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So there's a lot there in Matthew chapter 5 So we have Jesus basically and a lot of people will use some of the things said in in Matthew chapter 5 to say that Jesus was changing things but really what Jesus was doing was establishing the law. He was establishing even more He was establishing the way God intended the law to be in many cases and I want to explain Some of that to you tonight We're gonna get a little bit doctrinal tonight as we start this series But the series that we're starting tonight is called finding favor and it's basically how to gain and keep favor With God and men, so we're gonna have a four-part series on this subject so Keep your place in Matthew chapter 5. We're going to come back to that But let's first look at people in the Bible who had favor. Why would we even want favor? What is it all about? Turn to Esther chapter 2. We just learned about someone in the Bible who had favor With men So let's take a look at Esther chapter 2 and verse number 15 Esther chapter 2 and verse number 15 So we're going to find out how to gain Favor first so there's two steps to this you first have to get favor You have to gain favor with God and men and then you have to keep it Right, you have to keep that favor So look at Esther chapter 2 in verse number 15 And the Bible says now in the turn when the turn of Esther the daughter of Abba Hale the uncle of Mordecai Who had taken her for his daughter was come to go into the king she required nothing but when Haggai the king's chamberlain the keeper of the women appointed her and Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her This was the story of Esther's life turn to Proverbs chapter 18 Esther Of course, we studied the book of Esther a few weeks ago She had the favor of anyone that she really came across and it was because of some very specific things That we did so I encourage you if you haven't seen that sermon to go ahead and watch that The turn to Proverbs chapter 18, there's some more people here in Proverbs chapter 18 in the middle of your Bible You'll find the book of Psalms turn one book over and you'll be in the book of Proverbs. Look at Proverbs 18 in verse 22 and The Bible says who so who so findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord So the Bible says hey anybody that even finds a wife Has found favor with the Lord So that's that's a large group of people if you found a wife you found favor with the Lord turn to Luke chapter 2 Luke chapter 2 so more people in the Bible that we could easily identify that had found favor with God and men Were Daniel Daniel had favor with God and men Joseph had favor with God and men These were two men that even though their circumstances were extremely difficult in their life, you know What Daniel was in captivity Joseph was also in captivity They rose to the the second in command of the most powerful kingdoms in the world at the time Look at Luke chapter 2. Let's look at somebody else who had favor in the Bible Luke chapter 2 and look at verse number 52 verse number 52 and the Bible says this about Jesus it says and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man turn back to Proverbs 22 so look favor is defined as being held in high regard or You know just having a good reputation You know in Proverbs 22 or just look at the front of your bulletin, by the way, this is Proverbs 22 in verse number one Basically having a good name is what the Bible calls it in Proverbs 22 one the Bible says or the front of your bulletin says a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and Loving favor rather than silver and gold. So this good name this good reputation Having favor having loving favor. It sounds like something that is pretty important to me It sounds like something that we should pay attention to and figure out how to get you know a good name It's hard to get okay. It's hard to get now. Look there's several it's difficult It is to gain favor and gain a good reputation It's it's almost unfair because it's very difficult to achieve but it's very easy to lose So that's the that's the irony of the whole thing, okay, so we're gonna look at all these aspects tonight, you know I mean you could lose it by just pure carelessness By just pure carelessness This is you know It's something if I asked all of you and we took a blind poll tonight and I gave everyone a piece of paper And I said who would want to have favor with God and men who wants to have a good name Amongst men just amongst men who would who would not say no to that? It's something that most people want That everyone wants and you know, you must put work into it Okay You know a lot of times and the reason it's so difficult for people to gain favor with God and man is Because many times you're gonna have to do things that are actually against your nature that are against your flesh Your nature is gonna tell you to do one thing, but look you have to have some self-discipline Okay in order to gain favor from God and men So you say, you know, I have no discipline. I have no self-control Well, then, you know, you're gonna be someone that doesn't have a good name So, you know get used to that The next four weeks we're gonna look at steps to not only gain but to keep this favor. Okay now a Side note if you do gain favor with God He may give you favor with man turn to Daniel chapter 1 Let's just look at let's look at a couple details with Daniel and Joseph and then we'll get into the sermon This is all on introduction here. Look at Daniel chapter 1 in verse number 9 The first goal in our lives should be favor with our Heavenly Father with favor with God, right So look at Daniel chapter 1 in verse number 9 Daniel chapter 1 in verse number 9 the Bible reads now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs So look if you have favor with God God can just make things happen for you He could just give give you favor to people. I mean look Daniel and Joseph go to Genesis 39 Genesis 39 first book in the Bible Daniel and Joseph didn't get to where they were going just because they made all the right moves But they had favor with God they had favor with God and God gave them that favor with men Look at Genesis 39 in verse number 21 The Bible says this it says but the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and Gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison So Joseph's favor with the men came from the Lord the Lord gave him that favor. All right turn to Proverbs chapter 3 Proverbs chapter 3 now look we understand that men may persecute us in this life Okay, so there's always that aspect that's going to be with us But in general when it comes to doing the things that the Bible says if we are obedient to God You know God can give us favor with the men that we are dealing with in our lives the people in our lives Okay in general this series is aimed at showing you how to Operate in such a way that will you will have the favor of God So he will give you that gift of the favor of men Okay, if that makes sense, you know, and it's a blessing if he gives that to you It's a blessing from God look at Proverbs 3 in verse number 3 Garrett preached about this verse in one of his first sermons here at Verdi Baptist Fresno Let not mercy and truth forsake thee bind them about thy neck write them upon the table of thine heart So what why why should we do that? So thou thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man Okay, so this is what we're after. We're after this favor of God and man. Okay, that's what we're after Go back to Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 And I want to focus on verse number 33 in Matthew chapter 5 And let's look at what Jesus is talking about in verse starting in verse number 33 Matthew chapter 5 in verse number 33 the Bible reads again You've heard that it had been said of them of old time thou shalt not forswear thyself But shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths forswear means You know make a liar of yourself to perjure yourself or something along those lines But he's saying don't forswear thyself, but perform unto the Lord thine oaths Okay, but I say unto you swear not at all Neither by heaven for it is God's throne nor by the earth for it is his footstool neither by Jerusalem For it is the city of the great king Neither shall thou swear by thy head because thou can't make one hair white or black But let your communication be yay. Yay Nay, nay for whatsoever is more than these is cometh of evil So the title of this first part of this series tonight is let your yay be yay Okay, but at first I want to look tonight turn to Deuteronomy 23. What does this mean? What is Jesus talking about? He's saying he's saying hey, don't don't forswear thyself, you know, it was said in old time Don't forswear thyself, but perform thine oaths He's basically saying, you know, there was these oaths that were taken. He's like keep your word Don't be a liar keep your word is what Jesus is saying, but Jesus says but I say unto you Swear not at all. And then he goes into this list of hey, don't swear by heaven Don't swear by the city don't swear by your head Don't swear by the crack in the sidewalk or your mother's right eye or whatever. He's saying don't swear Okay, so I want to first look at why Jesus said this. Why did Jesus talk about this? We're gonna get a little doctrinal here. So, you know put your seatbelts on we're gonna eat some we're gonna eat some protein Okay Let your yay be yay is the title of the sermon tonight But first we're gonna look at oaths in the Bible look at Deuteronomy chapter 23 in verse number 21 Where the Bible says when thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God thou shalt not slack to pay it For the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee and it would be a sin in thee But if thou shalt forbear to vow then there should be no sin in thee Like if you don't vow a vow, there's no sin That which has gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform even a freewill Offering according as that how as thou has vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou has promised with thy mouth so he's saying if you promise an Offering if you promise a vow to God you better keep it or it's a sin. Okay, that's what he's saying and turn to Numbers chapter 30. Let's take this a little bit further Okay, but he's saying look if you promise something to God you have to keep it But if you don't promise something to God, then it's no big deal. Okay, so he's saying basically, you know If I'm gonna promise to God that I'm gonna go to CVS pharmacy. I had better go Because I vowed that oath, but if I don't promise to God and I don't go there Then there's no problem Okay so he's basically saying any oath taken to God needs to be kept is what the Bible is saying here look at numbers and verse number chapter number 30 Let's look a little bit closer at I'm gonna turn there myself numbers in verse number 30 And I look at verse number I'm sorry chapter number 30 verse number one Let's look more at oaths in the in the Old Testament and the Bible says in verse number one and Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes Concerning the children of Israel saying this is the thing with the Lord has commanded. He's giving them. He's giving them the law here He's giving them God's law verse number two If a man vow a vow unto the Lord or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond He shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord and bind herself by a bond being her father's house in her youth and her father hear her vow and her bond wherewith she had Bound her soul and her father shall hold his peace at her meaning. He says nothing Then all her vows vows shall stand and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand The Bible goes on in Deuteronomy chapter 30 to explain that if a wife Takes a vow and her husband is okay with the vow then her vow shall stand but what I'm getting trying to get you to understand here is that there is a Hierarchy of higher powers involved and who can take a vow So basically if my wife takes a vow and if we were living in the Old Testament And my wife took a vow and we were part of the children of Israel here and I heard it I agreed with it and I said nothing Her vow stands if she took that vow to God now if she took a vow to God where she said I'm gonna go on this diet and I'm in a vow to God to go on this diet and that means I can only eat these weird foods and I can never Go out to restaurants with my husband because you know, I'm eating all these weird things made of cauliflower now And I said no And I stopped that vow look I have that power I'm joking, but I'm serious. Okay, I have the power to nullify her vow if I hear it and I don't hold my peace That's what Numbers chapter 30 is talking about So the vows what I'm trying to get you to understand is these vows are subject to the higher powers Okay, Romans 13 stuff. Okay turn to Psalm 15 So it's the same thing with the daughters if my daughter vows a vow and I hear it and I don't agree with it. I can nullify that vow and then it's not a sin to her the Bible says okay, I Can establish or void the vows of my wife and My daughter the Bible says okay remember that Turn to Psalm 15. Look at verse number one Psalm 15 in verse number one Lord who shall abide in thy tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart He that backbiteth not with his tongue nor doeth evil to his neighbor nor taketh up reproach against his neighbor All right in whose eyes a vile person is condemned But he honoreth them that fear the Lord he that sweareth to his own hurt and Changeth not so here's someone that swears to his own hurt, right? So it's kind of like I would say, you know Brother George, I'm gonna help you I Vow to help you fix your car and then I find out that like your car doesn't even have an engine and we got to Build the thing from scratch right now. I'm like, whoa So I but I still to my own hurt if I have to take two weeks off of work and to my own hurt My own front whatever I took a vow. That's what I'm supposed to do. Okay. This is the vows of the Old Testament. So look What I'm trying to get you to understand that oaths in the Old Testament were a big deal They were a really big deal, right? They were number one. They were to be honored number one Okay, and number two they were subject to the higher powers Meaning the husband over the daughter the husband over the wife. Okay now The problem with hosts. Why why did Jesus say this? Why did Jesus say don't don't take oaths? Alright, I don't know end of sermon. Let's fellowship. No, here we go. Okay now Turn to Judges chapter 11 First of all, you know just a general statement if you have to swear to heaven above or you have to swear to Pete to Whatever the city or or your head you you know, you have a credibility problem, right if you have to make all these drastic Statements to get people to believe you you have a credibility problem Okay Oves began to carry too much weight with men Okay, we're gonna look at a story in Judges chapter 11 and a man named Jephthah And we're gonna go to Judges chapter 11 and we're gonna read this story And we're gonna I'm gonna explain to you One of the reasons that that this Jesus made this statement. Okay judges chapter 11 in verse number 29 So Jephthah is is judging Israel they are They are under attack by the children of Ammon Jephthah wants to defeat the children of Ammon and he makes a very foolish vow to the Lord Okay in verse number 29 the Bible says then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh and passed over Mizpah of Gilead and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon and Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord and said if thou Shout without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands then it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Children of Ammon shall surely be the Lord's and I will offer it up for a burnt offering so he basically says that they're under attack from this this foreign nation and either he's going into battle and He's he's stressed out about it and he vows this vow that says Lord if you deliver the children of Ammon into my hands I will when I get home after I've won the victory the first thing that comes out of my house I will offer up to you as a burnt offering a burnt offering you kill a burnt offering you burn it upon the altar and if you go down to verse number 34 for sake of Time the Bible said this is Jephthah. He's won the battle He's coming home and Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house and behold his daughter Came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances and she was his only child Beside her he had neither son nor daughter that's it just this one daughter and it came to pass when he saw her that he rent his clothes and Said alas my daughter thou hast brought me very low and thou art one of them that troubled me for I've opened my mouth unto The Lord and I cannot go back So, what does he do his daughter comes out and He promised he vowed to the Lord that the first thing that would come out of his house He would sacrifice to God he would kill and sacrifice to God look at verse 39 Now there's some confusion on this. I'm not quite sure why because the Bible is very clear what happened Okay in verse number 39 The Bible reads and it came to pass at the end of two months, so she basically comes to her dad and says hey Let me just go for two months and just bewail Bewail myself and go with my friends for two months before you carry out this vow and in verse 39 She came back and it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned unto her father Who did with her according to his vow? Which he had vowed he killed her and She knew no man and it was a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jetha The Gilead at four days in a year. So not only does the Bible say that he did it It says that the whole nation mourned for this situation Okay, so he carried out this vow. Now. What what do you think God wanted that? Do you think what he did a wicked thing here He slayed his own daughter And it doesn't even matter that she was his only daughter So look that what the point I'm trying to get across to you and this is a perfect example Is that oaths and vows had been taken way too far by men? In the Bible, okay This is where Jesus was headed with this Okay, look Vows are Subject to the higher powers. Is that not what we read in the Bible? so if I vow to murder somebody is That a vow unto the Lord Do you think that the Lord wants me to carry out that vow to go against one of his commandments thou shalt not kill. I Mean, come on, who's my higher power? It's God Did not approve of this Okay Jephthah should have prayed to God and asked for forgiveness for swearing a foolish vow before the Lord done That's what he should have done Just as a husband can overthrow There's his wife's vow just as he a dad can overrule a daughter's vow The Lord can can overrule your vow if you vow something stupid to To murder your own child. I mean thou shalt not kill. Hello Now look, let me just let me just point something out here Stories let me give you a Bible reading tip stories in the Old Testament What they're just that they're what men did and if you read these stories and turn to Ezra's a good one turn to Ezra Turn to Ezra in Chapter number 10, but what these stories in the Old Testament these were these were not These are stories. These are what men did These are what sinful men did these stories like messed up stories and judges 19, you know this story about Jephthah I mean these were not condoned by God To do these things. They're just what men did they're in the Bible for us to learn from them Okay, they're what sinful men did You know when you have things in this in the Bible it says and the Lord Commanded them or and the Lord said or the word of the Lord I mean when when it's obvious that God Commanded them to go and fight these people or to take this land or to do something or it's a command from God That's different. But when men do wicked things in the Old Testament Especially is where a lot of the the messed up stories are. Well, it's just something that happened. It doesn't mean God condoned it God told men to not multiply wives. So when a man had 300 wives God didn't condone that Okay, I mean it's just what men did there's a lot of Immorality in the Bible. There's a story in Ezra chapter 10 and Ezra comes back after the temple was built after they were carried away into captivity They're allowed to go back and build the the wall around Jerusalem They rebuilt the rubables temple and he went back and here he saw that the Levites and the people had married all the strange women Of the land they had gone out and they had married they did something wrong They married people that weren't Israelites and God told them to not take strange wives so here look at Ezra chapter 10 and verse number 2 Ezra chapter. Oh, this is just a quick another example of this and Shekiniah the son of Jehiel one of the sons of Elam answered and said unto Ezra We have trespassed against our God and have taken strange wives of the people of the land Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing now Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away the wives Such as are born of ends and such as are born of them He's like let's divorce the wives and put them away and the kids Okay, I mean this is a messed up story Where am I out here and that it's such a according to the counsel of my lord my lord lowercase L.O.R.D He's saying he's talking to Ezra. He's calling Ezra my lord like my boss or my you know, he's referencing Ezra and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God and let it be done according to the law Arise for this matter belongeth unto thee We also will be with thee be of good courage and do it then arose Ezra and made the chief priests Levites and all Israel To swear that they should do according to this word and they swear here's another oath gone wrong. I Mean you basically said hey this guy comes up. What this isn't God telling him to do this He's like, hey. Hey, I got an idea man. Let's just divorce them all get rid of them and the kids What this isn't God is the messed up story. It's just men making the wrong decision Welcome to earth Okay, it doesn't mean God condones everything in the Old Testament So when you're reading the Old Testament, don't get too depressed about it because it doesn't mean God condones these things. Okay, so Back to the sermon. So Jesus basically Jesus basically said enough with the oaths He's like this thing's gotten out of hand He's like just do what you say and say what you'll do Period he's like enough of this, you know, it was the point of the oath was decent, right? I mean you were supposed to swear an oath unto God to sacrifice to God Like I swear an oath that I'm gonna give my best ram this year and God's blessed my family I swear that I'm gonna sacrifice this to God and now men are killing their kids. They're divorcing their wives I mean Jesus is just like hey just do what you say and say what you're gonna do and stop with the swearing to everything It's like whoa You know, I mean it's gotten out of hand Men men took these oaths way too far. All right, so look the application tonight is this The application is basically turn to 1st John chapter 2 Now look, I don't know exactly why Jesus said what he said in in Matthew 533 through 37, but that that's that's kind of Jared's opinion land I think that he just thought you know what these oaths have gotten out of control All right But I do believe that men did wrong by their oaths in the Bible it's very clear, okay First John chapter 2 First John chapter 2 look at verse number 5 So let's look at just look at some quick application tonight on Letting your yay be yay and your nay be nay and The first point I want to make tonight is people what people will hear what you say at first Okay, people will hear your words at first Look at 1st John chapter 2 in verse 5 Where the Bible says but whoso keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected Hereby know that we are in hereby know we that we are in him look But here's the thing if your actions do not follow your words people will stop hearing you Okay turn to Matthew chapter 6 Turn to Matthew chapter 6 is really up to you Whether or not people listen to what you say All right, don't miss what I just said there If you want to say things and you want to have people hear what you say Your actions will follow your words Okay, look at verse number 7 of Matthew chapter 6 And the Bible says but when you pray use not vain Repetitions as the heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking Look if you are someone and I know this is talking about praying, but if you are someone who just speaks And you never do what you're saying say you're gonna do no one's gonna hear you anymore You're not going to be heard for your much speaking It's it's that simple for the same reason that much speaking in vain Repetitive prayers God quits hearing those people to Saved or unsaved Words that come out of your man or out of your mouth to men that mean nothing Will no longer be heard very quickly and this does not take long Well, I mean turn to James chapter 2 in verse number 15 Look someone, you know who says, you know, they'll do something Hey, I'm gonna do this and this and this and they never show up They never do the things that they're supposed to do people would just stop hearing that person It's that simple and in church. Look in church. This is how it'll work. People will still be nice to you People if you're someone that just talks and talks and talks and never does anything that they say they're gonna do People in church are still gonna be nice to you because we love you. All right, but look at home There's gonna be more serious problems. It's gonna cause problems in your marriage It's really gonna cause problems with your kids as they grow up to be this same type of person and at work It's really gonna cause you problems with other men in this world. You could possibly, you know get you fired From your job if you're this type of person I mean, I can't tell you I mean I can't tell you how many people that will come into an interview and they're well, I'm the best I'm the best I can what can you do that I can do everything. Oh I'm the best at everything and I've been doing everything for 20 years and I'm the best and I work so hard But they're lazy. They do nothing and they know nothing is the truth of it But Those people will get fired. I mean, it's the bottom line if they're just talkers and they're not doers Okay. So now let's look at I Have you turned to James 2 15 Let's look at James 2 15 The Bible reads Yeah, I mean here's a good example of this. I was wondering why I put that in my notes I've got James 2 15, but here's here's somebody who says something, you know He's basically saying if a brother or sister be naked and daily destitute of daily food and one of you saying to him to part in peace be you warmed and filled not withstanding you give them Not those things which are needful to the body. What the other prophet if you're somebody that just says hey I wish the best for you, but you never do anything I mean, that's you that could be you in James chapter 2 15 So you don't want to be this person that says things and doesn't follow up your words. All right, so let's look at The third point tonight if you do what you say always if you decide that you're always gonna do what you say Like I'm just going to decide from this point forward that Everything that I say I'm gonna do I'm going to do in my life. Guess what you will start to say less Guaranteed Okay, look at the Bible on Jephthah Jephthah's oath. I mean, maybe he should have said less Maybe he should have just thanked God for the victory. Maybe he should have just prayed for the victory Thank God for the victory and went home and took care of his family. He should have said less, you know think about Herod's promise Turn to let's turn there Matthew 14 Matthew 14 Think about even Herod, you know, it was a wicked man Matthew 14 verse number 7 This is when The daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod in verse number 7 The Bible says where he promised with an oath here we go again To give her whatsoever. She would ask and she said before being instructed of her mother Give me your John Baptist head and a charger and in verse number 9 and the king was sorry It's like oh shouldn't have done that. You know, you're sorry for the wrong reasons You're just trying to be popular but still the point is maybe he should have said less But so much in my life I have done Because I didn't want to just be known as a as a talker Now listen to what I'm saying I've done a lot of things and worked very hard on things in certain directions because I didn't want to be known as just a talker when the smarter thing would have just been to talk less and Not do those things and not have to go in those directions But I should have just said less is what I should have said. So there's two stages here. Okay? first of all, you do everything that you will say and You could be someone that talks a lot and does a lot Or become someone who measures their words So everything that you do is what you should be doing Because haven't we seen in the Bible that there's men that say things that they just shouldn't have said They they they vowed things that they shouldn't have vowed and then they fought. I mean they they were They were not talkers They followed through on their vows, but just because you're this person that is just gonna do Everything that you say you're like my words and my actions will match Perfectly that's not enough because You could promise the wrong things you could say too much you could say wrong things so it's better to measure your words and Be the type of person that will do what they say. They're gonna do. Okay turn to James chapter 1 in conclusion here James chapter 1 We're gonna go to James chapter 1 we're gonna go to acts 15 and then we'll be done But I love James in the Bible James the brother of Jesus. So we're talking James I mean, I love all the Apostles of course, but James this isn't James the son of Zebedee who was killed with the sword already This is James the brother of Jesus Okay in James chapter 1 in verse number 19 the Bible says wherefore my beloved let every man be swift to hear Slow to speak and slow to wrath now James I'm gonna prove to you tonight that James lived his life this way James lived his life this way now look turn to Acts chapter 15 in Acts chapter 15 I got to give you some context of the story But basically what you had was Paul and Barnabas were coming to Jerusalem They're coming to see the Apostles everybody anybody who was anybody was there the Apostles were there Peter was there Everybody was there James was there And there was there were these certain Pharisees that were they were saved The Bible says they believed there were certain Pharisees, but they're like, what do we tell the Gentiles to do when they get saved? So there was this big argument on What they're to instruct the Gentiles to do after they get saved Okay. Now this is a big thing too, but I just want to point out what actually happened here So in Acts 15 you have this big You have this big melee breakout And you have all the the Apostles Giving there. It says the Apostles the elders. They were all giving these big Treatises on what they think should be done in this situation. I mean Paul was there Paul gives his opinion Barnabas gives his opinion and they all the Bible says they all speak their peace I mean you could about imagine this this room or this hall or this wherever they were with all these great men of God debating this huge thing But James says nothing until verse number 13 Look what verse number 13 says and after they they had held their peace. They were all done talking Imagine all those men. Do you think Paul had anything to say on anything? I mean Paul wrote a majority of the New Testament. I mean Paul Was extremely educated he was extremely versed in doctrine I mean this was a discussion that happened here But the Bible says in verse 13 and after that they had held their peace James answered Saying men and brethren harken unto me Simeon have get declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name and To this agree the words of the prophets as it is written after this I will return and I will build again the tabernacle of David which has fallen down and I will build again the ruins thereof And I will set it up That the residue of men might seek after the Lord and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called saith the Lord Who doeth all things? No one unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world now listen to this Wherefore my sentence is That we trouble them not from among the Gentiles from among which from among the Gentiles Are turned to God and then he just he gives his sentence I mean basically what I'm trying to get you to understand here is that everyone? Speaks about this whole thing and then James pipes pipes up at the very end He's like hey, this is just how it's gonna be right here So James number one. He was someone who when he spoke Everyone shut up and listened to what he was gonna say if you look down at verse number 22 You see the reaction then it pleased the Apostles and the elders with the whole church To send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas namely Judas are named Barsabbas and Silius chief men and they wrote letters by them after this manner. I mean he settled the issue He settled the matter right there So James, I mean obviously, you know, he was somebody in the in the church at Jerusalem, but when he spoke everyone listened And And people know that action is to follow from that and they took action. Okay. Now look It takes a lot of time to build that kind of credibility And you know, I wish sometimes it didn't take that much time But that you know, that's one of the reasons that you know, it's it's hard I mean like it's it's stressful and it's difficult to start like a new job It's difficult Because You have to establish that credibility So it doesn't matter if you work somewhere else for ten years You had all kinds of credibility there and you had all kinds of people that thought you were great and it respected you When you start a new job, you got to start over You got to build that credibility again with men that you work with Because men need to see it see So think about that if you're starting a new job anytime soon You know and and if you do not do what you say consistently you will you will ruin that All right, you will never have that credibility So if you want to have the favor of God and men for the first part of this series, first of all, don't swear else Just do what you say you're gonna do. It's a really simple message All right. Now I remember, you know Garrett, especially I Taught him this at a young age because he had a little business in North Dakota He had these he these sheep, but we would do and young men listen here We we would do what was called, you know deals on a handshake. I Mean, it wasn't called that but that's what would happen You know Somebody would come out and and they would they would want to buy something from either Garrett or I would go somewhere to somebody else's Farm and I would want to buy a piece of machinery or something like that and we would look at the piece of equipment Or we would look at whatever was going on and we would decide well, what do you think about this and that and this? Okay, this is the price that we both agree on That's it right there Now if I would come back and I would say if we agreed on on something for a hundred dollars And I would come back with the trailer to pick it up and I would say, you know I was thinking about this and I really only think it's worth 90 I'm done That's how fast it's lost Because I would not be doing what I said I was going to do I mean, do you think that that's a serious thing where I okay we we we we agreed on a hundred dollars And I came back and I said, you know what 98 Because I didn't account my gas for going back and since I have to take it home 98 I mean that's a minor thing, right? No, it's not minor I would be I would be done My name would be nothing where I come from if I did that type of thing and your name will be nothing if you do that type of thing You will not have a good name. You see how easy that is Because there's some people you might think hey, that's a small thing. It's a couple bucks Right, but it's funny to me. It's always it's always amazed me how many people will destroy their whole name over a couple dollars But They will Or over whatever they think they're gaining From somebody but the Bible says that a good name is is is better than than silver and gold So to lose a good name over over Money is really stupid according to the Bible So what it just takes once It takes a long time. It doesn't seem fair, right? It takes so long to build it up and it's so easy to knock it down But look Young people especially when you're establishing yourself. Just remember let your yay be yay and your Navy nay because What you say matters and especially at the beginning people are listening to you But you might not even notice when they stop listening Okay, all right, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer Dear Heavenly Father We thank you for this evening. We thank you for this wonderful day at church Lord. We thank you for this church Lord I ask that you Just bless everybody that's in this church Lord. We thank you for the people that are faithful To church Lord We ask that you just you know lay these lessons from the Bible on our heart and and help them spur Spur actual action in our lives Lord so we can we can grow so we can we can eat the meat and we can grow Lord and we can we can get moving in this Christian life or we we thank you. We love you We thank you for the Bible. Thank you for for everything that you've done for us and all the blessings that you've you've given Us me everyone in this church Lord. There's nothing that we could ever do to deserve what we have today Well, we thank you for the joy of our salvation as we talked this morning We love you and please bless the fellowship to come and everyone's ride home this evening in Jesus name. We pray. Amen You