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But I want you to notice there in verse number two, Proverbs chapter 12 in verse number two, it says, a good man obtain a favor of the Lord, but a man of wicked devices will he condemn. The title for the sermon tonight is Obtaining Favor of the Lord, Obtaining Favor of the Lord. You know, one thing I recall growing up, and my mom would say to me that one thing she prays about, she should always pray for me and my brother. She should always be praying, keeping us in prayer. But one thing that she'd tell me that she'd pray for is that we would find favor in the eyes of the Lord, or that we would find favor even in the eyes of man. And I didn't really understand what she meant by back then, you know, but I kind of look at this idea, you know, if we receive favor from the Lord, we see favor from mankind, then obviously our life is going to be a lot smoother, isn't it? If people look at you favorably, you know, you're not going to be the kind of person that is in constant turmoil, constant problems, constant conflicts. You know, people will look upon you and think, hey, you know what? That person's a pleasant person to be around. You know, that person is someone that, hey, I'd like to be friendly with and be kind toward. And, you know, we want to, obviously, look at verse number two, it says that a good man, we want to be a good person, a good man, a good lady, a good woman, a good child that obtains favor of the Lord. Hey, we want the Lord to look down upon us favorably. What does that mean, to look down favorably? You know, sometimes we think about the word favorite. You know, we think about children. We might say, well, I've got a whole bunch of kids. You might say, you know, this child's your favorite. And usually when you think of that idea, you know, this child's your favorite, you think of it in a negative connotation. You know, I don't believe parents should show favoritism toward children. You know, and one of the things that you don't want to mix up though, is love and favor. Love is different to favor. Let me just give you an example. Obviously when it comes to all my children, I love them equally. I honestly tell you that I love them equally. You know, and I try to express love toward them by words. I try to embrace my children as often as I can, even though the older kids don't like it too much these days when I do embrace them, okay. But you know, I try to demonstrate, you know, I want them to know that dad loves them, you know, and I love them equally. It's not like I love one more than the other. Honestly, 11 kids, I love them all equally. But you know what, I might show a greater favor toward one child over another. Say, why is that? Is it because you love them more? Of course not. It's not because I don't love them all. What is it that could cause a parent, you know, not in a negative sense, but in a positive sense, to show more favor toward another child, you know, versus another child in the family? Let me just give you some thoughts around this. You know, my children have been homeschooled. Let's say I have one child that wakes up early. You know, that child themselves, you know, gets the work done. You know, tries to accomplish as much of the schooling as possible. And you know, it's not a child that you have to be on its back, right? You know, he's self-motivated. He just gets up early, does the work. You know, he gets his chores done, right? You know, that child's obedient to mom and dad. Whatever you ask of that child, the child says, yes, I'll do that. You know, the child is respectful toward the parents. You know, the child doesn't talk back. You know, you ask the child, can you do this? Oh, I don't want, oh, I can't believe you asked me to. Not that kind of child, right? And it doesn't talk back. The child, for example, doesn't whine. You know, I'm not murmuring. You know, whining, murmuring. You know, if I've got a child acting that way, being respectful, being honorable toward the parents, you know, being obedient, following the rules around the house, versus another child that you have to be pushing behind, the one that you have to remind to do the chores, the one that doesn't, that's not respectful, the one that when you ask to do certain things, hey, they might do it, but they'll do it with a sour face or they'll be whining. Hey, which of these two children do you think I would show more favor toward? Like, you know, if the child that is showing obedience and being respectful, if they come to mum and dad and say, dad, you know, could you buy me whatever it is? You know, could you take me to a certain place? Which child do you think I would rather show favor toward? You know, if the child is disobedient and is talking back, and then they come to mum and dad and say, dad, I need something, can you do this for me? You know, what's the likelihood? You know, obviously I'm gonna show favor to the one that is respectful. I'm gonna show favor to the one that is doing good. And so when we see Proverbs 12, two, a good man obtaineth favor of the Lord. You can see that, hey, we're all saved. Hey, God loves each one of us. We're all children of God, but he may show favor more toward one person over another person. And what would that difference be? Why would God show favor more toward one over the other? Because one demonstrates themselves to be good in the eyes of the Lord versus another. And so, you know, this idea of favor is along the same force of being blessed or receiving the rewards or receiving answered prayers. You know, maybe being delivered out of difficulty a lot earlier than maybe another Christian. Maybe another Christian goes through a lot more hardship because they've got a lot more to learn, a lot more to change. And the Lord God may allow that person to be in that difficulty a lot longer, but may show favor towards someone else and pull them out of that difficulty a lot earlier before they get, you know, receive too much harm. And so this is the idea of showing favor. Not that God loves one believer over another believer more because we stand in the righteousness of Christ, but in our walk, we can demonstrate a different attitude toward God and toward his word. You know, are we walking according to his paths? Are we doing what he says that we ought to do? Do we have a healthy fear of God, et cetera? And of course, the one that is walking in the paths of God, who's fulfilling the will of God, they're going to receive a greater favor in their life from the eyes of the Lord over the Christian that is not living for the Lord, maybe living for himself, et cetera. So why would we want to receive God's favor? Why is that such a important aspect? And, you know, before I, sorry, before I explain that, you know, as I've been going through this Perfect Man series, a lot of it, you know, it's not really been a doctrinal study, you know. It's been more life lessons, things that we can apply as we live. And, you know, I don't want you to do things out of your own strength. Obviously, every aspect of that, of the series so far, we want the Lord's help. We want the Lord's guidance. We want the Lord to step in and change our hearts and to change our minds, to be aligned with his will. But these final sermons, maybe two or three, I'm not completely sure. You know, I just want us to sort of reflect upon the Lord a little bit more here. We want to receive God's favor. You know, and if we receive his shining face upon us, we're gonna have greater blessings. We're gonna have the greater ability to overcome the trials and difficulties that we face in our life. You stay there in Proverbs. Please turn to, actually, turn to Proverbs 22. Turn to Proverbs 22. So why would we want the Lord's favor? While you'll turn to Proverbs 22, I'm going to read to you from Psalm 5, 12. From Psalm 5, verse 12, it says, for thou, Lord, will bless the righteous with favor will thou compass him as with a shield. So one reason why you would want the Lord's favor upon you is that the Lord God will compass about you with a shield. He'll give you safety. He'll keep you protected, right? When the devil comes on the attack of this world, seeks to hurt you. If you have the Lord's favor, you're going to fare much better than the Christian that is not receiving that favor from the Lord. He's going to keep you safe. He's going to keep you protected. There's gonna be less damage in your life when those hardships come. You know, I often wonder when I look at Christianity, I look at Christians, again, over the years, I'm not necessarily talking about history, I'm just talking about over the years, different people I've come across. Why is it that, you know, sometimes some Christians just seem to have so much difficulty, you know, or just have a hard time overcoming, obstacles that come in their life. And then I look at other Christians who just seem to be faring so well, and it seems like they don't have any problems, but when you do talk to them, they have the same problems as any other Christian. But they're just able to get through it a lot easier. Now look at it because that person has received the favor of the Lord. The Lord has protected them in that trial. The Lord has seen them through a little bit more than maybe the Christian next door that is going through those difficulties. Why? Because they do have to learn those lessons maybe a little harder than the Christian that is walking after the will of God. And so definitely one reason why we want God's favor is for protection, the Lord's protection. Another passage I'll quickly read to you. It says, and the child Samuel, this is the story of Samuel. Okay, you know the story, Hannah could not have children, she prayed to the Lord, the Lord gave her Samuel, and Samuel was then committed to the temple of the Lord to serve under the priest. And it says, and the child Samuel grew on and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. Okay, so Samuel grew in favor with the Lord but also grew in favor with men. So another reason why we want the Lord's favor is because by default, it leads to favor with men. Okay, and again, this is what my mom would pray for. And again, I didn't really understand as a kid. Why are you praying for that mom? You know, because my mother just wanted whoever we come across in life, you know, friends, work, whatever, employers, you know, she just wanted people to look down favorably and say, hey, you know what, your sons, they're good people, all right? I mean, you know, the idea that, you know, if there's, I guess, a position to apply for and the several people applying for that position, my mom just wanted her children to be looked favorably into that position, you know, maybe have the easy opportunity to be promoted into that role, you know, to be looked favorably. Again, when people look upon you favorably, you know, the likelihood of having conflicts, just, you know, it's not there as much as someone who may be missing that favor in the sight of men, right? I mean, you're more likely to just get along with people and to just put up with the differences and, you know, not let those things bother you. And so again, this was just something that was upon my mom's heart for whatever reason. And again, I'm not here saying I'm this wonderful guy. You know, I just thank God my mom's been praying for this. Maybe she wasn't praying for this. Maybe I wouldn't be favorable in the eyes of people. But again, I look at my life and my brother. My brother's completely different to me, you know, a completely different person. And yet both of us, you know, we're both married. We both have kids, our kids are growing up. And seemingly when I look at his life and I look at my life, we just, we don't have these major issues. You know, we have issues just like anybody else, but, you know, we're just able to get through it and just push forward and have a smile on our face. You know, we're both kind of the same in the same regard. Again, I just believe it comes down to my mom praying for this. You know, asking the Lord will look favorably upon us and that the Lord will cause men to look favorably upon us. Well, that was Samuel. Samuel was that kind of person. The Lord looked down upon him favorably. Other people looked at Samuel and thought this is a great man of God, you know. What's another reason? You're there in Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22 verse number one. Proverbs 22 verse number one, it says, A good name, now that's like a good rapport, a good reputation, is rather to be chosen than great riches, look at this, and love in favor rather than silver and gold. What's better than silver and gold? Love in favor. That God will look down favorably upon you. It's better than riches. And when God looks down at you, what's it gonna lead to, that good name? A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. You see, when God looks down upon you favorably, it's gonna help you have a good reputation amongst, again, the people that you come across. Can you please turn to, keep your finger in Proverbs, because we do have a lot of Proverbs that we're looking at. Please turn to Luke chapter one. Turn to Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one. I've already done a whole series on having a good reputation, so I'm not gonna expand that verse anymore. But hey, that's part of the Perfect Man series, right? If we want to develop that good reputation, we also need to find favor in the eyes of the Lord. But you go to Luke chapter one, please, and keep a finger in Proverbs. Luke chapter one. Another passage I'll read to you is Psalm 89, verse 15. Psalm 89, and verse number 15, which reads, "'Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. "'They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.'" Then it says this, "'In thy name shall they rejoice all the day, "'and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.'" Hey, exalted is to be lifted up. "'For thou art the glory of their strength.'" Then it says this, "'And in thy favor our horn shall be exalted.'" So what's another reason why we want God's favor? That our horn would be exalted, that we would be lifted up, that we'd be promoted by the Lord. When the Bible refers to a horn like a horn of a unicorn, you know, it speaks about authority, it speaks about strength, it speaks about being lifted up. That's what a horn often represents, the fact that a horn is lifted up above the head of a creature. That's the same thing. You know, if you find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He's gonna cause you to be lifted up. He's gonna promote you. He's going to exalt you, you know, over others. So you're promoted by the Lord, what a great way for the Lord to look favorably upon you. That's a great advantage, to receive promotion, the promotion of the Lord. You're there in Luke chapter one, Luke chapter one, verse 28. Luke chapter one, verse number 28. This is the story, of course, of Mary, the mother of Jesus. And it says in Luke 1 28, and the angel came in unto her and said, look at this, Hail, thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. Why did the Lord choose Mary to bring the Messiah, the Savior into the world? Because she was highly favored, okay? When the Lord looked down upon all the ladies, you know, that could potentially give birth to the Messiah, He looked down at Mary and said, Mary's highly favored. You know, obviously, she loves the Lord. Obviously, she's got a heart for the Lord God. Lord looked upon and said, you know what, that is the woman that I'm gonna use to bring the Messiah into the world. It says there in verse number 29, and when she saw Him, she was troubled at His saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call His name Jesus. So what's the next thing that we learn? Why do we wanna find favor in the eyes of the Lord? Is to have the ability to do great things. Hey, Mary, bring it forth the Messiah, bring it forth Jesus, our Savior. I mean, how great is that? To be selected as the woman to bring forth the Lord God, the Son of God, who's her Savior herself. You know, Jesus Christ was her own Savior as well. I mean, what an honor for a lady to be chosen for this. And she was chosen because she was highly favored, highly favored. She was able to do great things for the Lord. And brethren, if we wanna be used greatly from the Lord, you know what, if we wanna be used to do a miracle, by the hands of the Lord, then you need to be looked upon highly, being highly favored, to be favored of the Lord. So there are several reasons why we would want God's favor. Again, for protection, to receive favor of man, to have a good reputation, to be promoted by the Lord, and to the ability to do great things. I mean, why wouldn't we want God's favor? You know, I mean, I think that's what we would all want. We'd all want the Lord God to look down on our lives and say, Lord, do you look upon me a little bit more favorably than, you know, at least the Christians that aren't serving you, the Christians that aren't going to church? You know, there's a lot of believers that just don't go to church. There's a lot of believers that just don't pick up the Bibles. There's a lot of believers that just do not have a heart to give the gospel to the lost. You know, I want the Lord God to look down, not just upon me, but each one of us, favorably, right? Because we are gonna go through challenges, there are gonna be things, obstacles, and we need the Lord's help to get through it. We need His favor, we need His help. We need the Lord to do something special in our lives. You know, I really want each one of us, you know, when we face difficulties, to be promoted by the Lord, to overcome, to be victorious, and have a smile on our faces by the end of it, to the point where you're wondering, hey, does this person even have problems? Because they're so happy in the Lord. They rejoice in the Lord, it just doesn't seem like they have any issues. But everybody has issues. Everyone has problems. It's just that some are able to get through it a lot better than others. You know, and I truly believe it's because they received the favor of the Lord. The Lord is the one that has stepped in and was able to help them achieve more than maybe your fellow Christian could. So how do we obtain favor? We know the importance of having favor. How do we obtain favor? So let's go back to Proverbs. Proverbs chapter three and verse number three. Proverbs chapter three and verse number three. It says, let not mercy and truth forsake thee, bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table of thine hearts. So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge thee in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Hey, we know verses five and six very well. You know, the favorite verse to a lot of people, I understand why. But don't forget what led up to that. The finding favor, finding favor in the sight of God and of man. But what do you do? Let not mercy and truth forsake thee, okay? Now this idea of mercy, and I'm gonna touch upon this later in the sermon, but what I really wanna take out of this first of all, let not truth forsake thee, all right? Bind them about thy neck, write them upon the table of your hearts. You know, the first thing you need to do in order to obtain God's favor is to seek God's wisdom. You know, to receive his wisdom, to receive his knowledge. Lord, what do you have to teach me? He's given us the Bible, he's given us church. Lord, teach me some great truth. You know, I never want a church service to go to waste. I really don't. I really want you to take something from the service, from the preaching, from the reading of his word, from the fellowship, from the song singing, and just take something of God's wisdom, of God's truth, and not forsake it. To bind it upon your neck, write them upon the table of your hearts. Don't forget the great truths that you learned from the Lord. Seek God's wisdom. You know, I mean, there is so much information. I've already preached on this stuff, right? The pursuit of truth, I think I called the sermon. There is so much information in the world. The only thing we know that is 100% true is what is in his word. So let's spend time in his word. Let's show God that we're seeking after his wisdom. We're seeking for his understanding, and that we love it. Do you love it? There are times that I love it. You know, there are times in my life that I'm just like, man, I just love your word, Lord. I just love the wisdom that I receive from it, but sometimes that wisdom, that truth, slaps me in the face, right? Sometimes that truth is something where I know I'm falling short in that area. It's an area that I just do not wanna give to the Lord. You know, I wanna have my own selfish desires or whatever in that area, and I just say, man, okay, I know what your word God says, but I'm not really seeking for that. I kind of wish I didn't hear about that, Lord, actually, right, because I'm actually enjoying this part of my life. You know what, if you've got a true heart seeking God's wisdom, regardless of how it affects you or how it offends you, how it slaps you in the face, then that's step number one in obtaining God's wisdom, sorry, God's favor, is to seek for God's wisdom. Please go to Proverbs chapter eight, Proverbs 8.33. Proverbs 8.33. Just some others on the same topic here. Hear instruction and be wise and refuse it not. Reverend, if I preach something that you know is true from the Bible, don't refuse it, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Just receive it, all right. Blessed is he that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors, and whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. Now, when it says there, who so findeth me, the me there is wisdom, God's wisdom. You know, many times in the book of Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a person, as it were. If you find the wisdom of God, right, it says there that you will obtain, you'll find life, okay? It'll show you the steps of life, but also receive that favor of the Lord. Proverbs 13, verse 15. Proverbs 13, verse 15, please. Proverbs 13, verse 15. It says, good understanding giveth favor, but the way of transgressors is hard. Good understanding giveth favor. You know, I've always been the kind of person when it comes to God's word, I want to understand it. Like, I really want to get it, right? I don't want to just believe a doctrine, just for the sake of believing a doctrine. Oh, we're independent fundamental Baptists, and this is what we believe, so you believe. I don't have a problem believing it, but I want to understand it. Why do we believe it? Where is it in the Scriptures? Can you show me a few passages? Hey, these are what these, you know, these other churches, they're saying this about that doctrine. Do you have the answers? Can you show me why that's wrong? I want to understand. I'm not trying to be argumentative. You know, I'm not trying to, I'm not trying to, what's the word? Reject the word of God. I just want to understand it. Why do we believe this issue? Why is this an important issue for our church, right? We want to dig deep into God's word. This is why, this is what God's word said. It's black and white. All right, it's black and white. God's word says it. I'm going to hang my hat on that. I'm going to believe that doctrine. Man, if you've got that heart to just understand, instead of just having trademark independent Baptist, we believe these doctrines. Okay, I mean, great. Step number one is great, but do you understand why you believe it? That was my biggest issue growing as a child. Okay, I get these doctrines. Can someone show me in the Bible? Why do we believe this? Or do we just believe this because a man said so? A man was convincing. Is it the wisdom of man or is it the wisdom of God? I want God's wisdom. I want to understand it. But even if we can do that, it says, good understanding, give a favor. Good understanding, give a favor. Proverbs 14, please. Proverbs 14, verse 35. Proverbs 14, verse number 35. And this is obviously on an earthly sense, okay? But we can still apply it to the Lord God here. It says, the king's favor is toward a wise servant, but his wrath is against him that cause of shame. How can we cause shame to our Lord God? Well, if we're not a wise servant, if we don't gain his wisdom, right? We've been given all this time on the earth to yes, to get saved. Yes, to see others get saved, but to get wisdom, to get the wisdom of God. And we're servants of the Lord God. Hey, the king wants a wise servant, yeah? He wants, you know, the Lord God wants us to increase, right, and by increasing, then we receive the king's favor. Please be wise people. You know, I was talking to brother Jason about this. You know, I do believe in our children being wise. You know, this is why we homeschool, we don't just homeschool our kids because we're trying to take them away from the influences of this world. You know, like, you know, when I decided to homeschool the kids, it wasn't even like a biblical reason. It wasn't something that I felt was a spiritual issue. I just knew the problems that I had in school. I knew the influences you get from your peers, and I did not want my kids to go through that. But these days, I'm more worried about what the teachers are influencing kids with, right? I mean, you know, you remove your kids out of that, but you know what, it's not just that. I actually want my kids to have a better education. I want them to be wise. I want them to understand the world, okay? I want them to understand what life is all about. But again, through the lens of God's word, that we understand the world in light of God, what God teaches about us, this world. I want them to have good grammar, you know, good English skills, good reading, you know, good comprehension, you know, able to be good at mathematics. Now these things are important in life. I want my kids to be wise, you know? And not just wise in academics, but wise in the Lord God. But you know, it's the Lord God that gives us this wisdom. It's the Lord God that gives us understanding. You know, the great things that we can learn in academics comes from the Lord, right? I mean, mathematics is a law of God, you can't change it. One plus one is two, okay? In fact, I love maths because it is binary, okay? Right, we live in this world where it's non-binary. You know, boys aren't really boys, girls aren't really girls, you know, we don't know. Non-binary, who knows, gender fluid, no. Mathematics, one plus one equals two, okay? You can't just mess around, that's why I love maths. But you know what, God is seeking for us to be wise, to be intelligent people. You know, we don't wanna be these buffoons, well, I don't know about the world, but hey, I'm saved, and hey, you know, get some understanding, get some wisdom. You know, show God that you're seeking his wisdom, his knowledge, and when you do that, again, you find the king's favour. The Lord God looks upon you favourably. Can you please go to Psalm 18, Psalm 18, and verse number 20. Psalm 18 and verse number 20. So point number one, how do we obtain favour? Number one, we seek God's wisdom, okay? We don't wanna be foolish, we wanna be wise servants of the Lord. Look at Psalm 18, verse 20. It says, the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. Now, I want you to think about that. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. How well are you doing in your walk with the Lord? Are you walking after righteousness? Because that's how the Lord rewards you, according to your righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands, have you recompensed me. You notice that? The more you walk in the righteousness of the Lord, the more you keep your hands clean from sin, the more he's going to reward you. And of course, if he's gonna reward you more, that's the favour of the Lord. He's looking down upon you favourably. He's going to give you, he's gonna lend his ear toward you. He's going to help you in those paths. But you need to walk in righteousness. You need to keep your hands clean. And so point number two, how do we obtain favour? Is we walk in righteousness. It's great that you're saved. It's great that you're in the righteousness of Christ. And again, that's your position. That's how the Lord looks upon you. Positionally, we're in the righteousness of Christ. But how well are you walking in the righteousness of God's word? Again, this is why seeking God's wisdom is important. That's step number one, understanding great. Knowledge is great. But now you apply it. Now you do it. Now you walk in those paths that God has showed you. Keeps going to verse number 21. For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me and I did not put away his statutes from me. I was also upright before him and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Hey, this is a man that's trying to turn from sins. He's a man that's trying to overcome the sins in his life, isn't he? But I want you to notice verse number 24. Therefore, have the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. So we've seen that kind of mentioned twice already, right? And notice the next words, verse number 25. With the merciful, now we already saw before mercy and truth. I said, you know, we'll get to mercy soon. With the merciful, thou wilt shew thyself merciful. Just before we start to see the laws of you reap what you sow as it were, okay? If you show mercy to other people, if people find you to be merciful, then God's gonna be more merciful towards you. That's part of God's favor. You know, God can be more merciful to one Christian over another and what would be the difference, what would be the factor there? Well, the one that is more merciful toward would be the Christian that shows more mercy toward others. You're being recompensed for your walk in righteousness. Please let it never be said that I'm not merciful. Man, if you say, I just have no mercy for anybody, if anyone wrongs me, that's it, it's all over. Then God's not gonna show you much mercy than is he? You know, as you go about life, you're gonna have a hard time. You're gonna have a hard time. You need God's mercy, but you need to show mercy to others. This is about being recompensed and this is probably the hardest part, is that walk in righteousness. Understanding that how I treat other people is how God will then treat me. It's how much favor he's gonna show toward me. It's the hardest part, okay? Because we kind of think, God, I really want your favor, I really want your mercy, I want all these things, but then to a fellow man, but oh man, it's so hard. It's so hard, but then you're just the same. You're the same flesh and blood. You know, you're tempted by the same sins. You make the same mistakes. And you want God to just forgive you and you don't forgive your fellow man. You know, merciful. What else did it say? We have an upright man that will show thyself upright. So if you're upright, God's gonna show himself upright toward you, verse number 26. We have the pure that will show thyself pure. And with the froward, look at this, that will show thyself froward. What does it mean to be froward? Difficult person. You make other people's lives difficult, right? Someone does a mistake and you criticize them, you take, well then God's gonna be froward toward you. God's gonna recompense you the same way that you treat other people. You want God's favor? You've gotta be favorable toward other people. Verse number 27. For thou will save the afflicted people and will bring down high looks. For thou will light my candle. The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. So I'll show you the walk in righteousness. How you walk will determine God's favor, God's measure of favor toward you. You want a greater measure of favor from God? Then you better walk in a greater measure in righteousness. You better figure out those sins and do what you can to overcome, to break out of those bad habits that you have that you know transgress the laws of God. Can you please turn to Acts chapter seven? Acts chapter seven. Acts chapter seven and verse number 44. Acts chapter seven, verse number 44. I'm gonna look at the church tonight. I know this part, at least you guys have got it right. Acts seven 44. It says our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness. Remember that tabernacle was just a tent, was a place that got moved on a regular basis. It says as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen, which also our fathers that came after, brought in with Jesus. Now that Jesus is Joshua. Joshua in the Old Testament, as a Greek translation is the name Jesus, okay? Brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the days of David. So let's go on back a little bit of the history here. But notice what it says about David here in verse number 46. Who found favor before God. See David, King David found favor before God and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house. So we've got the tabernacle, the house of God as it were, being moved around, it's just a tent. Very simple, very simple material, very simple construction as it were, right? But you know David, he found favor in the eyes of God. And what was it that was pressing upon David's heart? He said, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. He goes, look, we need a better house of God here. We need something more than this tabernacle. We want something more than this tent. You know, we serve a great God and it was in the heart of David to build the temple. Okay, but then it says there, but Solomon built him a house. David could not build the temple because he was a man of war. God wanted a king of peace, basically Solomon, to build that house of God, that temple. He allowed Solomon to do it. But I want you to notice, in all this, right? And look, did David make mistakes in his life? Many mistakes in his life, all right? I mean, but here's the thing, he still found favor in the eyes of God. Notice he had a heart for the house of God. So point number three, brethren, is in order for you to obtain favor, is to give priority to God's house. And again, this is why I know you guys are fine. Because you're here on a Wednesday night, and again, coming on a Wednesday night is much harder than coming on Sunday. And some of you guys work it and whatever activities you've got, and then maybe even traveling some long distance, to be in the house of God. You know, the work that's being done, again, praise God for you. For those that are involved in doing this work and ministry, again, why is it so we have a better place to worship, a better place to meet for the house of God? You know, I mean, again, this shows me that there is a priority. When I look at the families here, when I look at you individually, you do have a priority toward God's house. And yes, that is one sure way, that is the third way in my list to you anyway, to obtain the favor of the Lord. Please prioritize God's house. It's not a problem so much tonight. Hey, but maybe in a month's time, maybe in a year's time, I don't know. Maybe your love toward God's house will drop. Maybe your zeal to be here will drop. Please remind yourself, if I want God's favor, I need to make sure God's house is a priority in my life. Can you please go to Matthew 28? Please turn to Matthew 28. Matthew 28. And I kind of really touched on this, okay, touched upon when I said, you know, finding favor in the eyes of the Lord is to walk in righteousness, and we kind of, again, touched on this. I wanna expand this a little bit more. Because this is the part that, again, I find the hardest. And I know, I know people find this the hardest, okay. Well, you turn to Matthew 18, Matthew 18. I'm going to read to you from Matthew 6-9. In fact, maybe turn there, because you're in Matthew anyway. I'll give you a moment to turn there. Turn to Matthew chapter six, verse number nine. We are gonna come back to Matthew 18. Go to Matthew chapter six and verse number nine. And we're looking at the passage where Jesus Christ teaches his disciples how to pray. Remember they asked him, Lord, teach us to pray. And these are the words that Jesus Christ gave. Again, this is a model prayer, okay. It's not a prayer that we just repeat, you know, give vain repetitions toward. But it gives some ideas and some thoughts as to how we ought to pray as a people. But it says here in verse number nine, Matthew chapter six, verse nine. 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. But look at verse number 12. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. What? How often do you pray that prayer? Lord, forgive me in the same measure that I forgive. Actually, you know what? Just forgive me, Lord. You know, but that's it, right? It's how we treat our fellow man. And point number four is to receive the favor of the Lord is to show favor to your fellow man. That's point number four. And again, I already touched upon that a little bit, but I wanna expand this a little bit more. You know what? People will wrong you. You know, Christians will wrong you. You know, people in this church are going to wrong you. Then what do you do? You gotta forgive them. If you want to be forgiven by God. Now again, this has nothing to do with salvation. Salvation, our sins have been dealt with. Christ became our sacrifice. Okay, the wrath and judgment of God fell upon Christ. Again, our position is fine. We're not gonna lose our position before God. We die, we go to heaven. This has to do with our walk. How do you treat your fellow man? How do you treat those that have debts, that haven't paid off their debts towards you, as it were? Okay, those that have done you wrong? How do you look upon those people? But this is how it is. I mean, can you honestly pray this? Lord, forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Can you honestly pray that? I don't know if I can. I'm just being honest with you. I don't know if I can pray that. I'll be like, Lord, forgive me my debts, not like I've forgiven my debtors, right? Because I'd rather, you know, no, I just want, Lord, just cleanse me. But I want you to see that relation, the measure. The measure that you give out to your fellow man is the same measure that you're going to receive from the Lord. You want greater favor? You want greater forgiveness for what you've done? Greater mercy? Then you've got to show that to others. Please go to Matthew 18, verse 21. Matthew 18 and verse number 21. And look, I'm not saying that you have to like everybody. I'm not saying you necessarily have to like everybody in this church. You know, I don't necessarily like everybody that I come across. But here's the thing. If I don't like you, you probably won't even know that. Because I'm not going to treat you differently. All right, I still want to encourage you. I still want to lift, I still want to see whoever it is to serve the Lord. If it's a fellow Christian, I just want to see them do the best for the Lord they can in their life. Because I know who you are. You're a child of God. You're important to the Lord God. We may not get along. You know, we may not, we may clash sometimes. But I just, I know who you are. You've been saved by Jesus Christ. You've been cleansed of your sins by the same blood that has cleansed me from my sins. You know, Matthew 18, verse 21. The famous story here. Matthew 18, verse 21. Then came Peter to him, that's to Jesus, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him till seven times? Now listen, I don't even know. If someone wronged me seven times, I mean, what, if someone's wronged me three times, let's say three times, three strikes and you're out, is probably what's going to go through my head. At least Peter's able to go, seven times? Well, what does Jesus say? Verse number 22. Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. Then he gives this parable. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven, likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had began, sorry, and when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him 10,000 talents. But for as much as he had not to pay, the Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But if someone has done you wrong, you know what, you need to be moved with compassion. You need to figure out, hey, this person is just another sinner. This person is just another human being with a sinful nature. They'll say stupid things. They'll do stupid things. I may not necessarily like that person in life, but you know what, if someone's done wrong, I'm just gonna learn to forgive them. I'm just gonna put it behind them. If they're willing to, as it were here, seek to be reunited, seek fellowship, seek friendship. I'm just gonna forget it. Forget the debt that I owe him, and that's what he does. I mean, what a great lesson of forgiveness right there. But then it says there in verse number 28. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him 100 pence, and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt. So I don't know what your relationships are like, you know, that you develop maybe in this church, maybe other brethren that are out there, just other people in general. You know, you've been forgiven. You've been forgiven at all. You know, all your sins were put on Jesus as though he had done them. I mean, just think about the worst things you've done. Think about just the worst, just the biggest mistakes, the biggest regrets that you have. They'll put on Jesus, and then Jesus bore the brunt of that punishment for you. It was as though he'd done them for you. You know, it's like Jesus made those mistakes that you made. God's wrath was put on Christ, and you're forgiven. You can go free. You've got eternity in heaven. And when you think about that, right, you think about, man, I've been forgiven, all of it. Even the sin that I'm going to do in 10 minutes time potentially, you know, it's been paid for by Jesus Christ. His blood washes me from all of that. And then someone owes me, what was it, 100 pence? What was it? What did it say? Yeah, 100 pence, you know? I mean, some finances, some money someone owes you, and you cast this person into prison. You know, he's done a lot less to you than what you have done to the Lord God, but you won't forgive him. And then it says in verse number 31, so when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, oh, thou wicked servants, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desirest me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servants, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you if you from your hearts forgive not everyone, his brother, their trespasses. I mean, these are not empty words. These are the words of Jesus Christ. You know, if you don't forgive others, if you don't show them mercy, if you don't just are able to look past what they've done, then why would God do that to you? Again, we're not talking salvation here. We're talking about our walk, our walk with the Lord. We know that every day we walk, our feet get dirty. We know we need to go before God and confess that before the Lord, and I hope you're doing that. And praise God if you're doing that. But notice that's just one part of it. Are you forgiving those that have wronged you? You know what? And if you can't, then you know what? You're not going to receive the favor of the Lord. You're not going to receive that same measure of forgiveness as much as the person that has forgiven those that have done him wrong. I don't know about you, brethren, but I wanna walk right with the Lord. You know, I don't wanna have grudges. And again, even people that I don't necessarily like and get along. I just don't wanna be thinking critical of that person over and over again. I just want people to do things right. I want people to serve God. I want people to know their Bibles more. I want them to have stronger relationships. I want marriages to be stronger. I want children to honor their parents and to obey their parents and not talk back. You know what? I want the Lord to just do a great work in each one of our lives, regardless of how well I get along with you. That's not so important to me. What's important to me is your relationship, your walk, your fellowship with the Lord God. I want you to find favor in the eyes of the Lord because it'll make your life so much easier, so much better, less grudges, less conflicts, more forgiveness. You forgive others, the Lord's gonna forgive you even greater. Greater mercy, yeah? Greater favor upon your life. Can you please turn to Luke chapter two, Luke chapter two and verse number 51. Luke chapter two and verse number 51. But it's hard, isn't it, brethren? To show favor to your fellow man. It's hard, but again, just remind yourself, when you're finding that difficulty, remind yourself of how much the Lord God has forgiven you. Remind yourself how much he has done for you. And listen, God's not asking you to forgive someone as much as he's had to forgive you for the sins you've committed against him. In conclusion, Luke chapter two, verse number 51. Luke chapter two, verse number 51. Luke chapter two, verse number 51. Luke chapter two, verse number 51. I like this one. I like this passage because, well, let's read it. It says there in Luke chapter two, verse number 51. It says, and he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them, but his mother kept all these saints in her heart. That's a time when Jesus Christ stayed behind in Jerusalem, in the temple, and was speaking. He didn't follow his parents back. And so remember, his parents were looking for him and they found him. But I love it. He obeyed his parents and said he was subject unto them. This is the Lord God. This is the Son of God. This is the Messiah. This is the Savior. Hey, he was subject unto his parents. You know, children, if Jesus Christ, who's got the greatest authority, is able to do this with his earthly parents, then kids, please do this for your parents. What's the advantage there? Verse number 52. It says, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Notice that. Even Jesus Christ increased in favor toward the Heavenly Father and toward man. But I love the fact that it's together with the fact that he was subject unto his parents. He was obedient. He was a good son. He walked in accordance to the rules of the Lord God, the rules of his family. You know, Jesus Christ would have been a model child. And in that process, as he grew, he also grew in favor toward the Heavenly Father and favor toward man. And I love that because it's Christ. And again, Christ has come to set us an example. If Christ had to find favor in the eyes of the Father and in man, then you should be putting that effort in as well. You should follow after the steps of Jesus Christ. So brethren, as I said to you, the title for the sermon was Obtain Favor of the Lord. We need God's favor. For you want to have an easier life. You want to be able to, you know, just, you know when problems and trials come for it to be, just water off your back. You know, and get through difficulties and still smile about it. You know what, and have the conflicts and still be able to forgive people and still wish the best for them. You know, we're meant to do good to our enemies. Say, Pastor Kevin, how many personal enemies do you have? I can't, I don't even know. I couldn't even start. I don't really have any personal enemies, but I probably do. Like when I look at people that have wronged me, I probably, you know, some of you guys will be, oh, that's your enemy. I don't even feel like he's my enemy because I've just forgiven him. I'm not just holding grudges. I'm not just constantly thinking about this person in my life. I've got better things to do. I've got other things to do in my life. I don't want to be dragged down in grudges and bitterness. You know what, I want to be able to just forgive people. And I think, again, this comes back to probably my mom's prayers. You know, equipping me, the Lord equipping me to be a person that is easy to forgive, easy to just move on. You know what, and it's easy for me to apologise. If I've wronged someone, please tell me. I'll say sorry. Because I'm like, you know, I mean, I'm not apologising for God's word. If I preach God's word and I offend you, I'm not apologising for that. But you know, if I apologise, you know, if I've done wrong to you, if I said something stupid or, you know, been excessively sarcastic and I've hurt your feelings, I'm sorry. You know, it's easy for me to do that. You know, I'm not, I'm really not a prideful person. You know, I don't think that highly of myself. You know what, because I'm just a sinner saved by grace. I'm just a sinner that's been forgiven by the Lord. You know what, and if I can, if the Lord was willing to forgive me, then I ought to be willing to forgive others. You know, show mercy toward other people, show favour toward other people, because I just want to receive the favour of the Lord. It makes life a lot easier. So, brethren, those four points. You know, how do we receive God's favour? Number one, seek God's wisdom. Number two, walk in righteousness. Number three, give priority to God's house. And number four, show favour to your fellow man. Let's pray.