When you're unpersuaded that God doesn't have the right answer for this, you're going to have a listening problem. And that's why Paul says, we're ready to give you answers, but the answers are going to hinge on you listening. You making yourself ready to hear what God has to say. Stand on the truth. And Paul goes on to say this. He says in verse number six, And being ready to punish all disobedience when obedience is fulfilled. What does he mean there when he says being ready to punish? What does the King James, how does it read Ms. Pat? Okay, having in readiness. What is having in readiness? It's the idea of when you're ready for something, when you're prepared or ready for a thing, you have an answer for a thing. Paul is simply saying we have an answer for this disobedience that is connected with these strongholds that we're talking about. But the answer to deal with the problems are not going to come until you obey what you already know. will always be followed up with answers from God. When we listen to the voice of God and follow Him, God continues to give us more and more light. And the more light we have is the more power we have to deal with issues. And if any of us at any time wants more answers on how to deal with problems, we need to be obedient. Obedience Always will put you in position to hear more clearly from God and God will he always blesses obedience He always feeds obedience He always gives more light to the obedient and what Paul is saying we have in readiness We're ready to revenge when he says revenge it means to deal not just punish but deal with deal with what the disobedience But what is the disobedient? What is he referring to there? He uses a word. How many of you ever had heard this term ADD? Y'all know anybody ADD? What does that term stand for? Attention. What's that? Oh, man. Attention deficit disorder. This is what he's saying. Paula saying we ready to give you answers when you're ready to listen The word disobedient means you got a listening problem You have a problem with listening to hearing Faith cometh by what? Hearing and hearing by what? When you have a listening problem, you're going to have a disobedient problem every single time Let me show you turn to Titus chapter 3 verse Turn to Titus chapter 3 Paul uses two words there in Corinthians that we're looking at he used the word disobedience and obedience and they both have everything to do with hearing Titus chapter 3 Titus chapter 3 Same concept but two different words one word means and You got a listening problem for disobedience. It's about hearing. The word that we're going to look at here in Titus is a word that we use for disobedience, but it's the word that means unpersuaded. And you see, when you're not persuaded that God has the answers, you're going to have a listening problem. That's what it boils down to. When you're unpersuaded that God doesn't have the right answer for this, you're gonna have a listening problem and that's why Paul says we were ready to give you answers but the answers are gonna hinge on you listening you making yourself ready to hear what God has to say because what God has to say is is of the utmost importance it's the first things first it's the it's the priority over everything else and if we're not in position to listen because we're unpersuaded that he has the answer The problem is then we're going to be led astray in our mind. That's part of the stronghold. Titus chapter 3. What does it say? Titus chapter 3. Somebody read it for me. Janet, read it for us. Verse 3. Okay, hold right there. That's who we, before Christ, that is what characterized our life. This is who we were. This is how we lived. We were all in this same boat. We were foolish. The word foolish is simply saying we were not wise. We were unwise to the things of God. And when you're unwise to know how to take the next step with God, the only other conclusion is that you're a fool. You're foolish. So you do foolish things. Why did we do foolish things? Why were we unwise to the things of God? Because we were disobedient. We were unpersuaded that God had the answer for our daily living. What's the next thing? We were deceived. Why were we deceived? Because, Sandy, we were led astray We were led astray. Now that's how we live characteristically. But a believer can still at times act like a fool. Are you with me? Can be unwise. They can still be disobedient. They can still be deceived and led astray. That's the stronghold, the lie, being led astray in our mind. The word deceived there in Titus 3.3 simply means to be led astray in the mind. And when you let it stray in the mind, what's the next thing? You serve what? Various lust. That is, what is various lust? Lust, remember I told you, what is lust? Natural desires and excess. Natural desires are simply carnal things. Fleshly things common things they just fed and when we operate in an unwise manner Because we unpersuaded that God has the final answer for us about a particular thing We're going to be led astray in our mind, and we're going to be we're going to serve our own selves we're going to serve what feels right seems right looks right tastes right and we're not going to go to the Lord for answers and Therefore there's the hearing problem. We add with the Lord oh It is because it classifies the world in verse number three and when we are Acting like the world that's us Now the best thing about it. Is that verse 4 verse 4 gives us? Gives us our life in Christ but when When the loving kindness, the loving kindness of Jesus was made manifest to us, not because of what we've done, not because of our own righteousness, but because of God's mercy, He saved us. And you see, what verse four is telling us is that that's how God still works. Not only when He rescues a sinner from their sin, but when He's at work in the life of a saint of God, this is what He's doing in them right now. This is what He's doing. He's manifesting His great love and kindness to us in His ways, and we trust in Him with the answers for life. We're listening to Him. Amen? But when we're not listening to him, what happens is we don't have any power whatsoever to walk in victory for the pulling down of these strongholds. All we're doing is just trapping ourselves in these fortresses that the enemy, and through the world, is building. And that's why the scriptures teach us that we're to hate the things of the world. Not the people, but a system that doesn't listen to God. Doesn't go to Him. and paul told us over in corinthians in this warfare we're dealing with is that we are ready to give you an answer for the problem when you are ready to listen if you're not listening you're not going to get the answer we need the answer, amen so we say position yourself to hear and when you submit to hear and say lord speak whatever it is god says he'll speak to us And when he does, that's what we need to start pulling down these strongholds. Not just in our society, but strongholds that we have elevated within our own mind. That's wars against the things of God. He says, I'll tear those down for you. Things of pride and insufficiency and issues that we talked about this morning about who likes to have the last word. That's a fleshly, common thing. It's a defensive mechanism that is in every man and woman is to defend themselves and and to want to be right and If you got to confess that you're wrong in this area in that area in this area And then that brings with it shame and guilt and problems So we try to protect ourselves in those areas and all that becomes as a fortress in our mind And before you know it, we're trapped in this fortress of a stronghold, these arguments that rage against the things of God. And Paul is simply saying, we're ready to give you the answer, but it's going to hinge on you listening. And you might be able to fool me, but you surely can't fool him. And he'll give it to us if we'll listen. Go back, if you would, in Corinthians and you'll see. verse 6 again Paul said and we are ready We have the answers to deal with the attention problem that you haven't when your listening hearing is fulfilled you are obligated to as a child of god who's been redeemed by the grace of god to subject yourself to the lordship of jesus christ and when you do god says i'll pour the answers out on you i'll give you the light you need because light is song for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart and that's what we need today amen light in his gladness planet within our heart And that's just submitting ourselves to Him, saying, Lord, speak. Here I am, whatever it may be, good, bad, or ugly, hard, or challenging, or difficult, create a crisis in my convictions if that need to be. I'd rather be hearing from You, walking in trouble, than walking in trouble and not hearing from You. Don't let me deceive myself and be carried away. Amen? We've got to hear from Him. And He wants to speak. He tells us that over and over and over in the Word of God. If we will listen, if we will hear, if we will hearken, it was Proverbs 2, over and over, those ifs, ifs, if you do this, if you do this, if you position this, if you give me your ear, if you cry out for discernment, if you do this, he says, then and only then will I teach you the fear of God and I will give you stored up wisdom so that you can walk in victory. But you got to meet the condition of putting yourself in position to listen to me, to hear me. Amen? Ain't nothing more frustrating than trying to work with somebody who won't listen to you. You know what I'm talking about? Do you not think it's, as the scripture describes it, that we don't want to frustrate the grace of God? I don't want to frustrate. Paul said, we don't frustrate the grace of God. I didn't receive the grace of God in vain. It would frustrate the grace of God. Why? God's grace has an agenda. Y'all heard me say this. What's the agenda of God? His grace is found in Titus 2, 11 through 14. To teach us how to say no to ourselves and to say yes to Jesus. And if I'm not listening to the grace of God, if I ain't in the school of grace, I'm frustrating the grace of God because the grace of God has one agenda. That is to bring the salvation and all that it has unto God's people and to teach them to say no to ungodliness and worldly lust and to say yes to righteousness and godliness and sober living, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And if that grace isn't doing that in it, we frustrate it. We frustrate it because it has an agenda. And it's going to stick with the agenda. And we don't want to frustrate God's grace over our life. Amen? Because if God gets frustrated with it, guess who else gets frustrated with it? God's people that the grace of God is working in and through to help people. Because if you're frustrating the king of kings, you're frustrating the king's people. And we don't want to frustrate his people either. Amen? Why? That's why we all work together to let God at work. And that's what Paul's saying here. We have the answer. to deal with the problem but it's going to hinge on you listening to Him be the glory.