Pete McKenzie
it was good to see you guys you know the ongoing saga of the times that we live in and God has given us a great privilege and opportunity to live in these times. And I think that’s what it is to it’s a privilege and an opportunity to be alive today to be Christians today to turn one cheek turn the other when someone forces you to go one mile volunteer to go to
when someone
Sue’s you for your coat shirt, give him your coat also.
Pray for your enemies and bless those who persecute you. That’s what I’ve told you to do.
So why do you say you love me, but you don’t obey me. You’re not obedient and that the ram of that wheel was obedience, obedience to the being a man of the word obedience to be a man of prayer, obedience to be a man in fellowship with other men that are chasing after Christ’s obedience to witnessing and sharing your faith, obedience to the Lordship of Christ, bringing yourself under, and you bring yourself under. In the army, the drill sergeant made me bring myself under.
And I did more push ups and I’ve ever done in my life, the first day I showed up.
And he made me do it. But it was good for me. It made me strong. I had the best year in the minor leagues that I had, in five years of playing. I had the best year after going through basic training in the Army during the offseason.
And doing all that exercise and doing all those push ups and getting in shape the way I did, I had a good year, that next year, it paid off all the exercise paid off all the push ups, all the sweat and the strain that getting up early and running.
And trying to get in trying to forget that
the man of God could be adequate, equipped, and for every good work, is that what you want in your life? Do you want to be a man of God that’s adequate and equipped for every good work for everything God’s called you to do? I had a guy’s talking to you yesterday, and he’s got a really tough marriage. And he’s wondering if he should leave in just because he’s under such pressure from his wife and stress in the relationship.
And he is wondering if he should leave.
And
I don’t think I told him what he doesn’t want to hear.
Because it’s like the guy that I saw last week, I’ll get back to this guy. Maybe.
Think guy I saw last week had this beard and it was full and white. And I said, Boy, you’re looking more like Santa Claus every week.
He says, Yeah, but my wife didn’t like it. And she wants me to shave it off. I said, What a great opportunity. He said, What do you mean? I said, Man, the army opportunity, you get to do something your wife wants you to do that you don’t want to do.
And you could shave that off and you get a lot of brownie points in that relationship. She would know that you care about what she thinks and you want to please her.
It loves righteousness and rejoices when truth wins out.
And I said, Lord, you’re right. I don’t know how to do that. I’ve proven that. And it just blessed my socks off that God cared about my character. And where did I learn about my character in God’s Word? I was reading God’s word. Now I bet there’s a lot of testimonies in this room of guys of you reading God’s word and having similar situations. You picked up the devotional book that morning, in the thing you’re going through the thing you need to hear. God just showed you that in the word and the word came alive in the word is alive and fresh, and
LD on a be fresh in my hunger for the word and joining guys in prayer and my own personal prayer life. I wanted to get stronger, not weaker, I want to be more at it not less. But I need guys like you and we’ll talk about that when we get to fellowship. But I need guys like you in my life to serve me on to show me what the way to do it with me to watch my back to take care of each other,
Now, what’s it useful far? It’s useful for teaching. In other words, I’m teaching right now. The Scriptures are useful for teaching. It tells us which way to go. It tells us what’s good and bad. It tells us you know what, to where to stop and when to go.
And you know that lifestyle and when you’re doing those kinds of things people take notice. They’re not surprised or impressed, might be depressed to see me grumbling and complaining about it. But when they see me helping that guy that I should be playing and he’s playing, but I’m helping him be successful. People take notice it’s very evangelistic
And say, I’m going to quit going in this direction. I’m going to go in the other direction. I’m going to go in the direction God said go in is maybe harder and maybe more rigorous. It may be requires me and you know what it always requires me dying to something in me. Some right? I have some expats, some lust, I have some pleasure, I have this not good, it’s sin. It’s going to hurt me. And that’s why God rebukes us and corrects us because he wants us not to be hurt. He wants us to live lives, where we can’t be hurt. That’s what the Sermon on the Mount is all about. sermon on the mount is about talking to people who cannot be hurt. Why would he ever tell us to turn the other cheek? Go the second mile? Why would you ever do that? What spirit in you, it’s the Holy Spirit in you. But the spirit of justice in this spirit of self and pride always jumped started a fence. And it says that’s not right. They’re wrong. They treated you unjustly. It’s not fair. You can’t let them treat you like that. They’ll just run over you.
And we hear that voice. But if you’re not in God’s word, you’re not going to hear his voice, his voice, his son, humble yourself and the mighty hand of God and I’ll exalt you. I gave my son when he humbled himself, I exalted him and gave him a name, which is above every name, the name of Jesus, every knee would bow. But if he bade me if he hadn’t humbled himself in how many himself even the point of death on the cross, I couldn’t have resolved at him, I want to exalt you.
And you’re going to have to be like a child, it’s mature. maturity means that you’re childlike, doesn’t mean you stay in an infant Taub condition, but you’re growing and the more you grow, the more humble you become. And the more humble you become, the more needy you become, and the more you depend on him. And that’s where spiritual maturity is, it’s that paradox of the Christian life. If you want to go up, you have to go down. If you want to live, you have to die, if you want to be first you have to be live, if you want to be great, you have to be a servant.
He said, Yeah, well, you’ve given me he said, I’ve had three wives. None of them have like my beard.
And I didn’t say what I was thinking.
So the guy yesterday, I just said what an opportunity you have. Now you could leave and that would be easy on you. And it might be better for her. He said, Well, I just want to make her happy. I said want you to become the man and the man of God and the husband that God’s called you to beat her. He’s in a situation with his wife and some of you guys have been there for years. And the situation is that she’s pretty much done with a relationship. So anything he do does to try to please her she’s going to kick back in his face. What’s the word say about that? The word says that you be the husband that you’re supposed to be no matter how she responds. That’s what a GOP a love is. He’s not a friend yet and haven’t phileo love going for him anymore. That’s friendship and they’re not best friends is husband and wife. He doesn’t have any arrows going much. At least not much. As far as romance in the relationship. Then have any store gay going? They got between them. They got seven families, children. And so the family stuff is very difficult and the blended family. So what is the guy do? What’s the word say? The word says it a Gabriella Love is always there. If you look at first Corinthians 13, four through eight. Love is very patient and cain is never jealous or envious, never selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It loves.
So it’s not selfish. It’s not love will be keep be dutiful and it’ll do its duty level believe the best of you. Level hang in there when the hanging gets tough so that a gap a love will leap over walls it good friends and arrows and family love can’t do that it’s all reciprocal. But God’s love is a gobby. It can keep loving even when there’s no love and return. It can do what you’ve been called to do. Even if there’s no payoff and
That’s a difference in ministering to your wife and manipulating your wife, ministry is when you do the right thing or manipulating is when you do the right thing. And you’re hoping to get a good response from it. And when you don’t you quit doing it. And that’s manipulating minister ministering to your wife is doing the right thing, no matter how she responds, doing the right thing and loving her and serving her. And even if she throws it back in your face, now that can only come when you make Jesus Lord of your life and the Holy Spirit is controlling your life. You’re not going to do that in your natural self. It’s unfair, it’s not right, it’s unjust. And you’ll never do it in your own flesh. The only way you can possibly do it is when you’re filled with the Spirit and you get filled with the Spirit in the word and worship, fellowship, all the basics. But if you’re going to turn the other cheek in the he’s being required to do that, now didn’t get the idea that he enjoyed this council. Or that he was like the guy with the beard, when that guy with the beard walked out, walked away said you give me a lot of wise counsel, but I’m not gonna do this one. I’m not gonna buy this one. And I was thinking that’s why he gave we’re gonna be on your fourth wife in the not too distant future.
So God has called us to be men of the word. But let’s just make sure we’re not like that this crowd in Ezekiel 33. When God told us EQ As for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother saying, Come now and hear what the message is which comes for from the Lord. They come to you as people come and sit before you is my people in they hear your words, but they will not do them. For they do lustful, the desires of Express by their mouth and their heart goes after their gain. Be how you are to them like a central song by one who has a beautiful voice in plays well on an instrument, for they hear your words, but they do not practice in. So when it comes to pass as surely as it will, then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst when it comes to pass. He’s talking about when the consequences of their disobedience comes to pass. They all know that he was a prophet, he said this was going to happen. He warned us not to just be hearers of the word but to be doers of the word. So God wrote his word and it’s God breathed because he used men just like you use a fountain pen. He breathed he It was his thoughts. It was his instructions. It was his commands. And he had these men, over 40 of them write their words. He inspired them. If you ever written anything that was inspired, encourage someone and they really got encouraged and it was a note that you sent them or maybe it’s a note that you got and they were inspired and it came to us The right time. And maybe there was a verse in Scripture. I’ve shared this with you guys before. But I was in spring training in 1970. And they came out to the spring training field where we were practicing they said they want to see in the front office in this entire town in Lakeland, Florida. And so I went up and they said we just sold you to the Minnesota Twins see ever been sold. Well, I didn’t like it. And but I went and joined their triple A team, which was in Evansville, Indiana, and I was sitting on the bench behind a guy thought I was better than had been the all star and double A the year before he had been in the same league, and he won the all star. So out to be playing every night. And this guy’s playing in the manager was there with him last year. So he’s playing his favorites. And I’m sitting on the bench and I wasn’t I didn’t have a real good attitude. And then one night, I got called into pancha. And I said, Boy, I need to get a hit here and show the manager I need to be in the game. Close situation. Unfortunately, that night, a guy named Pedro borbone, was on the mound. Pedro was a starting pitcher. A few years later, when the Reds won two back to back World Series. I helped him get to the big leagues at night. He struck me out. And as we say in Alabama was Lorna and ducks instead. And went back to my room that night I’d been reading every night and Ken Taylor just come out with a Living Bible prayer paraphrase. And I was reading in Hebrews 12. Now this is the way God works right when I needed it. That was a young Christian didn’t, you know this fresh off the turnip truck spiritually. And I didn’t understand how God worked. But God was teaching me how I worked in God. It wasn’t a mistake that that night I struck out, I was discouraged. I was crumbling in my beard that I wasn’t playing every night. And God had me reading in Hebrews 12, Hebrews 12, in that portion of the chapter, says, you know, God disciplines us because we’re his children, and he doesn’t discipline us, then we’re illegitimate children. We’re not as children at all. But you know, the problem with discipline is it hurts. But what we see as a result is a quiet growth in grace in character. And that just not me right out of the bed. And I was thinking, and the reason it knocked me out of the bed was because the first thought I had was, there’s a God who created this whole world who created the universe, and every star knows him by name. He’s all powerful, omnipotent, and he knows everything. And he cares about my character, me, he cares about me and my character. He cares so much that he’s explaining to me what’s going on. And then he went on to say, you know, Pete, let me show you what you know. You know how to be in the lineup every night, you know how to be an all star.
But let me tell you what you don’t know you don’t know how to sit on the bench and pull for that guy in front of you and help him be successful.
It’s useful for teaching us the doctrines in the ways of the Lord. It’s also useful for rebuking, I had a friend one time tell me he said, Pete, if you’re not being rebuked, it’s not because you don’t need it, is because people don’t think you can take it. Can you take a rebuke because if you can’t, you won’t be reading the Bible very much. Because the Bible rebukes us for other ways that our laziness for our habits for our lustful heart. So lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh or boastful pride of life when those things are showing up the scripture Ruby,
rebukes all rebuke means it’s correcting as Ghana, what God was doing with me in Hebrews 12 he was correcting me. He was saying, Pete, you’re grumbling, you’re complaining. You think more highly of yourself than you should you should think of others is more important than yourself. Help that guy be successful. Forget about yourself, be a blessing to him.
to live the lifestyle that Jesus Christ gave us. People take notice when you turn the other cheek. You could feel the room fill our pockets. You didn’t deserve to be slapped back handed across the face. But your response was, you turn the other cheek slyke me playing golf with this guy one day I was in my 30s or 40s. And he was in my age in his mid 70s. And they just put us together because we had a to some and they had it too soon. So they put us together and we’re walking off the 18th hole and he says you some kind of Padre or something. I said why did he ask? He said I never seen a guy so many three foot putts and never cuss.
So people are watching. They watch how we respond. They watch how we say our children watch us our grandchildren watches they see how we spend our time. They see what we value and they want to be valued it’s a it’s also for correcting you’re going in this direction stop. You need to go in this other direction. Are you teachable? Are you coachable? When someone says you’re going in a direction that you shouldn’t be going in? that’s hurting others may be hurting you and most assuredly hurting you. And they say stop hold it. That’s the wrong direction. You need to turn around and go in this direction. That’s what repentant means I’m going in one direction, it’s the wrong direction and us know it and I stop.
And that’s what God has called us to. And he’s called us to be men of the word. So I don’t know where you come in from this morning. I don’t know what your habit has been in the word. But it’s also good for instruction in righteousness. So maybe you’ve been a backslider in the word maybe you’ve counted, hit and missed. But I know this for sure. And this is true for me. It’s true for you. You can do more. You can be in the word more. You can decide to make the Word of God your final authority more. You can taste more and see more, that God is good and his word is sweet. And his word is alive, and it’s fresh every morning. It’s alive in our hearts. It inspires us own. It encourages us. It rebukes us, it corrects us all the things we need in life to be trees planted by rivers of water that bear fruit, that are prosperous, and everything he does, he prospers. God, that’s what God wants for you is what he wants for me. But if we’re going to be lazy, if we’re going to be backslidden, if we’re not going to be diligent in the word, then we’re not going to be able to be that prosper successful guy. He just won’t happen. God wants to exalted his children, he disciplines. So the purpose of godliness we need to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness. So you have to take yourself by the nap of the neck sometimes and take your heel and kick yourself in the butt. Or maybe you need another guy coming along and doing it for you. Like getting up and going, we got four m groups get in one. Maybe you’re in another group, great. Praise the Lord. Maybe you don’t need a forum group, you already got a group of rights God. But if you hadn’t got something going on, you’re not going to go into life with man. If you’re not in a to seven, study and memorize in and studying and
reading and hearing and meditating. Then get it out of low gear. Be the guy be the reliable one. And when the pressure comes, and courage is required, you won’t be the reliable one. If you’re not a man of the word, if he hadn’t practiced obedience to the word, you’re not hiding it in your heart. I had it in my heart that I might not sin against him. And so you’re sinning against him because you’re not hiding it in your heart. So you got to decide. We started at the end of that verse, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped, the way you’re adequate and equipped as being God’s word. Next week we’ll talk about being a man of prayer. Being a man who’s comfortable in God’s presence, Being a man who’s not afraid to go to the Lord and who believes that prayer is the word prayer is not helping the word prayer is the work. That’s what we’ll talk about next week. But let’s finish this off today. I pray that Lord, if we’re going to go over this message today, give me a message. It’ll move men’s hearts that will make him be hungry for your word. Make them be, decide, decide today, what you will, who you serve, what you’ll do, determine if you’re going to be a man of the word or not. You have to decide I can’t decide for you. I can’t get you up early every day. I can’t keep you up late at night. I can’t get you in a Bible study, you have to decide you have to take yourself by the neck of the neck and do that. Nobody’s gonna do that for you. Sometimes you’ll get a guy that will grab you and Scobie knob and say, Come on, we’re going we’re doing this and you do it and you find out what’s the best thing ever happened? You rise up and call that God bless it because he wouldn’t take no for an answer. But God will take no for an answer if that’s what you want to give him. But there’s sometimes he compels us there’s sometimes we don’t have an option. I don’t think Apostle Paul had an option on the road to Damascus. He was going to kill more Christians. He was going to throw more I’m in jail. Paul Paul, why do you persecute me? who aren’t that Lord? Um, Jesus of Nazareth, the one you’re persecuting? Why are you doing that? What will that have me do, Lord? Now? I got a feeling that in that encounter one like, well, I want you to hit the road. I don’t care. I mean, he has a bright light shine it blinded him. And I think he comes to us sometimes in such a way that we’re compelled to do it. I hope you’re compelled today to decide that I’m going to be a man and I’m going to be in God’s word. I’m going to journal I hate journaling. I never want to journal. I got seven reasons why I don’t need to journal. But you need to journal. You need to write letters to God. You need to let God write you letters. Dear Craig, dear bill, dear Ron, dear Michael. If God knew God, no one you like he knows you today were to write you a letter? What would he say? Don’t you want to hear what God would say. And I can guarantee you from years of experience, he’s never going to say boy, you’re never going to amount to nothing. I knew I couldn’t depend on you. You may have heard that from your dad or your coach, which you’re never going to hear that in the Word of God from God. God is gentle in his approach. He’s gentle in his rebuke. He’s gentle in his correction. He loves us. He understands the struggle we have with sin. He understands our tendency to be procrastinating and lazy. He understands that he will always meet us when we come. If you decided to meet with God and you met with him three days within four days went by and you hadn’t met with him and you go back to meet with him. And he’s been there all the time we known you. Any done lecture you when you come in, he’s glad to see you. He didn’t invite you in and then rebuke you when you come or make fun of you when you come. He didn’t do that. That’s not who he is. So he’s speaking to your heart today. And he says I won’t fellowship with you. In the way we fellowship is in my word. I want you to know me. Because the more you know me, the more you’ll be like me and the more you’re like me, the better your life is going to be and the more effective and fruitful your your life will be in the harvest field. Because we have a harvest out there and we got work to do. And there’s never been more crucial time in the history of this country and maybe the world. When we need reliable man who a man of the word, who lived the word and study the Word and read the word, meditate on the word, memorize the word.
Today is what we need. And you have to decide I can’t decide for you and you can’t decide for me that you’re going to be a man of the word and not Is that what you’re going to decide to do. So I’m going to give you a few seconds just to talk to the Lord about whatever he’s saying to you and your heart. Something that will last and go with you out of this place in. So Lord, speak to our hearts
Lord Thank you for being the Lord God, the living word, Jesus Christ. Thank you for your patience with us. Thank you for your exhorting us and encouraging us and saying, Come to me, come to me Come to me. And we come to you through your word. We come to you, Lord, because we want to know you. Put it in our heart to want to know you, Lord. You said in Jeremiah 24, seven, I will put it in your heart to know me. And so Lord, if you’ve put it in a man’s heart, any man here today and you put it in his heart to know you how pray, you put it in his heart to make a decision today, a decision that’s going to change his life, it’s going to make him a better husband, a better follower of Christ, a better dad and grandfather. The things that make a difference in the world, the things that will change this world in ways that nothing else can, is a man who’s fallen after you a man of the word and a man who is Jesus is Lord of his life, a man of prayer. And that’s the kind of man we want to be Lord. So we asked you to help us in Jesus name And all God’s men said give them Heaven, guys.