The Psalm writer wrote:  Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received.   This is the word of God.  It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.  

Have you ever watched the TV show Leave it to Beaver? It was a show about at nice small town boy named the Beav, and his older brother Wally, growing up in a typical American home in the 1960’s. The Beav and Wally had a friend named Eddie Haskell. Eddie was a lying, manipulative, two faced trouble maker. Every opportunity he got he sought to get the Cleaver boys into some kind of trouble. Eddie was best known for hiding his troublemaking ways behind a veneer of smiles, flattery, and deception, fooling Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver on a regular basis. To those who did not know him, who were not acquainted with his ways, he seemed like an all around nice boy. Typically, though the Beav and Wally were polite, respectful young men, they were led astray by Eddie, and rarely did their positive influence flow in the other direction and have an impact on him. He was a troublemaker, and the Cleaver boys would have been wise to have avoided having him as a friend. However, that was just a sitcom. Real life is much different, is it not? In real life, we are able to mingle with wicked men, have close friends who are stumbling blindly down paths of sin, and develop intimate relationships with those who hate God, and all the influence in the relationship will flow from us, to them, right? We develop these intimate relationships with sinners so that we can be salt and light, showing them the love of Christ with the way we live our lives. You know “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary use words”. We teach sinners about Christ and our relationship with him, by the way we live our lives. As Christians, who we associate with, whether in our workplaces, on Instagram, or in our homeschool co-op, doesn’t really matter, does it? That’s not what the bible says.
Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.
This is not simply good advice. These words are meant to keep you from hellfire. Brothers and sisters, the path of the wicked is the broad road to destruction. Not only are we told to not enter this path, or to walk in it, but we are commanded to avoid it all together. What fellowship does light have with darkness? A little leaven leavens the whole lump, does it not? But what do we do?
We deceive ourselves.
We claim Christian liberty.
We compromise with sin.
We deceive ourselves by believing that the influence being exerted in our relationships flows only one way, from us to our friend. We have such lofty opinions of ourselves and our relationship with God that we ignore the command of scripture which says “He who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”, and in our pride we enter into intimate relationships with sinners and wind up looking, sounding, and behaving just like them. In our self deception we believe we can bring hot coals to our bosoms and not get burned.
In our self deception, we scramble to paint our lives as one big gray area, with everything falling into the category of “Christian Liberty”. You know, that teaching in scripture which says because you are saved, you are now free to trample the grace of God. Hiding behind “Christian Liberty” allows you to fill your mind with the same blasphemous entertainment as your friends. It permits you to be overly harsh and crass. You can partake in the dirty jokes. Under the guise of liberty, you are free to dress just as all your friends do, strutting around, flaunting your body for all the world to see, and would feign indignation should someone suggest you cover up. Holding up Christian liberty as a banner, we quickly begin looking, behaving, and sounding just like the world. Instead of exposing their evil deeds, we become just like them.
Lastly, this abuse of Christian liberty leads to a compromise with sin. “That movie is just so good, except for that one sex scene. I will try to close my eyes. Well, that and the 50x my Lord’s Name was taken in vain.” Having abused Christian liberty, things that once made us cringe and repel, now get a pass because deep down, we are titillated by it. It isn’t just movies. Social media, everyone's favorite slave master, is filled with tasty little morsels of vulgarity, soft core pornography, and other kinds of rebellion. You can even troll the pages of other Christians and get your fill of sin. Christian liberty is all the rage.
 The Pastor has talked at length lately regarding womanhood, femininity, and modesty. Perhaps you have found yourself saying “By the bible’s standard, my friend does dress and act like a harlot. So what?” you might think. “It’s hot outside, she’s comfortable, and she’s cute. So why not?” Or maybe that is you. Perhaps you are the one seeking to live in the gray area, one foot in Christ, one foot in the world. “What’s that mean, one foot in Christ, one foot in the world?” It means, you are an idolater, and at war with God. God will not be mocked. He will not share His glory with another. God does not compromise with sin. He demands your obedience, and the Proverb today is clear: Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.
In Proverbs 3 we read that when we trust in the Lord with all our heart, and lean not on our own understanding, in all our ways acknowledging Him,  He will direct our steps. Psalm 23 tells us that our Good Shepherd, Jesus, will lead us onto paths of righteousness for His namesake. What path do you find yourself on today? Do your steps conform to the image of the world, or Christ? Are you on the broad road to destruction, or the narrow path which leads to life? The good news is that today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. Today is the day of salvation. Let us kneel and confess our sins to a Holy God Who is faithful and just to forgive the sins of those who call upon the Name of Jesus.
Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning as frail, feeble creatures who are prone to wander. We are easily deceived by the promises of sin. We use the liberty found in Christ as a license to sin, and we frequently find ourselves compromising with that which you hate. Father, far too often we allow ourselves to be led along by sinful appetites, and preferences, and the influence of friends, rather than by Your Word and the Holy Spirit. Too often we take our cues from the world, which hates You, seeking to satisfy the sinful appetites of our flesh, rather than warring against them. Please be merciful to us Father. Please soften our hard hearts and help us to recognize our rebellion and flee to the cross of Christ. Please forgive us of our sins against You. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
 Listen now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to all that believe: 

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!   


(From the 8/25/19 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie)

 The Psalm writer wrote:  Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God.  It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.  

The Hebrew Word qashab (kaw-shab’), translated as “Give Attention”, means to incline (ears), or attend. Other translations include:
 give heed, incline, listen, make yourself attentive, pay attention.
Athletes are expected to pay attention to their coaches.
Children to their parents.
Drivers to traffic laws.
Citizens of a nation are required to give heed to the laws of that land.
Students are expected to listen to the instructions of their teachers.
Employees listen to the directions of their supervisor.
Soldiers must be attentive to their commander’s orders.
Everywhere we look in life, we see someone instructing, and another who is expected to heed the instructions. It is a way of life. In ordinary, everyday circumstances, it is common to see someone issuing commands, and another responding in obedience. Employees think nothing of taking heed of their foreman’s directives. For instance, your supervisor may say: “Mr. Johnson, Monday morning I would like you to move over to bay 2 and begin assembling the refrigerator compressor according to applicable work instructions.” Nothing would be thought odd about instructions such as this, and likely Mr. Johnson would comply and complete the job according to his abilities.
Not only are we frequently given tasks, and expected to follow through on them, but much of our work may demand a high level of attention to detail. Brain surgeons following practices that have been developed over the course of years would need to have a keen eye, paying attention to all the fine details of their intricate work to complete their task successfully. Being attentive in medical school pays dividends in situations such as this.
Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, And give attention that you may gain understanding,
Do we give adequate heed to the instructions of our Heavenly Father? When God speaks in His Word, do you pay attention, or have you grown so familiar with the Word, that you check out while reading the familiar passages? Are you as meticulous in your study and application of God’s Word as you are when scouring social media for a little tidbit of gossip?
How do we approach the Word of God?
When we get to a difficult passage, do we skip over it? God’s Word says take heed.
What about a passage that makes you feel uncomfortable? Do you seek out a teacher that will sugar coat its implications, or do you look for the one who will speak truth to you? God’s Word says to “Incline your ear”.
Maybe you are reading God’s Word and get cut to the heart, convicted of sin. God’s Word says to repent, yet instead, you try to run. Instead of seeking forgiveness as God’s Word instructs you, the passage of scripture which caused you sorrow is ignored.
When God’s Word says something, do we take heed, give attention to it, and obey?
Are you like the Bereans in Acts 17, receiving the Word of God with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily (Acts 17:11)? Or do you cherry pick from God’s Word, sampling those doctrines which satisfy your appetite, and discarding the ones that demand something from you, like repentance and obedience.
Imagine a child treating your instructions the way we often handle the Word of God. Imagine an employee cherry picking the directives of his employer, giving little attention to instruction, ignoring all of his training, showing up to work when he feels like it. Before long, that employee is out of a job. How much greater is our need to take heed to the Word of God? In John 10:27 Jesus says:


My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
His sheep hear his voice, AND follow Him. Many will sit in their chairs today and hear God’s Word with their ears, yet leave and go their own way. A vital component of being attentive to our Father’s instruction, is doing what he commands.

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)
At this time if you are able, please kneel as we confess our sins to a Holy, Just God Who is rich in Mercy.
O Heavenly Father,
We thank you for giving us Your perfect Word. We thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit, to lead us into all truth. We ask for mercy and grace this morning, because though we have tasted and seen that You are good, though we know Your Law is perfect, reviving the soul, we often go astray. Father, frequently we hear Your Word, but do not take heed as we ought. We have bibles, studies, sermons, and mountains of Christian literature available, yet far too often we take heed to our own wisdom rather than Yours. You command us to trust You with all our hearts, yet we are so easily fooled by our very limited creaturely wisdom. We come to your Word seeking things that line up with our preferences, all the while setting aside things which we need for training in righteousness. Please forgive us in accordance with Your lovingkindness. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Listen now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to all that believe: 

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!

(From the 8/18/19 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie.)

Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds; -Proverbs 27:23
With the recent mass killings fresh in our mind, something that always happens after one of these tragedies is that the people close to the murderer routinely say they had no idea the person would do something like this.  Neighbors, school friends, or coworkers all say the same thing “he was such a nice person, I never knew he was into things like this.”  And while it is hard to put much blame on someone who only has acquaintance level of familiarity with someone, it is far more troubling to hear that the parents of these young men are equally ignorant.  Most of the time, these young men live with or near their parents but their parents are utterly clueless to the condition of their sons hearts.  
Alas we think this is just a problem with fathers of murderers, how many times does a young lady get pregnant out of wedlock and their parents act totally surprised.  How many teenage children are doing things right under the noses of their parents and their parents seem to have no clue of any of it. Often it’s not that the parents are given no signs of these things.  There are always signs all around for everyone to see.  But we have made a culture out of closing our eyes to things we really don’t want to see.  

“See something, say something” has a big brother totalitarian ring to it and no one wants tattlers running to a tyrannical government.  But honestly, there is no need to worry about people saying something because we have all collectively agreed not to see something.  That young woman struggling with her kids being disobedient at church-  What young woman struggling with her kids being disobedient at church are you talking about?   That young man who won’t look you in the eyes when he is talking to you because he might be experiencing guilt for looking at porn-  What young man you talking about? I didn’t see that.  Well how about that young boy with all the effeminate mannerisms and lispy voice, maybe he is struggling with unnatural lusts.  Didn’t see him either.  

We are very good at not seeing what we see so we don’t have to get involved, so we won’t have to say something. 

The Proverb says: Know well the condition of your flock.   This has application beyond the farmer.   Pastors need to be able to see what they see.  Fathers need to be able to see what they see.   Fathers do you know the condition of your children?  Do you have talks with them about what is on their heart.  Do you know what they are consuming on the internet or in the books they read?  Do you know what your son does in his room with the door locked all the time?   Do you know what your daughter is thinking about the boys she is hanging out with?  
You need to know well the condition of your household and that will require seeing what you see and saying something to your household when you see it-  not as a nag or a private eye snooping- but as someone who genuinely cares to know the heart of their son or daughter.   If you don’t know the condition of your flock it is because A.  you are just an absentee shepherd or B. you are self-blinded shepherd.   Both will end up with a diseased and sickened flock.

The Psalm writer wrote:  Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received.   This is the word of God.  It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.  

We believe scripture teaches us that obeying God in how He has designed us as either man or woman is a key element in building civilization. It only takes a quick glance at the culture to see that when one casts off God’s commands regarding sexuality and relationships, all manner of evil follows: fornication, disease, abortion, gender confusion, broken homes, adultery, divorce, homosexuality, abandoned children and the like. The Word of God teaches that we are saved by grace through faith, not of works lest any man should boast. So it is by God’s grace that we are able to live lives that honor God in how He has designed us.
With these things in mind, I would like to speak directly to a specific group of Christians this morning: our young men. This Proverb begins with “My son, do not forget my teaching.” Written from a father to a son, what follows over the next twelve verses are instructions in the form of “do this, and what follows is this.” For example: “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.” Young men, as you move from childhood into manhood, you will be tempted to set aside the teaching you have received on manhood in favor of your own set of standards. Wise in your own eyes, you believe that unlike all those who came before you, you have a plan that will let you have your cake and eat it too. With respect to an issue such as marriage, your new set of standards may sound like this: “Marriage isn’t for me right now. Maybe it works for mom and dad, but I want to be free. Free to explore my options. When I bought a car, which may only last a few years, I test drove that. Why should a potential wife be any different? Anyway, there are so many fish in the sea, who can choose just one? Frankly, when will I have time for a wife, or kids? I have my gaming to think of. I have the kickball league twice a week, softball on Saturday, online gaming every Friday. I am only 21. I have my whole life ahead of me. Why would I want to be shackled with the burdens of a wife and kids? I just want to have fun. Is there anything wrong with that?”
So young men, for you, being wise in your own eyes may take the form of disobeying God in His command to leave your father and mother and join with your wife as one flesh (Genesis 2:24). Instead of being fruitful and multiplying (Genesis 1:28), a young man, wise in his own eyes, will squander his days away with childish pursuits. Instead of seeking out a wife with the adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4), the foolish young man, wise in his own eyes, will pursue the wayward woman, found in the streets, or online. To be sure, she is enticing, but her way leads to death.
“Fear the Lord and turn away from evil” says the Proverb today. A young man wise in his own eyes does not fear the Lord. In his lack of fear, this young man cannot discern good from evil. He is driven by the appetite of his flesh. “The heart wants what it wants” says he, and he denies himself nothing. His foolish heart becomes darkened, as he exchanges the truth about God for a lie, and worships and serves the creature rather than the creator. A young man who forsakes the Word of God, is given over to vile passions. Being wise in his own eyes, young men go down paths which lead to the destruction of their mind, body, and soul, and promote injustice in the land. “How does my choice to not marry, sow my wild oats, and have fun, promote injustice? Aren’t you being a little dramatic?” 60,000,000 babies murdered since 1973 due in big part to men who did not obey God’s command to leave father and mother and be fruitful and multiply. Countless women and children trapped in the sex trade in large part due to the pornographic appetite of young men who would rather burn in their lust for fake images on a cell phone than enjoy the wife of their youth. We know these things to be true, do we not young men? Yet some of you will trade the good things God has prepared for you, for dung. “Healing for your body and refreshment for your bones” awaits the man who fears the Lord and turns away from evil. Fearing the Lord and turning away from evil, for you, means denying what your flesh is telling you, and trusting in the Lord with all your heart. It means listening to the teaching of your father from God’s Word, and binding it around your neck and writing it on the tablet of your heart. Young men, seek out advice from godly men who have gone before you. If there is a fruitless path you are contemplating, we have probably gone down it. If there is a temptation you face, it is common to man. Learn from our past mistakes. Learn from your fathers when they warn you of the folly of a particular path. Understand that if you stray from God’s design for men and women, it will bring destruction and ruin to your life. Rather than healing to your body and refreshment to your bones, you will always be unsatisfied, dry, and in vain pursuit of peace. Instead of an abundant life, yours will be a life void of purpose. The instruction today is clear: trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. If able, please kneel at this time as we confess our sins to our just, holy God.
Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood gets its name, we come before You this morning, with our sins ever before You. We cannot hide them Lord; we cannot cover them up. You know our hearts, that they are deceitful and wicked above all else. Father, we are tempted to set aside Your designs for us to pursue the lusts of our flesh. It is true that in this world there are many things that entice us to this path, that Satan would seek to cause us to stumble onto this dead end, yet it is our own vile passions which ultimately lead us astray, and it is those that we confess to you this morning. Father, please forgive us for setting aside Your Word in favor of our own imaginations. Please forgive us when we forsake the sound teaching of our fathers who have gone before us, becoming wise in our own eyes. Father, help us to delight in Your Word, and be obedient to it, so that we may lay hold of the promises that You have for us. Help us to look to Your Son Who declared “It is finished”, and put all of our hopes and trust in Him, knowing that trusting in Him will lead us on straight paths, full of abundance. In Jesus Name we pray, amen.
 Listen now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to all that believe: 

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!


(From the 7/28/19 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie.)