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WHY WON'T PEOPLE DO RIGHT? “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mat. 6:33) From a strict doctrinal standpoint, Jesus was preaching the gospel of the kingdom to first century Israel, and he was emphasizing in this message (called the Sermon on the Mount) that they were not at all ready for the kingdom. This verse is right in the middle of the message, which is appropriate, because it sums up the whole point of the message: DO RIGHT! From the heart, become the kind of person who WANTS to do right all the time. Only then would lost Israel see their true condition and their need for a Saviour.As for you and I today, there is an IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS that God gives to every believer once they receive Christ as Saviour (Rom. 4:5), but here the Lord is talking about the practical righteousness which has always been God’s standard for His people. God has never accepted sin as a normal way of life for his people. In fact, the entire Sermon on the Mount is about DOING RIGHT and living up to God’s righteous standard. Back in verses 22 and 23, Jesus reminded us of the righteous standard by saying, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” Read that again, please, because he said that you’re either SINGLE or you’re EVIL. The eye is the eye of the heart that is either focused on God and his righteous standard, or it’s distracted and therefore evil.The words “righteous” and “righteousness” are found over 500 times in the Bible, and the word “right” is used as a moral principle at least another 50 times. So doing RIGHT and being RIGHT is a big deal to God. Exodus 15:26 says to “. . . hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight . . .” Deuteronomy 6:18 says, “And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee . . .” Ezekiel 18:21 says, “But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.” Ezekiel 33:14-16 says, “Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.” Clearly, God has a RIGHTEOUS STANDARD, and He has commanded all men to respect it and obey it. Look at Proverbs 3:1-6, where we are reminded to keep a laser focus on God’s holy standard: “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” He’s saying to STAY FOCUSED ON THE RIGHTEOUS STANDARD and not to allow anything or anyone to move you.The world says, “What’s the popular thing, the easiest thing, the most convenient thing, or maybe the most profitable thing?” but the serious Christian looks straight at God and asks, “What's the RIGHT thing? What does God’s FIXED STANDARD say?” Look at Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” That’s the standard. That’s the RIGHTEOUS STANDARD that tells us if a thing is right or wrong, and God says to keep a laser focus on that standard until you take your final breath. It's much like time. There's one RIGHT time, and there are many wrong times. When someone says they are late because they "lost track of time," they are being dishonest. They REJECTED true time by allowing other things to take priority. They could have looked at their watch, their phone, their numerous clocks, and they could have even asked someone for the time, but somehow they managed to do none of that. They purposely REJECTED time, so they are late. Likewise, people reject God's righteous standard, so they make wrong choices. Simple as that. That’s why you read in Kings and Chronicles about the kings doing “that which was right” or “that which was evil” over and over again. God is TAKING NOTES on how we live and whether we have a SINGLE eye or maybe an EVIL eye due to something or someone distracting us.Now, why won’t people just DO RIGHT? Why are people are easily distracted and moved from God’s righteous standard? I’ll give you five quick points . . .I. EVIL HEARTSSome people are just sin-loving rebels, and they have no desire to please God at all. Most people aren’t like that, but some are, so they don’t even try. You can observe this in many ways, but I think our street preaching is a very good way to see it. We go out there and hold up our signs, and when I see a window down I usually quote some scripture and peach a bit. Then we get all kinds of reactions. Most folks just try to ignore us. They don’t oppose us or encourage us; they just drive on by. Others want to offer encouragement with a thumbs up, an “amen” and maybe a favorable honk or two on the car horn. But then there are those who rev their engines, squawl their tires, yell obscenities, call names, and sometimes even flash obscene gestures. What’s their problem? They’re evil! Plain and simple. Never once in my life have I had a desire to show any level of disrespect or opposition to God’s people doing God’s work, and not many people do. I work with people who aren’t right with God, but they aren’t evil and hateful either. But some people are, and that’s the only explanation for their way of life. They just have evil hearts. That’s why we have jails and prisons and the death penalty. II. SOCIAL PRESSURESSome people probably want to do right, but they’re just too social. Their friends and family and the world around them carries too much weight and influence for them to resist. Jesus said to be SINGLE focused, but social pressures tell them that that amounts to being “narrow-minded” and even “hateful,” so they back away from God’s standard and make a little comfort zone nest for themselves where they pretend to serve God AND man also. Jesus said this is EVIL, and he even said that he will spew them out of his mouth in Revelation 3. Joshua told people like this that “Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” (Jsh. 24:19) They argued with him and insisted that they were right with God, but he knew better and told them so. Giving in to social pressures amounts to friendship with the world, which is ENMITY with God (James 4:4), not fellowship with God. Far too many people are just kidding themselves and are headed for a rude awakening.III. PERSONAL FEELINGSHebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” If I am diligently seeking him, then I have my eye on the righteous standard, not on anything else, and that standard is the word of God, from which our faith must come (Rom. 10:17). That’s why we say that the proper order is FACT, then FAITH, then FEELING. The facts are God’s words, the standard. When we really believe God’s word, we act on it by adjusting our lives accordingly. That’s faith. Not “blind” faith, like the world talks about, but faith in God’s established standard of righteousness. Once we exercise faith in God’s standard, as opposed to any other standard, we begin to grow accustomed to a feeling of peace and joy, knowing that God is pleased with us (Rom. 14:17). That’s God’s order, and that’s what righteous people experience day to day as they live for God.But instead of waiting on God, some people just ignore God’s standard and follow their own feelings instead. A good laser focus on “Thou shalt not kill” could have kept that Clancy woman from killing her children, but she gave in to her feelings and ignored God’s righteous standard. Millions of woman go through post-partum depression without committing any crime, because they OVERCOME their feelings, just like people overcome their feelings and go to work Monday mornings, or maybe submit to a wellness physical at the doctor’s office or some necessary repairs or cleaning around the house. Feelings must always be put in their place and overcome with facts.As Luther so rightfully said, Feelings come, and feelings go, and feelings are deceiving; My warrant is the word of God; nought else is worth believing.Some people have a big problem with that, so they keep doing wrong instead of right. Simple of that.IV. INNER BITTERNESSAt some point in their lives, they became bitter with God or with God’s people, so now they’re living in rebellion against God. They refuse to respect his righteous standard, and they often quit reading the Bible or even attending church. They’re angry with God, and they want their lives to show it.I suspect that some aren’t as angry with God as they claim. That’s just their convenient excuse. Whatever the case, THEY’RE GOING TO BE SORRY. He’s still God, He’s still right, and you still have to answer to Him in the day of judgment. As Isaiah says, “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!” (Isa. 45:9) You can’t win! You’re only hurting yourself; so why not repent and enjoy a fresh new start in righteousness? V. WILFUL IGNORANCEAll ignorance is sinful, which is why Leviticus required sacrifice even for sins of ignorance, but most ignorance is willful ignorance. People don’t know because they don’t want to know. They feel that that gives them an excuse, so they choose to remain ignorant so they can say, “I didn’t know” countless times throughout their lives. II Peter 3:5 says they “willingly are ignorant.” That’s a choice. That’s a choice to not be single-eyed on God’s righteous standard, but rather to be distracted from the righteous standard into the realm of ignorance. It’s the land of willful ignorance, and most people live there most of the time.Why won’t people do right? They won’t do right because they refuse to remain focused on God’s standard. It’s not enough to say that they get their eyes off God. No, they get their eyes off God by getting their eyes off God’s word, God’s holy and preserved standard of righteousness. If you want to do right, respect and obey the standard. If you want to reach your destination, follow the map. If you want to arrive there on time, follow the clock. If you want to do right before God, follow His righteous standard, the 700,000 words of absolute truth that he gave to each one of us.Think of it this way: God’s time is always 8:20, as in Isaiah 8:20. Respect that and follow it faithfully with a laser focus, and you’ll always do the right thing. It’s not easy, but it is simple, at least until we allow the devil to confuse everything. Jesus said to not do that, but to be SINGLE focused instead of evil. You can do right, if that’s really your heart’s desire. Never allow anyone to tell you otherwise.