Don't Look Back

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Praise God, praise God. We thank God this morning.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 0:21

I want to speak to you this morning. As I pray and thank God for all of you on our conference line this morning. Let's deal with something this morning. Uh with the children of God. You notice how w w when we got saved, the unction and the the excitement of living for the Lord. How on fire we were for the Lord. And how we, some of us may have said in our own spirits and our own hearts, oh, I'm gonna stay with the Lord. I'm gonna go with him all the way. I'm gonna live this life. But as we begin to live this life, which has been the case for some, not all, but some, we find out that living this life is not a party. And then we we find out that there is some sacrifices that must be made, we we find out that there are some trials and tribulations that we must endure, and we find out that we are to suffer for him. Now, for those whose heart and minds are made up and to remain dedicated to the Lord, you learn how to adjust and you learn how to just go through. Because you see living this life as it is, for what it is. But there are some who allow themselves to become discouraged, and as soon as offenses come, they're they're soon allowing themselves, if you would, to take on a frame of mind of whether or not they want to continue in this life, whether or not they want to keep on living for the Lord, because they find out I didn't know it was gonna be like this, and I didn't know we was gonna, there's gonna be something I have to go through this, and I didn't know I was about to take that. And they find themselves stepping over in a place where the word of God strictly tells us, well, the word of God, I mean, put emphasis on the fact to not do this one thing, and that is to look back. We are not, when we take on the Lord Jesus Christ, I don't care what happened, I don't care what goes or come, we are not to allow ourselves to look back with the mindset of going back. What I'm talking about, going back, going back to that life of seeing we once lived, going back to that state where we think life once we thought was a lot easier. Going back to that state where we could do what we want to do and how we want to do it. We didn't have to take stuff off people, and we didn't have to uh go through this and go through that. We are not to look back once you have, my Bible tells us this oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. See, once you have tasted of the goodness of God, once you have tasted the fruit of righteousness, once we have tasted the fruit of holiness, when God saved us, what came along with this covenant, what came along with us accepting Christ in our lives was the fact that once you take on Christ now, you are never ever supposed to leave him ever again. And I fear that a lot of us, even though we might say physically we have not gone back, but in our minds and in our hearts, we have jeopardized our connection with the Lord because we have had moments we have had uh thoughts of looking back, going back. But what Jesus is gonna tell us this morning is we are never supposed to ever think or look back on what he has brought us out of because that's an insult. I brought you out of that trouble you was in, I brought you out of that darkness, I brought you out of that sinful state, and you got the audacity. Once I rescue you, and once I came to the earth to save you from your sins, you have the audacity to think about the things and start missing the things that I saved you from. Same way the children of Israel did when the Lord delivered them through Moses out of Egypt. Got them out of the wilderness. Some of them got to talk about, well, we did have something to eat back there. We didn't have to go to them, but yeah, but you're getting beat down every day. You were suffering every day by the hands of Pharaoh and those task masters. And you're trying to tell God when you settle and let yourself have thoughts of going back, the devil being your taskmaster, you want to go back to the death? You want to go back to that lifestyle that your flesh has been missing? But Jesus is going to tell us this morning. The word of God is going to tell us this morning. If we sit up and allow ourselves to think about going back, it's a lot of people don't get me alone now. A lot of people don't go back physical, but they go back in their minds. If you sit up and let yourself even think, contrary to what you know the word of God says, that is a sign of looking back. When you don't want to obey the word of God no more, specifically, like the word of God tells us to, and I'll be there. When the word of God tells us to have love for one another, you don't do it, that's a sign of looking back.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

When the word of God teaches us to live righteous, to live holy.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 7:46

When the word of God tells us to do good to one another, when the word of God tells us not to be overcome with evil, when the word of God tells you to pay your tithe, when the word of God tells you to do anything, and we do the opposite of that thing, you are drifting, and you don't realize you're drifting, which is a sign. Drifting cause you to drift back. See, the Bible tells us, it's gonna tell us this morning. We're not to draw back from the Lord, but the word in Ephesus tells us, especially in the book of James, he tells us to draw near. Not draw back, draw near, draw nigh unto the Lord, and he will draw nigh unto you.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

But what Jesus is gonna tell us this morning, anybody, I don't care who you is, anybody that puts his hand on me and have the nerve to look back.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 9:00

He's about to tell you, you ain't even fit for the kingdom of God. You don't grab a hold of Jesus. God don't let us know you don't grab a hold of my son looking back to go back to the death, go back to the world. You ain't fit to come to my kingdom if you try to get and you've been looking back. Means if you look, if we're living away from the kingdom of heaven, we're telling the Lord that we must don't want to go there. Because if your mind is on heaven, if your mind don't be what God is, you are reaching, like Paul said, those things in front of you. You forgetting them things behind you. And if we show God by looking back at the world, looking back at the carnal state that he brought us out of, you don't deserve to be up here then. You don't deserve to come here.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Because see, my kingdom is not behind you, my kingdom is in front of you.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 10:04

And no matter what you may go through, you keep your eyes. See what Paul said? He said, that's why I'm pressing toward the mark. That mark, he said, is a high calling. A high calling of coming to heaven, a high calling to be able to law. That's the mark we're in. And it's not behind us, it's in front of us. So what are we looking back for? What are we looking back at? Because God ain't behind us, he's in front. What's behind you in that life you leaving? That old man, them old ways of thinking. Let me let me all let me let Jesus say something right quick. Let me let Jesus say something right quick. He was dealing with, he was dealing with a group of people one day, and several of them. One came up to him, Jesus asked him nothing, but he just came up to Jesus. I'm following, I'm gonna follow you, Jesus. I'm gonna I'm gonna live for you. I'll follow you wherever you go. See, one thing we got to understand. You can't butter Jesus and you can't sweet talk. And a lot of people back in the day of his ministry tried to run up on him, thought they were saying something nobody else saying, and that was false impression. You can't impress Jesus. If you wanna impress Jesus, live, live holy, live according to his word. Why calling me Lord, Lord? You ain't doing what I say. I don't care how much you run up here. Tell me you're gonna live. You think because you ran up here on me and said you're gonna follow me wherever I go, that was supposed to impress me? Them just words. I need to see you living that. Birds got nesses, but the son of man ain't got nowhere to lay his head. What you gonna do when you ain't got nothing nowhere to lay your head? While you followed me? What you gonna do then? You gonna keep following me wherever you said you follow me wherever I go? Well, this is where I go. And if you follow me, you're gonna have to go there too. You still gonna follow me when times get hard, when we ain't got nowhere to lay our heads down at. He said, Send this out, Jesus said, follow me. Without question, that's what Jesus tells us today. He ain't got to tell you what you're gonna encounter while you follow him. He ain't got to tell you what you're gonna suffer while following him, he ain't got to tell you what you're gonna have to sacrifice while following him. Just follow me. See, this is a trust thing. This is a step and I don't faith thing. Just follow me. But just like so many of us, these people in the in this in this particular text, that human nature always comes to the surface. And you can always tell when that human sense, human nature comes to the surface, this is what you're gonna hear. They're gonna say, but there's always gonna be a butt there. And that's a show sign you ain't ready. Because if Jesus says, follow me, the only word we need say is yes, Lord. But when somebody says, okay, I hear Lord, but I gotta go do this here for I I got one of them saying, Jesus, follow me. He said, but Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. I got things around the high, you know, my dad have been saying, you know, he died. And you know, I I'm not one, you know, I don't want to take care of everything. And I know he can't do for himself. I said, follow me. But Jesus, I know you understand. I know you understand Jesus. Because you Jesus. I'll be back to wrestling. Just let me go handle this. Then I'm gonna I'm gonna start living right. I'll get a rise and live right. I ain't just quite ready yet, but I'm gonna bud. Just hold on. I'm gonna follow you.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Mm-hmm. Another one. Come up to him, hollering miss him.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 14:42

I will follow thee, I'll follow you. He said, I'm gonna follow you. But then he said that same word. But but let me first go bid them farewell. Let me go tell everybody bye. Let me go, you know, holler at the phone, folks, before I go. Let me first go bid them farewell. Which are at my house, at my home in my house. Let me go tell everybody by. Y'all see what's why we get in so much trouble. See, we still, so many people that's follow the Lord still, it has not hit us just how serious this thing is. You cannot follow Jesus with butt excuses. You cannot and will not be able to follow Jesus the way we are supposed to follow Jesus when we allowing our connections to other things and other people to hinder us from truly following him. And as long as that is a factor in our spiritual life, we are going to always be subject to looking back at what our hearts are still attached to. Jesus simply said two words, follow me. I ain't told you to do nothing to hell.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Follow me.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 16:29

Follow me. I'm trying to get you to see just how serious this thing is. Because if we don't start taking it more seriously than we have been, we're not gonna be fit to even be in the kingdom of God. It's just that simple, it's just that wrong. After they done done all they talking and giving all the butts and make it all discussing, Jesus said this one thing. He says, No man putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. See, putting your hands to the plow, Jesus said, when you put your hands on me to guide you, to show you what's in front of you, so you can make your path straight, the Bible teller. The straight and narrow. I'm the plow, but if you put your hands on me, then do me leech you. But if you got your hands on me and you looking back, what you what you looking back for? When you know behind you was death, you could have been dead.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

What's behind you is darkness, but I brought you to the light.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 18:02

What's behind you is cursing, but in front of you I brought the blessings.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

And you turning back, looking back, you are not fit for the kingdom of God.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 18:19

And I would hate for God to tell me, I will hate for God to tell you, I will hate for God to have to tell our brothers and sisters we've never met that when we stand before Him, you ain't fit to come to my kingdom. Because all you did with the time I gave you on earth was look back. And see, here's another thing. What happens when we when we have a develop a habit of looking back? When you develop a habit of looking back, you don't serve God as you ought to. You don't live like you ought to, 100%. You know it. You don't read and sell your Bible like you ought to. You don't fast and pray like you ought to. You're not obedient to his every word every day like you ought to. Because the spirit of looking back you have allowed to settle down upon you. See, looking back calls you not to look at God. Looking back calls you not to look at Jesus. And if you ain't looking at Jesus, what is behind you you're looking at? Because it's always Jesus. What has your attention? What has caught your eye behind you that is keeping you from looking to Jesus? It's keeping you from trusting. No man putting his head to the plow. Looking back? While I'm standing with you, you looking back. Come on now, that's come on now. That's total disrespect. That's a total insult to the Almighty God. I'm standing here with you. I'm pouring out blessings on you every day, and you still looking back.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

These things ought not to be.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 20:15

But Jesus told, yeah, but you got to go send to your daddy, but you want to say, go by, say, go back and say bye to everybody. All right, that's fine. But you ain't fit for my kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Listen to me, brother and sister.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 20:35

If we need to follow Jesus, we must strive to lay aside the thoughts of seeking first the things of this world. He never tells us to seek first the things of this world. He told us to seek him first.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

The kingdom of God and his righteousness, that is what we should be seeking first. That is what we should be looking at. We must look to the kingdom of heaven with expectation and never look back.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 21:17

Or we will never be fit for the kingdom of God. You will never be fit for the kingdom of God as long as we have a habit of looking back with that same frame of mind he saved us from. See, a lot of people forget Jesus didn't just save your soul when he died on the cross. Some of us he had to save our minds too, because our minds was all messed up. Your mind got to be saved. So you won't go back to thinking the way you used to think. Christ instructs us. And he that's like he instructed this one man in that particular text, he simply said, Follow me.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

Don't let us be saying we know what that means when you say follow me.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 22:20

But as it is with many of us, our excuses outweigh our commitment and our dedication.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

But you ain't gonna find nowhere in the Bible where God won't accept any excuses. Well Lord, I just had a weak moment. I wouldn't pray it up. There ain't no excuse. Not that he's gonna accept. Because if you had a weak moment, did not done told you that my strength is made perfect in weakness. If you know my word, you know anytime you face with something, there is a word for it. You should have stayed committed and dedicated to me.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 23:27

Sadly, brothers and sisters, it's so sad. We assume this is what we make the wrong assumption. We assume that because we deem our excuse valid, because we feel like this is a good enough excuse, it's valid. Just because we deem our excuses valid, somehow we feel our Lord will understandingly accept them. Because it sounds like a good excuse. Oh no, he is not. If we think he's so good that he can accept any type of see, you cannot get into heaven riding on excuses, being irresponsible with your spiritual life, not taking your life seriously enough. You can't get to heaven like that. This is a serious business, y'all. Oh, this I know this is a good excuse here. Sounds like we called call in at work and tell our boss you ain't finna go down and come down with something. We just know they're gonna accept that. Especially when we call and say and say we sit. I say say we sick. We ain't sick, we say we sit. And we try to handle Jesus like we handle people, and it's not gonna work. See, the seriousness of our discipleship, our stewardship in the Lord has not yet hit us as to how just how extremely vital following him is. This is extremely vital to your soul when it comes to following Jesus. We must get to that place praying. We do not look back at anything, at anybody, or any place, if it doesn't apply to the kingdom of God.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

You got to let everything go for Jesus. Because you don't want to leave no nothing that could cause you look back.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 26:04

You remember when Jesus, I mean, I think I told y'all this before, when it came time for him to go to the crowd, and he was talking to the disciples, and Jesus, the prince of this world is coming. Talking about the devil. That's another name for him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. He said, The prince of this world is coming. But this is what I like when Jesus said this. He said, But having nothing in me, in other words, ain't nothing in me that he can use to hinder me from doing what my father sent me here to do. Having nothing in me. That's what he told. Yeah, he called it, but he ain't gonna be able to do nothing because he ain't got nothing in me. It's got to be something in those that the devil can use, y'all, for him to keep vexing our lives to what we do. And looking back opens the door for him to do what he got to do in your life.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

And we don't even realize I said that we made a mistake we made. See, the devil is like a bloodhound. He just sniffed out ungodliness in your life, he just sniffed out the unfaithfulness. He just sniffed out that you don't trust the Lord.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 27:21

And he realized that's an opening for him to come right on in. Because I smelt it on you. He picked up your sin that you want to live in holy, he picked up your sin that you want to live in righteous, and you gave him something he could use.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

It still has not hit us just how extremely vital following Jesus is.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 27:53

We must get to that place wherein we do not look back at anything. I'm gonna say it again, at anything, anybody, or any place that we used to go to, hang around. If it does not apply, at this point, y'all, if what we do does not apply to the kingdom of God, we don't need it in our life. We don't need to be giving it our time. We don't need to be giving it our attention. There must hit, and I need somebody to understand this. There must be a holy contempt. You got to have a contempt in your heart against this stuff in this world that's not of God. There must be a holy contempt. I tell people all the time, no, I don't believe in hatred, but I hate what God hates. I do that. I hate what God hates. I have a holy contempt for anything that's ungodly. There must be a holy contempt of the world and the things in it. That's not of God. We will never gain the world which awaits us. That heavenly world that's waiting on us, we'll never get it. If we continue to look back at the things in this world. Your teacher ain't been on heaven. You trying to figure out what dirt you're gonna get in today, what dirt you're gonna get in this week.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Worldly stuff that ain't got nothing to do with God. I'm gonna say this.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 29:48

I'm gonna say this. Well, now I'm gonna let the word of God gonna say this in the book of Genesis. We know the story. Solomon go my and because Lot was the nephew of Abraham, God was willing to get them out of the city before he destroyed it. Because the angel told him I can't do nothing till y'all go. When they dragging their feet, Long gathered. The angel said, Take my hand and drag my seat. What you what you lingering for?

SPEAKER_01 30:23

Get up out of here. But they gave them instructions.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 30:30

And we know what those instructions are. They all heard instructions, so you can't say you didn't hear it, because they told it to you. But you remember the story with me. One of the instructions was no matter what happened, no matter what you hear, go on behind you. Do not look back. Don't tell her and look back, what's going on behind you? You go here, but don't you tell her and look. This one scripture I took out of Genesis 19, the 26th verse says, But his wife, talking about Lot's wife, but his wife, here it is. This is what we're doing. His wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Because she disobeyed the instruction that was given her by God, spoken to her through the mouth of the angels. See, but see, a lot of people read that story, but I'm I I implore you to go back and read that story. That was something else the angels told them that a lot of people don't even talk about. Before he told them not to look back, he told them to escape for your life. That's what the Spirit of God tells us today. What about just looking back and getting being detached from this world? You need to be trying to escape this world for our life. Because as long as we live in our lives being attached to this world, we're gonna fight our myself being destroyed, like Solomon Gamor. The angel he said, don't look back, say escape, you need to try to escape, and you're escaping for your life. This is this thing is about our life, y'all. Our lives are on the line. And if you bless escape with your life, do not look back. Jesus even had to tell a crowd one day, even when he came down here for his ministry. This happened way back in Jesus. But when Jesus came, he reiterated it and just told him simply three words. Remember Lot's wife. Why gotta remember her Jesus? Because she looked back. And I'm telling you, you cannot be fit for the kingdom of God. Looking back, this woman had she had already escaped the spirit and she had been blessed. God done bless you to get out, and you still missed the full blessing of being spared because you look back. See, those of us who say right now, we are, we done got part of the blessing. Because Jesus done saved us, because he done brought us out of the doctrine, but we haven't got the fullness of the blessing yet, because some of us still certainly look back because we ain't made it to the kingdom yet. We we done got blessed to know what we know already, but we're not all the way complete.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

Because we haven't got to the kingdom yet. We done got out to sin, but we ain't got to the kingdom yet.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 34:05

And I fear before some of us get to make the kingdom, I pray God this don't happen. But I wonder, Lord, if some of us gonna be done look back when we got instruction, we got the same instructions that Lotwise got not to look back. But Lord, how how many times have we looked back already?

SPEAKER_01 34:26

That we're gonna have to repent for.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 35:01

We done heard what it said, but didn't take it seriously enough? Because we're so sure Jesus understands. He understands my heart. Okay, you keep thinking that when you see his face and see what's gonna happen. She didn't take it seriously, and she was struck dead, standing up while she standing up.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Anybody been struck dead while they've been standing up and turned into a pillow of salt. Standing there.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 35:39

Because he hit her just what is in the same spot she disobeyed, that's the spot he hit her and struck her dead. And some of us, if we continue to play these games, God's gonna strike us just where we stand.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

Because his instructions are final.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 36:07

Either you do this and live like this, or you will not be fit for my kingdom. If we look back and our hearts are clinging firmly to anything other than the things of God, we too will be struck down in the day of judgment as Lot's wife was. Always this and always that. All those things that's got to do with world and carnal things. It's where you find a lot of our affections and interest and entertainment and can't tell nobody nothing about what you have learned by having your focus on heaven, because your focus ain't never been on heaven the way it ought to be. We continue to turn back because our hearts have not fully and truly left following after the things of this world. Because there's still some stuff in us. See, if it wasn't that in us, we wouldn't be gravitating back every now and then periodically to this worldly stuff. It's still some residue somewhere. It's still some ungodly somewhere, and then we need to be purged. That stuff needs to be purged out of us. And I told y'all how to get it out of you. If you get in the word of God, that word of God then down in you will purge everything out of you that's not of God. If you receive the word, if you receive the truth, it'll get it out of you. The word of the world cannot abide in a place where the word of God abides. One of them got to go. We're so full of the word of the world that we have no place for the word of God. That's why a lot of times the word of God cannot be effective in us like it ought to be effective in us, because we won't be honest and tell the truth. We have not fed enough on the word of God to get that word of the world out of us. Every child of God should ask themselves Is my heart more attached to earthly things than it is attached to Jesus? Ask yourself that question. And you find out where your heart is. My heart attached more so to earthly things than it is attached to Jesus. Doing what I want to do, how I want to do, thinking how I want to think. See what a here's the sad thing that saddens me and grieves my spirit. When we who say we saved, and when we hear the truth like we hear it, and it don't convict our spirits, something is wrong. When you have got to the place where even the word of God no longer convicts your spirit, to convict you to do right, to at least convict you to even admit that you've been wrong.

SPEAKER_01 40:19

When there's no more conviction, we in trouble. One thing, children of God, I'm gonna let you go.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 40:33

One thing we got to keep, and I pray God keep this in me, is we got to always have a fear of God. See, if you don't feel God's, you ain't trying to, you ain't worried about what's gonna happen to you. You ain't worried about what the end gonna be. You ain't worried about not to be rejected out of his kingdom. Lord, I don't want to be rejected at your kingdom. But see, that must be a referential fear of God, along with our conviction to keep us in line with his word and with his truth. So we just won't get out there and do any and everything. So we won't get out there and looking back, trying to go back. Well, let me get some words, Paul said to the Hebrew. He said, Let us therefore fear. Pause, let's pause right there. Call the comma. Let us therefore fear. They're talking about a godly fear. Because then y'all was made to you. You ain't made it to heaven yet. Anything to happen. What if God tells us nobody is above falling?

SPEAKER_01 41:44

You ain't got your ticket just yet.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 41:47

Yeah, the Jesus had the cloud coming, but you ain't got a ticket to ride just yet. But Paul says, Let us therefore fear. Why, Paul? Lest a promise, since promise, God done left the promise for us, but you got to do what you got to do to receive that promise. The promise is available, but everybody ain't gonna get the promise because what because we didn't live accordingly. He said, let us therefore fear lest a promise being left of us. It's been left for you. It's that fugging. But you still might not get it if you ain't live right. A promise being left us of entering into the rest that God got for us. Listen to that. Any of you should come with, any of you should seem to come short of it. You just missed it. If you come short of something, that means you just missed it. You was almost there, but you you came short. And we can't afford y'all to become short of the kingdom of God. We can't afford to come short of the promises because we failed to have a fear of God. We took it for a play period. We didn't take this lifestyle seriously, and that was just enough for us to come short of it. And when you come short of the kingdom of God, that means you missed it. That means you ain't gonna get it. You shall.

SPEAKER_01 43:21

And we need to be on point at all times.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 43:27

There should be a desire to want this promise that, hallelujah, hallelujah, this promise that God done lift up. There's a woman be a desire, a hunger to receive the kingdom of God. We should be glad when we have fear of God to keep us from doing any and everything. There must be a godly fear in the hearts of all who believe. Simply because of the possibility of coming short of the promises of the heavenly rest in God's kingdom and the judgment of the wrath of God if we look back. A lot of us are gonna come short because we just couldn't stop looking back. We couldn't stop dwelling on what's going on in the world. What's happening?

SPEAKER_01 44:34

What a happening is, what a good time is it.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 44:42

To not look back requires perseverance. You got to keep pushing, you've got to keep toiling, you've got to keep digging, clawing your way to stay on track with the help of the Almighty God and His Spirit that dwells in you. You got to be perseverance. You got to persevere in your faith. You got to persevere in your trust. You got to be persistent and perseverant in your obedience to what the word of God says. See, one reason we God ain't gonna accept no excuses, but we know so much of the word. We have no excuse. When you know the truth, there is no excuse. You just didn't do it, but that don't mean you don't know it. Too many of us know too much of the word for us to try to bring on the shoes of God because you can know the truth and still choose not to live it. Switch ain't no excuse at all. Because you can't tell God you didn't know. You can't tell him you wasn't aware of because you knew my word.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

You knew not to look back. But you did anyway. Paul says this in the book of Hebrews. I'm gonna let you go.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 46:37

He says, Now the just those have been justified by God. That's what he means by the just. Now the just shall live by faith. Faith that God will give me the strength not to look back, faith that God will give me the strength not to not to not to give up. Faith that God will continue to help me to stay obedient and to do what's right. He said, just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, there it is. We supposed to be living by faith, but if anybody draw back, draw back, look back, know back, my soul, he says, shall have no pleasure in him. How do you gonna look back and you got God standing with you? How are you gonna have thoughts of going back when you got the Lord standing up with you? I ain't got no pleasure in there. If you got nothing back to look back, I don't need to be standing here with you. He said, but we see God's always wrong, people. They ain't gonna look back, don't care what you say, no matter what you do. They are determined not to look back. And Paul saw an opportunity to encourage though. He said, but we are not of them. We ain't of them who draw back, we ain't of them. We not the drawbacking crew, we are looking forward truth. But he tried to help those that did look back. He said, but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition. Perdition, that's what that's a Greek word. You follow it, it means to draw back to eternal damnation, to do things that cause us to go to hell. That's what perdition is. We don't draw back because we ain't trying to go to hell. We ain't trying to be eternally damned before God. We try to live right. We're not of them that draw back, ain't gonna draw back, ain't gonna look back, and ain't going back. I'm going all the way. He said, but of them, he said, we ain't of them that draw back, but we of them that believe. Hallelujah. We're gonna keep on believing. We of them that believe to the saving of the soul. We try to do the thing that's gonna be gonna cause our soul to be saved. I don't blame you, Paul. And we cannot do those things that cause our soul to be saved if we're gonna look back. We better stop looking back. Remember that's why. See, it's not so much that when Jesus didn't hear look back. We ain't supposed to be looking back even now. While we're living the life.

SPEAKER_01 50:00

I'll leave you with this.

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 50:05

You can't follow Jesus with but excuses. But this, but I I didn't know it was gonna be like this. I didn't know I had to go through all this, but, but, but I'll leave you with this. What Jesus says, no man having put his hands to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Don't look back, my brother. Don't look back, my sister.

SPEAKER_01 50:49

Look to Jesus so that we would not come short of the promises which God has left us through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.