Amen, so we're there in Proverbs chapter 3, and you know, I wanted to preach a sermon
tonight called The Cost of Disobedience, The Cost of Disobedience.
And what's great about the Bible, and I know I've kind of mentioned this before in another
sermon is that, I mean the Bible has so many just profound truths in it, so many things
in it that just amaze us, I mean the prophecy and just all the miracles that are in it,
it's just a profound book, but it also is such a practical book.
It's a book that really can get down to the nuts and bolts of life and really teach us
how we ought to live our life.
It gives us a pattern on how to live, and really, you know, if we follow the pattern
that the Bible lays out for us to live, it benefits us.
If you look there in Proverbs chapter 3 verse 1, it says, 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.
So those are all great things, length of days and long life and peace.
Those are all things that any normal human being would desire, anyone that has any sense
would desire to live a long, peaceful life.
And that's what the Bible here is saying it can give you, that if you will not forget
its law, and if your heart will keep its commandments, that that's exactly what you'll have.
You'll have length of days, you'll have long life, and you will have peace.
These things will be added to you.
Which, you know, tells us just logically that if you forget his law, and if you refuse to
keep his commandments, that you won't have those things.
That you will, basically this, that ignoring God's word comes at a price.
It's not that we just get to ignore God's word and nothing happens.
You know, maybe we don't live a blessed life.
You're actually going to lose out on a lot of things when we refuse to follow the pattern
that God gives us.
We will suffer the cost of that disobedience.
So again, God's word is just very practical, and it teaches us how to conduct our life,
and it teaches us how to conduct our life in all areas of life.
I mean, I challenge you to think of an area of your life that the Bible does not address.
Some role that you play in life, whatever it might be, that the Bible does not specifically
address.
You'd be hard-pressed to find it.
In fact, I don't know that there is one.
I mean, in every stage of life that we're in, the Bible addresses it.
If you would, turn over to Ephesians chapter 6, and keep something in Proverbs, I'm sorry
if you've already turned, but keep something in Proverbs 3, and get over to Ephesians 6,
and you probably want to keep a finger in Ephesians 6 for a little while, because we're
going to go back and forth between Ephesians 6 and Colossians 3 for a little bit here.
But God's word is very practical.
It's something that we can learn a great deal about every area of life that we go through.
Ephesians says, beginning with children, even when we're going through life as a child,
look here in Ephesians 6, verse 1, the Bible says, Children, obey your parents to the Lord.
Now what I really like about that verse is that it's addressed to children.
I mean, I often will remind my children of that, that the Bible is written to you, even
to children.
Paul said that his epistles were to be read in all the church.
So they're to be read in all the church, and he's addressing the children directly.
That means the children have to be with them in the church.
You know, and this is kind of a side note, but that's why we're family integrated.
I believe the Bible teaches a family integrated church.
But he says there are children, obey your parents.
So we see that the Bible is so practical, in fact, that it'll even address children.
Children obey your parents to the Lord, for this is right.
Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may
be well with thee, and that thou may liveth long on the earth.
So again, a promise from God, that if you will not forget his law, but if your heart
will keep his commandments, and if you'll do the things that he commands you, such as
honoring your parents, that you will have a long life on the earth.
You know, you want to live a long, happy, healthy life, you know, it's going to take
more than just diet and exercise.
You know, you're actually going to have to obey and keep the commandments of God.
Look at Colossians chapter 3, again, keep something in Ephesians, but go over to Colossians
chapter 3, where again, the Bible just addresses every area of life that you can think of.
And it says in Colossians chapter 3 verse 20, children, obey your parents in all things,
for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
You know, that's good advice for children, to say, well, why should I obey my parents?
I don't like their rules.
Well, because it's well pleasing unto the Lord.
You know, it might not just be to please you for your own benefit, maybe that's not enough
to motivate you to obey your parents, you know, maybe making them happy isn't enough
in order to motivate you to obey your parents.
But it says right there that if you will obey your parents in all things, that it is
well pleasing unto God, unto the Lord.
So that's a really strong motivation for children to obey and honor their parents.
So again, that's just one area of life that the Bible addresses directly in such a practical
manner for us in all areas, it also addresses the parents as well.
You're there in Colossians, look at verse 21, chapter 3 verse 21, fathers, provoke not
your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
You know, what's that talking about?
I believe that's talking about having unreasonable expectations for your children.
I'm not saying we shouldn't have any standards or goals or have a bar that we hold for our
children of acceptable and unacceptable behavior, but we should also be reasonable about it.
We should also as parents make sure that we're not going overboard with it and provoking
them to anger, putting it out there to almost this unattainable goal of perfection for our
children where they'll never attain unto it and we'll always be disappointed in them and
thereby provoke them to anger and discourage them.
So the Bible even addresses parents, addresses children, you're there in Ephesians, look
at chapter 6 verse 4, and he says, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, and it's
repeating these same commands over and over, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord.
You know, there is a way to raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Teaching the Bible, teaching them who God is, teaching them what God expects of us,
how to live pleasing unto the Lord, and all of that that comes with it.
It's really not the focus of the sermon, but it's just showing us again that the Bible
is addressing us as children, it addresses us as parents, and not only that, it addresses
us as even as spouses, as married people.
If you look at Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22, wives, submit unto your own husbands.
Uh oh, that's not a popular message today, is it?
Boy, that gets you run out of some churches.
Just get up and suggest that a wife should obey her husband, that she should submit unto
her own husband, as unto the Lord.
That's not a light statement.
That's not just, you know, however you see fit, obey your husband, submit to your husband.
As you would unto God, as you would unto the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he
is the savior of the body.
Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands
and everything.
How submitted should a wife be to her husband, as much as the church is unto Christ?
I mean, there's no compromise there, that is a very strong degree of submission.
I mean, how submitted should we as a church be to the word of God?
I say in every area.
There's no area that we should say, well, I know that's what the Bible says, but we're
going to take a little bit of leeway here, we're going to have a little bit of elbow
room.
No, the Bible's saying that's how submitted a wife should be to her husband.
It says, I'll read to you from Colossians chapter 3, where it says, wives, submit unto
your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord, and it addresses the husbands as well.
It says in verse 19, husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them.
So again, the Bible is addressing us as children, the Bible is addressing us as parents, the
Bible is addressing and commanding and directing us as spouses, as husbands, as wives, and
even as employees, even as people who would work for another individual.
Look at Ephesians chapter 6, Ephesians chapter 6 verse 5, servants, be obedient unto them
that are your masters, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling and singleness of
heart as unto Christ.
I mean, the Bible's thinking that we should go and have such a fear of our own employers
that it would be with fear and trembling and singleness of heart.
I mean, do we do that when we go to work?
I mean, that's what the Bible's telling us to do, but today, you'll have a lot of employees
that go back and just blow off their mouth and just talk back to the boss or lie to the
boss and not submit to the boss.
You know, that's a good way to get fired.
That's a good way to not succeed as an employee.
And there's a lot that we could talk about there.
I mean, that's really a message that needs to be preached in and of itself.
It goes on in verse 6, it says, not with eye service as men pleasers, you know, not just
when the boss is looking, not just when you know he's going to notice and make him happy,
but at all times, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with
good will, doing service as to the Lord and not to men.
You know, you've got a bad boss, you've got a boss that you don't like, well, just remember
that you should be doing it unto the Lord anyway, and, you know, the Lord will reward
you.
The Bible says that in all labor, there is profit.
I don't care how crummy your job is, I don't care how dead-end a job it is, if you will
do it as unto the Lord, you will profit.
You know, maybe not monetarily, maybe your billfold isn't going to swell working some
dead-end job, but I guarantee you that if you work on the Lord, you will learn lessons
on that job that will help you down the road and will make you a better employee.
Look at verse 8, it says, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he
receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
It addresses servants again in Colossians chapter 3 verse 22, servants obey in all things
your masters according to the flesh, not with thy service as men pleasers, it's the
same commandment again, but in singleness of heart, fearing God, and whatsoever ye do,
do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive
the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ.
So again, another area, I mean, these are the major areas of life.
I mean, maybe you could say, well, the Bible doesn't address me as this specific type of
employee, but I mean, it's teaching you how to work no matter what your job is.
I mean, I challenge you to find another area in life that the Bible does not address.
Well, what about employers?
The Bible addresses them too.
It says in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 9, any masters do the same things unto them for bearing
threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither is the respect of persons
with him.
You know, employers should be, make sure that they're treating their employees correctly,
that they're doing right by them as well.
So really, you know, it addresses parents, it addresses children, it addresses married
people, it addresses employees, it addresses employers, and it also addresses the single
person.
The Bible, there's a lot of things that the Bible addresses to the single person.
Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 7, 1 Corinthians chapter 7.
The Bible would tell the single person to flee fornication.
I mean, if there's one message that comes up over and over again to the single person,
it's to flee fornication and to stay away from it because it can become such a strong
temptation, it becomes such a strong desire for a person who is single.
The Bible says there in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, look at verse 1, now concerning the things
whereof he wrote unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman, nevertheless to
avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own
husband.
Now, the Bible is saying that it's better to get married, that you should have your
own wife and you should have your own husband, respectively, but until that time comes, the
Bible does a very clear command here that it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
What does that mean exactly?
I believe that means that it's good for a man not to touch a woman, and it says nevertheless
to avoid fornication.
Now, I believe when it's saying not to touch a woman, it literally means not to touch them,
I mean that literal.
They say, well, no, it's alluding to fornication meaning.
Does the Bible really need to tell us it's not good to not fornicate?
No.
I mean, is that what it means there by touch?
Because the Bible says up here, you know, condense fornication.
So we really don't, you know, throughout the pages of scripture, we don't have to sit here
and wonder what it means when it says it's good for a man not to fornicate.
Well, of course, we already know that.
The Bible is very clear here by saying it is good not to touch a woman.
You know, and there's some, you know, people have different interpretation.
That's my opinion.
That's what I believe about this passage.
You know, that's why I didn't touch my wife until the night we got married.
And it was a thrill.
I tell you, I got married, you know, and we had our first kiss at the altar and we walked
out the car and I remember just holding her hand in the car and thinking, wow, what a
thrill.
You know, well, that's that's kind of weird.
That's kind of you're some kind of old fuddy duddy.
Well, you know what?
That was I enjoyed it.
I thought that was great.
You know, I didn't have to have this great overblown wedding just so I could feel special
because we've been had our hands all over each other for years.
You know, and I don't understand that people didn't always grow up understanding this that
people unfortunately, you know, didn't have this teaching always in their life.
And maybe I've made that mistake.
But I'm telling you what, from the standard that I have for my children, I want them to
experience that same thrill that we had, and they're going to be pure on their wedding
day.
That is my goal.
All right.
And part of that making sure that my son goes to the altar just as pure as my daughter's
I'm gonna teach him, it is good not to touch a woman until you get married.
And you know, this is something I think that needs to be preached because lately I've seen
a lot of unmarried people or people who are engaged or girlfriend and you would think
they were married.
You would think they were married by the way they just have their hands all over each other.
You know, and I understand again, my opinion, this is what I think this is how I feel about
it.
But since we're on the subject, I'm gonna tell you how I feel about it.
When people are coming in, even into God's house, into God's church, just hands all over
each other.
Are they married?
Because they sure look like them.
The way, you know, and you look around, you don't even see married couples croaking each
other like some people are.
You know, I understand you're excited about getting married, but can you just keep your
hands to yourselves for a little bit longer?
At least in a house of God when you're in front of other people's children, you know,
I don't think that's too much to ask that people would keep their hands to themselves.
It just makes you wonder.
If you're willing to do that in front of God and everybody else, to just sit there and
have your hands all over each other, what are you doing when nobody's looking, right?
That's what makes me think, makes me wonder.
The Bible says that we should avoid the mere appearance of evil.
Because here's the thing, you know, think well it's just touching, what's wrong with
a little touching?
Because it leads to other things.
You know, any married couple knows that that's where things start.
That's where things build up.
And you know, once you start that physical desire for somebody, once you have that physical
relationship building with somebody like that, I'll tell you something, it'll blind
you to a lot of qualities.
It will absolutely blind you to a person's bad qualities.
Go over to Romans, excuse me, Proverbs chapter 6, Proverbs chapter 6.
The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 6, beginning in verse 23,
For the commandment is the lamp and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are
the way of light.
To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman,
bluffs not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread, and the adulteress will
hunt for the precious life.
Verse 27, Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
I mean that's how practical God of a matter, just a matter of fact that God wants you to
understand this topic of fooling around.
I mean you would say, oh I can get away with it, it's not going to affect me.
Really?
Can you take fire in your bosom and your clothes not be burned?
We all know the answer to that, and the answer is no.
Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned?
So here's the thing, when people say, well you know, it's okay if they touch and things
like that, they've got to get to know each other and get comfortable with one another.
But here's the thing about that, is that married people, they have decades to get comfortable
with one another.
I mean you're not going to have any trouble getting comfortable with one another when
you have a whole life ahead of you of being able to get comfortable with one another in
that way.
So I just think it's best to just take the Bible for what it says right there in that
passage.
And this is addressing singles, again the point of the sermon is that the Bible addresses
us in every area of life, and it addresses the singles in this regard, that it is good
for them not to touch each other, for a man not to touch a woman.
You know, and I'm just kind of going off on this a little bit because it's kind of been
bothering me a little bit, and here's the thing, I've heard, you know the world would
look at us, someone would say, you know, you shouldn't touch a woman, you shouldn't even
touch her, you shouldn't have any kind of physical relationship with her until you get
married.
And I had that when I was working out in the secular world, and I would tell guys that,
they would ask that, you know, do you have a girlfriend or this or that, and I would
tell them where I stand on that issue, and boy they would just mock you, they would just
have fun with that.
And here's one thing they always like to say, this is the dumbest thing, well I'm going
to try the milk before I buy the cow.
First of all I don't think a woman would really appreciate you, you know, making that comparison.
But you know, men aren't always the brightest, right, especially when they get on these hormonal
subjects.
Well I'm going to try the milk before I buy the cow.
Well here's the thing about that buddy, it's all milk at the end of the day, you know,
it's all milk, so you don't need to try the milk before you buy the cow.
You know, this kind of mentality that's out there, so again, the point of the sermon is
that the Bible is addressing us in every area of life.
It's addressing us as children, it's addressing us as parents, it's addressing us as married
people, it's addressing us as employees, employers, as single people.
And you know, the point of this is, is that if you ignore the guidelines that the Bible
gives, no matter what area of life it is, if you say, I know better than God, or that's
not going to apply to me, or I don't need to give heed to that, it's going to come,
that's disobedience and it's going to come at a cost, it's going to cost you, there will
be a cost to your disobedience.
Ignoring these guidelines comes with consequences, you know, go ask any teenage girl who got
knocked up, who didn't want to, you know, have anything to do with this, go ask the
guy who's paying child support to some kid he never sees, it comes with consequences.
Go ask the guy who can't hold down a job, that you know, ignoring God's word, asking
whether or not there's consequences to ignoring God's word.
There's consequences to ignoring God's word.
Go ask the parent whose heart's broken because they didn't raise their child in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord.
Ask them if there's consequences to not obeying God's word.
There's consequences, and we've got to get this through our head, we're not just going
to get away with it.
And a lot of times the consequences, often, they cannot be reversed.
There's certain mistakes that once you make in life, you're going to live with them for
the rest of your life, and it's best to just not make those mistakes, it's best to take
heed and understand what the Bible says and avoid making those mistakes because those
mistakes come with consequences that cannot be reversed.
You're there in Proverbs, turn over to Proverbs chapter 5.
Children who disregard instruction, there are going to be consequences to people, to
children especially, if they disregard the instruction that they're being taught.
It says here in Proverbs chapter 5 verse 7, Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and
depart not from the words of my mouth.
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh at the door of her house.
Lest you give thine honor unto others, and thine ears unto the cruel.
Lest strangers be filled with thy will, and thy labors be in the house of a stranger.
And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed.
And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof?
So here's an individual who hated instruction, who despised reproof, and it goes on and says,
And have not obeyed the voice of my teacher, nor inclined my ear to them that instructed
me.
There's this person who's bemoaning and bewailing their position in life, because they hated
the instruction that they refused.
They hated the instruction, they despised the reproof, and now they're suffering the
consequences.
And what is the consequences here?
Thy flesh and thy body are consumed.
He's talking about in the beginning there, thy ears being, thy ears unto the cruel, thy
honor unto others.
Strangers being filled with thy will, and thy labors, going into severe debt, getting
involved in gambling or something like that, or getting into some drug habit that's just
going to consume all of your money.
Becoming an alcoholic, becoming a drug addict, where you're just spending all of your money,
and you're spending it and all your wealth is being given unto the cruel.
Your flesh being consumed.
Whenever I think about some person who's just getting wracked with disease, going out there
and just sleeping around, hating the reproof, hating the instruction that it should be one
man, one woman for life, and not having that relationship until marriage, and going around
just sleeping around and catching some STD.
And you don't think that happens.
People just think, well, it's never going to be happening to me.
There's been people in this church that's happened to, that came in there and they slept
around one time with one girl and got HIV.
They've been here.
I've known people like that.
It's a tragedy, people, to have that happen to you at 15, 16 years old.
Why does it happen?
Because you know better than God.
Because you hate instruction.
Because you think you know better.
And those kind of consequences last a lifetime.
And you will never, ever be able to reverse it.
I mean, think about all the STDs out there that are incurable.
They cannot be cured.
Some of them can be suppressed.
When I say you contract some STD by sleeping around with somebody, and then you decide
that you're going to get your heart right with God, and now you meet some godly person
that you want to marry, you think you're going to be able to go into marriage and not tell
them about that?
And having to tell them something like that, that could very well change their mind about
marrying you.
And I wouldn't blame them.
They're incurable.
What about all the fatherless children that are out there?
They're there to stay.
They're going to have a hard time coming up.
What about all the divorced people?
Divorced people are rarely reconciled.
It doesn't happen very often.
It's a very rare thing.
I've seen it one time.
All the years that I've, all the years, the few years, the 38 years that I've been around.
I've seen it happen one time.
Maybe it's happened more than I'm aware of, but I'm sure it has, but that's not normally
what happens.
They get bitter, they get angry, and good luck getting them back together.
Wayward children who wander out of the way because we didn't instruct them as parents
because we didn't take heed to God's word and teach them these things.
And they go astray and they go to the devil.
They rarely, rarely return and come back.
They often go the far extreme of the world.
We can even apply this to entire ministries.
Ministries that start ignoring the word of God, ignoring the commands of God, putting
off the first works, the soul-winning, getting in some other worldly program.
And eventually those ministries break.
A lot of ministries that are broken, that ignore God, that despise His instructions
and how a church ought to be run, they eventually break.
They are often not repaired.
A lot of times when these things happen, it's for good, it's for life, it's permanent.
There is no coming back from it.
Because here's the thing, you know, one thing I've noticed is that people have this mentality.
People get themselves in a bind.
People get themselves in a tough position in life and then they're calling the church.
Then they're leaving the voicemail.
Then they're reaching out to a man of God and asking, what do I do?
Help me.
As if we have some magic wand, as if the Bible is just something we're just going to hold
over your head and swirl around and say abracadabra and just fix your life.
It doesn't work like that.
The Bible is not a magic wand to fix your life.
The Bible is a booklet of preventative maintenance.
It's to avoid those problems to begin with.
Because those problems are permanent.
The results of the sin that comes are permanent.
God's word is not a magic wand.
If you would, turn over to Galatians chapter 6.
I'll be reading in verse 7 where the Bible reads, Be not deceived, God is not mocked.
For whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.
That's a guarantee.
It's not a maybe.
If you sow to your flesh, you're going to reap of the flesh.
But you know that law can work for you as well.
But he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.
You can't go out and sow all your wild oats and then not experience that harvest.
You're going to have that.
You will reap what you sow.
Now that can be very discouraging to people who've been sowing a lot of bad seed, couldn't
it?
Have you been sowing a lot of bad seed in your life to find out that you're going to
reap what you sow?
That it's just God's law.
I mean it's as sure as gravity that you are going to reap that harvest.
We might find ourselves in a position in life where we say, that sounds rough.
And you know what?
Honestly, it is rough.
It's going to be hard.
You're going to have to reap.
But here's the thing.
That harvest comes to an end.
If you stop sowing to the flesh, eventually all those seeds, they sprout, they grow, the
harvest comes, we deal with it, and then we can move on.
In the meantime, what we need to be doing is sowing good seed.
You know I remember hearing a pastor or preacher talk about this years ago, and he was from
the south somewhere.
I'm not sure exactly where, but I guess in the south your lawn is a big deal.
The type of grass that you have is a real big deal.
And I'm not, I don't know the different types of grasses that are out there.
You know you've got your Kentucky bluegrass and some of that.
That's like the only one I know.
You got that one.
In Michigan we had crabgrass.
I don't know if that's a desirable one or not.
Pretty sure it isn't, right?
We had all these different types of grass, and you're always fighting the weeds and things
like that.
But I guess like the one that they really like is, if I got the name right, joieja.
Is that right?
Anyone ever heard of that?
Joieja grass?
No?
I know you guys spent some time in Tennessee.
Anyway, people, this is the type of grass to have.
And if you want to have that grass, basically what you do is you plant just a little bit
of it and it would take over.
And it would eventually push this type of grass, and it was very desirable, would push
and kill all the other grass.
And really that's how we have to start looking at life.
And saying, you know, I want to start planting some good seed that's going to spread and
take over.
And if you would just start doing that in your life, start planting that good seed in
your life.
Start listening to the preaching of the word of God, reading the Bible for yourself, and
start applying it to your life and planting a little bit of patch here and a patch here
and a patch here.
What you would find is that eventually they would spread out into the rest of your life.
And it would push out all the bad things in your life.
All the bad seeds that you sow and all that bad grass that you're having to harvest in
your life.
It's just an analogy to show us how we ought to live our life.
So we need to start planting good seed if we expect to have, you know, a nice lawn of
life.
You want the nice lawn of life?
You've got to start planting the right kind of grass and give it time to let it grow.
Because again, God's not just going to fix things for you overnight.
You know, you can't just call the church and start whining about the fact that you had
a bad marriage and now you called the cops on your husband and he's doing 20 years and
you wish you could take it back.
Well guess what?
He's in the hands of the county now and they're not nice about it.
They've got them locked up.
They're going to eat in there.
You don't think that type of thing happens?
I've gotten those calls.
Oh, this and that.
I feel so bad.
I called the cops on my husband and I just feel terrible and now he's doing 20 years.
Because you guys had a spat because you had a fight and it got in your head that you were
going to call the cops.
That type of thing happens.
So people get married to the wrong folks and life can just be very difficult.
So you know, God doesn't have a magic wand but here's the thing.
You can learn to cope with the effects of sin.
Sin will have an effect on your life that maybe will never go away and we can learn
to cope with it and we can always move on and continue to serve God no matter what our
circumstances are or whatever the difficulty is, there's still hope for us to serve God.
But we have to understand that it's not always going to be the ideal.
And really the point of the message is not necessarily to beat up those that have made
those mistakes but it's to help those that haven't made those mistakes to not make those
mistakes.
Because if you make those mistakes, those things that come, the results are permanent
and they cannot just go away.
You can't wish them away.
And it doesn't matter how sorry you are.
You make a mistake in life, you mess up, it doesn't matter how sorry you are.
The time to seek God and His will and His blessing is before you make those mistakes.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation
not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
You know, it's good to be sorry for the things that we've done.
We have to understand something, that's not necessarily just going to make it all go away.
We're still going to have to deal with the consequences.
And God will give mercy and God will give grace and God will help us, but that doesn't
mean the consequences of our sin isn't going to be dealt with for the rest of our life.
Again, God's word isn't a magic wand and people need to get this through their heads.
They can't just live however they want, make all the mistakes that they want to make, and
then when they decide, when they feel like they've had enough of the world, to come back
to God and expect Him to just fix it all, and just drop everything and fix your life
back up because you're tired of the way things are turning out.
That's not how it works with God.
That's not how it works with the Bible.
The Bible is a book of preventative maintenance and something that we should be teaching our
children early on in life and warning them and instructing them so they don't make those
mistakes to begin with.
The Bible says in Proverbs 22 verse 17,
Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
For it is a pleasant thing that thou keep them within me.
They shall withal be fitted in thy lips, that thy trust may be in the Lord.
I have made known to thee this day, even to thee, have I not writ to thee excellent things
in counsels and knowledge.
I mean, we already have the book, we already have the guidebook to life.
We already have the way, the instructions that are going to help us not to have to pay
the consequences of disobedience.
We're not moving through this life blind, thy word is a light and a lamp unto my feet.
And God has given us a light, and we need to take heed unto it, as unto a light that
shineth in a dark place, because the world is a dark place.
And we have a light.
So there's no excuse to just say, well I didn't know.
Especially if you're sitting in a church where the Bible is actually being preached and taught,
and you have the Bible in your hands and the Holy Spirit in your heart.
There's no excuse for it.
You have it right here.
Have I not written unto thee?
These things are already written.
The counsel is already there.
The time to take heed of that counsel is now, not after the fact, not after the consequences
of disobedience have come upon you.
You need to be preventative.
You know if we give heed to these warnings, we're going to spare ourselves a lot of unnecessary
suffering.
I mean people go through a lot of suffering that they never had to go through, if they
had just given heed to what this book says.
And granted I know a lot of people come up, they don't know what the book says.
No one ever teaches them, and they just go in the way of the world, and that's unfortunate.
But that's not us.
And that's not the young people in this room.
That's not you.
Those of you that have not made that mistake, you don't have that excuse.
You have the warnings all right here.
You have all the counsel right there.
And don't think that you can just put it off for as long as you want, and go out and live
however you want, and then when you feel like it's time to come back to God, you're just
going to make everything okay.
That's not how it works.
We make mistakes out there, the consequences that come are permanent, they will not just
go away, but here's the thing, you don't ever have to go down that path.
You don't ever have to experience any of that suffering if you'll just give heed to
the warnings today.
But make no mistake about it, if you want to ignore the commands of God, just prepare
to pay the price, the cost of your disobedience.
Let's go ahead and pray.