Guilt is an incredibly powerful thing. It’s universal. In some cultures it’s stronger than in others. But it’s one of these things that undermines a natural explanation for humanity. Things like evolution don’t explain death and they don’t explain the relationship and emotion of guilt.

False guilt is also one of those deceitful emotions that has a broad application across many relationships.

Religious guilt

Victim guilt – What did I do to cause this? This is my fault.

Survivor guilt after a traumatic event.

Mom/Parent guilt

Caregiver guilt

State/Legal guilt

Racial guilt

Results of false guilt

There is no joy, just duties that you can never do enough of.

Never accomplished, never doing enough.

Prison, bondage

Unnecessary sorrow – Matthew 23:1-4

2 Corinthians 2:4-11 accuser of the brethren gets an advantage

Methods of manipulation

Accusations – You don’t love me.

Never acknowledging accomplishments – Constantly move the goalposts.

Getting rid of false guilt

Know there is a difference between God’s conviction and someone else’s accusation. Hopeful, there is a solution. Not harmful, no way out.

Set up boundaries to prevent accusations. (Financial transactions in organizations)

Get to the truth. If a good lawyer is defending an innocent person, his job is to make sure the truth comes out.

Deal with specific accusations. (There is no such thing as racial guilt. Races don’t commit crimes, individuals do.)

An advocate, Romans 8:33-34.

When people lie, they tend to lie about what they saw or heard. People don’t generally lie about what they smelled or tasted or felt.

Source of deception

“Deception is a complex social behavior which involves a set of higher cognitive functions.” The intelligence required is that you’re processing many things at once while concealing your true motive.

Kid with chocolate on his face being asked if he ate the cookie says no. He’s not good at deception because he hasn’t thought this through very well.

A more sophisticated form of deception in a murderer like John Wayne Gacy who performed as Pogo the Clown at Children’s Hospitals. Parents of children he performed for couldn’t believe that this guy was killing children.

Then you have the devil, whose “higher cognitive function”, his intelligence, allow him to deceive the whole world.

Revelation 12:9

Revelation 20:7-10 – The devil is so crafty that he can persuade people living in paradise that their Creator is not to be trusted.`

The Old Deluder Satan Law 1647

It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times keeping them in an unknown tongue, so in these later times by perswading from the use of tongues, that so at least the true sense and meaning of the Originall might be clowded by false glosses of Saint-seeming deceivers; and that Learning may not be buried in the graves of our fore-fathers in Church and Commonwealth, the Lord assisting our indeavors: it is therefore ordered by this Court and Authoritie therof;

That every Township in this Jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty Housholders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the Parents or Masters of such children, or by the Inhabitants in general, by way of supply, as the major part of those that order the prudentials of the Town shall appoint. Provided that those which send their children be not oppressed by paying much more then they can have them taught for in other towns.

And it is further ordered, that where any town shall increase to the number of one hundred Families or Housholders, they shall set up a Grammar-School, the Masters thereof being able to instruct youths of ar as they may be fitted for the Universitie. And if any town neglect the performance hereof above one year then everie such town shall pay five pounds per annum to the next such School, till they shall perform this Order. [1647] 

John 8:44-45 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

Respect, and acknowledgment that you have been and can be deceived.

Surrounded by deception

Propensity for self deception is huge.

You would rather be deceived in many cases because it makes you feel better.

Flattery is preferred.

Everybody hates bad news.

People want to choose their deceptions. You’re not opposed to deception if you’ve chosen it. What you don’t like is being deceived without knowing it.

Heart is deceitful. Lusts are deceitful.

Colossians 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

Or even the ability to manipulate your senses

See things you don’t see, hear things you don’t hear.

Revelation 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do ...

I’ve never heard a sermon or study on the verses and subject I’m going to talk to you about today.

How to know you’ve worn out your welcome:

They tell you.

They’ve stopped responding to you.

You’ve stopped listening.

Truth of the matter

Guests are like fish, after a day they both stink.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Good fences make good neighbors.

Don’t take advantage of peoples’ hospitality. They’ll stop listening long before they kick you out. And it’s your job to pay attention to that.

Luke 11:5-8 – the point of the parable is that God the Father is a good Father and not just a sleeping neighbor, but this parable assumes a basic truth. People will say or do almost anything to get rid of you if you become a pest.

Be considerate of others

You need to be sensitive to people.

In our current state of communication technology, you have the ability to insert yourself into people’s lives at an exhausting rate. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you need to.

While people may need to hear what you have to say, you can lose the ability to say it in someone’s life because of HOW you insert yourself into their lives.

Dumb example but here it is: If I pick the lock to get into your home at midnight, wake you up, and say, You need to hear about Jesus Christ!! What I’m saying may be true, but I’ve lost any ability to communicate with you because of HOW I’ve entered your life.

Quit talking and listen

Earn the ability to speak to people.

“High maintenance” friends who demand to be seen and heard on a regular basis become a nuisance. You see the text message from them and think, Not again. You see their number come up on the phone and say, Not again.

Leave people wanting to see you again, rather than wishing you’d never come back.

Constant invasions of privacy make people tired of people entering their life

In the economy, the more abundant an item is, the less valuable it becomes. People can be the same way.

I’ve had to learn this. I’d always make people’s rejection of tracts a matter of wickedness and that’s not true. The souls you and I talk to are marketed everyday. They are solicited everyday. People may not be rejecting Jesus Christ because they didn’t take your tract. They may just not want to feel marketed. Some people’s responses are not anti-god, they’re anti-marketing.

Not every rejection of tracts and the gospel is a matter of wickedness

I want to help you empathize with people and be less cynical.

1 Peter 4:15 – the range of sin is murderer to busybody. What a spectrum! You know what the spectrum is? It’s respecting someone else’s life.

This phrase characterizes Daniel’s life. Daniel 6:23 …because he believed in his God.

Excellent spirit (vss 1-3)

Daniel was a humble, generous, kind, leader whose trust in the LORD gave him wisdom beyond every other man.

Daniel is noted for an excellent spirit, meaning it wasn’t a physical feature that set Daniel apart. An excellent spirit means that what radiated from Daniel was excellence in all things.

He excelled all other men.

Being a follower of Jesus Christ will make you a better student.

Being a follower of Jesus Christ will make you a better employer.

Being a follower of Jesus Christ will make you a better employee.

Being a follower of Jesus Christ will make you a better father.

Being a follower of Jesus Christ will make you a better mother.

When Daniel was a teenage prisoner of war in Babylon, the king found Daniel to be 10x better than everyone else there.

Good testimony (vss 4-9)

He was unblamable in the eyes of men.

His only snare would be that He trusted the LORD.

His peers knew he was a man of God. How about your peers?

Consistent prayer, communing with the LORD (vss 10-17)

Delivered by faith (vss 18-23)

His deliverance is summed up in these words, because he believed in his God.

Enemies are destroyed (vs 24)

Glory of God is published throughout the earth (vss 25-28)

Genesis 14:17

Gave tithes of all.

Gave once.

No requirement to tithe.

There is no threat if he doesn’t.

Leviticus 27:30-34

(vs 30) Tithe is not money, it is food for the Levites.

(vs 31) If you convert it to money, you add 20% to it.

(vs 32) Tithe is not money, it is food for the Levites.

(vs 33) Israelites not allowed to pick and choose which ones. It’s simply that you count one to give, then count nine for yourself. If you decide to change it out, then the Israelites could not sell the one they held back or the one they wanted to trade it with.

(vs 34)  This is law.

Numbers 18:20-32

(vss 20-21) Tithe would compensate the Levites since they had no land.

(vss 22-23) Only one tribe could perform the ministry and if anyone else tried to they would die. Not like today.

(vs 24) Explains the compensation of the tithe.

(vss 25-28) Levites were to tithe as well.

Deuteronomy 14:22-29

(vs 22) Tithe is a tax on the increase of the field that God has given.

(vs 23) Tithe to learn to fear the Lord, like you would the IRS if you didn’t pay your taxes.  If you don’t give of the increase of your land and of your flocks, then God will take away your land and flocks.

(vss 24-27) The place God has chosen is too far and the food will spoil before it gets there. Then sell the food for money and take the money and when you get to the place the Lord appointed for the tithe, buy food for the Levite.

(vss 28-29) Tithe happens every third year (26:12). Twelve tribes and twelve months in the year, but tithe happens every third year. So twelve tribes take 36 months to bring in their tithes. For three months the tribe of Judah brings in their tithe. For three months the tribe of Benjamin brings in their tithe.

Nehemiah 10:38-39

Attending but not tithing means you’ve forsaken the house of God. Going but not contributing to the upkeep means you’ve forsaken the house of God.

If you’re sitting on your couch in your home and your roof is falling in and water line is broken leaking in the house, you may be in your house, but you’ve forsaken your house.

Malachi 3:8-10

(vs 9) Not tithing brings a curse. In Christ, you cannot be cursed.

(vs 10) This nation is not a reference to any Christian, God is talking to Israel.

The tithe compared to New Testament giving

1 Corinthians 16:1-2

Collect on the first day of the week.

Liberality, not law.

No tribe that it is given to.

2 Corinthians 9

Give out of good will.

Give sparingly reap sparingly. The more that’s invested in the work of the Lord, the more the Lord is able to work.

Not covetous, not grudgingly, not of necessity, but cheerfully.

Where your treasure is there your heart is also. There is more in the New Testament about giving than there is about witnessing. There is more about giving than there is about heaven. There is more about giving than there is about hell. For a Christian, if 10% is all they’re doing, it’s a start, but not particularly impressive. Considering lost Jews were expected by God to give a tenth of their animals, fruits, vegetables, seeds, etc, before Jesus Christ gave his life on the cross. Paul will say in Romans that after the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that a Christian offering his body a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God was a reasonable service.

The LORD wouldn’t tell people to do something with their minds that can’t be done. In fact, this would almost sum up the entire scope of the law and the prophets. This is the most important thing to do is love God with your heart, soul, and MIND. If the mind is serving its purpose, it is functioning the way it was intended to function.

To love someone or something is to occupy yourself with it. Your treasure is occupied by what you love – where treasure is there your heart is also. When you love someone your mind is filled with thoughts about them and how to bless them.

Practice of occupying my mind

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Israelites were told to make sure there was constant influence from the words of God. Make sure what’s coming in my eyes and ears is scripture.

Thought experiment: Elephant

Problems arise when God is removed from thoughts

If you don’t do it there must be consequences. If you took a gallon of milk and used it as a hammer it wouldn’t work. Not only would the task not be done, but you will ruin the gallon of milk, and create a mess in the process.

Psalms 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Peace of mind

Isaiah 26:1-4 – when thoughts are given to the LORD, peace is the result.

Philippians 4:6-8

Selfish ambition (vs 9)

…who loveth to have the preeminence…

Diotrephes loves to be the only influence (vs 9).

Diotrephes is a self promoting man.

He doesn’t care about the truth, he cares about himself.

He believes himself to be superior. He is entitled.

This can be spiritual ambition. In Diotrephes’ case it is for sure because he’s doing this in a church. What we mean is that the ambitions don’t even have to be bad. But when it becomes a vehicle of selfishness, it is.

…receiveth us not…

His problem is not that he preaches heresy, but that he practices heresy.

KJ Bible believing churches that split. There is so much hatred and bitterness and everyone goes away “believing the Bible”

The independent baptist stand is a creed no different than Roman Catholicism. The creed becomes the important thing, not the behavior.

Lost is the irony

What’s lost in proud people is the sense of irony. As this proud person goes around thinking he’s deceiving others, what’s lost on him is how he’s being deceived. The irony of his situation is foreign to him.

As Diotrephes goes around promoting himself to be the leadership, the ironic question is what will you be the leader of when you’ve destroyed all the good people?

Sinful acts

Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds…

Identify the troublemaker and deal with him or avoid him.

Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Prating

Diotrephes talks a lot, but his words are of little value.

Speaking evil of brethren in order to magnify himself. And because he feels his ministry is endangered by the apostle John.

Persecuting

Diotrephes is not content to bad mouth good men, but forbids good men because they are a threat to him.

Not only does he forbid good men, he forbids anyone who would have John or other good men come there.

Simple answer

Follow good, not evil.

No doubt Diotrephes thought he was in the right, blinded by his own ambition, and would defend his position as the Biblical position until it ruined many peoples’ lives.

If your position causes you to have a bad spirit. You need to step back, FOLLOW GOOD, NOT EVIL and reconsider where you’re standing.

You might say, Well, just follow the KJ Bible! But if your idea of following the Bible leads you to hatred for people, and a demand that other people recognize your greatness in spite of other people. Step back, FOLLOW GOOD, and reassess whatever you’re calling Bible belief. 

Compassion by missionary Josh Owens

Purposed in his heart

Daniel cannot practice Judaism. 

Daniel’s family is either dead or separated from him.

What have you lost? If you lost your mother or father, you’d be able to go home, cry in your home, and have some people who want to support you come by. Not Daniel. 

With no priest to guide him, no Levite to instruct him, no father or mother to direct him, Daniel purposes in his heart that he will serve God to the best of his ability in the environment he’s in.

Daniel has been rendered incapable of ever having a family. Daniel is in a foreign land.

Daniel is put in school to learn Babylonian curriculum. He’s with the other kids that make fun of him and his God. He hears them laughing at their pornography and joking about their drunkenness. Though Daniel feels the pressure, he purposes in his heart that he’s going to honor God the best he can.

Daniel’s God has been mocked and ridiculed by the Babylonians. Remember, in the eyes of Babylonians Israel’s God couldn’t defend Israel as the Babylonians came in and cleaned out the temple.

Daniel has no promise that God is going to do anything with his life. Daniel has no promise that God is going to preserve Daniel’s life. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.

Proof of his faith

Daniel respectfully asks to be excused from eating the king’s meat because it will be easier for him to honor God if he just eats oatmeal.

God works in Daniel’s boss’s life.

Prove thy servants… (vs 12) Would you ever say that? I’m a Christian and I’m going to prove it to you.

It’s not Daniel’s Diet that makes you better, it’s Daniel’s desire to honor God.

1 Peter 3:13-16 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

Promotion from God

God gave them… (vs 17)

The heathen king says these young men are 10x better than any of the others. He says, I NEED them around me. Not, I’m going to do them a favor, rather, I need their wisdom and counsel around me.

You know where all those other teenagers are who never regarded God, who made fun of Daniel? They’re now working for Daniel.

Why did God use Daniel? Because He could. Why COULD God use Daniel? Because Daniel purposed in his heart, he sanctified God in his heart, he didn’t conform to this world, but instead gave the LORD a platform on which to work in his life.

An Inquiry about goodness (vss 16-22)

Good master… good thing… me good?… none good, but God.

The LORD will end up telling this young ruler to follow Him. Follow and trust are synonymous terms. Mark 10:24, same account, Jesus says to the disciples the rich young man’s problem is he trusts his riches. If he’s going to follow Christ, he has to stop following his money.

This thought is continued in the next chapter’s parable. The parable talks about the LORD being good. See Matthew 20:15.

An Impossibility only God can overcome (vss 23-26)

Jesus Christ says it’s impossible for a man who trusts in his riches to enter the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. So it isn’t about keeping the law, it’s about what you trust.

Furthermore, no man can bring about his own salvation.

An Investment with great returns (vss 27-30)

Mark 10:28-30

Multiplied 100 times

Genesis 26:12 records Isaac as representative of the man God blesses when the man obeys God. Isaac sows and reaps an hundredfold in the same year.

Matthew 13:23 describes the seed on good soil that brought forth an hundredfold.

The business side of faith in Jesus Christ. Guaranteed 10K% return on investment. If you just took a simple business approach to investing in Jesus Christ; the principle is very plain and the return on investment makes the decision a no brainer. Percentage it’s 10,000% return. 100% return is double your money. 1000% is 10 times your money. 10K% is 100 times your money.

What if someone offered you that return?

No return if there’s no investment. No reward if there is no trust.

Faith is believing God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him

Matthew 5:12, 46, 6:1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 16

Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Colossians 3:23-25

1 Peter 1:3-5

Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.