Living Hope Fellowship Church

THE ANSWER NO

Training Material

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

THE ANSWER NO

Preface

(sometimes God says no)

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

          God wants us to know the manner and attitude of a servant.  We always look for a yes from God, but sometimes the answer is no.  How we react to NO is very important!  Some people are so spoiled that when God tells them NO, they say that answer can’t be of God! 

If your ears are tuned only to a YES and never to a NO, you will hear a lot of things from the devil.  He will always make a deal with you. 

1 Peter 5:6 gives instruction on being a servant of God - “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God. . . .” 

How you react to NO is very important.  It may determine God’s next answer to you.

THE ANSWER NO

by Pastor Kevin Badgley

          Some people do not understand what a servant really is.  Christians are designed to be God’s servants.  Yet we tend to be indignant when we are called upon to do something that seems out of our measure or beyond our capability.  If God calls us to do even that which is impossible, He will empower us as, we go on in the Lord, to do it.  God wants us to know the manner, demeanor, attitude, and the way of a servant. 

          The Bible teaches us to obey our parents.  Much more so we should obey our heavenly Father, yet we have an attitude problem!  Perhaps we need our attitudes adjusted.  We need to read the be-attitudes in Matthew, Chapter 5.  There are nine effects of a proper attitude in the Lord.  There are also nine fruit of the Spirit and nine gifts of the Spirit.  All these are contingent one on the other, according to our attitude as a servant. 

          I believe the more of a servant’s nature we have, the more blessings we will receive from the Lord.  If we are arrogant, self-centered, or too independent, it will be difficult for us to get anything from God.  We limit God by not allowing Him to take every bit of control of our situations. 

God wants us to have the mind of a servant.  The servant nature, attitude, and way of behaving is a “defeated” attitude in the eyes of some, but it is not.  It is an obedient attitude.  1 Samuel 15:22 says, “. . . Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. . . .”  However, to obey God sometimes does require sacrifice, and we shouldn’t get angry at that.  We should say, Yes Lord.  Thy will be done. 

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God doesn’t think like men, and men don’t think like God.  Men think like the devil.  They have a tendency to be stubborn, stiff-necked, and rebellious.  They are self centered and carnally minded.  Romans 8:7 says, “. . . the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”  However, as we yield to God’s Word, by His Spirit we are strengthened to do His will.  We listen less to our own thinking and take on more of the nature of Christ. 

Many today prophesy from their own thoughts about what they want God to say and do.  I know of some who want to rule who have actually threatened people in the name of the Lord!  A true servant of God will not do this.  In Ezekiel 34:4 God spoke against the shepherds and said, “. . . with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.”  They caused the sheep to be scattered.  (See Jeremiah 23:1-2.)

When a pastor or a shepherd does not know what it is like to be a servant, they cannot lead others to be a good servant.  If a minister cannot be a servant of God, how can he show the people of the Lord how to yield to God and be good servants? 

The testimony of the centurion is noteworthy.  He said he was a man set under authority and he had servants and soldiers under him.  He knew how to obey.  He knew supreme authority was over him, and consequently he was able to dish out authority.  If are led by the Spirit of God, we will be a good example of a godly servant. 

Galatians 4:1 says, “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;”  A child of God is also a lord of all, but Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords.  We must learn how to yield over to the Lord of lords if we expect to be a lord.

Revelation 1:6 says, “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. . . .”  Jesus is Lord of all lords, and He desires to give us an inheritance that we might rule over certain sections of that inheritance, for we are of His body.  We are to rule in Christ over the devil!  However, we are no different from a servant as long as we are young and unlearned in the Lord.  We must learn to be a good servant before we can learn what it is like to be a lord.

We have to learn to yield to authority before we can be trusted with authority.  If we can’t say, Yes, Lord Jesus, how can we say, Thus saith the Lord. . . .  If we say we are speaking for a higher power, and not of ourselves, yet we have not yielded over to God, we can not expect to prophesy with God’s blessing.  If we say we serve God, yet we serve ourselves, our prophecies and our words, Thus saith the Lord . . . will have no effect!

That is why our prayers many times are not answered.  We are likened to servants even though we have tremendous promises.  Galatians 4:2 says, “But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.”  The time appointed of the father is when He knows we have grown up enough to receive full inheritance.

We see a mistake made (recorded in Luke, Chapter 15) by a young man who demanded his inheritance from his father and went out prematurely.  He didn’t understand what it was like to be a servant of his father, or to be a yielded son.  This was the prodigal son who went out and wasted his goods. 

God does not want us to waste His anointing or anything He has given us, so He will only give us great things as we are found trustworthy.  If God gave some of us what we desire before we are able to handle it, we would probably end up destroying a lot of good!  Just like the prodigal son we’d find out we went out with a blessing, and we woke up in the pig pen.  The blessing and the goods were for the young man to have, but it was premature.  God doesn’t want us to operate like that.

Therefore, we are treated as servants, even though we are sons and called to be lords by promise.  It is not attained yet.  We are under tutors, which are teachers, or instructors, or demonstrators.  A governor is someone who puts “stops” on someone when it is time.  It is like having a set of brakes on a car.  As long as you are going forward and reaching your destination that is fine, but every car needs brakes.  You never know when you might have to stop.  Something may pop up along the way where you have to stop quickly.  Without brakes you could have a total wreck and be destroyed. 

We are under tutors and governors until God appoints us a time to have the fullness of Christ where He can trust us 100 percent with the blessing.  According to the Scriptures, the only way to have that is to be in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Old things are passed away and you are a new creature in Christ Jesus.  Right now we have it by faith, but until we attain it we are under tutors and governors, like it or not. 

A lot of people don’t like to be told the word NO. There are examples in the Bible where God just flat said, “NO.”  2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen. . . .”  However, if we are not yet IN Christ Jesus, we have to learn what the word NO means.  God may tell you LATER, but NO is NO.  I dislike dealing with some people, because when you tell them no, they get all contorted.  They came expecting to hear the word YES. 

God did not call me to be a YES man.  I am called to be a servant of the most high God, and to tell you the truth even if many times it may be NO.  As I remember, with my children and in my own childhood, I heard the word no more than the word yes. 

We have a cat at home that gets into all kinds of trouble.  I might use her as an example.  If that cat could talk in the English language, and you asked what her name really was, she would probably say, NO KITTY, or BAD KITTY! 

If God never said NO as He instructs us, we’d probably already be dead and in hell.  We always look for a yes, but sometimes the answer is no.  It might be a yes later, but for now, it is no.  How we react to NO is very important!  It might determine if we ever get a yes.

In the Word of God there were greatly anointed men and women who were told NO definitely and in a humiliating way.  They had a choice of obedience or pouting and not listening to what God had to say any more.  We also have wicked examples like Ahab who rebelled when he heard the word NO. 

If you are a servant, God will tell you to go here or there, but NOT over yonder.  He will say that you can have this or that but NOT the other thing, and He doesn’t want you to question Him any more about it.  There may be a time He will say YES concerning other things, or the answer may NEVER be yes.  Some things to a Christian are forever a NO. 

If you ask God if you can have a little bit of sin to take with you on the way to heaven, God will say NO, and it will never change.  God says you must be without sin.  We have to progress to that point, and we can if we will press in to God.  There is no place in the Bible that says you can sin as a child of God, wait till the trumpet sounds, and all the sins and the devils fall off, and you can go on and be with Jesus.  We have to be cleaned up now if we expect God to call us up there then.

God desires us to be without sin.  Not everybody is sanctified and ready for heaven, but we must have an example of holiness without which no man shall see the Lord (see Hebrews 12:14).  Otherwise we cease to be a church and leaders for the Lord, and we don’t have an example of what it means to be a servant.

Sometimes the answer is NO.  Sometimes it may be WAIT, but NO for the time being.  I’m not talking to you about the promises of God in so much as I’m talking about the privileges of God.  A servant is directed where to go by tutors and governors.  A governor will say, This high and no higher, this place and no further, touch not the unclean thing, and don’t ever touch it again. How we react to NO shows us and the Lord what kind of servant we really are.

Moses had a discussion with the Lord.  Deuteronomy 3:23-25 says, “And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?  I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.”

Verse 26 says, “But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.” 

That was a definite NO to Moses!  In other words (I’m paraphrasing here) God was telling him:  You are not going over into the promised land, because you smote the rock instead of speaking to the rock.  You disobeyed me in front of the people.  I was not sanctified.  You did not show yourself a servant in that hour, and you are not going over. 

I believe he had petitioned the Lord much about it, because the Lord said, “. . . speak no more unto me of this matter.”  I believe God got angry.  He already told him NO.  Your kids may nag you, But Mommy, But Daddy, but this or that, and they try to wear you down, but you can’t wear God down!  If you try to wear God down, He will wear you out! 

The wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience, and that is not always worldly people.  Children of God are sometimes so spoiled that when God tells them NO they get so mad they can hardly see straight.  They say that answer can’t be of the Lord! 

People have come and asked me what the Lord says about certain things.  I told them according to the Scriptures that I did not believe the Lord would have them do the thing.  They get mad at ME.  I didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear.  I have to tell people what God says, and sometimes the answer is NO. 

God told Moses he wasn’t going in.  He could look over and see it from a distance, but he couldn’t go in, because of his sin and disobedience.  Moses died on the mount.

A good servant doesn’t throw up his hands and quit every time he is told there is something he can’t do or have.  Moses did not cease to serve God.  He knew what the Lord said.  Moses’ thoughts and the Lord’s thoughts at that particular time didn’t agree, but God told him NO, and that was it. 

People desire to hold on to some things and yet serve the Lord, but God has been telling them in one fashion or another, NO.  Some say, I just don’t know if I want to hear that, and they continually resist God.  After a while they will cease from hearing! 

If your ears are tuned only to a YES and never to a NO, you will hear a lot of things from the devil.  He will never tell you no.  He will always make a deal and compromise with you.  God won’t do that.  God has mercy, longsuffering, and grace, and He will reason with you.  However, there are times His answer is a definite NO, and that is it! 

People have asked me about relationships.  In one case a young woman wanted to date a certain young man, but God said NO, because he was a sinner.  She said she really had a heartfelt love for him.  However, when he starts acting like the devil, and she backslides into the ways of the world, she will find out that wasn’t love.  God knows the difference between love and lust, and your own desire and the perfect will of God.  If you really want to know the truth from the Lord, He will tell you, but don’t be surprised if sometimes the answer is NO. 

We need to learn to receive the answer NO with grace and say, Yes, Lord, whatever you say.  Sometimes children act up, and an adult has to discipline them.  Do you remember as a child, when you got mad, and your hair stood up in the back, and you wrestled with the idea of whether or not to spout off to even the score a little? 

If God tells you NO, you’d best say, Yes, Lord, and drop your head and be still.  When you start kicking, you will end up in unbelief and despair, because God gets angry with that.  We have to learn to be a servant and remain a servant until the time appointed of the Father.  Jesus never one time turned His back on the things of God.

Remember that David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.  Her husband was one of David’s valiant men, whom David caused to be killed.  Bathsheba and David had a child, but then Nathan, the prophet, came to David and told him a hard thing!  In 2 Samuel 12:14 Nathan said, “Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.” 

2 Samuel 12:15 says, “And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.”  God is no respecter of persons.  Verse 16-19 says, “David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.  And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?  But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.”

This is a hard thing.  Verse 20-21 says, “Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.  Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.”  This seemed backwards to the servants!

 2 Samuel 12:22-23 says, “And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?  But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

We find in Verse 25 that David sent for Nathan the prophet.  He didn’t quit listening to this man of God who told him his son was going to die. 

The fasting and prayer was to try to overcome the NO that God had given.  David thought he could change God’s mind, but it didn’t work; he wasted his time.  There comes a time when God says NO, and it is a definite NO. 

How did David react?  Did he act like a spoiled brat or a man in great mourning and melancholy?  Did he shake his fist at God?  He did none of these.  The Bible says he arose, and washed, and anointed himself.  He went and worshipped God. 

David got himself back in order as a king so he could rule the people again.  He also continued to seek unto Nathan the prophet, so he could hear from the Lord.  He didn’t shut his ear to the Lord.  The next word from the Lord was that God loved Solomon, who was the next son of Bathsheba and David.  David had a great YES coming, but the NO stood firm until David behaved himself wisely and turned around and continued to seek the Lord. 

There are many men and women who are staying in a marriage as long as the other half says yes to what they want.  When they are told no, or something is withheld, they want out.  Especially when one of them turns their life over to Jesus Christ, then you have a split household.  Christ wants to work in that house, and somebody has to take a stand for God.  Some people will be deprived of things that are rightfully theirs in a marriage, just because they serve the Lord.  The answer will be no until the Lord takes full control of your life and their life. 

Part of being a servant is saying, Amen.  Thy will be done, Lord, even if we don’t like it, and it grieves us to our very soul!  There is a purpose, and God knows His business.  We need to trust the Lord with all our hearts.  If we are a servant of God, we have to trust God.  This is an awesome example of trusting the Lord, even though David got the answer he didn’t want to hear.

2 Corinthians 12:7 says, “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”  The things Paul experienced when he went to heaven and back to earth by translation were awesome.  Some of those things were not lawful to be uttered in this realm. 

Paul could have bragged.  God knew his nature and the possible pitfalls.  If he had backslid one iota, he would have immediately lost everything with God.  Therefore, God sent a messenger of Satan to keep him from being exalted above measure. 

2 Corinthians 12:8 says, “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.”  He got an answer from the Lord.  Verse 9 says, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

God told Paul NO.  Was it a longstanding definite NO?  We don’t know.  What did Paul do?  He continued to go on with the Lord, even though he was being governed and tutored.  He was being dealt with.  He was continuously in the position of a servant even though he was coming up into lordship.  He was continually dealt with in a humbling fashion. 

Many times the Lord has told me NO.  The Lord has told me to do some things I did not want to do.  The people I did them for absolutely did not deserve it.  However, God reminded me that I didn’t deserve to have Him die for me at Calvary, but He did it anyway.  If Jesus had told God NO and refused the answer of God for our salvation, where would we be? 

Jesus prayed in Matthew 26:39, “. . . O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”  Even Jesus became subject to the Father every whit.  Jesus knew what the answer NO meant. 

God isn’t going to tell you no on everything, but you must bend the knee to Jesus if He happens to tell you no, or not yet, or this far and no further.  It is part of being a servant.  You should not kick against the pricks, but go on into the greatness of God as you learn to yield to Him. 

Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”  Verse 7 says, “But made himself of no reputation. . . .”  Folks, if we are going to be a true servant just like Jesus, we have to become of no reputation.  A man of reputation is one who can’t be told no, a man who says what he wants, and who gets what he wants.  He will use devices till he gets the yes he wants. 

If a person can’t get something, they will try to find a way to get it.  We are good at it.  We are innovative, but that doesn’t work against the Word of the Lord.  We have to learn to be a servant of God.

The last of Verse 7 says that Jesus, “. . . took upon him the form of a servant. . . .”  Jesus took the form of a man and of a servant, not a king.  He was a King, but He didn’t come to us that way.  He came as a servant, that he might be anointed King.  This is what it takes for us to go on to lordship with our Lord.  We have to take on the same humble servant attitude and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. 

If God says WAIT, we will wait.  If He says NO, we will abide by it.  If He says YES, we will rejoice.  Thank God, He still talks to us today.  I would rather hear God say no to me than to hear the devil tell me yes all day long.  I want to hear from the Lord, and He is not going to destroy me with a no!

Psalm 84:11 says, “. . . no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”  If He tells you no, there is something about it that wouldn’t do you good.  There is a lot of junk food, and some of it tastes better than what we call real food, but it is not good for you.  It tastes good, but it is not healthy.  Sometimes we have got to abstain.  We have to be disciplined and yield over to the Lord and say, Yes, Lord.  Thy will be done, not mine. 

I have a plan on how God could evangelize the world.  I have a plan how God can cast out devils, heal the sick, and raise the dead.  I would like to follow that plan, but I found out my thoughts are not His thoughts.  My way of getting there is not the way He would have me get there. 

If I see signs, wonders, and miracles at my hands and my words, and find out later that it is not of the Lord, I am not working out salvation; I am working iniquity!  Jesus would tell me on judgment day to depart from Him.  Matthew 7:23 says, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” 

Luke 13:27 says, “But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.”  In other words, that was a consistently disobedient servant that did not know how to take no for an answer.  Sometimes the answer is no.  We have to come on and believe God.

This is a commandment and gives instruction on being a servant of the most high God.  1 Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God. . . .”  How do you do that?  You do what the Word of God tells you to do, and you listen to God’s Spirit as He instructs you in the way of the Lord.  I have power to disobey God.  I have power to lay my life down and be like Jesus, and I have power to take it up again and save my life, but I’ll lose the life of Christ in my soul. 

Until the time appointed of the Father, I will be under tutors and governors whether I like it or not.  I’ve had teachers in school that I did not like.  I did poorly in some of their classes, and in some of them I did well.  I found out that I was defeating my own purpose.  I did not like one teacher in particular.  I didn’t want to have anything to do with him or even hear his name.  I flunked his classes, because I didn’t want to listen to him or hear his instruction.  I had a clash with his personality, but the instruction was correct. 

We have a clash of personality with God, because our thoughts are not His thoughts, nor are our ways His ways.  We had better listen to Him anyway!  Don’t get mad at God and fail the course.  Hebrews 12:1 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”

If we get a no, we should say, Hallelujah.  Lord, show us the way that we are to go, so we can be faithful servants of the Lord.  He can trust us to go this far and no further than He instructs us.  Also, we will go all the way when He tells us to.   That is what it takes to be a servant of God. 

We humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and 1 Peter 5:6 finishes by saying, “. . . that he may exalt you in due time:”  That sounds like Galatians 4:2 – “But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.” 

Every anointed person in the Bible was a servant from beginning to end.  The world’s heroes are just the opposite.  They are servant to no man, they are very self-centered, and they are very self sufficient.  However, Jesus became a servant, so who are we? 

In an emergency situation, you could not walk up to some people and get them to do something quickly!  They would just look at you and ask you why!  It would be too late to help the situation by the time you got done explaining to them why it needed to be done. 

When God tells us to do something, do we stand around with our hands in our pockets and ask why or why me?  Many times we are not in instant in season and out of season (see 2 Timothy 4:2).  We don’t behave as servants, but as spoiled brats at times.  We need to understand what it means to be a servant, so we can be like Jesus.

Joseph knew how to be a servant, and he also knew how to be a slave.  He chose to yield over to the will of the Lord, not fully understanding why he had to go through some things.  That is what a servant does. 

Psalm 105:17-10 says, “He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:  Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:  Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.”  Then it talks about Pharaoh in Verse 20, “The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.” 

We see this as Jesus loosing us after being a servant for a given period of time.  Verse 21-22 says, “He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:  To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.”

Joseph was sold as a slave, but he came out second only to Pharaoh!  We are bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus.  We are not our own, so we need to understand what YES and NO mean, and graciously take it and say, Lord, I bow to your will.  That is what it takes to go into the fullness of Christ, because Jesus also bowed to the will of God. 

CONTACT INFORMATION:

PASTOR KEVIN BADGLEY

LIVING HOPE FELLOWSHIP, P. O. BOX 111, GRAND CHAIN, IL  62941

CHURCH / FAX (618) 634-2541

E-mail  livinghope@hughes.net

www.livinghopefellowshipchurch.org

These condensed Bible studies have been published to help new Christians in their new walk with the Lord.  Kevin Badgley, the author, is the pastor of Living Hope Fellowship Church.

This is a Living Hope Fellowship publication.