[review: God’s Rights - part 1]
     Good morning and welcome to the Berean Break.  My name is George Sinkie and it is such a privilege to be help you learn the truth this morning.  I hope that some of you are regular listeners to this program and I also hope that some of you are tuning in to this program for the first time and that you will continue to listen in the future.  Let's go to God in prayer, as we begin,

Great God in heaven, Thank You for this day in our lives, We pray that we will use it to Your glory.  Thank You also for Your word which reveals all truth to us, And help us to apply the truth into our lives.  We thank You for the gift of Your Son, Through Whom we can all have salvation, Pierce our hearts with Your truth so that we will obey Your will.  In Jesus' Name, we pray!!  AMEN !!

     Last week we began to look at the idea of rights.  We live in a country that allows us all kinds of rights — some of the things our country allows us as rights are good, but our country also grants us rights which if we follow them we sin against God.  If we want to be right with God then we must always submit to His will.  We were looking at the different points brought up in a short article entitled God's Right.  Let's again look at this article and then finish looking at the points in some detail.

     Last week we looked at the first two points in this article.  We saw how God has a right to a definite part of our time and money.  For those who are Christians there is a very special sense that God has these right, because we belong to Him.  But all of you listening, whether you are a Christian or not, God still maintains a right to these things.  I pray that you will take the time to stop and consider your relationship with God.  And as you learn the truth that you apply that truth into your life so that you will be saved.  Once you do that I look forward to meeting with you in the assembly of the Lord's church.

     Let's consider now God's right to be glorified by your TONGUE.  By this we are looking at the speech that we have.  James gives a lot of inspired teaching concerning this topic in James 3:2-12, this is a long reading but please follow along,

   2 For we all stumble in many ways.  If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
   3 Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they may obey us, we direct their entire body as well.
   4 Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder, wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.
   5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.  Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
   6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
   7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by the human race.
   8 But no one can tame the tongue;  it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
   9 With it we bless our Lord and Father;  and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
   10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.
   11 Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
   12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs?  Neither can salt water produce fresh.

James speaks here of those who speak of God and they turn right around and speak with curses.  A Christian should not do this, and when they do they will repent of it and strive to live purer.  But there is also some application to those who are not Christians as well.  I've know people who are denominationalist's and can talk so righteous sounding one moment and then turn around and speak like the gutter.  I know one Denominationalist, and I don't want you to confuse that with being a Christian, who gets to speaking so ungodly that I just have to walk away and then he talks about how he is teaching a kid's class in his denomination and how the parents praise him for his teaching.  They evidently don't know what he is really like, or maybe they know but don't really care.  I also encounter many people who use foul language and then say "Oh, excuse my language, preacher."  It is not me alone they have offended, it is God in heaven and He hears everything they say, and He will one day require that they give an account for their every word.  Jesus tells us this in Matthew 12:34-37,

   34 "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good?  For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
   35 "The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good;  and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil.
   36 "And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment.
   37 "For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned."

     While Jesus is speaking about the Pharisees, all people will have to give an account for the things that they have said — both good things and bad things.  This is one reason why I don't teach false doctrines like salvation by faith only, or original sin, or once saved, always saved.  On the day that the teachers of these false doctrines have to give an account there will be nothing that they can say to justify themselves.  We need to all watch what we say, so that God is glorified by what we say.

     The next right that God has is to our INFLUENCE.  As we read through the book of Acts, we see the great influence that Christians had in the first century.  One of the most interesting sections of this historical account is found in Acts 5:11-14, which picks up after Ananias and Sapphira have been struck down by God, there Luke writes,

   11 And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all who heard of these things.
   12 And at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people;  and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico.
   13 But none of the rest dared to associate with them;  however, the people held them in high esteem.
   14 And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number;

Look at the influence, even though there was great fear still multitudes of men and women were being immersed into Christ and added to their number.  Why?  Why would these men and women join a group that caused great fear?  I don't know the whole answer to that but I think a great part of it was that they saw in the lives of the Christians that they met something that they wanted in their own lives.  Later on Peter would write concerning the influence of a Christian in 1 Peter 3:14-16

   14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed.  And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled,
   15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
   16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

There is no way that a person can honor God with their influence if they are not a Christian, and as Christians people need to consider all of the examples that they set and make sure that they honor God.

     The final right mentioned in the article was that God has a right to your LIFE.  As Paul spoke in the Areopagus, he spoke of why God has a right to your life and my life.  Let's read Acts 17:24-28

   24 "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
   25 neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things;
   26 and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation,
   27 that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
   28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.'"

God has a right to our lives because He created and sustains our lives.  But God gives us the choice.  God will not force anyone to obey His will, we have to make that decision for our selves.  God teaches in His word that we are lost because we personally commit sin, we do not inherit the sin of Adam or anyone else.  God also teaches in His word that if we want to be saved we will hear His word, believe the teachings of that word, repent, which means to turn away from our sins, and be immersed in water for the forgiveness of our sins.  If we choose to obey God in these things then we are born again through that immersion and arise to walk in newness of life.  I have made that choice in my life and I encourage you to make that choice in your life.  Won't you obey God's will and receive the salvation that He offers?

[review: God’s Rights - part 1]