SABBATH

God's Gift to Us

Feast: Don't Cherry Pick God's Law

#FT16-03B

Given 19-Oct-16; 54 minutes

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description: While many people like some of God's laws, such as those against murder and theft, they like to pick and choose when it comes to the rest, preferring a blend of their own preferences with some of God's laws added in. The penalties that result from breaking God's laws are sure and exacting, as we witness in homes in which adultery or fornication has taken place. Breaking any of God's laws is the height of stupidity. The experiences of those who have once committed to God's ways and then started to compromise have not been pleasant or successful. Young people, unfortunately, seem to be oblivious to painful cause-and-effect relationships. One does not conceal his foolishness in a vacuum, but it is on display for everyone to see. Our nation has felt the incremental effect of God's curses as it systematically replaces tenets of God's Law with foolish laws concocted from human reason. God's called-ones must not follow suit, deciding which of God's laws we keep, and which to discard. We must embrace the full counsel of God, trembling before His every Word. We want to have joy by living by every word that comes from His Mouth.


transcript:

Now all the people of all the nations of this world love some of God's laws; whether they keep those laws or not, they still love some of God's laws. It does not matter if they are Ethiopian, Russians, South Africans, Americans, Germans, or Chinese; it does not matter what religion they are—Hindus, so-called Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, or even Atheists; the whole world likes some of God's laws. All people and nations use some of God's laws. Mankind picks and chooses the laws of God that they like or agree with.

Look at a commandment—a law—the whole world likes and agrees with.

Deuteronomy 5:17 You shall not murder.

They like that one, do they not? It would not be good if we all had six-shooters, running around. If I offended you, you would shoot me. If I cut you off in traffic, even accidentally, you would shoot me. If my dog piddled on your lawn, you would shoot me. None of that would be good, so mankind does not like that.

This law and commandment is straightforward, and easy to understand. Nobody who is sane wants someone else to kill them. Normal, sane people want to preserve life. When someone is murdered, it causes a lot of pain and suffering for the family and friends, and co-workers, does it not? We all know that.

Nobody likes this, so mankind decided that this law was good. So every country, and religion, and every people in the whole world made their own laws against murder, and made their own penalties for committing it. You cannot go around killing anybody in the world. You would get in trouble for that.

Turn to Genesis 4.

Genesis 4:8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

You see, Adam and Eve and their children knew God's laws from the beginning; Adam and Eve and the rest of mankind since, did not come up with the Ten Commandments.

These are God's laws. But they just pick the ones they like to put into their own law code. Then mankind adds to or takes away from the law. He takes away what he does not like from God's laws. Most of man’s laws have origins that come from the Bible, which would be based on God's laws. Mankind has made thousands of his own laws. He makes them all the time. They make new ones all the time, but they have origins that come from God's laws and the Bible.

Turn to Genesis 4 again. Cain knew he had broken one of God's laws, here. Cain knew the laws of God, you can see in this verse.

Genesis 4:6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?”

“What's wrong with you, Cain? Why are you angry and upset? Why is your appearance and composure fallen? Why is your behavior changed?” You see, Cain knew God's laws. That is why his countenance had changed. Everyone knew God's laws from the beginning, so Cain was scared. Cain knew he did wrong. Cain knew he broke one of God's laws, and he knew that there was going to be consequences to pay. That is why he was angry, and that is why he lost his composure; his countenance had fallen.

That is exactly how we act, brethren, when we do wrong, and we know that a penalty has to be paid. I see this all the time from my grandchildren. When they break one of our rules, they know the rules of our family, their countenance falls. And they act just like Cain, well at least when they get caught.

Let us look at another. Turn to Deuteronomy 5 again. Mankind likes this law. But because man has taken away from this law, the penalties that God commanded to be enforced upon the perpetrators, mankind now suffers from adultery, which is so commonplace that it seems like everyone is doing it. The breaking of this law brings much grief and heartache; it destroys families and their children, and spreads disease.

Deuteronomy 5:18 You shall not commit adultery.

That is very straightforward. The whole world likes this law when it comes to their mates or their children. Nobody wants their mates to break this law and commit adultery. We do not like that when it happens to us. But that does not mean that they would not commit adultery if they had the opportunity. Most people do not give it a second thought when the opportunity arises, because man has altered the laws of God. Man’s laws do not deal out or enforce a penalty for breaking this law. But believe me, there is a severe penalty to be paid when we break any of God's laws, not just this one.

Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine. I met this man when I was probably 20 or 21. We went to apprenticeship school together, and we became very good friends. Four or five years later, after we had become journeymen, I went to work for the company he worked for. And we were working in downtown Los Angeles on a high-rise building. And when a building is finished, there is a punch list. This is a list of things that the owner does not like. And there are a number of tradesmen going around fixing things. And we were going around fixing things on this building.

Well, this building was occupied with women. And my buddy, Pete, got involved with one of them. Pete had a wife and three kids. But he got involved with this woman, and he committed adultery. And I told him in the car one day, “Pete, you’re just a dummy. You’re an idiot! What are you thinking? You have a good woman at home, you have three kids!” But it went over his head.

He even got dumber. He gave this woman his phone number. And she called it but got ahold of his wife. Now, he was caught. So the penalty started. The misery started for this buddy.

The next two years were extremely difficult for him and his wife, as you can imagine. And when I would stop in, the air would be so thick you could cut it with a knife. But eventually, things kind of leveled out. They were not good, but they were better.

And then we got a job in Portland, Oregon. And Pete was transferred up there to work on that job. About a year into that job, he talked me into moving to Portland, and I went to work on that job too. But, what did Pete do again? While we were doing the punch list on that job, he got involved with another woman. The building was full of women. They were all dressed really nice. We ate lunch in the cafeteria with them, and he met another one, and committed adultery again, and got caught.

This changed his whole life. This just destroyed his whole life. He really had a good wife, who loved him tremendously. And when I would go over there after this adultery, he would be making the kids lunches in the morning, and I ask, “Where’s Leda?” He would reply, “She’s not here. She’s not involved with us anymore.” I went over near Christmas one time, and he was setting the tree up, and asked him, “Where’s Leda?” Same thing, “She’s not here, and had gotten a job, and she met a man.” By this time, Leda would not do anything for him—cook, kids, nothing. He was paying a very severe penalty. As soon as she met this other man, she divorced Pete. That was the end of their marriage.

Two years down the road (this is how bad sin affects us) we were driving somewhere, and listening to an oldies radio station. And while listening to this old music something came on, and he broke down and started crying like a baby; the tears running down his face. I asked him what was wrong? He replied, “This song reminds me of my wife.” This was two years afterward. He was no sissy. He was a big fellow. But that is what sin does to us. It affects us tremendously.

You see, Pete liked the seventh commandment, but only for his wife, and his daughter, and everyone else, but not so much for him. We tend to pick and choose what laws, what part of God's laws, we like.

So, why did I tell you this story? It is for all you young people out here. I know some of you will leave God's church in the future. And you will throw away your calling, and the great gift God has for you as firstfruits. Some of you will go off to college, and that will be the end of your calling. Some of you will marry outside the faith, and that will be your undoing. Others of you cannot wait to become old enough to leave home, and this crazy religion, because you think it is nonsense. You think everything will be great when you just get free from all of God's rules and do whatever you want. That is what some of you young people think.

No more Sabbath to worry about. No more tithes to pay. I can date anybody and everybody I want. I can do everything that I like. No more trying to live a different life than the rest of mankind. You will be free, will you not?

Here is what you young people do not know: Because you are not as old as me, and you have not witnessed what I have witnessed since about age 23 when I began kicking around in God's church. I have known hundreds of people that God has called over the years (young and old) that have left their calling. Not one of them is better off. And a lot of them that I still see from time to time, are much worse off.

This does not happen right away. So, do not be fooled. It usually takes years—15, 20, 30. But still, their lives are a mess down the road. I know lots of them. They come by my home; my son works on their cars. But there is no repairing the damage [to their life]. It is too late.

Make no mistake about God's Word in or out of God's church. In or out, it does not matter—there are penalties to be paid for breaking God's law. There are penalties to be paid for not keeping the words of God.

My good friend I told you about, was never called, or given the fabulous opportunity that all of us in this room, young or old, are given. He was never given that gift. He just lived his life. He would pick and choose what he thought was good. He broke the seventh commandment and paid a very high price. He was never the same after his adultery. He was never really happy again after his fling “in the hay.” I know how his adultery changed his life, his mental attitude, and his happiness, because he was my good friend until his death.

Turn to Matthew 4. This is what God expects of us His people, His firstfruits:

Matthew 4:4 (Amplified) Christ replied, “It is written: Man shall not live and be upheld, and sustained by food alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Got expects you and I to live by every word that comes from His mouth.

Here is another example. Mankind likes the eighth commandment, “You shall not steal.” Every country in the whole world has laws against stealing and theft. If you steal something worth less than $500, in America I think, it is called “petty larceny.” But if you steal something valued more than $500, it is called “grand larceny.” Grand larceny carries a stiffer penalty. No one likes it when someone steals their junk, do they? We do not want to lose our junk, do we? So, mankind agrees with God's law. When we agree with God's law, we make up laws of our own to backup God's laws, or words, or commandments. We penalize people for breaking those laws, not so much if you only steal a little bit, but whole bunch more, if you steal a lot.

What about the fourth commandment? “Keep the Sabbath day holy.” Mankind completely disagrees for the most part with this one. To mankind, one day is just as good as the next. Is not Sunday as good as Saturday? That is how mankind looks at it. Mankind looks at this commandment as Jewish, and useless in the worship of God. Mankind picks and chooses what words of God he will live by, and which ones he will not.

How does mankind tend to look at the first three commandments? One: You shall have no other gods before me.” Most of mankind does not even understand this commandment. They do not understand that anything that comes between us and God breaks the first commandment.

Two: “You shall not make any graven images.” Did you know that the Catholic church, because of all their graven images, has left the whole second commandment out of their version of the Decalogue. And they have! They make up this omission by dividing the tenth commandment into two. That way they still have ten.

Mankind does not even live by the Ten Commandments, let alone by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. Turn to Deuteronomy 8. This verse is nothing more than a repeat of Matthew 4:4.

Deuteronomy 8:3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

And three: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” Wow. I have worked on jobs where I used to hear God's name used in vain all the time; over and over. Mankind has no law against this commandment at all. It is up to every individual to do what is right in his own eyes.

Brethren, the laws of God were known from day one. Adam and Eve knew God's law. Mankind did not come up with, “You shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not commit adultery.” Mankind just said, “Yeah, we like these laws, well except adultery; they do not like that one near so much. Adultery is good if you do not get caught. These laws are good for us, so we make laws to enforce these laws. But, the first four, and number five, and number nine, and number ten, we will just leave them up to each individual to decide how they will keep them. These laws do not really hurt anybody too bad.”

Mankind picks and chooses what he likes or does not like when it comes to the words of God. Mankind does what is right in his own eyes.

But, what about us in God's church? Do you and I try to live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God? Do we really try every day to do what God says? Do we keep God's words at the forefront of our minds every day? All day long? All the time?

Do you know who we need to be like, or at least have the attitude like? First, like my grandson, Ian. He is now 4 years old. And he drives me crazy when it comes to every word out of my mouth! When he disobeys my words, he gets spanked. There is no hesitation. I spank him immediately, just like I do all the rest—Noah and Sophia.

Well then, what does he do? He cries. Normal. Then I tell him, “Poppa loves you, and Poppa will never spank you if you listen to Poppa and do what Poppa says.” I tell him to avoid getting spanked, all you have to do is listen to Poppa, and do what I say. Makes sense.

Then the craziness sets in. Because what he does for the next day, sometimes two or three days, every 45 minutes to an hour, Ian comes to me and say, “Poppa! Poppa!” “What Ian?” “If I listen to you, and I do what you say, and I am a good boy, you will never spank me, right?” “Yes. That is right, Ian. If you listen to Poppa, you will not get spanked”. Another hour goes by, and it starts all over again. And it seems every hour thereafter too. He does what I tell him to do for a while, but then he falls off the wagon, because he is only 4 years old. We kind of do the same thing, do we not?

You and I as firstfruits have to live by every word that proceeds out of the God's mouth. We have to keep every word at the forefront of our mind in our thinking every minute, of every hour, of every day all the rest of our lives after baptism. But that is really hard for all of us to do and accomplish. But we have to work at it with the help of the Holy Spirit.

For us—you and me—to work at living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, we first have to know those words. That only makes sense. That is why we study our Bibles. Why do you think that the ministry talks about prayer and Bible study? We have all talked about those things. That is why we need to read the Book—that is one of the reasons we go to services every Sabbath to be taught and to get understanding about God, His ways, and His words.

Let us look at some of God's words that people struggle with.

Proverbs 13:24 He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

The ways that most American parents discipline their children today is contrary to God's Word. Most American parents spare the rod, or do not believe in corporal punishment at all. Instead, they do things like count to their children. That makes a lot of sense. “Little Johnny, if you don’t do this, you’re going to get spanked.” But that spanking is never going to come. Instead, they say, “Okay. I am counting…1,…2,…3,…” Do you know what the kid is thinking? “Wow. Mom knows how to count.”

Or parents put their kids into “time out.” But what does that mean? Do you really think this kid can just stop going crazy just because someone’s telling them “time out?” Is that how it works?

I have never seen any of these, or a whole array of other parenting methods, which are contrary to God's Word, work very well at all. Yet, within the greater churches of God, there are all kinds of parenting methods used that are contrary to God's Word. We have all seen them. And they do not work.

Turn to Proverbs 19, which reinforces Proverbs 13:24.

Proverbs 19:18 Chasten your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his destruction.

The destruction does not come when your child is young. It comes when they are older, and they become teenagers. That is when the problem is already set in, because they have a mind of their own, and they are not going to listen to or respect you.

We struggle with so many of the words of God. Turn to Proverbs 23.

Proverbs 23:31 Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; . . .

God is talking about getting drunk in this passage, and then losing self-control.

Proverbs 23:32 . . . at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will utter perverse things.

This verse is telling us how out of control we become when we get ourselves drunk. A drunk will sing, and do almost anything, will he not? We have all been around drunks. If you have ever been drunk, or have known a drunk, you know exactly what I am talking about. A drunk will say and do just about anything.

Proverbs 23:34 Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: . . .

God says here that when you are drunk, you lose all regard for life. You kind of think you are invincible. God says it is like a sailor on a ship with sails, who falls asleep on top of the mast, not thinking he will probably slip and fall to his death on the deck, or into the sea. God wants us to have a sound mind, and to have control all the time.

Proverbs 23:35 . . . "They have struck me, but I was not hurt; they have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?"

This is what a drunk says. Even though the drunkard is beaten, abused, and full of pain; even though the drunk has no idea who did this to him, all he can think of is, “Where will I get my next drink?” How many of God's people get drunk? I do not know. But I know it is a problem within the church. How many members drink too much in spite of God's words and warnings?

Sin makes all men miserable and contemptible. All we have to do is look at the state of the world we now live in. The proof is there, it is all around us every day for us to see and to learn from.

Turn to I Corinthians 6.

I Corinthians 6:9-10 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

But we kind of fool ourselves into thinking that as long as we go to church, we are okay. All that I have read to you are just words that came out of the mouth of God. God is not kidding when He says that there will be a penalty for not living by His words. All we have to do is learn to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That is not easy for any of us, but we have to work towards that, because God is showing us in these two verses that if we get mixed up with any of these things we just read about, then we will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Those are God's words. They are not mine.

In Ecclesiastes 10:1-3, God warns us about being foolish, and how foolishness affects our character and our reputation. These scriptures are kind of obscure to us as I do not think we think about being foolish very much.

Ecclesiastes 10:1 Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor; so does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.

A foolish act ruins how people perceive us. One foolish act is all it takes. It ruins our reputation of being good and wise, if you were good and wise to start with! If you were, it makes it null and void when we do foolish things. God warns us about these things.

Ecclesiastes 10:2 A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart at his left.

Most of us are right-handed so our right hand works much better than our left hand. It is stronger than our left hand. It works better at feeding ourselves, does it not? Try to eat left-handed and you will have food all over yourself. And, when we write, it is much easier to write right-handed. I do not think I could write with my left hand. I have a hard enough time right-handed! When we do these things with our left hand, we lack control, and we look kind of goofy, do we not?

Here, God is saying that a wise man should have his mind, feelings, and passions under control just like he has his right hand under control. See, God warns us against all these things, and He tells us, if we would just listen to His words.

Ecclesiastes 10:3 Even when a fool walks along the way, he lacks wisdom, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.

When we say foolish things, or when we act foolishly, it is right there for everyone to see. Usually, we think to ourselves when we see someone acting foolishly, we say, “What a dummy!” We think, what a dummy. What a dumb thing that person said or did. We think to ourselves, “What in the world was that guy thinking?” You know what? Facebook is a good place to look foolish. I have read some things on there, and I think, “Wow! What was that guy thinking?”

This was another set of hard verses or words that came from God's mouth for us to think about and live by, because we all say and do foolish things from time to time, do we not?

Now, I am going to just pick out a few more scriptures, because the whole Bible is the Word of God. Let us see a few of them.

Jeremiah 7:2 "Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!' "

God is telling us that He will not accept a mixture of worship in this verse—part true Christianity and part mankind’s worship of God. He will not accept that from us.

Ezekiel 23:38-39 Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary [church] on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths. For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary [church] to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.

You and I as God's people do not get to pick and choose which laws we like as we please, and then go to church and think God will accept us and our worship just as we are. That is how mankind does it. They pick, and they choose. They changed the Sabbath for Sunday, and they think God is good with that. He is not. God will not accept a mixture of worship, part our way and part God's way. We have to live by every word of God.

I Samuel 7:3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines."

The key words, here, are “serve Him only.” And, if we will serve Him and worship Him by every word that proceeds out of His mouth, then there will be huge blessings for us.

Look at America as we get further and further away from God's Word, the Bible. The country as a whole is being blessed less and less. I have said this a number of times: America has changed tremendously since I was a child. This is because we are moving farther and farther away from the words of God.

Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”

The definition of deceitful is, “apt to lie or cheat; deceptive; false; and dishonest.” God says that is how we are—you and me. We fool ourselves into thinking that things are going to work out when they are not if we do not put God first and His words first. Our heart and mankind’s heart cannot know it without God telling us how we really are. That is why He tells us. Mankind does not think his heart is deceitful. None of us do. That is why mankind picks and chooses which of God's laws that he will do and will not do. Our hearts deceive us into thinking we are okay no matter what we do.

Proverbs 8:15-16 By me kings reign, and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, all the judges of the earth.

Think about these words. We Americans are now involved in the biggest joke of a presidential election in our history. It is a joke. People hate one another over it, people are all upset about it, but God says that He puts into office who He wants, and removes from office who He will. But we do not believe that, do we? Mankind does not believe it. The other Americans all around us do not believe it. They think their vote counts, do they not?

Isaiah 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.

This is a verse that we should all keep in mind. God knows what is good for us.

Isaiah 56:2 “Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."

There are all kinds of ways to pollute the Sabbath. Doing your thing on the Sabbath instead of doing what God intended for us to do, is polluting the Sabbath. Some of us watch T.V. on the Sabbath. I am talking about brethren among the greater churches of God. Some of us play video games. Some of us go to movies, or sleep the day away, or take our kids to the park and play with them, instead of drawing closer to God through Bible study, because we have the time on the Sabbath. If you used the preparation day, Sabbath is free time, right? Instead of time spent in Bible study, longer, more in-depth prayer, and good fellowship with the brethren, we do other things. God says, “Blessed is the man who does not pollute My Sabbath.” Mankind does not believe this at all.

God's words cover almost all aspects of life and worship. And some of God's words are much more difficult for us than others—I mean much more difficult. Think about Abraham and the words God said to him. “Go, and sacrifice Isaac.” Those are hard words, brethren. They are very difficult. But Abraham did not argue with God, nor did he hesitate. That is why Abraham is the father of the faithful. He tried to live by every word of God, and that is what God wants us to do.

Deuteronomy 21:18-20 "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'

You could say he is a drug addict, or anything in place of glutton, there.

Deuteronomy 21:21 “Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.”

These four verses are very difficult for all of us, even those of us in the church. They are extremely difficult, especially in this modern time in the nations of Israel. We would all have a difficult time stoning our children, would we not? This is unthinkable and very barbaric to us. In this age that we live in, a lot of mankind does not believe in spanking their children today. We are so liberal with our children, today, that we give them every imaginable thing. We spoil our kids rotten, and it becomes very difficult for us to raise godly offspring. And not only to raise godly offspring, it is very difficult for our children to become successful in life.

I know a lot of young people who are in their 20s and early 30s who are going nowhere. They are very unsuccessful in life. God warned us about these things. We have to live by every word that comes out of His mouth.

I Peter 2:1-2 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.

If we would as God's people only live by these words, our relationships with each other would be much better. We would really learn to love one another. We would learn to live by God's royal law to love your neighbor as yourself. We struggle with that one too.

Proverbs 4:20 My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.

This is exactly how we talk to our kids, is it not? Just like God is talking to us. We say, “Listen to what I tell you, Noah, Sophia, and Ian!” I tell them that all the time. That is what God is telling us. I remind them that I know what is best for you. That is what God is saying to us.

Proverbs 4:21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart.

That is what He wants us to do. Kind of like Ian: He thinks about Poppa’s words, but maybe for a day or two after being whacked. We need to keep God's words in our hearts every day, all day long, forever.

Proverbs 4:22 For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.

They are huge blessings for all of us. All you young people and all of us old people, if we will just live by every word of God, or at least make an effort to do that.

Proverbs 8:4-9 "To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. O you simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart. Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, and from the opening of my lips will come right things; for my mouth will speak truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; nothing crooked or perverse is in them. They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.”

If my friend knew these verses and would have tried to live every word of God, and not have committed adultery, he would have had a much happier life. He would have been much better off financially because the divorce he had was ugly, and cost him greatly. And his three kids would have had a much better chance at being successful.

God said there in verse 4, “My voice is to the sons of men”—all of mankind.

In verse 5, He said to be prudent. Do not be foolish. My friend was very foolish, and he paid a huge price.

In verse 6 He said that He speaks to the things that are good for you. And in verse 7, God said He speaks the truth, which is good for all of mankind. And in verse 8 God said His words are good for us, if we would live by them. God is speaking to all of us—young and old, male and female.

He wants us all in the Kingdom of God. As we read the next few scriptures in Hosea, think about the condition of our country, and the character and morals of the people who are now running for the presidency, because they have none.

Hosea 4:1-3 Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying [does Hilary lie?], killing and stealing [the government has killed people] and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed [that is the condition of our country]. Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away.”

(I do not know about you, I love fish. But it has been taken away from me because of the Fukushima incident. You can look into that yourselves. I do not want to glow at night, so I am not eating fish.)

When we read these verses, does it not give you a sense of urgency to try to live by every word of God? It should. That is what it should do for all of us.

In closing, I will read a couple more scriptures.

Jeremiah 7:23 But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you that it may be well with you.'

Not like my buddy, Pete. “Well with you!” Do we not want things to go good for us? I do! I hate it when things go bad for me.

Proverbs 5:7 Therefore hear me now, my children, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

That is what God wants for us. Is this not what we want for children and grandchildren? I do not want them to depart from what I am telling them, or what their parents are telling them. I want them to listen to all my words. We know what is good for our children, do we not? But they do not listen to us all the time.

Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.

You young people think you are never going to get old. I thought I would never get old. I thought I was invincible. But you know, old age comes, and death comes, and God says that He will give you long life and peace if we would listen to His words. I am getting old, and I would like to live a little longer, so I would like that long life He offers. I hope you feel the same way.

Isaiah 24:5 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

You see that all mankind picks and chooses which of God's laws and words of God they will live by. But it must not be so with us! We have been chosen to be examples or lights to all of mankind. By living by all of God's words, and by loving one another—that is how we accomplish that.

Proverbs 4:2 For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law.

God is pleading with us to live by all His words, because He knows what is good for us because He is our Father.

Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

We as God's people must remember these two verses and not let ourselves get caught up with man’s way of living. We must live by every word of God.

Do you know what it comes down to?

It comes down to this: If we will read and study the Word of God every day, and try to live by all of them, we will have the ability to make good decisions in our lives, according to God's Word, and we will know where the plumb line is. It is that simple.

As I close, in Isaiah 66:2, I want the last half of this verse because this is what God wants from us. God wants us to know Him and His words so well that we would be contrite or repentant of the ways we act and the things we do. That is what contrite means. And we would have a healthy fear of not living by every word of God.

Isaiah 66:2 . . .“But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

That is what God wants from us.

Our future is bright! It is so bright, it is unbelievable. God has called all of us—young and old—for a great purpose. God has opened our minds to His plan through His Word.

So brethren, why do we not want to be joyful, have fun, and live an exciting and happy life by living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

KM/rwu/drm