[0:00] To resolve or not to resolve, that is the question. The place of resolution in the Christian life. Resolutions, to make them or not to make them at this time of year or any time of our lives.
[0:16] Now before voting for again, let's be sure we understand what we're talking about when we speak about resolution in the Christian life. So I want to ask you, picking your brain early this morning, what is resolution?
[0:30] What is a resolution? What does it mean to be resolved? Some thoughts. How do you explain that, Jim? Determined is another good word, isn't it?
[0:45] I'm determined. It's a very intentional thing, isn't it? We're not just flying by the seat of our pants, but we have intended to do something. Anything else?
[1:00] Okay, so there's a vision with a purpose. We're pursuing something. We have a goal, a vision out in front of us that is moving us toward that purpose.
[1:12] With purpose. All right? Yeah, there's, as I looked it up in the dictionary, they spoke of making a firm decision on a course of action to take.
[1:26] Making up your mind to do something. A strong determination. A firm commitment to a course of action. The example was given, after messing up big time, I resolved to never do that again.
[1:40] Perhaps we've resolved in such language. To never do something or to do something. Resolution. What would be an opposite?
[1:51] Sometimes it helps us get a hold of a word to think of its opposite. What would be an opposite of resolution or resolve? Sorry?
[2:04] Apathy. Apathy. Aimless. Aimlessness. Procrastination. Indecision. Indecision.
[2:19] Waffling. You like that word? That's a good word, isn't it? Guy's not resolved. He's just waffling his way through life or wavering. Maybe this, maybe that.
[2:32] Really not sure. The opposite of resolve. So resolve carries this element of strong determination, firm decision. Now what tense is resolve concerned with?
[2:45] Of the three tenses, past, present, and future. Which tense does resolve have to do with? The future. So we are committing ourselves to a certain course of action out there in the future.
[3:01] It could involve the present, but the present reaching into the future. From this time going forward. Now, the value of resolve.
[3:16] Many battles have been won, not so much in the heat of the battle, but in some pre-commitment even the night before, or the week before, or the month before.
[3:28] And for the lack of resolve, or the presence of resolve, or battles have been lost or won.
[3:39] And so we can say in a certain sense that the battle was not just won out there on the field of battle, but it was won before when the man, the woman resolved on a certain course of action.
[3:53] Let me just give some simple ways that we can see this pre-commitment, this firm decision ahead of time, and the way it affects. The way that we actually live once we get there.
[4:06] I think a simple example is just setting your alarm clock. How is that resolved? Well, when going to bed at night, you are resolving that if I'm to get everything done tomorrow that needs to be done and must be done, I need to get up at 6 a.m.
[4:23] And so I'm not going to leave it to how I feel in the morning when I'm laying in bed. I'm going to resolve that I'm going to get up at 6.
[4:34] And so we set the alarm and we put it on the other side of the room and we go to sleep. We have resolved to get up at 6 rather than to leave it just to indecision and how we feel when the sun first shines through the shades.
[4:53] We're having fellowship lunch today, aren't we? Why might a certain amount of resolve be needed before I get to the dessert table? Well, because if I don't resolve ahead of time to limit myself to two selections, I might be tempted to take five or six.
[5:13] And it's all the fault of these ladies around here who always make desserts that look so good that I can't decide which one or two to have.
[5:25] I have pre-committed to a certain course of action before I get there. Now, why is it important to do that before I get there?
[5:35] Again, how I feel once I start seeing all these things might sway me to act in a certain way that would be contrary to what I know is in my best interest in my pre-commitment.
[5:52] Isn't that what a budget is all about? Is it not a pre-commitment, a resolve to only spend a certain amount of money for a certain category so I don't take my paycheck to the mall and just say, I'll spend it as I feel moved and if I see something I need, quote, unquote.
[6:10] No, we determine ahead of time what we're going to do with our monies. And so I'm not left just to the whim of what might catch my eye there at the mall.
[6:25] There's people who give their whole life to studying ways to make you think you need that. And they're ganging up on you and they're pouring time and money and all kinds of stuff to convince you that you need these things.
[6:37] So a pre-commitment might be one way that I see the value of thinking ahead of time, resolving, deciding ahead of time. And many battles are won or lost for the presence or lack of resolve.
[6:59] Let's consider, again, before we vote for or against resolutions, do we have any examples in scriptures of people who made resolutions or resolved upon a certain course of action?
[7:16] Dennis? When Paul told the Corinthians, I'm resolved as I'm not even among you, except Christ Jesus and Him crucified. So, he hadn't got to Corinth yet.
[7:30] That's coming. And before he gets there, he's set his mind as to how he's going to behave when he gets there. How might have that helped him win the battle once he got to Corinth?
[7:41] What might have moved him, if he had no resolve, to somehow not preach Christ? What was there at Corinth that might have convinced him to act in a different behavior?
[7:57] Anybody? Peer pressure. Like, these people don't want to hear this message. Okay. Exactly. Whether it's the Jews in the synagogue or the Gentile idolaters, this isn't a popular message.
[8:15] And they're looking with that look in their eye that I've seen before when they want to kill me. And so, there might have been many things to cause him to twist the message, just to get off Christ, not speak so much about Christ, or the cross, and just talk about other aspects of religion.
[8:33] But you see, his pre-commitment held him to it once he faced the real difficulty of the battle. So, in a sense, we could say that Paul's victory in Corinth was fought on his way there.
[8:49] In that moment, when he resolved before God, I'm only going to preach Christ and him crucified. Christ is going to be the note and the cross. All right?
[8:59] Any other examples? Becky? Thank you, Jesus, when he says, phase is a plant to go into Jerusalem, to go to God. Excellent.
[9:09] What was there about the cross in that whole event that might have needed resolve before you got there to hold you to it?
[9:27] Can you describe it? Hmm. The shame and pain of the cross. We probably enter into about 1% of it in our minds.
[9:42] None of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed, or how dark was the night that the Lord passed through. There he found my soul that was lost. We know so little of what he endured.
[9:54] But do we see anything in Gethsemane, then, of a sense of, whoa, I'm coming to drink this cup?
[10:04] And Jesus saying, Father, if it is possible? But you see, Jesus had resolved to go to Jerusalem, to lay down his life for his own. And we see him with resolve, not being turned aside.
[10:18] We see the same thing in the wilderness temptations, don't we? When Satan would tempt him to the crown before the cross. And I'll just give you the nations of the world if you just bow down.
[10:29] And it was, no, Jesus is resolved to go to Calvary to die for his people's sins. Nothing can move him. Again, we're thinking of the humanity of Christ here when we speak of his resolve.
[10:41] Especially his humanity. That as a man, he resolved before his God to submit his will to God's will and to carry out his design on the earth.
[10:55] So, Paul, Jesus, any others? Go with, yes, Gene. Daniel and his resolve to continue to pray with another edict with Adam. Okay, Daniel's resolve.
[11:08] Not only to continue to pray, which he continued to do three times a day as he had done before the edict. But he also resolved to what? In chapter 1.
[11:20] Not trial himself with the king's food or with the wine of the dead. Okay, so there was the earlier resolve as well that when these Hebrew young men being trained up to serve in Nebuchadnezzar's court were to be given the best of foods and the best of education, some of that food was defiling and would have defiled him.
[11:46] And there's different reasons as to why that might have been. But the point is this. It would have defiled him and Daniel resolved ahead of time not to defile himself with the king's food.
[11:57] So, what were some of the pressures upon Daniel that would meet him that would have needed a resolve even before he got there? Well, this is a pagan Nebuchadnezzar wielding great power and he wants his way and who am I to cross him?
[12:22] I'm a slave of his captured in Israel. So, many things to cause him fear. And especially when we see fear, we see this previous resolve that carries him through the challenge that was coming his way.
[12:38] Anybody else? Resolution. Jason. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
[12:55] We will not. Doesn't matter what happens to us. This is our decision. Well, then the furnaces are turned up seven times hotter. But you see, they had decided a firm commitment ahead of time and kept them when the fires got hotter.
[13:14] You preached not long ago on Jehoshaphat. And we see in that passage, 2 Chronicles 20 and verse 3, when all the enemy was coming against Judah, it says that alarmed Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord.
[13:32] The ESV says he set his face to seek the Lord. We need to seek God on this matter is what he's saying. Even before he prayed, he resolved to pray.
[13:44] I wonder if you need any resolve to pray. Or is it such an easy thing that we just go right into it and we meet no obstacles? Jehoshaphat resolved to seek the Lord.
[13:55] And he called all of Judah together to come together and fast and pray and to seek the Lord. So he first resolved, Lord, this is a situation we need to pray.
[14:06] And he resolved to pray and then he set about praying and calling the whole nation to prayer. David, Psalm 17, 3, I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.
[14:21] That would serve us well too, wouldn't it? Do our mouths not get us into trouble? When words are many, sin is not absent. David says, I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.
[14:32] It's right at the top of Psalm 17, a prayer of David. In other words, this is something going on between David and his God. And he says, O Lord, I've resolved in your presence that my mouth will not sin.
[14:48] Well, these examples all use the word resolve, or most of them do, or a similar word in other translations. But I want to expand our search for biblical examples on resolve.
[15:01] Beyond just the words of resolve or determined, that's another word, way to search out text. Determined, committed. But I think Pastor Jason's example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shows us the language of resolve is what?
[15:22] I will. I will. We will.
[15:56] Remember Jacob as he's praying to the Lord in Genesis 32. And he's wrestling with this angel of the Lord, which is God himself.
[16:11] And he says, I will not let you go until you bless me. There's a resolved man. He's resolved on a certain course. I don't care if I've got to wrestle you all night.
[16:24] He finally wore out his wrestling and he just clung to him. But he would not let him go until he blessed him. There's resolve in the man. How about Ruth?
[16:38] She says to Naomi, Naomi, 1.16. Where you go, I will go. And where you stay, I will stay.
[16:50] And your people will be my people and your God will be my God. And when Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her to go back home.
[17:01] And she's a Moabitess. And Ruth was just visiting the country. And her son married, or Naomi was visiting and her son married Ruth. And now Naomi's going back home to the land of promise.
[17:16] And she says, you stay here and I'll go back. And she saw how determined, how resolved she was. I will go with you wherever you go. I will stay where you stay.
[17:28] We see resolve there. Now, is this not something... How does resolution enter into conversion?
[17:41] When you were saved, was there anything of this idea of resolution involved in your salvation? And if so, what and how? I am resolved that Jesus Christ is my Lord.
[17:59] And I will obey. So we were going this way with God at our back. We'd all turn to our own way. And at some point, we repudiated that way of life.
[18:11] That's what repentance is. It's just saying, I'm done with it. And I'm going to follow God. I'm going to follow Christ. So there's a resolve there, isn't it? He's now my Lord.
[18:22] I'm no longer following sin and Satan and self. I am following Jesus. Any other ways? Do you see it in conversion? This resolve element?
[18:34] Mark? Just shutting the door on all other options. Okay. There's an exclusiveness to following Christ, isn't it?
[18:45] There's always a turning from in order to turn to. Paul can say to the Thessalonians, you turned to God from idols. And so there's this resolution to be done with idols and now to turn to the Lord.
[19:01] So there's a shutting of the door to all the other options. Anything else in the words of Jesus that bring to mind something of the needed resolve? In conversion?
[19:16] I'm sorry? Well, maybe like counting the cost. Exactly. How so? Well, yeah, you just kind of resolve or see what the consequences of you putting behind your sin.
[19:31] Okay. So if I'm going to go back to school and get a degree in some area of study, I better count the costs.
[19:53] Financially, hours, and all the rest. And I'm counting up that cost, and then I make a firm decision. I will pursue it. I'm resolved to pursue it.
[20:04] It's worth pursuing. It's worth getting. It's worth the cost. And that's what Jesus is saying. That if you're going to follow me, you need to first count the cost. Because there's going to be things when you get out here in the Christian life that are going to tempt you to turn and run.
[20:20] So be sure you have thought this thing through before you just jump on the bandwagon. There's a sense of resolve in that, isn't there? That I've considered the cost, and my decision is that I'm following Jesus.
[20:35] Well, we have this in the Bible then. Much in the way of resolution, resolve. And as we read our Bibles, we should especially be on the lookout for the I-wills.
[20:51] The I-wills. The Banner of Truth printed this book by P.B. Power. The I-wills of the Psalms. There's a companion book that he wrote as well, The I-wills of Christ.
[21:05] But this is the I-wills of the Psalms. He comes to the Psalms and he notices the psalmist says, I will, a whole lot. And he brings them together into certain topics of what the psalmist is saying, I will.
[21:24] And so I'd like to maybe borrow some of the material here in the next few weeks and look at some of the resolutions in the Psalms. What does the man of God resolve?
[21:36] And really, the Lord Jesus is the man of God, isn't he, in the Psalms, who's resolved and perfectly carries out his resolution.
[21:49] But it's also the resolves of David, Asaph, and others as well. But in this book entitled The I-wills of the Psalms, there's the subtitle, The Determinations of the Man of God as Found in Some of the I-wills of the Psalms.
[22:09] In other words, he recognizes that these I-wills found in the Psalms are determinations. They are resolutions made by the man of God. David, again, usually the author, but others as well.
[22:24] So Power wrote nearly 400 pages here on the I-wills. And he shows us where we need to be resolved, where our resolve may be lacking, where we may have failed to be resolved in certain areas.
[22:42] I think he'll do a service in considering this theme together. Maybe you'll, in preparation, you'll just want to read through Psalm 119. I think I counted something like 26 I-wills in Psalm 119.
[23:00] I will praise you. I will not neglect your word. I will obey your word. I will meditate on your wonders. I will keep your law.
[23:11] I will speak of your statutes before kings. I will ponder your statutes. On and on he goes. These I-wills, they're found throughout the Psalms.
[23:21] They're found especially in Psalm 119. Now, let's consider together, why are some Christians uncomfortable making resolutions?
[23:34] We're asking the question, to resolve or not to resolve? And I said, well, before we vote for it again, let's talk about what it is. And I've even said, now let's see if it's found in the Bible a bit.
[23:46] So we come to this question. Why is it that some Christians may feel uncomfortable making resolutions? Now, you see, I've given you an out here. I didn't say why you feel uncomfortable with making resolutions.
[23:59] But some Christians, they're out there somewhere. So you can disguise your own thoughts here. And we're just talking about those people out there.
[24:10] Why do some of them have problems with resolving? Mark? Because I feel weak. And why would that make you slow? I feel unable to live up to my answer.
[24:23] Okay. Any of you nod your head to that? I'm so weak. I fail so often. So why should I resolve? All right.
[24:33] Let's flush them all out of the bush first. And then we'll talk about them. What else? I'll make myself a liar. Okay. That by resolving, I'll make myself a liar.
[24:46] I said I will do this. And then I don't. All right. All right. Did you hear that back there?
[25:03] So, you know, if I resolved to no longer do that, then I'd have to stop doing that. What does that reveal?
[25:15] Something of the heart, as Roger said, that we love something too much to give up. So the love for certain things would keep us from resolving. All right. What else?
[25:27] I have a totally different take. If I should be resolved to do something, then why am I relying on a man-made holiday to start it?
[25:37] Okay. If it's something I should be doing as a Christian, it's feeling slightly hypocritical to say, well, I'll start that walk on January 1st.
[25:48] Okay. So the whole hoopla of the world and their resolutions. And I don't necessarily want to lower my Christian life down to what the world's doing on the first, you know, over the New Year's and lower it to that.
[26:04] What else? I'll disappoint my friends. I'll disappoint my friends. Those that you share your resolution with? Is that the idea? Or in what way would you disappoint your friends? I'll disappoint my friends.
[26:14] Let's say if I change or stop losing. Okay. And they're disappointed. All right. If you share your resolution with someone else, then they're disappointed that you didn't meet up to your resolution.
[26:27] Especially if that resolution involved your wife and you didn't measure up to that. You disappoint your best friend on earth. All right. The Bible speaks of vows with a very serious tone.
[26:40] Okay. Again, I make myself a liar. And it's a very serious thing to say I'm going to do something and then not do it. And I'm a bit sheepish about going there. Jason, did you?
[26:52] It's easier to not try so hard. It's easier to not try so hard. So, yeah, it's easier just to waffle, isn't it, than to be resolute and to set ourself to something.
[27:05] Do you feel legalistic? Hmm. In what way? If it's not done properly, you can be resolved with the motive of earning God's favor.
[27:20] Okay. Good. Well, you flushed out a bunch of rabbits. Let's look at them one by one. And let me put them in the terms somewhat of what I've thought of and how you've put it.
[27:38] I think it was Roger that said that I love something too much to maybe resolve to give it up or the opposite. I love not doing something so much that I don't want to resolve to do it.
[27:52] It's kind of the idea that if I resolve something, then I'll feel obligated to do it. But that's just revealing our hearts, isn't it, again? It's revealing the flesh that doesn't want to go there.
[28:05] Now, if we're talking about earthly resolutions, well, then we've got a lot to discuss in the matter. But when we come to the resolutions we find in Scripture and what we're going to be studying in this series, there should be no discussion.
[28:22] This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Well, I ought to resolve to do what God commands me to do. And that's the kind of resolutions that we find in the Bible.
[28:33] People resolving to preach the gospel of Christ because God called Paul to do just that and to not defile themselves as God had called Daniel and so on.
[28:45] So this is only revealing, this slowness to resolve is only revealing the lack of heart to do that which God has called us. So that can't be allowed.
[28:57] If anything, it should just be a spotlight showing how poor and needy we are. And we need to ask God to give us a heart that would resolve. Lord, I want to want to do your will.
[29:11] You pray that prayer ever? And then this idea of, I think Karen spoke to it, and just, you know, it kind of cheapens it. This is the time of year the world makes the resolutions.
[29:23] Some of the top New Year's resolutions last year was a healthier lifestyle, losing weight, going to the gym, quit smoking, drinking, and so on. Second was spend more time with family and friends.
[29:36] Third, save more money, spend less. Four, sleep more. Five, volunteer more. And granted, some of those can be very self-centered and earthly-minded.
[29:49] But is that a reason to reject the idea of resolving? And I'm not just pushing for something today because it's New Year's Day and we've drawn a line in the sand and we're saying, okay, this is a new year, so let's resolve something for this year.
[30:03] I'm just, I'm arguing for a lifestyle of resolution is what I'm looking at. But the point is, could it not, could the world's use of New Year's resolutions not drive us to a more God-centered use of resolution?
[30:22] In other words, computers are used for very bad things, but that doesn't stop us using them for good things. So, yeah, the world makes resolutions for lesser goals.
[30:35] How much more should the Christian make resolutions for higher goals? As we're going to sing either this week or next, I am resolved.
[30:50] No longer to linger, charm by the world's delights. Things that are higher, things that are nobler, these have alert my sights. So we could let the world's resolutions drive us to higher things to pursue.
[31:05] Jonathan Edwards wrote out 70 resolutions before he was 20 years old. And he had a note to self, remember to read over these resolutions once a week. Whether he did it or not, over his lifetime, I don't know.
[31:18] But the sorts of things he was resolving were the great principles of the Christian life. A deep knowledge of the heart and a great desire for daily growth and holiness and likeness to Jesus.
[31:32] So we don't need to just stay on lesser things, but higher, nobler things. His first resolution begins that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God.
[31:46] How can you argue with that? That's a higher aim. That's a good resolution to wake up to each day. His eighth resolution is one of my favorites and one of my most needed.
[31:57] And I've shared it with you there. Resolved in the handout. Resolved to act in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I.
[32:10] And as if I had committed the same sins or had the same infirmities or failings as others. And that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself.
[32:21] And prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God. I don't know about you, but when I hear of other people falling and doing bad things, I can quickly start thinking, how could she?
[32:34] How dare he? And this resolution is saying, John, that's the wrong way to start thinking when you hear about other people's falls. It's rather to say, what does the Bible teach about my nature?
[32:46] That we're all cut out of the same cloth. We all share the same human nature. The seeds of every sin that I see out there are in here. And if they have not yet germinated and brought forth fruit, it's due to the grace of God.
[33:00] And so let me take, when I hear and see men in sin out here, let me take that as an opportunity to confess my own sins. And to humble my own heart.
[33:11] And to cry out to God for myself, for them. It's a whole different attitude. And I found Jonathan Edwards woke me up to some strong biblical truths that I need to brace myself.
[33:23] Because I find that propensity so strong in me when I hear of other people's sins. Well, you can read through those Edwards resolutions. I believe they're online.
[33:35] You could take one for a week in this next year. There's 70 of them. You'd have some left over. But it might be a good way to spend the new year. To take one of his resolutions for the week.
[33:47] And read it every day. And pray it before the Lord. And if you can, say yes, that's something that I want to resolve before God. Someone spoke about the ineffectiveness of it.
[34:02] I know my weakness. And so why resolve? It's just setting myself up for failure. You know, I go on the spurts and it only lasts a while and then I'm back to normal.
[34:18] Do you think David thought when he said, I will obey your word? Do you think he thought he was going to be able to do that perfectly? I know he didn't.
[34:30] Because the second to the last verse in Psalm 119 is, seek your servant, Lord, for I have strayed like a wandering sheep. I'm a wandering sheep.
[34:42] And yet that didn't stop him from saying, I will obey you, Lord. So we shouldn't let our past failures, our weakness, leave us to say, well, it's not worked in the past, so I'm not going to resolve.
[35:00] Last year I resolved to read a promise every morning using Spurgeon's faith checkbook. I wasn't perfect. Out of the 365 days, I probably got 300 days that I started with a promise.
[35:15] But I can tell you that I'm a better man for having had 300 days with a promise as the first thing I thought about in the morning. Then if I never would have resolved, I probably maybe would have hit a few, but much lower.
[35:28] So don't let this thing keep you from a positive resolve. Even though you know you're not going to reach a certain level, go for it, man. If we aim at nothing, what will we hit? Nothing.
[35:39] But if we aim at something, we may not hit it exactly all the time. And yet we'll be growing in grace and moving up.
[35:50] How many of you wives, if you got to the marriage altar and you said your vows have promised to him. And then when I turned to the man and he said, now your vows.
[36:01] And he said, well, you know, I know I can't love this woman like I should. So I'm not going to promise that I will. I'm not going to. You'd say next.
[36:13] This is not working. You want a pre-commitment, don't you? Knowing what he is, knowing that he's going to fail you before you get back from the honeymoon.
[36:24] You want a pre-commitment. You want to know his heart is, I want to love you. And I here and now in front of God and these witnesses am promising to forsake all others and to keep myself for you alone.
[36:38] And to love you in good times and bad and so on to the end of our lives. So we shouldn't let our failures keep us from the resolve and making that resolve before the Lord.
[36:52] Sometimes we can think of Peter. And do you remember any resolutions Peter made that he broke?
[37:05] I will never forsake you. Okay. We're familiar enough with that. We don't have time to read it today, maybe next week. I will never forsake you.
[37:15] What did he do just hours later? He denied three times. He forsook him and denied three times that he even knew him.
[37:28] So obviously Peter was very resolved. I don't know that anybody felt more resolved than Peter that night in the upper room when he resolved. Lord, if I've got to die, I'll die.
[37:42] And if everybody else here denies you, not me. I believe his heart was just that much in love with Jesus at that moment. He was serious. He was sincere. He was resolved.
[37:52] He was determined. But we also know how long that resolve lasted. Now, what was wrong with Peter's resolution?
[38:04] Rather than just throwing all resolution out, let's be a little bit more classy and say, well, maybe it could be that resolution is okay, but there were certain things about Peter's resolution that weren't good.
[38:15] So what was wrong with his resolution? How so? All right.
[38:28] Steve's mentioned two things. He mentioned pride, and I think his boast that even if all others forsake you, not me. So I'm better than these guys. I could see James and John, yeah, yeah, yeah, but not me.
[38:41] So there's something of pride in that. And then you spoke about his dependence. Where was he looking for the strength? He thought more highly of his own strength than he ought to have.
[38:54] And so he really didn't think he had it in him to forsake the Lord. Again, that shows something of the lack of the knowledge of his own heart.
[39:05] So he made his resolution, but he was depending on himself, thinking, I've got within me that which it takes, and he only proved so quickly that he didn't.
[39:17] What else was wrong with it? He was... Yeah, that's the obvious thing, isn't it? He was contradicting the Lord. What had the Lord told him? You will all forsake me.
[39:32] Oh, they might, but not me. No, Peter, you will. In fact, you're going to deny me three times. No, no, if I have to die with you. So Peter is resolving things that contradict Jesus' words.
[39:48] So just take that as your rule as you're thinking of resolution. Never make a resolution that contradicts Jesus, okay? That would be wrong, as would be to make it in pride and to make it in self-reliance.
[40:02] But that doesn't scuttle the whole business of resolution in the Christian life, I trust. And don't let it do so in you. I think that that's one of the devil's tools, that he would show us the failures in things and say, so see, it's not worth doing.
[40:21] So there. What has he just gained? He's gained tremendous ground. Now you arrive at the point of temptation without any resolve. You're sitting duck for him.
[40:37] Men, why do you suppose it was important for Job to say, I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a girl? Why would he ever need to do that ahead of time?
[40:47] Before walking through the glossy magazines with skin all over them at the checkout counter. Why would he need to first make this covenant, this determination?
[40:59] Because he doesn't want to get into that situation and just leave it to the moment. He knows what the moment can do to him. And so he's going to resolve not to look with lust upon a girl.
[41:13] So we see that resolution can serve us. It's a Christ-like thing. It's a godly man and woman thing. And next week we'll begin with our first resolution that we'll be looking at.
[41:29] And you might want to look at it there in Psalm 119 and verse 60. I will hasten and not delay to keep your commands. Quick question, comment before we close out, Mark?
[41:45] An important thing about Edward's resolution was his preamble. Oh, thank you. And God helping me.
[41:58] I will be sensitive. Yes, it's even stronger than that, Mark. And you're absolutely right. At the introduction of his 70 resolutions, being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help.
[42:17] How's that for an introduction to resolution? Being aware that I can do nothing without God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions so far as they are agreeable to his will for Christ's sake.
[42:34] The aim, not my pride, but Christ's sake. The dependence upon God, his strength. Thank you, Mark. An excellent point. That's got to be there.
[42:45] We just go the way of Peter and just find our resolution just drying up like the early do. Anything else?
[42:55] It's an interesting comparison. The fact that sin failed because he did not set his heart to save God.
[43:07] And then Ezra had said the opposite. He didn't have his heart to save the lost body to do it. Yeah. Good. The set heart.
[43:20] The resolute mind and will. The pre-decision. You know, it's a good thing to do every time we come to hear the word of God. We sit down to read our Bibles. Lord, I will do what you show me.
[43:34] Even before you show me. Lord, what will you show me today in the ministry of the word? Lord, I will do what you say. I'm the clay.
[43:44] You're the potter. I'm here on your wheel. Shape me. Mold me. Make me what you want me to be. There's this pre-commitment before we hear. Because once we hear, we say, oh, man, that's kind of costly. Well, we might just need the resolution going into the word of God to resolve.
[43:59] And that will help us then to do whatever God says. Well, our time's up. Lord bless you. We'll come back to this theme next week, Lord willing. Thank you.