Choosing who to follow
Key Passage: 2 Samuel 19
Date: June 7, 2024
Turn your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Samuel chapter 19.
If I had to put a title on it for the internet, we would put it on: How to Choose Who to Follow. It is going to be a little bit of a two-part message. I do not plan on being long, but two parts. Typically, preachers have three points; I only have two, so you are doing good tonight.
But it is a two-part message, amen. We are going to start at one point and then we will just change all of a sudden. So I believe the Lord has us just kind of try to cover two things. We have been on the life of David for about a year and a half now. We are to the point where David just had the battle. Of course, his son, Absalom, turned against his own dad, trying to take the throne, trying to kill his dad. And his dad had to flee Jerusalem, had to leave the throne. He ended up in a little town called Mayanam. And from there, he kind of directed traffic. The people said, “We do not want you to fight.” But Joab, as general, three of them, they won the battle. And Absalom died in the battle. And David mourned, “O Absalom, Absalom, my son, Absalom! Would have God, I died for thee!” And Joab said, “Hey, you better get over. You are going to lose the kingdom. It is going to be worse than was the beginning.” And David had to learn he was going to have to move on. A couple weeks ago, we talked about dealing with grown children.
But we are to this point: David is coming back to Jerusalem. It is a little bit of a victory march at this point, if you will, and crossed over Jordan. Remember last week we talked about some of the men that were cursing and throwing rocks at him and all that, and he came and begged for mercy. And David knew he did not get right. David later on told his son Solomon, “Watch that fellow.” He knew he. But David still forgave. And such a better way of living than being the tally keeper and trying to keep track of everybody. Just forgive him, and there is a lot of peace there. And God is ready to forgive.
And then today we are going to just skip over a touch. We are getting to the point where David is getting all the way past the Jordan River. We are skipping a little bit about an older man. It is actually a foreign man, Barziliay. They helped David. And David said, “Won’t you come live with me in the palace? We will just treat you like royalty.” He said, “I am so old. I cannot taste steak and lobster and shrimp and pizza—trying to get on your level—black-eyed peas and pinto beans and cornbread.” You have to read in the Hebrew to get all that in there. He said, “I cannot taste all that.” He is 80 years old. And he said, “I cannot hear music and all that.” He said, “I just want to go to my hometown.” And David said, “Well, just if I did not do anything to honor you,” and he said, “well, take care of this guy, Jim Hand, I believe it was.” And he said, “All right.” But we are bypassing a little bit of that.
And we are getting to the point that David is getting to the capital city. We are in chapter 19, 2 Samuel 19. We are in verse number 41, if you would, please. Stand out of respect to the Word of God. For years we did not do it. I did not want to do it just because everybody else does it, but read over there in Ezra and Nehemiah; they stood when they read the Bible. And I thought, well, if they did it in that time, the Bible time would be good enough for us. I appreciate you doing it, and I like to show the Word of God honor; it deserves it.
And verse number 41, 2 Samuel 19. And the Bible says, “And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said unto the king, ‘Why have our brethren, the men of Judah, stolen thee away, and brought the king and his household and all David’s men with him over Jordan?’”
Now let me explain for just a moment. Israel is the northern ten tribes; the southern part is Judah, two tribes. David is from that part, where Jerusalem is and so on. You remember there has been a little bit of a division over the years. You remember when David first became king, he was king for seven years just over Judah, those two tribes. And then seven years later, the north, the ten tribes, they jumped on board. And David unified them, but there is still a little division later on under Rehoboam, it divides altogether. There is a little division. So David comes back to Jerusalem to get on the throne, and Judah was right there. I mean, he is coming to where Jerusalem is; it is Judah. And they welcomed him in. And the northern ten tribes say, “Hey, you just treat this like your stepmother or something. What about us?” And there is a little division going on here. And that is the talk there in verse number 41.
Then verse number 42: “When all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, ‘Because the king is near of kin to us, wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? Have we eaten of all the king’s cost, or hath he given us any gift?’” We have not taken any of your tax money you gave to the king. He has not given us any gifts.
In verse number 43, the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye. Why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king?” And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
Chapter number 20. And there happened to be there a man of Belial. It is very interesting. He is a child of the devil, if you will. Worthless is what Belial means, but a child of the devil. Whose name is Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. Now let me just say a word about that. Remember, Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. Saul’s son ruled up north for a while, those seven years, him and Abner. And so you see how the division is still here a little bit. And this guy is part of this northern group of people. And he is part of Benjamin. They are very loyal to Saul, it seems like, in many ways, and maybe a little resentful against David, some of them.
Whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite, and he blew a trumpet and said, “We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tent, O Israel!” So every man of Israel went up from after David and followed Sheba, the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.
David had just finished a major, major battle. I am talking about his son trying to kill him. The nation was divided. They had a civil war, at least one battle. People died in it. David had to leave the capital city. I am talking about a major issue. David just faced a major issue in his life, maybe one of the greatest. Then he had the heartbreak that, yes, his side won, if you will, but now his son is dead. I am sure he had much regret. He mourned for Absalom. I think part of his mourning was because he did not think Absalom was saved. I tend to think he was not saved either. But man, he just got over this major battle, and he is coming back whole. And maybe—I do not know about you—but sometimes I am like, “Whew, praise the Lord, that one is done! Hallelujah!” Anybody like that? You know, when the major battle is done?
Now there is another major battle. I mean, it is basically another civil war, in fact. But later on, David said this was going to be worse than the other way. And he is like, have you ever been like, “Man, can I get a break?” You feel like you just get your head above water, and somebody is there to push it down again.
I remember years ago my preacher preached a message: It is not a bump in the road; it is a bumpy road. And friend, we live in just a world full of battles and turmoil. And David just got done with a major one. I am not talking about a minor one. I am not talking about an ingrown toenail. I mean, this is a major deal. And now another one is there.
Can I just say two things? I feel like the Lord wanted me to briefly hit on it.
First of all, can I just say, praise the Lord for heaven? No more battles up there! Hey, hallelujah! I can take a lot on the trip if I know it is at the end of the road, amen. By the way, that is all right to give. Now, you do not want to get where you are just in the dumps down here. God wants to use us down here, but there is nothing wrong with saying, “Praise the Lord God, heaven one day.”
Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your affections on things above, not on the things of the earth.” That is interesting—your affection, your emotions, your mind. I mean, just set it on, “Hey, this world is not my home. I am just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” It is amazing how many of those old hymns, those old songwriters, they helped us get our mind on heaven.
I thought about Brother Fontaine, Brother Jerry’s son. He said that he was just figuring out those smartphones, and before he passed, he found out how to do that voice record on there, and he had only recorded one thing. And he was singing—I guess it was just so long—and he had recorded himself singing “Beulah Land.” He is in what we call Beulah Land now. Some of those songs: “I have a mansion,” amen. Man, you know, give me a cottage out here, I do not care. I have a mansion up there, you know. Even “Amazing Grace,” that last verse of “Amazing Grace,” when we have been there ten thousand years, bright, shiny.
And I am just saying some of those songs help us get our mind right. Nothing wrong with that. We do not want to live in the mulligrubs down here. God is still working in 2021. People are still getting saved. Life is still getting changed. God still—we are doing miracles today. By the way, thank you for praying for the lady I mentioned Sunday night about you praying that she would not lose her leg. She went to Vanderbilt, got a second opinion, talked to them yesterday, I believe it was, and it looks like she is going to keep her leg. Thank you for your prayers on that. God is still working, but friend, nothing wrong with us saying, “Woo-hoo! Hey, I have a lot of problems down here, but I will have a brand new knee in heaven,” amen. Uncle Arthur will not be there, amen. We will leave him behind, you know.
Nothing wrong with that. There is a bumpy road. Praise the Lord, we have heaven to look forward to.
And then let me say this: Be careful on this life full of bumps. You will get drained. It will just drain everything you have, and you will be tempted to quit. You will get so weary. A lot of things you can do to help with that. I mean, Jesus told us disciples, apostles, said, “Hey, come apart.” Some have said, “Either you come apart, or you come apart.” And there is some truth to that. A good Christian family on vacation—great thing to do. My wife and I are about to go on vacation; we are excited about it. They are not wrong.
But would you look over in Isaiah chapter 40? I need encouragement on this thing here also myself. Can I encourage you how not to get just drained? It is not just physical; it is emotional, it is spiritual. By the way, they are all interlinked together. You are sick; it is hard to say super spiritual. You are sick a long time, and then emotional and spiritual—they are all linked together. They are different, but they are linked together. And if you are not careful, you just get so weary because there are so many bumps in the road. And I want you to see this.
Look at Isaiah 40. Would you look at verse number 30, if you would please? You will recognize the next verse. Isaiah 40 and verse number 30. Isaiah 40 and verse number 30, if you would please. And I want you to see this. This is God. He says, “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall.” The older I get, just that line there, it becomes more encouraging. Somebody want to say, “Amen” right there. I get tired quicker nowadays, you know. But even the young folk, even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. All of us.
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.” Friend, it is so vital that you get so busy, and the thing so often happens: we get busy, we let up on this thing of waiting upon the Lord. And that is when you need to wait upon the Lord more than ever, because that is how you get your strength renewed.
It is so important. It is very interesting. Let me just read it for each little phrase found in Acts 3:19. It says this: It says, “When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” It is so key. Now, this verse over there, Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord.”
Can I just mention two things about waiting upon the Lord? One part about waiting upon the Lord is when you wait for Him. How many out there, you battle patience? Both my hand—and a half of them. And sometimes we are like, “God, I have to have an answer right now.” And God says, “I will give you an answer when I want to.” But they that wait—sometimes out waiting upon the Lord is, “God, if you do not give an answer by such and such time, I am just going to die.” You might better go get your casket. But if you wait, “Lord, I know you will give me the answer in your time,” you get your strength. May that “wait upon the Lord shall renew.”
Friend, waiting. Then, there is another aspect of waiting. You know, you have got to stay in good with these people that are good to you, so I took these fellas to lunch today. I was not any—I would not have gone—but I had to take them to lunch. You understand that, you know? And we went to Legends over here. And the guy came out and he said, “Can I get you something to drink?” And my wife is looking and listening very hard to this part right here. And I was good this morning today for lunch. I got a water with lemon. And somebody say, “Amen!” Now, a Dr. Pepper or sweet tea would have tasted a whole lot better. I might get that on the way home. But I said, you know, and all the fellas said this, that other, and then he went and he got the drinks and he brought them out there. And he said, “Now, what would you like?” And the special for the day was meatloaf. I said, “I have never tried meatloaf.” I got their meatloaf. It was pretty good for him. And then I got some turnip greens. Somebody say, “Amen” right there. And then some pinto beans. They did not have any chow-chow there. I mean, what a shame. I told them I am going to Cracker Barrel. They do not have chow-chow. What in the world is wrong with them? You know, this is down south. Anyway, I am done with my complaining.
But then he said, “Would you like some more rolls?” And there was, you know, young men there. Boy, it is like he is asking about—there are only six of us all together, count me. It seemed like about 20, and said, “Yes, we will take more rolls.” All of them, yes. And so he said, “I will get it.” He brought some more rolls out. And he said, “Is there anything else I can get for you?” And he said, “I will get that right in.” And then the food came, and he brought it, and he set it down there. And “Anybody need a refill? Can I get your refill?” And I said, “I will take a refill of a Dr. Pepper, please.” No, I did not say that. I wanted to say that. And, you know, and he got all that, and he says, “Is there anything else I can get for you?” and so on.
Here is my point: That man was waiting upon us. And when you go to the Lord, you get along with God and you say, “Hey, God, is there anything I can do for you?” More often than not, for me—this is me—but more often than not, I am going to say, “Lord, can I get you something in the prayer closet? Can I get you something?” Sometimes he will say, “Call so-and-so,” or “Do this or do that,” but more often than not, he will say, “Would you praise me for a little while?”
And here is the thing: When I wait upon the Lord, when I make the time to get into His presence, that is where the time of refreshing can come. When I make time to wait upon Him, “Can I do something for you?” Sometimes I feel like he will say, “Would you just—would you go through my names?” All the names of God that come to my mind? I will praise Him for those. But however it is, “They that wait upon the Lord.” Those are the ones that renew their strength.
Friend, I am not saying burnout is not real, but more often than not, burnout happens in my life, at least, because I have not been waiting upon the Lord like I ought to. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. There is going to be times you run; there is going to be times you walk. That is why Jesus said over in Luke 18:1, He told the parable. What was the purpose of that? “Men ought always to pray and not to faint.” When I am fainting, more often than not, I am not praying like I ought to.
And life is full of bumps. David just got out of one major battle, and he is coming into it. He thought he is coming home to the Capitol, and everything is going to be hunky-dory, and he is coming home to another major battle. If you are not careful, you will get worn out. You get so weary. And friend, I am telling you, the key is to wait upon the Lord.
Now, sometimes that is a matter of time, waiting for Him to do something. I forget years ago; we had a major issue going on, and I was riding home from church one night, and the song—had a CD—and the song was, “Stand Still and Let God Move.” And God spoke to my heart that night and said, “Just wait. You did everything you can do; just wait.” Well, I tell you what, I do not know about you, but sometimes I do not want anybody to see me driving, you know. I mean, I want to—I mean, because it got some dust in my eye, you know what I am talking about? You know? Man, that just—and that renewed my strength.
And sometimes it is a matter of just getting along with God and making time, not just to go through the list, but making time to seek the Lord. You are seeking. “When is the last time you sought the Lord while He may be found?” And it is going to take an extra effort. I got up this morning, and I usually check in the phone and I will turn it off. And I turned it off and read and had my time alone with the Lord. And then I turned it back on. And sure enough, when I turned it back on, there was a text on there, “You up yet?” And so I texted, but I said, “I just turned my phone back on.” And they called. And it may have looked like they are—well, this preacher is sleeping in, whatnot—but you know, it is more important that I get along with God than whatever they think about me.
And, friend, it is so important that you make time, make time to seek the Lord. Man, you get in His presence and you wait upon Him; that is where your strength gets renewed. We all need that, because it is not a bump in the road; it is a bumpy road. But God gives you strength in the middle of the bumps.
Now let’s get the second part. I told you it was a two-part message. We are changing gears. All right. Now, we are going to change over to something else. Remember, the last part of chapter 19, they were arguing: Judah, the two tribes, and Israel, the ten tribes. And Judah said, “Well, we are related to David. We are closer to him.” And the ten tribes said, “We have ten parts in him, buddy. He is ours.” And they were arguing about it. Judah a little bit fiercer, but they are arguing about it.
Now look at chapter 20. Everything changes. Look at chapter 20, if you would please, real quickly here. Chapter 20. Would you look at verse number one? “And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. He blew a trumpet and said it.” There are 22 words. “We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse, and every man to his tent, O Israel!”
Twenty-two words, that is all he said. So, “Every man of Israel went up from after David and followed Sheba, the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.”
It is amazing to me. They were fighting over who is the closest, who is more bonded to David, and one man spoke 22 words, and it changed ten tribes. Just this one man, and just one guy. Now he had some influence. He must have been some kind of leader. Probably bonded. He was a Benjaminite.
Here is the second thing, just a little bit tonight: Can I just try to reason with you over the importance of who you follow? It is crucial. One guy, 22 words, and he changed the mind, the heart of thousands. It is so crucial who you follow. It is just vital.
Can I say this? You are going to follow someone. Everybody does. Look what he said in verse number two right there, verse number two: “So every man of Israel went up from after David.” So they are not following David anymore, but they are still following, and followed Sheba. You are going to follow somebody.
Look at that guy—that guy. He has got his pants halfway down his backside. He has got piercings all over. You know, he is all tattooed up all over the place. Any—really, I might—a little bit the ignorance of saying, “Well, I do not follow anyone. I am my own man.” And I think, “Dude, that is the way they talk.” Or what they say, “Bro.” They do not even say “bro”; they just say “bro, bro,” you know? “Bro, you would not be wearing your pants halfway down if you were not following somebody. You would not have tattoos all over the place if you were not popular.” Everybody follows somebody. It is just part of it.
And that guy said, “Well, I do not follow anyone.” Well, I hope you follow your doctor when he says, “Take this medicine.” Sure, you follow somebody. We all do. And those that act like they do not follow anyone, they are following them. They all do. But it is so crucial.
Can I say this on social media? It is vital who you follow. It is just vital. Young people, old folk—as far as Facebook, they say the ones that spend hours and hours on Facebook is not even the millennials; it is the older ones. And I am not saying that is the same, but I am just saying you can be—I did not read this. I did not read this. I am not on there much at all, but I have heard about someone on Facebook, and I do not know who all it was, but saying, “Well, women shouldn’t have to dress modestly. Men ought to keep their eyes right.”
Well, I am sure men—I agree with you, men ought to keep their eyes right. My friend, I have a couple problems with that, and it is all about who you follow. And a lot of people followed that. Let me say a couple, three things that are wrong with that just off the top of my head. One thing is—one thing is we do not live in a perfect world. It is a world full of sinners—sinful men, sinful ladies. A person that posted that or rebutted all, they are sinners, all of them. So if I lived in a perfect world, that philosophy might work. But I do not live in a perfect world. I mean, unless you have found a perfect man or a perfect lady, I have not met one. Yeah, I met one; He walked on water, amen.
And second of all, the Bible says for ladies to wear modest apparel. So I am leading people to disobey the Bible. He is saying, “Well, modesty is just an attitude.” No, the Bible says modest apparel. If you check that out over there, 1 Timothy 2:9, so the Bible says it is talking about your dress, modest apparel. So I am going to get some Bible.
Then third of all, where in the world is love in that? Love says I want to help my fellow man. It is not all about me, what I can wear and what I do. I can do whatever I want to. It is love. Man, if I know someone that is battling smoking, I am not going to smoke around them. I will go around the backside and smoke—no, I will not do it at all. No, I do not want to leave any temptation. Love does what is best for the other people.
But I say that as illustration. I do not know all the people that are involved in that. Friend, I am saying that to say it is so crucial who you follow. Facebook, social media, all that, in person, at work—news—it is so vital, and you are going to be influenced. We all are influenced. I mean, these people are fighting over—we want to be known as David’s friends—and one guy says 22 words, and about—I do not know how many thousands of them—180-degree change. It is just vital who you follow. It is critical who you are following.
You are going to follow someone. It is just vital that I learned—you know, we are being so conditioned to follow the person that everyone else is following. That is what happened. Did you notice that verse number two right there? Did you notice that, chapter 20, verse number two right there? That is amazing to me. He did not say the most, the majority. It says, “So every man of Israel went up from after David and followed him.” And I almost guarantee you, some of them did not know what in the world they were doing, but they just followed everybody. Everybody is going that way, so it must be the right way.
The polls—well, the poll says the majority of people think that abortion is not right. It is changing. I praise the Lord for that, but freedom—it does not matter what the polls are saying. The Bible calls that baby a child.
We are being conditioned to follow—you know, that is what everybody says. Well, who cares what everybody said? Everybody, for the most part in Germany, followed Hitler. How did that turn out for them? But we are being conditioned. And if the crowd says this is okay, homosexuality is okay, then it is okay. Friend, it does not matter what the crowd says. More often than not, the crowd is going the wrong way. We are being conditioned to follow the crowd. There is this thing called critical thinking. There is this thing called absolute truth. That is the key. Be so careful of just following feelings. No, I want to think this thing through, not just my feelings, but where are the facts? What is the truth? Praise what we have: the truth.
Now, very briefly, we just got just a little bit of time. I try to limit it on Wednesday night. I do not know how many of you go out early in the morning, go to work tomorrow, and I get that. Let me just mention a couple things about how to choose who to follow. That is so crucial: who you choose to follow.
Right, let me say this: Choose to follow. Do not just let it happen. Because you are probably going to follow the wrong crowd. Choose. Choose who you are going to follow. That is very important.
Number one: Follow people that are following Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1—Paul, Apostle Paul, through the inspiration of God, he said, “Follow me, even as I also am of Christ.” So pick someone that is following Christ, number one.
Number two: Would you look over Matthew chapter 7? Matthew chapter 7. And look in verse number 15, if you would please. Matthew 7, verse number 15. This verse is often so used out of context. And let’s just try to put it in context a little bit tonight. It is very much talking about who you listen to, who you follow here. Matthew 7:15, if you are there, would you say, “Amen”?
Matthew 7. Look at verse number 15: “Beware of false prophets.” Now, a priest is someone that goes to God for the people. A prophet is one that goes to the people for God. He is delivering a message; you listen to him. He says, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing.” They look so good, but they are false prophets. “But inwardly, they are ravening wolves.”
Now, the context is who you are going to listen to, who is going to preach to you, who is going to teach you, who is going to tell you things about God and from God. Verse number 16: “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” We get in this saying, “Well, fruit inspectors, you are going to know if they are saved or not by their fruits.” Friend, you do not have an idea what is going on in their heart. That is God’s job. Well, you should know by the fruits. It is talking about false prophets there. You are going to get so cattywampus trying to figure out who is saved and not saved. You are not going to know. You are not God. Give it up, friend. Do not tell them about Jesus; that is our job. But when it comes to a teacher, someone who is going to influence you, oh, he said you better check it out.
It is interesting. He says that in verse number 16, “Ye shall know them by”—it does not even say by their fruit; it says fruits. I would not check out just one area of their life. I would check out fruits. Hey, what is their past? What are the people that follow them like? How is their family? How are their children? How are their finances? What is their influence in their own neighborhood? The fruit—ye shall know them by their fruits.
Let’s keep going. “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
When you are looking to who you are going to follow, check out their fruits. I mean, study it out. Check it out. Find out. Find out what kind of house they live in. Someone was telling me—I have not checked it out, so I won’t say anything—but one of the bigger-name preachers, not Joel Osteen, not Smiley, not him; it is another one. But they said he lives and he has got two mansions worth—I cannot remember how many millions—and I have not checked it out, so I do not want to say a name. But check that out. If you are going to listen to somebody, you are going to follow someone, check it out. Check their fruit out. Ye shall know them by their fruits.
And, friend, it is so vital who I follow. And you are going to follow; you are going to be influenced by someone, and do not just let it happen. Pick who you follow because they are going to influence you. I promise you they will. And so choose someone that is following Christ. And then, well, they all say they are following Christ. All right, find out their fruits over the years. And I would say—modern Christianity is not just measured in years; it is measured in decades. Find out the fruits over the years. That will help you know who to follow and who not to follow.
Let me say this along the line: Follow truth, not personalities or institutions. You know, institutions change. I was born when Dad was going to Tennessee Temple back in the day, years ago when Dr. Lee Robertson was there. I mean, I was born in 1985, so that was how many—I am lying to you, too, amen, church going to fall in. But way back in the day, listen, that thing has changed. It is not even there anymore. And if I was just loyal to institutions, I would be heartbroken.
Oh, you would be loyal to—find out truth. And personalities change, and charisma—they will get a lot of people following them. But charisma, sometimes they have real high highs and real low lows. But they go beyond that. Now, if someone has got the truth and they are sucking the corn, they are preaching, and they are standing for the truth, jump on board. There is strength in numbers. It is what church is all about. That is right to do. And God knows we need strength in numbers. And praise the Lord for local fellowship of born-again, baptized believers in the Baptist church that is standing for something—the God, the old King James Bible. Praise the Lord for all those sayings, right? That is God’s plan. That is right.
But it ought to be—praise the Lord, I love that church I am involved in—but that church changes, or the pastor changes. I love him, but I do not go somewhere else. That is right to do. It is truth. And latch on to that. Oh, it is so vital. Now, if I can find someone going the right way, follow the Lord, jump on board. It is a good thing. Check out the fruits.
But ultimately, at the end of the day, whether they change or not—I love my church, love the people, love, love all that, love the pastor, that, you know, all that stuff—I am for all that. I am a Sunday school teacher, and they are going on the same board. But beneath all that—by the way, you live long enough, you will have some of your heroes change. You will have some of your heroes fall. And it is just about my hero and that personality. When they fall, I will be devastated. That is going to hurt when they fall. But if below, beneath all that, you say, “You know what? I’m following them,” not because of personality, not because of what they—you know, they create such a good atmosphere, they have all this—but because they are standing for truth, even though they might change, you are still loyal to the truth. That is what it ought to be.
It is amazing. Thousands and thousands of people were saying, “Oh, we have ten parts in David. We are closer to David than you guys.” One guy, 22 words. And there is four—we are all influenced by somebody. Might as well choose who you get influenced by. Make sure it is someone following Christ. Check out their fruits. Make sure it is deeper than just personality; it is truth.
I was thinking about the Kellys’ pastor, Brother Chris Fugate, and I do not know him super well, but I believe he would be a man I would like to follow. And sometimes I go to these conferences, preacher conferences. You know what? You know one thing I am looking for? I am looking for an older pastor that I can follow. I need it. I have a couple men—typically, when there is something I am not really faced with before, I will call them that way you think—because I want to follow good men. I am going to be influenced by somebody, just like you are going to be influenced by somebody. And I want to choose. I want to choose. And you will know them by the fruits. Check out their fruits. And just check out over the long haul. And be diligent over it in every area: your finances, who you listen to—you find all that. You check out who you follow. Those—it is just crucial.
Original File: How to choose who to follow - Pastor Paul Chisgar Wednesday 72821