And so God is merciful to us, He is loving unto us and He really gives us a lot of leeway
especially when we sin through ignorance.
But there's one thing that God doesn't put up with and that's despising His word.
And despising His word is defined as hearing the commandment and saying I'm not doing it.
That's what the Bible, He said you've despised my word.
When you hear the commandment and you learn what is right and you say well okay that's
what the Bible says but I'm not doing it.
Be prepared to be destroyed without remedy.
That's what the Bible is teaching here.
And this is a New Testament teaching in Hebrews 10.
Flip over if you would to Hebrews 10 and we'll finish up over in Hebrews chapter 10.
Defying the Lord is what I'm talking about tonight.
Defying His word, defying legitimate God given authority, defying the commandments of God.
And look, the Bible says if we sin willfully, look down if you would at verse number 26,
for if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth.
Now what does He mean there after we've received the knowledge of the truth?
He's not just talking about being saved.
When He says after we've received the knowledge of the truth it's when we know that something's
wrong and then we do it anyway.
Because there are a lot of things that we've done in our life we didn't even know they
were wrong.
You know and as you read the Bible you find stuff where you're like wow I didn't even
know that was a sin.
Because you're not always taught growing up.
And I guarantee you that there are a lot of ladies who grew up in a church that didn't
preach the whole word of God that have been dressing in a sinful way their whole lives
and just didn't even know what the Bible taught about clothing.
They didn't even, you know, the Bible told the church at Laodicea you don't even know
that you're naked.
He said, He said, thou knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind
and naked.
It's not that you're naked.
There are people today walking around naked and they don't even know it.
Because what the Bible teaches is nakedness is from your loins to your thighs.
And so if you have, you know, women out there, or men for that matter, you know, God forbid
men in short shorts help us all.
You know they wear these little with the three stripes on the side or whatever.
I hope those never come back into style.
But you know, when you're out there in the short skirt and the shorts and they don't
even realize that they're naked.
But God defines that as nakedness.
God doesn't look at you in a string bikini and say that you're clothed.
God doesn't look at you in a bathing suit and think that you're clothed.
That's not what God considers clothing.
God said your loins and your thighs should be covered.
That's what the Bible teaches.
And so if you're going to go out in your colored underwear, you know, and you wouldn't come
to church in your underwear.
Would you come to church in your underwear?
No.
Would you go to the store in your underwear?
Just walk into Walmart at two, well maybe you would do that.
But anyway, you know, walk into Walmart at two a.m. in your underwear or what?
No, you wouldn't do that.
So why does digging a hole in the ground, filling it with water, and instead of white
it becomes a color and then all of a sudden it's not underwear anymore.
All of a sudden it's clothes.
It's a bathing suit.
You know, God forbid that men would ever wear, if you go to Germany, which is, you know,
unfortunately Germany is a pretty heathen place.
You know, they need the word of God over there.
But you know, you go to Germany and all the men are wearing Speedos.
Go to the, well you don't want to know what it is.
It's like what women wear, except men are wearing it on the bottom.
Okay, does that help?
You go to the, ask my wife, you go to the beach, you go to the pool in Germany and it's
all men.
They're all in Speedos.
It's bizarre.
I mean thankfully our culture still thinks that that's a little weird.
Right?
I mean please tell me that I'm right.
Don't they?
I mean if a dude shows up in a Speedo, everybody's like what in the world, you know.
At least today, at least today most men wear like knee length shorts when they go swimming.
Thank God.
But over there it's just a Speedo.
But you know what?
It's obscene whether it's on male or female.
Okay, it is not acceptable.
But our society says it's fine.
Now don't you think it'd be possible for a girl to grow up in a Christian home and be
taught oh just wear the one piece bathing suit and it's still totally exposed of her
thigh.
Don't you think it'd be possible for a girl to grow up in a Christian home and love the
Lord and love Jesus and be going out and wearing that stuff and never even been told that it's
wrong or never even thought that it's wrong?
Don't you think?
I mean you see Christian girls all the time and even Christian teenage girls wearing shorts
and wearing bathing suits and wearing short skirts and the thought's not even crossing
their mind that it's wrong because they're being told oh as long as it's fingertip length
it's modest.
And unless you're an orangutan, it's not a modest.
Fingertip length is not modest unless you are like a knuckle dragging, you know, Neanderthal.
So the bottom line is that people sin through ignorance.
I just think that's a good example of sinning through ignorance, right?
They've just never read that scripture, never thought it through, and they're dressed that
way.
It's not that they're just, I mean do you think that every girl who's dressed that way
just defies the Lord and despises the Lord?
No.
A lot of them just haven't been taught because it's not being preached and it's not being
taught.
And they grew up in a home where the stands were relaxed.
Other things that people just grow up and do and take for granted and don't even think
about it, you know, whether it's drinking, whatever the case, they don't even know it's
wrong.
So there's a lot of sinning that can just take place through ignorance.
A lot of people have never been taught that covetousness is wrong, even though it's in
the Ten Commandments, thou shall not covet.
When you explain to them what covetousness is, they're like that's wrong, really?
That's a sin?
They've been doing it their whole life and didn't even think about it.
God is going to be more gracious with that when you just don't know better.
And look, new believers, when people just got saved, they don't know much about the
Bible.
They're brand new babes in Christ.
They're going to make all kinds of mistakes.
They're going to be committing all kinds of sins.
Not because they just don't care, but because they just haven't learned yet.
They just haven't grown.
They just don't know the truth.
So that's why we should be gracious and patient with people as they're learning and not just
come down on them.
But let me tell you something.
When you have read it in the Bible and the light bulb comes on and you say, oh, wow,
that's wrong.
Or you're in church and you hear a sermon that nails you and you hear the word of God
and the scriptures are turned to and you say, wow, this is wrong.
This is a sin.
I shouldn't be doing this.
You know, at that point, if you continue to do it, it becomes a major sin.