we are going to continue in our study of the holy eternal inerrant written word of God looking at knowing studying and teaching it this week's lesson will be on continuing on the doctrine of subjection and specifically that feelings Our feelings, our emotions are subjected to the Word of God. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once again, shall we? O Lord God, this is your holy word. We are your servants. Give us understanding that we might know your testimonies. You have prayed, O Lord, sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. Use your holy, eternal, inerrant written word to set us apart to your service and to your glory. Show us great and mighty things which we do not know. The sower sows the word. Let not your word go out and return empty, but accomplish that purpose for which you have gathered us together and for which you are now sending it out. Protect us from Satan, Lord, who will snatch your word. Protect us from the world's cares and the delight of wealth and the passion of other interests, which enter in and choke your word. Protect us from a wrong reaction to difficulties and discouragements and persecutions, which make our hearts hard and unresponsive to your word. Rather, O Lord, plow up now the hard ground of our hearts. Grant grace that your sown written word might send roots downward and then bear fruit upwards. Unsheath now the sword of your spirit, O Lord. Cut to dividing point of bone and marrow, soul and spirit. Judge now the thoughts and intention of each heart gathered here. Spread your word before us as a banquet table, O Lord. grant grace that we might eat of the rich meat and drink of the sweet milk of the great doctrines of your word. Give us the heart of the prophet who cried to you. Thy words were found, and I did eat them. And thy words became to me a joy and a delight of my heart, for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. Oh Lord, we live in a dark and a wicked age. Broad is the way, and many are on it, which leads to destruction. Make your word a lamp to our feet. Make your word a light to our path. Show us that narrow way that you would have us run. And Lord, as we run in the paths of your commandment, enlarge our hearts that in loving you we might be more obedient to your written word. Drop your word against our lives as a plumb line, O Lord. Grant grace that we might see how we deviate from its high and holy purposes. Make your word to us a mirror, O Lord. grant grace that we might not be as those who look and go away and forget, but make us active doers, not forgetful listeners of your holy word. Oh Lord, because of our fealty to you, because of our undying devotion to your Son, our resurrected Savior, We pledge to you this morning our total submission to your holy, eternal, inerrant written word. And we pledge to you our complete obedience, unquestioning, to all of its commands. In the name of our Lord and resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Okay, we're looking at the doctrine of subjection. This week, our feelings, our emotions are subject to the Word of God. And remember, when we say the Word of God, we are saying the written Word of God. Not the word of God as presented in the Pentecostal charismatics and evangelical mystical movements where the so-called man of God says, I have a word of God for you. I have a word of prophecy for you. Yeah. We will be looking at that coming up upon that in, uh, three sessions when we deal with extra biblical revelation. But we are talking about the holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word of God. Whenever I talk about the fact that we live in the era of the written revelation, people always say, well, what about prophecies? What about this? What about that? What about prophecies? But I noticed when some so-called prophet, some so-called man of God says, I have a word of God for you, I have a prophecy for you, no one ever says, yeah, but what about the written word of God? We always want to go beyond what God has given us. Which was the original sin in the garden. So, we are saying that feelings and emotions are subject to the Word of God and when we say that we mean the written Word of God. Remember the questions we asked ourselves before teaching Holy Scripture. What are the definition of the key words in the passage? Interpretation is always subject to definition. We ask ourselves, is this passage an Old Covenant or a New Covenant passage? Not Old Testament or New Testament. We ask ourselves, is this historical revelation or doctrinal revelation? We ask ourselves, has the Bible specifically said that this is a hidden higher or higher passage which man cannot understand or is it revealed by the Holy Scriptures? Some passages are hidden, Deuteronomy 29 29, the secret things belong to the Lord. We would have to go into extra biblical revelation to know what is hidden and we don't go there. Some passages are higher God the Holy Spirit says in Isaiah 5589 that His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts. They are given to us but they are given to us as a sign of judgment for our fallen minds. A good example of higher things are the prophetic utterances in 1st Peter, 2nd Peter 1, 20 and 21. Prophecy cannot be understood by our innate powers. God the Holy Spirit must reveal it. Another example of higher things are parables. The disciples asked Jesus, why do you explain to these things to us in private? Why haven't you revealed to them, to everyone? And Jesus said, they are a form of judgment, that hearing they may not hear and seeing they may not see. Then we looked at, went on to some applications. Application number one was that the strongest argument from Scripture is a New Covenant doctrinal passage whose meaning is subject to the definition of the words in the passage. This is supported by historical revelation, which would be examples of application, and as such is clearly revealed by Holy Scriptures. We looked at the difference between authoritative or direct application versus personal or devotional application. An example of authoritative or direct application would be the meditation upon Holy Scriptures, Joshua 1.8. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate upon it day and night, that you might be careful to do according to all that is written in it. Then you will make your way prosperous. Then you will have good success. that meditation is not emptying our minds of everything and waiting for some spirit to speak in our minds, but it is rather filling our minds with the Word of God, meditating upon it for the purpose of application, a personal or devotional application. Well, one might be a good way of focusing your mind on a passage is to ask three questions. from this passage, what does God want me to know? What does God want me to be? What does God want me to do? Now that's an application which I suggest, but the Bible doesn't say you have to use that application. An application in witnessing might be the use of the bridge illustration or a campus crusade for Christ for spiritual laws. it might be Billy Graham's steps to peace with God. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people have come to Christ using one of those three applications, but they are not in the Bible. They are man's application of the exhortation that we shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon us and we will be witnesses, Acts 1.8. We looked at the principle, means, and method approach to the Word of God. By principle, that is the doctrine. The means, that is the means of application, that is historical revelation. The method, that is man's devotional application to it. An example of this would be the principle as found in Acts 1.8 or in Romans 1.16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now, what when we talk about means, we talk about a biblical application to that doctrine. A biblical application would be found in Acts 20, 20. How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly and from house to house. Another biblical means would be Acts 5, verse 42. Acts 5, 42. And every day in the temple and from house to house they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. That's door-to-door evangelism. The doctrinal teaching is that we are not, that is the principle, that we are not to be ashamed of the gospel. A means of application to that found in historical revelation is Acts 5.42, door-to-door evangelism. Man's devotional application would be to go door-to-door evangelism with giving people the four spiritual laws and asking to share Christ with them or asking if you could come in and show them a short illustration called the Bridge Illustration on man's relationship with God. The principle, the doctrine transcends time and space and everyone must conform to it. The means of historical revelation, Acts 5.42 is not commanded. So we cannot command people to go door to door, but neither can we speak against a, uh, application sanctioned in scripture by God the Holy Spirit and yet we live in a day when many people say you should not go door-to-door witnessing even though God clearly presents it as a sanctioned means of application. Then we looked at application number two which was subjection. The first area of subjection we looked at is historical context is subject to the word of God. Historical context does not judge the word of God, rather the word of God judges all history. Subjection number two. The church, Christian, Christian organizations and movements, theologians, all church councils are subject to the word of God. The church, Christians, do not judge the word of God. Rather, they are judged by the word of God. Subjection three, culture is subject to the word of God. Both past and present culture. Culture does not judge the word of God. Rather, the word of God judges cultures. You show me someone who says that a doctrinal teaching needs to be understood in the context of historical context and cultural context. And I'll show you somebody who thinks that their church, their Christian organization or movement, their theological bent, their Christian, their church council is able to free you from obedience in this area. Subjection number four, experience is subject to the word of God. If God's word says no and we experience yes, then we reject our experience and hold God's word to be true. If God's word says yes and we experience no, then we reject our experience and hold God's word to be true. Experience does not interpret God's word, but rather God's word both interprets and judges our experience. I hear many times people say, well, I tried scripture memory and it didn't work. I tried witnessing and it didn't work. Well, no, it does work. You didn't try it. you dabbled in it and then you quit. Luke 9.52, no one who puts his hands to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven. This brings us to feelings. Feelings or emotions are subject to the Word of God. If God's Word makes us feel bad, it is still God's Word. If God's Word makes us feel bad, it is still God's Word. Let's consider this statement. God wants me to feel good, doesn't he? John 10.10, the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I've come that you might have life in heaven more abundantly. Many parents make a mistake of thinking that it is their job to help their children feel good about themselves. No, in Ephesians 6.3, their job is to ensure their children's success. Sometimes they won't feel good about being on the road to success. It's not that we want our children to feel bad, but We don't begin every question with, how does this make you feel? Does mathematics make you feel good? No. Well, we have to teach our children to persevere in their education, in their spiritual growth, and in their physical health. The Word of God has been called God's love letter to man. I think that's a... I have no problem with that. But John 3.16, For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And I have no problem with the Word of God being called the ultimate expression of God's love for man. Moses, when he came down from Sinai in Deuteronomy, said, God speaks to man, yet he lives. That's one of the ultimate expressions of God's love for man. And that when we read the Bible, we don't burst into flames or reduce to ashes and blow away. But we should remember the word of God is not God's romantic letter to man. A romantic letter never entails rebuke or correction or instruction. A romantic letter is purely compliments and encouragements. That's all they are. That is a romantic letter. So we have to remember that not to confuse the word love with of God to man with romance of a man to a woman. Proverbs says one of the great mysteries of life is romantic love and expression between a man and a woman. What do I mean by that? God will always tell us the truth no matter how it makes us feel and we live in an age when that has come into disfavor. When I'm speaking at a conference and we have question and answer time, I always remind people, do not ask me questions to which you do not want answers. Because some people will do that. They will ask you a question they don't want the answer. In fact, their question will begin, isn't it true? Or don't you think? And sometimes it's not true and sometimes I don't think like that. Do not ask questions to which you do not want answers. Now, for you married men, let me remind you though, that in John 1, 14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse 17. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. Now grace is receiving that which we do not deserve. So truth can be cruel. So a Christian virtue and fruit of the spirit is kindness. So when you're leaving to go out for the evening and your wife says, do you like this dress? It's too late to make any changes, isn't it? So yeah, you're just gracious to us. Oh, you're beautiful and I look for it all week because you always make yourself looking so beautiful. Now, at some future date, you might tell her, that is not my favorite dress on date night. But you don't, we are not cruel with our observations. We are not cruel with our observations. So God's instruction, correction, and discipline for us is always done for our success, not for the pure joy of criticism. So we remember that. Grace and truth go together. If God were to tell us consistently to our face every time we made a mistake, we would all go insane. We would collapse. And we have to remember that when we're raising our children, in our relationship with our wives, with brothers or sisters in church, in the disciple-making ministry, that we are thinking about truth in terms of building others up for success, not simply for the joy of pointing out error in their lives. Early in my Christian life, and I don't know who to give this credit for because it was a common statement in the ministry of the Navigators, servanthood is getting excited about making other people successful. In Mark 10.45, for the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. And he sends us, we are sent into the world as he was sent into the world. So if we think in terms of our relationship, gentlemen, if you think in terms of your relationship with your wife, you think in terms of your relationship with your children, you think in terms of your relationship with your pastor and your church and your ministry to those you witnessed to. Second Corinthians four or five for what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ is Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. Servanthood is being excited about making all those people successful at your expense. When my first year in the campus ministry with the Navigators, a disciple of Dawson Troutman, who's now with the Lord, Roy Robertson. He is the founder of Training and Evangelical Leadership, TEL. He was staying in our home because his two daughters were involved in our ministry at the University of Texas. And I remember he said to me, well, John, what do you want to do? I was a high school teacher, but in the big picture. And I said, well, I'm waiting till I qualify to be on Navigator staff. Because at that time, to be on Navigator staff, you had to work at a secular job at least three years, be married and have children and still walking with God. And he said, oh, that's great. Doing the campus ministry is simple. All you have to do is put your heart out on your doorstep and allow selfish, self-centered college students wipe their feet on it as they come in and out. Well, there's a certain truth to that. What Roy was trying to tell me is that if I'm going to be excited about making college students successful, I have to remember I'm dealing with non-Christians and very young baby Christians, all of whom are selfish. 2 Corinthians 7, 8-12, the Word of God will always tell us the truth, no matter how it makes us feel, and we have to be prepared for that. Notice what Paul said in verse 8, Though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I don't regret it. Though I did regret it. Now, what does that mean? What that means is that God the Holy Spirit is saying here that when we read the Word of God and it causes us sorrow, He doesn't feel bad about that. Although He would rather not have to cause us sorrow, But he doesn't cause us sorrow. When I was disciplining my children, I never said to them, now this will hurt me more than it hurts you. Actually, I say just the opposite. Now, I want you to understand this. You are being disciplined for your own good. This doesn't hurt me. I can do this all night. The issue is your success and whether you're willing to receive discipline and learn to obey daddy quickly the first time. for I see the letter caused you sorrow though only for a while I now rejoice not that you were made sorrowful but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God so God's truth when it makes us sorrowful does not make us sorrowful for the simple pleasure of God pointing out our sin The sorrow that is according to the will of God is sorrow that leads to repentance. And that's always our goal when we have to share something from the word of God that may make someone sorrow. It is not so that they can be ground into the dirt by the law. Rather that they can be brought to repentance and placed once again on the road to their spiritual success. so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us." In other words, he doesn't want them to feel sorrowful so that they will quit the Christian life. He wants them to be made sorrowful so that they will repent, continue on in the Christian life, accruing riches in heaven and blessings here on earth. The sorrow that is according to the will of God produces repentance without regret. the sorrow of the world produces death and I've seen this many times as I said Luke 9 52 no man who puts his hands to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God and there are some people you present them with the word of God they feel bad about their sin they commit to repenting but within 24 48 hours, within a day or two, they're regretting it. They're missing their sin. That's leading them back to death. And then he says, look at the godly sorrow has produced in you. And then he lists things. Vindication, indignation, longing, zeal, avenging of wrong, a demonstration of innocence in all future actions. That is what true repentance is. And when we share the word of God with someone because of their sin, it is not to glory in their sin and expose them and humiliate them and make sure that they really feel bad about this. Kind of a getting even. but rather it's to bring them to repentance and not simply that they would repent in sorrow but that they would continue on in the future in a fruitful relationship with God and man. So that's why Paul said in Galatians 4, 16, have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? Have I done that? In Hebrews 9.27 it says, it is appointed for men to die once and after that comes judgment. And many times when I share that, people will have the response that I had when I first heard it. And I was mad when I first heard, have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? I mean, I was mad when I first heard, it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment. And Richard Jackson, the Baptist pastor who shared that with me, had now become my enemy by trying to save me from hell. So it's very contradictory, isn't it? But we have to turn with me to the book of Daniel, if you would. Sometimes when we are sharing with people, we begin thinking that being nice is better than being truthful. And that's not true. So let's turn over to Daniel 5, shall we? Daniel 5 verse 23 at the end of the verse 23 but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven and they have and they have brought the vessels of his house before you and you and your nobles and your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them and you have praised the gods of silver and gold and bronze and iron and wood and stone which do not see, hear or understand but the god in whose hand are all life breath you have not and your ways you have not glorified then he goes on to bring condemnation Now, you think, that's very harsh, isn't it? But then look what it says in verse 30. That same night, Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. Well, that pastor who shared with me Hebrews 9.27, he didn't know. My days are numbered and only God knows them. And it's important when we share the gospel that we help people to understand. To not make a decision is to make a decision. We cannot count on tomorrow. And hell is for eternity. Paul said, I beg you on behalf of God, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Well, this isn't my witnessing seminar, so we'll go on. God's Word will always tell us the truth no matter how it makes us feel, but not simply to make us feel bad, but to bring us to repentance that we might be fruitful here on earth and have rewards in heaven. If God's will, God's work in my life makes me feel bad, it's still God's Word. So God wants me to feel good, doesn't he? Well, no, not necessarily. Sometimes God wants you to be sorrowful to the point of repentance. It's important for my children to feel good about themselves, isn't it? No, not if they're lying. Not if they're developing the habit of lying. They should feel bad about lying. So their conscience can speak to them when they're tempted to lie. Then they're brought to repentance and they can feel good about telling the truth. An honest child should feel good about himself, but not a child who's developed the habit of lying. God wants me to be happy, doesn't he? Well, Hebrews 12, 10, 11, for they disciplined us as a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good so that we might share in his holiness. So when we sin, we don't have to think, what bad thing is God going to do for us? It will always be good. All discipline does not seem joyful, but sorrowful. How can something that makes us feel sorrow be good? How can something that's painful be good? Because it is moving us towards success. Yet to those who have been trained in it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." God wants me to be happy, doesn't He? No. What He wants you to be is holy. He wants you to be at peace with Him. He wants you to be righteous. He wants you to be fruitful. He wants you to be in a training relationship with Him. He appointed twelve that they might be with Him and He might send them out to teach. God wants those things. In that relationship, sometimes you will be happy and feel good. Sometimes you will be sorrowful and feel pain. That's neither here nor there. The Constance is God's love for you and His commitment to your holiness, your peace with Him, your fruitfulness, your righteousness as you submit to His training program. If we decide that when God's Word and work make us feel bad, that there must be something wrong then we short circuit that program in our lives uh... when someone comes to you and confesses their sin to you if it is sin don't just say well that's okay it didn't really didn't really bother me that you didn't really do anything wrong because now they have to go through hebrews twelve ten eleven again Thank them for confessing their sin to them. Affirm that they have indeed sinned and are submitting to the righteousness of God. Forgive them, assure them of your total forgiveness and restore them. But don't short-circuit the work of God in their life. Would you rather be happy and feel good, yet left in your sin? Now, most children, if they were honest, would say, no, I would rather be happy and feel good. Wouldn't they? That's why they have parents. Unfortunately, most non-Christians will say, no, I'd rather be happy and feel good. But the biggest misfortune is that many Christians in the church today would rather be happy and feel good and left in their sin. And that's unfortunate, isn't it? That's unfortunate. That is not the definition of grace, but rather judgment. to be allowed to be happy and feel good and be left in your sin by God. Romans 1 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity. What does it say? Gave them over. He did not intervene. For this reason God gave them over. to degrading passions. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind. We live in an age of upside down Christianity where grace is giving people over to their sin. Gracious parenting is giving people over to their sin. Gracious spiritual leadership in the home is giving our wives over to sin. A gracious wife in her marriage is not to be her husband's helpmate, but his enabler in his sin. a gracious ministry of a church is to entertain people and allow them to sin when that is in reality is the ultimate form of God's judgment rather than to discipline them for their good even though it is not make them joyful but rather sorrowful just to allow them to feel good about themselves If it is God's responsibility to make you feel good, to keep you happy, who's in charge? You are. If a good parent has a happy child, who's in charge? The child is. If it is the pastor's job to make sure everybody in the church is happy, who's in charge? The most sinful people in the church are in charge. If God's will, God's work in my life makes me feel bad, it is still God's work. There was a young man in our ministry who would do anything the Word. He would study, he would memorize, he would meditate, he was faithful in hearing the Word, read through his Bible faithfully. Prayer. A real man of prayer. Kept expanding the prayer time where he would get up early in the morning to pray. Fellowship. Always there. Servant hearts. Set up chairs. He was just available and faithful. What a blessing, but he would not witness. He said, it's not my gift. It makes me feel bad. I feel awkward. It's embarrassing for me. It's hard for me to meet new people. I just can't do it. So one day we were walking together and I said, Hezekiah, I have no problem with that. I think we should commit this to the Lord, shall we? He said, okay. I said, well, let's pray John 14, 15, and just commit to this to the Lord. John 14, 15 says, he who has my commandments and keeps them, who it is who loves me. John 14, 24 says, he who does not love me does not keep my word. So let's just commit that to the Lord. Lord, Hezekiah wants to bring witnessing before you. He doesn't love you. He's not going to obey in this area. And he just wants to go ahead and say it out loud before me and before you, before the angels in heaven, before all mankind. I do not love you and I will not witness. So I said, okay, go ahead. You pray now. He said, I can't say that. I said, Hezekiah, you're already saying it. Let's just say it out loud. Well, Hezekiah teared up and talked and I said, well, Hezekiah, you're at a crossroads. Joshua said, you do what you want, me and my house will serve the Lord. You're going to say, John, you and the campus ministry do what you want, I'm not witnessing. You can tell the Lord it's hard, you don't want to do it, but because you love him, you'll do it anyways. A year later, Hezekiah was involved in the event, was in charge of the evangelism program of the campus ministry and was one of the most exciting and dynamic student evangelists that we had. What would have been better? It's alright. You're so faithful. It's alright. Don't worry. You don't have to witness. It's okay. No problem. God wants you to be happy. God wants you to feel good. It's okay. If it is God's responsibility to make you feel good, to keep you happy, you're in charge and you get to tell God that you can love Him without witnessing. If God's word feels morally wrong, then our feelings are wrong and God's word... Well, let me go back to that last statement. One of the biggest frustrations in my early Christian life was to be exhorted to do things and convicted for not doing things, but not receive training in how to do them or given the materials or tools with which to accomplish them. So I've always tried not to do that. So that's why we're offering a witness 10 week witnessing training seminar on Sunday mornings, Sunday afternoons at two o'clock. I see Matthew there he he's been attending this next Sunday, it is still open after that it will really be too far down the line for you to be benefit from it. I'll probably offer it again next year. But If you have been wanting to witness, but feeling guilty for not witnessing, but not know how to go about it, you're welcome to join us. Now, if God's word feels morally wrong, then our feelings are wrong and God is right. If we read something in God's word and we do not feel right about it, If we do not feel our God would do or say this, then we must subject our emotions to the Word of God. I'll use this first, because when I start people on a reading program, uh... genesis exodus well within the second month of their within the first month sometimes but at least by the second month they're in exodus and they come across exodus nine twelve and the lord hardened pharaoh's hearts and he did not listen to them just as the lord had spoken to moses and they say hey that doesn't seem right That doesn't seem fair. How can God harden Pharaoh's heart? Well, we have a value system and that is the fairness doctrine. And that it's not fair that God's judgment begin here on earth. God has to wait till we die for his judgment to begin. And that's not true. God's judgment may begin at any time and God's judgment began in Pharaoh's heart while he was still alive. I share with Christians in the area of having a daily quiet time. Well, my schedule just won't allow it now, but when I get this big work project done, I really would like to learn how to get up earlier in the morning. Memorizing scripture, you know, my mind is just so cluttered now. I would like to learn how to memorize scripture, but could we revisit this subject after Easter? Witnessing, you know, not now. You know, I've got teenage kids. I've got my job. I've got my marriage. I just don't have time for witnessing. But if you will just wait, I can do it. If you just wait till I graduate, if you just wait till I get settled in my job, just let my kids get in school. I've got teenagers, just let them all get in college. I've got, I'm struggling with my stamina and my finances to get all my kids through school and visit them. If you'll just let them get out of school, you know, there's always something. And what the presupposition is that if we, are interested or want to do something now, that next month, next year, we will still want to do it. And that's not true. That is not true. We cannot presuppose on the grace of God. The word of God says today, if you hear the word, respond to it. Proverbs 29 19 Proverbs 29 1 A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. 1 Timothy 4 2 says that those who consistently neglect and disobey commands in the word of God, their consciences are seared as with a hot iron. In other words, they develop scar tissue where you become insensitive to touch, to feeling. And so I'm not talking about losing your salvation, but I am saying that just because you want to do something today doesn't mean that you will still want to do it if you put it off. God's temporal judgment on man, Pharaoh, if that seems unfair to you, then you need to change your value system. People say, well, I just want, we never want to talk to God about being fair. If God is fair, we all go to hell, don't we? We want God to be gracious. Grace is inherently unfair because the righteous died for the unrighteous, that we might be brought to God. God's temporal judgment on nations. 1 Samuel 5, verse 3. Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him, but put to death both man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, donkey." We begin feeling that's unfair. God shouldn't do that. Election and predestination, Ephesians 1, 4 and 5. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before them in love, he predestined us to adoptions as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intentions of his will. People read that and think, I'm not sure I like that. The eternal judgment on the unregenerate hell. Revelation 14, 10, 11. He also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger. And he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he is thrown in to the lake of fire." People say, even men who should know better, as of this lecture, John Stott, who is an Anglican pastor and theologian, who used to be very conservative, has embraced the doctrine of nillism, a loving God wouldn't burn someone in hell forever and ever. He has developed the doctrine of nillism, that people go into hell and they just cease to exist. J.I. Packer. They cease to exist. Many pastors were just feel so uncomfortable with the doctrine of hell. How can that be just? Our definition of justice, of good, of right and wrong, all our definitions of morality are based on the word of God and are judged by the word of God. You see, when we look at feelings, what we get into is something called existential methodology. If you've studied philosophy, you know that existential methodology teaches that the highest good is personal peace, that which makes us happy, and affluence, when something good happens to us. Let's look at that. Hezekiah is thinking about taking a job. City number one. Wow, he really has peace about going to that city. It has lots of opportunities. It's a pleasant climate. There are lots of sports and entertainment opportunities. Your money goes further in that city than most cities that size. It's just great. And the job that is being offered to him, wow. It's really high paying. City number two, well, you know, as a guy who says that's an enjoyable city, you know, it's on the coast and he loves, he enjoys that kind of that coastal laissez-faire culture, but the job doesn't pay very well. City number three, well, Hezekiah says, that job is really well paid, but the city, you know, it's just kind of an industrial city. It's hot. It's not much interesting in terms of the geography or the environment. And city number four, well, it's not high paying, and again, it's just not a very pleasant city. It's not considered sophisticated, hot summers, cold winters, it's just kind of a blah city. So where will he choose? Well, he'll choose city number one. He has peace about it and something good will happen to him. It must be God's will. Matthew 6.33 says seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you. So Hezekiah uses this grid rather than existential methodology. City number one Well, really, there are no really good churches in that city. As he was checking around, in terms of his righteousness, the workplace does not have a moral atmosphere. He's been told to leave his religion at home. And the atmosphere in terms of the culture of the city would be City number two, well, it's true, there is a good church there, but again, the work environment is very pagan and he isn't expected to invite his wife into these parties that all the employees are expected to attend. It's a very immoral atmosphere. The city is characterized by drunkenness and drugs and riotous living. City number three, well done. It is, it is not a, uh, especially evil city, uh, be a good atmosphere spiritually for him and his children. But he's told that he cannot lead a Bible study at work. He cannot share his faith at work. And in fact, the city has very strong laws against the promotion of religious beliefs and holding Bible studies and. starting churches and as a result there are very few churches in the city and zoning and restrictions keep new churches from coming about. On the other hand, city number four, the city is very open to outreach and The job, his boss said, yeah, I know you're a conservative Christian. If you want to use one of the meeting rooms to have a Bible study, that would be fine. I have no problem with that as long as it doesn't cause a disturbance at church. As long as it doesn't cause a disturbance at work, I have no problem with that. It's very moral atmosphere, even though not a Christian atmosphere, very moral atmosphere at work and the city as a whole has conservative city fathers. The school system is conservative and he really feels like his kingdom and his righteousness could be placed first in city four. And yet that, if he goes by personal peace and affluence, City 4 would be taken off the table immediately, wouldn't it? And if he goes by personal peace and affluence, that which is most detrimental to the promotion of the kingdom of God and his walk with God, his family's walk, would be number one. So we have to be careful. It's God's will. I have peace about it and something good will happen. Not necessarily. Now, if City Four had these things as well as his kingdom and righteousness, well, there's nothing wrong with that. We do not subjugate seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness and instead replace it with having peace and something good will happen to us. Why was this God's will? Well, I really have peace about it and something good will happen. Well, no, not necessarily. All decisions are weighed against these two values, his kingdom, the church, witnessing, discipleship, Christian fellowship, his righteousness, our walk with God, word, prayer, witnessing, fellowship, being a disciple, being a disciple maker, moral excellence, obedience to Jesus, The Christian existentialist makes decisions on the closed-door, open-door theology of personal peace and affluence. God closed the door. I don't have peace about it. It will be hard. Something bad will happen to me. God opened the door. I have peace about it. It will be easy. Something good will happen to me. In the above model, the decisions based on feeling and the decisions based on the word of God were polar opposites. They are not always polar opposites, but they can be. I have had ministry decisions where personal peace and affluence in his kingdom and his righteousness meshed. But I have also had to make ministry decisions where personal peace and affluence were sacrificed for his kingdom and his righteousness. There's also an alternate model. The navigators have a wheel illustration of the word, prayer, witnessing, and fellowship. There was a young man in the ministry who was in the pre-med program. and he was struggling with the difficulty of it and choosing a career path. His name was Bobby Pinkston. I said, Bobby, no problem. Look at you. You know the wheel. It's functioning your life as you go into this pre-med program. As long as you can do the word, prayer, fellowship with your local church and witnessing, then I have no problem with you pursuing your medical degree. But if you have to a sacrifice, word, prayer, witnessing, or fellowship, and replace one of those spokes with career, then no, it's not God's will. Well, I didn't hear from Bobby for a number of years. About 10 years later, Dr. Pinkston looked me up and he said he had the same Bible where I had drawn the wheel illustration in his life back when he was a student and had asked me how to know God's will. And he said, I regularly look at this illustration and make sure that my medical practice does not replace a spoke of the wheel. So for Dr. Pinkston, personal peace and affluence, he loved medicine and he was making a lot of money where it tracked his kingdom and his righteousness. And I praise God for his honesty and being willing to subject something he really wanted to do. to his kingdom and his righteousness. His kingdom, witnessing and fellowship, his righteousness, word, prayer, purity, moral excellence. Our decisions are ultimately based on invisible realities as revealed in God's written word. 2 Corinthians 5.7 We walk by faith and not by sight. Hebrews 11.1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 1 Peter 1.8 And though you have not seen him, you love him. Romans 10.17 Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. And Jesus himself, the Word of Christ, prayed, sanctify them in truth, your word is truth. If you love me, you'll keep my commandments, John 14, 15. Romans 1, 5, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles. So these things are invisible, but these invisible realities are made visible for us through the written word of God. That's true in our salvation. For you have been born again, not of a seed which is perishable, but is imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. That's how we are born again. No one becomes a Christian by Jesus appearing to them. It takes knowledge to become a Christian. All flesh is like grass, all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever. That is the word which was preached to you. That's how they came to Christ. it was through the Word of God. Now God may use apocalyptic experiences, He can use a war, He can use a near-death experience, He can use many experiences to get our attention. but we are saved through, we are born again through the living, the Word of God. Now when I say a near-death experience, I mean you had an experience where you almost died. Once you die, you do not come back. That's not what I'm talking about. We'll look at that when we look at extra-biblical revelation. So, salvation and the Word of God and discipleship. And now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified it always always comes back to the holy eternal inerrant written word of God so we've run out of time we're going to stop here next week on the fifteenth We will look at prayer is subject to the Word of God. We'll go into that more at length when we, after this series on the Word, we are, for those who are interested in going on, we are going to have a series on the doctrine of prayer. But one of the things that we will establish next week is prayer is subject to the Word of God. And then we will also look at application number three, extra-biblical revelation. May God add his blessing to his holy word. In Christ's name, our