Sermon: Do We Truly Honor God in Our Actions?

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Given 07-Mar-20; 47 minutes

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We've all read the verses that state the inspired Words of Christ are profitable for doctrine, that the Word of God is the Bread of Life, and that we must be doers and not merely hearers of God's Word, but do we practice what it teaches? Throughout the greater Church of God, some people display carelessness in the keeping of the Sabbath, failing to recognize the Sabbath as "holy time." Some of God's people fund the Feast of Tabernacles with credit cards rather than with their savings, resulting in debt rather than blessing. Some young adults, forgetting that God has called them to a sanctified life, risk their future happiness by marrying outside the church, guaranteeing a life of misery and regret as they become "unequally yoked" (II Corinthians 6:14). Some men, failing to live up to Christ's admonition to love their wives as Christ loved the church, domineer over them like tyrants, forgetting that the Proverbs 31 woman is both submissive and in control of her life, not a battered-down servant. Some misguided Church of God parents no longer discipline their children and are reaping the fruit of disobedience: drug and alcohol abuse, premarital sex, and crime. Whenever we refuse to live by God's ways, rejecting His commands, we are in rebellion. In the end, we can be sure we will reap the horrible fruits of denying God's purpose for us.


transcript:

Let us turn to II Timothy 3, verse 16. I have got some examples in this sermon that I have used at the Feast before, but they fit. I hope that it does not offend any of you.

II Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

God is saying that His Word is good for training, good for discipline, and it must be used for doctrine. Now, I have got a lot of questions for us in this sermon. My question to all of us is: Do you and I believe what I just read to us in II Timothy 3:16? Do you really believe what is said there? Let us turn to Matthew 4. This is Christ Himself speaking here.

Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread [or food] alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"

Again, do you and I believe what Christ Himself said here? Do we really believe this? Do we believe that we should live by every word that comes from the mouth of God? Let us look at one more.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, . . .

Again, do you believe that we should do what the Bible, the very Word of God, says, or not? God tells us to be doers of His Word. Because just hearing the Word does nothing for us. If we hear them and we do not try to do them and put them into practice, we are wasting our time. Do we believe what this verse in James 1 says, that we as firstfruits should do what the Word of God says?

Now, my question is, if we believe what these three verses say, then why do so many of the brethren within the greater churches of God do just the opposite of what the Word of God says? I am not talking about sinning from time to time. Rather, I am talking about a way of life. Let us turn to Exodus 31.

Exodus 31:13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.'"

And then let us look at Isaiah 58.

Isaiah 58:13-14 If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure [or your thing] on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken."

If we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, then why do so many of God's people go to church and then they go home and do their thing, like watching tv or playing on their iPhone for the rest of the day, or maybe not even going to church at all and just staying home and streaming? That is a problem within the church today. And a lot of people, even though they live close to a congregation or a church, they refuse to assemble themselves. Just talking about the Sabbath off and on or going to the beach and leaving on the Sabbath for vacations, all of these things go on on the Sabbath. All of this and much more goes on during the Sabbath every week within the greater churches of God.

Do you know how many times God mentions the Sabbath in the Bible? It must be pretty important, brethren. It is mentioned 137 times—77 times in the Old Testament and 60 times in the New Testament. God also mentions Sabbaths (with an "s") 35 more times. That is a lot of times. The Sabbath is pretty important to God. Do you not think that we, as firstfruits, should try and keep the Sabbath holy and not do our pleasure, our thing? Should we not try to live by every Word of God? Let us turn to Deuteronomy 14. We are going to look at some more of God's words here.

Deuteronomy 14:22-26 "You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and of your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which Lord God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household."

Now we all know these verses are talking about the Feast of Tabernacles. I want to comment on two of the instructions God gives us in these verses. One is tithing and we know that to be second tithe. The second is where God places His name right now within the greater churches of God.

There are brethren that say, "What's the difference if you save second tithe?" Or "What's the difference that you go to the Feast on a credit card? God just wants us there." Now that is the rationale, or the justification, behind the credit card. Now, is that really what God wants? He does not care if you save second tithe?

Luke 11:28 But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

Let us go back to what we call second tithe, the tithe we save to go to the Feast of Tabernacles. Do you know why God instructs us to put second tithe away? First off, God tells us that we are required to keep the Feast every year—year after year. If you go to the Feast on a credit card, it puts you one year behind, you are then paying for the Feast one year late. God knows that all kinds of things come up in a year for all of us. Things that cost money, and a lot of money. You might need a new roof. Your car breaks down, you need a new car, all these things. If you do not get that credit card debt paid off before the next Feast, it will probably hinder you from keeping the Feast the next year. Instead of being one year ahead, you are one year behind, and you are also paying interest on that money.

Let us look at Leviticus 23. This chapter is talking about God's holy days and how we are commanded to keep them. The holy days are not an option, brethren. If you are healthy, you are required to keep the Feast.

Leviticus 23:41 "You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month."

Do you know what else happens when you do not keep the Word of God and you are one year behind because you do not save your second tithe? You become cheap at the Feast. That is what you do, become cheap with yourself and others because you know you are spending money you do not have. So you will not take others out for a meal or help out a widow or others with a few bucks because you are spending money you do not have. We read Deuteronomy 14:26 where God instructs us to spend our money on whatever our hearts desire. When you save second tithe, it is a lot easier to be generous with your money because you have it and you have to use it at the Feast, and you realize that. When the Feast is over, you owe no one, you are one year ahead, and you start saving for the next year. That is a blessing, brethren.

When you save second tithe, you pay no interest. In fact, you can even earn a little interest on your tithe if you would like to by putting it in a savings account. You do not get much though. God's way works and His ways have benefits and blessings for us.

God also tells us to assemble ourselves where He places His name. Now, God inspires His ministers in all of the churches of God to pick suitable facilities for church services. And that is where God places His name. There is also organization where God places His name, and ordained ministers and other men that God has inspired with messages for us if we keep the Feast where God places His name.

We are now living in a time when a number of brethren refuse to keep God's instructions. They meet with another family or two and talk about whatever, and they think they are keeping the Feast. Others stay home and stream even though they are not sick.

John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed."

We con ourselves into all kinds of things that are not right with the Word of God because our hearts are deceitful above all things. We must try to live by every Word of God. That is our job, brethren.

John 12:48 (RSV) He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge, the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.

We are going to look at more of God's words here and that we have a problem with, or a lot of us do.

II Corinthians 6:14-16 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

We read these three verses here and we kind of think God is unfair when it comes to dating out of the church. Now, God does not hate the people of this world, but God did handpick you and me. He has a special job for us. You and I are firstfruits. That does not mean that we are better than the rest of the people of this world. In fact, we are the weak of the world, but God did handpick us for a specific job, and there are reasons why God does not want us to become unequally yoked. When we date out of the faith and marry out of the faith, things can happen that will slowly compromise our relationships with God and our faith.

Now, if there are no kids in these unions, sometimes they work out better. So if you marry out of the faith and you do not want kids, you have a better chance of your marriage working. But usually when kids come from these marriages, it changes everything. The unconverted may wants the kids to be involved in the holidays of this world. That is normal, brethren. Most people find Christmas, Easter, Halloween, birthdays, and all the rest of man's holidays to be a joyful and exciting time. The unconverted mate may also wants the kids to play sports on the Sabbath and to be able to participate in activities on the Sabbath.

Some of the other things that can come into play that create difficulty and unrest within the marriage are tithing, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the holy days. One of two things usually happen: either the handpicked mate starts to compromise with the Word of God and compromises themselves right out of God's church, or the marriage becomes one big fight in disagreement that ends in divorce. God loves you and me and He does not want either one of these things to happen to us. God does not want to lose you to compromise in the world because He has a place and a job for us in His government. And he does not want us to become divorced and all the misery a divorce will bring, because God hates divorce.

God loves us. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to have good marriages and He wants us to raise godly children. That does not come from unequally-yoked families, usually. He does not want to lose you to compromise or to have you divorced and be miserable. God's Word and laws are love for mankind and they are for are good.

James 1:18 (RSV) Of his own will he brought us forth [It was His will to handpick you and me and He did it. . .] by the word of truth that which we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

We have a very, very big responsibility. We have to live by every Word of God. We cannot say things like, "I will never use the rod of correction on my child." Or "What's the difference if I save second tithe as long as I go to the Feast.?" It is all good, brethren, it is all good, we think. "I'm not going to assemble myself. I'm going to stay home and stream." "I'm all done with organized religion." I have heard all of these things. We cannot have that kind of an attitude. God's Word is for our good and our well being. The Word of God is love towards us. Let us turn to do Deuteronomy 12. God is telling us to be careful with His Word and to live by His Word because He knows what is good for us.

Deuteronomy 12:32 "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it."

And then let us look at Ephesians 5. Now again, these are more of God's words that we struggle with.

Ephesians 5:23-25 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be subject to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.

Christ gave His very life for the church. Wives must willingly obey their husbands. And husbands must show the same kind of love to their wives as Christ showed to the church.

I knew a man and his wife years ago in the church that I am going to use as an example. This husband literally had his wife under his thumb. She was really under his thumb. His wife was not allowed to have a car. She was not allowed to leave the home without him. She could not go to the grocery store without him. She could not go to the mall without him. She could not take the kids and buy them school clothes. She could not go lunch with her friends. She could not take the kids to the beach or the public pool. She was not allowed to do anything or go anywhere without her husband.

In verse 24, where God says wives must willingly obey their husbands, do you think this type of control is what God had in mind for a husband to keep their wives under their thumbs?

Let us look at the Proverbs 31 woman. We are going to read quite a few verses here.

Proverbs 31:10-31 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands. She is like the merchant ships, she brings food from afar. She also rises while it is still night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants. She considers a field and buys it; from her profit she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms. She perceives that her merchandise is good, she stretches out her hands to the distaff, and her hand holds the spindle.

She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hand to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet. She makes tapestry for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies sashes for the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing; she shall rejoice in times to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her; "many daughters have done well, but you excel them all." Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but the woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gate.

The Proverbs 31 woman to me does not seem to be under anyone's thumb, brethren. She seems to have complete freedom of movement, and funds to buy and sell with, and her children are under control, and her husband praises her. In today's society, especially with the younger generation and modern women's thinking, even within God's church, there is a lack of a lot of women even trying to be a Proverbs 31 woman. So many of the women nowadays want to rule the roost and be in charge.

Now, I am going to tell you a story about my sister-in-law's neighbor.

Debbie and I were invited to Debbie's sister's house for dinner one Sunday afternoon. When we got there, Debbie's sister's husband said to me, "Do you want to see some funny stuff?" And I said, "Well, sure I do." So, he said, "Follow me across the street to my neighbor's house." Now his neighbor's wife ruled the roost. She was in charge. This man had to turn over his whole paycheck to her every payday. She only gave her husband enough money to get back and forth to work each week. This guy was broke all the time. He could not buy a hamburger, a cup of coffee for himself. His wife was in control of everything.

So this guy came up with a solution to his problem. A ridiculous solution, but nonetheless a solution to the problem. The solution was this: he would tell his wife that something was wrong with one of the cars and he needed money to fix the problem. On this particular Sunday, he told her that his car needed a new water pump, new hoses, and belts. So he called the auto parts store and got a price for her while she was right there by the phone and then he told him he needed a couple of gallons of antifreeze too. His wife would then give him cash to buy these parts. He would go to the auto parts store and he would buy a water pump gasket, one gallon of antifreeze, and a can of engine paint. He would come home. He would tear the front off the engine and clean and paint all the parts, especially the water pump. Then he would put the engine back together again. He made it look like he replaced the water pump with a new one. When he was done, he would call his wife outside so she could see what looked like new parts, She was happy and he, at that time, pocketed about 40 or 50 bucks.

This man was willing to go to all of that work and trouble because he was afraid to do what God says and take charge of his family. This couple did not have a godly marriage relationship. They had a very divided and deceitful and controlled relationship that would later end in divorce.

Now I would like to compare the relationship that my parents had in their marriage. My dad was in charge. In the neighborhood I grew up in, to my knowledge, all men were in charge of their families. At that time in the 50s and early 60s, in our immediate neighborhood, only two wives worked. One was an RN and the other one was a dental assistant. It was a different time in America. I understand now that it takes mom and dad, the goldfish, and the dog to work to make ends meet. I got it. I know how expensive it is to live.

At that time, most women were home raising the kids. Now, my dad was in charge of the family. Let me tell you how that relationship worked. My dad had rules for all of us. My mom's rules were: she was to cook dinner and we ate dinner as a family at five PM every evening. My mom kept the house clean. She did the laundry. She packed lunches, she baked bread, pies, cookies, cakes, and other things. She also canned. My mom helped once a month at the elementary school, which I attended and I loved it because she would always bring us cookies or brownies or something else that we liked. My mom played bungle once a month with other women in the neighborhood and they had lunch together.

How often does that happen now with all you working women?

Sometimes in the summer my mom would take me and my sister to the mall. She took us swimming all the time in the summer at the neighborhood pool. Most moms, my mom included, did not have a car. Most families only had one car then. My wife always had a car. She always had the new car or the nicest car. My dad got paid once a week and when he got paid, he always gave my mom money. That was her money to spend on whatever she wanted. Debbie's and my relationship worked somewhat the same except we had two checking accounts. When I got paid, I would deposit money for her. That was her money.

My dad also had other rules for my mom. My mom was never allowed to do yard work. She never painted inside the house or outside the house. She never washed windows because my dad did not want her on the ladder. My mom never moved furniture. Now when the helmsman came, that was a bakery truck, which came six days a week, my mom could stand and talk with other moms as long as she wanted.

It was a different time. I understand, brethren. Men, for the most part, were in charge of their families.

When we live by the Word of God, there are blessings involved, lots of them.

When I grew up, women, for the most part, we are not under the gun. Today most moms work and, because they work and make money and in some cases more money than the men, they want to rule the roost. My mom had very little stress in her life. My mom could walk across the street during the week because she did not work out of the home and have coffee with one of the neighbors. I think my mom and all the other moms in our neighborhood were in a very enviable position. I know my mom would not want the job my girls have. Michelle flies all over the western U.S. and Canada. She will be gone from home for two or three days a week. Nicole is a principal of a school and she leaves for work at seven a.m. and does not get home until six or seven or eight, depending on the day. My girls are under the gun and stressed most of the time.

The family blessings for the lifestyle my mom had were tremendous. There was very little divorce in our neighborhood. My mom was home so she and other moms in the neighborhood took us kids swimming, like I said, in the summertime, played badminton with us, and went and helped out at school, and did a whole array of other things. Women enjoyed themselves. There are huge blessings for us when we try to live by every Word of God.

I know a lot of working women now and I know they are under the gun, and I know how hard it is. I am not telling anybody not to work. I am just telling us we need to live by every Word of God and even though you have a job, the man still needs to be in charge, but he must do it correctly.

Colossians 3:16 (TLB) Remember what Christ taught, and let his words enrich your lives and make you wise; teach [counsel] them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with thankful hearts.

God's words make us wise because when we live by, or at least try to live by every Word of God, it makes our lives much better. Our marriage is much better. Our kids more obedient, and on and on it goes because we have the wisdom that comes from the Word of God.,

I John 2:3-5 (AMP) And this is how we may discern [daily, by experience] that we are coming to know Him [to perceive, recognize, understand, and become better acquainted with Him]: if we keep (bear in mind, observe, practice) His teachings (precepts, commandment). Whoever says, I know Him [I perceive, recognize, understand, and I am acquainted with Him] but fails to keep and obey His commandments (teachings) is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But he who keeps [treasures] His Word [who bears in mind His precepts, who observes His message in its entirety], truly in him has the love of and for God been perfected (completed, reached maturity). By this we may perceive (know, recognize, and be sure) that we are in Him.

And then let us get a look at Proverbs 22. We are going to look at one more set of the words of God's teaching that so many of us struggle with, brethren.

Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him.

Proverbs 29:15 The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

Now we say that we love our kids and grandkids, but according to God, if we say, "I will never spank my child," or we do not believe in spanking our kids, we really hate them.

Proverbs 13:24 He who spares his rod hates his son [there it is, brethren], but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

The context of this verse is completely contrary to what the world thinks and teaches. The world thinks that if you do what God says and you use the rod when needed, somehow you do not love your children. But if you let them do and act any way they please, then you love your children. We as God's people should know and understand that Satan and his ways and the world's ways is always contrary to the Word of God. God's ways always work.

I want to tell you a story about how well this way works. I have told this story before at the Feast the number of years ago, so please bear with me.

There was a family that my family and I attended church with. This family had three children, a daughter that was about 14 years old, a son was about 10 years old, and the son that this story is about was 6 years old. About two months or so before this story happened, another family in God's church took care of this six year old boy over a three day weekend. The family that was taking care of this six year old boy had two children of their own.

These two kids had a guinea pig that they kept in a cage in their bedroom. The first thing that little Ralph did (the six year old kid who was being babysat) was he choked and killed their guinea pig. Well, you know what this did to the host family and their kids. Chaos and crying and screaming ensued. Their pet had just been killed. There was a mess. We all understand that. The next thing Ralph did was he went into the garage and found a can of house paint and a brush. The host family had a brand new Ford Galaxy, it was only a few months old. I do not think little Ralph liked the color of this car because he painted one whole side of it with the house paint he found in the garage. There are other things that were not good that also happened that weekend.

Well, because of all this and many other problems, many of the church families had little to do with Ralph. Nobody wanted to babysit this kid. Mom and dad could not find a babysitter for this kid. They asked everybody and anybody they could and the answer was always no.

Now my family's part in this story is this: I came home from work on a Thursday evening (I think), and little Ralph's parents were sitting in my living room with Debbie, and they asked Debbie if we would take care of little Ralph for three days, starting on Friday, the next day. Debbie told them they had to ask me when I came home from work and that is exactly what they did. They said they were out of options and nobody in the church or anywhere else would agree to take care of little Ralph for the next three days. Well, we said that we would do that, but we had a stipulation. The stipulation was little Ralph would be treated like our kids, meaning, if he did not listen, he would be spanked. This family did not believe in spanking at all and it was easy to see in little Ralph.

Well, they had no other options. The crazy spanking Myers' were it. So they agreed to leave him with us and we got little Ralph that very night. In fact Friday, Debbie had no problems with Ralph. He was good, but Saturday after church little Ralph fell off the wagon. We had lunch and JB and Ralph wanted to swim in the pool. And I told them no, I told them it was the Sabbath, and I did not want them roughhousing in the pool. I told them they could play outside quietly with JB's Tonka trucks on the patio. It was not very long before JB came running into the house yelling Ralph is painting the side of the house. Little Ralph had gotten into my house paint, which was water based thankfully. I guess little Ralph thought he was an artist. Well, I went out there and guess what I found. I did not find one paintbrush, I found two. My kid thought he was also an artist.

So I cleaned up the paint brushes and I washed off the paint, washed down the house, took the boys into the kitchen, and I got out my dreaded paddle. A lot of us had paddles back then, brethren. I made JB grab his ankles and gave him a couple of good whacks. Well, he cried and screamed and ran around the kitchen. Then it was little Ralph's turn. He grabbed his ankles and I gave him a couple of good whacks. You know what that kid did? Do you know what he did? He did not cry, he did not scream, he did not do anything. He looked at me with a glare in his eyes. Spanking that kid on the butt did not work—no crying, no screaming, no running around the kitchen.

After I spanked the boys, I made them sit quietly in the living room for a while. Then I told them that they could go out on the patio and play again with their toys. Now, guess what happened? JB came running into the house again and he said Ralph is at it again, he is painting the house! Well I went out there the second time and I cleaned up, and I took little Ralph into the kitchen because this time there was only one brush. JB had learned his lesson.

When I was young I had a teacher that was my favorite teacher of all time and he taught me something that I have used on my kids and my grandkids and others. I have found this works very well. The teacher put two wooden rulers back to back and taped them together. Now my name should have been Ralph back then because this teacher used them on me quite a bit. What you do is you hold the kid's hand down, palm up, and you hold his thumb down so you do not hit it. You give the child three or four good whacks on the palm of his hands. I always use the wooden spoon just because it is there. I did not put two rulers together. So I used this form of punishment on little Ralph. Now guess what happened? Little Ralph cried, he screamed, he ran around the kitchen, he jumped up and down. This was one spanking that changed Ralph forever when he was with us. When he was at our house, we never had a problem with him after that one spanking, brethren.

Now that kid loved JB and he wanted to be at our house and spend the night as much as possible. Little Ralph was a bedwetter and one night when he went to sleep he wet the bed. Now I did not spank him for that, but I did tell him if it happened again, that I would get out the wooden spoon, and I would beat him with it and he would never get to spend the night again. Well, guess what happened? Little Ralph never wet the bed at our house again. Never. He did continue to wet the bed at his home for a few more years though with mom and dad, the non-spankers. After one spanking with the crazy wooden spoon, we never had a problem with Ralph. And he spent the night with us a lot. Mom and dad did not believe God's Word and they had problems with all three of their kids for a long time. Little Ralph's older brother even spent a few years in jail. Wow, would you not hate it if one of your kids did jail time? I know I would.

What I am talking about here is very important to our salvation and well being. We cannot afford to go completely in the opposite direction from the Word of God.

Proverbs 23:13-14 Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod, and deliver his soul from hell.

These two verses are right there, they are straightforward.

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure; He has a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

And there are many blessing for us if we would live by every Word of God.

Psalm 12:6 The works of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Now brethren, I just want to mention one thing to all of us and this is really for you younger married people that are having children or already do. I am going to use my own grandchildren as an example.

Debbie and I started babysitting our grandchildren when they were six weeks or maybe a month or two months old and so we had them for about five years, and I started spanking them when they were ten months old. Now you think I am a monster. I got it. I know. The reason I started spanking them then is that is when they were old enough to pull themselves up on the coffee table and they could reach for the glass that was on the coffee table. So I would tell them no, and if they continued to reach for it, I would go and give them two whacks on their chubby little thigh with two fingers. Well, they were spanked a number of times up until the time they were five or six years old. But since they have been five or six years old I rarely have to spank them. And the reason being is when they get out of control or do something wrong, I tell them I am going to get out the dreaded wooden spoon and you know what they do? They say, "I'm sorry, Papa. We'll stop doing it, we'll quit."

Is that not what God wants from us, brethren? He wants to repent and He wants us to change. And if you will spank your kids early, it does wonders for them. And I am not telling you that so you think that my grandkids are right or anything. They are not, they are like your kids. In fact, they are brats a lot of the time, but the wooden spoon works, brethren. And you know when you are going to know if you were successful with your children? When they become teenagers, because when they become teenagers is when they get into drugs, alcohol, premarital sex, they wreck cars. They do a lot of crazy stuff, and if you do not have them under control by then, you will know that you did not do a very good job.

This sermon was not about sin. We are not talking about sin here. We all sin from time to time. This sermon was about complete rebellion, brethren. When we as God's people absolutely reject the Word of God and think we know better, we are in rebellion. The rebellion of Korah was about Korah thinking he could do a better job than Moses. God chose Moses though. When we refuse to live by every Word of God and think man's ways, and Satan's ways, and our ways are better than God's Word, we are in complete rebellion. Also, when we as parents make excuses for our children when they break God's Word, we are condoning their actions.

Let us look at the last part of verse 22 of James 1, which I did not read you.

James 1:22 (AMP) But be doers of the Word [obey the message] and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].

Brethren, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the truth of God. We as God's people must live by every word of God.

KM/aws/drm





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