.

For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the foundation on which our whole life, our whole existence, must be built. So, is Jesus Christ the foundation of your life? He's the only foundation that we can build on. Our spiritual life, our spiritual awareness, attitude, and values must be built upon Him. As we read over here in Matthew 10 and verse 35, Christ said, I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

And a man's enemies will be those of his own household, the people he lives with, his closest associates. Then he goes on to say, He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me, he is not worthy of Me. And he who finds his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

Now, the thing we need to realize is that our whole spiritual life has to be built on the right foundation. If you don't build on the right foundation, you build on the wrong foundation, you will not endure. What I'm talking about here today is who's going to endure to the end? Who's going to overcome? Who's going to grow?

We're not worthy of Jesus Christ as our Savior if we love anyone more than Him. You stop and think about that. Is there another human being you love more than God, either the Father or Christ? Is there anyone that you love more than God's way of life? It might not be a person. It could be a habit. It could be philosophy. It could be almost anything that's more important to you. How do we know if we love someone? Well, in 1 John 5.3, we find this is the love of God that we keep His commandments. So if we love God, we keep His commandments. That shows God, yes, this person really does love me. How's he going to know unless you demonstrate it, unless there's some action and he can see it? So one of the things that God does throughout the experience we call life is to test us to see if we will put Him first. And we're all tested, but we will be tested maybe in different ways. For some, it may be through money. Others, through a person. It could be through health. It doesn't matter what it is. That we will be tested. Jesus Christ becomes a focal point, a foundation, the primary or essential part of our life. He must come first. I think I've told you this story before. I remember a young minister speaking in Pasadena for one of the first times, and he gave a sermon at. And Mr. Armstrong was there at the time, and he talked about being willing to play second fiddle. And at that time, Mr. Armstrong was getting a little upset. What do you mean, second fiddle? You should strive to be the best. You play first fiddle. But then, you know, the whole point of what he was covering is that God plays first fiddle. Or, first violin, it would be better to say, than fiddle. First violin. And that we always have to be second. We follow him. He is the one who leads and who guides us. And so, it is. Why were you born? You know, that question has been asked for years. I remember it was one of the first booklets I ever got. It was small enough I could stick it down in my pocket, carried around with me, and read that thing. We know that all human beings were created with the potential to become a member of the family of God, the kingdom of God. So, the question is, how do we achieve that? How do we make that? How are we going to be there? It is not achieved by being selfish or being self-centered. A self-centered person, somebody who is self-centered, how do you know if you are self-centered? Well, a self-centered person becomes self-absorbed. Everything revolves around him.

Self-concern, self-interest, self-involvement is just selfish and self-serving.

I don't know if any of those apply to us. Now, egotism goes right along with that, with being self-centered. An exaggerated sense of one's own importance, self-importance, conceit, narcissism, in love with one's own self. I want you to notice how often the word self pops up in all of this. That if our life revolves just around us, our lives should revolve around God. The universe doesn't revolve around you. It doesn't revolve around me, any other human being. It revolves around God. He's the one who made it, created it, set all the laws in motion, and he tells us how it functions, how it works right, the appropriate thing to do. Society today in the Western world basically revolves around the self.

Self-pleasure, self-satisfaction, building up egos like our children. Today, childrearing is you never want to tell your children no. You want to always tell them that you're the greatest, you can do anything, and ra-ra-ra. People think about my job, my possessions, my rights.

And, you know, it's always, again, it comes back to the self.

We have parents who rear children, and have you ever noticed the tendency today where you play a sport? I played a lot of sports in grade school, high school, and you find that today anyone who participates gets a big reward, big trophy. And nobody is called the most valuable, the most important, although everybody knows who that is. And you don't want anyone to feel that he's being put down, and somebody else is being exalted. And so, you know, this is where our society has come to today. The mind is focused on the self, too often self-absorbed.

We all have this problem. I find myself going through the day, and I'm thinking just about myself.

And, you know, I have to say, now, wait a minute. You know, I should be thinking about my wife, be thinking about you, others. What can I do? How can I help? And not just be thinking about myself.

How many people's lives really revolve around God and have just as much concern for others, as Gerald said, as we do for ourselves. And we love our neighbor as ourself, and we love God You know, when the Bible says you are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength, that's it. It's your body.

It's all your energy. It's your inner being and emotions, and it's your intellect.

We are to love God above all, and then our neighbor as ourselves. Now, sometimes, you know, we will agree, well, yeah, I believe that God should be the center of the core of my life. The question is, why? Why should he be? What benefit is there?

What does it accomplish for you? Why is it that the biblical worldview is greater than just, let's say, the narcissistic worldview or the Garden of Eden worldview is basically what it comes down to. There are two worldviews. There's what God tells us, and then there's what the devil told. And then there are themes and variations off of both of those. So, the important reason for God being our core. I don't think many of us have ever stopped to ask ourselves, now, why is this important? I know he should be, but why? What does it do? How does it accomplish, you know, when you begin to think about it? Well, let's go back to Matthew 7, and we've already referred to this somewhat, but Matthew 7, 21, Matthew 7, verse 21.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but 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? We've been out here in the street corner, we've preached, we raise up churches, and we've done all this thing. We've cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name, and then I will declare to them I never knew you, depart from me you who practice lawlessness. Now, what is lawlessness? Well, it's breaking God's law. 1 John 3, 4, sin is the transgression of the law. That's what lawlessness is all about, it's transgressing God's law. Love is not lawlessness. God is love. If we're going to grow in love, develop in that attitude and that approach, then we've got to put God first. Now, in verse 24, and this is what we want to focus on here, the first thing we want to look at.

Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who builds his house on a rock. The rains descended, the floods came, the winds blew, beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Not just a rock, but was founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rains descended, the floods came, the winds blew, beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

The only thing that is going to stand is what is built on the rock. And who is the rock? Well, that's Jesus Christ. There are only two foundations mentioned here. One is rock and one is sand.

The rock is God, his way. Which one will be able to withstand the weather, the rain, the wind, freezing weather, the snow, you and all of that? Well, there's only one that will do that, and that's Jesus Christ. So the only way that we will be able to stand is to build our lives on Jesus Christ. So the first point of why putting him as the core of our existence is that if we want eternal life, we want to be able to stand before God in the end time.

The only way we're going to be able to do that is if we build our lives on Christ, not on sand.

Sand would actually picture, as I mentioned earlier, the Garden of Eden. That's the way that Satan introduced. He introduced a competitive way. Why did he tell Adam and Eve? He said, well, you know, God said you'll die if you eat of this tree, but he's not telling you the truth.

You won't die. And of course, we're talking about two different things. God says, if you eat of it, you will die. He didn't say immediately, you're going to drop dead. But see, this is what Satan did. He took the literal meaning of it and he misapplied it. And so, he basically misled them and misdirected them. And that is the way this world is. Its philosophy, its cultures, its ideas, they all seem so great. You know, they all have a show of wisdom about them. And yet, as 1 Corinthians 1 and 2 tells us, that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

That all nations before God are like a drop in a bucket.

You take a bucket, put a drop in it, are like the small dust on the scales.

There's nothing to it. And God says, my thoughts, my ways are higher than your ways, as far as the sky is above the earth. And so, God's way that he has outlined is so far superior.

The only problem is, human beings want to try it. They want to try the wrong way. And they think they can come up with a different way. Instead of just saying, okay, God created us, he made us, he knows what's best in following him. So, the first reason why it's important to have Christ as our core is, that's the only thing you can build on. Anything else you build on will not stand, will not last, and will eventually be swept away. So, a second reason.

I would just sort of summarize this by a word I think we're all familiar with, and that is priorities.

The Bible forces us to set priorities in our lives. If we do what Matthew 6.33 says, seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So, we are to seek first the kingdom of God, or to put that first.

Someone, your priorities are outlined by the Scriptures, are set by the Bible.

Guess what? They're the right priorities. Now, what kind of priorities do so many people have? Well, work becomes predominant in their life. Their job, advancement, money, having a nice car, having a second home. In other words, they set their hearts on all kinds of things. You know, glamor, whatever it might be. But the Bible forces us that everything we do every day, everything we do every week, everything we do every month, everything we do within a year, should be based upon the Bible, upon the Scriptures. So, it forces us to have the right priority.

What is the right priority yearly? I think every one of you could answer that.

It is to keep God's annual Holy Days, keep the Passover and the annual Holy Days.

So, what that forces us to do, if we have the right priorities, we go to our boss and we say, well, on this day and that day and this day, I'm not going to be able to work.

And he says, well, if you don't show up for work, you don't have a job here.

You don't quit. You just simply, you know, let him, you know, I'm just letting you know.

And requesting these days off, part of my vacation, and as you begin to approach one of them, you know, you send him a letter reminding him, and then you might also send him a letter from the church explaining why it's absolutely imperative for us to do this.

If you won't hear that and says he's going to fire you, we can always get our attorney involved and put a little legal pressure, you know, from that point of view. But again, the idea is you plan your year around God.

And so that means that you begin to plan your time off so you can keep the Holy Days.

Guess what? You begin to save your festival tithe so you can attend the Holy Days.

And without that, you're not going to be able to attend. So you set aside the festival tithe to be able to do so. That's priority with your money. Not only do you tithe to the church, but you set aside a tithe, a festival tithe, put it in the bank, and then when the Holy Days come around, you have funds to be able to help pay your way. It helps you organize your time, organize what you're going to do. So it begins to point you in the right direction.

So we begin to have the right priorities when it comes to what about a month? Will you plan your month around the weekly Sabbath? What am I going to do on Saturday?

I'm going to be right here, every Sabbath. As I said, that's a very much a strong complement of all of you for your faithfulness and being willing to do that. So you plan around that month.

The week is you plan around the weekly Sabbath, preparation day, and then every day what are you doing? Well, I need to pray today. I need to study today. I need to spend some time with my family, my wife. What should your priorities be? What are, if you were to take a list and say, this is number one, number two, number three, what would be number one on your list?

Well, hopefully God would be first in our lives. See, He comes first. You go through a day, go through a week, go through a month, go through a year, and you haven't put God first. You're in trouble.

You're not building on the right foundation. He's not the core of your existence. So God should be first in our lives. And so that means that once or twice in the day we get down and pray.

We study the Bible, the Scriptures, and next, what should be the next priority?

Well, I put down our mate. You know, that sometimes I've found that people just put down family. That sort of encompasses the mate and the children and everybody else. But your mate comes before your children. You're bound, you're one flesh with that mate. And that mate and your marriage is a type of what Christ is doing with the church. So we've got to make sure that we get the proper attention to our mate. Well, I've heard all the arguments. You don't know my wife, or you don't know my husband, or you don't know my husband, and so on. Well, that may be. But that doesn't negate God's law. Sometimes we look at circumstances and we think, well, circumstances say, I shouldn't have to do that. Now, what does the Bible say? And so you strive to do what's right. Our families come next.

Our families, our children. And you know, you can maybe have a toss-up. I put down church, you know, the church being involved, supporting the church, priority there, and then our work.

So just ask yourself, what are your priorities? And are they based upon the principles of the Scriptures? So one thing about having God as the core of your life, the very center, right in the middle, is that it forces you to have the right priorities. Because you look at everything from, well, what does He want me to do? What does He say? How does He want me to live? Now, in 2 Timothy 1.7, 2 Timothy 1 and verse 7, we read this.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Power, love, and a sound mind. So the Holy Spirit is the power source that emanates from God. It passes on to us gifts. It passes on to us His Spirit.

And so it helps us. To whom does God give His Spirit? Well, to those who obey Him.

And, you know, if you want a continual supply of that spirit, you want it to continue to grow, continue to mature. And guess what? You need to stay close to God. You need to have Him as the center. Because it is absolutely possible, and I've seen it happen over and over, for a person to be baptized. And I know that in counseling with them that they had genuinely repented. You know, they were sorry for their sins. We laid hands on them. They began to make good progress. But the first thing you know, they began to go off. And then they weren't studying, and they weren't praying. And then maybe they occasionally worked on the Sabbath. And, well, they didn't keep this Holy Day, or whatever it might be.

Guess what? The power source from God begins to dwindle. Because God will renew that spiritually.

Always remember this. Our spiritual life, and God's Spirit, is renewed day by day.

It is something that is renewed daily, and it requires effort on our part. It comes from God. We don't earn it, but it depends on us. Faith is our motivator. Faith is what motivates us. Hebrews 11.6. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him.

So, if we have faith, that will motivate us. Obedience is nothing more than faith translated into action. You obey. That is, I believe, and so therefore I will do. That's why living faith is what the Bible talks about. A lack of action is dead faith.

A lack of action is dead faith. You say that you have faith.

Say you believe, but if you don't do anything, then it's dead faith.

A body cannot work or accomplish anything. If we had a casket out here right now, and we had a body in it that was dead, we knew it was dead, and you could say, hey, get up and wash the dishes. Get up and sweep the hall, or do so on. No, it's a dead body. It's not going to do anything. And so it is spiritually that a lack of action. We say, yes, I believe God. I believe I ought to keep his holy days, but we never do. Or, I believe I should come to church on the Sabbath, and yet we skip it half the time. Whatever it might be, that's dead faith. A dead body cannot work or accomplish anything. Dead faith is a lack of action, a lack of obedience, or a lack of service in many of those areas. So where do we obtain strength, courage, power to overcome?

Well, the true power source is God. You might remember, again, back here in the book of Acts chapter 1, verse 8, it says, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. So we are to stay close to God. If we're close to God, we're close to Christ. He's the core of our life. Guess what? He's going to supply us with the power we need. He will always give us the strength that we need to face the tests that we're confronted with.

We've got to do our part. We've got to stay close to Him. So that's another reason why God, being the core of our life, is extremely important, because He's the power source, and He's going to renew that spirit. He's going to help us when we do that. Now, something I mentioned to begin with, but let me just comment on it here. I thought about putting it elsewhere in the sermon, but I think it does fit here. How do we view the world, the events taking place in the world, politics? I find that today because many members are becoming so upset with what's going on around us, and I would have to say I do too. I get upset with all the shenanigans and everything that's taking place.

We have members who want to become more involved now in politics.

We have members who want to get out and vote. We have members who want to get behind a candidate, and you are always in that particular mode. Let's not forget John 18, verse 36, what Christ said.

You and I represent another kingdom called the Kingdom of God. John 18, verse 36, Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. It's not of this age. It's not of this time. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now this is my kingdom, not from here. Jesus Christ will come back to the earth.

That will be the time of the resurrection, His second coming, and He will set up His kingdom, and then we will take over the governments of this world, and we will very much become involved in ruling over the nations. But Christ said here, His kingdom was not of this world, of this age. Back up to chapter 14, verse 6.

I read this, I think, the last time I gave a sermon here. Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So we need to realize that Christ is the way. He shows us the way to live, what we should do. The principles have not changed. We don't get involved in the politics of this world.

He said, I am the truth. Well, John 17, 17, thy word is truth. So God's word is the true way, and it leads to life. Anything that we do, any practices that we have, if they're not going to lead us to eternal life, we should not be doing them. Now, I realize the frustration that people have, but let's notice in Ezekiel 9 what God says. Ezekiel 9, verse 4.

The Lord said to him, Go to the midst of the city. and to the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the forage. Okay, put a mark on the forage of the men. I think I've had one cough drop too many.

Okay, put a mark on the forage of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. So, we can sigh and cry. The Bible says to watch. Pray always. You go back to Luke 21, Matthew 24, and you'll see all of the things that Christ predicted were going to happen, and they are beginning to happen. Any nation's success must be based on God and His Word. When a people depart from the standards that God has set in motion, they bring destruction on themselves. So, here we had a country, and we know that the U.S.

was raised up because of the promise that God made to Abraham. That Ephraim and Manasseh would become the greatest nation, the greatest company of nations on the face of the earth, and that God would bless them richly, which He has done. And, to begin with, our country was built upon proper values. And yet, over a period of time, those have disintegrated until in the last 50 years, especially, you find them really being undermined.

So, what we need to understand again is that our world view should not be that we're going to get out here and get involved in politics and change this world. When Christ comes back, He's not just going to remake this world. He's going to turn it upside down, and He's going to establish a new world, the world tomorrow, a new age, when His kingdom will rule. And so, it's going to be a thousand years when Christ will be ruling at that time.

Okay, that's another thing that we need to realize, that having Christ, God is the core of our life, means that our world view will be proper, it will be based upon the Scripture.

Sometimes you just need good old water. Now, let's look at another quality and realize that if God is the core of our life, or Christ is, that it will affect this. And that is, God is the center of our lives, and it will affect the priority of something we all count very dearly, that is, our relationships with one another, and the quality of our relationships.

If Christ is at the core, He comes first in our lives, He and the Father, and I think we can use those interchangeably. Our existence and purpose depend on Him.

Now, I won't go back and read this because Gerald read it, and I've referred to it, but Matthew 22, verses 36 through 40, Matthew 22, verses 36 through 40, that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, our whole being, and we are to love our neighbors ourselves.

Now, this comes into play, then, on how do we treat our mate? What are the laws in the Bible about how a marriage should be run? We are to be one flesh. There should be no other human being on the face of the earth that's more important to us than our mate. They're the number one human being. We are to be one in our approach, our family, and our children. And again, as I mentioned earlier, too many put their children before their mates. Our relationship with our spiritual family, our job, and work. Remember this. All relationships are built on spiritual principles.

All relationships are built on spiritual principles. And when people treat each other out of ego or pride or selfishness or trying to get back, short chains, take advantage of, and you know you can stop and think about how people deal with one another all the time.

Proper relationships are not built upon that. You're to love your neighbor's yourself, who is my neighbor. What parable did Christ give? You know about the man who fell among thieves.

And the Levite wouldn't have anything to do with him, the priest, the long-hemous Samaritan.

Our neighbor is anyone, no human being. So our relationships are to be built upon these principles. Again, I've noticed that when it comes to relationships, these get all out of whack today.

Too many over the years have seen perhaps the law of God or let's say families. I won't say the law of God, but families misapplying God's law, not applying it in the proper way in dealing with their families and how they deal with people. And as a result, they think, well, that doesn't work.

These principles never change. I don't care what society does. You know, God's way always works. So one of the reasons why we should put God as the core of our life, because all of our relationships are going to flow from there and how to deal with people. It doesn't matter who they are.

We've got two or three others here that we'll quickly touch on before closing.

Today, you find people talk so much about values. Well, everybody has values, and people get into arguments. You say, I don't believe in marriage. I believe in marriage, but they have their own ideas about marriage. It could be a man and a man, a woman and a woman. It could be three people, four, you know, who knows not what the Bible tells us. Our fundamental beliefs and morals must be based upon the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. Now, how do I know that? John 14, 6. Christ said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. So if He's the way, then we follow Him. If His words are truth, then we live by those words, and they will lead us to eternal life. I think many, even in the church, think that culture changes somehow triumph over the teachings of the Scriptures, and that's not true. So what are our views? You know, what are our views? You know, just to give you a little checklist.

What are our views today about child rearing? What are our views about military service?

What are our views about killing somebody? No human beings. What are our views about voting?

What are our views about licentious dating practices? Well, there are all kinds of things that you can stop and look at to realize that as society goes down, it's sort of like, you know, here were the standards at one time. And as those standards began to drop, we'll drop them down here, the standards began to drop. As they drop, well, so do these up here begin to decline. And maybe 60 years ago, what no one would have thought of doing is now acceptable because it seems right. And people become so, so wrong that, you know, they accept some other type of standard. But we need to realize that there's only one value system, and that's God's. And so how are you going to define that? Well, the very core of it is Jesus Christ, His teaching, His example, the way He lived, the way He taught His disciples to live, the way they have taught us, and then His Word. So our values must be based. And if Christ is the core of our relationship, then our values will be based upon that. Because where are we going to go? You know, if a question comes up, should I do this? Should I do that? We're going to go to the Scriptures. Let's notice over here in Hebrews chapter 5, I believe it is, Hebrews the fifth chapter. Verse 12, Hebrews 5, 12, For though by the time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the Word of righteousness, is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are notice of a full age, someone who's grown up and matured. That is, those who by reason of use, by reason of use, have had their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Now, we do live in an evil age, but was it any more perverted and evil than in the first century in the Roman Empire? You know, the first century in Rome was a pretty bad place to live, and you find that the Church was confronted with all of the difficulties they had at that time.

So, our values must be based on what is right, where we can, after a period of time, be able to discern what's good, what's right, and what's wrong.

Okay, so our values spring from Christ being our core.

And another thing is our service to others. The governments of this world are based upon power, authority, control, lording it over people, you know, usurping the self. It's not based on service.

It's not based on the grace of God, the mercy of God, the love of God. Matthew 2023, Matthew 20 and verse 23, you might remember that Christ gave the example.

2023 here. Verse 26, we'll just read this one.

For it shall not be so among you, for whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. So, if we're going to have a heart of service, and that's going to be something that flows from us, then it's got to be based upon the example of Christ. Remember, he is the way. Remember John 14.6, you know, I mean, that's something that should go through your mind almost every day. If our lives are centered on him, we will follow his example.

We need to remember that he is the way, the truth, and the life. So, we need to center our lives on Christ. And how did he rule? How did he serve? Well, we find he did it as a slave. And it wasn't to Lord it over them. And the disciples to them, this was totally foreign. You might remember the Passover night. He had to teach them this on several occasions. But even on the Passover night, they're arguing who's going to be the greatest. And Christ had to get down and wash their feet. Oh, you're not going to wash my feet, Peter said. And why did Christ say? If I don't wash your feet, you have nothing with me. And then Peter said, well, wash my whole body. Well, that's the way he was. He was gone whole. But we need to realize that we need to have that same attitude. When we come together as a congregation, it should be with an attitude of serving one another, giving to one another, helping one another. It should be with wanting to just bring this local congregation together. I would hope if I, Norm and I, ever came back here a few years from now and sat down that we would see a church that was just on fire and really turned on and growing.

And there's no reason why it can't be. One final thought is Christ being the core of our life helps us with our commitment. It helps us to be truly committed. Luke 14, 26. Luke 14, 26.

We read this, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

We have to be totally committed to God.

You know, he comes first. We will submit, obey and serve for all eternity.

What is God doing with us? He is developing a people who he knows that they will never turn from him.

Would you ever turn from God's way? Is there anything in this world that you can think of that would have lure you, trap you, snare you, lead you astray from God's way?

Notice in Genesis 22, 12, what God said about Abraham and why Abraham is going, is called the father of the faithful. We're to walk in the steps of faithful Abraham.

In Genesis 22, 12, God commanded him to kill Isaac. He was about to do it. In verse 11, the angel, the Lord, called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. So he said, here I am.

He said, do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God since you've not withheld your son, your only son, from me. Isaac was the dearest thing in his life, his son, the son of promise, and he was willing to give him up.

Notice the expression, now I know. When will God be able to say that of you, of me? Now I know that you fear God and that you're willing to give up everything to follow me. Have we reached that point yet? I would say we're all still here, but we're still striving, still growing. But let's notice in verse 20, verse 5 of chapter 26. 26 verse 5.

Refine why God was willing to do this for Abraham.

Talking here to Isaac in verse 4, I will make your descendants multiply the stars of heaven, give to your descendants all these lands, and in your seat all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Because, why, Abraham obeyed my voice, kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. He did what God required of him. And he did it without this book.

He didn't have Genesis, didn't have Exodus, didn't have Leviticus, didn't have anything.

Just God occasionally appearing to him and saying, well, this is how I want you to live and telling him. And in faith he followed him.

From God's perspective, when the time at the end of our lives comes or the resurrection comes, will he be able to say the following about you and about me.

Now I know that I am the most important being in your life. Now I know.

Now I know that you will always put me first.

Now I know that you will follow me for all eternity. Now I know.