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We are looking at Proverbs 12 and I'm continuing the Perfect Man series. This is the second last sermon on the Perfect Man series. You guys are like over it now, I guess. Come on past and come and see something else. I hope you've been enjoying it so far. And look, when it comes to these last two topics on the Perfect Man series, most of our time and attention have been looking upon ourselves and life lessons and how we can make improvement. But really at the end of the day, like any kind of improvement, any kind of maturity that we're trying to achieve and to grow thereby as believers, we need the Lord God involved in that process. We need the Lord God looking down favourably upon us and giving us the ability, the strength, the power to be able to make these necessary changes in our life so we can grow. Now I want you to notice there in verse number two, Proverbs 12 number two, it says, I want to look at that first part of that verse. A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord. The title for the sermon tonight is obtaining favour of the Lord. Obtaining favour of the Lord. Would you like God to look down at your life and say, for God to look favourably upon you? What does that mean to look favourably upon someone? Sometimes parents, obviously a parent with multiple children, we can be accused or we can be sometimes, we might show favouritism toward one child over another when it comes to the story of Joseph and his brethren and his father looked favourably upon Joseph and gave him a coat of many colours and then made the siblings kind of jealous, envious I should say, about what took place. And look, there's actually nothing wrong with favour because it says here a good man obtaineth favour of the Lord. Like favour is not a sin but of course we need to be mindful about how we project that favour. So when it comes to my kids, like the 12 kids that we have, I would say I love them equally. I love every single child equally and every single child I look favourably upon my child. But are there some children that I'm going to show greater favour than other children? Could that be the case? And if that's the case, why would that be the scenario? So what I'm trying to say to you here is that favour and love are two different concepts. You know, God loves us all and God loves us so much that he sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in our place. You know, when it comes to God's children, he loves us because we are all in Christ Jesus, right? Positionally before God, he loves us equally because we're in the righteousness of his son. But is it true that God can show greater favour upon one believer over another believer? And why would that be the case? Well again, look at verse number two. A good man obtain a favour of the Lord because we can be saved and not be a good man. We can be saved and live a very selfish, sinful life, okay? But a good man obtain a favour of the Lord. Let me give you an illustration of this. So when it comes to my children, let's say I have some children that I don't know, I might have to, you know, remind them to do their chores. You know, why aren't your chores done? Why isn't your bed made? Why haven't you done your schooling work? You know, where you're constantly maybe pushing some kids or, I don't know, maybe they talk back. Maybe they whine when you ask them to do certain things. But then you might have another child that, you know, they get up in the morning early. You know, they get their chores done early. They get the studies done, right? Anytime you ask of them, they say, yes, Mom, yes, Dad. We've had a sour face. They do all the work, you know, everything that you require from them. You know, they're a good son or they're a good daughter. You know, when it comes time for that one that is obedient and is respectful, where that one might come up to Dad or Mom and say, hey, Dad, you know, there's this sort of, you know, thing that I want to purchase. It's a little bit costly, but would you consider getting me that? Do you think by his actions, by the goodness of that individual child's heart, that I would be driven to go, you know what, I'm going to show you favour, you know, because you are a really good child and you do deserve, you know, you don't ask of much, everything we ask of you, you get done. So, you know, I will go out of my way and go and make that purchase or I will go out of that way to give you that experience that you're looking for, what have you. That's where you might show favour over one child over another. Not that you love one more than the other, but, you know, one has been such a great child and you think, you know what, you're deserving of a greater level of favour because of your actions, because of how you, you know, you relate to me back and forth. And so when it comes to the Lord God, it's really not that different. Like I said, being saved is not the basis of your performance or how well you live your life, but now that we are saved, we have to make that conscious decision. Do we want to be a good man before the Lord or do we want to be a selfish brat, you know, a wicked sinner continuing on the path of our unselfishness or are we seeking the will of God? And what I'm trying to say to you today is that, you know, if you're going to seek God's will, if you want to be seen as a good man in the eyes of God, then you're also going to receive favour of Him. And if we want to grow and we want to do great things for God, we need His favour. We need God to look down favourably upon us. And so when we do come before God and bring our requests, He'll be more ready to grant us our requests because of the favour that is shown upon us. Come with me to Psalm 5, please. Psalm 5, Psalm 5. So the question might be, you know, what are some advantages of having God's favour? What are some advantages to having God's favour? Well, come with me to Psalm 5, Psalm 5 and verse number 12. Psalm 5 and verse number 12. Psalm 5 and verse 12, it says, It's saying here that if we receive God's favour, it's going to surpass us or surround us as a shield. One of the advantages of having God's favour upon your life is the protection of the Lord. He's going to grant you protection from the wicked one, from the ways of the world, from the temptations that could cause us to walk ways that are contrary to God's will. You know, have you ever wondered where you've come across... I mean, I used to wonder this when I was a young Christian. I used to see some people at church constantly in the dumps, constantly downcast. And then I'd see other people in church, always bright smiles, always blessing you, always just an encouragement. And I used to wonder, well, I guess the person in the dumps, I guess they're having problems and difficulties. And they are, that's why they like that. You know, they're having challenges and they've got hurts and issues. And I made the incorrect judgment call that the believers that I see constantly, every week in, week out, and they're consistent and they're a blessing and they're an encouragement. And then you think, well, they've got no problems then. They must be having a great life, everything just seems to work for them. That's what you think when you're young. But then when you talk to those people, guess what, they've got the same problems. They've got the same problems, the same issues, the same tribulations, the same pressures, the same worries as the believer that's in the dumps. What could be making that difference? I'm going to put it to you that the brethren, that are encouragement, that are positive minded, that are uplifted, they have the favor of the Lord upon them. They are going through the difficulties and they're seeing God's hand work in their life. They have the confidence that God is looking favorably upon them. Hey, they're just trying to serve God with their life and they're just grateful and happy to be going through tribulations and problems, knowing full well that God looks favorably upon them. And the ones that are in the dumps, they can't see God's hand. They can't see the lean of God, they can't see the work that God is doing in their lives. And it may very well be, yeah, the problems and challenges that they're going through may very well be the chastisement of the Lord. But at the end of the day, brethren, if you start to see that in church, why is it that brother so and so is always uplift and happy? He must have no problems. No, they've got problems. They've got the same problems that other people struggle with, but they have been looked down favorably by the eyes of the Lord and they've grown, they've matured, they've become that perfect man, the perfect man. The world-rounded, mature Christian that we're all striving to become. And so we're having God's protection, seeing that knowing God looks favorably upon you is one advantage of desiring God's favor in your life. Come with me to 1 Samuel 2 now. 1 Samuel 2. 1 Samuel 2. And we all are very familiar with the story of Samuel, right? His mother Hannah was unable to have children for a long period of time. Then she went to pray in the tabernacle and the house of the Lord and she asked God for the special blessing of a man child and if that child was to be born, she would dedicate her son to the service to the house of the Lord. And it says in 1 Samuel 2. 1 Samuel 2. 1 Samuel 2, verse 26. It says, and the child Samuel grew on, look at this, and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. Isn't that amazing? With the Lord, and sometimes we get this idea, hey but if I just serve the Lord, if I just walk in His will, the world's going to hate me. And there is a reality of that, but at the same time, if you're receiving the favor of the Lord, He's going to help you to receive favor amongst men as well. Let me give you an example of this. I often use a lot of examples of work, employment, the place of business that you're at. If you apply biblical principles in your life, you say, well I want God's favor in my life, when I go to work, I am serving Jesus, I am serving my Lord, I'm not serving my boss in the office up there. I mean you are, but at the end of the day, the big boss of my workplace is Jesus, so I'm going to serve Him, I'm going to work hard, I'm going to give the best I can. You know what's going to happen naturally? By your work ethic, you're not pumping out Bible verses, you're not preaching against the sodomites, you're at work focusing on the job that you've got to do, when you put that into practice, you're going to start finding that you receive favor of men. Men are going to go, hey, he's a good worker, he's a valid employee, and you start to receive the favor of men. But this is a result of God's favor coming down upon you. One thing, I don't know, Mom, if you remember this, my mom would often say to me when I was growing up, that she would pray for me and my brother that we would receive favor of men, that men would look favorably upon us, and I believe the Lord had to answer that prayer. I get along with basically anybody I really come across, whether it's God's people or if it's the ungodly world, when I interact with people, I have a good time, I haven't had any discussion with them, and I think people feel that I'm a likable character. Even though they know I'm a Christian, even though they know I'm a pastor, even though they know I believe controversial things, somehow, because of God's favor, you know, I also have experienced the favor of men upon my life, and again, this is another great advantage of desiring God's favor upon you. He's going to help you be seen favorably in the eyes of men. Come with me now to Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22 and verse number 1. Proverbs 22 and verse number 1. I hope you're seeing the advantages here of God's favor. Like when you think about it, like okay, if God's going to give me favor as a shield, as a protection in my life, and it's going to help me be seen favorably in the eyes of men, and we're going to keep going through this, I want you to think about what kind of life will you have if all these qualities fall into place for you. Don't you think you're going to have a very peaceful, happy life? Don't you think you're going to have a life where, yes, even though problems come, you're able to maneuver yourself through that and you'll get through the other side, with a greater maturity, with a greater wisdom, for a greater love of the Lord. You know, when you have God's favor, you are going to experience a better life. Look at Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22, verse number 1. It says, A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. And then it says, And love in favor rather than silver and gold. So when you look at a love and favor, you can see it being compared to a good name. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. And I did preach on this topic during one of the Somers on a Perfect Man series, that a good name reflects your reputation. You know, that you've got a good reputation, that you've got a good report. When people speak of your name, they speak highly of you. Well, this love and favor that you can receive from God will help you create a good and solid reputation for yourself, a good testimony. A good testimony at church, a good testimony in your family, a good testimony in your workplace, a good testimony in your nation, amongst your neighbors, amongst whoever you interact with. When you receive God's love and favor, you have a good reputation. And again, when you have a good reputation, how's that going to go for your life? Like, if you think about, oh man, people think I have a bad reputation versus a good reputation. If people think of you with a bad reputation, they're not going to want to spend time with you. They're not going to feel they can trust you. But when you've got a good reputation, you're trustworthy, you know, your friendship material, you're someone that I can delight in conversations and time spent with you. Look, having God's favor upon your life is going to richly, you know, it's going to help you have a richer life, I should say. I'm not saying financially, because it says there, a love and favor rather than silver and gold. That's better than whatever riches you can have. But people, you know, it's going to make your life much richer. You know, look, I know this life is a vapor, and we are so generous, we are passing through, but still we're going to be here for some 70, 80, 90 years of life. And if I'm here for that long, I want to have a good life. I want to enjoy life without compromising on God's will in my life. I still want to have happy friends. I still want to have a happy marriage. I want to have great relationships with my children. I want to be able to get along with my brothers, sisters, and the Lord. I want to be able to go to work and actually delight for those eight hours of labor that I'm working with other people that are trying to reach the same goal for that company. Look, I want to enjoy my life. Yeah, I might get tired. There might not always be troubles and difficulties, but I want to get to the end of my life and go, you know what, that was worth it. Even though it's a vapor, in light of eternity, I still thoroughly enjoyed my life and I saw God's favor upon me all the days of my life. I think that's a great value, like it's a great quality to have. God's favor upon you, a good reputation, favor with man, God's protection, compassing us as a shield. Come with me to Psalm 89, please. Psalm 89, Psalm 89, verse number 15. Psalm 89, verse number 15. I'm trying to sell this to you. You need God's favor. You want to be a mature person, a perfect man, well-rounded, you need God's favor. You need God to look favorably to help you in your spiritual development, in spiritual growth. Psalm 89, verse number 15. It says, blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. How beautiful is that? You had to walk with my Lord all the days of my life in the light of his countenance. Not separated from my Lord, not walking away from my Lord, being close to him, being in fellowship with him. It says in verse number 16, in thy name shall they rejoice all the day. That's what I want. I want to be happy. I want to be happy every day. I want to rejoice in my Lord. That means I want to be walking with him. I need to be walking with him. And when I sin, I need to be confessing that sin before him. It says, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. So, the idea of exalted, look at this. For thou art the glory of their strength. And in thy favor, our horn shall be exalted. What's another advantage of having God's favor upon our lives? He will exalt us. Our horn will be exalted. The word horn, you know what a horn is, right? An animal or creature with horns or something. It's something that's on their head. It often refers to someone's authority or power. You know, the fact that God will lift you up. God will promote you. And again, job illustrations. But you know what, if you are that valued employee, I promise. This is the promise of God. It's not my promise. It's the promise of his word. If you have God's favor in your life, God will exalt you. God will lift you up. God will give you those promotions. He'll give you those opportunities. The only reason I'm a pastor is not because I'm this wonderful, amazing person. I am not. It says in verse 16, And in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. In the righteousness of Christ. I'm only a pastor because of Christ. You know, the Lord opened the doors. He gave me the ability. He organized that I can be ordained and sent out and to do things in a scriptural manner. But look, all of that is to the glory of God, not the glory of man. You know, if you want to be promoted, if you want a position of authority in a church, you know, you need to seek God's favor in your life. It's God that has to make this happen. Come with me to Luke chapter 1, please. Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. While you're turning there, the other point that I want to cover there in Psalm 89, it says in verse 17, For thou art the glory of their strength. You know, when man starts to glory in their own strength, you're not going to see the favor of the Lord. Right? Like, think about how God has saved us and He's blessed us and He rewards us and He loves us and He gives us the ability to do great things for Him and then for man to turn around and glory in their flesh. That's like spitting in the face of God. You know? And you're not going to receive God's favor with that kind of attitude. You know, you need to make sure that all your successes, whatever you achieve, you give glory to the strength of the Lord who helped you, who gave you the ability to do what you're doing. Which brings us to the next point here in Luke chapter 1. Now we're talking about Mary. We know that Mary, of course, brought Jesus, the Son of God, into the world. Right? But why was she chosen to be this woman that would do this? It says in verse number 28, And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Mary, you know, she was told, Look, you're highly favored. You know, the Lord looks down upon you favorably, highly favored. I mean, that should automatically tell us the kind of woman Mary was. She must have been a godly woman. She was definitely saved, of course. She would have been walking with the Lord. She would have been loving the truth of God's word. She must have been even looking forward to the coming Messiah, not recognizing that she would be the vehicle to bring the Messiah into this world. The Lord says, You're highly favored. And then 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. Like, yeah? She's not like, Yeah, I'm highly favored. Yeah, I'm such a great woman. She's like, Whoa, it's overwhelming. Does God really see me as highly favored? Blessed among women? Then look at verse number 30, 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 shalt call his name Jesus. Hey, so she was highly favored of the Lord. She was used to perform a great miracle, the virgin birth and the birth of our Lord and Savior. Look, she was used by God to do a great thing for the Lord, for his kingdom. To bring forth a child, never knowing a man. Okay? So what I'm trying to say to you is this. I'm sure we, I'm sure in our spirit, maybe not in our flesh, but I'm sure in our spirit, in our new man, we all want to do something great for God. Like, I'm sure we all want to leave this earth, not just have lived a happy life, and a comfortable life, and a peaceful life, but having left something, we can say, Lord, I got to work for you. Lord, I did something great for you, to your glory, for your, you know, to you, because I'm thankful for you, Lord. I'm sure we all want to do something great for God. Then you need to seek to be highly favored, where God will utilize you to do a great work for him. So I'm sure that's the heart of many people here. I'm sure you want to do great things for God, but you need to be desiring, seeking God's favor. So I hope I'm selling this, like I said, I'm trying to sell God's favor to you. I hope you're like, you know what, I want that. I want that favor of the Lord upon my life. I don't want to be the disobedient child, the child going my own way, and seeing other people, other believers receive the great and high favor of the Lord and I'm missing out. I'm sure we all want to say, hey, yes, Lord, you love us, but Lord, I want to be in your favor. Lord, I want to grow. I want to do something for you, Lord. I want to be seen favorably in the eyes of you and of men, and I want your protection, and I want all the good reputation, and I want to be promoted by you, Lord. I want you to lift me up, Lord, so I can do something greater for you. So I hope you can all say to me, yeah, pastor, I do want the Lord's favor. Then the next question will be like, well, how do I obtain it? How do I obtain God's favor? And we kind of touched upon it a little bit. Of course, walking with the Lord is such an important aspect. But come with me down to Proverbs chapter 3, and I know we are bouncing around the scriptures quite a bit here, but anyway, come with me to Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3, please, in verse number 3. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse number 3. Let's read verse number 4, and then we'll get to verse number 3. Verse number 4. It says, So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. So thou shalt find favor. So I want to find God's favor. All right, look at verse number 3. Brethren, in order for you to find favor of the Lord, you must desire to seek God's wisdom, God's mercy and truth. Don't let that forsake you. And look, the fact, look, I'm not saying that our church is a great church because I'm the pastor, but I know as church members, you want the truth. Like, look, this church is not some fancy church. We haven't got all the kids' programs, and we haven't got all the activities. We're a small church, small building, right? But I know why you're here, you're here for the truth. You say, pastor, it's hard for me to find a church, teaching the truth. Well, if that's your heart, you're on your way to find God's favor. That's what God wants. God wants us to be like, Lord, tell me your truth. Lord, give me your wisdom. But it's not just truth, it's Lord, show me your mercy. Because when we receive God's truth and we receive God's mercy, we are then able to give that upon others. We can be truthful people and we can be merciful people toward other people. So to find favor and good understanding inside of God and man, and look at verse number five, you guys know these verses? Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Now we know verses five and six, very famous verses. A lot of people memorize these verses, right? And they are very great verses, they are great. They're very comforting. But I want you to realize what came before that. Why would God, why would it say that? In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. You say, Pastor, I want that. I want God to direct my paths. I don't want to lean on my own understanding. Well, don't forget verse four, just before that. If you want that in your life, you must find God's favor, his mercy, his truth. And when you desire those things and you seek those things, then when you go about life and you make decisions, you're going to be able to make decisions in God's truth and in his mercy. And God's going to show you favor. God's going to direct your paths. God's going to lead you to the green pastures. Come with me to Proverbs chapter eight, please. Proverbs chapter eight, verse number 33. Proverbs chapter eight, verse number 33. Proverbs chapter eight, verse number 33. Hear instruction and be wise and refuse it not. Brethren, this sermon, this is God's word to you, all right? Hear instruction. You're hearing preaching. Look, be wise, refuse it not. Don't be like, ah, there he is. Pastors going on about some nonsense. Look, don't refuse what you're hearing. If it's coming, if it's God's wisdom. Sometimes we refuse the teaching because it offends us. Sometimes we refuse it because, you know, you might think, oh, there's Pastor Kevin again preaching against my sin. He must know about it and he wants me to feel uncomfortable. I don't know. I'm just preaching God's word. If he hits you, he hits you. It's the Holy Spirit doing that for you. But don't refuse it. You know, look, I've been there. I've been in, you know, just sitting in the congregation, hearing a sermon and go, you know what, that makes me very uncomfortable. I wish I didn't hear that. And look, and there have been times that I've been like, you know what, I'm not going to change that. You know, I'm, because I'm selfish, I'm in my flesh and what have you. But one thing I never did was, well, God, no, you're wrong. I'm right, God, you're wrong. Never. You know, any time when I've been challenged by God's word and I knew, I don't think I want to do that, Lord. I don't think I want to make that change in my life right now. I said, well, Lord, that's the truth of your word. That's what you've said. I'm the problem. Okay, I'm not refusing the truth. I know it's the truth. But the problem is in my flesh. And Lord, can you help me in your time as I grow, as I develop, instead of just pushing back God's word? I said, look, that must be true. I can see it black and white in the scriptures. Yes, my pastor offended me. Yes, it makes me feel uncomfortable. Yes, it's a slap in my face. But Lord, in your time, with your help, help me make those changes so I can be in your truth, so I can have your wisdom in my life. And then it says, verse number 34, Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors, for whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. Now, when it says, whoso findeth me, the me, me, me here is wisdom. You guys know, I'm sure, when you've read the Book of Proverbs, wisdom is, you know, they use that poetic language, personification, to make wisdom a person, like you're searching for her, you're searching for wisdom. And look, when God's, and that's, of course, speaking of God's wisdom. And God says, look, if you find me, you find life. You get God's wisdom, it's going to help you live a good and happy life. And that's why you obtain favor of the Lord. How do you obtain favor of the Lord? Seek God's wisdom. That's point number one. You're in Proverbs, let's just turn to some other passages very quickly. Proverbs 13, verse 15. Proverbs 13, 15. Proverbs 13, verse number 15 says, Good understanding giveth favor, but the way of transgressions is hard. Good understanding giveth favor. You know what understanding is? It's not just hearing wisdom, but actually understanding, being able to receive it and process it, and also be able to give it back to others. Like you're able to break down that information. Let me explain this very quickly. One concern that I have amongst Baptists, amongst independent fundamental Baptists, growing up in church, one great concern I have is where people speak truth, but they don't understand the truth that they speak. They know the pastor preached on this issue or that doctrine, and they understand that, and you ask them, and they'll say, yeah, yeah, that's right, and it's right, what they're saying is right, but if you were to ask them, oh, can you show me that in the Bible? Can you teach me that? Oh, I don't know, go listen to this pastor. Oh, I mean, I don't know, it's something the Bible, pastor preached on it last week, but I stand by it. Okay, great, I'm glad you're seeking the wisdom, but you don't have the understanding. And one big error that I've seen going to church in my life is there's a lot of good doctrines, and children growing up in church hear good doctrines, but then they mature, they become teenagers and adults, but then they don't know why they believe that doctrine. They can't defend that doctrine. They've never really understood it. And I hope you can see, at least as the preacher here, you know, when I'm trying to show you something, I'm trying to show you that in black and white scriptures, where anyone can read it, see it, that's what God says, I can hang my hat on that, and if someone ever says to me, why is that, look, I've got the verse. You know, I'm able to go back and seek that verse and show you that verse, and this is why I stand on this doctrine. Not because I'm a Baptist. Or because my pastor said so. Or because I'm an independent. That's the standard of the independent. Who cares what the standard is? What's God's standard? What does God say? Can you understand what God says? That's going to give you favour in life. Good understanding giveth favour. Coming to the next chapter, Proverbs 14, 35. Proverbs 14, 35, it says, The king's favour is toward a wise servant, but his wrath is against him that cause of shame. Again, wise, wisdom, the search of wisdom, the seeking of truth, the seeking of understanding, the teachings of God. You know, when God sees you doing that, when he sees you opening his word, trying to understand, trying to grow, God says, you know what? I'm going to show my son, I'm going to show my daughter favour. I'm going to look favourably upon them as they seek the wisdom of God. Come with me to Psalm 18, please. Psalm 18, verse number 20. How else can we receive favour of the Lord? Psalm 18, verse 20. Psalm 18, verse 20. It says, the Psalmist says, You can see here that the Psalmist is saying, the Lord has rewarded me because the cleanliness of my hands. He's living a holy life. The Psalmist is saying, look, I'm living a life that pleases God. Then he says in verse number 22, 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. The Psalmist is saying, look, I am trying to live a righteous life. I'm not trying to live a life where I'm away from the fellowship of God. See, the next point that I have for you, we already covered this earlier, is in order for you to obtain God's favour, you need to walk in his righteousness. You need to walk in his will. And again, when God sees you making those efforts, and again, we're limited because our efforts are just fleshly, we're in the sinful flesh, but when God sees our heart desire, Lord, I want to be holy. Lord, I want victory in my sin. Lord, I want to live a life that pleases you, searching your will. God's going to show favour upon you. God's going to give you that extra motivation, that strength that you need to get you living the life that pleases him. Verse number 24. Therefore have God recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanliness of my hands in his eyesight, with the merciful that will show thyself merciful. We saw that earlier, right? Mercy and truth. He goes, look, I've been merciful to others, and so you're going to show mercy toward me, Lord, with an upright man that will show thyself upright. With the pure that will show thyself pure. I want you to start seeing these connections. If I show myself pure, God's going to show himself pure to me. And with the froward, that will show thyself froward, for that will save the afflicted, but will bring down high looks, for that will light my candle, the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. Brethren, you must walk in the righteousness of God, seeking his will, seeking to be pure, not with high looks, humble, you know, in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord's going to grant you his favor. Come with me to Acts chapter 7, please. Acts chapter 7, verse number 44. Acts chapter 7, verse number 44. Acts chapter 7, verse number 44. Now, the next point that I have for you here is you're doing, like, the fact that you're here at church tonight, you're doing a good job, okay, on this one, all right? The Lord's going to be looking favorably upon the fact that you're here on a Thursday night, look, Thursday nights aren't easy. Mid-week services are not easy to get to, all right? You've got a long day, you're probably rushing from work, dinner, with children, it's harder to get organized, right? It's Thursday shopping night, usually a lot of people get paid on a Thursday and they want to go do shopping. Look, the fact that you've spent time, you know what, we're still going to God's house, even tonight. You know, I tell you, God's going to show favor upon you. Because it says here in Acts 7, 44, Now, before I keep reading, the reason I want to show you that the tabernacle, again in the Old Testament, was called the house of God, wasn't it? The tabernacle before the temple was built, okay, was a tent, was a setup that could be packed down and moved and repositioned as they needed. And so this is Moses, again, in the wilderness, you know, he was shown by God to have this tabernacle. The reason I make a point of that is because in the New Testament, the house of God is your local church, okay? But then it says this in verse 145, Brought in with Jesus. That Jesus there is Joshua, okay? Joshua in Greek is the name Jesus. Into the possession of the Gentiles. So you know that Joshua, not Moses, but Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land. It says, So now we're talking about King David. We're fast-forwarding in the timeline. And what do we learn about David? Verse number 46, it says, Before God. David found favor before God. Now, when you read that verse, if you knew nothing about David, maybe you know, okay, David killed Goliath and he became a king and was a great king. You know, you might think, man, David, man, what a great man. And he was a great man. But David made a lot of mistakes, didn't he? David made some serious mistakes, committed some serious sins. All right, committed adultery, and then caused the husband of that woman to be put to death basically at war, okay? But even he found favor with God, before God. Say how? Because it says here, And desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob, but Solomon built him an house. You may remember that David said, you know what? Like, okay, we're using this tabernacle. I mean, that's what God's asked, but he was so excited and zealous for God. He said, Lord, I want a house. Well, I want to build you a better place. The house of the Lord, I want it to be something more grandiose, something that people can look upon, and not just some tent. He wanted something great. Not that God asked for it, but this was in the heart of David. In the heart of David, he gave priority to the house of the Lord, but he couldn't build it. God allowed his son Solomon to build it. That's why it says in verse 47, but Solomon built him an house. Solomon, under King Solomon's reign, after David had passed away, Solomon built the temple, the house of the Lord. But you see that even though David made some major mistakes in life, and we've all made mistakes in life, some of us have made major mistakes in life, you can still find the favor of God if you prioritize, if you give priority to God's house. And again, the fact that you're here on a Thursday night tells me I see God's house as a priority in my life. Praise God for you. This is one sure way for you to find favor before the Lord. So far, the three things that I have for you, you want God's favor, you've got to seek His wisdom, seek His truth, right? Number two, walk in His righteousness. Number three, give priority to God's house. And then come with me to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6 and verse number 9. Now before I read this passage, I don't want to confuse anybody, alright? If we're not right with the Lord, if we've committed sin, and we go and confess it before God, the book of 1 John chapter 1 makes it very clear that God will forgive us of our sins, okay? I'm not talking about salvation. Our position before God is settled. Our sins have been forgiven, okay? They've been nailed to the cross, Christ shed His blood, our sins have been paid for. That's our position. But you need to understand, great, that's our position, but we also have our walk with the Lord. Our walk has nothing to do with our salvation. I mean, in order for you to have a walk, you have to be saved, okay? But whether you walk well with the Lord or whether you don't, doesn't change the fact that you already have an internal home in heaven paid for by Jesus Christ. The reason I say that is because we are commanded in the Bible to confess our sins, not to be saved, but to maintain fellowship with our Lord God. And we know that one way we can find favour is to keep that fellowship alive. So when we're walking with the Lord, we woke up this Thursday, read our Bibles, sang a, I'm sure everybody did this, read the Bible, sang a hymn, praise the Lord. I'm sure everybody did that, right? We're excited for the Lord this morning. They're like, Lord, I'm starting on fire for you and I've got church tonight, so Lord, I'm excited because today's going to be a great day. Probably some of you are like, oh, a pastor, that's not really me. Anyway, I'm going to pretend you did, right? And you start that way, but then, you know, you commit a sin. Say, what did I do? I don't know. The thought of foolishness is sin. You guys know that, right? Even foolish thoughts are sins. Say, man, I messed up. But the promise you have in 1 John is, oh, Lord, I did mess up, but, Lord, I confess that to you. I'm sorry, Lord. I want to be back with you, and Lord, immediately, Bibles, immediately He'll forgive you for that. So I just want that to be something fixed in your mind. Lord's always ready to forgive me for my sins, okay? So when I read these next verses, I don't want you to be, misunderstand what I'm trying to explain, all right? But Matthew 6, verse number 9, Jesus Christ is teaching His disciples how to pray. It says, And then He says these words, Now, debts, of course, is what you owe. This is often talking about offences, you know, your sins against man. And look, Jesus Christ has given us this example. He says, look, when you pray to God and you ask Him to forgive you for your debts, to forgive you for your sins, basically He's saying this, Lord, forgive me of my sins in the same way that I've forgiven others for the sins they've committed against me. Now, are you able to say that prayer? You see, obviously, with God forgiven us and bringing us back into fellowship with Him, that's favour. That's God's favour upon us, right? Like, God's looking favour when He wants that. But what Jesus is saying to us is we ought to be willing to forgive others. I feel certain, like, okay, I don't know. Maybe I'm, I don't know. But I feel certain that there's probably someone in this church right now that has just no forgiveness for somebody that has wronged them in life. And if that's you, and you're like, man, that's never going to forgive them. And you hold bitterness and anger and you just, and then you're like, well, Lord, forgive me for my sins. Look, it's hypocrisy is what it is. You need to fix that. Like, that needs to change in your life. Alright? Like, it's, you know, someone once said to me, Pastor, you must have a lot of enemies. And I kind of thought about it, and I go, I don't know. Because have people done me wrong? Of course, have people done you wrong? Of course, right? Do people probably hate me for staying for God's word? Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure there are people that have hated me for things that I've preached. I'm sure. I'm sure there are people that want to harm me and harm my family and what have you. I'm sure those enemies are there. And I don't say this to boast. I really don't say this to boast. But if I were to just sit here and think about all the enemies I have, I can't even name one. Because I've forgiven them. I can put it behind me. Because I think, well, what they've done to me, which is one or two things, does not compare to the millions of sins that I've committed against my Lord since the day that I was born. And if God's able to forgive me those sins, and He still wants to be in fellowship with me and walk with me and look favorably upon me, who am I to not forgive others, even those that have wronged me? I don't live this life of bitterness, ah, man, our brother so-and-so from many years ago who did this, ah, man, just eating me inside. I don't want to live that life. I've experienced bitterness. I've had that experience. And you know what? When I had that experience and those bad thoughts, the only person it hurt was me, and then it hurt the fat people that are around me. So what do I want? I don't want that. So you know what? I'll just forgive them because God has forgiven me so much more. And one thing you need to remember, brethren, if you want God's favor, you need to look favorably upon those that have done you wrong as well. So my point is that you need to show favor to your fellow man. Come with me to Matthew chapter 18, please, since you're in the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 18, verse number 21. Matthew 18, verse number 21. You know, I'm very quick to forgive. I'm also very quick to say sorry. So if I've done you wrong, if I've upset you, okay, don't think, oh, I can't tell pastor because he might kick me out of church. If I've offended you, I've offended you, and I'll say sorry. All right, so you come up to me after service. Pastor, remember that time last week when you, like, all right, brother, I'm sorry. Forgive me. Like I said, I want God's favor in my life. I want a happy life. You know, and even believers that have done me wrong, I still want them to flourish. Like, I still want them to serve God with their lives. And if someone says, Pastor, I can't have you as my pastor. I don't think I can serve in the church at Blessed Hope or New Life of the Church. Go find the church where you can serve God. I want you to just further yourself in God's kingdom, do a great work for him, even people that have done me wrong. I don't want to see believers in the dumps. I don't want to see believers destroyed in this world. I want to see all believers, like, do the best they can with the life God has given us. Who am I to desire wickedness and evil upon my brother or sister in the Lord? Where was I going with that? Was I saying something else before that? Someone remind me. Anyway, let's read, let's read Matthew 18. Maybe it'll come back to me. Matthew 18, verse number 21. Matthew 18, 21. Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times? That's pretty good. Like, oh, man, if you do me wrong once, you're like, ah, all right, let's sort it out. And then you do it again. You did it again, all right. Third time, I don't know, man. At this point, you know, do I really want to spend time with my brother? Like, I think my brother, if like three times in a row done me wrong, I think by the third time, I'm going to have a hard time forgiving you. All right. So Peter's doing a good job. Like, till seven times? Can you do it seven times, Peter? Because I think that's a quite high ask. Like, as a man. I'm speaking just as a man, right? And then Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee till seven times, but until seventy times seven. And again, when I think about that, that's a lot of times. What is seventy times seven? 490. Yeah. That's a lot of times for someone to wrong you and still be willing to forgive them. Would you say that's hard for me to do? But look, the fact that Jesus said that gave us that number, 490. Wouldn't you say you've committed more than 490 sins in your life? And every time you've sinned, you've transgressed the laws of God. Every time you've sinned, even if it's a sin against someone else, you've sinned against the Lord. And he's forgiven you more than 490 times. So again, who are we to say we can't do it? And then he says in verse 23, we'll read this story quickly. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had began 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 in payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me and I will pay thee all. And then it says, then the Lord of the servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. Look, did the king look favorably upon his servant? He saw his servant humbly asking for forgiveness. Look, be patient with me. I'm trying to pay it back. The king looked so favorably that he says, you know what? You don't have to pay any of it back. I mean, that's our Lord. That's God to us. It's like, Lord, I'll try to do good works. I'll try to be a good person. I'll try to live a life worthy of you so I can be saved. God says, he looks with compassion and goes, you know what? You owe me nothing. I'll loosen you. That's what salvation is. God saves us. You know, God's given us his freedom. God's given us the freeness of salvation. And then verse number 31. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry. Sorry, where am I up to? Oh, verse number 28, sorry, 28. But the same servant went out. So after this guy gets forgiven by God, right? The same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him a hundred pence. And he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying, pay me what 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. So his own fellow servant says the same things that he said to his king. Verse number 30, and he would not. But went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto the Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, 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. Now this is so important. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother of their trespasses. The king took him, threw him into the prison amongst tormentors until he could pay everything that he had to pay. Now of course you can't lose your salvation. The idea is here, right? Look, we want God's favor. So we have to look favorably upon our brothers and sisters in the Lord when they wrong us, right? You show them love. You show them mercy. Remember at the beginning it was looking at the first point that I had for you guys was to get God's favor you need to be looking for his wisdom but that's truth and mercy together. There's no point of having truth without mercy. If all you have is truth you're going to be a puffed up. Holier than thou. I know what's right and everybody's below me. Mercy brings you down. Mercy brings you humility and forgiveness and understand that people are going to make mistakes. People are going to wrong you. Are you willing to forgive? You see, if you don't show favor to your fellow man God's not going to show you favor. So point number four, brethren, is show favor to your fellow man. You want God's favor? Show favor to your fellow man. Look, as a pastor I've got to be careful what I've got to say here because I don't want to give the wrong impression. But do you think I just get along with every single church member all the time? Just every single church member. Look, there are people I don't like. But you know what? If you're someone that I don't like guess what? You're not going to know. Because I want to look favorably upon you. Honestly. Again, obviously there are some people that I'm going to get along with because maybe our interests are more similar. Maybe our personalities click a bit better than others. What have you, right? That's life. Get used to it. That's life. But you know what? If I don't get along with you or if I don't like you in that sense you're not going to know. You're not going to know. You're not going to be able to say and now you're like I want that word. I want that bastard to like me. Look, I want to show you favor because we're all at different levels in our life. We all have a different understanding and different backgrounds and we've all been saved at different points in my life. I'm so blessed to have grown up in a Christian home saved at four years old I've had my whole life learning God's word and I understand that some people just don't have that privilege. So I'm not going to look down on you. I'm not going to treat you any differently with people that I might get along with the same and enjoy that company. I understand the value of showing favor. I understand the value of showing mercy and love and the truth is at the end of the day as I said even if I don't feel that I like you I still want you to do something great for God. I still want you to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and for Christ to say to you they are good and faithful servants because we're all serving Jesus and I want Jesus to be happy with me and I want Jesus to be happy with you all of you. I want Jesus to be happy with all my church members. Really, I want God to show his favor upon the whole church. Because that's the only way that we're going to be able to do a great work for God. Like Mary. This young girl. Alright. What could Mary do? She brought the Savior into the world because she was highly favored. I want God to look at Blessed Hope Baptist Church and New Life Baptist Church and go, man, those churches are highly favored in my sight. Those churches are highly favored in my sight. Come read to one more passage. Luke chapter 2, verse 51. Luke chapter 2, verse 51. Now, we know that Jesus Christ came to this earth and he left us an example. I always say that. I want to remind you when you read about Jesus' life yeah, it's great to go well that's God in the flesh manifest walking on the earth. Yeah, yeah, of course. But he came to set us an example. Okay. So whenever you see Jesus Christ say to yourself, how can I do what Christ has been doing or what he did on the earth? And in Luke chapter 2, verse 51 it says, And he went down with them and came to Nazareth that's with his parents and was subject unto them. I love that. God is subject to his earthly parents. Doesn't that blow your mind? That should blow your mind. It says here, But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And then verse number 52, And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Wow. Christ gave us the example. He came to this earth and in his increase in wisdom we saw that's one true way to get God's favor. In stature, in his reputation and by doing so he obtained favor with God and man. Look, even when men looked at Jesus say he's special. We know later on when he's preaching against the wicked Jews they hated him for it. Hey, but when he's life on the earth people say he's a good person to be around. He's a friendly person. He's encouragement. He's a blessing. That's the kind of, you know, that's the kind of legacy that we want to leave on this earth as God's people. Jesus Christ was able to find favor with God and man and so can I. Christ has come to give us an example. So just in summary, brethren, the four points that I had for you. How can you obtain God's favor? I hope you say to yourself, I want God's favor. You know, I hope that before you lay your head to sleep tonight you pray to God and say, God, I want your favor in my life. Can you look upon me favorably? Help me to take these points that I heard tonight and apply it to my life. Those four things. Number one was seek God's wisdom. Seek his wisdom, his truth and his mercy. Number two, walk in righteousness. You know, walk a life that is holy and pleasing to God. Number three, give priority to God's house. Give priority to blessed or baptized church you hear in Sydney. And number four, make sure you remember to show favor to your fellow man. Because if you don't do that, God will definitely not show you his favor. Okay, let's pray.