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Is this to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world? It's all power hasn't ever worked better Thank you Lord for bringing us here together on this Sunday morning to hear your word be preaching the same praises to you We ask you please go pastor Jones with your Holy Spirit Comes forward to preach the message of you laid on this morning, Lord We love you, and we just ask you to give us all yours to hear and hearts to receive the message Lord we just pray these things in Jesus name. Amen All right Amen, James chapter 1 I changed the title of this sermon about 80 times before I settled on one So like I said the title in the bulletin is kind of more or less a joke But some of you guys understand what that jokes about Anyways, we got to get going here So the title of the sermon this morning is the manner of men the manner of men if you would look at verse number 23 You're there in James chapter 1 look at verse 23. It says I'm sorry look at verse 22. It says but Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves For then look at diverse 23 for if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is like unto a man Beholding his natural face and a glass verse 24 for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway Forgetteth what manner of man he was and so The reason why I tell the sermon the manner of men is because this is a sermon about Christian character That's what this is about Christian character. You're not gonna find the word character in the Bible, but you'll find words like manner Okay, you'll find words like the way Basically, this is a sermon about how we are supposed to conduct ourselves as Bible believing Christians in other words This is one of those sermons. You kind of have to have your steel toes on okay I'm not preaching at any individual So if we don't have anybody here that's gonna get upset right this sermon will step on everybody's toes in this building at some point Okay, it's just one of those types of sermons. They have to be preached. It is the way it is It's it's not an attack on anybody right, and I think we've gotten rid again of all the Bleeding heart type so so praise God for that now if you look up the word manner in the dictionary You know you're gonna come away thinking that I'm talking about Like how you're supposed to conduct yourself at the dinner table right like don't put your elbows on the table You ever had your mom tell you that I remember one time was eating dinner at a friend's house And he put his elbow on the table his mom's like take your elbows off the table. That's rude. He's like And that stuck with me forever. I was like man that it was funny at the time But you know obviously now being a Christian is not a good Christian character, right? You know completely just disregarding your mom's authority That's absolutely just just horrible just bad, but the definition in the dictionary will sound something like this It'll say a way in which a thing is done or happens Okay, or it'll say a person's outward bearing or way of behaving towards others, okay now Part of that is true the the part where it says what does it say it says a person's outward bearing, okay? You think you hear the word bearing you often think of direction like which direction are you going well? I guess that's Kind of what I'm talking about here Which direction are you going to go you go towards the direction of the new man are you going to go towards the direction of? The old man when I was in the military they would often say to people that were slacking hey You lost your bearing meaning you fell you backslidden essentially you've lost your discipline You've lost your character, or they'll say you need to maintain your bearing right what that means is You need to buck up and you need to do what you're told to do and you need to follow the protocols and so on And so forth and so there is some of that that applies today But we need to get our definitions and our understanding strictly from the Bible I'm not against using a dictionary use it all the time right But we need to make sure that we come away with a clear understanding what the Bible teaches and so the word manner is going To come up over and over and over again this morning now if you were to talk to somebody on the street and say hey What separates a Christian from just somebody who doesn't go to church? You know what they're gonna say they're gonna Give you three things. They're gonna say well a Christian is somebody who goes to church reads the Bible and prays right Those are the three basic things. That's that's what most people are gonna. Tell you people that don't go to church Even people that do go to church Hopefully, that's what they're gonna say right those three things would separate a believer from a non-believer Well the question I have then is okay How well are we at really doing those three things going to church reading the Bible and praying now? Obviously the times that we're facing now has made it hard for people to come to church, right? So I'm not down on people for not coming to church, but it is something that needs to be preached about Okay, now what I want to do now is I want to give you three reasons Why we should be concerned about our manners as Christians Okay, I'm gonna give you three reasons Why we need to be concerned about this now look down to verse 24 number one is because it's easy to forget It is easy to forget if you look at verse 24 It says for he beholdeth himself and go with his way and notice this in straight way Forgetteth what manner of man he was so if you read the verses before what is it that makes this person forget? So easily what manner of man he was Right he's not a doer. He just hears And you can apply this across the board right think of your co-workers that just hear what the boss says And they go off and do whatever they want to do Right they they forget what manner of man their boss wants them to be well That's kind of what you have going on here. It says in straight way so right away He forgets what manner of man he was because the Word of God is supposed to convict you it's supposed to say hey Here's the right way You should go and you're supposed to listen to that and an audit yourself and say well am I going that way? And if not you need to make the right Adjustments to get yourself lined back up into the manner that God wants you to be at Right, but he says in straight way forget if what manner of man he was what else can cause this to happen? distractions Distractions from the world distractions from your family distractions from you fear Fearing what other people think about you? That's a big one that holds people back from serving God to their full potential is Fear fearing what the world's gonna think fearing what you you know your your loved ones are gonna think You know but we ought to be more concerned with what Christ thinks about us Versus what the world thinks or people that just aren't on board okay? So number one we need to be concerned with our manners because it's easy to forget how we really are Look when someone's telling you hey, you're out of line. You're not doing this and you walk out the door It's pretty easy to want to forget that all right. It's pretty easy to be like ah you know that hurts We don't like pain. Just just inherently right. We don't like emotional pain We don't like physical pain. You know it takes some intestinal fortitude to want to change Okay, and so because of that it's easy for your mind and for the old man to you know heap on the distractions And it's just kind of bury that type of pain. Okay, so number one. It's easy to forget This is why we need sermons like this This is why we need to make sure that we are concerned about our manners You should be concerned how God would view you as a Bible believing Christian. You should be fearful of that Number two is this if we're not honest with ourselves, then we deceive ourselves look at verse 21 This is wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save your souls. You've heard me talk about this engrafted word before what does that mean? Transplant right this word the Word of God is easily able to be transplanted You could take James chapter 1 and tell your children to write it down word for word on a piece of paper They could literally take that piece of paper and read it and it will transplant to them Yeah, well, it's just as powerful if you were to write it down word for word as it is in his book So what I'm saying is it's God's Word Was meant to be handed down from generation to generation from book to book it was meant to be copied and it had the copies have the same power as The settled word in heaven according to Jesus Christ that's according to the Bible, right? That's why it calls it the engrafted word, but notice what it says which is able to save your souls You've heard me say this before it's like if you were to get a skin graft, right? You know, we just was talking about this lady that she grew up with as she knows it was in a fire and she had to have several skin grafts and what they would do is they would take skin off of other parts of her leg and basically put it on the areas of her body that had gotten burned and that Skin becomes living and it grows and it adapts and it takes to to covers those burns Well, you know, we've all been burned by the world. We've all been burned by ourselves We've all have we all have scars of things in the past. Well, this word is able to graft those burns It's able to cover you it's able to save your soul It's able to save you from hell But it's also able to save you from the troubles and trials and tribulations and the problems that we tend to get ourselves into This book will save you from troubles it will save you from even getting near troubles if you let it if you're if you're able to Adjust your manner to the way that God wants it to be now look at verse 22 He says but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own Selves, this is key. It's easy to listen It's easy to sit there and hear the words come out of somebody's mouth but like I said it's a lot harder to actually apply these things to your life and make the change make the adjustments and Actually March on and the Bible is very clear here If you're just a hearer and you're not a doer you are deceiving your own self And how do you think your manners gonna be? It's not gonna be very good. Is it? You're not gonna have the right kind of manner. So number one. We need to be concerned about our manners because it's easily Forgettable, it's easy to forget what kind of a person we are number two if we're not honest with ourselves, right? If we're not honest, we don't admit hey, you know what? I'm really not that much of a doer then guess what? We're deceiving ourselves And look that old man. He wants to have this conversation with you. He wants to converse you out of doing the right things Number three, it's a command look at the beginning of verse 22 It says but be ye doers of the word and not here is only deceiving your own self So it is not optional a lot of people say well, you know that stuff's just great and fine and dandy, you know But it's kind of optional that's more more or less for the super Christians Right. Not everybody was gifted to be a super Christian whatever that means Well, why did James say be ye doers of the word it doesn't sound like it's an option to me It's a command We are commanded not to stay saved Not to get saved but to be disciples We're commanded to be concerned about our Christian character to be concerned about the way we conduct business So keep your place there. We'll come back to it later on but go to first John chapter number three first John chapter number three Now I got this idea For this sermon from one of my memory verses this week which is Psalm 119 59 and sound the bullets in where it says I thought on my ways and Turn my feet until I testimony is a very simple verse But the question I have is how many people have ever sat down and thought on your ways thought about your life thought about the direction that you're going the things that you do the things that excites you the things that Motivate you and said, you know, what are these in line with the testimonies and the statutes of God and Said you know what? They're not They're not I need to make adjustments. I need to make changes I need to become a doer and I need to turn my feet unto his testimonies That is the kind of group of people that we need to be We need to think about our ways the way we do business the way we do things And if it doesn't line up with God's Word, we need to just make the adjustments Because by and large a lot of people they just get offended they think on their ways they hear the preaching and then oh You're being mean oh you're picking on me oh It doesn't have to be like that They start talking themselves out of it. What does Proverbs 3 5 & 6 a You think about it, you know everybody probably memorize those verses as kids right if you who here grew up in church just Jessica Kayden Kinley, Kyle Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto that understanding acknowledge him in all thy ways and he shall direct thy paths Right. We're supposed to trust him with everything you say well I'm struggling with this right now because I'm afraid of what my co-workers are gonna say if I get all Involved in church and get involved as being you know, I'd be in a Christian well, you know what you need to just trust him and Acknowledge his ways and he's gonna direct your path. He'll give you a new family He'll give you new friends and you know what these people might just see you later down the road and say well You know what? They weren't just joking around. It wasn't just a fad This person meant business and that can speak volumes to people Right. I'm not talking about just only lifestyle Christianity this morning. No But there is some value in living your life according to the Bible, you know, because it's your actions speak louder than words Mostly to the people that are around you, I mean look we've all heard of the hypocrites We've all met them. We've all probably even been them in the past right? Let's just be honest You know when your family sees you, you know, oh Bible Amen, you know talking all the lingo and you know I'm a Christian now and then they see you going out and doing a bunch of garbage that even they know is bad You know, do you really think that's gonna make them want to listen to you? No That just makes you Deceive yourself. It just makes you a hypocrite. It makes you less effective for the kingdom of God Okay, so that's what I'm talking about here now. I had you turn to first John 3 because we're gonna start this off here I just want to show you just kind of give you a detailed explanation of the manner of God towards us, right? I mean think about it who who set the ultimate example for us of love is Jesus Christ, right? But God committed his love towards and while we were yet sinners Christ died for us I forgot to turn my phone off. Sorry about that. I Need to make a special note in the bullets into myself, but let's move on here Look at verse number 1 first John 3 look at verse 1 says behold What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God therefore the world knoweth us Not because it knew him not but notice the beginning that verse there says behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us Making it possible that we could be saved Right because we're all sinners We can't do any works sent his only son to die for us And spend three days and three nights in hell You know what? It's a reasonable service That we would try to do better that we would be concerned about our manners because that's how his manner is He's already set the stage in the example for us right and we need to look to that and follow that That's why the verse starts off by saying behold Behold think about this and look at that example Behold what he did for us Don't just gloss over this stuff That doesn't do anybody any good. We're supposed to behold this and think about this In one look when you stop and you just think about that You think about what he did for you you think about what you could have gone for eternity. It changes things It changes your direction People always I need to go to dr. Phil or or Oprah because I need a change in my life I just need to be able to change. How about you wake up and read the Bible. I Know Christian people people that are saved it that I you know, I need to go to you know To dr. Phil and and and all these other people and just just somehow I need somehow I need to be able to change They will never be able to change you Did they die for you they do anything for you? Nothing do they have the truth not at all This is what we're supposed to behold. This is the manner of love that we're supposed to follow Look at verse 2. He says beloved now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear What we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he Is we verse 3 and every man that hath this hope in him purify of himself even as He is pure. So he's saying hey the expectation here is because we realize that we're the sons of God We're a royal priesthood Because we understand this because we realize this he says here in verse 3 and every man that hath this hope in himself purify Himself even as he is pure. So what he's what that means is that you know when we realize that And we can see hey we understand there's that he's coming again We don't want to be ashamed of that or at that time, right? We want to live our lives in a way to where we get to the judgment seat We're not just having the majority of our works would hey and stubble, right? So the believer in your manner You're supposed to to model after his love model your life that way and then make the application and make it so that you're pure Obviously you're pure in the sense that you have the new man. Okay, I understand that But what you do in this body does bind in heaven So you need to be careful think I mean Just think about John 3 16 for God so loved the world He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life What I mean, what can you pull from that you could pull sermon after sermon after sermon from that For God so loved the world Do you love the world enough to go tell somebody that they are on their way to hell that their manner that their character? Is a disaster and is on the path of destruction Right, that's the example that's our hope Look at verse 4 whosoever committed sin Transgresseth also the law for sin is the transgression of the law Again a good verse to just explain to somebody what the definition of sin is verse 5 and you know that he was Manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin So Again, even you know, this passage is kind of difficult. It's you know, if you haven't read You know Matthew Mark Luke and John. Okay, you really have no business reading first John And I've mentioned this before a lot of people though They'll you know, they'll get on fire want to read the Bible the crack open you know first second John because they're they're shorter books and Then they'll just come away not understanding anything or all mixed up. Well, maybe it is the faith of works, you know Am I really saved into the skylight of me, you know, and they'll sir, you know talking themselves into all sorts of strange things and God forbid they go on the internet and find some bozo teacher that you know twist these passages and tells them well Yeah, if you're really saved you would do these works and then they start saying oh, yeah, you know, I'm not doing the works It must not really be saved and just just bringing yourself back into that Galatian style bondage again, right? That's what happens here. But now he's shifting gears. He's just basically saying hey the person who's just Rejected right you've got two people. You've got people that are saved that have that divine righteous and they got the other people That have the human achievement doctrine that I mean that's really what it is You got two religions in the world divine righteous what Jesus did on the cross? What he? Accomplished that we have to receive as a free gift and then you got the world Yeah, Buddhism Catholicism Mormonism Jehovah Witnesses and all these other isms and it's all works. They're all the same There's very little differences between them and that's the distinction that he's making here He says and he know that he was manifest to take away our sins and in him is no sin Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not now a lot of people will look at that and say see if you're really saved man You wouldn't sin you would have repented of all your sins. That's not what it means. He's taking away your sins It's like did you even read verse 5 he took away our sin. So when you're placed into him Right. You got the new man He's made you a new person and that new person does not sin So he says whosoever abideth and in verse 6 sinneth not whosoever sinneth hath not seen him neither known him It's just a different way of saying there's two types of people those are in Christ and those who are out of Christ Those who are out of Christ are sinners in this context here Look at verse 7 little children. Let no man deceive you he that doeth righteousness is righteous Even as he is righteous and how did he get righteous by believing by getting saved? Okay First eight he that committed sin is of the devil for the devil sinneth from the beginning for this Purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. This is the manner of God This is the manner in which he died for us. This is part of his character This is part of his character that we are to emulate This is why we need to be concerned with how we conduct ourselves as Christians This is why we need to preach against the false doctrines This is why we need to go out to the community and tell people they need to be saved Right, but by and large day when you knock on a Christian's door, what do they say? Well, I find that question offensive Looks like okay. Well, how do people get saved in? Well, they just waltzed into church and you just build a relationship with them and you just butter them up And then one day they just get it. That's really what most people believe today But that is not what I'm reading here that does not destroy the works of the devil that's not what Jesus did He told it like it was that was his character. That was his manner Let's just finish a couple more verses here look at verse 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he's born of God When you're saved that it's impossible for that new man to sin He doesn't sin now the old man sins and that's what see way if you don't have the new man Could you could you read this passage and come away with the right with the truth? No, it's impossible. There's no way There's no way go look up. Just just pick a bozo. Just pick pick Francis Chan I and I don't know if this is true, but I bet if you were to just pick Francis Chan Francine Chan Literally feminine, you know what? Just just just go look I'll bet you if you were to go to go on the internet and look at him teaching this passage. I bet he twisted up I'll bet you anything you wouldn't because he's not saved. I Mean, this is a guy I heard him say this one time He said, you know, if two guys came into my church holding hands, that would not be the first thing that I would address How did you come to that conclusion man by reading the Bible, right You come into this church holding hands, it's gonna be the last thing you ever address. Yeah All right, verse 10 says in this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God neither. He that loveth not his brother So again, you have two types of people here in this passage and it's very it's very important that you understand that Okay, it's important. He's talking about the saved and the lost in other words. The saved can do no wrong as far as the new man's concern, right, but you also have people that give themselves over and They become the children of the devil in verse 10, right? So verse 9 don't ever let that confuse you Whosoever is born of God did not come in sin for a seed remaineth in him That seed is the Word of God that in grafted word that we read about in James chapter 1 it gets Transplanted into you and it becomes living see the NIV can't do that. The NIV is not in grafted It's altered change whatever ESV same thing all those all those garbage versions turn to first Peter chapter 1 first Peter chapter 1 So I just wanted to kind of I know that's kind of a Lot for an introduction. Okay, but you get the point you get the idea here, right? We need to make sure that we understand the manner of how God was how God is But how he sent his son to die for us We need to have that that same attitude, right? We need to put others needs above our own Not necessarily the community. Okay, and the people that reject Christ, but each other we need to have that brotherly kindness We need to make sure that we're in church We need to make sure that we have that character that we have the manner of helping each other out lifting each other up in prayer Help, you know take it on each other's burdens I mean, these are things that are that seem there are seemingly simple, but they're missing out there in the world They're missing out there in these other types of churches. I know I bash these other churches a lot because they deserve it Right, they really do deserve it. I mean they're doing great works to destroy America in my opinion That's right. I mean a lot of you they don't they don't fellowship like we do they don't see any value in that You go to the journey after service you just split man and it's probably you're you're done for the week Right. Do you think think they got a midweek service over there? They have small groups probably And that's most of these types of churches a lot of Baptist churches are getting rid of their Wednesday service and going to small groups And I've seen this I've been in an independent fundamental Baptist Church guy graduated from Paul chapels a little Clown school down in California, you know went there for a while all of a sudden He started making these small groups on Wednesday So yeah, he still had to come to church on Wednesday right to be part of these small groups He would do these. What was that like six months? He would do that or a three months So it's for a period of months, right you come to church and you get in your little group according to age And then they'd adjust it every once in a while. But what happened after we left? Well now we can take these small groups and we can bring them to people's homes And we could save money on the electric bill and we can save all this No, it's just an excuse for the pastor not to put in the work For so for those of you that don't know it's not easy writing sermons Right, you guys have done men's preaching now, you know, it's not the easiest thing in the world And so there's great temptation out there today to go that route to go that way and to have that manner Right that manner of slackness Well, guess what? That's not church Small groups are not Church Because now you you're basically inviting clicks and that's exactly what happened and I'll never forget it I was in one of these stupid small groups one time, you know I was telling the story about how I was in Japan and how we were soul-winning and how the government gives you seven times per month to basically go out for an hour and this guy was Like well, I follow Christ and no one's gonna tell me how many times I don't care what government it is And I was like, oh really you go soul-winning and he's like you wouldn't say that. He's just like So I caught him afterwards. I was like, hey, well, maybe we you could come soul-winning with me Right Since you're so I didn't say this but I was thinking in my mind since you're so tough Since you have such good Christian character since your manners are above everybody He's basically like mocking me in front of people. That's the way I took it like oh, well if I was there I'd go 19 times a week. No Japanese cops gonna tell me what to do You know, I talked to his dad. He's like he's never been so wanting a day in his life That's what he said He forgot what manner of man he was he was a cluck You'd learn more doctrine from Foghorn Leghorn and the Looney Tunes and you would from this kid But yeah, he's gonna tell you and do this all day long that he's something special. You know what that kid is He's right out of James chapter 1. He's a forgetful here That's what he was in church his whole life He heard but he never did and so now he's trying to puff himself up as some great one Oh, no one told me what to do. You couldn't even give one Bible verse if your life depended on it Anyways, what I have you turn first Peter, yeah, I have no idea why I'm telling that story right now But anyways, we got we got to move on here. I've got like five points or something like that. So Point number one is this Your manners as a Christian are to be holy in all manner of conversation Let me say that again your manners as a Christian are to be holy in all manner of conversation Okay, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, you're soon gonna understand that first Peter chapter 1 look at verse 15 It says this but as he which hath called you is holy, right? So again Where do we look to to get the example? We look to the Bible we look to God the Word of God That's why he went over 1st John chapter 3 to get this into our minds and into our hearts Into our minds and into our hearts and we need to look to him and his examples on how to be Holy and how to how to have the right manners, right? It says but as he which hath called you is holy So be holy in all manner of conversation. He said what are you talking about? I'm talking about like All my conversations have to be about the Bible. No, it's not what I'm talking about Right what I'm talking about here what this verse really means is You need to make sure you're conversing with that new man more than you're conversing with that old man back up to verse 13 And let's read it from verse 13. This is wherefore gird up the loins of your mind Think about that. He's saying hey gird up the loins of your mind the strength of your mind This isn't something that's automatic A lot of people like to have this attitude where they they just did just cop out because they think well I just wasn't born with this extreme motivation You know what? It doesn't matter It doesn't matter how you're raised. It matters whether or not you can just Muster up the discipline to gird up the loins of your mind and just admit. Hey, I'm not where I should be I need to make the changes. It's good Wherefore gird up the ones of your mind be sober and hope to the end For the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ now Hope to the end that sounds like an answer to me You see when people start hoping for the temporal and they start hoping for the things that are in the world It's gonna be kind of hard to gird up the loins of your mind It's gonna kind of be kind of hard to be sober and I'm not talking about alcohol talking about pride Right pride that is not a Christian character. That is not a good manner. So look at verse 14 as obedient children Not fashioning yourselves according to the formal lusts in your ignorance We're supposed to constantly always be moving forward every single day Every single day you should strive to be a little bit better than you were the day before One more chapter one more Bible verse one more person to pray for one more phone call Something to advance yourself because if you don't The only other direction you can go is back If you're not constantly in the mind frame of that hope You're not gonna move forward you can be stagnant at best So he says in verse 15, but as he which hath called you as holy So be holy in all manner of conversation and here's why verse 16 because it is written be holy for I am holy Again, it doesn't sound like that's optional That is a command. We are we are supposed to be holy because he is holy We are to look to him for our example not to the world not to the philanthropist not to the therapist but to Christ verse 17 and if you call on the Father who without Respective persons judges according to every man's work past the time of your sojourning here in fear You should have the mindset every single day that you're gonna choose to fear God in what he says that you're gonna be concerned about Your manners that you're gonna be concerned about your character as a Christian We are commanded to pass our time here on earth in fear in The right kind of fear not the fear of man, but the fear of God, right? You're so journeying here in fear verse 18 for as for as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation Received by tradition from your father. So you see that phrase their vain conversation, right? Your conversation in the world your conversation in your past were not to be bogged down by that verse 19 But with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot go to Luke chapter 1 Why turn them refuse second Peter 3 11 which says this seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness now, yeah, you shouldn't be joking around and Participating with the crap that people, you know come up with at work You get a bunch of guys together at work, you know, someone's gonna start telling dirty jokes Every single time it seems like Look people that I work with they know that I'm a pastor it's like they just can't help themselves whenever they come by and visit me or we have to work on a job together and All of a sudden they just want to tell me some stupid joke Yeah, you know it's some perverted type joke and I have to be like, okay. No No, I Don't I don't don't want to talk about that, you know, it's hard because you you want to keep the peace But you can't give in to them Because once you do then then there goes your banners there goes your conversation there goes your steadfastness in their eyes And they're like, I got you. You're no different than me You're no different than anybody up because they have a goal to get you on their side and when it doesn't work it hurts them But you know what? That pain is good for them They need that pain because you never know what that could do to them later down the road We don't have enough people left today, it seems like that are willing to knock people down a few pegs, you know Everybody's just worried about offending somebody or you're worried about your own skin Oh, well If I don't laugh at this or if I don't go to this party or if I don't hang out with that person or this Person then I'm gonna lose this or that You know, that's Not good Christian character. That's not what we're seeing here. We're supposed to be holy in all manner of conversation You can't be holy if your conversation is always with the old man and his desires of what he wants you to do Right now we all battle with the old man. We're all gonna lose some time I understand that right, but we need to keep these things in perspective, right? So point number two is this your manner as a Christian is to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God Think about that our manner as Christians is to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God You're here this morning and you could be doing anything else in the world that you want to do In a sense that is a spiritual sacrifice to God when you decide, you know, I'm gonna go out soul And you know that is a spiritual sacrifice to God as well. But you know, what a real good one is is prayer Yours when you sacrifice your time for someone else's needs and you're praying for other people That is a spiritual sacrifice, you know again, like I said the beginning of sermon if you just ask some somebody on the street Hey, what separates a Christian from somebody who's not a Christian? Well, they pray they go to church and they read the Bible, right? and like I said The question I have is are we even doing those things? Okay. Are we even doing those things? You're there in Luke chapter 1 look at verse number 9 This is talking about John the Baptist father here Look at this is according to the custom of the priests office His lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord Verse 10 and the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense now Look at verse 11 and there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense now Just just give you a New Testament application here. Go to go back to 1st Peter I should have told you keep your place to go to 1st Peter chapter 2. So here you have John the Baptist father What is he doing? He's doing things That they're supposed to do. I mean look at his character says according to the custom of the priests office He's following the manner that he was supposed to follow Right. He's praying they're praying for people's needs They're praying for all sorts of things at the time of incense. And then what's the result in verse 11 an angel appears to him? What's the what's the application there when we offer up spiritual sacrifices when we pray when we lift other people up when we put other People's needs above our own You know what heaven hears that? You're not always gonna have an angel manifest himself to you right and just give you all these answers and stuff again That's all I'm talking about This is a special circumstance here But the protocol is the same you sacrifice you offer that thing up you get results you get an answer It may not be the answer that you want. It may not be in the timeframe that you want But heaven hears remember we are a royal priesthood you don't think that God hears you You don't think that he hears your prayers you're crazy First Peter chapter 2 look at verse 5 it says this ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. He says ye also as lively stones That's how the Bible talks about us those of us in here that are saved right he says you're a lively stone You're built up a spiritual house unholy priesthood in our job our manner our character needs to be able to offer up spiritual sacrifices When you sacrifice your time in the world for the things of God Go to Acts chapter 10 Acts chapter 10 So in Luke chapter 1 we see you know in the Old Testament these guys are there they're praying at the time of incense And they get a response from God right those prayers are lifted up to heaven as a spiritual sacrifice Same thing that we read about in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 5 says offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ when you pray for your brother you pray for your sister You're praying for people to be saved or whatever it is That is a spiritual sacrifice And that's acceptable to God and that is the manner that we need to be known by we need to be known as a people That praise not just paying lip service a lot of people all I'm praying for you, but you just kind of know they're not Right I'm praying for you Yeah, faith that works is dead. You know that's what that that's what that is right Behave stay dry you ever been working out in the rain and some is like hey stay dry Right that's the same thing as you know hey, I'll pray for you, and you just go on about your merry way We don't want to be that manner of person We don't want to have that characteristic if you say you're gonna pray for somebody do it You know do it right there as you're walking You know you don't always have to just drop to your knees and go to a closet and make a big show Right you don't always have to do that you could pray for that person right there, so you don't forget All right look at it look at this acts chapter 10 look at verse 1 we went over this a couple weeks ago says there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelis a centurion of the band called the Italian band verse 2 a devout man and One that feared God with all his house which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God all way Verse 3 he saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an Angel of God coming into him and saying unto him Cornelius and when he looked on him He was afraid and said what is it Lord? And he said unto him thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God Now obviously we've already went over this he wasn't saved at this time, but those prayers Still went up to God all I'm trying to show you is that when you make that spiritual sacrifice That goes up to God that is acceptable to him, and we need to be known for prayer. We need to be known as People that are of that manner right remember. I thought on my ways and turn my feet unto thy testimonies So you need to think about this you need to think am I a person it that that prays for other people Am I a person that wants to make or that does make spiritual sacrifices to God? And if not I need to turn my feet to him I need to make the change. It's that simple. I'm not mad at anybody. I'm not targeting anybody I'm just preaching what the Bible says I'm just trying to show you something this morning go to Matthew chapter 6 Matthew chapter number 6 I'm gonna show you a verse that the Catholics miss Maybe it's not in their Bible. I don't know Matthew chapter 6 look at verse 7, but when you pray use not vain repetitions as the heathen do For they think they shall be heard for their much speaking Be not ye therefore like unto them for your father knoweth what things ye have need of before Ye ask him now look at verse 9 after this manner therefore pray so What's the manner that we're supposed to be praying in vain repetitions No, what does the Catholic Church do they take these next verses? We're gonna read this formula of prayer and they just chant it and repeat it all the time, don't they? That's the wrong manner. That's not Right character, right? I mean said date Use not vain repetitions in verse 7 and then in verse 9 says after this manner Therefore pray ye our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever Amen for if you forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you but if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses, so Good manners from the Bible begin with prayer But you got to have the right manner of prayer to light like Jesus said not a vain repetition, okay We're not supposed to be like that So, let me ask you a question could you look to the Catholics and Follow their manner and the way they do things and the answer is no not even close not even close There's a certain manner a certain way a certain characteristic that we're supposed to have when we pray then we should follow this Example as a guideline don't just chant these verses here No, no You need to just basically take the concepts, you know putting others needs above your own being thankful and content for having food and raiment like Paul said and be content Because when you do that Guess what else that means you're gonna be more inclined to forgive other people cuz look if you go to church You know three times a week and you go to all the the sewing time sooner or later Someone's gonna offend you or say something that rubs you the wrong way And you need to develop some thick skin Right need a man up you need to get some thick skin and Develop that character and that manner so that you don't get offended and wind up leaving because you're hurting yourself You're hurting your eternity by doing that Let's move on here point number three is this see I'm gonna have you guys turn to Hebrews chapter 10 So go to Hebrews chapter 10 point number three is this your manner as a Christian should be to go to church Regularly your manner as a Christian should be to go to church regularly say prove it from the Bible No problem Hebrews chapter 10 look at verse 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without Wavering for he is faithful that promised verse 24 and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works Kind of hard to do that if you're not in church verse 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as The manner of some is so there are some people that have the manner There are some people that have the characteristic of skipping church all the time For weeks on end and then you address that you get upset and they want to cry And it's my fault and I don't know the whole manner, right? Right, huh? I don't know the whole manner Wait a minute pal, maybe you don't Maybe your manners are these people here? Yeah, the people that forsake the assembly. It's a manner. It's a way It's a characteristic and it's a characteristic that we not need take part of now. Obviously right now. It's a little bit different You know, there are some people that need to stay home. Okay, I understand that But I'm not talking about these times. I know I'm talking about your character. Where's your heart at? Where's your mindset at is it the things of God or not? Check your ways man. That's what he's saying here not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one Another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. I Don't know if you've looked around the world the last couple of weeks, but it seems like that day is approaching pretty quickly Yeah, doesn't it? I'm convinced and I think we talked about this the other day right brother David was mentioning this If the Antichrist came up right now and said hey, you know what we need to forsake all these church gatherings Because it's just putting the world in turmoil and it's just offensive. You know, most people would jump right on board with that. Yeah, I Think you would be shocked at the amount of churches that say you know what? He's right. He's right You know, maybe we've been doing this thing all wrong. Yeah, and we just need to take his stimulus check and we can still be happy I Don't know if he's gonna give a stimulus to these pastors or just What sweet talk him out of doing it because you know, you know these Joel Osteen guys these John Hagees, you know, they they love Having their churches for money turning people into merchandise. So I don't know It's kind of a good thought there, but go to John chapter 13 This is hey, there's a manner that some people have and I don't want you to be like that You know, it's kind of hard to exhort people it's kind of hard to know their needs it's kind of hard to Develop friendships if you're not in church Or if you just have this manner that you're always skipping right? Well, it's hunting season. I gotta go. Well, it's fishing season I gotta go. Well, it's hockey season. I gotta go. Well, it's football season. I gotta go What manner of Christian are you And I'm not trying to to hurt feelings this is the Bible this is biblical Christianity here Look at John 13 34 a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another look at verse 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if you have loved one toward another Again it's kind of how just kind of hard to have love one toward another if you're never in church Or if church is just a secondary thing to you. You just come in and then dip right out right How are you gonna develop love for the people that are in church? If you're hardly ever in church, or if your heart and soul is not in church if your minds not here It's not gonna happen and look we've all seen people come to this church week after week and their hearts and their minds were not here and it's like Are they gonna get right or get out man? It's like, you know, what is it? That doesn't do any good either We ought to be people that want to be here they want to have the right manner the right characteristics to please God Right, but he says by this shall all men know that you're my disciples if you have loved one toward another go to Galatians chapter 6 Galatians chapter 6 And You know when when people are like that They're just showing they don't love the brethren. They don't love God's people, right? I'm not saying they're not saved But you don't dare tell me that you love God's people when they're not You know above your your wants Above your fleshly desires above your conversation with the old man Look at verse 1 Galatians 6 one It says this brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault you which are spiritual restore such in one in the spirit of meekness Considering thyself lest thou also be tempted bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ again How will you bear one another's burdens if you're not in church? Or if you just come to church, but you don't want to be here Is That the kind of manner is that the kind of characteristic is that the kind of person that you want to be and no That's not how we should be That's wrong And you know what the amount of places you can go to today where they're gonna tell you you're wrong are quickly diminishing Quickly diminishing go to Luke chapter 4 So Look the main things the main place where all these things happen the edification the love of the brethren Meditating over God's word a lot You know Church is where that that's gonna happen and we're supposed to have more assembling as we see the day approaching We need to get strength And look it's true. We need to get some strength. I wonder how many people in other churches are going to be strong after this whole Coronavirus things over I Wonder that I You know, I want to know how the liberals are gonna do I wonder if other people just seem like I'm just gonna keep live-streaming. I'm just gonna be laughing at them Good good because you know what? It's hard to minimize the distractions When you're live-streaming, yeah, and look we had live-stream for a while I I understand that but I'm talking about the liberals out there, you know these so-called Christians I wonder if they're just gonna eat it up and just keep keep on Live-streaming after this is all done with after it's all over after they can go back to church, you know And I wonder what's gonna happen. How many of them are actually gonna go back and You know, maybe that'll be a good thing for us. Maybe they'll just float out and we can We can go get them. They'll have a break from all the bad brainwashing that they're getting on a weekly basis Right, and then hopefully we'll be able to swoop in but you know, well, we'll see Think about this if you go to church for one hour a week for 52 weeks a year Think about this one hour a week 52 weeks a year For 70 years and you don't miss a week. You'll have given God a grand total of five months of your life Five months of your life one hour a week 52 weeks a year for 70 years Don't stand next to me at the judgment seat of Christ Because that's gonna be one big bonfire. Okay? This is true, but I'm just trying to put this into perspective for you Okay, think about that there. I know we know people they go to church like one hour a week and they don't ever miss and I'm thinking about this like man after 70 years you've given God five months of your life What manner of man are you what manner of Christian are you? Because you know, let's face it a lot of these people aren't necessarily at home praying for you know For other people's needs some of them are some people have disabilities. They go. Yeah, I get that I understand that but just think about that at the end of your life. They're probably thinking man I'm gonna be getting all these rewards and you're gonna get to heaven guys be like, thanks for the five months of your life You gave me Good job, buddy five months five months That is insane Luke chapter 4. I Want to show you this here, you know that Jesus had the manner of attending church regularly look at verse 16 and he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his Custom was he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read you notice that there as his custom was They didn't have the first Baptist Church of Jerusalem there yet Right, that wasn't a thing in they went to the synagogues. But what was his custom? He went into the synagogue every Sabbath That's what he did. It wasn't like well, I feel good enough today the winds blowing just right the sun's at the right position You know, my car is not making that knocking sound. I didn't hear too many chickens this morning Didn't hear too many dogs barking yesterday There's no football game on there's no hockey game in six months from now, I think I'll go to church Had a good dinner last night. Yeah, I think I'd go to church. No, it was his custom man. He's just going it's the Sabbath He goes right we need to develop that characteristic that we just go to church When it's Sunday morning, we go to church when Sunday night we go to church when it's Wednesday we go to church That is the manner we need to be Point number four your manner as a Christian is to read and know The Bible your manner as a Christian is to read and know the Bible We're gonna look to our example here. Look at verse 14. I'm sorry verse 17 Luke chapter 4 look at verse 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias and when he had opened the book he found the place where it was written Well, there you go. We saw what his custom was was to go into the synagogue on the Sabbath for to read, right? But what else do we see obviously Jesus you could say? Oh, well Jesus, of course, he's the word he knows everything Well, that's true. But is he your example? When you read this, are you trying to be like this? That's the question. That's the application today and There was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias and when he had opened the book he found the place Where it was written, so what is he trying to show us? Hey know the Bible Right read the Bible but know it know where to go You don't have to memorize every single thing in there it great if you can if you've got that brain capacity But can you at least do you need at least know where to go for like a Jehovah's Witnesses, you know questioning of Trinity Do you know where to go, you know for I don't know the sodomite doctrine, you know, most people in here do right You know, do you know where to go for all these different things that people come up with it? We preach about all the time, right? You know, that's that that should be your goal right now Right know where to go in the Bible know the place to go To be able to help somebody out to be able to help somebody understand something Right. That is the application here Psalm 19 verse 7 says this the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple you say well, I'm not that smart You need to put your nose to this book and it will make you wise That is the solution here. This is the engrafted word This word transplants into your brain and it starts to grow it changes who you are The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul not only saving people not only converting them from sinners to save But it can convert you from simple to wise It doesn't just stop at salvation verse 8 the statutes of the Lord are right Rejoicing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes It's this book right here and the teachings inside of it that will give you discernment that will give you that light that will cause you to be able to look at your path and the direction that you're going and say is this right and Have you to be able to make the right decisions Psalm 119 130 says this the entrance of thy words giveth light it giveth understanding to the simple These are more than just words. It's like putting a giant flashlight inside your brain you know, what's that movie called that guy keeps putting on the sunglasses and then he like he looks at the billboards and You know, I'm talking about the rot rowdy Rodney Piper. I watched it when I was like eight They live. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, you know, that's all funny and fine and dandy for Hollywood But you know where they got that concept probably from this verse right here Right the entrance thy words giveth light right now You're not gonna get some special sunglasses that you can put on and be able to look and see all the Conspiracies that are in the world, you know, it's gonna be putting your nose in this book and face in reality That's what's gonna wake you up That's what's gonna give you light. That's what's gonna make you wise versus simple turn to Acts chapter 17 Acts chapter 17 And I'm gonna show you that having this manner having this characteristic of putting your nose to the Bible knowing the Bible reading the Bible Understanding the Bible. It's considered a noble thing by God It is considered a noble thing. Are we not a royal priesthood kings and priests? Yes, we are We need to make sure that our manner and our characteristics are of nobility Right. Look at this here Acts chapter 17. Look at verse 11. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica Now, why is that? Why does the Bible say that here who's writing this Luke under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost? This is a narrator statement here these talking about the people in Berea These were more noble than those in Thessalonica why in that they received the Word of God with all readiness of mind Did you come to church this morning with readiness of mind ready to learn or did you come here to try to find something wrong? Right. That's the question and That they received the Word of God with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so That is considered a noble act by God and that is the manner we need to be known by that's what we need to be known for Searching the scriptures daily daily not just on Sundays or Wednesdays, but daily Go back to Luke chapter 4 So I said point number four is your manner as a Christian is to read and to know the Bible What do we see in Luke chapter 4 so far? We saw the custom. We saw the manner of Jesus Christ, right? He had the custom. He had the manner the character of going to church all the time when the doors were opened. He was there That's what it's saying That's what that's what I take away from that and then we saw in point number four that Your manner as a Christian is to read and know the Bible He knew where to open and where did it open the Bible to he knew where to go It wasn't just like well, gee, I don't know No, he knew where to go because he is the word because he knows the word and you know What we have the word inside of us and we need to make sure that we know it and we know it Well point number five is this your manner as a Christian is to rightly divide the word of truth look at verse 18 Luke chapter 4 look at verse 18, so He opens up the book to his eyes right verse 18. He starts to read and it says this the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of the sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are bruised to preach the Acceptable year of the Lord verse 19 look at verse 20 and he closed the book. That's that's important there So he read look at verse 19 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord Verse 20 and he closed the book and gave it again to the minister and sat down and the eyes of all them that were In the synagogue were fastened on him and he began to say unto them this day is this scripture Fulfilled in your ears turn to Isaiah chapter 61. What he's doing is he's reading Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1 & 2 Ok, so keep that in mind you go to Isaiah chapter 61 point number 5 is this your manner as a Christian is to rightly Divide the word of truth and who are we looking to today for our example on how to have good Christian character To the Lord Jesus Christ, right? What did he do? His custom was to what go to church go to the synagogue right be with God's people on the Sabbath We saw that obviously he knew where to go in the Bible But look at how he divides this passage here in Isaiah chapter 61 So he stops after these words to preach the acceptable year of the Lord and then he closes the book Well, I want you to I want you to catch something here Isaiah chapter 61 look at verse 1 the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good Tidings unto the meek he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to became liberty to the captives and the Opening of the prison to them that are bound, right? That's what he basically read. That's what Jesus read now look at verse 2 to proclaim the Acceptable year of the Lord and that's where in Luke chapter 4 verse 19 That's where he closed the book right there but notice there's a comma there in verse 2 right to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord comma and he closed the book, but what does the rest of the verse say and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all Them that mourn he knew obviously how to divide that verse that verse there in Isaiah chapter 61 verse 2 Talks about Jesus's first coming and his second coming So the question they have is can you rightly divide the commas? Can you rightly divide the word of truth you see because the Jews will look at this and say well He's not the Christ because it says and the day of vengeance of our God and the day of his vengeance hasn't come yet So he's not the Christ You see that Jesus knew when to close the book and he knew when to say hey today in your ears. This scripture is fulfilled And what he's saying? Hey, the Messiah Christ, which is me is already here to proclaim the acceptable year the Lord comma Right because he closed the book because in the day event the vengeance of our God to come for all of them the morning That hasn't happened yet So he's able to divide that verse. I mean how many thousands of years I wonder are gonna be between this comma here Between the first part of Isaiah 61 2 and the last part of it You Know but you got a whole clan of people out there today called dispensationalists a clan I mean, that's their big thing. Oh, we rightly divide the word of truth. We divide them in dispensations, right? That's their thing That's their manner. That's their custom, but they're dead wrong on a lot of that stuff You know and Jesus knew when to close the Bible and he knew how to divide the word He's our example. Look these things aren't in the Bible for no reason We're supposed to read and cross-check these references, you know Anytime you read him or you know quoting the Old Testament you need to go back to those verses and think about these things So that way you can pull the real meaning from this and that's what it is We're witnessing him divide rightly divide the word of truth in the synagogue on the Sabbath in front of all those people Why do you think they looked at him with astonishment? He knew when to stop the question is do we know when to stop? Do we know how to rightly divide the word true? Do we know what's been fulfilled? Do we know what prophecies are still yet to be fulfilled because that's a big point of contention Amongst a lot of God's people today as well So Again in verse 2 here. You really have the first and second coming of Christ separated by a comma You know, but you would have people today read this verse Oh, of course, he's not the Christ because this hadn't been fulfilled yet is all the same sentence, right? Well, it's like no you're not rightly dividing. All right one more verse for you Second Timothy 2 15 says this study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth How do you become? Or how do you how do you develop yourself and your your your character and your manners in a way? That's not gonna bring you shame inside of God by studying By rightly dividing the word of truth. This is a big book very big book and it takes a lot of study It takes a lot of commitment. It takes being around God's people it takes these conversations that we have before and after the service right thinking about these things and all of that comes into play and develops you as a Christian it works on your character and it makes you a manner of men and women They will not falter. They will not forget themselves, right? They will not be Hearers only but hearers and doers and that's the whole point right? Do you know the whole manner? What manner of man are you and you say well, I'm not quite there yet look Read that verse that I put on the bulletin. I thought on my ways and turned my feet into my testimonies Needed we need to consider our ways and how we conduct ourselves as Christians and if it doesn't line up with what the Bible says Then make the change Just make the change don't get offended just make the change That's it. And you know what you're gonna be blessed for it. You're gonna develop that character that is pleasing to God Because you will have studied to show yourself approved unto God don't study to show yourself approved unto some professor at a Bible college That's not what this is talking about. You're not gonna find that teaching anywhere in the Bible We need to study to show ourselves approved unto God and who in here doesn't want to be approved unto God I don't think anybody in here would say that So again, what manner of man are you we need to think about these things and if you're not there yet You just make the change Start today pick something in here. I mean what what separates a Christian from the world prayer Bible reading church attendance I mean, I just gave you those three things. I mean I put five points in here, but just take those three things How am I doing? How are my ways? What direction am I going how strong are you in those three things think about that And make the adjustments and look this is gonna help you out. You're gonna thank me for this someday I promise you when you're standing in line at the judgment seat of Christ, you know, you know what if I didn't listen to that Yeah, I would have had a lot of woodhanging stubble. It's kind of funny, but it's true, right? It's true I'm just trying to save you some eternal pain this morning. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer Thank you so much Lord for again bringing us all together here Well safely and I just pray you bless the fellowship after the service Lord and bring us back all tonight ready to learn in Jesus name I pray