And I had spoken about a command. And in Genesis chapter two, God gives a command. And the Bible tells us God gives us some specific commands. But in the commands that God gives us, and we went over these last week, and we'll go over them in brief this week, we are living in a day and age where we're saying, don't tell me what to do. Don't give me instruction. Who are you as my authority? But as a believer in Jesus Christ, God's commands, as we will look at, are not grievous. God gives us commands because he loves us. He wants a relationship with us. Illustration of the commands of God while you're turning there to Genesis, an illustration, one young lady who had kept herself a virgin until she was married, and everybody ought to do that, God's word commands it. The Bible says, flee fornication. One young lady, as this illustration goes, as Adrian Rogers gives, who'd kept herself a virgin and was pure, was being tempted by another girl to sacrifice her purity. And this other girl had been living fast and loose and had just become the dirty plaything of even dirtier boys. She was trying to get this girl to be like she was. You know, there's something about sin that was trying to get this girl to spread it. People want to spread the sin. People genuinely are evangelists for their sins. So she was trying to get this other girl to do what she was doing. The other girl was pure and clean, kept herself chaste, and was saving herself for the man that she was going to marry and that God was going to bring to her. But this girl who was of the experienced orientation was saying to this young lady, well, now look, you've never done this before. How do you know it's wrong? How do you know you won't like it? How do you know? At least you can try it. Try it. You know what the young lady who was pure said to the other one who had sacrificed your purity on someone's altar of lust? She said, let me tell you something. Anytime I wish to become like you, I can. But anytime you'd ever again like to be like me, you never can. Now that's a thought, isn't it? End quotes. And you think about the commands of God. God gives us commands because he's trying to protect us. He's trying to keep us. He wants us close to him. He wants to keep us from unnecessary hurt. As we read here in Genesis 2, verse 15, God says, listen, don't eat of this tree. As we look at this, to receive a command from a superior, especially a superior that you don't know or who is rude. Imagine you have a boss at work and they say, I want you to do this. Get over there, do this, right? Especially that tone of voice, you're like, you know, your hair on your, your head kind of goes up and you're just like, they're such, you know, they're so rude. The garden of Eden, Adam and Eve knew God, but they made a conscientious choice to disobey his command. You know what disobedience shows? It shows a lack of a love for God. In 2 John, verse six, and this is love that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. Disobedience shows a lack of love. You know, there's some things that my wife may not like me doing. Some things that really bug her. You know, if I keep up with it, and she's saying, please stop, or stop, I'm showing that I don't love her if I continue with that which she's asked. And God is saying, listen, here's some things in your life that I want to help you with. In our last sermon, we looked at the authority of God, as well as the character of his commands. Today, we're going to look further at his commands, as well as your need to follow his commands and show your love for him. And I want to put forth this principle that your obedience shows your love to the Lord. We all like to try to set our own path for life. We want to set our own destiny. And when I'm talking obedience, I'm not saying you're obeying me. You're obeying the Almighty God. You're obeying the Word of God. Okay, so it's not an attention to a man, but it's an attention to God, as His Spirit speaks to you as a child of His if you're indeed born again. If you know where your eternal destiny is, if you died and this was your last day on earth, if maybe somehow you were on the road and someone ran a stop sign or someone ran through the intersection and you were hit and you would go out into eternity, do you know for sure you're gonna be in heaven with God? And I trust by the end of this day, by the end of this message, that you would establish that, that you know Jesus as your Savior. Life is not guaranteed for tomorrow. And as a believer, it is incumbent upon us to show my love for Christ. As we had sang several of those songs, bring them in, our reputation and our character for the Lord Jesus Christ and how I'm being obedient to Him. It is an example to other people. I remember back in my military days, I've had individuals say, well, a Christian ought not to do that. And I knew they were right in my spirit, but outwardly I was like, ah, you know. People are watching us if you call yourself a Christian. And you want to have the reputation and the character of being one who obeys God. Let's go to the Lord and pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I love you. God, I am so thankful that we have a manual for how to live life. What an awful place to be in living life and not knowing how to live it. How to be a parent, how to be a grandparent, how to be a coworker, a worker, employer, employee, a leader. God, you've given us the instructions for that. You've given us how to treat people. You've given us how to treat enemies. And Father, I pray today as I preach your holy word, God, I need your help. Lord, I pray. Lord, you challenge hearts. God, that you challenge us. Just be obedient. Tell her to live our lives for thee. Father, if there's someone here today that is not certain of where they're going when this life is over, when they step into eternity, God, I pray that they would know for sure that heaven is their home. And Lord, I just yield all of this to thee. God, you go before me. I love you, thank you for your grace, in Jesus' precious name I pray, amen. Looking at the chemistry of obedience, just a little review. We'd spoken about last week, why can God give me commands? Leviticus chapter 22, 31, therefore shall you keep my commandments and do them, I am the Lord. I am Jehovah, the I am, the everlasting one. You know, if you invent something, invent a robot, you get to tell that robot how to do. I mean, you write into it all the code and all the, I mean, you put into the computers and all the different actuators and cylinders and all this stuff. If you make a robot, you tell that robot how to go. And God has given us the ability to have a free will to choose to accept or choose to not. As a parent, if you have a child, you brought the child into the world, and that child has a choice to love you or not. Now, as an infant, it loves you because it has all the needs, but when it gets older, and maybe there's some disagreements, there's a choice to overlook the agreement and continue to love the parent, or to hold onto that hurt and have a distrust of the parent. But God is the creator, and he set everything in motion. He is the authority. Being creator, it gives him the authority. In Isaiah 45, 12, I have made the earth and created man upon it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded. Now this whole idea of atheism is trying to refute God. Now there are laws of nature that are there, and I can say, I don't believe in the law of gravity. I cannot believe it all I want. But the law of gravity is still going to impact me. I mean, I can go and, you know, I can not believe in force and say, well, I'm a pretty strong person. I'm going to go out there. And any car coming by, I'm going to, when it's coming at me, 20 kilometers an hour, let's just say, 30 kilometers. And I'm going to stop that car because I'm a pretty strong man. I'm not, but just for sake of illustration here. I get out there and I say, I don't believe in force. I don't believe in momentum. I think it's a bunch of hogwash. I think physics is no good. So I'm going to get out there, and I'm going to stop that car. You know what that car is going to do? It's going to push me to yesteryear. I mean, I'm gone. I'm done. I'm in trouble. The laws are there, and God created it. What does it matter if I obey God? Do you realize that Adam and Eve, as they would question the will of God, God would say in chapter three, verse 11, and he said, who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree? Where have I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? That word command there is in Hebrew in the PL verb stem. It's a very, very emphatic stem. He says, listen, I told you what to do. I told you don't eat of that tree. He says, listen, you can have everything else. I've created the entire garden. I've created perfection for you, but don't eat of this tree. Love is a choice. You choose who you love and you don't love. It's a choice. And you show your love from your heart by your adherence to the restrictions that God has established. Deuteronomy 11 1 therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God and keep his charge and the statutes and his judgments and his Commandments always if you love someone and they say listen, I really don't like this Please don't You're either going to obey it because you love that person or you want civility or you're not The Bible tells us, Ecclesiastes 12, 13, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God. Now, fear God is not this lightning strike from heaven kind of thing. It's not that kind of fear. It's kind of like if you think about someone that you really, really, really respect. and they were to ask you to do something, you would almost kind of have a reverence for them. But in fearing God, I have such a reverence and respect for him that I'm going to listen to what he has to say. I mean, if it's a professor, if it's a coach, imagine there's this world-class professional coach. I mean, this coach has won, you know, many, many titles. And that coach would say, hey, listen, come here. This is how you are to do your job, whether it's hockey and the coach comes in and says, listen, I want you to do this. And this is, I mean, this is a coach that's won multiple Stanley Cups, and the coach says, listen, do this. You're gonna say, hey, I think he knows what he's doing. I'm gonna listen. God says, fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. So even more than a man, God's saying, fear me. Have a reverence and respect for me. Now, why should I obey God? I want you to look with me at 1 John 5 through. This is just a little bit of the review from last week. And we get this idea of God, and many times Hollywood and movies, they depict God as some distant entity. People, even in AA, they'll call Him, which really is a different one, but they'll call God a higher power. He's not a higher power. He's God. He has a personal name. He's involved in our lives. He's intricately involved with Adam and Eve. He's intricately involved with Israel with the tabernacle amongst them in the temple. And he's intricately involved today with us through his Holy Spirit that indwells us. But we like this idea that somehow that God in heaven, if you do wrong, he's going to strike you dead right then and there. Or we get to the position, oh, not the God. Oh, I don't want to hear about this again. And we get this, you know, from church, we're like, oh yeah, God, oh, so boring. But I wanna tell you, that's not the Bible God. That's a God that man has made in his own image, that man has put into a box. The God of the Bible, yes, in 1 John 5, verse three, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. God is saying, listen, my commandments I'm doing are not to make your life miserable. Oh, man, if you're a Christian, you can't have fun anymore. I mean, there's a whole bunch of thou shalts and thou shalt nots. Rules. There's a lot of rules to drive on the road, too. You complain about those? You know, when you come to an intersection, it's kind of good that there's some rules. You know, it's kind of good that that red light means I'm supposed to stop and the green light someone else goes. Because if everyone was doing their own thing with no rules, it'd be kind of a chaotic place. God's commands are not grievous. Psalm 19.8 says they're pure and enlightening. Psalm 119.73 tells us that God's Word, He made a manual for me to understand life. How do I live? How do I deal with a hard boss? How do I deal with the government? How do I deal with others? How do I deal with my children? I mean, all sorts of things the Bible deals with. Where did I come from? Where am I going? Why are we in the mess we're in? The Bible tells us this. The Bible tells me to separate from those who are harmful to my life. It says, depart from me, ye evildoers, for I will keep the commandments of my God. And God's commands are eternal. They're not temporal. You know how many fads and things have come and gone. I mean, if you think about your lifetime, how much has technology changed? It's changed incredibly. I mean, I was just looking at a video yesterday, and I was kind of reminiscing about the VHS, and cassette tapes, and CDs, and DVDs, and there was eight tracks before that, and the record players, and we were talking recently about the old Nintendo game. I mean, technology's changed. Those are all temporal. The commands of God are eternal. The Bible tells us that the commands of God ought to be my speech, and they're also healing. Because at the hardest of days in your life, or maybe you've just had a tragedy or trauma in your life, and you're absolutely broken, and you don't know where to turn. And then you have a friend come along, and man, they give you a verse, and you need that verse right then, and it just, man, it encourages your heart that God still cares, that God is still there. There's so many misconceptions on God. What are the duration of God's commands? Were God's commands, are they only relevant to the generation to whom they were written? I want you to look with me at Psalm 75. We're going to look at several passages here. When you think about God's commands not being grievous, I want to ask you something. If there's someone you really love, you really care about, and you have great admiration for, they might ask you to do something that's difficult. But I bet you, you would go out of your way to try to accommodate the request of the person giving it because of the position of that person has upon your heart. God wants, he says, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. You know what, if I have that affection of God, and you know what God wants you to know him? He doesn't want to stay some aloof deity. He doesn't want to stay in just the walls of a church. God wants you to know him and he wants to know you. He knows you, I mean, he knows about you, he knows all your heart, but he wants you to know about him. A relationship takes time, talking, spending time together. God's commands are given to the next generation and all generations. Psalm 75, and this is speaking to Israel, but he, for he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children. Verse six, that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children. What's he saying? He says, listen, I want every generation of children to know about me. First Timothy chapter one, verses three through six. First Timothy chapter one, additionally about God's commands, they are genuine, they're true, and they're not fables just to make you feel good. You know, sometimes I hear someone, and I've heard preaching, and I'm like, oh, I don't like that. You know, it's just too convicting. I feel so bad inside. I'm like, oh, I know I've got to change something in my life. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, God's commands are genuine. They're not fables to make you feel good. They're not just some happy go lucky. They're there to reach your heart. They're there to change you. so that you avoid unnecessary harm and hurt in your life, so that you can have true peace and joy in life, no matter what obstacles or circumstances you're going through. 1 Timothy 1, as I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. God is saying, listen, the doctrine is important. What you believe about God, what you believe about the Bible, what you believe about eternity, what you believe about life and the future, it all, there is no other doctrine. There's an exclusive doctrine. Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions rather than God the edifying which is in faith, so do. The end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. Here's a genuine faith. In verse six, from which some, having swerved, had turned aside into vain jangling. Now, there's some that you might want to go to church and just want to feel good. But if you go to the doctor, you go to the doctor for him to say, man, you're in incredible health. Wow. I mean, you're just the best of the best in health. You're saying, doctor, why do I feel like garbage? You don't go to the doctor to make him say, oh, wow, you, I mean, you might go to the, I had to go to the doctor recently for a driver's medical, but it was like, you know, I actually talked to him on the phone and just answered questions. You know, that's, I did go to him, but I didn't go to him to say, oh, you're in the best health possible. You go to a doctor to hear what's the issue. You go to God and you come to church because you're saying, listen, I wanna know how to live life and I wanna know how to walk with God. I need encouragement, I need strength. Sometimes I need a kick in the pants. But I wanna do genuine, they're not fables. God's saying, listen, his word is here to help me know how to live life. Ethics and morals of time, they flow, they change. God's Word doesn't. How frustrating is it in the workplace if you have a boss that's continually changing the rules and they don't tell you what the rules are when they change them? Oh, you just broke it. Ah, not something new. When did this come out? You know, you're just like, ah, seriously, can you not tell me something new? God's Word is not a fable. People like to relegate the Bible to just some stories by some old men that wrote them, you know, over a 1600 year period by 40 plus authors, penned by the, you know, obviously by the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Lamentations 2, verse 17, his word always comes to pass. The Lord hath done that which he had devised. He hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old. He hath thrown down, excuse me, and hath not pitied. And he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice of thee. He hath set up the horn of thine adversaries. God was telling in Lamentations, Jeremiah was a prophet in the old times of Israel. And he told Israel, if you don't turn from your wicked ways, then destruction is coming. If you don't stop this course of action, kind of like a coach saying, listen, if you don't change your attitude, you're benched, or you're off the team. And you continue with it, and then the coach says, okay, you're off the team. You're done. But, but, but, but. I told you, God's word always comes to pass. You might try to hide, you might try to sneak around, you might try to do it your own way, but my friend, God's word will come to pass. Gravity is still a law that it does take effect on you. Whether I jump from this building, and I've used this illustration before, I jump from the top of this building, I drop to the ground, it's gonna be painful. It's gonna be uncomfortable. I can not believe in it all day long, but gravity's still going to get a hold of me. His word is to all generations. Be ye mindful always of his covenant, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, 1 Chronicles 16, 15, Psalm 1, 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law, that they meditate day and night. It is for daily consumption. Isaiah 34, 16, seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read, no one of these shall fail and none shall want her mate, for my mouth it hath commanded and his spirit it hath gathered them. Seek the book of the Lord, he's saying. Listen, the duration of God's commands are forever. Heaven is forever and we like that idea, but the idea of hell being forever in a place of eternal torment, Separated from God in blackness and darkness and fire. That is a horrific, horrific thought. Now religion has some harsh rules under the title or the guides of God. Which religion should I follow? Now what the Bible tells us in Psalm, excuse me, Proverbs two, one through three, my son, if thou will receive my words and hide my commandments with thee, so that thou incline thine ear into wisdom and apply thine heart understanding, yea, if thou cryest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding, we get God's word from his book. We get God's words from the almighty creator who created this earth and put it in order. Now, the devastation, the chaos of this world, sometimes we're like, well, the problem of evil. Why is there so much evil in this world? God's given mankind a choice. Man has chosen to go the wrong way. They've neglected God. They've refused God. I'm going to do it my way. And then there's also a lot of perversion of God's word under the name of religion. But God's word, it demands my obedience, not sacrifice. Look with me at Jeremiah chapter 7, 22. We actually talked about this some on this last Tuesday night during our Bible study in regards to obedience. I kind of find it funny, the timing of all this, but it is what it is. Jeremiah chapter 7, verses 22 to 24. and 23. There is a conception out there by many that my, you know, if I ask people, and I remember when I lived down in North Carolina, and I'd go out and I'd talk with people about the Lord, and I said, how do you know you're on your way to heaven? They said, well, I'm a good person. I said, oh, really, okay. I said, what does it take to get to heaven? They said, well, my good works need to outweigh my bad works. I said, oh, okay. So if your good works outweigh your bad works, then why did Jesus come? Why is there a need for a sacrifice? In Jeremiah chapter 7, verse 22 and 23, look with me here. It says, For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people. And walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifice. He says, listen, the burnt offerings and the sacrifices kept their focus on me. But it's always been about faith in God. In the Old Testament, Israel was to be an evangelist. Israel was to tell the world about God, to bring people to have faith in God. It wasn't about the sacrifices and the burnt offerings that put them right with God. God had commanded them to do that, but behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. As 1 Samuel discusses, when King Saul would make a sacrifice unto God, oh, we had a victory in war, and here's all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. All of the religious rituals and traditions and all of these rites and all the, whatever you wanna call it, catechisms and all this stuff that people go through to somehow earn enough merit with God to get to heaven. God says, I want obedience. I want obedience. First of all, you need to put your faith and trust. As a person today, put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10. God's commands is not to please people or gain personal prominence. Realize in Matthew chapter four, verse three, when the tempter Satan came to him, Jesus, he said, if thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. The word of God is not to be used just to gain prominence and gain power and money. Religion likes to elevate itself, continue to put itself up on a pedestal, gain money, gain power, gain prominence for oneself. Look at him. It's not about me. It's all about God. I'll fail you, but God won't fail you. It's not to please people. Isn't being a Christian all about following a bunch of thou shalt and thou, you know, if I do all of this good stuff and I quit smoking and I quit drinking and I quit doing, you know, all this bad stuff, then I'll be right with God. No. No, you won't. You can't reform your life. God takes you as you are, you understand you're a sinner before God, you're guilty, and in simple faith, you ask Him to forgive you and be your Savior. It's not about how good or how bad you are, it's about how good He is, and in His grace and His mercy, He accepts you, and He says, listen, I wanna change you. If you do what you're supposed to do, it is duty, and it doesn't deserve thanks. Luke 17.10, 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. You might say, well, I'm praying and I'm reading my Bible and there's nothing in here, that's good. But if you're doing it to somehow earn merit with God, you're doing it because I want to know God. I want him to search me and know me. You know what, if you go through Christianity with a whole bunch of thou shalts and thou shalt nots, it's going to become very burdensome. Well, Christians shouldn't do that, so I'm not going to do that because there are some things we ought not to do. But I'm not committing that act because that's not what Christians do. I'm not committing that act because I love God and I don't want to disappoint him. You see, religion puts a lot of rules on you that makes life burdensome. I'm not there just to do it, to somehow, I'm doing it. Our daughter, sometimes I'll say, hey, can you go feed Sadie? Sadie's our dog. Yeah, sure, Daddy. She goes and does it. I'm thankful she does. She's doing it out of love for Daddy. Now there is sometimes the attitude's not there, and I'm like, OK, let's go talk about it. Let's look at Colossians chapter two, verse 21 through 23. Am I saying that Christians ought to live our lives however we want? I'm not saying that, okay? So I'm saying, but Christianity is not the fact that you have to take communion, you have to do this, and you have to do this, and you have to do this. It's about that I want to know God. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve don't eat the fruit. That's all God said, don't eat the fruit. And because I love God, I'm making a choice. I'm not going to eat that fruit. I love him more than I love seeking of my own pleasure. Religion is heavy. It's burdensome. It's dreary. In a portion of my life before I understood this concept, I thought, man, I'm going to do this. And I had a concept at the time. And I had some different beliefs at the time. I was saved, but I had some different beliefs. And I thought, man, the Christian life is miserable, and you just gotta hold on long enough, and hopefully when you die, you'll make it to heaven, because it's gotta be better than what this is. That's a horrible way to look at life. I mean, it's just miserable. Colossians 2, 21 to 23, touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are to perish with the using after the commandments and doctrines of men, which things have indeed a show of wisdom and will worship and humility and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. Verse 20, wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudence of the world, why as though living in the world are you subject to ordinances? So, oh, if I observe this day and I observe this day, then it's gonna make me right with God. You know what, it says, have indeed a show of wisdom and will worship. How strong is your will? The asceticism, right? I'm neglecting my body for a period of time. You know, oftentimes during, there's a period of length that oftentimes people say, or Catholics or others might not partake of meat until Fridays, and then they'll have their fish fry or whatever. You know, oh, and you just feel miserable, and you're like, why am I doing this? The commands of God, they're not grievous. Matthew 19, look with me here. I'm not making very much progress on this, but that's okay. You know, I was saved April 30th, 1986 as a four-year-old little boy. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I knelt down and I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins. I repented of them and I remember the weight of sin lifted off my shoulders. But it took me years to understand how wonderful God is. I live with a lot of thou shalts and thou shalt nots, and it just made the Christian life really hard, unbearable. Matthew 19, 16, I want you to notice with me here something. Behold, one came and said unto him, good master, what good things shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God, but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He said unto them, which Jesus said, or which, and then Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man saith unto him, all these things have I kept for my youth up. What lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. This man was relying on all of the good works that he was doing. Jesus tested him on his dependence. You see, if you can be good enough or have enough money or do enough good works or do enough whatever to merit getting into heaven, then Jesus didn't need to come. Because you've done the work. You know what something else the God's commands are? John chapter eight. The commands of God are not a tool for abuse or tyranny over others. Just because you might, just because I'm a pastor does not give me the right to be a dictator or abuse others. Doesn't give me that right. Now, it might be perceived of that sometimes in regards to, you know, if you're questioning someone and you're going there with the right heart, you know, sometimes. But, it does not give me that right. The commands of God are not to be used by man for the abuse of God's people. John 8, verse 4. They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone in her. And again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground, and they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even at the last, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said to her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go, and sin no more. She understood where she was at. Now, if she was taken in the very act of adultery, where was the man? I mean, that's a, takes two. But nevertheless, Jesus didn't abuse her. He just said, listen. He understood their hearts. He understood they were trying to trap him. And in the Jewish law, it was to bring stoning, but they didn't bring the man. The Jewish law would have been to bring both of them. It's not a tool for abuse. God's commands are not to abuse or have tyranny over others. You know, a loving parent over their kids, they give them commands and instructions, go to bed, clean up your room, brush your teeth, take a shower, you know, go to, you know, do your schoolwork. Is any of that bad? You say, no, that's all good. Because they're the parent and they are the authority, does that give them, you know, are they going to be mean over the child? A loving parent would, you would say, no, they wouldn't. I want to look at one other thing here, Mark chapter seven. So the commands of God is not to abuse others or for a human leader to have tyranny or some authority over others. God is the authority. The head of this church is not me, it's Jesus Christ and the word of God. If Jesus says it and God says it in his word, then thus it is. I can't argue with it. We follow through with it. You know what that takes a load off of me? I just say, hey, God said it. It is what it is. You can throw me under the bus all day long, but I just said it's God. Here's what the Bible says. Mark chapter seven. The commandments of God are not for vain worship or traditions. It's not just to have some tradition over time. And there are obviously traditions. I mean, obviously we meet on Sundays at 11 o'clock. That is some tradition, okay. But meeting on Sundays is a tradition that God had started with the disciples. They met on the first day of the week. And we'll go down that trail. Mark chapter seven, verse seven. How be it in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men? For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men as a washing of pots and cups and many other such like things ye do. Instead of them full well, you reject the commandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition. I had a pastor, a pastor, and he's also a friend, but he was a youth pastor there in North Carolina, and he had some kids he was reaching. They were kids from the streets, and they were a little bit rougher. And anyways, they were coming to know the Lord and his youth group, and he was beginning to reach them. And some of the, well, anyways, one of the deacons in the church had come and wanted to lower his salary, cut his salary in half. And anyways, some of these kids that were his youth group got wind of it, and they saw the deacon's kid at school, and they kind of roughed up the deacon's kid and said, you better get your dad to back off our pastor. That didn't go so well. The deacon went over to the youth pastor's house with a gun. He was going to kill him. Thankfully, he wasn't home that day. But they did lock him in a room and said, you need to tell, you need to write down that you put the youth up to this. He said, I didn't put the youth up to it. They did it themselves. That's how they typically dealt with things. You go, you mess with the wrong man, we're going to rough you up. Leave us alone, you know, kind of thing. And then he told them, and then the youth pastor, the friend of mine, he said, if it's God's word or Baptist tradition, what are you going to take? And the guy said, I'll take Baptist tradition. I don't care what tradition you want to pick. If it excels God's word, it is raw. Jesus is condemning the Pharisees and their religion because they're following the tradition and the commandments of men. They're not following God. Sure, they're doing it in the name of God. This text is condescending and not uplifting about religious rituals and ordinances. When we partake of communion here as a church, as a church body, it's all about Jesus. It's not about making me a Christian. It's not about how good or how bad. It's saying, you know what, when I come, I want to be pure before the Lord. And I understand the importance of God as the authority and to love him is to obey him, but I know, you know, some people might say, but I know a lot about him, his commands and follow them. Will that be enough? God's commands are to be in your heart. And these words, which I commanded this day, shall be in thine heart. You know what, with my wife, I want to know when she says, I love you, that she means it from her heart. It's not just lip service. The commands of God, take your diligence. You know, day in and day out, I make a choice to love my wife and love my daughter. It's a choice daily. It requires diligence. God's word is written down for perpetual obedience that we would know what God expects of us. It's not this mysterious, mystical, trying to find some pie in the sky type Gnosticism. God says, listen, I told you about me. I told you about my character. God's commands, and also commands all men everywhere to repent. Listen, God, I'm not pure. I've got some faults in my life and I need to make it right. God's commands demand purity. Now, how often do I need to be reading God's commands? It is to be taught. Now, here's some questions you can ask yourself. How do you know if you're following God's commands? Look with me at John 12, verse 49. How do you know if you're following God's commands? There's a lot of individuals, and I've been guilty of this before, oh, I'm following God, but in fact, I haven't been. How do you know if you're following God's commands? John 12, verse 49. For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me. He gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. John chapter 12, verse 50. And I know this, that his commandment is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. The key to this question here, number one, how do I know if I'm following God's word? It dictates my speech. How are you talking? How do you talk? Are you rude, full of cursing, swearing, blaspheming, saying God's name, saying Jesus Christ, but in a blasphemous way, saying God and a blasphemy, oh my, and then putting God's name in there? Second of all, it directs my love, John 13, 34, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. There ought to be a love for the brothers and sisters in Christ. John 14, 15, if you love me, keep my commandments. It shows your love. John 15, 12, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. It also brings the unity of love. And number five, abound in hope for His fulfilled promises. You know what? The commands of God and how it affects your life is, you know what, I'm willing to wait for the fulfillment of His promises. Now, this morning, I'm just, as in conclusion, I'm just scratching the surface of some of the implications of God's commands and why we should obey Him. The Word of God says much about His commands. And the commands given by His appointed leaders, the only means of showing you love God is to be obedient. Suppose someone, in illustration here, were to offer you $1,000 for every soul you would earnestly try to lead to Christ. Would you endeavor to leave any more souls to Him than you're endeavoring to do now? Is it possible that you would attempt to do for money what you hesitate or shrink from doing now, in obedience to God's commands? Is your love of money stronger than your love of God or souls? This morning you can mention that you love God all you want, but if you're not being obedient to what He's commanded, then the only person you love is yourself and not God. You cannot fulfill even the very first commandment to love God with all your heart. You're demonstrating a lifestyle and a mindset that is at odds with God. Further, if you're trusting in your good works or religious traditions to reconcile you where your good works outweigh your bad works, and that's enough of this kind of balanced scheme between God, your trust is upon yourself and not the sacrifice of Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. The rich man went away from Jesus because he could not perfectly follow the law, and none of us can. None of us are perfect. None of us. We've all done bad things. The only thing required to enter into a relationship with God is faith. Hebrews 11.6, without faith it's impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. In the very famous verse, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Believe God for who He is. Jesus is the Creator God. And the question I want to ask you here, and look with me at the last passage this morning before I'm done. Romans 10, verse 9. What place does God have in your life in the commands of God? His commands are not grievous. His commands are eternal. They're not temporal. His commands are not an abuse or tyranny over others or meanness towards others. That's not it. God may condemn certain sins, but it doesn't mean God hates the person. He came not willing that any should perish. Romans 10 verse 9. What I must first do is submit my will to Him. Whether you play a sport, Whether you work on a job and you have a supervisor, a manager, whatever, some sort of leader over you, you're submitting. You're submitting because you want the paycheck. Why don't I submit to the God who made me, the God who has my eternity in focus, who knows my deepest, darkest fears and anxieties? Why don't I submit my will to him? Someone who loves me more than anyone else ever will. Romans 10, 9. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, God doesn't care what culture you come from. shall be saved. Put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. You know what? Christians, about time we stop trying to argue, ignore God's commands, and instead get on board with following Him. He is the authority. He is our Redeemer. He's the one in charge. If you love God, and you know you're sinning, you ought to stop sinning and obey Him. His commands bring life, and they are not grievous. And so this morning, as we bring this to the time of Invitation, if you're not familiar with an invitation, it's a time where we just pray and quietly talk to God. And maybe in your heart you're saying, there's something going on inside and I don't quite understand it. Just pray and talk to God. Say, God, what is this that's going on? God, I pray. If there's something God's saying you shouldn't be doing this, then you need to make it right. Today's the day to make it right with God. His commands are not there. To make your life miserable, it's there to give life and they're not grievous. If I could have Mrs. Pat come forward. And the first question I'm gonna ask you is do you know for sure that if you die today, you're on your way to heaven? Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? And second question, Christian, are you being obedient? A person gets saved. After they're saved, they need to get baptized, join a church, and get busy serving the Lord. But they grow. We all are on stage to grow. And I trust today that you would do what is right to honor and serve the Lord. So as the music plays with heads bowed and eyes closed, and just a short time to pray and talk to God, the test of your love is obedience. Will you be obedient to a God that's commanded you? This morning, if you were saying, Pastor, God's been putting something on my heart, I'd like you to pray for me. I will not call you out, I will speak to you about it afterwards, but if you'd say, Pastor, I'd like you to pray for me. you'd signify by just raising your hand, I'd be happy to pray for you. Is there anyone like that? Say, Pastor, I'd like you to pray for me. Just flip up your hand wherever you're seated, if you'd like me to pray for you. There's someone here that says, Pastor, I'm not sure where I'm spending eternity, but I'd like to settle that, or I'd like you to pray for me. My prayer will not make you a Christian, but I would be happy to pray for you that you'd settle that decision between you and God. Anyone like that? Say, Pastor, would you pray for me? Just a moment longer as the music will come to a close here shortly. I just trust that we would just learn that it pays to obey God. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you for this day. God, I thank you for your wonderful grace. Father, I thank you that your commands are not changing with culture and changing with time. Lord, we have a steady refuge to go to in the good times and the bad. Lord, we can trust you. Friends may desert us, family may abandon us, but Father, you don't. And God, I just thank you What an amazing Savior you are. Help us to be found faithful. Help us to be found obedient. And Lord, if there's anyone here that is not certain of their eternal destiny, Lord, I pray today that they would settle that. Lord, I love you and thank you for all that you will do and have done. In the holy and precious name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.