Dwelling Place

Al Pittman: God regards the man who walks in three ways. The first way is that he's poor. You say, "I'm walking with God, I ain't got no money." No, not that poor. Amen. Because I've been walking with God a long time if that's the case. Even before I knew God, I was... but poor in spirit. Poor in spirit, absent of pride before God.

Announcer (Guest Male): Thank you for listening to the Dwelling Place, a radio ministry from Pastor Al Pittman of Al Pittman Ministries. The purpose of this radio program is to encourage you, strengthen your walk with the Lord, and grow. To support this program financially or learn more about the ministry, visit us online at alpittmanministries.com. That's alpittmanministries.com. Thank you for partnering with us. Now, here's Pastor Al.

Al Pittman: It's so good to be here with you guys. I will preach for food. I don't have a job and that's what we're doing. We're trying to survive. That's all my wife and I are trying to do right now and trying to stay busy. When you retire, you better find something to do or your wife will have you doing stuff. So, "Honey, I'd love to do that for you, but I'm still in the ministry. I've got to study the word."

But such a blessing to be here with you guys. And Pastor Tim, thank you for inviting me to come out and be with these great men of God. We've heard some great messages so far. Amen? And now I'm going to let you all down. But it's good to go out and go to different churches and hear all these great messages and be with men. As a pastor, I can steal material. So the next place I go preach, I sound great. And it's all stuff I've already been hearing. Anyway, people think I'm all that, but I'm not. I'm just stealing messages from people and repeating them.

This has been awesome. My wife is with me and we get to travel a lot now with each other. Praise the Lord, we're getting along. Amen! I'm telling you. Now, some of you may know this, but I have glaucoma. I'm dealing with my sight and I can't see that well. I started my ministry, I was preaching from size 12 font. Now I'm up to 36. I'm going the way of all dust, I guess, or all dirt. But I'm going to keep preaching until God shuts the lights out. Amen? One way or another.

But here's the deal since this is a men's retreat. I tell you, you guys can relate to my pain. Every time I get to stand before men, I share this so you guys have nobody else to listen to my pain. But men understand. For five years, my wife has been driving me around. Imagine if you will... now, if you've got your sight, you can't get this. Some of you guys may be able to relate. Your wife is driving and you can say nothing. I feel like, "Honey, get me one of those car seats that little kids have with a little steering wheel on it so I can feel like I'm actually in control."

Because she's driving, I can't say anything. You know you can't say anything, guys, because if you say anything, it's going to be an argument and you may never get to where you want to go. Amen? The lessons begin after you're 60. Amen? I'll be 70 in December, so I'm just starting to learn some stuff. You guys 60 and under, you don't know nothing. Amen! Wait until your wife is driving and you can't say anything. Anyway, that's not the message. But thank you for allowing me to confess that to you all. That is not to leave this room. Amen.

Guest (Male): Too late!

Al Pittman: Too late, you know? Come on now. This is not being recorded, is it? Well, I love my mother-in-law too. Amen! Let's get into the word. So good to be here with you guys. My portion of scripture is 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 12 to 14. I've entitled the message "Virtues of a Last Day's Man." Let's pray.

Father, we thank you so much for this opportunity, Lord, to be in your word. We've already heard three great messages and this is the fourth message. I guess, Lord, you just know men are hardheaded, we need to hear it four times. It's basically the same thing, Lord, but it's your word, it's your truth. May it go forth, dear God, and not return to you void but accomplish that which you send it to do. May you grant to us ears to hear, hearts to receive your word, that we might be transformed men in these last days. We ask it all in Jesus' name, and everyone said... Amen!

Well, the lines have clearly been drawn today between good and evil. Now we know that good is now evil in the world, and evil is now good. A lot of times people watch the news and go, "What's going on?" Well, that's exactly what God said. Thinking themselves wise, they become fools. And evil is now called good, and good is now called evil. In fact, the Bible says in Proverbs 29, verse 27, "An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked."

That's where we are today. It's not going to get better; it's going to get worse. And that should be good news. Jesus said when you see these things happening, rejoice. He said when men hate you for my sake, rejoice! He didn't say be bummed out about it because our reward is great in heaven. And that's the direction that we're heading. In this age of strong delusion, God has called us to be men of conviction. Men of conviction, men of virtue.

As Voddie Baucham, some of you may be familiar with Voddie Baucham... he just passed away not too long ago, he's a well-known American pastor, author, and educator... he once said that "the time for neutrality is over." The time for neutrality is over. It surely is. And without godly virtue in a man's life, he will live a life as a victim rather than a victor in Christ. The apostle Peter in our text presents what I call a three-prong approach to living a victorious life in this evil day.

We'll get right into it. The first approach is: you must abide under God's divine surveillance. I call it surveillance. Peter puts it this way in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 12. He says, "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." And David said in Psalm 139, verses 7 to 8... you can write these down... David said, "Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; and if I make my bed in hell, Lord, behold, you are there."

There's no place we can go from God's presence, from his surveillance, if you will. In these last days, God is on the lookout for men who will believe that he is just that: almighty God. Men who live believing that God's eyes and ears are open and not shut. It is the proud and the wicked man that God has rebuked for treating him as if he were blind, treating him as if he cannot hear or understand.

The Psalmist says in Psalm 94, verses 7 to 9, "Yet they say, 'The Lord does not see, nor does the God of Jacob understand.' Understand, you senseless among the people!" God calls them senseless when we think that way. "And you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall he not hear? He who formed the eye, shall he not see?" Amen! I know we talk about accountability groups. I believe in accountability, I believe in having accountability guys being engaged with other men within the church. That's what makes the church strong.

And all of that is important. But don't forget the fear of the Lord. You know, because we can lie to one another. There's a passage in the Old Testament talking about how the devil deceived David into counting and numbering the people. Do you remember reading that? How David, growing in popularity and strength and God was raising him up, and he got kind of beside himself, "too big for his britches," my daddy used to say. He thought, "Well, I'm going to see how many soldiers, how many troops I have," so he could boast in the number of people.

And so the devil deceived him into thinking this, and it brought a curse on the people for David doing that because God didn't want David to be trusting in his numbers of soldiers, but to be trusting in the Lord. Anyway, the point being is that if David could be deceived, how much more can we be deceived even if we have accountability groups? Without the fear of the Lord, you can have a hundred men surround you and still sin. You've got to have the fear of the Lord.

The fear of the Lord says, "I believe God sees." No, if I turn the lights down low, he won't. No, he sees. If I sneak out late at night and go down the back alley to that place, he sees. And the things I say from my mouth, he hears, but even the things I say in my heart. It's the fear of the Lord for us men that is the beginning of wisdom. God, give me the fear of God. Give me the fear of God, not the fear of men. That's always a snare.

But I must live with the fear of God. To have God's ear and reside under his watchful eye is a blessing for the virtuous man, a man who wants to be virtuous. Isaiah 66, verse 2 presents three essential traits found in the life of the man who desires to remain under God's divine surveillance. Isaiah 66, verse 2 says what? It says, "But on this one," the Lord God says, "will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word."

Do we tremble? Do we really tremble when we hear the word of God? If we tremble, then why are so many Christian marriages in trouble? If we tremble, then why are so many people leaving the church and all this transfer growth going on instead of really growing the kingdom through people being saved and born again? If we tremble, then why aren't we united? Those who tremble at his word... I looked at that and I thought, "On this one the Lord will look."

That word "look" from Isaiah 66:2 is from the Hebrew word "nabat," and it means to show regard, to pay attention, to consider. In other words, God regards the man who walks in three ways. The first way is that he's poor. You say, "Oh, I'm walking with God, I ain't got no money." No, not that poor. Because I've been walking with God a long time if that's the case. Even before I knew God, I was... but poor in spirit. Poor in spirit, absent of pride before God.

The second way the man must walk to stay under God's divine surveillance is you must be contrite. Contrite in spirit. That word "contrite" means to be straight, to be forwardness. I'm moving forward, not turning to the left or to the right, but I'm walking forward. I'm straight with God. Straight up with the Lord. Not having a backsliding heart, you could say. And then the third way in which I should walk with the Lord if I'm going to remain under his surveillance is that I need to tremble at his word.

A man who possesses these traits will have the eye and the ear of God always. And it's in those areas of our lives where the enemy comes in through your eye gate and your ear gate. Things we hear, it gets to our heart. And God wants us to be in his sight. If God has his eyes on me, he's going to be careful about the things I see. If God is with me, he'll be careful about the things I hear. He'll control the things that I hear and the things that I see. Amen!

We cannot expect to walk with God in these last days with a proud, backsliding spirit. It is the proud and selfish, self-condemned man who refuses to tremble at the word of God. God resists, the Bible says, the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. James 4:6 says: God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Unlike the internet, God is not looking for influencers. I'm repeating stuff I've heard because I'm not an internet guy, I'm not a techie guy, I'm from the old generation.

Amen! But I'm still learning. You know, there's these influencers out there and they influence people. God's not looking for influencers; he's looking for men who have been influenced, who have been filled with the Holy Spirit. He's not looking for you to be an influencer. "Oh, I've got a million followers." But who are you winning to Christ? He's not looking for more influencers; he's looking for men who are influenced, who have the impression of God upon their hearts. They're influenced by God.

E.M. Bounds famously stated, he said, and I quote, "What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use. Men of prayer, men mighty in prayer." Amen! We don't need more influencers; we need men who know how to pray, men who realize that they're living under the sight and the hearing of God, men who choose to abide under divine surveillance of the Lord.

Here's a second virtue. That was the first virtue, that we're under God's divine surveillance. The second virtue for the last day's man is: be followers of good. Already talked about that. Pastor Tim talked about it, Peter said to do good. He keeps talking about that: be do-gooders. But be followers of good. That's so important because there's such a temptation today and peer pressure today for us to be followers of evil. Because if you're followers of evil, that's cool.

That's what wokeism is all about. You follow those things that really go against the word of God and then you'll be accepted by the world. But God says, "No, be followers of good." Verse 13 in 1 Peter chapter 3 here says, "And who is he who will harm you?" See, they were under pressure back then as we are today to do evil, for churches to cave and to capitulate and to be more like the world. But Peter says here, "Who will harm you if you do good, if you become followers of what is good?"

Don't worry about what the world is going to say. We've got to get out of that mode of thinking, "They're not going to like us." Who cares? Really, you know? If we're not pleasing Jesus, we're not pleasing anybody. We're no good to anyone. And the main thing is to please him, is what Peter's saying. Don't be afraid of people intimidating you to live another lifestyle or to be woke or to be all these other things, but be followers of what is good.

There's a man that ran after Jesus one day and he came to Jesus and said, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus replied, he says, "Why do you call me good? No one's good but one, and that is God." Now was Jesus saying he wasn't God? No, Jesus was confirming what the man was saying because the man was calling him good teacher, he's basically calling him God. Luke chapter 18, verse 19.

But Jesus was basically agreeing with that man. Here's my point: if we are followers of good, we are followers of Jesus, and if we're followers of Jesus, we're followers of good. Because what? God is good. The Greek word for good in verse 13 is "agathos." Agathos, and it means good-natured, useful, joyful, and upright. Be followers of that which is joyful, that which is upright, that which is useful. While the world is again following death and destruction, God calls the last day's man to follow good.

In fact, good in Jesus' name, I might add... because there's a lot of people out doing good, but Peter's talking about doing good in Jesus' name... good in Jesus' name is really the church's spiritual antidote to the evil of our day. The reason I say that again, Peter's second time he's saying do good, as Pastor Tim pointed out. Romans chapter 12 talks about the fact that good is the antidote to evil. Romans chapter 12, verses 17 to 21 is a little long but it's worth reading, it's the word of God.

And where Paul the apostle said, "Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. 'Therefore if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.'"

Amen! You're pricking his conscience, is what you're doing. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Wow! But let me just say this: good not only is an antidote against the evil against us, but also for the evil within us. Amen! We read that, we think, "Oh, yeah, I've got to do good, that evil person at work. I'm going to buy Joe a sandwich when I see him Monday. Hey, Joe, would you like a sandwich? I'm buying."

Joe's evil, so I'm doing good to Joe or whatever. And God says, "No, I want you to do good because it overcomes the evil that's in you because you want to kill Joe. You really want to kill Joe. You lay in bed at night thinking about how to get even with Joe. And when I'm asking you to do good, it's to overcome the evil within you." Amen! So true. We are called to walk in the spirit, as it's already been said here at this conference, and not in the flesh.

Galatians 5:25 and 26: "If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit." Verse 26 says, "Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." And envy, the Bible says, is rottenness to the bone. Walking in the spirit is relying on the Holy Spirit to assist us in obeying God's word rather than our wants. I want to yell at my wife. I want to make my point. There's a difference between being righteous and right. You know that.

You can be right and be wrong. You know, you can win the argument with your wife and be wrong and then on the couch for a week. It's another sermon. But one guy said, "Choose your hard. Choose your hard. It's hard to be married, but it's sure hard to be lonely. Choose your hard."

Announcer (Guest Male): Learn more about Pastor Al and his ministry by visiting alpittmanministries.com. Also consider supporting us financially. You can send a check to Al Pittman Ministries at PO Box 50584, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80949, or visit us online. Thank you for your prayers and your support. Your generosity keeps this radio ministry going.

Lastly, we would love to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing info@alpittmanministries.com. That's info@alpittmanministries.com. And we look forward to hearing from you. Again, thank you for joining us and we'll see you next time on the Dwelling Place. God bless.

Al Pittman: Your sanctification is under the Father's authority. How God's going to provide for you is under his authority. How God is going to strengthen you is under his authority. Faith is trusting God for his part while doing my part.

Announcer (Guest Male): Join Pastor Al at Legacy of Faith Church in Denver, Colorado on Palm Sunday, March 29th. There, Pastor Al will be teaching a dynamic Palm Sunday message that you don't want to miss. Doors open at 9:15 AM, service begins at 10:30 AM. Head to legacyoffaithchurch.com to get directions or get more information. That's legacyoffaithchurch.com. We'll see you there.