One Saturday morning a minister was busily trying to prepare his sermon under the most difficult conditions. It was a rainy day, and his young son was restless and bored, with little to do. Finally, in desperation, the minister picked up an old magazine and thumbed through it until he came to a large brightly colored picture. It showed a map of the world.
He tore the page from the magazine, ripped it into little pieces and scattered the scraps all over the living room floor with the words, “Son, if you can put this page together I’ll give you a dollar.”
The minister hoped that this might take his son most of the morning, but 10 minutes later there was a knock on his study door His son had completed the puzzle. The minister was amazed to see that his son had finished the project so soon, with the pieces of paper neatly arranged and the map of the world back in order.
“Son, how did you get that done so fast?” “Oh, said the boy, it was easy. On the other side there was a picture of a man. I just put a piece of paper on the bottom, put the picture of the man together, put a piece of paper of top and then turned it over. I figured that if I got the man right, the world would be right.”
His father smiled and handed his son a dollar.
“Not only have you earned that dollar, but you’ve given me my sermon for tomorrow: ‘If a man is right, his world will be right.’”
My title this morning: If you are right then your world will be right.
Now we have to define what it means to be “right”.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “right” is an adjective that means “morally or socially correct or acceptable”, “agreeing with the facts or truth: accurate or correct”; “speaking, acting, or judging in a way that agrees with the facts or truth”.
Notice the “or” in the definition: morally or socially, facts or truth, accurate or correct.
Now I point this out for a reason. Why is this significant?
• People decide what is morally or socially correct or acceptable for them. Do you see a problem with this statement? The problem, ladies and gentlemen, is that we make ourselves the final authority of what is morally or socially correct. Do you see this?
Is it any wonder, ladies and gentlemen, that we now have states where you can legally purchase marijuana? You know why? It’s because we have decided that we can determine what is moral and what is not moral and what is acceptable and not acceptable.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me say this: there is no way on planet earth that those states that now have marijuana as a legal substance could have done that without the support of Christians. We are the ones, ladies and gentlemen, that God looks to when things like this happen.
The Bible says judgment begins where? In the house of God. Where are you? You’re in the house of God. This is where the judgment starts ladies and gentlemen.
God doesn’t expect those who don’t know Him to respond to Him like those of us who are supposed to know Him.
Those of us who call ourselves sons.
Those of us who call ourselves Christians.
Those of us who call ourselves disciples.
• The reason the, that we are the ones who decide what is morally or socially correct is because we make decisions – we make decisions – with a “what’s best for me” mentality. This is the cornerstone for how they view and interact with the world.
I’m talking about Christians ladies and gentlemen. I’m not talking about the men and women who don’t know God. I’m talking about those of us sitting in the pews or watching via the Internet who have the life and nature of God living on the inside of them. We still make decisions that are in our best interest.
I’m not saying anything that surprises any of you if you’re honest about it when light of truth shines on your life. We’ve all at one time or another have made decisions that best for us, not best for the kingdom.
• Webster’s talks about facts and truth. In general, very few people see a distinction between fact and truth. Very few makes this distinction because, for them, their facts are their truths.
I’m going to pick on Barry again. Barry is battling arthritis. It is a “fact” that I’m battling. The Bible says that the “fact” that I’m battling – the truth will set me free. And the truth that sets me free: the Bible says that by Jesus’ stripes I am healed. That’s the truth that sets me free from this fact.
He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from all of their destruction. That’s the truth that delivers me from this fact.
But most people in this life, ladies and gentlemen, they don’t see a distinction between what is fact and what is truth. For them, the arthritis is their truth. But the Bible says something different.
But if I am the arbiter of what is moral and what is social, then the arthritis is my truth. But it’s not. It’s simply a fact. Just like I’m wearing contact lenses. It is simply a fact. It’s not truth. Truth says that by his stripes I am healed so I should be seeing 20/20. I’m working on that!
For many of us in the body of Christ, we have taken our morality and we have set it on a shelf. And since we have set our morality on a shelf, we can now live in a world that is socially acceptable. That’s where we live ladies and gentlemen. It’s not a pretty place.
We have taken ourselves and put ourselves in the same place that is dominated and ruled by the enemy of the soul. Whenever God’s Word says one thing and we do the opposite, which is part of the world, then we are taking ourselves out of the place where we live.
And when you take yourself out of the place where you live, then you are giving yourself access to the enemy of the soul. He doesn’t need the access because he’s a thief. But you don’t need to help him! Don’t help the thief steal from you by screaming “The door is unlocked! The windows are open!”
This definition says there is a place in life where we can be moral or social. We can do what’s morally acceptable or we can do what is socially acceptable. That’s what Webster’s definition tells us.
Ladies and gentlemen, I got news for you. If the socially acceptable thing is not morally acceptable to God, you are wrong. There is no grey anywhere. No grey.
We think that God is like us. We think God will put up with certain things. We think God will let some things slide.
God, ladies and gentlemen, is not tolerant. If you think God is tolerant you need to get back into the Bible and read what it says! He is not tolerant! If you don’t believe what He believes, you’re wrong! You’re wrong. And I don’t care how many people like me who stand in the pulpit and say “you’re right”.
“God is okay with that.” He’s not and that’s why the church is so powerless today because we’re living in a place where the power does not exist. Even though we’re sons of God, even though we have God’s life and nature living in us, we are living in a place where that life cannot function. Did you hear me? It cannot not function! God did not design us to function in the world.
I’m going to get ahead of myself. We bring our world with us and we’re going to see this in just a minute.
So let’s look, in scripture, at what it mean to do things in our own best interest instead of being right.
Turn to Numbers 13. Let’s begin with verse one.
(1) And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
(2) Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel
This is very important. When you read “which I give unto the children of Israel what comes to mind? It’s already theirs! It is theirs before they go in and search it out. Is this not what this verse says?): of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, everyone a ruler among them.
(3) And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.
All these men, ladies and gentlemen, were leaders. All those men that he sent into the wilderness, people listened to them. People followed. People obeyed their words. Do you hear me? This is so critically important.
Jump down to verse 17.
(17) And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:
(18) And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; (“See the land” which the Lord has already given you. Keep this in mind.)
(19) And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;
(20) And what the land is (that the Lord has already given to you), whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.
Now let me ask you something. Did Moses not already tell them what they were going to find? He’s telling them you’re going to find “fat” and not “lean”. It’s a no brainer ladies and gentlemen. If God has already given you something do you think He’s going to give you something that is incomplete?
Jump down to verse 25.
(25) And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.
(26) And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
(27) And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey (It was just like you said Moses. We saw it for ourselves!); and this is the fruit of it.
When you read the record, you’ll see that it took two men to bring in a huge pole loaded down with grape vines.
The men tell Moses that everything he has said is true. Now look at the first word of verse 28.
(28) Nevertheless ... Nevertheless. God says that life is sacred to Him. But we say “nevertheless”. We say abortion is okay because it is in our best interest. Do you know that of all the abortions performed less than 1% are because the mother’s life is in danger?
So 99% of the time women kill their babies as a matter of convenience. “It’s not what I had planned.” “I don’t want to be pregnant.” God says life is sacred. That’s a moral decision. But socially, those of us in the body of Christ have cowed down and said it’s okay.
Now it is a woman’s right to have an abortion. But just because you have a right to do something doesn’t mean it’s right to do it. Just because you have a right to do something doesn’t mean God stands behind you and supports you.
The body of Christ has walked so far away from what the Bible says that we don’t see that as an issue any more. Not all us but many of us, we don’t see that as an issue any more. It’s the woman’s right to choose. It is.
But if it is not the choice your Heavenly Father would make, you have made the wrong choice. And with every wrong choice, ladies and gentlemen, hear me out, there are consequences. It’s not like we’re making decisions without knowing what the Bible says. We are making decisions that disagree with what we know that the Bible says.
Do you know why we do that? It’s because we don’t think the Bible has any teeth. We don’t think that if we make a decision against what God’s Word says it won’t come back and bite us in the butt. Trust me when I tell you this. The biting is coming and you’re not going to like it.
(28) Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
(29) The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
Do you see what they’re doing? They’re saying we know what God has said is true. But because we have no faith in God, because we don’t believe God can protect us, because we don’t believe God will keep His word and give us the land He says He’s going to give us – all the people who are greater and stronger than us occupy the land so we can’t take it. Do you see this?
The arthritis that I battle, is a “land” that I am supposed to occupy by the Word of God. When you go in and occupy a land, what happens? You kill or kick out the inhabitants. It’s supposed to go. I have not reached that point where it’s gone.
But my sword is drawn. “For my God shall supply all my need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” “By his stripes he’s healed me.” My sword is drawn. “He sent his word and healed me.” My sword is drawn. And I’m swinging it ladies and gentlemen because I am going to occupy that land!
Either we believe what the Word of God says or we don’t. It’s really simple. Many of us say we believe, but our actions say we don’t. The results in our lives say we don’t.
(30) And Caleb stilled the people before Moses...
“Let’s stop talking about it and go do it! We have God’s word. Just go do it!” Barry, stop talking about battling arthritis. Kick it out. That’s what He wants for all of us. Stop talking about it – stop living with it and kick it out! We all have issues that we’ve decided to live with. Maybe not on purpose but it’s been with us so long that we got a room for it. It has a microwave oven. It has a Lazy-boy chair, and a flat screen TV. We have already accommodated it
... and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
(31) But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
I have a question. If God has already given them the land – occupying the land is not about you. God has already given you the land. You just go in and take it. But the problem for many us, when we go into take something you have to fight. And you see, we aren’t willing to fight. No, I’m going to be nice. We don’t know how to fight. We don’t know how to go in and occupy the land.
The Bible says you go in and occupy the land by not taking any prisoners. A stronghold ladies and gentlemen is a prison. It’s a mental way of thinking. You have in your mind yes, I’m battling arthritis. In your mind, you say I’m battling arthritis. In Barry’s mind, Barry should be saying I’ve kicked arthritis to the curb!
I’m not battling anymore. I have already looked down the road and I see that the room has been cleaned out. No flat screen TV. No easy boy chair. No microwave. None of that. It’s gone. I’ve already kicked it to the curb. That’s my confession because that is confessing truth over fact.
Webster’s dictionary says you can have fact or truth. I can’t have fact or truth when it comes to my body ladies and gentlemen. I only want truth. I can’t speak for you. But I only want the truth that is in the Word that God says is mine..
(32) And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
They are bigger than us and that matters why? If God says I’ve already given you the land, it doesn’t matter what they look like. It does not matter. If God says by his stripes I am healed, nothing else matters.
We need to get it in our heads ladies and gentlemen that when something contradicts the Word, whatever contradicts the Word does not matter.
Whenever there are people in our lives that we love who constantly contradict God’s Word and want us to contradict it with them – this is going to sound so bad, so bad – they don’t matter. It’s your walk with God that matters! And if you’re listening to them, you walk with God is going to be stymied, put on hold.
So you have a decision to make. Are you going to be so concerned about what they say and believe or are you going to say you don’t matter? Now you’re not going to say this to them but you get my point.
When you get to heaven and stand in front of Jesus, He’s not going to say “Barry, Joe your best friend, you listened to him more than you listened to me.” Jesus is not going to say that. He’s not going to say “Joe, come on up here because you’re going to help Barry get into the kingdom because he paid so much attention to you and what you believed.” That’s not happening.
In that case, there’s going to be some weeping and gnashing of teeth for Barry because he flushed his relationship with Jesus right down the toilet.
(33) And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Look at verse 1 of chapter 14 – And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Why did they do that? Because the men who brought back the evil report were men they looked up to, respected and listened to. So surely, if these men are telling us this it has got to be that way.
Many of the folks today will listen to whoever is presenting the Bible to them but never go back to the Bible to see if what they have been told is true.
In the situation we just read, what was morally correct? Taking God at His Word. That was the morally correct thing to do. Take God at His Word and do what He asked you to do.
What was socially correct? We can’t go. We’re not able to do it. It is in our best interest to stay here and all the people agreed.
Don’t you just love polls? They will tell you 80% of the people believe this and 20% believe this with a plus or minus 5% variance rate. Don’t you just love that?!? The only poll that matters to Barry (I hold up the Bible.) is what does this book say?
Going back to the abortion issue – 85% of the people in this country, including Christians, believe it is the woman’s right to choose. I’m sure there are people listening to me, and some may be some women in this room, who say “Barry, how can you have anything to say about this matter? It doesn’t affect you.” Oh yes it does.
For those of you who are watching and listening, let me tell you who benefits the most when a woman has an abortion. The man. The man benefits the most when a woman has an abortion ladies and gentlemen because it frees him of all responsibility. It just allows him to go and do it again – get someone else pregnant.
So, when we make socially correct decisions, we have to weigh those decisions against what’s morally correct according to scripture.
What guided the report of the 10 spies? They were motivated by what they perceived as being in their best interest. And because it was in their best interest, they needed to get the people to agree with them. So they put on a magnificent sales job to get the people to disobey God.
Isn’t that interesting? They did a magnificent selling job to get the people to disobey God. Who else did that? Satan. He did a wonderful selling job to get one-third of the angels to say “God is wrong”.
What meant more to the spies? What they saw (facts) or what God promised (truth)? What meant more? What they could see or what God had said? Living by the five senses or living by faith? Which do you choose?
Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power of tongue. If you choose death you are living by the five senses. If you choose life, you are living by faith.
In this passage, was it possible for the man who had a sin nature to be right? Yes, by simply taking God at His Word and obeying Him.
In this passage, was it possible for that man’s world to be right? What “world” are we talking about? Jesus helps us in John 8. Look at verse 23.
And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above (That’s one comparison.): ye are of this world; I am not of this world (That’s the second comparison.).
So what made the Pharisees from beneath? They were of this world. They had a sin nature. The “world” on the inside of them was a sin-natured world. It was a world that had eternal death working in it.
Remember I said earlier that when we come into a situation we bring our world with us? The last line on your notes, and I know I’m jumping ahead, says we cannot change the world but we can change the person’s world. We can’t change the world but we can change the person’s world.
What made Jesus from above? We’re going to read the first 14 verses of John 1.
(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(2) The same was in the beginning with God.
(3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
(4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
(5) And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (It’s not that they didn’t understand. They understood and rejected the light.)
(6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
(7) The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
(8) He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
(9) That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
(10) He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
(11) He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
(12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
(13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
When we believe on Jesus it gives us the power to become sons of God. So what is it ladies and gentlemen that makes our world right? Accepting Jesus as you Lord and Savior. Once you do that, you have a new world operating on the inside of you because you have a new nature
And the sad part for me: we have a different world operating in us than the world we experience every day of our lives, and yet we’re allowing the world that we experience every day of our lives dictate how the world on the inside of us responds to it.
This may come as a shock. Jesus didn’t have that problem. There was no more a loving person to walk the face of the earth. But when he came face to face with something that disagreed with what his Father had said, he was done. His world was all that mattered. That should be us. If it does not agree with the world of our new nature, we should be done.
There are folks in our lives ladies and gentlemen that we need to get out. It’s not pretty. It’s not fun. But they need to be out of our lives.
Look at John 3:3 – Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Now turn to Luke 17. We’re going to close with verses 20 and 21.
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Where is the kingdom of God? It is in you because you now have the life and nature of God living in you. Your world is now right. It’s only through not taking care of that world do we allow things to pollute it. And the only way we can take care of the world on the inside is by focusing on the book that is designed to help us live by the world on the inside.
This may come as a shock to some of you but the Bible does not tell us what is right and what is wrong. You are born again with God’s life and nature. You should already know what is right and what is wrong. No one should have to tell you what you already know.
The Bible confirms and affirms what we already have on the inside. It’s designed to take our minds, which are unchanged when we get born again, to conform to the world inside of us. That’s why we have to renew our minds.
And for those in the body of Christ who are making decisions that go against their new nature, they are hearing warning signs all over the place. They are feeling something on the inside that is disrupting their peace.
The spirit of God, that life on the inside of us, is not going to let us purposely do something against it without screaming bloody murder. For those of you in the sound of my voice, if you are not hearing bloody murder, you need to take a time out. You need to repent because you are on the verge of walking away from this precious gift you have received.
A person’s world is right the moment he or she accepts Jesus as their lord and savior.
