A Way That Seems Right To A Man — Randy Krahn

The Way That Seems Right and the Danger of Resisting God

Lord, this is the day that you've made and we rejoice and we're glad in it. We're grateful You're pleased to meet with us. Your presence is among us as we seek you with all the heart. There's a scripture that says there's a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is destruction.

Another scripture says a man plans his way. But God directs our steps If we're yielded to the Lord. And he's able to bring that about in our life but if we're constantly find ourselves fighting him in the flesh and Resisting the Holy Spirit we can't expect anything from God.

You know, there's a scripture that says you stiff neck and hard-hearted that Stephen preached when The Jews were there listening to him under the unction of the Holy Spirit. He said you always resist the Holy Spirit.

We have to be cautious that we don't resist the Holy Spirit in our life. Does the Holy Spirit come to lead us in the way in which you should go? To obey the things that Jesus taught us and to walk worthy of the calling of God.

Jesus, the Pharisees, and the Traditions of Men

Read a passage Matthew 15 there's two covenants. We've been beating this drum for a while now. The old covenant Which is governed by the moon, which is the law. The new covenant, which is governed by the Sun which is Jesus.

The Pharisees Were the rulers of the day. They were the the guides to the blind yet Jesus in Confronting them. He he came to expose the fact that they themselves were blind and they themselves were practicing sin.

May we be found in him not having our own righteousness like the righteousness of the Pharisees. Because Jesus himself said unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees you will in no way Enter the kingdom of God or inherit the kingdom of God.

So this is what was happening in Matthew in chapter 15 of the scribes and the Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus saying Why do your disciples? transgress the tradition of the elders. For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.

And he answered and said to them and why do you also? transgress or sin against the commandment of God because of your traditions. For God commanded saying honor your father and mother and he who curses father and mother let him be put to death.

But you say whoever says to his father and mother whatever prophet you might have received from me is a gift from God. Then he need not honor his father and his mother. Thus you have the made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

Hypocrite so the Pharisees were finding fault with Jesus and his disciples. Hypocrites always find fault with others and they go around talking about others to make themselves feel just a little bit better.

It's like one hand that that can push a little more weight. Mocking another hand because he finds fault with it. In comparison to God we are like ants. We are small and we need to consider ourselves a little in our own eyes.

Lest we measure ourselves among ourselves and compare ourselves by ourselves. Not too long ago. I've seen a video of a guy. He was he was lifting dead lifting. And then I saw a video of my son. He was doing some dead lifting.

I thought man and then another fellow came along and he says if you're gonna get lift like that. You're gonna break your back and then you're gonna have trouble like me. We think ourselves to be something and all of a sudden we find ourselves crippled.

Because God does not allow us to exalt ourselves in his presence let no flesh glory in his presence. So it doesn't matter how strong we are spiritually how great we are and what great things we've done for God.

God looks at the heart. It doesn't matter what measure we've attained to in leadership God looks at the heart. Men can appoint people into positions. God appoints people into ministry. And so we can go all over the world and fulfill the Commission to preach the gospel to every nation.

But if the Holy Spirit didn't send you and you just went. You're not working for God. You're working for yourself or for the devil. These Pharisees were trying to find fault with Jesus so that they could elevate themselves a little bit higher than Jesus and Put him in his place because who is Jesus and who are his disciples?

They're nobody's in their opinion and Jesus challenged them on The state of their hearts and he said according to the Word of God what you do is. You've made some kind of tradition of man. So when it says honor your father and mother Specifically means we shouldn't curse our father and mother.

But also in this passage it means when your father and mother have worked and they turn Whatever age where they cannot work anymore. They're 60 65 70. They cannot provide for themselves anymore. Then the children should help their parents and provide for the parents so they don't go hungry.

You should look after them when they're older. This is honorable to God and this is what it means to honor your father and mother but the Pharisees it says we're lovers of money. They love money and they came up with the tradition of men so that what would happen is they'd say listen.

You don't have to give your parents the money. What you do is you can do something one better and you can give it to God in other words Put it into our offering plate so that we can get a hold of it. And then you're released from your obligation to do anything for your mom and dad even though they don't have food to eat and a roof over their head and Jesus is exposing their love of money.

He's exposing the rottenness of their heart through the traditions of men. Many times we have all kinds of rules and these rules have a form of godliness. They make us feel like we're really spiritual but then in the process of time God manifests that our hearts are not right and So God is interested in the heart.

He's not interested in the outward show. He's interested in the heart because it's what the heart one believes under righteousness and it's also what the heart one believes and unrighteousness and You are known by your deeds.

It says in Titus in chapter 1 verse 15 and 16. It speaks about people who profess to know God. But by their actions they deny God you can deny Jesus not just with your lips and say Jesus leave my life.

You can also deny Jesus and say Jesus leave my life by going back and practicing sin. This is there's two ways to deny Jesus to profess to know God like the Pharisees but by their actions they are denying God because there's greed in their heart and so they're there they're standing in the door and they themselves don't want to go through the door and they're hindering any serious people from going through like Bringing rules of men and keeping them from going through with God.

The Heart, Money, and True Righteousness

We have to be careful that we don't follow men like these and we don't become the men like these. Having traditions of men and Being lovers of money. This is a dangerous thing and we're susceptible to it in our society because you know.

We want to be wise we want to make good choices. We want to save we want to be good stewards. But then it can turn into the love of money and you know what if you start loving money God will discipline you and the next thing you know, you'll be losing money.

This is an area where God's dealing with me from time to time. All of a sudden I start thinking hey, okay I'm getting ahead next thing. You know, I'm losing money. Then I start to think and sit back and I say Lord.

Do I have a love of money in my heart because you know what we don't even know our own hearts. We think we know our hearts until something manifests and then we get light on ourselves. God knows our hearts, but we don't know our own.

Just as it says a way seems right to a minute boy, I should do this. I get ahead but the end of it is destruction and The Lord's able to keep us he's able to preserve us. He's able to help us to stay in that narrow way, but we have to give him the right to be Lord.

We can't profess to know him and then by our actions deny him we have to be careful in this regard so here the Pharisees are and Jesus is. He's in a spiritual war with these men and he says hypocrites.

It's interesting. He calls him hypocrites. That's like fighting words. Someone calls you hypocrite. That's a fighting word. He says this is what Isaiah prophesied about you and he says specifically Isaiah prophesied about you exactly you.

That's what he was speaking about. He said these people honor me with their mouth. They say they love God. They honor me with their lips. They say Jesus. I love you. But in their hearts, they're so far from me and When they worship me.

Whatever that means of worship is. That means of worship is an outward show teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. It's outward worship. It's not true worship. Jesus said in through the passage where Paul preaches in Romans in chapter 12.

He says offer your bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord. Pleasing and acceptable to him which is your reasonable act of worship. When we surrender our bodies to the Lord to be obedient to the Word of God, this is worship.

But then the opposite of worship is The doctrines of men obeying the doctrines of men having an outward form of godliness. But denying the power of God to change your life so that your life from the inside Causes your hands and your feet to become godly.

Because we're to serve God both spirit soul and body. There's sanctification that has to happen spirit soul and body and if they're not lining up. Then we have a problem with our teachings. We have some other way worked up.

And so we tell ourselves. I love you Lord. We stand up and worship and we sing these songs, but our bodies are not lining up with the Word of God. These people honor me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me.

And then he went on to talk about these things here and understand verse 10. It's not what goes in the mouth that defiles a man, but it's what comes out of your mouth. These are the things that defile a man, gossip, slander, envy, jealousy, bitterness, drunkenness, all these sins.

The sins of the flesh, fornication, adultery, he lists them here. These are the things that come out of the heart and they defile us and make us unclean. But what you put in your mouth that does not make you unclean.

So eating with your unwashed hands or eating or drinking from cups that are not as clean as you think. This is a form of godliness. This is religion. But what comes out of the heart. Thinking ourselves to be just a one millimeter higher spiritually than someone else.

This is what will take you to hell. This living by rules and regulations. Dotting eyes and crossing teeth thinking ourselves to have attained to something. It's no different in the sports world. You know if you can just be a little bit better than the next guy.

Then you get the opportunity and the same thing in a spiritual sense. We take that competitive spirit. We bring it into the church and then we think ourselves to be something when we're nothing. May god help us to understand that the greatest among us shall be least and servant of all.

Watchfulness, Truth, and Faithful Stewardship

Let's have a look in Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12 verse 35. Let your waste be girded. What is our ways to be girded with? With truth. It doesn't say it but we understand scripture from scripture. That's why it's important to study the word of god.

To show yourself a proof to god. So when you read something the holy spirit is able to grab and to pull from other scriptures to enlighten us. So that we might walk as elaine shared in the light. Let your waste be girded and your lamps burning.

Now in the church or in god's house, the light has to be burning continually. And so we need to have the word illuminated in our lives by truth and by the holy spirit. And here it speaks of good stewards faithful stewards.

Let your waste be girded and your lamps burning. And you yourselves be like men who wait for their master. The master is jesus. We're waiting for him to come. And he says and when he will return from the wedding.

That when he comes and he knocks. We may open to him quickly. I think of another passage in revelation 3. He says behold I stand at the door and knock if any man Opens the door or hears my voice and opens the door.

I will sup with him and eat with me. That's the communion. That's the fellowship that we have in jesus. And if we're watching And he's knocking and we know the voice. We know the master. We are we know the difference between our master and a thief.

Because the thief comes to rob to kill to steal and destroy. We're not opening up to him. We're opening up to to the master. And the only way we're going to come to know his voice Is if we love truth.

Jesus said ye shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free and if you have a purpose and a call of god on your life. Then you need to be a lover of truth. Because jesus said I am the way the truth and the life.

You're going to have life when you're walking in truth. If you're walking in another way, you're not going to have the life because he who has the son has the life. And so if I don't have the life then I have to back up the boss and say have I just been Doing some things in religious duty.

And it's left me discouraged. Or am I doing things from the holy spirit, which would always leave me encouraged. And so it's good to examine and to test whether we're in faith or whether we're we're doing some works.

And trying to please god by our duties. Because that will leave us discouraged. There's a teaching here that I just got this morning which connects to another teaching. I want to bring it out right now here.

Blessed are those servants. These are ministers whom god has called like you and I. Whom the master when he comes will find watching. The wastes are girded with truth and their lamps are burning. We're full of the holy spirit and we're watchful the lights on.

And I surely I say to you that he will gird himself. That's you. You're going to gird yourself. You're going to have them come. The lord's going to come back. The master is going to come back with his servants.

And have them sit down. And you will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch in the third watch and find them blessed are those servants. We're watching the knock comes the door opens we gird ourselves and we serve them.

This is the the the stewardship and the responsibility of the servant the one who's in charge to serve others. Lord when were you hungry and I fed you lord? When were you thirsty and I gave you a drink lord?

When were you sick and I visited you when were you in prison? And I came to you what you did to the least of the brothers you did to me but then there's another parable that says. There's a man who went out in the field and when he comes in he expects that the lord the master Would have him come and sit down and that the lord would serve him after he worked all day in the field.

Did all this for the lord for the master? And he says does he thank that servant when he comes in for all the work that he did that day? He said I think not. He says That the master is going to sit down.

And after you worked all day in the field, then you're going to come in and then you're going to serve him some more. Does he thank that servant? No, that servant did he's just going to say I am an unprofitable servant doing what was my duty to do.

And he's going to continue to serve and then he's going to eat his supper. But you know what? We have this wrong understanding. We worked all day in the field now. We're going to sit down and jesus is going to do something great for us.

No, we're going to continue to serve. Because we are just unprofitable servants. When they're watching he's been watching he's been faithful. He's been waiting and then jesus comes and then he girds himself and he serves them.

But you know what we get this wrong thinking that now we're going to get served. We have this wrong understanding that if you want to be great in the kingdom of god. You've got to become least and servant of all.

And jesus gave us that example when he called the brothers to sit down. And he he girded himself in a certain way. And he humbled himself and he washed all the brothers feet. And he gave them an example in which they should also do likewise.

And they didn't understand it at the time. But that's the way it was going to be. And that's the way it's going to be for us. We're always serving. We're always giving. We're always Laying our life down for jesus because that's the way of the cross.

That's the mystery of the gospel because christ is in you. You're also able to wash others. And we can never Be bitter with the lord because we did all this for him. What has he done for me? That will take you to hell my friend.

That's working for wages. That's legalism and god allows these things in our life to show us that all that we did we did expecting to get. We cannot expect anything Except to love god from a pure heart good conscience and sincere faith because we've been bought with a price.

Joseph as a Faithful and Wise Steward

We spoke last week of joseph. He was sold into slavery. He went into potter's house in shackles. And god elevated him to be head of that house. He was a faithful and a wise steward. In the prison as soon as he got there, he was elevated to be in charge of the prison.

He was a faithful and wise prisoner. And then when he got out of that prison he was elevated to be over pharaoh's whole Estate and and the country. He was a faithful and a wise servant. This is what we need to become faithful and wise stewards.

Hearing God’s Voice and Rejecting Idols

Otherwise we will never fulfill the purpose and call of god for our life. Psalm 81. Psalm 81 verse. Verse 8 hear all my people and I will admonish you. I don't know anybody who likes Admonishment. My kids don't like it.

I don't like it. I've given admonishment to others. It's a bit. It's a bitter pill to swallow at the moment. But you know what? If we can receive it if it comes from the holy spirit if we can receive it.

It will yield the peace of the fruit of righteousness. Whenever the word of god is speaking to us. It's admonishment. It's for comfort. It's for edification. It's for reproof. It's like looking in the mirror and saying lord.

This is the way I need to be help me to become that man. And not forgetting about who we are. And the kind of man we're to be and go and do our own thing. This is a deception. Hero people and I will admonish you.

Oh israel if you will listen to me. There shall be no foreign god among you now, this is something that is in our culture. We don't we would say we don't have really any foreign gods and some of the other religions do.

But you know, we're christians. We don't have any foreign gods. But you know what every single one of us have a close second or we have a strong first. And it can be an idol. And these foreign gods are among us.

The gods of the nations. I don't care what it is that the holy spirit speak to you what it is. And we have to guard against this thing that this thing does not get a hold of our hearts. Because god cannot bless us.

And we will not prosper if we worship other gods for one of the commandments is you shall worship the lord your god and him. Only shall you serve. If we're serving self or we're serving idols god cannot bless us.

And he says here in an exhortation. You shall have no foreign gods among you. Nor shall you worship any foreign god. What does worship of a foreign god look like. It's the time and the devotion that we give to it.

For every one of us. It's different. It's the time and the devotion we give to it. It has no life in it but yet We all battle with this thing in one form or another whether it be money whether it be an object whether it be a sport whether it be hobby.

Whether it be a woman whether it be a son. It doesn't matter even good things that god gives can become Idols in our life and we need to be. We need to hear the voice of god in regard to this thing so we don't get tricked by it.

And so what happens here that he says I am the lord your god who brought you up out of the land of egypt. When he says I brought you out of the land of egypt he brought us out of bondage. We came out of bondage.

He calls them the house of israel. We are now the people of god. He brought us out of bondage. We're to not go back into bondage by going and serving other gods or idols. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it in other words.

Don't get fed by what you can get out of. The things of the world it says do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world the love Of the father's not in him. But come to me and he said I would feed you with the finest of wheat.

So if we would just open our mouth and seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Then he's going to fill our mouths with good things and satisfy us. With the finest of wheat from his word. From his spirit we drink from the fountains of life.

But my people would not heed my voice when it says would not heed my voice means they won't listen to me. So when you spend time in the word. Stop thinking. Oh, I wish that was for my sister. Oh, that's for my uncle.

Well, that's for my brother-in-law. Well, that's for my stepdad. Well, that's for my grandson. This is for you. The word of god is written for your admonition and instruction and when you look into the mirror the perfect law of liberty.

This word is written for us not to analyze or to text it or send it to everybody else but to obey ourselves. And as we find fellowship with the lord and the lord speaks to us and we heed his voice. That we're going to become like christ.

When we submit ourselves to the dealings of the holy spirit in our life and you'll become broken in contract. Yesterday I was listening to that new song I sent to some of you uh from uh, Cody Carnes. About the blood driving down the road.

It was just He was just ministering to me. And I didn't really know what it was about but I knew it was all about him and it wasn't about me. We have to come to that place where the word of god speaks to us.

And we get a revelation Of what jesus has done for us. How he sacrificed his own life and he shed his own blood for us. So that we could have life. We can never lose that that's what communion is all about.

But we would feed on his flesh and drink of his blood. So we might have his life. As you would have none of me. So I gave them over. To a stubborn heart. How many of us find ourselves sometimes having a stubborn heart.

We used to have a pup. He was a bull master. And we put a leash on him and we tried to get him to go. And he would just put all fours down and would have to drag him. He would not move. Because he wouldn't want to go where we were going because he was a dog.

People who are dogs and pigs they have stubborn hearts. They don't want to go where the lord is leading them to go because they have another way they want to go. And they want god to go their way and make it work their way, but that's not the way it works.

We take the yoke. He yokes us together with christ. He said my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Take my yoke upon you. And learn of me because I am humble and gentle in heart. Will you receive his yoke?

Will you learn of him? Will you do it his way? Will you just be bullheaded? And just put your feet down. And say i'm not going to like it or i'll obey but I won't like it one bit. This is not what the holy spirit wants for you in your life.

If you allow yourself to be broken and take the yoke, you'll have much use for you If you let him. But his people here they had stubborn hearts. They would not walk in his council. They wanted to walk in their own council.

It says in verse 12 Oh that my people would listen to me. This is the heart of a father. Oh that my people would listen to me. When I get up in the morning and I give my kids instructions everybody sits there and they keep doing what they're doing.

I would just have this in my heart. Oh that my people would listen to me. I would soon have subdued their enemies. How many of you have enemies? We don't wrestle people. We have spiritual enemies. We don't wrestle flesh and blood principalities and powers.

We have struggles. Some of us battle with lust. Some people battle with love of money. Some people battle with the guy their boss at work. Some people battling with other brothers. Everybody has a battle.

But the enemy's working through it to try to get us out of the way to try to bring division and divide and conquer us. Any army that can bring division in the ranks to divide and conquer is a defeated army.

Any army that is unified under one commander behold now I have come. The commander of the army of the lord. Are you for us or for them? No behold now I have come. Jesus has come. If we come in line with jesus and we all follow after him, we're going to find ourselves getting tighter together and getting unified.

One can chase a thousand and two ten thousand a court of three is not easily broken. May the lord give you understanding in these things. Oh that my people would listen to me that ezra would walk in my ways.

I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their adversaries. But this is the issue this is the key point verse 15 the haters of the lord. Would pretend obedience to him or submission to him, but their punishment would be forever.

Love you lord. But when it comes to being obedient to the word of god. Mm-hmm. Not going to do it. I'm going to do it my way. Jesus you're going to do it my way or it's the highway. That's a hater of the lord.

He pretends to be obedient to the lord, but his punishment his fate is everlasting destruction. He said also in luke 14 verse 15 If you love me, you'll obey my work. And I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters says the lord almighty.

I'll send you a helper a comforter who will abide with you forever. If you love him obey his word, but the haters of the lord. Their punishment is forever. They pretend obedience. They have another way worked out.

They have commandments of men that they're working by. Whatever it might be. We have to be careful. That we don't profess to know god. But by our actions we deny him and we raise our hands and we say I love you lord.

While we're practicing sin and living like devils and while we're doing our own thing and walking according to the flesh. And we're just having a form of godliness, but we don't have any power over sin in our life.

We don't have any power over the flesh. We don't have a real love for the lost. We don't have a burden for hurting people. We deceive ourselves and our works are in vain. Our works and our worship toward them are in vain teaching commandments of men as doctrines.

But I would have fed you with the finest of wheat. And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied. There's so many riches that are in jesus. So many promises that are made to you through jesus to us when we're in covenant with him.

Christ in You, the Hope of Glory

May the lord help us to become the friends of jesus. To walk in a manner pleasing unto him putting off the former man with his lusts. And putting on the lord jesus christ. Putting off the grave clothes.

You know when they called lazarus forth out of the tomb and jesus wept. And he called lazarus forth. The people said well, he's been dead for days. He's already stinking in there. He said this is for the glory of god.

And he called lazarus forth. How can a dead man hear? What a miracle. Sometimes we're shooting texts to our buddies and we're trying to exhort everybody. You know, you're exhorting dead men. You're exhorting deaf men.

You're trying to show the truth of god's word to blind men. Are we ignorant? Do we understand that? There's absolutely no way that they can inherit the kingdom of god because flesh and blood can never inherit the kingdom of god.

There has to be a voice of one crying in the wilderness preparing the way for the lord making his path straight. We need to hear the voice lazarus come forth. That's when dead men hear. The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the son of man and live.

You be a preacher that speaks the words of jesus. You speak life. And people will come out of their graves. To be obedient to the word of god. Otherwise, it's impossible for them to obey the word of god.

Unless the spirit enlightens them unless the spirit illuminates them and quickens their spirit and they become alive. He says in ephesians 2 you were dead in your trespasses and sins just as dead as lazarus was in that grave.

But he made us alive together with christ. He seated us together with him in heavenly places us in him and he and us. This is the mystery of the gospel christ in you the hope of glory. Not the traditions of men in you not the doctrines of men.

Not the keeping of the commandments of ordinances and rules and regulations. This is not the liberty that comes from christ. This is a burden that comes from men. May the lord help us to understand that p .u .s. The son has the life.

We need to have christ in us the hope of glory. That's where change comes. And if we have another way worked out then we're going to find ourselves bringing men back into bondage. So Stand fast in the liberty by which christ has made us free and don't get entangled again in a yoke of bondage.

May the lord give you understanding in the things that I say Jesus is the way the truth and the life. It's by faith. You the holy spirit quickens you. Hey, go and make a reconciliation with that brother over there.

Hey, go and share a word. With that brother. I don't know that brother. Well, just go and share it keeps coming. Okay. I'll be obedient. You take a step of faith. That's the way. And then all of a sudden it bears witness to the truth and it brings forth life.

It's like giving an hour to someone who's dead or who's discouraged or who's in bondage and liberating them by the spirit. This is the way that we need to walk. We need to learn his voice to follow him.

Living Water and Leaving the Water Pot Behind

And when we walk in a way like that. And you yourself who water will be watered you will be refreshed. Jesus said the last day that day of the great feast anyone who thirsts. Come to me. If you have a thirst for something, maybe you've been satisfying it at the well going there to draw.