Introduction
May the peace of the Lord be with you and your house. I give thanks to the Eternal God, to the Almighty, for this space of time that He allows us in His grace and in His mercy. We are here because it has pleased the Lord. This time belongs to the Lord, it is not ours. We are gathered because the Lord has summoned us, called us, and I give thanks for this grace and this mercy that He grants us.
Through His Holy Spirit, we are going to study the theme of the hindrances that prevent us from walking in the Lord’s ways. We have been studying Deuteronomy 10:12 for several weeks now, a verse that presents us with a protocol of action, establishing exactly what God demands of a man, of a woman.
The verse says: “What does the Lord your God ask of you, O Israel? To fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your strength”. We are specifically studying the second instruction: to walk in the Lord’s ways, in all His ways.
What Are God’s Ways?
In last week’s teaching we established something fundamental: speaking of the Lord’s ways does not mean predetermined, predefined, or preestablished forms. The tendency of man and woman is to repeat processes. “Tell me what I need to do and I will do it.” Many times we believe that by doing this we are pleasing the Lord.
But the Lord’s ways are not predetermined processes—step one, step two, step three, step four—that guarantee we are in His ways. It is not like that. It is understanding God. The Lord’s ways are founded on understanding God, what God wants, what God demands for each man, for each woman in their respective region, in their respective place, particularly.
Everything is founded on knowing and understanding God. This is written in the book of the prophet Jeremiah: “Let him who boasts boast in this: in understanding Me, knowing Me that I am the Lord your God”.
Therefore, when we speak about the Lord’s ways, we must be very clear that they are not predetermined processes. It does not have to do with manner of dress, it does not have to do with manner of speech, it does not have to do with manner of conduct—although obviously the manner of dress, the manner of speech, the manner of conduct will definitely change. But we cannot go in reverse: from the exterior to the interior. It is from the interior toward the exterior, because the Word of the Lord establishes it: “Rivers of living water will flow, will spring forth from within”. Changes go from the inside out.
It is important that each man and each woman who are seeking communion with the Lord understand that they are not determined processes.
So What Are the Lord’s Ways?
What we do, what each of us does based on the foundation of knowing and understanding God. The man of God who walks in the Lord’s ways says clearly and knows perfectly: “This is not from God. This is from God.” He knows how to discern what is and what is not from God, even though on many occasions religion, religious philosophy, and even morality say that something is correct or permissible.
But the man who knows how to discern can say: “No, that—even though everyone else says it is permissible—does not come from God.” The apostle Paul, by the Spirit of God, established: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify”.
Is It Possible to Have Assurance That We Walk in the Lord’s Ways?
I have divided this topic into two parts. First, I want to answer a fundamental question: is it possible to have within ourselves the assurance or guarantee that we are walking in the Lord’s ways?
Yes. The Word of the Lord tells us that each of us can have assurance, that we can have the guarantee that we are walking in the Lord’s ways. I repeat and emphasize: although religious philosophy says otherwise, although morality says otherwise, we have the assurance.
First Evidence: Peace with Enemies
I go to Proverbs 16:7: “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him”.
When a man’s ways please the Lord—that is, he is walking in the Lord’s ways—He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. What does this mean?
Let us understand well: this does not mean that the enemies disappeared. Let us be very careful with that. It does not mean that the man who is walking in the Lord’s ways has no enemies, it does not mean that the woman who is walking in the Lord’s ways has no enemies. The text is not saying that. What it is saying is that He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. They cannot rise up, they cannot dare.
We have several examples. I would like to point out one of them: Daniel. Daniel had enemies—of course he had enemies. Precisely because of his enemies he went to the lions’ den, precisely because he was in an environment where his enemies constantly stalked him. His companions went to the fiery furnace.
It is not that the enemies disappear, but they have limits. They cannot cross certain limits that the Lord Himself establishes. Therefore, there we can understand: “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him”. This is very important. It is an assurance, it is a guarantee, it is the evidence of when a man, of when a woman is walking in the Lord’s ways.
Second Evidence: The Blessings of the Covenant
I go to the Old Testament, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 28. We could read the first fourteen verses. I am going to read only the first two:
“And it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God”.
What does this mean? It is not simply cause and effect: “Do this and this other thing will come to you”—which unfortunately is how many men and many women read the Scriptures. The Scriptures are not a manual of cause and effect. We are incurring a very serious doctrinal error, because the Word of the Lord is doctrinal instruction so that we can understand and know God, which is precisely what the Lord’s way is founded upon.
What is it telling us? That when a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, all will go well with you. The Lord will make you the head and not the tail. The Lord will bless everything your hand touches, everything your hand does will prosper.
And if we return again to Proverbs 16:7, it does not mean there will be no opponents, nor does it mean there will be no obstacles in the way. Unfortunately, many men and many women—and of course I am speaking of men and women of God—we walk in imagination. We form ideas that everything disappeared completely: enemies, adverse situations, everything disappeared. No, that is imagination.
There will be obstacles. To present a very clear case that many times many men and many women of God cannot see: the case of Daniel. A few minutes ago I pointed to Daniel as an example. Daniel was part of the first deportation of Jews to the land of Babylon. We all see how Daniel prospers, progresses, and practically everything he undertakes goes very well. But many are unaware that Daniel was made a eunuch—this is in the Holy Scriptures, in the book of the prophet Isaiah.
What does this mean? That we face situations. Of course we do. We face opposition, we face adversities, we face many difficult things. But in the midst of them all, the Lord makes us stand out, the Lord makes us overcome all those situations.
“If you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, all these blessings shall come upon you”. They are the guarantee of a man, they are the guarantee of a woman, they are the evidences of a man, of a woman who is walking in the Lord’s ways.
Therefore, we can know that we are walking in the Lord’s ways. Yes, there are guarantees in the Word of the Lord.
Third Evidence: Divine Protection
I want to go to another text in the book of the prophet Isaiah. Look for chapter 54, verse 15 through verse 17:
“If anyone conspires against you, it is not from Me. Whoever conspires against you shall fall before you”.
I move to verse 17: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me, says the Lord”.
All these texts that many of us see as promises and that we pursue and that we only or selectively seek, are not for everyone. And this will surely displease many, and I am going to repeat it: they are not for everyone. They are for those who walk in the Lord’s ways.
Many people are within congregations, are part of congregations, but they are not walking in the Lord’s ways. Why? Because being part of a congregation, being part of a church, being part of a ministry is not a guarantee that we are walking in the Lord’s ways. But many of us have formed that idea precisely because we are attending to the religious philosophy that “if you do this, then you are in God’s will. If you follow this form, if you follow this norm, if you follow this tendency, then you are in the Lord’s ways”.
No, the Word of the Lord does not establish that. The Word of the Lord establishes that the Lord’s ways are founded on knowledge, on understanding of who God is and what God demands and why the Lord chose each of us.
Therefore, all these texts we have read are in reality evidences of a man, evidences of a woman who is walking in the Lord’s ways. Even texts in the New Testament that we quote very frequently: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Even texts like these are not a promise for all who call on the name of the Lord. They are the evidence of one who is walking in the Lord’s ways, they are the evidence of one who is walking in the Lord’s ways.
The Importance of Examining Our Lives
I make this introduction because it is necessary that we understand the importance of the topic. Many men of God, many women of God have not seen the importance, the necessity of examining our lives and what we do. Many men, many women do things, decide things, initiate activities, and unfortunately we do not concern ourselves with whether or not it is what God has asked us to do. And this is very lamentable.
Why? Not only because of the results we might obtain—because you will have noticed that the reality in the Christian life of many men and many women is from fall to fall, from failure to failure, from disappointment to disappointment, from resentment to resentment. Not only because of that. It is because God is seeking a people for the honor and glory of His name, a people who establish limits to darkness on the face of the earth, a people who establish His kingdom, a people who establish His will on the face of the earth.
You read, for example, Job and you realize in the first chapters the pleasure that God has in Job, you realize the complacency that God has in Job, you realize the satisfaction that God has in Job. And this is precisely what God wants—not from one man, not from one woman. This is what God wants from a people.
But I repeat: in reality, unfortunately, many are walking by religious philosophy and not by what the Word of the Lord establishes.
How many have read Deuteronomy 10:12? I can say many, I can say a great majority. But however, how many of us have stopped to see what that text is telling us? “Fear the Lord your God”—number one. Number two: “walk in all His ways”.
If you go to Psalm 103, you find in David’s words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that David expresses concerning the prophet Moses: “He made known His ways to Moses, showed him all His ways”.
And this is precisely what God wants to do with each man, this is what God wants to do with each woman in this time. Not only was it for past time, not only was it for one people—the Jewish people. This is for all those who call on the name of the Lord.
But again we return: it is precisely because many of us are ignorant about the Lord’s ways. Many of us have not really been interested in what the Lord’s ways are. The only thing we take care of is: “Well, I’m not in sin. Well, I’m no longer doing the old things I used to do. Well, I’m attending a congregation now. Well, I’m reading the Bible now. Well, I’m praying now. Well, I’m fasting now.” And similar things.
But that is not a guarantee, it is not an assurance. They constitute in many cases ritual elements that do not really lead us to walk in the Lord’s ways.
In this first section I have wanted to show you by the Word that yes, a man can have the assurance that he is walking in the Lord’s ways. That yes, a woman can have the assurance that she is walking in the Lord’s ways, because the Word of the Lord gives us the foundation to understand how we can evaluate whether or not we are in the Lord’s ways.
The Hindrances That Prevent Walking in the Lord’s Ways
In this second part I am going to work on the hindrances that prevent us from walking in the Lord’s ways. For this I am going to refer to the New Testament. Let us go to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses 45 and 46:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it”.
I am going to read these verses once more, because it is very important that we understand them:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it”.
First Hindrance: Rejecting Spiritual Benefits to Attend to Material Interests
First definition about the hindrances that prevent us from walking in the Lord’s ways: rejecting spiritual benefits to attend to material interests.
Jesus presented this parable, and with this parable He is presenting a comparison. What did this merchant, this trading man do? He encountered a case, he encountered a unique situation. Previously he had seen many pearls—it was not the first case. Many pearls. But this pearl was particular. This pearl manifested a particular characteristic, and the text says that he went, sold all that he had, and used the money to buy the pearl that he had seen.
Do you know what the greatest hindrance is that men of God, that women of God have with respect to not being able to walk in the Lord’s ways? That we reject spiritual benefits to attend to material interests. Yes, just as we are hearing it.
More than one could say: “But how is it possible that we would come to reject spiritual benefits to attend to material interests?”
Yes, in reality that is what happens, precisely because we have not evaluated what the Lord has called us to, precisely because we have not defined why the Lord has called us. Precisely because of that is why we act this way.
A few minutes ago I was telling you: for the great majority of men of faith and the great majority of women of faith, the only thing that has interested us is: “I no longer do the things I used to do. I no longer behave as I used to behave. I am reading the Scriptures, I am praying, I am fasting, I am part of a congregation. I am fine, I am fine.”
And you know that falls very short of what God is determining. “There are ways that seem right to a man, but their end is death”.
How many really are interested in what God wants us to do? How many of us in reality are interested in what God thinks of what we are doing? How many of us in reality have taken the time to ask: “Lord, is this what You really want me to do?”
And I can tell you with certainty of faith that when we present ourselves before the Lord in that way, the answer will surprise us. Why? Because what for us has been “everything is fine, everything is fine, everything is fine,” is not the same way God looks at it. God looks at things completely differently. God looks at things completely differently.
The first hindrance, the greatest hindrance that prevents us from walking in the Lord’s ways, is that we weigh the material more than the spiritual. Just so. We weigh the material more than the spiritual.
The Example of Israel in the Wilderness
I want to go to other texts so we can see it. Let us go to the book of Exodus, chapter 32, verse 26:
“Then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.’ And all the sons of Levi gathered to him”.
When did this event occur? When Moses descends from the first forty days of being in the presence of the Lord on Mount Horeb. He encounters a lamentable situation, a deplorable situation. The people, led by Aaron, had built a calf—we know the account. They had built a golden calf and said: “These are the gods that brought you out of Egypt.”
In the face of that situation of debauchery, in the face of that situation of perversity in which—hear this well—even Aaron was involved, Moses asks this question: “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me”. And all the sons of Levi gathered—that is, an entire tribe.
But what happened? What happened was that Moses gave them the order to take swords and to kill—listen carefully—to kill all those who had made a cult to Satan. Because that was nothing other than a cult to Satan, even though it is not mentioned.
There are many people who say: “But in the Old Testament demons are not spoken of.” I want to tell you that even though they are not mentioned, everything that goes against the will of God, everything that goes against what God has established, is a cult to Satan, cult to demons.
Therefore, Moses gives instruction to the sons of Levi to take swords and to kill all those who had participated in this cult to Satan. Of all the people—twelve tribes—of all the people, twelve tribes, only one was walking in the Lord’s ways. Because that is what we are seeing: how can I walk in the Lord’s ways? How am I sure that I am walking in the Lord’s ways?
Of twelve tribes, only one, only one was walking in the Lord’s ways.
What is the greatest impediment? The greatest impediment that hinders us from walking in the Lord’s ways is that we attend more to the material than the spiritual. It is that we seek answers to the material in the material and not in the spiritual. It is that we seek resources in the material and not in the spiritual.
The prophet Jeremiah, by the Spirit of God, established: “My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water”.
And this is not the problem of one people, this is not the problem of one nation, this is not the problem of a people described in the Old Testament—Israel or the Jews as we may identify them. This is not the problem of one people. This is the problem of man, this is the problem of woman: that we value the material more and seek answers in the material and seek resources in the material and set aside the spiritual.
Why? Because the tendency of man, because the tendency of woman, is to attend to their material interests before the spiritual. It is the tendency of man, it is the tendency of the human being.
The Importance of Our Daily Decisions
I want to go to another text in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 30, verse 19:
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live”.
You know that all of this—attending to material interests before the spiritual, which means rejecting the spiritual to attend to material interests—has to do with decisions. It has to do with the decisions we make every day. Not thirty years ago, not forty years ago. It is the decision that each of us makes every day, because every day we are either rejecting God’s way or accepting God’s way.
This is an activity of every day. It is a work, it is a task of every day.
And the Spirit of God, through the mouth of Moses, says: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you”.
Do you know why? Jesus said that in the last days, one of the signs of Jesus’ soon coming would be earthquakes. Do you know why? Here you have the answer: because Moses placed heaven and earth as witnesses.
When there is an earthquake, God is simply speaking through nature saying: “You have not made decisions for Me. Your decisions are in favor of your particular interests. You have left Me, you have abandoned Me.” For that reason, in these last days nature is having an active participation.
It is not due to global warming, it is not due to atmospheric situations—which unfortunately is how we define them. It is not due to that. It is that heaven and earth are giving testimonies: “Man, against you I cry out. Woman, against you I cry out. Where are your decisions for the Lord? You are attending to your personal interests, and look how your personal interests end up: destroyed.”
Because how many have not had their interests destroyed precisely by an earthquake, how many have not had their interests destroyed precisely by rain. In these last days, all nations of the Earth—there is not a nation on Earth that has not been affected by torrential rains that devastate entire populations. But we have not understood it because we are defining it again in material terms.
It is God who is speaking: “I place heaven and earth today as witnesses against you, that I have presented to you life and that I have presented to you death, that I have presented to you blessing and that I have also presented to you cursing”.
And do you know what man does? And do you know what woman does?
I go to the book of Psalms to have that answer. Psalm 109, verse 17:
“He loved cursing, and it came to him; he did not desire blessing, and it was far from him”.
Do you know what man does? Do you know what woman does? That every day—and this is an activity of every day, this is a task of every day—do you know what man does, do you know what woman does, do you know what the man of faith does, do you know what the woman of faith does? He loved cursing, he hated blessing, and blessing moved away from him.
This is not a fact of the past. It is the reality of the present. And more than one could say: “You are wrong, you are stretching the text.” Reality is telling us that this is what we do.
It is not enough to say: “I no longer do the things I used to do.” It is not enough to say: “My knees have calluses from the time of prayer I spend.” It is not enough to say that. It is necessary to understand who God is and what He demands of each of us. And in reality, the great majority do not know what God demands.
Why? Because when the moment to decide arrives, we opt for the material benefit and reject the spiritual benefit.
The Example of Martha and Mary
I am going to present two examples. Let us go to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 40, 41, and 42:
“But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.’ And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her’”.
When you review the text, when you review the account, you realize that this scene occurred the first time Jesus was visiting Lazarus’s house. Lazarus, Mary, and Martha are three siblings. It occurred on the first day, the first moment, the first time Jesus enters. Before this, Jesus did not know Mary and Martha. Before this, Jesus did not know Lazarus. First time He is entering the house of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.
And see with what confidence Martha addresses Jesus: “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?”—a questioning to whom: to Jesus. “What doctrine do You preach? What kind of teacher are You? Don’t You see that something is not working here? What kind of teacher are You really?”
And she not only stayed there, but additionally she told Him: “Therefore tell her to help me”. She not only questioned Jesus’ authority, she not only questioned—even though it was the first time she knew Him—who Jesus was, but additionally she is giving Jesus instructions about what He has to say.
It is Martha. Change the name, let us each put our own name. Because in reality, that is how we conduct ourselves with the Lord. Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, You are God, but many of us end up telling God what He has to say and what He has to do. We have all conducted ourselves in the same way on more than one occasion, as Martha did: “Tell her, then. Say. Do. How long? And why not yet?” We conduct ourselves in the same way.
Why? Because we are more interested in the material than really in the spiritual. Our interests are material. We have not, unfortunately, let go of the material. We continue to act as the neighbor who is ungodly acts. We continue to act as the neighbor who is not a believer acts. We continue to act as all the others who do not call on the Lord act.
Why? Because we are not walking in the Lord’s ways, precisely because we are valuing the material more than the spiritual.
And you know, what Martha was involved in was precisely preparing dinner to serve Jesus precisely. But there are things that God did not command us to do. There are things we are doing that the Lord never asked us to do, because we still have not learned to trust in the Lord.
Verse 42, which we all know and many quote practically from memory: “One thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part”. Martha was troubled by the many things, “and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her”.
The greatest impediment that hinders us from walking in the Lord’s ways are the decisions that you and I make every day, every day.
How many of us have valued a job that is offered to us at the moment more? I am referring to an action that is not continuous—because I know perfectly well that there are people who have rotating shifts that they have to attend to—but I am referring to when we are offered a job, a one-day job or a one-night job.
How many of us when that job is offered say: “But we have a service, or we have a meeting, or we have a teaching”? And how many, after having seen the pros and cons, say: “I’m going to do it.” We accept that labor, that compensation: “This, well, somehow I’ll make it up later.” That is how we act.
What are we doing? We are rejecting the Lord’s ways.
I know there can be many excuses. Of course there can. “But the Lord says we have to provide for our household.” “But the Lord knows.” Many excuses.
But in reality, what we are doing is that we—as Psalm 109 says that we read a few minutes ago—the blessing and cursing are presented to us, we reject the blessing and draw near the cursing for ourselves.
Do you know why many men and many women of faith do not grow spiritually? Precisely because of this same thing, because when they found themselves in the decision, in making that decision, they opted for the material and set aside the spiritual.
The Example of Elisha
Do you know why Elisha stands out so much in the account of when Elijah seeks him? Do you know why? It is not because of the double portion he asked for, it is not because of the supernatural acts he did. Do you know where it all was? In that when Elijah goes to seek him, he sacrificed the oxen and burned the yokes.
Do you know what that action means? That action means: “I am not turning back.” To have left the oxen, to have left the yokes, meant leaving the possibility open: “If this doesn’t work out for me here, I can return.”
Many of us leave opportunities open: “If this doesn’t work, well then I have this.”
The man of faith, the woman of faith, has no alternatives. Hear this well. The man of faith, the woman of faith, we have no alternatives. God is our only alternative. We have no plan B. The only thing we have is one plan: the one God presents to us. We have no options.
But the world has told us that you have to have a plan B. But the world has told us: “Don’t despise that, in case you need it later.” The world tells us many things that are not according to God’s will.
Why can we not walk in God’s ways? Number one, the greatest of all: because at the time of deciding, opportunities are presented to us, we see the material convenience more than the spiritual benefit. And from there—no matter what happens afterward—the decision already took us out of the Lord’s ways. It took us out of the Lord’s ways because we decided wrongly.
We could have earned some additional dollars, but that does not compensate for the blessing that the time of being with Jesus meant. The time of revelation that God was giving us does not compensate ever, never.
Therefore, first hindrance, very important: it has to do with the decisions of man, it has to do with the decisions of woman. We reject spiritual benefits to attend to material interests.
Each time decisions are presented to us, let us not do it for material interests. Let us seek the spiritual benefit first. If this takes me away from receiving this other thing from God, this is a distraction.
That is why Matthew, chapter 13, the parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant who, finding a pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had to buy that precious pearl”.
The life of faith, the Lord’s ways depend on: I value what is from God. And even though I lose materially, that will not be a distraction to focus on what God is presenting to me.
Second Hindrance: Not Knowing the Spiritual Weight That All Things Carry
I go to the second element. I want to go to the first epistle of John, chapter 2, verses 15 through 17:
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever”.
Second hindrance: not knowing the spiritual weight that all things around us carry.
And I am going to explain it. All things, all things without exception, all material things—I am referring to everything that is around us, everything that we can have and to which we can have access—all things, without exception, all things carry a spiritual weight. Yes, everything carries a spiritual weight.
And unfortunately, many men of faith, many women of faith, walk through life ignoring precisely this. In fact, when on occasions we hear about these topics, many identify them as fanaticism. Yes, for many that is fanaticism, that is extremism, that is like taking the Word or taking the gospel or taking the doctrine to levels that really do not warrant it. That is the explanation many give.
Why? “Well, because if Jesus did everything on the cross, we are already exempt from all that.” Unfortunately they have not understood what the cross means.
The cross is not a blank check. The cross is not the opportunity to do whatever occurs to me. The cross, the work of the cross, does not mean the freedom to accept, to inherit, to take everything that occurs to me.
Today, unfortunately—and I say this with much regret—churches are filling up with songs, with praises, together with dances that are neither founded on the Word nor honoring God with what is said and with what is done. Because precisely because of that definition that many have—”Jesus already did everything on the cross”—man has no restraint, man has no limits, sees no limits. “Everything is done, everything.”
I have to tell you that acting in this way we will never walk in the Lord’s ways. Never. And in fact, many people are not walking in the Lord’s ways. They no longer do the things they used to do, they are no longer behaving as they used to behave, but you know the scenarios have only changed. And now they are breaking in with ignorance of the Word.
“You are mistaken”, Jesus said, “not knowing the Scriptures”, even though they have access to them.
All things have a spiritual weight, and many contaminations that come to man, many contaminations that come to woman, enter precisely through the spiritual weight of the things to which they approach.
All things have a spiritual weight. I want to read once more verse 15:
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust, the desires of the flesh, the desires, lust of the eyes, the pride of life—is not of the Father, it is of the world. And the world is passing away, and its desires are lust. But he who does the will of God abides forever”.
All things have a spiritual weight. Ignoring this has led many men, many women, to live a life cloistered in environments of apostasy. This is the most serious. It has led to living life cloistered in environments of apostasy.
The Spiritual Weight of Places
To give you an example: you have read Psalm 1. I trust you have: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful”.
I go for a few seconds in this second part. “Has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor sat in the seat of the scornful.” You know that many times that does not only refer to something literary—to a way of being. It is that the psalmist, by the Spirit of God, is saying that even a place where a scoffer has sat, one who does not walk according to God’s will—what he carries settles and remains in that chair.
And someone could say: “That is extremism.” If that were extremism, why in the Old Testament, in the law of Moses, did God in the instructions He gave to Moses tell them: “You shall not sit in a chair where a menstruating woman has sat or in a chair where one who has had a seminal emission has sat”?
If that were extremism, why did the Lord give this type of instructions back there in the Old Testament? Which was saying: “So that you may not be contaminated.”
Many men and many women end up contaminated by the spiritual weight of the objects they make use of.
Look at what it says a little further ahead, in the epistle of Jude, which has only one chapter. Go to verse 23:
“Save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh”.
All things have a spiritual weight. All things, without exception, all things.
Why are there men who end up moving away from the Lord’s ways? Why are there women who end up moving away from the Lord’s ways? Because they have embraced, they have accumulated, they have collected—and I am using this expression—they have collected things that have brought them spiritual burdens that have taken them out of the Lord’s ways.
Handling money, handling cash, has spiritual burden. How many people have not touched a bill? How many people have not handled that bill? Spiritual burden from all those settles. And how many people have not been contaminated by it?
Do you understand now why there are men and there are women who cannot walk, have not been able to walk in the Lord’s ways? They cannot precisely because they do not know that all things have a burden, a spiritual weight. And by embracing them, by having them, by keeping them, by collecting them, they are introducing into their lives, into their houses, into their environments, contaminations. And therefore, in their environments they will not be able to, they will not be able to, precisely because of the spiritual weight.
Conclusion
The theme we are studying is the impediments or hindrances that prevent us from walking in the Lord’s ways. And it is important that each of us understand: they are not predetermined processes, they are not preestablished forms. It is man doing what pleases the Lord, woman doing what pleases the Lord.
But there are hindrances. And if we do not watch for these hindrances, we will end up walking where we should not walk.
May the Spirit of God add blessing and open your eyes so that you can see what type of impediments are hindering and preventing you from walking in the Lord’s ways.
I bless you. May the peace of the Lord be with you. Amen.
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