Vexing Righteousness Part 4

God is deeply invested in every part of your life and calls you to live from the identity of righteousness, not your emotions or circumstances. This message explores surrendering burdens to God, guarding your words, watching as well as praying, developing spiritual awareness, and avoiding the subtle attitudes that grieve the Holy Spirit and hinder spiritual growth

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

So we started this series on vexing righteousness. And I was explaining to you that there are multiple ways to vex righteousness. Yd is the identity that God has given you. And the Bible speaks about when Lot, you know, was on his way to Jordan and he landed in Sodom and Gomorrah. And the Bible says that his uh his righteousness was vexed. And it was vexed through the conversations he was having. You know. And through the things that were going on there. Although he didn't take part in them, his righteousness was still indeed vexed. And I continued the series, and now we're on uh part four. Amen. And so today I want to talk to you a little bit a little bit about how to conduct yourself when things are not going the way you want it to go. Amen. When you're in perilous times, there's a way that God expects you to conduct yourself. Do you understand that? And it's important for you to know that God has expectations of you. There are things he expects from you. And uh if he doesn't see those things, he may not move. He is sovereign. So at times he does, as we've seen in the scripture, but just because God does something out of the norm of his law, it doesn't mean he will keep doing it. Amen. As we saw, he destroyed the earth with water, but he hasn't done it again. Praise God. Sorry, Isaiah chapter sixty-three. Sorry. Isaiah sixty-three. From verse nine.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

Thank you, sir. Isaiah chapter sixty-three from verse nine says, In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bore them and carried them all the days of old.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

The Bible says, In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of the Lord, or the angel of his presence, saved them. The messenger of God's Spirit. That's what the Holy Spirit was labeled in the Old Testament, as his identity wasn't necessarily revealed, so they knew him as the messenger of God's Spirit, or the angel of the Lord. It says in his love and in his pity, he redeemed them and he bore them or bare them and carried them all the days of old. Let's look at that text again. It says, In all their affliction, he was afflicted. So when you're going through pain and suffering and tough times, God feels what you can feel. Praise God. When you're under pressure at work, or things are not going the way you want it to go, or you received an eviction letter, that pressure that you feel, he can feel it. Some people believe that God is independent of them and he just operates by the law. No, God is very emotional. He can feel all that you feel.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Praise God.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

So Pastor, are you saying that uh all the people in the world, all the suffering God can feel all of what they're feeling, at the same time feeling my pain? Yes, that's why He's God. Amen. When you understand this truth, you start to walk carefully. You start to count your steps. There's a beautiful scripture in the Bible that says, Teach me how to number my days. Teach me how to number my days. Certain requests can never come from you unless you know certain truths and certain realities. So the person who asked that had a revelation. Said, God cares about me enough to teach me how to balance my days. Amen. God cares about the littlest things about you. Praise God forevermore. He cares about how you look, he cares about your health. He cares that you have to wake up in the morning to travel, hours to work. He cares. God even cares about your makeup kit. Some of you are looking at me, it's like, are you serious? I'm very serious. I'm very, very serious. He cares about your first car. Yes. He cares about your first crush. He does. Shanda. Praise God. Oh, yeah, he does. He cares about all of that. He's so interested in you. Say God is interested in me. He's so interested in me. And that is the truth. He says, as they were afflicted, he was also afflicted. It's as if he went through it with them. You know, Israel was enslaved. He was also enslaved. It doesn't say they were afflicted and he was a little afflicted. As they were afflicted, he also was afflicted. So you got to know that when you're crying in your private time, because you feel sad, God is there. He's there. He's observing, he's watching, he's feeling what you're feeling. The core difference between you and God, though, is that God can feel, but he will not act on that feeling. That's what separates the two of you. Some believers have not learned, they've not been trained to feel emotions and be okay feeling those emotions and separating them from their behavior. Just because you are angry doesn't mean you must act on the anger. Am I boring you? Just because you're offended, it doesn't mean you must act on your offense. Indeed. Praise God. Just because you want attention doesn't mean you must seek for attention. Just because you're curious doesn't mean you must go and search. And just because you're hungry, doesn't mean you must eat. So all the people that go to eateries. Every eatery you must go and visit. So for all of you, do you know? Are you aware that some people don't know that? Some people think hunger is an indication that they should go and get food. That's how they've been living their lives. They've grown thinking that just because I'm hungry, I should go and eat. Amen. Sometimes it's okay to fast. Amen. Sometimes it's okay to fast. Say it out loud. Sometimes it's okay to fast.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

Sometimes it's okay to fast.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Amen. So as you are going through the emotions, the motions of life. Alright? When you're in your times of confusion, God can feel your confusion just as you feel it. But it doesn't mean that he's confused like you are. You have to understand his ministry. Now, listen, in order for the Spirit of God to help you the way he does, you must feel what you feel. You cannot help a pregnant woman until you understand what she is going through. You must be informed on exactly what she's going through. For you to be able to properly help her. Because if you're not informed, what you will end up doing is doing making more harm than good, thinking you're helping. When you have children, you must do the research before you have children, so you know how to properly uh tend to the child because you may think you're helping the child, but you're harming the child. Praise God. So God feels what you feel, He feels it, and that's a truth I want you to go away with. I want you to go home with that truth that God feels what I feel when you feel anxiety, He can feel it. And I'm gonna show you some stuff today. When you feel anxious, He feels anxious, but it doesn't mean He is anxious. Change the way you talk. Don't say I am hungry. No, you're you're not hungry, you feel hungry. Because you are not hunger. Have you heard someone say I am broke? So what what you're doing effectively is you're taking those realities and making it a part of you. I am broke. No, no, no, no, no. I'm wealthy. That's what I take as a part of God. I am lonely. If you understand these differences, okay, you'll see subtle, subtle turns in your life, you know, especially in tough times. Because tough times will always come. You'll see that you're dealing with them much more wiser with the wisdom of God. Do you understand? I have a message called the wisdom of the just. So go and listen to that. You'll start dealing with situations with wisdom. Because you are not your problem. Say I'm not my problem. I'm not saying what you think I'm saying. You think I'm saying that you are not the issue. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying you are not the issue. Do you understand that? You think I'm saying you are not the issue. I'm saying you are not the issue. Is this too difficult for you to understand? Remember, I taught you and I said, Yeah, that don't don't own them. You say my problem. Do I have to go deeper with you? No, it's not your problem. Pastor, can I tell you my problem? No, it's not your problem. It's better you say, Pastor, can I explain some situations? Because remember, I spoke about idle words, yeah? Once you say my problem, you've kicked him out. You get that? You've kicked him out immediately. He he no longer takes ownership. He said, Take your burdens and bring them to me. Bring them to me. So when you say my problems, they're yours. Handle them. Nobody will sit with you and cry with you. Sympathize with you. Feel everything you can feel. He will do nothing. Oh Lord have mercy. He's so gentle, he's so loving, and he's so kind. And he will sit there and just feel everything. You you may be in deep depression. And you and him are sitting there, he'll put his head on your shoulder. And you know, some people love that feeling sad. Oh God. So you choose, do you want that? Or do you want solutions? So number one, hand it to him. Say this they're not my problems. I have no problems. Because I handed them over to him. Say, I have no problems. Because I handed them over to him. Yeah. I have no problems. And you see, as I'm saying it like that, and I'm repeating it, you have to keep saying it until you convince yourself that what you're saying is truth. Don't just say it because pastor's saying it, say it until your spirit accepts it. This is truth. I have no problems. Because you will find yourself going to church after church and dropping prayer requests after prayer requests. Why is your life like that? Why must your life be like that? Every day you have a prayer request for something new. Why? You have too many problems. I have no problems. I have no problems. Not one problem. Not one. They don't belong to me. I gave it to the master years ago. I have no problems. Okay, so Pastor, what if I just got a letter that says I can't come back to work? Not my problem. That's his. On time. Amen. I still feel like you don't believe it. Amen. He says, in all their affliction, he was afflicted. And the angel of his presence saved them. Now, why you cannot rely on this specifically is because these are not the rules of Christendom. This was an anomaly. Praise God. In this time, God saved his children out of pity. If you backtrack to numbers, right? God did not save Israel out of pity. He said, I heard the cries of my people. You understand? So there's an assured way to get God's hand to move. And then at times, because he's sovereign and he makes his own decisions, he can move based on pity. But don't rely on that. Amen. Don't go into your relationship with God banking on the fact that God will feel sorry for you. I used to think like that when I was a child. I told you that I had an instant incident many, many years ago. I think I was like 15 or 14. Probably younger. Where I had stolen food from the pot in the kitchen. It was chicken and rice. I stole this chicken. It was supposed to be for my siblings, and I went in there and I enjoyed myself. Amen. And it was nice. It tastes nice when you steal it. I don't know. It's a psychological thing. But anyway, I finished the food. And mom asked, who took the food? Who ate all of this stuff? And I said, it wasn't me. It wasn't me. I don't know what happened. I don't know what happened. Amen. Now an hour later, I started feeling some tummy aches. Some tummy aches. It was very bad. So I went upstairs and I started praying for my tummy. And it got worse. Amen. And it got worse and worse. And so it was so bad that I was struggling to hide it from my mom. Amen. I went on the floor and I cried to God. I said, God. I said, I said, God. Have pity on me. I'm sorry. I said, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. And I know this is a punishment. So in my mind, God was flogging me. I said, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. And as I was as I was saying that, it got worse. I said, Oh God. Have pity on your son. So in my mind, I was praying amiss. Because in my mind, it was God afflicting me. Amen. But maybe the food was off. Maybe that's what it was. Amen. And maybe there was another lesson for me to learn there. Just don't steal. How about ask? God doesn't use terrible situations to humble you, which is a revelation many Christians live by. He doesn't. Because if that is the case, yeah, if you have cancer now, why are you asking for prayer? This is a the cancer is there to humble you. So you must pray for more cancer.

unknown 22:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Say, Lord, the cancer is there to humble me, so I pray for more stage four. Do you see how you see how the do you see how that mindset is is a bizarre mindset? Get out of that place. God is too wise to use bad situations to humble you. Praise God. He says the mercies of God brings one to repentance. It's not his anger, it's his mercy, his love is what causes you to behave yourself. Not his wrath. Amen. Say God doesn't humble me through bad situations. God doesn't humble me through bad situations. Rather, he feels what I feel whenever I feel it. And he's ready to inform me on how to behave, how to conduct myself as a Christ-like being. Yes. Praise God. Let me show you something. Take note of this scripture, okay? Now I told you there's a way you should behave when things are not going right. I've told you a little bit about it just now. But let's go to Matthew 26.

SPEAKER_02 24:40

Thank you, sir. Matthew chapter twenty.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

By the way, did you take in what I said earlier on? That he feels what you feel. Are you sure? Yes, sir. Very good. Very good. You're not alone. Say I'm not alone. The God of heaven is right with me. He's so big, but he cares about the little things. What a loving God. Hallelujah. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

Thank you, sir. Matthew chapter 26 from verse 36 says, Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, Sit here while I go and pray over there. Verse thirty seven and he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then he said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me. Verse thirty nine. He went a little farther and fell on his prayers and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

This is there's a lot to unpack there, but I'll touch on some because of time. He said, I said, sorry, that God feels what you can feel. Yeah. Now if you look at that text, Jesus felt sorrow. Is that in your Bible? He felt sorrow. Look at how he conducted himself whilst feeling all that pain. He didn't become the pain. He didn't act on the pain. But rather he went to his heavenly father. And what stood out to me is he threw himself on the floor. With his face on the floor. And said, God, this is how I feel. Amen. He said, God, this is how I feel. Very, very important. Now before I continue, there's a little fun fact I want to give you. Many people believe that in that text Jesus was angry at the two sons of Zebedee and Peter for not praying with him. Let me correct that. Yeah, can we correct that? Look what it says here. It says, verse 36, then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane and saith unto disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. All he told them to do was sit. He didn't tell them to pray. He said, Go and sit. So I've heard so many preachers say, Oh, you know, Jesus was angry at them because they couldn't even pray for one hour. No. No, he didn't ask them to pray. You got to read the text. Is that in your Bible? Blessing, can you read your one, please? Maybe it's just my Bible. Maybe I bought my Bible from Sheen.

SPEAKER_02 28:33

Matthew chapter 26 from verse 36 says, Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, Sit here while I go and pray over there.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

Verse What does it say? Sit sit here and what? Sorry?

SPEAKER_02 28:50

Sit here while I go and pray.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

While he goes to pray. Sit there while I go and pray. Sometimes that's how you have to be with your friends. Amen. I'll show you the significance of why I'm showing you that. So and he took them, he took with them Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Sorrowful and very heavy. It's okay to feel. Tell your neighbor it's okay to feel. Just don't act on it. Tell them it's okay to feel. Just don't act on it. Do what the Lord Jesus is doing. Whatever it is you're feeling, throw yourself on the floor. Put your face on the floor. Don't worry about breaking out. Praise God. Don't worry about breaking out. Put your face on the floor and say, Lord, I feel sorrowful. There's heaviness in my heart. There's pain. There's confusion. There's lust. I was with the disciples yesterday and I told you there's some prayers, there's some things when you start experiencing them, you cry about it. Force yourself to cry. You say, God, this thing is terrible. This is a terrible thing. Usually, the thing that encompasses you is the thing that will lead you astray.

unknown 30:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

The thing that encompasses you is the thing that will lead you astray. That will be the very thing that will cause your downfall. It's not hard to notice what can what will destroy a person. Study patterns. It's not hard. There are men in the Bible who loved women at the time when it was legal to have many women. And it destroyed them. Yeah, look at it in context. God says you can have all the women you want. They said, Yep, that's me. They went and got many women, and the very women they went to get, which was legal in the eyes of God, still destroyed them. So the very thing that you encompass or encompasses you will be your very downfall. Samson, he loved women. Oh, he loved women. Am I hurting your feelings? Should I just continue my message? He loved women. Oh, he was filled with lust. And and flash, uh, news flash. The news flash is lust was not illegal. God was okay with it. God said, Hey, yeah, yo, look at her, man. He said, Yo, do your thing. You know, and and they did their thing. Sure did.

SPEAKER_03 32:12

Sure did.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

Amen. Yeah. Samson went about in his business and God was silent. Because God said, I don't have a problem with it right now. A time will come when I'll stop that. But right now I'm cool. So what's interesting to me is how can something that God is okay with destroy you? Solomon, another example. Seven hundred concubines. And trust me, his his money was very long. Yeah, so he could take care of them. His money was very long, so he could take care of them. So that wasn't the issue. Amen. But we found that those women came in, and the Bible said they turned his head away from the Lord. They turned his head, turned his attention away from the Lord. So oftentimes you may be attracted to something that God isn't necessarily against, but that thing is your downfall. All I have to do is sit with someone for two minutes and I will know exactly what could kill them. What will kill you is what encompasses you. What you think about daily? What has stolen your heart? What has the ability to hijack your happiness? What is it that comes around you that you lose all sense of peace, joy, ability to think? What is it? That thing that has the power to do that will be the thing that could destroy you. And for some people, it's money. And Judas is a perfect example of that. We'll read about him in a second. Judas reminds me of a lot of these young guys who are on the streets today. Judas for money sold the messiah. Are you listening? For money. And in his mind, he was doing the right thing. He said, I got to feed me a minds. Yeah, I got to feed me a minds. And he sold the messiah. Look at his journey. Judas was already stealing before that. The Bible says he was steal money from the group. Consistently. Now, going back to the text, because that was just the bracket I was opening. Going back to the text, the Bible says that Jesus said, You guys sit down, I'll go off and pray. Yeah, he comes back and they are sleeping. And he says, How come you couldn't sit and watch with me? He didn't talk about prayer. How come you couldn't sit and watch with me? What is the significance of watching? He didn't assign prayer to them, he assigned watching. So, what is the significance of watching? Their homework was simply to sit and use their eyes. Jesus said, effectively sit down and be a lookout. So when I was studying this, the Lord the Lord said to me, you know, before you become an effective praying Christian, all right, you have to make much observations. Do not pray until you observe. Why? Because some things that are going on in your life, okay, at times do not require prayer. And for you to know that, you must observe. So the people who are praying properly are honest with themselves. Amen. They are able to realize that you know what? I am the snake in the family. Me. Do you know how much humility it takes for you to be able to realize that you are the one troubling Israel? Some of you are sleeping, so I will rejoin here. Some people are sleeping. Is it my voice that's making you tired? I think it's my voice. Is my voice making you tired? Some people are dozing off. I'm seeing them. Is that Zed is sleeping? Praise God. Where was I? Snake in the family. So he says, and he went a little further and fell on his face. I love that. I was doing that today. I fell on my face and I spoke to God. It says, He went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, Oh my father, if it is possible, let this pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will. Amen. Some things are better left unspoken. But I would literally go in there, sit down, have my book and a paper, uh book, and pen, amen. And I'll sit and invite the Spirit of God there and talk with him. And say, tell me about myself. Tell me what I need to know about me. And I will listen. Praise God. I will listen. Because if I'm going to talk to God, I should be listening more than I'm talking. Why am I talking so much? Do you understand? Yeah, so I go in, I'm listening. Some of you go in, you come out. What did God say? He said one thing. That's it. Why? How? A wise man understands that he's in the face of God. God of heaven. So you keep quiet and let him do the talking. Let him talk. When he's done, then you speak in tongues. Amen. Yeah. Or if you want, like Christ, Christ went there and told him what was on his heart. Amen. But how do I know Christ was watching? Because he said, Could you not watch with me an hour? Do you understand that? He didn't say, I went to pray and came back. Could you not watch? No, he said, could you not watch with me just one hour? So it means he himself was doing the same thing. Are you learning? Hallelujah. He says, My soul is exceeding sorrow, even unto death. Tarry here and watch with me. Amen. He said, Tarry here, watch with me. But he goes and prays. Let's continue. And he cometh unto the disciples and found them asleep. What could you not watch with me one hour? Did he watch? Did Christ watch? Nice. 41. Because with the watching, I'll continue reading, but with the watching, it's that's how you go into prayer and say, God, I'm a I'm filthy. You're only allowed to make such statements when you when you've watched yourself a lot uh long enough. Do you understand that? Say, I'm just full of rage. There's something wrong with me. Lord, I can't keep secrets. That's a terrible thing, you know. By the way, some people cannot keep secrets. You tell them, it's like they're a kicking time bomb. When they find someone that they have something in common with, they start sharing your secrets with them. Be careful of the person that comes to you and says, I heard this. Tell them anything about that person. That person is doing the same thing with you, with another. Is a terrible thing. Some people cannot keep secrets. So you go to God, say, God, I don't have the capacity to hold information. I need your help. Amen. 41. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation, the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. I can tell you. Exactly what he wanted them to see when he said, Watch. He asked them to watch for an hour, then when he came back and they fell asleep, he said, Now watch and pray. Now, let me continue. He went away a second time. This is verse 42, and prayed, saying, Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. Verse 43. And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. Oh, some people cannot look at their own mistakes. They can't, it's too painful. They're like children, they see their own mistakes and then they crash on everyone. You just can't hear that you're not a good person. You're not a good friend. You're not a good Christian. You get upset when you're told the truth. Your eyes are too heavy. Now the Bible says, verse 43, and he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44, and he left them this time. He left them. And went away again and prayed the third time, saying the same words. So he kept on repeating himself. Then he came to the disciples and said, Sleep on now and take your rest. See the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Verse 46. He says, Rise, let us be going. See, he is at hand that doth betray me. Praise God. Now I told you that I can tell you exactly what he wanted them to see. Should I show you? Now you see that verse, that chapter that we're in? Jump to 56. Bless and read that one for me.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

Thank you, sir. Matthew chapter 26 from verse 56 says, But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

Did you see that? If they had watched like he asked, they would have known that they're living in fear, and that they also, like Judas, would betray him. But they didn't observe themselves enough. See, so this is where I end the message, and I'll continue on Sunday. Yeah, watching is just as important as praying because when you watch, you can avoid being used by the enemy. If you pray without watching, you're doing half the job. Watching is sitting down, assessing yourself and with God, not just by yourself, you assess yourself with God. Say, Spirit of God, talk to me, tell me about me. I love women too much, I love men too much, I'm confused, I'm not reliable, and God will start telling you these things, and when he does it, it's in a nice way, he's not hurting your feelings, he's telling you in a nice way because he cares, you know, he cares, so he will tell you, I can't trust you, you're too emotional. God will tell you, I would like to give this to you, but I can't because you will mess it up. Praise God forevermore. What I'm teaching you now is how to grow with God and not vex the Holy Spirit. Because this is now our ending scripture. We go back to Isaiah. Yeah, if you go back to Isaiah and you look at the verse I gave you. Thank you, Holy Spirit. It says verse 10, 63, 10, it says, but they rebelled and vexed his holy spirit, therefore, he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. This is key stuff. Look, he says, but they rebelled and vexed his holy spirit. Sometimes you rebel without knowing because you didn't watch, and now God is now your enemy. So the work I want you to do today is before you pray, sit down, try 15 minutes. Maybe an hour is too long. Try 15 minutes and close your eyes and ask God a question. Say, tell me about me. Now have that paper and book or that paper uh or book or end pen because that's an act of faith. When you have that pen and that paper there, you're saying, God, I'm expecting you to talk to me. If you're acting out your faith, do you understand that? Yeah, don't go in there thinking, oh, you know, God is not gonna know. Trust me, every time I go into prayer and I come out, my wife can witness to this. I always tell her things about myself. I say, I'm like this, I'm like this. I realized I'm like this. I noticed this about me. Even though I'm saying I noticed, it's actually God who told me in my time of prayer that you know, do you know that this is this is how you are? Do you know that you can be like this? I want to work with you, I want to grow with you, but you are too too much like this. And God is so kind that He may show you someone in the scripture who resembles you, and then you go and find out where they ended. That should scare you. Amen. Yeah. So at times of your life for the men, you may find that you're a lot like Samson, you're just reckless, amen. And at other times of your of your life for the women, you may find yourself behaving like Jezebel. This is where I joined the message. God bless you. Amen. Thank you for listening to Pastor Max's teachings. Make sure to subscribe and for more information, find us at Faith and Victory Wallage.