todaysdecisionsaffectingtomorrow.docx

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todaysdecisionsaffectingtomorrow

EastsideChurchofChrist

110FrenchWay

P.O.Box841

Athens,AL35612

256-232-4666

www.eastside-church.org

TheBattleForTheSoul

“Today’sDecisionsAffectingTomorrow”

TrevorBowen

I.

Introduction–ChooseWisdom

A.Theimpactofmanydecisionsisfar-reachingandisoftenunapparentatthemoment:

1.Thewisdomofthejustman’spathgrowsincreasinglybrighterastimeprogressestowardsperfection（Proverbs4:

18）.

2.Theconsequencesofthewickedman’sfollyareunseenandsurprisehimasheisruined（Proverbs4:

19）.

B.Foresightmustbeappliedsothatpreparationscanbemade.

1.Learnthelessonfromtheparableoftheunjuststeward（Luke16:

1-9）.

2.Remember,eventhefoolishreachoutforwisdom–buttoolate（Proverbs1:

20-32;5:

11-14,21-23）.

C.Why?

1.Itwillbringyougloryandhonor（Proverbs8:

15;3:

16;4:

8）.

2.Itwillbringyoupeace,joy（Proverbs3:

2,17;12:

20）.

3.Itwillbringyoulifeandsalvation（Proverbs9:

10-12）.

4.And,itwillenableyoutobringthesametoothers（Proverbs15:

22-23;11:

14;Psalm37:

30）.

II.Foundation:

PuttingGodFirst–ChoosingToBeaCommittedChristian

A.WisdombeginswithGod（Proverbs1:

7）

1.Becomeayoung,devotedChristian（Ecclesiastes11:

9-12:

7）.

2.ContinueindailyBiblestudy（Psalm119:

97-105;Ephesians3:

3-5;Psalm1:

2;IITimothy3:

14-17;IITimothy2:

15）

a）AreyoubusierthanJoshua,leaderoftheIsraelitenation（Joshua1:

7-8）?

3.BediligentinprayerandmeditationuponGod’sWord（James1:

5-8;Psalm63:

6;77:

6;Matthew26:

41）

4.ConsiderBibleexampleswhofacedsituationssimilarinprinciple（ICorinthians10:

6,11-13;Romans15:

4;Ecclesiastes1:

9-10）

5.RememberallpreparationisvainwithouttheLord’sblessing（Psalm127:

1-2）

6.Eliminatecharacterflawsthatdismisswisdomandrejectit（rage,self-confidence,etc.–Proverbs14:

16）

B.Wemustbedecisive–early:

1.WemustloveGodandseekHiskingdomfirstandforemost（Matthew22:

37-40;IJohn5:

3;Matthew6:

33;IJohn2:

15-17）.

2.Wemustmakeupourmindabsolutely（James1:

5-8;4:

1-8）.

3.Wemustcountthecost（Luke9:

57-62;14:

25-33）.

4.Wemustmakespecificplansaboutdoingspecificgoodandrejectingspecificevils（Daniel1:

8-13）.

5.Wemustnotlaytrapsforourselves（Romans13:

14）.

6.Wemustremovebarriersandweightsthatwillslowusdownorpossiblystopus（Hebrews12:

1-2;IITimothy2:

4;Matthew5:

29-30;13:

24）.

7.Wemustavoididentificationwithsin–Rememberyourinfluence:

a）BeforeotherChristians–Don’tencouragethemtosin（ICorinthians8:

1-13;10:

23-33）.

b）Beforethelost–Don’tgivethemanexcusetoremaininsin（IISamuel12:

13-14;Romans2:

24;IPeter2:

11-12;3:

15-16;Titus2:

7-8）.

C.Rephrasethesepointsasquestions,soyoucanusethemtoexamineyourselfonanydecision（IICorinthians13:

5;James1:

22-26）:

1.Listyourtop,essentialpriorities.Whichoptionsbestsatisfyyourprioritiesaccordingtoyourorder?

2.Areyoupraying,studying,andmeditatingonthedecision?

Decisionswithgreaterpotentialforimpactmeritgreaterconsideration.

3.AccordingtotheBible,wouldGodapproveordisapproveofyourdecision?

AreyouseekingtopleaseGodormen（John12:

42-43）?

IfHewoulddisapprove,orifyouarenotsure,thenyouneedtogobacktostep#1.

4.Haveyouresolvedyourmind?

Ifnot,youmayneedtogobacktostep#1.

5.Estimateanysignificantsacrifices,whichmayberequired,torealizeyourdecision.Bereadytomakethesesacrifices,ifrequired.Iftheyseemunpleasantorscary,youmayneedtogobacktostep#1.

6.Haveyoumadedetailedplans（exactresponses,wording,timing,etc.）toaccomplishspecificgood（nameeachgoodthing）whileavoidingspecificevils（nameeachpotentialpitfall）?

7.Continuedself-examination:

a）HaveyouconsideredBibleexamplesorwisdomforguidance?

b）Willthischoiceresultingreaterexposuretotemptation?

Maybetemptationinanareaofweaknessandrepeatedfailure?

c）Isthischoicemakingiteasierorharderforyoutodowhatisright?

Areyouentanglingyourselfintheaffairsofthisworld?

d）Howwillyourdecisionsinfluencethosewhoknowyou?

e）Areyoubeinghonestwithyourself（Proverbs26:

16;James3:

14）?

III.ChooseGodlyCompanions

A.Haveyouatleastansweredthe“checklistquestions”concerningthistopic?

RememberJoshua’smistakewiththeGibeonites（Joshua9:

1-19）.

B.Ourfriendshavetremendousinfluenceonus:

1.Evilcompanionswillcorruptus（ICorinthians15:

33;Proverbs12:

26;13:

20;Psalm119:

63）.

2.However,wecannotisolateourselvesfromtheworld（ICorinthians5:

9-13）.

3.Conclusion:

Frequentorintimaterelationshipsmustbegodlyforoursake（IICorinthians6:

14-18）.Occasionalcontactwithothersshouldbewelcomedasopportunitytoinfluencethem.

C.Areasofapplication:

1.Highschool

2.Awayfromhomeandatcollege

3.“Friendly”dating

4.Movies,music,games,internetandotherinfluences

a）Haveyouresearchedtheactivitybefore“jumpinginfeetfirst”?

5.Doweprefertoassociatewithmoreworldlypeopleormoregodlypeople?

a）Wouldthesecompanionsenjoygoingtoagospelmeeting,Biblestudy,singing,etc.?

6.Whatistheopinionofrespected,godlysaintsaboutthesefriendsoractivities?

Haveyousoughttheircounsel（IKings12:

1-15）?

IV.ChooseaPureCareer–GoingtoCollege

A.Haveyouatleastansweredthe“checklistquestions”concerningthistopic?

RememberDavid’smistakewiththetransportationoftheark（IChronicles13:

1-4）.

B.Istheenvironment“anti-Christian”?

1.Mostschoolsandjobsare“amoral”,beingneitherinherentlygoodnorevil.

2.However,someschoolsandjobsattractmoreungodlypeoplethanothers.

3.Therefore,someoffermoretemptations,whileothersoffermoreencouraginginfluences.

C.Willthelocalcongregationbehelpful?

Ordiscouraging?

1.Haveyouvisitedthelocalchurch?

2.Whatkindofteachingwilltheyofferyou?

3.Willyouhavegodlycompanions,whoaretrueChristians–notjustinnameonly?

4.Haveyouquestionedothersaboutthespiritualhealthofthiscongregation?

5.Willanybodynoticeandcontactyouifyouarenotpresentandinvolved?

6.Whatopportunitiesdoesitofferforyourgrowth?

D.Willyoubeabletodemonstrateazealousworkethicinthisfield（Colossians3:

22-25;Ephesians6:

5-9;IPeter2:

18;ITimothy6:

1-2）?

E.Willyoubeabletosupportafamilyasaman,orasawomanincaseofemergency（ITimothy5:

4,8）?

V.ChooseaTrueLeaderorHelper

A.Haveyouatleastansweredthe“checklistquestions”concerningthistopic?

Rememberthemistakeofthe“wisestman”（IKings11:

1-8）.

B.Whotomarry?

Firstandforemost:

Someonewithsimilarbeliefsandconvictionsregardingtheirprimaryrelationships–withyouandGod（Amos3:

3）

1.“Testthespirits”;Don’tjusttaketheirwordforit.Somepeopledeliberatelydeceiveothers,whilesomepeoplehavedeceivedthemselves（IJohn4:

1;Matthew26:

33-35;69-75）.

2.Agreedinreligion:

Atrue,sincereChristian–notjustinname（IICorinthians6:

14-18）

a）YourdecisionexpressesyourlovetowardGod（Deuteronomy7:

3-4;Joshua23:

11-13;Matthew6:

33;IJohn2:

15-17）.

b）Learnfromthemistakesofothers:

（1）Solomon（IKings3:

9-12;4:

29-30;11:

1-8）

（2）Jehoshaphatandhisson,Jehoram（IIChronicles18:

1;IKings22:

44;IIChronicles19:

2;20:

35-37;IKings22:

48-49;IIChronicles21:

1-6;IIKings8:

18）

（3）PriestsandleadersofthereturnfromIsraelitecaptivity（Nehemiah13:

23-28;10:

28-30;Ezra9:

1-10:

44）

c）Yourdecisionexpressesyourlovetowardyourchildren（Ephesians6:

4;Titus2:

5）.

d）Truelovewilllovewhatyoulovetruly（Ruth1:

16）.IfsomeonedoesnotlovetheGodyoulove,thenheorshedoesnottrulyloveyou.

3.Agreedinrolesofhusbandandwife（Ephesians5:

21-33;6:

1-4;Titus2:

4-5;ITimothy2:

8-15;ICorinthians11:

3）.

4.HowdoesyourpotentialmatecomparetoGod’sideal?

a）Avirtuouswoman“worthfaraboverubies”（Proverbs31:

1-3,10-31）

b）Atestedmanofintegrity（Job31）

C.Someissuesarelesscriticalthanothers,butarestillimportant:

1.Agreedindisciplinemethodsforchildren（Proverbs13:

24）.

2.Agreedincareergoals?

Don’tmarryasluggardoraslob（Proverbs6:

6-11;10:

26;18:

9;Titus2:

4-5）.

3.Agreedinmodestyandothermoralconcerns（ITimothy2:

8-9;IPeter3:

3-4）?

4.Whatotherpointsofapplicationcouldbemade?

D.Decideandagreeonlevelofexpressedaffection,whiledatinguntomarriage.Donotwaittodecide“intheheatofthemoment”–toolate!

1.Christiansareto“fleeyouthfullusts”–Don’tgetascloseaspossible（IITimothy2:

22;Proverbs6:

23-28）.

2.Someaspectsofthebodiesandtheirmovementshaveasexualinfluenceandarereservedformarriage.

a）Someinnocentexpressionispermissiblebeforemarriage（SongofSolomon1:

1-3）.

b）CompareSolomon’sdescriptionofhiswifebeforeandaftermarriage（proposalandceremony,SongofSolomon3:

4-11;marriagespeech,SongofSolomon4:

1-16;aftermarriagenight,SongofSolomon5:

10-16;7:

1-10）.Thisplaceslimitsonallthesenses.

c）Solomon’ssomewhatfigurative,butveryexplicitinstructionforyoungmenalsodefineswhatisreservedformarriage（Proverbs5:

11-23）.

d）Affectionthatisunboundedordrivenbyuncaringlust-insteadoflove-isalwayscondemned（Romans13:

13;IPeter4:

3;Galatians5:

19）.

e）Donot“awaken”nor“stiruplove”beforeitstime（SongofSolomon2:

7;3:

5;8:

4）

E.Donotbedesperatetomarry.Itisnotguaranteed.Infact,insomecircumstances,youmaybehappierasunmarried（ICorinthians7:

25-40）.Ifyousettleonspiritualissues,youwillregretitandsufferforyourlifetime（Proverbs21:

9;10:

26）.

VI.ChooseaWiseMasterBuilder

A.Haveyouatleastansweredthe