We're going to turn in our Bibles to 1st Samuel, chapter number 16. 1st Samuel, chapter number 16. And we're going to begin reading in verse number 4 to get started with the message this evening. 1st Samuel, chapter 16, beginning in verse number 4. And the Bible says, And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming. and said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably, I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. And it came to pass when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, And said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. And Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this, Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by, and he said, ìNeither hath the Lord chosen this.î Again Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel, and Samuel said unto Jesse, ìThe Lord hath not chosen these.î And Samuel said unto Jesse, ìAre here all thy children?î And he said, ìThere remaineth yet the youngest, and behold he keepeth the sheep.î And Samuel said unto Jesse, ìSend and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither.î And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and with all of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. And let's have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we ask your blessing upon the message this evening. Father, we pray that you would use it to minister to us that the Word of God would do its work by the Spirit of God in our hearts and lives. Father, we pray that you would do what only you can do, that you administer to each of us individually and personally. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. Of course, our text passage is the passage of the anointing of David to be king over Israel. And the point or the message is going to be about this evening. The verse here in verse number 7 in our passage, But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. And this is a modern day mantra of Christianity, too often I think. And matter of fact, I think Christians today basically use this phrase in the Bible to kind of minimize God's commands and God's impact and influence on our life. And they basically say that God doesn't care about the outward things of life. but only about the heart. But let me just say, that's not what the passage says, nor is it what the passage means. This is simply not true, that God is not interested in the external of our life. It just simply means that He is most interested in our heart. Because if you take care of the heart, you take care of everything else. And this is the way it is. To use this passage to say that God does not care about what we wear, or how we look, or God does not care about our outward associations, is simply to mangle this passage beyond recognition. It is simply not true. Matter of fact, Let's just take time to go to a couple of New Testament passages that just destroy this philosophy that God doesn't care about the outside of our life. 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 in our Bible. Now we could go to many passages, Old and New Testament, but because this argument is most often brought against Old Testament admonitions, we will go to a couple of New Testament passages here just to show clearly God does care. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 14 and 15. Doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering. And so we are not going to talk about the particulars of this passage tonight, but it is very clear that God cares what we look like and how we represent Him to others. There is no doubt about it. There is no way to take this passage and say that God is not at all interested in our outside. Certainly He is. 1 Timothy 2. 1 Timothy 2. Again, we're not really going to talk tonight much about how God is interested in our outside or what those particulars are. I've taught many other times in certain areas and so forth, but rather we're simply going to take the Bible and show clearly that this mantra of modern Christianity simply is not biblical. 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse number 9. And like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. The word modest here means appropriate, not drawing attention to oneself. And so the Bible says in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array. but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. And so once again here we find God does care what we wear. And we can disagree about what modest apparel is, but make no mistake about it, God cares about our external appearance. And our external appearance should be submitted to God, just like our heart should be submitted to God, and that either one is wrong to rebel internally or externally against what God would have us to do is wrong. Matter of fact, the Bible puts it this way, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. I should dress the way I believe God wants me to dress. dress. I should act the way God wants me. I believe God wants me to act. I should listen to what I believe God wants me to listen to. I should go where I believe God wants me to go. And if I don't, he that doubteth is damned if he eat, for he eateth not of faith. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin, the Bible says. And so I'm simply explaining that this modern philosophy of, well, God looks on my heart so I can live any way I want, well, God looks on my heart so I can go anywhere I want, well, God looks on my heart so I can do whatever I want, is simply a philosophy of the devil and rebellion. And let me just say, yes, God does look upon the heart, and I'll explain that as we go along, but often the heart shows through very clearly And it isn't even necessary to look on the heart to see what someone is thinking. And so, it is irrefutable that God cares about the outside as well as the inside. It is no doubt about it. So instead, what does God mean that God looketh upon the heart? A man looketh upon the outward appearance, but God looketh upon the heart. Simply it means that man can only see the surface, and we can't read someone else's intentions or motives, and we can't decide whether their motives are right, because we don't know them. But, of course, we have to make judgments based on the outward appearance. God does not. He has, of course, the omniscience to know not only what we're doing, but why we're doing it. And that is a wonderful thing. So, well, in context, of course, The use of this phrase in the passage means that God is not as interested in the way we appear to men. Notice that Eliab was rejected, even though he looked kingly. And he stood up straight and he had the appearance of a leader. But God was not interested in the way he appeared to men, but rather in the way he was in his heart. And the Bible says he was rejected. Now notice David was a ruddy boy of beautiful countenance. So it's not like he was a ugly, disheveled looking, you know, terrible guy and Eliab was so different. It was just that God said, I'm not just interested in the way he looks. I'm interested in the way he feels in his heart. And of course, this is still true today. God is not as interested in the way we appear to men, but rather in the way we are in our heart. But it doesn't mean God doesn't care. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are to go out and let others see our good works, that they may glorify our Father which is in heaven, and let our light shine among men. God does care about these things. It's just I can be right on the outside and wrong on the inside. Right? And even on occasion, I can be wrong on the outside and right on the inside, but that is in a very narrow scope, as we will talk about here tonight. Let's go to Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15 in verse number eight. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And then he goes on to reprimand the Pharisees harshly for getting on his disciples, for eating with unwashing hands. Finally, verse 15, Then answered Peter, and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? do not ye yet understand that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the trough? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashing hands defileth not a man. And so he was simply saying that you're not defiled spiritually by exterior things alone, but rather by your heart, which can be affected, of course. and also does affect exterior things, but it is not, they are not one and the same. Matthew 23, Matthew 23 and verse number 27, Matthew 23 and verse 27. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. And so here he says this is the problem. He said, I don't want you to just clean up the outside. I want you to make sure your heart is also right. But it doesn't mean don't clean up the outside. It simply means don't just do it. This certainly is not an admonition to appear wicked, but rather to make sure my outward righteousness is in tune with the heart that loves God and is striving to serve Him. Jesus isn't saying today that the whited sepulcher should be left unpainted. He is simply explaining that my heart needs to be right and my outside needs to be as right as it can as well, of course. because these are external things that the wrong heart leads to, as the list was given in Matthew 15. This is certainly not telling us that we should strive to appear to be wicked to men, but just worry about our heart. Rather, it is explaining that we are to keep our heart right as well as our outward action. This is the main truth being taught by our passage. But I think there's even other truths that can be understood by this phrase, Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart. The first thing is very simple. And that is, God is more interested in your heart than your external. Why? Because if my heart is right, it will lead my external in the right direction. Alright? So you fix the heart, you fix everything. All right, and so that's the point, and that's what God is trying to make. But at the same time, He does care about those outward things in our life. We are ambassadors for Christ. So a couple of thoughts on this subject. Number one, God is not interested in our outward abilities, but rather our heart for Him. 2 Corinthians chapter number 12. So, in a certain sense, God is not interested in our outward when it comes to our own abilities. And because, of course, He has sufficient power and ability and doesn't need our help, just our yieldedness to Him. And so the Apostle Paul, led by the Spirit of God, writes, And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace, My acceptance of you. My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities or weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. And so the point Paul was making was this, is that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. God is not looking for you to come to Him with your talent and ability. God is looking for you to come to Him with your inability. Because that's what gets God's blessing on our life. If you think you're a talented parent, you won't need God's help. If you think you're a talented spouse, you won't need God's help. If you think you're a talented preacher, you won't need God's help. But if you come to God and say, God I can't do it on my own, for without you I am nothing. then you're ready to be used of God. He is not interested in our outward talent, but our heart for Him. I am nothing, but nothing plus God equals everything. Why? The Bible says, I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth him. And so don't come to God with all of your wisdom and all of your ability and all of your strength. Come to God in your weakness and let God work through you. Why? Then He gets the glory and honor and praise. and not man. This is what God wants to do. So in a certain sense, God is not interested in our outward talent, but our heart for Him. Number two, God sees the heart when we do wrong in ignorance only. So this is the restrictor here, right? So yes, can I be wrong on the outside and right on the inside? Yes, I can, in very rare cases when I am ignorant of the truth. Only time. Only time. Because to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. So if I'm wrong on the outside and I know better, It's just revealing my heart, right? But if I'm wrong on the outside and I don't know better, well then that's when God's mercy is extended. Let's go to Leviticus 4. This is all through the Bible. This is the idea of innocence in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve, aid of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is God's justice that he would not punish unjustly. And so when I don't know better, then there is a mercy until that knowledge grows in my life. Leviticus 4 and verse 27. The Bible says, And if any one of the common people sinned through ignorance, well, he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty. Alright, so here's what happened. A person sinned, and they broke a commandment of God, and someone caught them. But they did it through ignorance. They didn't know any better. And so they broke the commandment through ignorance. Someone caught them and brought them before the judges. They were guilty. They were found guilty, all right? And let's look at verse 28. Or if his sin, which he has sinned, come to his knowledge. In other words, even if he isn't found guilty before the judges, but he recognizes and realizes, you know, I just broke the commandment of God. Well, what does the Bible say? then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned. So as soon as I know better, a sacrifice is required. As soon as I know better, then an offering is required. As soon as I know better, then a redemption is required, and forgiveness is required. All right? And so, but if I do it ignorantly, initially, then of course God often extends mercy. Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 19. Of course this applies as well to harming someone, which we even talked a little bit about in Sunday school this morning. Deuteronomy 19 and verse number 4. Deuteronomy 19 and verse number 4. And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither that he may live, whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in times past. So he killed someone, he harmed someone, but he didn't intend to do it. He didn't do it knowingly and willingly. He did it accidentally, as we might call it. And so he was allowed to flee. It still cost him something. He had to flee his homeland, or flee his home city and go to one of the refuge cities in Israel until the high priest died. But it didn't cost him everything, his life of course. And so when anything is done in ignorance, then God looks on the heart. and so someone might get saved, they might be a brand new Christian, and they might not understand everything they're supposed to do, and so like my preacher did, Brother Dean Runyon said, when he got saved, he went to church, he got saved, he was so excited about getting saved, he went out to the bar and celebrated. All right, that's what he did. He said that's what he did. That's what he did when he celebrated anything. And he said it was only the next morning that he began to think about what was I doing there? And all of a sudden he learned a little bit more and realized he was wrong to do what he did. But at the time he was doing it somewhat innocently, all right? In the sense that he didn't fully understand what was happening. 1 Timothy chapter one. This is Paul's position before he came to Christ. 1st Timothy chapter 1. We often get the idea that, you know, Paul was a terrible guy, so to speak, and then he came to Christ. In reality, Paul was doing what he thought was right. He was not doing what he thought was wrong. He was doing what he thought was right. 1st Timothy 1 and verse 13. who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And so Paul was striving to do what was right. When he persecuted the Christians, he did what he thought was right. When he put them in jail, he thought he was serving God. When he had Stephen stoned and they laid their clothes at his feet, he thought he was doing God a great service. See, this isn't quite the same as some who would say, well, I got saved out of a life of sin, but they knew they were doing wrong. Paul's is a little bit different, and so God worked with him differently. Paul was trying to do right and doing wrong instead out of ignorance. At the time, he believed he was doing what was right. This is much different than when we knowingly do wrong in rebellion against him. The Bible is very clear, James 4, 17, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. And I will go further than that. I think it also includes those of us who should have known better, 2 Peter chapter 3. So I do not believe that God looks on my heart when I openly do things that I know I shouldn't be doing and that God in some way favors me in spite of my actions. No, this only counts when I do it in ignorance. So, if I ignorantly do something, like, I remember when Brother Ryan first got saved and started coming to church, and he started reading his Bible regularly, and he is saved out of, of course, a very rough background with drugs and alcohol and so forth. And so, he started reading his Bible regularly, and he read in the Old Testament of a Nazarite vow, and how you weren't supposed to cut your hair, and so he started letting his hair grow long. And literally it was way down to here. But he literally thought he was doing the right thing. And until I think Brother Jeff gave him some barrettes and then that kind of changed his mind a little bit. But the bottom line is that's doing it ignorantly. Yes, God looks on your heart when you're trying to do right and you accidentally do wrong. Of course He does. But God does not say, well, I see their heart is good when you know better and you do it anyway. That's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. Yes, God does see your heart and He knows exactly why you did it. Right? And it's not a good reason. Okay? And so that's, of course, biblical truth. Rebellion against what we know or ought to have known. Let's read our passage. 2 Peter 3 and verse 4. And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of. That by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. So he says they should have known what happened in the past because the Bible told them. But they were willingly ignorant. All right? Willingly ignorant doesn't count as ignorance. Matter of fact, even in our law, there is a standard. If you know the law or should have known the law, then you are responsible for it. And so it is with God. If I know better or I should know better. You know, you can't drive down the freeway and close your eyes every time you see a speed limit sign coming up and then say to the officer, I didn't know what the speed limit was. Alright? And this is the same thing with the Lord. And so, let's not allow this absurdity to come into our life to think that God looks on my heart and looks past my direct disobedience to Him. I mean, try that with your children. You know, they just directly, well, they've got a good heart. No, that's why they're directly disobeying you, right? Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child and the rod of correction driveth it far from him. And so, God knows my heart when I do wrong in ignorance. Yes, that's true. Number three, God knows my heart when I am unable to do what is right or to do it the way that I should. Let's go to 2 Chronicles chapter 30. This is true too. For instance, you know, say you have a terrible illness that leaves you bedridden and so unfortunately you are violating the command of God not to forsake the assembling of yourselves together. Well, God looks on your heart in that instance and understands you desire to do right, you're just unable to do it. Suppose you're in the hospital in bedridden and unable to speak. Well, then the command to preach the gospel to every creature, God looks on your heart. and seize your desire to do it, even when you are unable to do it. But these are very narrow exceptions. These are very narrow exceptions. Alright, 2 Chronicles 30 and verse number 15. Here's an example of this in the Bible. Then they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. And they stood in their place after their manner according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood which they received at the hand of the Levites, for there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified. Therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the Passovers, for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord. For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh and Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the Passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and he healed the people. And so notice what happens. They disobeyed the way the Passover was supposed to be done, because they decided kind of at the last minute, when Hezekiah heard that the Passover should be done, and he didn't really understand it at first, and then he realized what was supposed to happen, and they said, let's have the Passover feast in Jerusalem. And now remember, this is the divided kingdom, and so you had the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom, and so Hezekiah sent word up into even the northern kingdom and said, come and celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem like we're supposed to. And those people whose hearts were tender towards God left their homes and came down quickly to the Passover feast. not taking the time to do it exactly the way it was written because it came up suddenly. And so what did God do? God said, I'll forgive them when Hezekiah prayed for them. Why? because he knew their heart. They intended to do right. They were trying to do right, but it just didn't work the way that it was supposed to, time-wise and so forth. This, of course, is a recognition that God knows my heart when I am unable to do right. But I can't go fishing on Sunday and say, God knows my heart. I wanted to be at church. No, I didn't. Otherwise I'd have been there, right? God knows my heart, I would have read my Bible this morning, but there was a football game on, a TV, not in the morning, but anyway, there was a football game on and I just couldn't do it, right? No, that's not what it's talking about. And so Moses was trained in Egypt, the Bible says. Now this with all the knowledge of the Egyptians and worldly philosophies that they had, but God blessed him, why? There was no choice in the matter. Daniel was taken from his home by God's own will and taken into Babylon and trained in all the wickedness of Babylon and all of their wicked philosophies. But God protected him. Why? Because God did know his heart, even in what would have been, under different circumstances, disobedience. Joseph, another wonderful example in the Bible. But there's a difference between violating the law of God by force. If someone took me down and someone opened my mouth and forced it open and put alcohol in it and got me drunk, I would not be liable for that because it was against my will. And so you recognize and understand these things. God knows my heart when I am unable to do what is right. And then lastly, when we understand man looks on the outside, but God looks on the heart. We know what it doesn't mean, that God doesn't also see the outside, right? God doesn't see past our outside to our heart all the time. God sees both. God sees both. And so, when we understand this, we understand lastly, the outward doing of right is not enough. It's not enough. to obey God's commands. It's not enough. Now we're all insufficient and that's the greatness of living in grace. And that is none of us are worthy but we're supposed to be striving for the mastery without worrying about failing because He will never leave us nor forsake us. And so the outward doing of right is not enough. Luke chapter 10. This is really what the New Testament is all about, that no outward acts of righteousness are good enough. As the Old Testament saints strove to keep the law of God from the Old Testament, they still offered sacrifices representing the coming of Christ. Why? The keeping of the law would not have been enough. They couldn't keep it, number one, and number two, even if they did, they weren't really keeping it because the spirit of the law is so much greater than the letter of the law. Luke chapter 10 and verse number 25. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, what is written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said, and this, I think, shows that he had knowledge of Jesus' teaching here. He answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. Jesus had already taught that doing these things hang all the law on these two commandments, Jesus had said. Verse 28, And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right, this do, and thou shalt live. So if you could do that, you could earn your way to heaven. All you gotta do is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. You ever tried that? You ever tried that? Not possible. Matter of fact, what does he say? But he willing to justify himself said unto Jesus, and who is my neighbor? He just wanted to double check here. Now, I could see me doing some of this, love my neighbor as myself. Maybe if my wife is my neighbor, I might come close. If my children are my neighbors, I might get near there. But how far out do my neighbors extend? And guess what Jesus told him? The story of the good Samaritan. A stranger. He said, when you get to the point where you would meet every person's need at your own expense, then you're coming close to perfection. Let me say, nobody ever has lived there. Nobody. He was not telling him how to get to heaven. He was explaining that keeping the law was not good enough. It was not good enough. The commands of God are meant to help us do the first commandment, the great commandment, and the second like unto it. to love God with all of our heart and our neighbor as ourself. It is not enough to simply do something that is right. For instance, think of the commands in the Bible, such as the command that we shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And so I'm supposed to read my Bible, but it's not enough for the words to go into these ears. That's not what God means when he says consume his word. What he means is for them to go into my mind and be digested and get into my heart and my life. That's what it's really all about. When he says don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together, he's not saying just go to church. He's saying go to church and get what I have for you out of it. Absorb what's being done. Do everything with understanding. Why? That I might love him more and by loving him more might learn to love my neighbor as myself. It is not enough to simply do something right. I must try to have a right heart as I do it. It's not enough to put on Christ on the outside, to be an ambassador for him towards others. It's not enough to white the sepulcher, so to speak. Of course, there he's talking about unsaved people, but it's not enough to look like an independent fundamental Baptist. That's not what the goal is. The goal is to get to our heart. to get to our heart that we might love him, 1 Timothy chapter 1. And this says it so well right here, 1 Timothy chapter 1. And we all know if you've been a Christian any length of time, you know that you can do the right things on the outside and your heart be far from where you're at. If you ever went to school, they call it daydreaming, right? Your body's in one place, your heart is in another. You can do that when you're reading your Bible. You can do that when you're praying. You can do that when you're in church. You can do that wherever you're at. Someone just woke up when I said that, see that? You can do that wherever you're at. And so it's God's goal for you to open this book and let the words go in your ears, just go out another. Is that God's goal of reading the Bible? No, no, that's not. Is God's goal to go out soul winning and talk to others about Jesus just to say that you did? No, that's not it. You're supposed to be trying to reach people with the wonderful news that Jesus died and rose again for sinful men. 1 Timothy 1 and verse 5. And this is a wonderful verse. Now the end of the commandment is charity. Every command of God is meant to develop love for him and for others in our life. The end of the commandment is charity. Out of a pure heart, sincere heart, really wanting to do what is right and of a good conscience. Of course, meaning I'm living or striving to live what I believe and of faith. unfeigned. I really do believe that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Why does God give us commandments? They're tools to get us to love Him with all of our heart and love our neighbor as ourself. This is their purpose. The goal is to develop sincere love for God and others. The tools are obedience to God's command. Luke chapter 17, Luke chapter 17. That's really in a nutshell what it's all about. The commands of God are our helps in our life to get us to love Him and to love others. Luke 17 and verse number 10. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do. That's all. All I've done is my duty. All I've done is my reasonable service when I obey God. And so don't fall into this trap or allow it to go unanswered, I think, when folks around us today, Christians today, want to say, well, God looks at my heart no matter the way I act. no matter what I look like, or dress like, or the places that I go, or the actions that I do. Yes, God does look on your heart, but that should be a scary thing. Because let me just say, when my child knows that I told them not to do something, and they do it anyway, I already know what's in their heart. There's no doubt about it. When they do wrong, and maybe I didn't make it clear, well, then there's some room there for mercy. When they do wrong, and maybe they were trying to do right, it just didn't work out the way it was supposed to, well, then there's room for mercy. But I think we're mistaken if we think God is going to be merciful unto those who willfully and knowingly Our Christians willfully and knowingly rebel against His truth. This is just an excuse to do what we want to do instead of what God wants us to do. And how does it work? It works like this. Well, I want to do this. Now, do I think God wants me to do it? Well, I don't want to think about that. So God knows my heart. God knows my heart. That's just an excuse to do what I want to do in life. Every head's bowed and every eye's closed.