In Matthew 28, Jesus said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Just like little Johnny is the title of the message today. Johnny, eat your vegetables. Why is it that what kids usually want to eat is so often very different than what their parents want them to eat? Was that the case with you when you were growing up? Why is it that the peers that kids want to hang out with is often different than those their parents want them to hang out and be around? Why is it the places the kids often want to go are so often different than what their parents desire for them? How many parents do we have in here today? Oh, pretty good, pretty good bunch. Do you parents really know what is best for your children or do your children know what's best for themselves? Some of you are laughing. Some of the stuff that parents are putting their kids through because the kids think this or that about their own bodies is pretty serious stuff today. Kids say, my parents just don't understand me. They never let me do what the other kids get to do. Why can't I just do what everybody else gets to do? Kids? Yeah? You paying attention? The problem is your parents do understand you. They know all about that secret stuff you think they don't understand. Because they've been down the road that you're on right now. And your very nature is the one you inherited from them. So they do know what you're all about. You need to trust your parents. Because by far, in most cases, they really do know better than you, way better than you, what is best for you. So I have another question to ask you. Does your Heavenly Father really know better than you what is best for you? Should you trust your Heavenly Father because unlike human parents, He always does know in every case and in every circumstance what really is best for you. He really does know that. You know the answer. The answer is that we should trust Him completely. You say you trust Him, and you actually do know clearly that He does know what's best for you. You know that. Yet many of us do exactly what the kids do when it comes to our response to our Heavenly Father. When the kids do what they do is something we call passive-aggressive behavior. Little Johnny says, yes mom, I will do my homework first thing when I get home from school. knowing full well that he's going to go straight to the video game, and has no intention of doing otherwise. Oh, Johnny intends to get his homework done, he does. He intends to get around to it, but he is going to do it on his terms, his way. Sometimes he gets it done, sometimes he doesn't. When he doesn't, It's because, well, I was sick, or because the teacher gave me more than I could do, or because the dog ate my homework, or some other lame excuse. And you know what that is. It's just a lie. We all know what Johnny's work ethic and grades and life pattern will become by putting what he wants ahead of what the proper priorities are in life. Many of you, many of us, are doing exactly what you and Johnny did as kids. If I read to you Hebrews 10.25, it says, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. The some would be those people that aren't here this morning. but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching." Can you see the day approaching that Jesus is coming back? Can you figure that out? There's not a believer in a building but what will and must agree that we ought to be faithful to worship on the Lord's day. Is that right? Yes? Well, maybe there is some that don't. Is that right? You're getting awful quiet. I guess this is one of those sermons where you do get quiet. Sorry about that. Some of you, I'm thinking of Greg back there and my son, who's not here this morning, and a few of you others. Some of you, well, come November 3rd, I looked it up to see what day that was this year. It's Sunday. Some of you on Sunday, November the 3rd, are going to be in your deer camp or in your deer stand on Sunday morning because gun season opened on November 2nd. And you're still going to be there Sunday because you didn't get a deer on the second. I wonder why that is in some cases. You could go to your deer stand before daylight and hunt until about 8.30. And you could then go back to camp and change your shirt if you need to, and then drive into that small town. and attend the local Baptist church and worship the Lord on November the 3rd. You could do that. But instead, you think, well, why do I need to? What will it hurt if I just miss one Sunday? It's just too much trouble. Now, I could give you all of the theological reasons why, just like you parents, Try to explain all the reasons to your kids why they should do it the way you tell them to do it. But the bottom line is, do you trust God that He knows what's best for you or not? Which way is it? I could read to you Proverbs 3, 9, and 10. It says, Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Some of you are saying, I don't have a barn, and I don't have a wine press, and you've missed the whole point. You've taken God's promise and totally disannulled it by failing to understand it. I can read you from Malachi 3.10. which says, bringing all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house. That could be interpreted as that there may be air conditioning in my house. And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. We like that part. Every believer in this place will agree that yes, we ought to tithe and give generously to the Lord. Yes, is that right? Yes, and yes, I know God will bless greatly if I do. Yet, just like gentle little Johnny, some of you will agree with absolutely no intention of tithing, let alone faithful giving. Oh, you plan to do some giving, But just like Johnny, you're going to do it your way and with your time stable. Passive aggressive, being just like Johnny. That's what it is. And some of you are going to say, well, I don't have an income very much. I want a fixed income. That's not right. You're not on a fixed income, you're on a broke income. And it needs to be fixed. And you need to tithe more than anybody, yes, in this building. Yes, that's right. I know this is one of those sermons. You're going to say, boy, I'll be glad when he retires and I get a new pastor who won't talk to me like this. Well, I've got news for you. God's going to tell Justin what to preach just like He does for me. So you're just going to have to get used to it. We do what we want the way we want, and then God is supposed to be impressed because we showed up and gave anything at all. So it's God's fault if He's not happy with me and thrilled about how I live and what I do and how I've chosen to serve Him. Your parents know what will happen when your kids start listening to their peers instead of you. That wrong crowd you don't want your kids hanging out with, that's the same role that Satan in the world is playing in your own life. Minnie is the young believer who was convinced to take this great new job. Oh yes, you'll have to move, but you can find another church. But somehow they never do. Somehow they never do. We all know God knows what's best for us. We all know that. I know you do. Why then is it so hard to trust Him completely? Do it the way He tells us to do it. Do you really believe that Jesus is asking too much of you to do it the way He tells you to do it? Do you really believe that following the Lord completely is going to cause you to miss out on something? Well, you're right about that part. It's going to cause you to miss out on loads of failures and consequences that you would otherwise not have to face. Most of us, especially the men, Yeah, that's right, especially the men. We've been doing this passive-aggressive thing since we were little bitty guys, little bitty things. It starts so early. Been doing it all our life. We have this childish, rebellious streak in us that we did not grow out of. As you all know, we kind of owned up to this at the men's meeting recently. Maybe it's time to realize that we're just not kids anymore. Paul said it this way, 1 Corinthians 13, 11, he said, when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. How do we put away this destructive, this blessing-robbing, success-destroying, childish passive aggression behavior. How do we do that? Well, I'm about to tell you. You're probably going to like this part just about as much as you like the other part. But I hope you'll like it better. Number one, you make up your mind once and for all to trust God completely. There comes a time when it's time to do that. Has not Jesus proven Himself to you? Did He not prove His love to you when He went to the cross and He took your place where you should have died? Where you deserve to have died. 1 Peter 2.24 says, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. Has he not proven his faithfulness by forgiving and cleansing you and restoring your fellowship every time you confess your sin? The Lord is faithful. And that's what He desires of us, to be faithful. 1 John 1.9, if we confess our sins, He is what? Faithful. And just. He's just because He paid for it. He's faithful because that's who He is. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Is He not continually proving His wisdom in our midst by answering our prayers? in keeping all His promises to us? 2 Peter 1 verse 2 says, Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ our Lord, according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. You need to decide right here and right now who you're going to trust. You're going to trust in your own wisdom. You're going to trust the world and what they think is the best way to do it. Or are you going to trust these basic principles of God's Word that are not hard to understand? Right here and now, you need to decide who you're going to trust. You need to decide to trust Jesus completely. Does He or does He not know what's best for you? Better than you do. Does He? Some of you are not sure. Your flesh says, well, I don't know. I'm not sure. Your born-again spirit says, trust God. He's got the answers. Or maybe you don't have a born-again spirit yet. If you don't, you sure need one. What's it going to be? Make up your mind once and for all to respond to God immediately. You know, everything we're talking about here today, it is in search of a response. Have you ever made up your mind once and for all that you're going to do whatever it is God's way? Learn to say yes to the Lord and mean it. Those songs that we sing, they need to be the very voice of our own heart crying out to the Lord instead of just words up on the screen. Purposing in our heart right here today that every time God instructs us in a new step to take, there will be no hesitation, no resistance. Just do it. I mean, even the people that make our tennis shoes know to just do it. You can make one decision that takes away all the decision making from now on. You've heard us talk many times how that instead of making 52 decisions a year whether or not you're going to go to church, you simply make one decision that if it's Sunday, I'll be in church. And you don't have to decide every week whether you're going to go or not. Just make up your mind, if it's Sunday, I'll be in church. It's one singular decision making, simple thing. It doesn't just work for going to church. It works for everything else as well. I remember the day God spoke to me about tithing. It was a long time ago. I started tithing that week and have never looked back. It also turned out to be the best financial decision I had ever made up until that point. I remember the day I started reading my Bible every day, and I've been doing that for a long time now, and I'm still doing it. I remember when I gave all the decisions over to one decision. Yes, Lord. We sing that song, Trading Our Sorrows. It's got that chorus that says, yes, yes, Lord, yes, Lord, Lord. We sing a song. but make an upper mind to say yes, Lord. Whatever you say, no strings, no conditions, no passive-aggressive pretending. Whatever you say, Lord, my answer is yes. It can be interpreted as amen. My answer is yes. We need to say yes to the things that empower us to become what God intended us to be for His glory. Here's what God wants you to be, wants you to become for His glory. We're gonna read it from Colossians chapter one. It's a prayer that Paul was praying for these people. It's a prayer that I am praying for you. Paul said, for this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. It's not just our prayer for you, it's our job. Our job as leadership in this church is to make all of these things available to you. It says that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. This is that second part that Jesus was talking about when He said, take My yoke upon you and learn of Me. You took His yoke upon you when you became a member of this church. You became a member of the body. Now learn. That's what God says next. Now learn. The church is commanded to teach you And you are commanded to learn. Colossians 1.9 says, All wisdom and spiritual understanding. Matthew 28.20 says, All things, Jesus said, whatsoever I have commanded you. Ephesians 5.17 says, Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. You cannot learn on this level just coming to the preaching on Sunday morning. You need to be in Bible class. You need to be in a home team. You need to be studying the Word yourself every single day. Every day. Colossians 1.10 says that you might walk worthy unto the Lord, unto all blessing, unto all pleasing, Do you even know how that a saved sinner like us can walk worthy of the Lord? Do you know how that works? If you'll come to Bible class, we'll teach you. Colossians 1 and verse 11 says that you might be strengthened with all might according to His glorious power. Not only do you need to learn how to recognize the enemy when you see him, You need to learn how to be strong enough to resist him. When Satan waves his carrot, you know the illustration I'm talking about. You've seen the cartoons. You've seen the little old Mexican guy in his cart with a carrot on a string on a stick, waving it out in front of the donkey, and the donkey keeps trying to reach for it, but he goes where the carrot is. When Satan waves his carrot in front of most young believers, they often think it's a gift from God until it's too late. They don't know how to recognize the enemy when they see it. That's sad. I'm sorry, but you're not smart enough to outwit Satan. You're not. We need every principle of God's Word locked away in our mind and heart so that we might understand. In conclusion, what percentage of you were in Bible class this morning? We could add it up. We take attendance. I would guess about 20 or 30 percent. You know why that is? Because about 70 or 80 percent of you are being just like little Johnny. Oh, you'll come, you'll worship, but you're going to do it your way. And you don't want anybody, including Jesus, telling you what to do, telling you how to live your life. I appreciate my old pastor that led me to Christ. He said, I used to think that church and the Bible and showing up for Sunday school and all those things we're supposed to do. He said, I used to think they were for women and kids and men that didn't know how to run their life. And he said, and I learned some things and I realized that it was all for women and kids and men that don't know how to run their life. You don't have the answers. Jesus has the answers. And He wouldn't tell you how to do it if He didn't know, if He didn't care how you were to do it.