Resolutions Are a Way of Life

You know, through this holiday season, people are just stuffing their mouths full of everything, and probably getting quite a lot more weight. And so they realize after a period of time, maybe, you know, I need to get in shape. I need to do something. And so they start, and they go to the gym. They use that old membership that they had to the gym, which they never went to before. But one thing I've noticed, usually it fills out again in about two or at the max, three weeks. You can see people start dropping away when people give up on that dream.

You know, and they seem to fade away. And I see this every single year. And they exercise, you know, in their lives. But in order to be effective in our exercise, brethren, it's like God's way of life. In order to be effective in God's way of life, it has to be a way of life. In order to be effective, exercise must be a way of life, a way of living, just like again God's way should be. But during this time of the year, everyone seems to make resolutions. And so I think I would be remiss not to seize upon the opportunity to talk about resolutions.

I would imagine probably you have made some of your own resolutions. I notice, in fact, around this time of year that we have people show up at church that normally have not been to services for a while. I don't know, maybe some make a resolution they're going to be more faithful.

They're going to be more determined. And that's fine. That's fine. But again, in order to be effective, it has to be a year-round commitment. I want to read you a letter by a fellow known Mark Twain. I like old Mark Twain because he seemed to really be able to put a nail on the head, to hit the nail on the head. A letter to the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, this is in January 1863.

This is what Mark Twain wrote. He said, now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody spoke his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our Reformation of the Winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever. We shall also reflect presently upon how we did the same oath from last year about this time. However, go in, community. New Year's is a harmless annual institution of no particular use to anybody, saved as a skateboard note for promiscuous drunks and fairly calls and humbug resolutions.

And we wish you to enjoy it with a looseness suited to the greatness of the occasion. I'm sure that Mark Twain probably was one of those that continued to smoke cigars and continued to do all the things that he said. I hope that doesn't describe you, though. But basically, again, Mark Twain was trying to show that resolutions are not meaningful. People making promises to themselves tend to fizzle out very quickly, and people start paving their way to hell, as he puts it, in the usual way. And not only that, but to sink even more in moral depravity and the way of life, maybe to get there sooner than later.

But how about you, brethren? What about you in real life, this time of year? Are your resolutions—and I'm not saying just this time of year—but are your resolutions, your promises, you know, ephemeral? Are they short-lived? Are their promises unkempt? You know, it's like—I think I remarked to you one time. I saw a movie many years ago about this man who was going to commit suicide, and so he swam out in the ocean.

Way out in the ocean. And I think it was Burt Reynolds who was in this particular movie. I can't even remember anything else about it. But when he got out there, he decided he didn't want to die. And so he started swearing back to shore, and he started getting tired. And he said, God, he says, if you'll let me get back to shore, I will promise you that I will begin to change my life. I'm going to make all these changes in my life.

And, anyway, if he gets closer and he thinks he might make it, he says, okay, God, if you'll devote my life from now on, then I'll go to church every Sunday. You know, I'll go every Sunday if you allow me to make it to the shore. And the closer he gets, then he begins to cut short. He says, well, maybe not every Sunday.

You know, it's like he begins to cut short his promises to God. And by the time he gets back to the shore, he's given up entirely on what he promised to God. Well, oftentimes people are that way, aren't they? When they get in the thick of it, when they begin to really get along in their life, whatever promises they made were ephemeral.

They were short-lived. Well, brethren, I want to try to get across today in this message that resolution should be a way of life. It should be a way of life to Christians. Because after all, it's like I said, life is a matter of habits, right habits. And resolutions are promises, and we made a lot of promises when we were baptized, didn't we, to God of what we were going to do. It's a matter of really real character. And again, I remind you, brethren, the reason that God created human beings, physical human beings, is so that we could develop holy righteous character.

Because God cannot, as we should remember, cannot create holy righteous character by a sephiat. He can't just snap character into existence. It has to be built with the help of God, of course with God's Spirit, in one who is willing, and has a willing attitude of wanting to live God's way of life. So again, resolutions or promises, maybe a simpler way to explain it, a promise that somebody makes, at least to God, is a matter of developing real character and right character.

But as they say, brethren, time marches on. Think about it, as we again enter into a new year here, 2015. Does that sound right to you, 2015? You know, those that were born in the previous century, which would include most of us here. It seems strange, doesn't it? 2015. But you are one day and one year closer to death. You are one day and one year closer to the return of Jesus Christ. And this is what I want you to think about. You are one day and one year closer to when you will either stand before Jesus Christ when He returns and He will say to you, Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter you into life, or you will come up and be condemned and be judged.

Those two things. Of course, we know that's not going to happen all at the same time. Hopefully, if we are welcome on end to the Kingdom of God, it will happen when Christ returns. But if we are condemned, it will not happen until after the Millennium is over. Again, we are one day and one year closer to that. Daniel 12. Let's go over to Daniel 12 over here.

So, character development, holy righteous character development is serious business. It really is. Daniel 12, verse 1. Of course, we understand God is very merciful. And God is a God of mercy. He offers His mercy to a thousand generations, the Bible says. But please understand, brethren, that God also is a God of judgment. And God is not foolish. Now, we can be very foolish, but God is not foolish. In Daniel 12, verse 1-2, it says, At that time, Michael shall stand up. Of course, Michael the archangel, who is the angel for Israel. The great prince who stands, watch over the sons of your people, Israel. And there should be a time of trouble, such as never was, since there was a nation. Even to that time, we're living in such a time, such a generation. And it says, And at that time, your people shall be delivered. Everyone who is found written in the book. Chris talking about the book of life. And many of those who sleep on the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame in everlasting contempt. It says, And those who turn away many to righteousness, are like the stars forever and ever. So there is great promise to those that obey God, that walk in His way, that carry through in their lives, who go ahead and develop that character that God cannot produce by instant fiat, but through experiences and through living God's way of life, develop that character with the aid of God's Spirit, and then steadfast, no matter what, pushing forward, realizing, you know, that the time of judgment is ahead, where every man is going to stand before God. Now, these are very sobering words right here in Daniel 12. To me, when I read them, very sobering words, it should cause us pause to think, to contemplate in how we're doing when we're using our time. You know, are we using our time wisely, brethren?

You know, when we live our lives, are we using that time wisely, or are we wiling away the hours, waiting, waiting, but not using that time in an effective way? You know, now, here we begin another year, we need to ask ourselves, what is our relationship with God? God the Father and Jesus Christ. Where is our relationship? Is it close? Are we closer to God? Let's go over to James chapter 4 over here. Very simple way in which we draw nearer to God. The Bible explains, and here, the apostle James over here, in James 4, verse 8.

Verse 7, we might read, The two verses therefore submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

In reality, praying that God does not allow us to enter into temptation.

You know, that the evil one doesn't cross our paths, as even Jesus said in the Mount of Prayer. But in verse 8, it says, Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep, and let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

There should be a sobriety about ourselves when it comes to our spiritual condition. It says, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up. God will encourage you during those dark times, during those difficult times. If we are close to him, if we seek his help, he will give it. So again, looking at last year, brethren, compared to this year, are you closer to God?

Do you pray more?

Do you have more intimate talks with God?

You know, do you allow him to talk to you? Do you study more than you did before? Are you using this book a lot more?

At this time of the year, than a year ago, we've had a very successful Bible reading program in the medical area here. How many of you have availed yourself of that opportunity, or have you been too busy to do that? I know some people think they're so busy, you know, and I'm sure you are. But, you know, can we not spare 10 or 15 minutes to read the Bible in a day? Are we that busy? You know, somehow, I think sometimes, you know, it depends on what people think really is important, doesn't it? You know, if I studied more, the Bible, if I read more the Bible, well, that would bite into my TV time. Well, yeah, I tell you, whether 15 minutes is going to bite too much of your TV time, I wonder how much TV you're watching.

It would probably be a good idea to take a bigger bite out of your TV time.

But, brethren, has another year gone by when you have not read the Bible all the way through? If not, you have to ask yourself, are you taking your relationship with God seriously?

You know, we're playing a real... this is the game.

These are the playoffs. We're leading up to the... we're in the real series here, the final game when the game's over. And everybody looks at the scoreboard, and the score is up, you know, except the score is not going to be, you know, 7-2.

It's going to be a matter, brethren, of whether we're going to be resurrected, you know, to the glory that God has promised to those who obey Him, or, in fact, we have to face the shame of the future, of for not doing those things that, in fact, we should do. Hopefully, again, we're not paving the road to hell with good intentions.

Well, I was going to do that. You know, God, I was going to pray, but I didn't quite ever get all around to it. But the intent was good. It's like, think about this, the guy that intends to exercise, he'd be entitled to do it every single day. What kind of shape do you think he would be in? He wouldn't have anything, would he? And that's what happens with people from the spiritual perspective as well. And exercise is not as important as prayer or study. For the spiritual. You know, it may profit a little bit, you know, as even Paul says. But, you know, what does profit is prayer and Bible study, and developing that relationship with God. So, Britain, resolve! Resolve to get closer to God this year than ever before. Now's the time. I remember, Mr. Armstrong used to talk about the gun lap, you know. If you've ever seen a, you know, like somebody rimmed a mile in the last quarter to blow the gun, you know, shoot the gun. Well, he always talked about the gun lap. We always thought we were in the gun lap, by the way, when Mr. Armstrong was alive. Chris has really known that we're going to be here in 2015. We might not have thought that. But how many of you were around back in the 80s, even? Who am I? Am I talking to people who were around back then? Remember Mr. Armstrong talking about the gun lap?

Well, you know, the gun lap is a lap, the last lap you and I are going to run.

And that we have no guarantees about. So you and I might be on our gun lap.

You know, there are many saints that are waiting in the grave for the time when Christ returns. That we're right here. We're right here in this congregation one, two, three, four, five years ago. They're waiting, brethren.

And they haven't married, you know, if they endure to the end of their own personal lives. So our gun lap, again, might be sooner than we think. We pray that's not the case. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4 over here. So I add a little bit more to this importance of resolving, brethren.

Hebrews 4, verse 13.

He says, there is no creature hidden from His sight.

That's you and me, brethren, no matter where we may be. But all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him, to whom we must give account. See, then, that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast like our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. But we are at all points tempted as we are. He's been down the same road. And yet, without sin, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in a time of need.

In order to be able to get that grace, though, brethren, we need to be running the race.

But we need to participate in the race that's going on. You ever notice that it's when you're running is when you're liable to fall down.

And when you fall down, you can go to the throne of grace. You make mistakes in your life. People make mistakes in the process of doing, of living. And hopefully in the process of building that holy righteous character, brethren, we are, as God's people, going to the throne of grace. But how do we go to the throne of grace? We do so by prayer. Going to God in prayer. And Christ, we know, Himself said, Sufficient under the day is the evil thereof. We don't have enough problems, brethren, just in one day. So every day we need to go again to the throne of grace. And David, by the way, and Daniel, set a splendid example of praying three times a day. You know, morning, noon, and evening. And I challenge you to do the same. To set your life up so that you do the same. Not talking about, by the way, getting up in the morning and praying for an hour, and, you know, praying for, you know, a half hour during noon time, and maybe an hour in the evening. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about maybe taking, you know, a few minutes to pray in the morning. And depending on which is your better time, some people are morning people, you know, some people are more evening people. But one of those, it should be a time where you spend a little more time in your prayer than the other two.

I remember when I was working at that cultural manufacturing company in Arkansas, Tucker Duckett Rubber Company. And I'm suspicious about that, but I'm being jisting about it, but because it obviously was not a cultural factory. But I would go up into the, on top of the boxes. We had boxes that were stacked, and I would go out and sit up there, and I would pray during the moon hour. And then when that was not available, sometimes during the moon, you go into a stall of a bathroom and pray. It's always good to make sure there's not a lot of people that want to use it, though. But there are times where you can do that, that you can get in a solitary place and you can pray. You know, you can talk to God. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 3. So prayer, brethren, is so important in our relationship with God, because we talk to God. And sometimes I think we may talk to God more than we allow Him to talk to us, but maybe not. Maybe not. I hope not. I hope that we are studying far more than we are praying. But in 2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 3 and verse 14, here Paul admonished Timothy in verse 14, But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, known from whom you have learned them, and that from a child you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. And so Timothy was being told by Paul that the Scriptures could make him wise to salvation. Of course, we understand that the Old Testament Scriptures were the only ones that were available. At that time. And then he said, All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and profitable for doctrine, or teaching as we understand that word means. For we prove for correction, for instruction of righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. So, without the knowledge of the Scriptures, you know, we cannot know how to walk in our lives, how to live in our lives. But this allows God to talk to us, by the way, when we study the Bible. It allows God to sit down with us and more or less give us a lecture on what to do in our lives or in personal lives. I always wondered what it would be like to sit in the presence of God and to have a talk with Him. Well, we can do that every single day by reading the Scriptures, because these are His words that are inspired and written down for us. Okay, 2 Timothy 2, verse 14. Here Paul admonished Timothy, Remind them of these things, charging them before the word, not to strive about words to their prophet, to a word of the hearers. People get caught up in one word, and sometimes there have been splits in churches over one word.

And Paul says that's a no prophet and ruins people's thinking. But verse 15, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a wicker who does not need to be as shown, rightly dividing the word of truth.

And we're told to shun, profess, and idle Bibleings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. So, you know, we ought to be approved of God, brethren, to know God's word well enough that we can again explain it to somebody if they ask us a question.

We shouldn't have to say, well, I have to ask the minister that question. Particularly if it's a basic doctrine, we shouldn't basically understand those things and have those things in our mind.

And, you know, one of the things I think is important also to point out here, brethren, is when it says being approved here. Being approved of God is not necessarily that we're just pleasing God.

You know, Christ, remember, when He was 12 years old, we're told He went home and He was submissive to His parents, but there's a small sentence that says He grew in favor with God and man. God and man. You know, some people pride themselves, by the way, on being like a lone ranger when it comes to the Scriptures, like, well, I know more than anybody else. And God, I'm a direct conduit of God. That's dangerous. That's very dangerous, brethren. God has given us a church and He's given the ministry, His ministry. And He's not been, you know, that ministry's not been given, if I can put it in sort of a colloquial way, for nothing.

God gave the ministry for the purpose of perfecting the saints. So, when the Ethiopian eunuch was reading from the scroll of Isaiah, remember when Philip came near his chariot, Philip asked and he said, do you understand what you're reading? And the Ethiopian eunuch was wise enough, and this was recorded in the Scriptures, to say, how can I, unless a man guide me? And it talks about how Philip got up in the chariot and began to explain all these things to him.

But how many people have I seen, and I'm sure the other elders of the church would corroborate this, and many of you have been around a long time, how many people have we seen that think they don't need any instruction? They don't need anybody to guide them, because God is their guide, they say. Well, those seven people, by the way, believe in Sunday. They believe also in Christmas, and they believe in Easter. They believe that bunnies lay eggs, and Santa wears a red suit and lives at the North Pole. Of course, I'm exaggerating a little bit there for a fact, but they believe a lot of false ideas, what I'm saying. And where their ideas came from was up here, because they're certainly not in the Bible. They had to come from up in their own mind, and from philosophies, like Plato and Aristotle and some of these. Some of the myths that people have come up with, that man has an immortal soul, is another one that has affected so many people, and that God is a trinity, is another one. So there are just many, many things that men have come up with out of their own minds, and apart from God. Let's go to Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4.

Of course, the Scriptures are important, very important as well. They don't want to in any way denigrate God's Word. In fact, it is true these words, as even we read, that they make us wise to salvation.

Hebrews 4 and verse 12, it says, For the word of God is a living and powerful word, and sharper than any two red swords. It cuts both ways, doesn't it? Piercing even to the division of the soul and spirit and joints of marrow, in the discerner of the false and the intense of the heart. It can get right down to the nitty-gritty of overcoming. There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him, to whom we must give account. So we can't hide anything from God, brethren. And you know, we are, the Bible says, I'm not going to go to 1 Peter 4, 17 over there, but we are being judged in the church now today.

For what we do or we do not do. And we all have sins of commission, sins we commit, in other words, and also we have sins of omission. In other words, sins that we know, things that we know to do right, but we don't do, that we don't practice.

Things that we see in the Scriptures, even, they're very clear. Now, Peter said that we ought to, even as newborn babes, hopefully we're not babes if we've been in the church for a while, but as newborn babes, he says, desire the pure milk of the word that we may grow thereby. So we've got to really drink in again of the Scriptures. So, brethren, this past year, what is your relationship with God? Have you grown in that relationship with God? The key to it, of course, is prayer, Bible study, fasting, and meditation. Those big four, as we understand.

A second point I wanted to bring out, brethren, about our promises, our resolutions to God. Hopefully, we'll do better again this year than we have ever done.

But notice that the commandments themselves are divided into two sections.

The first four commandments tell us what? How to love God, right? And the last six tell us how to love our neighbor. So, consequently, when I brought this sermon together, I was talking about number one that we need to focus in on is our relationship with God. Do we love God?

But secondarily, brethren, is do we have a real love for God's people? How's that doing since last year? I know we all come from different walks of life, don't we? We come from families sometimes that maybe there wasn't a lot of affection that was shown.

The concept of hugging was not something that was done. In some cases, families grew up in a sort of Elizabethan type of an approach to life. You know, Father shakes the hand of the Son. He doesn't hug the Son.

And it's kind of an old way of thinking, in other words. And so coming into the church and showing affection for God's people, loving God's people, initially analyzed could be foreign to us. But, brethren, nonetheless, we as God's people must grow again and are loved for the brethren. Let's go to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4. When I was growing up, by the way, our family, we didn't tend to hug a lot.

I don't remember my mother and my father telling me that they loved me a lot. Of course, there were nine of us. But, you know, I didn't grow up with the idea that they didn't love me either. Even though they didn't say they loved me. In fact, I couldn't tell you a time when either one of them, my mother or father, said that we love you. But, like I said, I always felt they did. I know they sacrificed a lot for us. We had nine of anything. If you had nine dogs, you'd have a tough life. My mother had a very difficult life, and my father as well. We did a lot of canning. I remember when we were growing up, we did a lot of... The garden was very important. In a lot of things, we did a lot of work. I was reflecting on those things last evening, thinking about my dad. The things I did with my father. It was remarkable. I had six brothers. There were six of us, I'm sorry. I had five brothers. There were six boys. But my dad spent a lot of time with me.

And not just me, with all of us. All of us. All the boys. Can you imagine spending adequate time with six boys, and three girls, for that matter?

But when hunting with him, I went fishing with him.

We robbed beehives together. I remember one time, we went out in the forest, and we cut a beehive out of a tree.

My brother, by the way, had the chainsaw, and he hit it on the top of his knee. He was older, he was nine or ten years older than I was, and we thought he was going to bleed to death. But finally got him into the emergency room, and the good news is he survived. But we got the honey out of the tree, too.

And then one day, we were driving home, and my dad taught us how to get bees to light. He saw a swarm of bees. This is in Missouri, and I don't know why, but he had a bunch of pans and pots and kettles, and he had to start beating on these kettles. And the bees lighted, came down. My dad went over and got the queen, and so he captured that beehive that was just flies through the air. So you know, just like that, and I have to hand it to him, he, frankly, he did better than I have done as a father.

He was much better than I have done in my own personal life, sadly. And I know I've made a lot of excuses for not spending time with our children. And I wish we'd done much more. But it is remarkable, though some families are so different, aren't they? In that way, like you say, you may not be familiar with an affectionate type family. I wasn't. Now, when I see my brothers and my sisters, we do hug, by the way. And we love each other. We tell each other we love each other every time. But do you have, brethren, a real love for God's people? Like they're your brothers and they're your sisters. Remember what Jesus Christ said? You know, who is my mother? Who is my father? Who is my brother? Who is my sister? But he that does the will of God. Do we have that real love? First, let's listen to this 4 verse 9. But concerning very love, you have no need that I should write you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

And indeed, you do so toward all the brethren who are of all mass of area. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more so every year grow in that love, wanting to spend more time with God's people, growing in that affection for God's people and increasing it. You know, how about it, brethren? Are you closer to one another than you were last year? Have you had brethren in your home, or have you lost the art of entertaining other people? Have you ever set a goal, brethren, of having all of the brethren in your home?

That's a good, worthy goal to do that. And if all of us were doing that, brethren, somebody would be doing something to every Sabbath.

But it's a good goal to do that. You know, in Romans 12, verse 13, it says that we should be distributing to the necessity of the saints and given to hospitality.

That's for the Christians, general Christians, brethren. We should be given to hospitality.

So have you invited people in your home? Another thing is have you visited other people's homes?

Have you set the goal to go over to other people's homes? To develop more of a closeness with God's people? Maybe on a Sunday to choose, you know, someone and mention on the Sabbath, hey, I was thinking of coming out and seeing you tomorrow. You know, or maybe set a time when they're able to do it and go do something together. Or just go over to their house and just spend a little time with them. Have you got the note of the brethren by name? You know, all the names of everybody in the congregation that is here. You know, I don't know. Do we have a pictorial here? I don't think we do. We probably need to work on a pictorial so you can get to know people's names and memorize them that way. So we could probably help you with that, to work on that. I don't know if we have anybody that can volunteer to do pictures for that and to bring a notebook together. But anyway, maybe talk to me about it. You know, have you worked, brethren, for those who are new in the faith to get to know them and help them get established in the church and in God's way of life? You know, the Bible says that we are to be in lights to the world and we can't hide our light under a bushel basket, even. Jesus said that. He said that you are the salt of the earth. And that means and implies, brethren, we should be a good influence. Like salt is, you know, can influence food as we eat it to make it more tasty, to make it more palatable. So that if you're, you know, working at a business, hopefully your little pinch of salt there in your business makes that business more palatable.

In other words, we have a good influence upon our employer, whoever we may work. Whereas you may have others that would condemn the employer, you speak in a positive manner. You know, you strive to be someone who's supportive of the person that is responsible for you having a job.

And also, brethren, do we have, again, the attitude of wanting to be a light to all people? Whether they have any connection with the church at all? To be a light to all people at all times? Of the proper way to conduct ourselves in a spiritual manner?

You know, do we show, in fact, God that we're thankful for what He has given to us, what He's done for us in our lives? You know, God has transformed your life, brethren, and changed you, made you somebody different than you were maybe 30 years ago or 40 years ago, or however long you've been in the church. Are you thankful for God, what He's done for you in your life? And are you striving to help somebody else achieve what God has helped you achieve in your own personal life? The Bible talks about how it's got to be iron sharpening iron. It is amazing. It is amazing. You know, one thing I've noticed that when I work out, I usually walk in a treadmill, you know, part of the time. And, you know, they say that when you have two people, one is on one treadmill and another is on another treadmill, that, you know, if they're relatively close at least, they pretty soon ever match their pace. You know, it seems to be the way things are, except sometimes I'll get next to some, you know, kid that's about two feet tall and he's running 15 miles an hour. Then I'm going to have a heart attack, you know, when that happens. But in other words, what I'm saying, though, is if we set a little higher goal, a higher standard, a little higher standard, that others will come up to that standard.

It could have that impact. Do we have a good disposition about ourselves? Do we strive to smile? Do we try to be happy? Or do we have a grudge that we've had with somebody so and so in the church that until they are gone, I'm not going to be happy.

I remember there was one woman that said many, many years ago, if that minister, thankfully it wasn't me, but it was somebody else, but that minister is in the kingdom. I don't want to be there. Well, you know, God may give them their wish. You've got to be careful about those kind of promises.

Another question I would have, rather than for us, are we less a part of the world or are we more a part of the world this year than we were last year? You know, we are to come out of the world, the Bible says, and be separate. And over in 1 John 2, 1 John 2, where it's home in verse 15, We'll rub not the world. These are the sins in the world.

So we ought not to rub this world. We get to rub with this world. If you read on, I think, down to verse 17 there, I'm not turning to it over here, but if you read down, it says that all those things are going to perish that are in the world. So we don't want to be in love with something that's going to perish, going to pass away. And you don't realize this again. This year you're closer than ever to the return of Christ in the time of your judgment and my judgment. God is going to, you know, make a determination of whether we're going to be rewarded or not. Hopefully we are going to be rewarded. If we come up at first resurrection, we will be rewarded in some way. But if we come up in the third, that, of course, all bets are off. You know, you're going to lose out entirely. Come up at the second, you're still found a shoe in, because if somebody's a hundred years old, the Bible says, you know, they're still a sinner, they're going to be accursed. But James, Chapter 4, in James, Chapter 4, you know, the Apostle James over here says this, James 4 and down in verse 13, says, Who is wise? No, I'm sorry. That's Chapter 3. Here we'll break into the thought verse 13. No, this is the beginning here. Come now, you who say tomorrow or today we will go to such and such city, spend a year there, buy or sell, make a profit. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting, he says, is evil. Therefore to him who knows to do good, in other words, you know it today, you better do it. He says and does not do it to him. It is a sin. It's a matter, again, of putting to action those things that we have set before him. Time has made no guarantees, brethren, that it's going to serve you and me. I don't care how young you may be.

Many young people can be cut down in the prime of life. And, of course, sometimes the years can be not complementary to us. In the sense that sometimes the years produce more wickedness and wrong character than later is going to have to be repented of in the Second Resurrection. And so, brethren, what are your resolutions this year going to be? Hopefully, there are resolutions you renew on a regular basis all during the year. You made promises to yourself all year round. But, brethren, if you have made promises to yourself, like I said, it is a way of life. It's a development of character, holy, righteous character. Let's go to finally Philippians 3 over here.

You know, Paul was just like us in many respects.

He had his foibles. He had his ups and downs. He had his problems like you and me. He was a man of light passions.

And all the apostles were that way. And they struggled as we struggled, all of us struggled. But, you know, the struggle is a time for us to develop character. Like I said, when we were running away, we'd fall down and we'd get back up.

We'd fall down and we'd ask God's mercy. We'd go to his throne of grace and he'd give us his mercy. But then we've got to move on. Philippians 3 verse 13, you know, Paul says, "'Whether I do not count myself to have apprehended, I'm not there yet,' Paul was saying. "'But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.'" Philippians 3 verse 14. He says, "'I press for the goal for the prize and upward call of God in Christ Jesus.'" He says, "'Let us, as many as are mature, have this mind. "'And if in anything you think otherwise God will reveal even this to you.'" It says, "'Ever lest it is agreed that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.'" So the attitude we need to have, brethren, is going, you know, from a good state to a better state. Hopefully that's the way it is in our lives. In other words, it's not that we're going from a terrible state to a better state, but from a good state to a better state in our lives, and that every year it builds, it grows. And we have this attitude, brethren, a pressing of working toward.

And, you know, let me suggest, brethren, at this time of the year, that you make your promises to God a matter of character development and the change in your character permanent. Make it permanent. You know, our resolve ought to be year-round. You know, it shouldn't be as old Mark Twain was saying that most people, you know, when they make these resolutions, it should be a matter of character and not a spurt of effort we, you know, used at the beginning of a few weeks in January. It is a matter of, brethren, developing a habit of doing the right thing no matter what obstacle comes along, doing what is good and what is right no matter what we face. And, brethren, that is holy righteous character. So resolutions ought to be meaningful if, in fact, we make real changes and permanent changes in our lives. And if we make them into a way of life. So let's do that, brethren, for the remainder of this year. And let's make sure we're pressing forward again to the goal of the upward call of Jesus Christ.