What Is The Wise Thing To Do?

I do feel the Lord has continued to work on my mind and my heart from last Sunday to this. Not that this is a part two of last Sunday, but just a continuation in to what I feel like he's laid on my heart for our church. Normally sermons attempt to provide people with answers, but today I want to leave you with a question. I'm going to stick close to my notes for the first few minutes of my sermon because I believe it's important that I stay here to allow the foundation to be built and then we will expound on it. But this question that I bring to you is a question that I cannot answer. It's a question that applies to every decision that you ever make, not only now but for the rest of your life. It's a question that may be very difficult one for me to answer but is fairly easy one for you to answer. In fact, in most cases, you will know the answer immediately. While it's easy to answer, it can be one that's threatening to ask. It's a question that pierces through the fog of selfdeception that many allow themselves to live in because it exposes our motives. It's a question that sheds light on issues that the Bible doesn't specifically address because sometimes we t are tempted to ask ourselves. Well, the word of God did not say that directly. So, does that mean that's what I have to do? Most importantly, if you'd asked this one question and acted on your conclusion, you could have avoided many of the regrets in your life. Most importantly, for some of you, it may have even changed the direction of your life. I wonder if anyone in the room today has ever made a decision that you wish you could get a doover. Sure, if we're honest, that probably is 100% of everyone that's in the room and those listening online. Anyone ever done anything, and for lack of a better way to say it, as a good southern boy, something that was just really stupid. Yeah, I've had my fair share of those moments for sure. Is there anything that you've done that you hope no one ever finds out that you did it? Yeah. Yeah. Me too. Me too. Things that we should have known better. In fact, in some cases, we did know better, but for some reason, we thought we were going to beat the odds. We thought we were going to be the exception to the rules. Anybody willing to admit that you had that thought, too? Yeah. Yeah. We've all We've all been there. We believe that we could control the outcome of our decision. We followed our hearts and trusted our emotions, and we did our own thing. And afterwards, we wondered what in the world we were thinking. I've talked about this one decision I made as a young man. I was the third grade. I remember it well. Was in Miss Ski's classroom. It had rained that day. As I walked into the building and as the classroom was designed over there at Sam Houston Elementary School, there was a little coat room closet that was attached to our classroom. It was the little partition wall. And I went behind it and was hanging my coat up there and noticed how wet my shoes were and began to sling my shoe backwards and forwards like this trying to get all the water off of it. And then I was trying to do it with the other foot and thought that was kind of cool. For some reason, I thought, I wonder if I could sling it fast enough that I can maybe even make sling my shoe off. For whatever reason, my third grade mind thought that would be kind of a cool thing to do. I slung my leg way up high. And when I brought it down with sheer force, I hit my other leg so fast that it knocked it out from underneath me and my forehead met the ground. I probably just helped explain to you why I do what I do now. Cuz if ever there was a moment when I seen the Tweety Birds flying around, it was that moment right there as I lay on the ground and asked myself, why did you do that? I had an epiphany as a young man. I'm sure that I'm not the only one in the room who's had a moment of clarity like that moment was for me in my life. For many of us, we've had decisions that have led to chapters in our life that we wish we could go back and take out, but it's impossible. Some of our bad decisions are simply embarrassing. I'm quite sure there's even some decisions that we've made that left either physical or emotional scars in our life. Chances are you've already bumped into someone who's on the verge of making the same bad decision you made at once in your life. And you tried to caution them and say, "Hey, can I give you a piece of advice? If I was you, I wouldn't do what it is you're about to do, only to be surprised that they disregarded you and went ahead and did it anyway. It's like they went full speed in the oncoming training the whole time you're standing there saying, "I tried my best to prevent you from doing that." But let's be honest, we didn't listen either when others tried to caution us. The problem is this. Nobody plans to mess up their life, but very few of us plan not to. We don't put the necessary safeguards in place that robs us of our potential and our future. But there's a question that can foolproof your life if you'll just learn to ask it. The question again is easy to answer but difficult to ask. Why? Because you and I are really good at deceiving ourselves when we want something. Some of us are very gifted, very talented at making a bad decision sound like a great decision. a poor financial choice sound like an investment opportunity or a poor relationship decision to sound like a ministry opportunity. This won't hurt anybody. I'll only do it once or I haven't had any for a week or I'll be careful or I can handle it or I can quit whenever I want to. And on and on and on we go convincing oursel that this time it's going to be different. Everybody needs to live a little. And some of your greatest regrets start with choices that you convinced yourself were going to be different this time. But you were actually robbing yourself because they ended up costing you dearly in relationships or your finances or your spiritual life. And the strange thing is that most of the time we are fully aware of the game that we are playing. The fact that we have to give oursel a reason, that we have to make up an excuse, that we have to defend our decision, that we have to go through a series of mental gymnastics just to rationalize this ought to tip us off immediately. This is probably something I shouldn't do. But yet, we continue to plow right on. You don't sit around looking for reasons to do the right thing. It's the bad decisions that require that require creativity on our part. And this human habit of self-deception is what makes this question so uncomfortable to ask. Why? Because it exposes the irrationality of our excuses. Why? Because it reveals the true intentions and intent of our heart. It penetrates the wall of rationalization that we are hiding behind. It dismantles the argument that we keep using to justify another bad decision. You will really like this question if you want to do what's right. But it will be a nuisance if instead of trying to make a right decision, what you're actually doing is trying to make a decision right. I'll say that again because it's just a subtle change of the words, but it makes a huge impact. This is going to be a nuisance if you're still trying to just make a right decision versus trying to make a decision right. There is a difference, ladies and gentlemen. Your reaction is defensive. That alone ought to tell you this is probably something I shouldn't do. This is one lesson that we cannot afford to miss. I'm going to take you to the word of God today, unapologetically so, and in honor of our bishop, I'm going to be very scriptural today. We're going to spend some time in the word of God. Ephesians chapter 4. Paul is writing to the church. He's writing to the Christians that are at Ephesus. So, I'm going to do a pop quiz. Who's he writing to? Who's he writing to? Look, you guys are sharp. You're already making an A. Ephesians 4:1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. Paul is basically saying here, don't live the way you used to live because you're not the person you used to be. That in itself ought to be a revelation to all of us in the room. I'm no longer that person. I'm a new creature in Christ. I'm no longer the same. Now, some habits are going to take some time to break, but this is not referring to habits. This is a mindset change we need to make that I don't belong to me anymore. And if my default setting is to always go with what I feel, I'm already starting off on the wrong foot. I need to go with what God wants, what God desires for my life. Paul here is launching in one of the most practical sections in the Bible, even suggesting that you and I become imitators of God in our everyday life. That can be a little bit overwhelming. I'm not God and neither are you, even though sometimes we act like that. Paul's standard is certainly worth striving for, but just about everything he says runs directly against the cultural norm of our life. and if no one else is making me do it, I don't know if I'm good and consistent or disciplined enough to do this at all. Paul knows our frustration. So, he has a list of what to do. He includes the instructions also on how to do it. I would encourage you later on your own just to spend time in Ephesians chapter 4. The rest of the book is great. Ephesians 1 and 1, 2, and 3 are great. Ephesians 5 and 6, they're great. But I would just encourage you to spend some time alone processing what he's talking about in Ephesians chapter number four. He's speaking to us about how to live a life that we are called to live once we claim that he has filled us with his spirit and we're following after him and to being obedient. I love how he writes these things down. In fact, as I continue on from four in Ephesians chapter 5 verse number 15, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time. Everybody say, redeem the time. Because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise. But understand what the will of the Lord is. Therefore, as you've heard many preachers say before, the reason therefore is there is that make you ask the question, what's there for? Why did he say this? He's connecting all the stuff together as an explanation. And we are to walk circumspectly. We're to walk circumspectly. You break the word down here. To walk being aware, to look around, to not walk foolishly through life, but to have your eyes open to all that's going on so that you are without excuse so that you can minimize the ambushes that come in life. Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. This is the yard stick that we're to use to address every decision we make. And it leads us to the one question that enables us to consistently apply the commands of the Bible, too. Are you guys ready for the question? You ready? You ready for an epiphany moment in your life? You ready to be wowed? Everybody ready for this? A little tongue and cheek there? Are you guys awake? All right. Just making sure you're still listening. Here's the question. What is the wise thing to do? What is the wise thing to do with the decisions that you're making in life? This question applies at every junction, at every intersection, at everything that you encounter and every moment that life brings you something that you have to make a decision about. This question should cross your mind. What is the wise thing to do? Is there anything wrong with what I'm about to do? using this filter in life this assumption that if there's nothing wrong or illegal or unethical immoral about it then it qualifies as an option what we run into in our day and age is individuals who begin to ask himself if there's no thou shalt not then it's safe to assume thou shalt if thy please applies I'm sorry that's landed the world in trouble let me get in a little bit more specific that's landed the church in a lot of hot water there's so many things and instances that the Bible does not give a plain black and white answer to and we think well since there's not a plain black and white answer to it then it seems like it ought to be permissible for me. That's a moment when you need to stop and ask yourself what's the wise thing to do. The Bible does not specifically say that you cannot smoke crack cocaine. I can't pull you chapter and verse for that to say that it says right here Paul was writing or probably James wrote it right. No, I can't do that. But I would I would dare say that if you stopped and said, "What is the wise thing to do?" You would say to yourself, if you're honest, not to get around with that. I don't need to do that. See, I feel like we're save oursel a whole lot of regret and a whole lot of heartache if we would just stop and ask ourselves, "What's the wise thing to do?" Yeah. When I stand in front of the refrigerator at 10:00 at night and I see the blue bell on the bottom of the freezer section right there. What's the wise thing to do is to shut the freezer door back. Oh, I feel a spirit of the this. Oo, Jesus, help us over here. See, unfortunately, this kind of thinking sets us up for the real question behind too many of our choices. How close can I get to the line between right and wrong without actually doing something wrong? How close can I get to sin without actually sinning? Wow. If it's not technically wrong, then it must be right. But it doesn't stop there because soon we'll end up asking, "How far over the line between right and wrong can I go without experiencing consequences?" I've said this before, but few years ago, Chastity and I were over in Canada and we were enjoying this beautiful scenery there. One of the one of the prettiest places that I've ever been to in my life. Overwhelmed with the beauty of God. We walked up to this particular overlook that was had the water from the glaciers coming down and we were seeing the beautiful colors of the water rushing by and you could it feel the wind coming off the water because it was such force as it was being melted and was coming down through that little gorge we were at. And there was a sign there that gave a warning. Now, if I'm being honest with you, there's a little bit of daredevil that's in me. A little bit of an adrenaline junkie that lives inside of me. And there's been times that that hasn't always served me well. I didn't stop and ask, "What's the wise thing to do?" I just jump the fence. And even today in my physical body, I deal with some pain of some bad decisions that are there. But that sign that was there, and I have a picture of it somewhere on my phone. I should have looked it up. There's a sign there that talked about how many people had died because it's just not safe to cross the fence and how quickly one would go into hypothermia because of how cold that water was. It was a basically an instant death that was there for you. The sign basically said, "If you go over, we will not be able to save you." Yet, in spite of that sign declaring these things, there continued to be a steady stream of people who decided to jump over the fence and see it for themselves. I had a moment there as I was looking at that where I felt like God spoke to me and said, "How many times has my word declared a warning and yet people decided that the fence could be stepped over only to live with regret on the other side? How good are you and I at convincing oursel that it's not going to be me that I'm the exception to the rule that doesn't apply to is there when we really should have been asking the question what's the wise thing to do how many of us have made these kind of decisions how many times have we regretted because we didn't ask oursel the question what's the wise thing to do God is good and I'm so thankful for that he's our heavenly father and he wants the best for each of us he's given us a standard that goes beyond the cultural norms because as you've heard me say before, it's not good enough that you and I just keep an arm length distance from the world because the world is on a set trajectory that's ever going away from God. So, if I'm only staying at arms length from what culture says is okay, I'm still drifting myself. I have to anchor into something that doesn't budge and doesn't move. I need to make sure that I'm settling some things in my life so that I know without a doubt that I can hang on to something that has stood the test of time because life's not about just barely getting by. That's not what Jesus has said. It's not his desire for us is just to barely get by. I don't want to just slide in to heaven. I've heard some people say that before. I know. As long as I just slide in, that's all I'm worried about. I'm going to tell you that mindset bothers me. I'm afraid you're deceiving yourself. I'm afraid that you probably have bought into a lie and convinced yourself that you're okay when the reality is if you were really honest, you know there's some conditions inside your heart you need to address, but for whatever reason you think you still have time. Walk circumspectly, being aware of the time that is there. I promise you ladies and gentlemen, things happen quickly in life. We can catch oursel unaware. John 10:10 Jesus says this, "The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and destroy. But I have come that you may have life and that you may have it." How? But I think you and I misunderstand that word abundant. We look at that through a North American eyes and lens. And that abundant is that I should have a bass boat and I should have a hunting lease and I should have the ability to go shop and vacation homes. that the abundant life that God has for me is a life full of pleasures. That's not what God was talking about when he said to have an abundant life. It's a it's a life full of abundant purpose for a kingdom. Not your kingdom, but his kingdom. I know he's like, "Pastor Kevin, you talk a lot about kingdom." I know because I can't find a better subject to talk about than the kingdom of God. Amen. When I realized that I have a kingdom purpose, when I realized that everyone who's ever breathed air has a kingdom purpose, it helped me understand and realize those are the things I need to be talking about. And I'd caught up in all these things that distract because they detract and they take away from my kingdom purpose. What is the wise thing to do? This question that God has given us, we need to make sure that we're living out his word. We need to make sure that we're asking ourselves, is there anything wrong with my life? What is the wise thing to do? You and I can avoid the mistakes of the past and live with the ability to live a regret-free future by making a habit of asking the question, "What is the wise thing for me to do?" Stop living a life of how close can I get to sin without sinning as your standard. Pastor, I don't really see anything wrong with it. I mean, I feel like I'm a good person. I don't, you know, I feel like sometimes these things we have and I'm speaking to people who've especially been raised in Pentecost because often times we have the worst attitudes. Why is it that I can't do that? Like, I don't know. I mean, I look at the world. What's really wrong if I do this? What's really wrong if I act that way? What's really wrong if I go participate in that? What's really wrong if I wear these things? I can I don't see in the Bible that it says specifically I can't do these things. What's the wise thing to do? Right? in a world that is constantly drifting away where we're living in a day and age that's confused about everything. We don't know up or down or left or right. We don't know man or woman. We don't know adult or child where every line is being blurred. I'm here to tell you that there's a reason why God gave some distinctive things in his scripture so that we would not lose our way. Amen. And maybe you didn't understand that or maybe to the generation who's in the room who's been in this for 50 or 60 years and you didn't understand why some things there. You could not have foreseen the day and age in which we live in. You could not have foreseen a day where where there would be so much confusion in our world. And you want to know why God was specific with some things? Because he knew that you're going to be navigating some waters one day where you're not going to have the ability to look anywhere else but to the word of God to know what is true and what is right. Because the world was not going to be able to no longer tell you these things. Maybe you didn't grow up understanding these things, but I promise you, you need to settle some issues in your life. If you're going to make it to heaven one day, you're not going to just slide in. It's going to be because you determined and you made your mind up that I'm going to live by this book. Even if there's parts of it I don't understand, this thing has stood the test of time. It will get you from here to an eternity where you want to be or you can take your chances on your own. But I promise you, you have failed yourself many, many times. What makes you think you won't do it again? What's the wise thing to do? It's to settle some issues. Well, that makes me a little bit uncomfortable. It makes me do some things I don't want to do. I would rather be uncomfortable now than to be uncomfortable in eternity. Look at e either way, it's going to cost you. It can cost you now or it can cost you then. I'm going to tell you, it's a lot cheaper to cost on this side. Oh, maybe this isn't popular preaching. I'm pretty sure you could pick any other church in this city today and you probably wouldn't hear this message. But I don't care about that. I have a responsibility and obligation to tell you what thus sayith the word. And I love you enough that if you don't like me, as long as you get to heaven, I've accomplished my goal. It's not about you liking me. I know it's pastor appreciation and I'm thankful for the appreci appreciation I've given. But my job as pastor is to make sure you make it to heaven. Even if that means you don't like me very much. As long as I got you there, then I did my job. What's the wise thing to do? What's the wise thing to do? How much heartache and pain would you have saved yourself if you would have just stopped and asked that question before you opened your mouth, before you made a decision, before you started typing on social media, before you responded to the person who mistreated you? What's the wise thing to do? How much regret could you have saved your life if you would have just paused for just a minute and said, "What's the wise thing to do?" Before you got caught up in your emotions and your passions and your feelings, if you would just stop and let it be your default response to say, "Wait a minute. Before I do anything, what's the wise thing for me to do?" How many of you have paid such a high price because you didn't answer that question? God gives us the wisdom. Paul wrote about it there. It says redeeming the time because the days are evil. Ephesus did not have a morally neutral climate and neither do we. In fact, if there was a climate that was close to where you and I are living in, it was Ephesus. Prosperity was there. People were doing what they wanted. They did what felt right. Oh, is that not our world? Whatever we feel to do, do it. As long as you're not bothering me, I won't bother you. Whatever is good for you, I'll make it good for me. If we walk carelessly or casually, we will be swept right back into the mess we've been redeemed from, and we don't even realize it. Every day we interact with a culture that encourages us in the most provocative ways to do everything in our power to try and satisfy the appetites that can never be fully and finally satisfied. You don't have to go looking for trouble, ladies and gentlemen. Trouble's on every street corner, every billboard, every television, every computer. If you don't pay attention, you'll end up paying a price for your carelessness. And if you're not intentional about living for God, you may unintentionally end up ins snared by sin again. If you don't filter your choices through God's question, you'll find yourself facing consequences that you could have never been that could have been avoided just because you wouldn't ask the question, what's the wise thing to do? Paul again in Ephesians going to chapter 5:1 17, therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. He warns you. He's warning. He's warning the church. He's warning the Christian Christians that were there. Don't be unwise. What's God's will? What's his purpose? What's his plan? Well, so many people, they make this way more complicated than it have to be. I'm sitting around. I'm waiting for the will of God. What are you sitting around for? Do you think it's just going to pop up one day on like the skyriting? Is this going to pop up there and it's just going to say, Gail, the will of God is for you to do this? That would be cool. What a story that would be. Probably not going to happen. I dare say that's probably not going to be any of our story. Now, if it is, we're going to celebrate with you and you can tell us that story and we'll celebrate and wish that was ours. But, as you've heard me say so many times, the perfect will of God is the present work at hand. The perfect will of God is when you get into his word and you apply the principles there and then you look up and see what's in front of you and you do it. Whatever you see to do, do it. Whatever you know is right, do that. Just do something. Sitting still. Very, very few times is the will of God. There are some moments when he will set you down for a minute while he's working some things out. But more often than not, it involves you acting on what you know is right. Facing up to what we already know is right by reading it. Quit pretending. Quit rationalizing. Quit playing games when it comes to asking what's the wise thing to do. There's no more crucial time than right now. Than right now. Redeeming the time before the days because the days are evil. Your time equals your life. And once you run out of time, your life is over. Job 14 and5. Since the days are determined, since his days are determined, the number of his months is with you. You have appointed his limits. so that he cannot pass. Psalms 90 and:12. So teach us to number our days that we may gain the heart of wisdom. Do you think about your own mortality? Now there's a certain group right over here, these first five or six rows right in here, that they have not yet realized how quickly life passes by. But outside of these five or six rows right here, the rest of us in this room, we realize this, man. This went quick. It's over fast. Somebody was talking about somebody being in their 70s the other day and said, "Man, they're just old. They're in their 70s." I'm going to tell you right now, that ain't far away. Now, I'm still in my 40s. I'm in my late 40s. I'm in my extremely late 40s, but I'm still in my 40s. But when I think about it, 70 is not far away. I think 70 is the new 50. Time goes by really, really, really fast. What happens? You ever wondered where did the time go? Where did it go? Where did my life go? Time is life. And here's the reality. It can't be recovered. This is a principle that everyone figures out eventually, but most of the time it's on the late side of things. It's one of those lessons that regardless of when we learn it, we wish we had learned it earlier. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. Watch out that our culture does not draw you and I into a lifestyle where our time is frivously consumed rather than strategically invested. We live in a world today where content and entertainment is so prevalent is there and we don't realize that all those things are robbing us of the most valuable commodity that we have something that you cannot buy more of you cannot earn more of it is appointed to man each each one of us have an appointment of death so may I ask you if you are honest with yourself I'm not asking you to raise your hands this is very for you to reflect how many of You have wasted way too many days of your life. I'll be the one up here. I'll raise both my hands. Our world is like, "Hey, such and such is coming out. Just binge this series." I mean, the fact that you're using the word binge, u pastor Kevin, I I'm not saying you can't ever do these things. I'm just asking you to be mindful of the amount of time that you're spending on things that don't make a big difference in your life or especially in the scheme of eternity in your kingdom purpose. How much is being robbed from you? How much of us are being rocked and lulled to sleep and the whole time our life is just passing us by? And you wake up one day and you're like, "Wait a minute. Where did my life go? How are you investing? Again, what is the wise thing to do? According to international standards, everyone here in this room is wealthy. How have you been managing your money according to what is the wise thing to do? How many of you would be happier if you had done better managing your money? you be free of the unnecessary pressure that comes with poor money management. There's a huge difference between being rich and feeling rich. And the reason you don't feel it is because you don't actually have any extra in your life. my father-in-law many years ago back I think this would have been back around 0809 running there when the economy tanked and he had some good friends in the business world who made really great money but for a while some companies were going two or three months without a paycheck and he's talked about how some of his friends who made really good money couldn't afford to miss one paycheck because they the more money they made the more monthly bills they had. Cuz isn't that the American way? Instead of saying what's the best decision to make, they justify how much can I afford? What monthly payment is acceptable? Never thinking in the long run that you financed that thing that is not worth half of what you gave for it in two months for 17 years. And here's the deal. Our culture and society is not for us in this case. They're against us because the people that are trying to convince you of this are making money off of you. So, they're never going to discourage you and say, "Bro, if I was you, I wouldn't finance that little yugo for 72 months at 18% interest." They're going to say, "This is a good deal for you. And to ease your mind, we'll give you gap coverage. I'm sorry. What is the wise thing to do? Too many of you are living frustrated lives and you're strapped and you're having to work harder than you are supposed to have to work in life because you have not learned the ability to tell yourself no. I'm just going to I'm just going to be unpopular today on Pastor Appreciation Sunday. You don't have to have the latest and greatest of things. You look you you I'm just going to be the one I'm going to be the one that will speak transparency. The answer to the question is no. You don't deserve it. You don't. I work hard. Good. So does washing machines. They work hard, too. Why would you say such a thing? You don't supposed to have No, no, you can. As long as you balance the other things out in your life. But if you put yourself or your family in a bad position because you think you have to have the latest and greatest of the dudads or whatever the thing is, I promise you there's a new thing coming out in a couple of months that's going to replace that thing. There's always something new coming around the corner. I believe in buying quality. I do. Do your homework. Do your research and have things. I'm not against any of that stuff. But don't position yourself so poorly that you can't when you feel the need to give to someone who is hurting and you can't. Or you're so poorly positioned that if something does happen in your vocational world that you can't absorb a blow because you've poorly positioned your family because you just had to have the thing. I'm sorry. You're wrong. You didn't have to have the thing. What's the wise thing to do? Will save regret. And let's be honest, every one of us in this room, regardless of our age, have already had too much of that. We've already had too much of that. What's the wise thing to do? And when this happens in our life, we often time look for someone else to blame. When the reality is you never stopped and asked yourself the question, doesn't matter what the monthly payment is, can I afford it? You don't answer that question. Can you afford it? You you you you justify. The assumption behind these questions is that if I can make it work financially, then it should be okay. Then I should make it work. But none of you are trying to talk yourself out of buying those things. God's financial plan and our financial plan is quite different. God says this. Jesus read letter words Matthew 6:31. Therefore, do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. I'm just going to say this right here, okay? God will bless whatever you put him first in. Amen. Whatever you put him first in, he will bless that word. Amen. Financially, you put him first, he will bless you financially. If you want your family to be bless blessed, then put God first. You want your job to be blessed, then put God first. Whatever you put him first in, he will bless. The problem is we have some areas where we're okay with him being first and other areas where we only bring him into the equation when it goes bad. And as you've heard me say many times, he's either Lord of all or he's not Lord at all. He's either Lord of all of your life, every area, every aspect, every category, or he's not Lord at all because he's not going to be divided. And you're not truly allowing him to lead you unless you let him lead in every area of your life. Where would you be now if you'd have been asking a long time ago financially, what's the wise thing to do? Nothing has stolen more dreams and broken up more families and messed up more people fight psychologically than our tendency to disregard God's commands regarding sexual purity. I know it's Sunday morning when I need to be evangelistic and I'm talking about morality, but I can't think of a better subject matter considering our cultural climate right now than talk about morals because they seem to have gone the way of the dodo bird. But I'm here to tell you God hasn't changed his mind on morals. Most of the major social ills in the in our country are caused by the misuse of our sexuality. And there are no regrets that run deeper than the regret associated with the unwise moral decisions. But as predictable as the outcomes are, we have learned very much. We haven't learned very much. Lust continually pushes us past the limits of common sense into the area where those around us are going, "What were you thinking?" No, no. The question needs to be asked. Were you thinking? Yes. People are prone to make foolish moral decisions because something always whispers into their ear, "You're unique. You're different. You're the exception to the rule. Nobody's ever felt this way before. No one has ever had to deal with what you're dealing with. No one no one's ever done. You can handle it. You're not like everybody else. The statistics don't apply to you. They don't apply to your kids. You know what's best for you. And as long as you remain convinced that you're unique, you will resist asking the question, "What's the wise thing to do?" But at the end of your life, if not before, you'll discover that you were not really unique after all. The good news is that while the outcomes of sexual sin are predictable, so are the decisions that set us up to sin sexually. If you're willing to face the fact that your temptations are not unique, you can make right choices. Don't trust your heart. It's desperately wicked. There's no way you can know it. Every one of us in this room, every one of us from the youngest to the smallest or youngest to the oldest in this room at some point have deceived oursel by following after our heart, by following after our feelings. Our feelings have misled us only to leave us with regret. We've popped off and said things and done things and acted ways when it could have been saved if we would have just stopped and said, "What's the wise thing to do?" Every poor moral decision is prefaced with a series of unwise choices. There's nothing wrong with leads to I couldn't help myself. Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter number 6 verse number 18, flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. To protect ourselves and our culture, it's necessary to make some extreme choices. Some things that maybe doesn't make sense. Maybe you're overreacting, all this stuff. No, no, no. I promise you, it's better to be on the safe side of the fence and just say, you know what? I cannot justify what God says is wrong. Amen. The prevailing thought of the day regarding sexual immorality is to pursue all manner of manner of sensuality and impurity, yet remain faithful to God and to your spouse. Husbands, gaze upon women with lustful fashion until your heart is full, but don't touch that which is forbidden. Wives, dress in a manner that provokes the lustful passions of men around you, but your actions remain faithful to your husbands. I'm sorry. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. We do have a responsibility and obligation for what we do, for what we wear, and for how we act. You don't live in a vacuum. At some point I do have a an obligation and a responsibility to those around me. Even those that are not bloodkin to me, those who I should be always viewing as a brother or a sister. I have a responsibility. I know there's a there's a movement and going on and I I'm probably going to be ridiculed at some point online from the statements I'm about to make. But I'm sorry that that that whether you're a man or a woman, if you dress provocatively, you are wrong. You are wrong. Well, they should be able to control themselves and it's not my fault because they can't have their No, no. I'm sorry. If you know the way you dress causes attention to come to you, causes causes there to be some kind of a thought or incite some kind of a passion outside of the confines of your marriage, you're wrong. You're wrong scripturally. You're wrong. You should not be a stumbling block to anybody. Well, it's not my fault. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. If you continually dig a pothole out there and say, "Well, it's not my fault that you ran into it with your car. You should have avoided that." No, I'm sorry. You should have dug the hole. If you knew you were digging the hole, you're in the wrong. Again, you know what I love about the Bible is the Bible defines what is right and wrong. It's not me. You get mad about it, go to the word of God. You You don't like what the Bible says is naked, take it up with him. Yeah, but he's defined what nakedness is in scripture. Now, our society says that's old and that's prudish and that's oldfashioned. It may be, but it's still God's opinion. So, take it up with him. If you think it's oldfashioned to work that out with him, let me know how it goes. Man, you're being pretty hard, Pastor Kevin. I'm just trying to get you to heaven. I'm just trying to get you out of this situation that we're having to face. to me, how do you escape when Paul says flee? He didn't say, you know, if you find yourself there, maybe maybe you just, you know, you just kind of think some happy thoughts or No, he says, when you see it coming, flee. Every sin that a man does outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Paul says, he breaks it down enough to say, look, you know, sin is sin in God's eyes, but in this situation, it's a different animal. It's going to grab a hold of you. It's going to latch on to you. It's going to grab a hold, and you're going to have a hard time shaking this off. As you've heard me said before, it's a God-given appetite. And I'm not going to dive into that a lot more because I know we have some younger ones in the room here, but I'll just say this. Thank God for that appetite. How great is our God? But he's meant for it to be inside the confines of marriage. Outside the confines of marriage, it brings attachments. It brings things that are never meant to be open or awakened and causes you to have connections that often times when it's taken outside. Are you saying, "Well, pastor, that that if that happens in our life, we're just disqualified ever." And I'm not saying that at all. You know, God can save to the uttermost. But I will tell you that there are things you will struggle with for the rest of the entirety of your life because you you did those things outside the confines of marriage. I will tell you and I know that I stand in this room with witnesses who agree with that. There are struggles that you brought into your life because you were not obedient to the word of God. You brought that on yourself when you should have stopped and said, "What's the wise thing to do here? How are you processing life's choices? Here's a reality for you, and I'll move off this, and I'm getting ready to close in just a minute. If you don't set your standards, society will. If you don't set the standard, society will set a standard for you. So, you got to determine where you going to draw the line. As I bring this to a close today, asking the question, what is the wise thing to do? Always reduces my options, but doesn't always single one out. It reduces it. Why then? What if I'm sincere but not sure? What should I do when I don't know the wise thing to do? Because we live in a world of emotionally charged environments. Or maybe sometimes it's our lack of experience and expertise or simply our human limitations can sometimes make us feel totally inadequate to decide the wise thing to do. But the Bible Bible gives us the best kept secret of wise people. This is how they become wise. This is how they continue to appear wise. When people don't know what to do, they're not afraid to ask help from those who do. First Kings 3 verse number 11. Then God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for a long life for yourself, and nor have you asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice. Behold, I have done according to your words. See, I have given you wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before, nor any like you arise after you." Solomon, the wisest one outside of Jesus Christ that ever lived. He insisted that there was a reason that you should always seek and pursue counsel of others when you're not sure. Proverbs 1 and5, a wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel. Proverbs 12:15, the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise. Proverbs 19:20, listen to counsel and receive instruction that you may be wise in your latter days. Proverbs 11:4, where there is no counsel, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. Proverbs 15:22, but without counsel plans go, but in the multitude of counselors, they are established. And I could go on and on and on in the instances he asks or he gives us in Proverbs about seeking counsel. That's what wisdom does. Wisdom, when you don't know, you seek counsel. But for whatever reason, human beings are especially resistant to counsel in three areas where we need it the most. And what we do with our time and what we do with our finances and what we do with our relationships. But our time, with our finances, and our those three areas specifically, one of the three, and sometimes all three, you will resist. You're okay on one, okay, but there's always one to where you're like, you know what? I got it. I got it. I got it. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. You don't got it. Look, I I'm bringing this to a close. Literally, I'm bringing this to an end. Musicians are going to come out right now. Be honest with yourself. Be honest with yourself. And in the in the remaining five minutes we're together. Be honest with yourself in every area of your life. Are you happy with how it's going with your time? Are you happy with how it's going with your finances? Are you happy with how it's going in your relationships? Are you happy with how it's going? Now, if you're happy and you got everything settled in and your time, your finances, and your relationships, if that's you, and there's some of you in the room, that is a true statement, then I I'm thankful for you, and we're happy for you. Can you pray for the rest of us right now? Like, I'm being serious. I'm not that sounds a little funny. I'm asking because I'm going I'm going to talk to the ones who's not. So, if that's you, if you're good right now, will you start praying? Just start praying quietly. just start praying for the rest of us. But if you're in the category to where one or two or three of those things are not where they need to be, honest with yourself. This doesn't impact me, okay? I'm trying to help you. If one of those areas is not where it needs to be, then won't you start asking the question, what's the wise thing to do? Is there a relationship that you need to stop? Is there someone who you need to cut out of your life? It's not good. It's toxic. You know, you you can't control yourself. It it's not it's abusive or you you cross boundaries. You know, every time you cross boundaries, like I can't stop you. I'm asking you to be honest with you right now. Is there a relationship that you need to stop? What's the wise thing to do financially and statistically? There's a lot of you in this room that this one hits. Okay, I'm not asking you to raise your hand. I'm not asking anyone. But I'm just if we're going to play the numbers right now based off of what you read, dare say there's a good number of us in the room today that need to stop for a minute and ask, "What's the wise thing to do? If you're financially not being as responsible as you need to be, then what is it? What is it you need to what adjustments do you need to make in your life? What is it that you need? And if you like, here's the deal, okay? If you are maybe maybe this is this is one of those things you're like, you know, pastor, I really want to, but I don't even know where to start. Okay, I have resources for that. If that is you, come see me after church. I'll keep this is a confidential thing. I won't talk about this very private thing. But if this is something that you're that you're really you you identify this is a problem in your life that you need help figuring out, I will I will point you in the right direction to good people who can help dig you out of a hole. If your time is being mismanaged, and what I mean by that is if you're being honest today, there's a whole lot of wasted time. A whole lot of things that you do that are not being productive in any way. Be honest with yourself. What's the wise thing to do? Don't waste the most precious thing you have, time. As Paul said in Ephesians 5, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Every decision that you make affects more than just you. As I've already said in this sermon, we don't live in vacuums. If I'm not spending my time, not spending my finances, if I'm not spending my relationships the right way, it affects more than just me. It affects those around me. My last verse, Proverbs 9 and 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the hol knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. By asking that question, what's the wise thing to do is recognizing this. He is God and you are not. I'm not God. And though I have learned some things in my life, I'm fully aware there's a whole lot that I don't know. That's why I lean on him and I trust him to guide me through. I immerse myself in his word, not to come to you to preach, but because I'm trying to make it to heaven. And I realized a long time ago, I'm just not that good. And here's a little secret. Neither are you. I need his mercy and his grace every day of my life. I'm so thankful that he gives me the opportunity to stop and say, "What's the wise thing to do?" God, will you instruct me, God? Will you Will you help me, Lord, understand what my next right step is, Lord? Will you will you let me hide your word in my heart that I might not sin against you? Will it be a lamp to my feet and a light to the path of my walk? Because sometimes, God, I find myself in dark places and I need to illuminate. I need to know where my next step is. See, that's what it is. When I when I say stop and start asking the question, what's the wise thing to do is to put the good counsel in your heart and let it guide you. Now, I'm stopping. I'm ending because I know God desires to do something. If over the last five minutes in the questions we asked, there's been something in you, you feel that tug or when you honestly ask yourself that question, it revealed something that you need to deal with. I want you to in the next few minutes as we start praying, if you feel that, I invite you down to the altar. Look, I don't I don't know why we are afraid of this place, don't ever be afraid of the altar. I'm going to say this right now. If someone gets up in a minute and you have some kind of a crazy off for them, in Jesus name, I rebuke you. I rebuke you. This is a place of healing and restoration. And again, we're not we're a bunch of broken people. every one of us. We're just a broken mess. And I'm thank I'm so thankful that he gives us a chance to come down and for him here, I'll say this and I want to pray. I'm so thankful that I don't have to get right for him to come and meet me. But that if I would be honest with myself and just close my eyes and say, "Jesus, he's there in the middle of my broken mess. Will you pray with me right now? God, I'm so thankful that you are willing to walk down into the chaos of my life and to meet me. Lord, I pray today that our hearts would be open to you, our minds would be open to you, that you would illuminate the things that we need to take care of. God, I pray today that we would make bold decisions, that we would settle some things, that we would learn to stop and ask the question, "What's the wise thing to do? Oh God, I pray in the next few moments, Lord, that you would do a restorative work in our lives today. God, give us the desire to draw in close to you. Make the changes we need to make in Jesus name. This altar is open. It's prayer time. I feel like it's a good time for us to be honest with ourselves. Be honest. center point. Take advantage of this moment and let God do the work for us.