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Alright, well, it's great to be back here. First of all, thank you. Pastor Shelley's always for sending me down here I had a lot of fun last week shooting machine guns eating red steak I mean what is better and more Baptist than that? That was awesome. So great to be back here again We're here in Romans chapter 1 and it's not for the reason you think you go to Romans chapter 1 everyone's like, oh, here we go It's not a my sermon not what you think go to verse number 20 verse number 20 the Bible reads For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made Even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without Excuse and the title my sermon is God does not accept excuses We see a group of people in Romans chapter 1 that God says they are without excuse Any excuse that they would bring to him is not going to be accepted by God and go to Romans chapter 3 I'll read for you Proverbs 21 verse 2 the Bible says every way of a man is right in his own eyes But the Lord pondereth the hearts everything that mankind does we all think what we do is right naturally Everyone thinks that the way that they're living is right Everyone thinks that the way that they believe is right, especially here in Texas You knock on the door and they all know that they're going to heaven But is that really the case when you start asking what they believe? No, a lot of times they believe the wrong things, but every way of man is right in his own eyes But the Lord ponder at the hearts, you know, the Bible does tell us what the heart of man is like I'll read for you Jeremiah 17 9 the Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked Who can know it the Bible tells us that man's heart is wicked yet everything that man does he thinks that he's right He thinks that his ways are right You're there in Romans chapter 3 and the Bible tells us what the world in general is like is Every way of man actually right look at verse number 10 As it is written there's none righteous. No, not one. There is none that understand it There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable There is none that doeth good. No, not one their throat is an open sepulcher with their tongues They have used deceit the poison of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness Their feet are swift to shed blood Destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace. Have they not known there is no fear of God before their eyes Does that sound like a very godly group of people? No, but that is how the Bible describes the world at large Wicked feet, you know swift to shed blood just mouthful of cursing and bitterness, you know mankind is wicked Mankind is sinners and even though the way of our own eyes is right in our own mind That's not actually the case The fact is that we're without excuse today go back to Romans chapter 1 and number 1 I want to lay down this foundation that God does not accept the excuses of the unsaved Number 1 God does not accept the excuses of the unsaved. Let's look at verse 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath showed it unto them So we see here in Romans 1 18 that we have a group of people that God is very angry with in fact The Bible uses the word wrath That reminds me of John 336 where the Bible says he that believeth on the Sun hath everlasting life And he that believeth not the Sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him God is angry today at the fact that people are unsaved. He's angry at them Why is God angry at them? Look at verse 19 because that which may be known of God is Manifest in them for God hath showed it unto them He's angry because God has revealed himself to all of his creation Why don't you believe in him that which may be known of God is manifest in us? Why because God hath showed it unto us? So God has every right to be angry at people that would deny him at people that would not believe in him because he's like Hey, I made it manifest to you guys. I've put it in you to you guys who I am Look at verse 20 for because the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen Being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without Excuse he's saying hey, you're without excuse for not believing in me because that which may be known of God is manifest in you I showed it to you and the invisible things of the creation of the world Should be able to clearly show you that there's a God and the Bible says there's two things that we could understand by creation Itself it says his eternal power and Godhead Anyone could look at creation and realize wow someone really powerful made this and it's God Every single person in the universe can get that just by looking outside So it's it's absolutely unexcusable. You have no excuse not to believe in God. He says they are without excuse It doesn't matter what kind of excuse they want to bring to God of why they don't believe in him That excuse is not going to be accepted by God. I'll read for you Psalms 19 1 The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork When you look outside at the heaven it declares God's glory You can tell that there is a creator just by looking outside at the creation and you know creation is not enough to get someone Saved but creation is enough to show someone that there is a God and the thing is the Bible says that this has been revealed to every single person every single person has known this everybody has the five senses and can observe this world in this universe and tell that it was Created go to Matthew chapter 7 Matthew chapter 7 Matthew chapter number 7 And let's start reading in verse number 7 The Bible says ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you for everyone that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth into him that knocketh it Shall be open, you know I believe that every single person in this world that is seeking truth and that asks God for truth is going to find it Jesus said you will find it and notice he says if you knock it'll be opened unto you Well, I want to read for you John 10 verse 9 Jesus said I am the door For by me if any man enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and go out and find Pastor hey, if you knock on that door of salvation, you're gonna be saved every single person Hey, no one's without excuse if you are seeking the truth. God makes a promise that you will find it I believe that no matter where you are in this world if you're in the most remote place, I believe that if you genuinely Sincerely want to seek the truth of God that he'll make sure to send a soul winner in your path He'll make sure that you find out the truth if you are genuinely a person that seeks truth I believe that with all my heart. Let's keep reading verse number 9 or What man is there of you whom if his son asked bread? Will he give him a stone or if he asked a fish? Will he give him a serpent if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children? How much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him You know it I as a sinful person if my little daughter Bethany asked me for an M&M I'm gonna give her an M&M and I'm just I'm just a sinful person I could just give her that good gift how much more God in heaven if he hears if you hear someone praying the prayer of God, I want to know who you are. God, please reveal yourself to me. God. I just want to know the truth I don't care what it is. Just please show me the truth. Is he not gonna answer that prayer? He absolutely will answer that prayer if anybody is seeking for truth, they're going to find it Matthew let's uh, let's go to Let's go back to Romans and I'll read for you Psalm 14 1 the Bible says the fool hath said in his heart. There is no God. They are corrupt They have done abominable works There is none that doeth good The Bible doesn't say that the sincere person has said in his heart there is no God That the the person who's looking for truth has said that there is no God The Bible says that the fool has said in this heart that there is no God, you know That's why I'm against ministries like Christian apologetics and Christian apologetics is basically just trying to get people to believe the Bible Using logic and reason and hey, I'm not against you know preaching creation. We should preach everything in the Bible I'm not against showing how the Bible clearly matches up with science and clearly matches up with the reality of our world But what I am against is a ministry that's completely dedicated to atheists That's completely dedicated to people that are not seeking the truth That's completely dedicated to a people where God says that he's manifested him in all of us He showed it all to all of us that which can be seen You know the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen Being understood by the things that are made even as eternal power and Godhead God's revealed himself to the world I'm not gonna spend my whole time Banging my head against the wall trying to use logic and reason against atheists people who have no logic and no reason Hey, God has already revealed that to them. They rejected it. That's why they're fools. That's why they're without excuse And you know, I believe that there's atheists every once in a while they get saved and like I said I'm not against preaching those things but I am against an entire ministry dedicated to that why because it's a fruitless ministry Because it's a waste of time and some people may not like that but I've always believed that I've always believed that Christian apologetics Debating atheists doing like that. It's things like that is stupid and it's a waste of time Romans chapter 1 already told us that God's revealed it unto them It's their choice that they have rejected the fact that there's a God I mean everybody believes that there's a God even if they're unsaved you have to be a fool not to believe There's a God and that's what these people are and you know What the atheists of this world they give excuses today of why they don't believe in God They give an excuse and they say well, I don't want to believe in that old fogey religion because science Science is their excuse that they use to reject the Bible But you know what God's not accepting their excuse because guess what God created science you idiot Science is biblical and I'll show you that go to Colossians chapter 1 Colossians chapter 1 1 Science in the first law of thermodynamics the law of conservation of energy States that energy is always conserved It cannot be created or destroyed in essence energy can be converted from one form into another so science would tell you That energy can't just come out of nowhere Energy can't just be created by itself It has to have a source it has to transfer that energy from one thing to another Okay, but then they also tell you they believe the Big Bang Theory that everything was created from nothing that all the energy in the entire Universe breaks this first law and came from nothing sounds like an excuse sounds like you don't actually believe in science We'll go to Colossians chapter 1 and in verse 16 We know the source of where it all came from verse 16 The Bible says for by him were all things created talking about Jesus Christ that are in heaven And that are an earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created By him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist Hey energy cannot be created or destroyed. It must be transferred You know who the person you know who the source of all energy is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the creator You say oh, that's so unscientific You believe in a God that created everything really because my my belief actually matches the first law of thermodynamics Apius it doesn't match science Sounds like you're using an excuse to reject God, but guess what God's not going to accept your excuse another law of science is Biogenesis that says life cannot come from non life. That's pretty simple, right? I mean have you ever seen something come to life by itself? Never in the history of the world has something ever been observed coming to life By itself ever it's never been witnessed. Well, let's see what the Bible says in Genesis 124 I'll just read for you. Well, you turn to Leviticus 15 Genesis 124 says then God said let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind Cattle and creeping thing and beasts of the earth each according to its kind and it was so So we don't see life coming from non life. Hey, we see cows coming from cows We see human beings coming from human beings we see trees coming from trees Guess what? The Bible matches science sounds like these people are using an excuse You know what else science says wash your hands Wash your hands. Let's see what the Bible says Leviticus 15 13 And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue Then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing and wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in running water and shall be Clean notice there how it said running water Did you know that in the 1860s in the Civil War when doctors were cutting off limbs from from victims in the Civil War? Do you know that they would take their instruments their saws after chopping off someone's leg and they would just dip it in a basin of Water a stagnant basin of water and then they'd go to the next person dip Next person dip that's disgusting. You know how many how easy it is to spread disease like that No wonder they all died pretty much right, but hey that was in the 1860s that was not that long ago. I mean that was America was born before that Yet people weren't even washing their hands with running water until pretty recently The Bible says wash your hands with running water Sounds like the Bible matches science sounds like science You know isn't all cracked up to be what these god-hating atheists say it is it's an excuse you want to know the truth They hate God just like Romans chapter 1 tells us Here's a famous atheist Richard Dawkins. He says the god of the Old Testament is Arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction jealous and proud of it a petty unjust unforgiving Control freak a vindictive bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser a misogynistic homophobic racist infanticidal Genocidal filicidal pestilential megalomaniacal sadomasochistic capriciously malignant molybdenum malevolent bully Sounds like a person who just doesn't believe in God right? No, he believes in him. He just hates him He uses all this fake, you know talk about science and that oh, you know, I can't I can't believe the Bible because science No, he revealed his heart. The thing is he hates God and you know, that's most atheists Most atheists hate God So why would I take all of my time when I could be going and preaching the gospel to the unsaved? Catholic that wants to know the truth, you know to the unsaved Baptist that wants to know the truth to the unsaved whatever religion. Hey, at least the people that are not reality deniers Atheists are reality deniers. They see creation. They deny it They deny the Creator they deny reality why because they hate God not because of any legitimate excuse And you know what? God is not going to accept their excuses go back to Romans chapter 1. Well, let's see what he thinks Verse 21 because that when they knew God They glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened Professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man And to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves So, you know, they knew the truth of God. They changed it into a lie They worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator They rejected the truth of God and still what God did he gave them up to uncleanness through lusts of their own hearts He gave them up to all this sick filth later on in the chapter It talks about people who go so far down this road that God gives them up even to the most sick things Imaginable like homosexuality something that only an animal could do something that you could only do if you've been given over to a reprobate mind It's the punishment of God for denying reality for rejecting him. He's not giving these people. He's not accepting any of their excuses He's giving them over to reprobate mind as a punishment. He does not accept their excuses go to Romans chapter 2 You know, not only Does God not accept the excuses of the atheists of the unbelievers? You know, he doesn't accept the excuses of the unsaved religious people of this world, too You know if you're unsaved and you're religious, you're really no different than the atheist that's unsaved to you're both going to hell When you die, you know God's not gonna give you that excuse either look at Romans chapter 2 and look at verse 17 I want you to pay attention to the fact that Romans chapter 2 is written primarily to the Jews now are the Jews unsaved or saved? Unsaved absolutely unsaved look at verse 17. I want to prove that this is written to the Jews behold Thou art called a Jew Sounds like it's written to the Jews and rest us in the law and make us thy boast of God who who rests in the law And makes their boast of God Jews Verse 18 and knowest his will and approve is the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law Thou that makest thy boasts of the law Through breaking the law dishonors thou God for the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles Through you see how he's separating these these two people So it's obviously pretty clear that Romans chapter 2 the emphasis is talking to the Jews now Let's go back to Romans 2 verse 1 and let's see how this chapter starts out. It starts out by saying therefore Thou art inexcusable. Oh man, whosoever thou art that judges for wherein thou judges another thou condemnest thyself For thou that judges doeth the same things, you know The Jews thought that they were special just because they had God's law The Jews probably were judging the atheists and the reprobates for doing all these sick things You know that they're just as unsaved as the sodomites. They're just as unsaved as the atheists Hey, you know you're judging them. You're doing even some of the same things that they're doing Do you not realize that you are without excuse as well Jews? Unbelieving Jews that also reject the truth look at verse 2 but we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things and Think is thou this oh man that judges them which do such things and do is the same that thou shalt escape the judgment of God And you know the Jews answer to that would have been yes They think that they're gonna escape the judgment of God just because they're Jews They think that just because they have the law of God Hey just because people who are religious just because they sit in a Baptist Church Just because they wear a suit and tie just because they have a Bible at home Hey, just cuz daddy's a pastor you think that that's gonna make you without excuse Do you think that that's gonna make you escape the judgment of God hey if you're unsaved It doesn't matter if you're religious or not if you're unsaved you're going to hell when you die and God's not gonna accept any Excuses from you. You know out soul winning all the time. I hear hey. Why are you going to heaven? It's like well my great-great-grandma was a Baptist pastor. That's not a good enough excuse. That's not a good enough excuse You know there's people that teach that the Jews are excused Just by having the law I'll read for you a quote. That's right John Hagee. He said The law of Moses is sufficient enough to bring a person into the knowledge of God Until God gives him a greater revelation Everyone else whether Buddhists or Baha'i needs to believe in Jesus, but not Jews But not Jews so a pastor Here in the New Testament in 2020 is telling a whole group of people to reject the New Testament That the Old Testament is enough to bring them to truth and that they don't need to believe in Jesus Christ That is wicked as hell That is the most anti-semitic thing anyone can tell is to tell the Jews that don't believe in Jesus Christ Hey, you'll be just fine by rejecting Jesus Christ. That's wicked They're gonna burn in hell forever if they reject Jesus Christ. They will burn in hell forever. They are Inexcusable they had the law They were more inexcusable than the Gentiles. They had more given to them than anyone else. They had all the prophets They had Jeremiah. They had Isaiah. They had Ezekiel. They had Moses. They had Abraham They had the Word of God all of it pictured Jesus Christ the Old Testament Every page is picturing Jesus Christ and the lame of God the Messiah came to this earth He came unto his own and his own received him not The Jews rejected Jesus Christ and they are without excuse The Jews are without excuse today But you know what every unsaved Baptist every unsaved person in this world that calls himself a religious person if they're not saved They're just as without excuse as those people. God is not going to accept any of their excuses. Look at verse 4 of Romans chapter 2 Or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance Hey Jews Aren't you supposed to know that the fact that God gave you all these prophets and gave you the law and gave you Lord Jesus Christ don't you know that this is supposed to lead you to repentance From changing your mind into trusting in the law and into trusting Jesus Christ Shouldn't this be obvious to you? John Hagee would say no and you know what the Jews said no to verse 5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath Against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who will render to every man according to his deeds You know every time a Jew hears a verse from the New Testament You know every time a Jew is given the gospel every time a Jew is revealed truth about Jesus Christ You know that they're treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath unto themselves You know it every time that we go out soul-winning and we preach someone the gospel and they reject it You know, they're just making hell that much hotter for themselves. It's a sad thought, you know I just preached the gospel to a Catholic in Spanish or I'm not sure if he was a Catholic I don't remember what church he went to but you know what the sad thing is He wasn't saved and I showed him what the Bible says and he couldn't get it. He rejected it Hey, you know that guy's one step closer to hell He's the one step closer from being given over to renovate mine and he's making hell that much hotter for himself if he does not Accept the truth. They're without excuse today the unsaved whether the atheists or the religious They're both without excuse today. It's a sad thought verse 24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you as it is written for Circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law, but if thou be a breaker of the law thy circumcision is made uncircumcision it doesn't matter if the Jews physically kept the law of Circumcision because as soon as they break God's commandments their circumcision is made uncircumcision James 2 10 says for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point He is guilty of all any person that's trusting in their ability to keep the law to get saved Hey, you've broken the whole law your circumcisions made uncircumcision. It doesn't matter if the Jews have the law It doesn't matter if they have the right religion It doesn't matter if they think that they're children of Abraham if they're trusting in the law They're gonna go to hell when they die along with every Baptist that believes repent of your sins You know along with everyone that believes what John Getch the vice president of West Coast Baptist College teaches Anyone thinks that you have to completely reject or turn away from your sins to be saved anyone that believes that garbage Unsaved and you're without excuse Verse 27 and shall not uncircumcision which is by nature if it fulfilled the law Judge thee who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law He's saying hey the Gentiles even though they're uncircumcised, you know, if they keep the righteousness of the law, they're gonna be saved They're gonna be justified you say how could someone uncircumcised keep the law? I mean, they're not or yeah They're not following circumcision. We'll go to Romans 3 Romans 3 verse 21 How are the uncircumcision keeping the law verse 21? But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested being witnessed by the law in the prophets Even the righteousness of God which is but by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe For there is no difference That's how you can keep the law while being a Gentile and while being uncircumcised is by trusting in Jesus Christ by trusting in the one who actually did keep all the Law and actually was perfect and never sin. Hey the unsaved or the uncircumcised Gentiles that believe in Jesus Christ, they're gonna be justified you know who's not the people who had the law of God the people that were revealed all the truths of God and Rejected the Messiah and rejected Jesus Christ without excuse today Matthew chapter 7 turn to Romans chapter 10 I'll read Matthew chapter 7 Verse 22 many will say to me in that day Lord Lord Have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name have done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them? I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity people that are trusting in their works, you know when they die They're gonna have excuses that they're gonna bring to God about why or why is God not letting me into heaven Why is God sending me to hell? Hey, do you not know that I did so many great works for you? Do you not know that I cast out devils in your name? You don't know how many great and wonderful works I did he's gonna say depart from me I never knew you your excuse of your filthy rags is not good enough to make you saved The only thing that's gonna make you save is trusting in what Jesus Christ did Romans chapter 10 verse 13 You say well, maybe they just have an excuse maybe they just haven't heard the gospel verse 13 Actually, let's read uh, let's start in verse 15 and how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things But they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah saith Lord who hath believed our report So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, but I say have they not heard Yes, verily their sound went into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world Hey the Word of God has gone out to the whole world The gospel has gone out to the whole world and we already read in Matthew chapter 7 that if someone knocks the door is going to be opened unto them if someone asks God's going to answer them if someone in this world wants to know the truth. God will reveal it unto them God will make sure a soul winner gets them. God will make sure they see a Bible way to heaven video on YouTube God will make sure that a person who genuinely wants to know the truth will be able to hear the truth But you know what that leaves everybody Everybody without excuse the atheist is without excuse the unsaved Baptist is without excuse But now that I've laid down that foundation I want the rest of the sermon to apply to us because you know what saved Christians make excuses, too And just like God does not accept any excuses from the unsaved from the atheist for the religious unsaved God doesn't accept our excuses either our excuses are lame as well number two There's no excuse for our sin go to Genesis chapter 3 Genesis chapter 3 We'll start reading verse 9 right after Eve has eaten of the forbidden fruit and The Lord called unto Adam and said unto him where art thou and he said I heard thy voice in the garden And I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself And he said who told me that I was naked Has that eaten of the tree where have I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said the woman whom thou gave us to be to be with me She gave me of the tree and I did eat and the Lord God said unto the woman What is it that thou hast done and the woman said the serpent beguiled me and I did eat Notice when Adam and Eve were both confronted with their sin both of them made an excuse for it And you know what saved Christians do when their sin is confronted They make excuses for it You know when you go to correct your child and you call them out on disobeying you and you call them out on their mistake You know what? They often do but but but but but but mom. No, it doesn't work like that Do you accept their excuses? Absolutely not neither does God. Let's see. Does God accept their excuse look at verse 16 Unto the woman he said I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception and sorrow thou shalt bring forth children And my desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee and unto Adam He said because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee saying Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life Did he accept their excuses? Do you say oh, don't worry about it. No, he actually cursed them both He actually cursed man and woman and even today in 2020. We all see the repercussion of their sin their excuses didn't matter Hey, we're all sinners because of them right and excuses do not matter with God. Let's look at another example Let's go to first Samuel chapter 13 First Samuel chapter 13 We're gonna look at King Saul who is a saved man and he gives some excuses as well Let's read first Samuel 13 First number 10 and it came to pass that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering Or I'm sorry verse 5 And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and People as the sand which is on the seashore and multitude and they came up and pitched in McMash eastward from Beth Avon When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait for the people were distressed Then the people did hide themselves in caves and in thickets and in rocks and in high places and in pits And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead as for Saul He was yet in Gilgal and all the people followed him trembling and he tarried seven days according to the set time that Samuel had appointed but Samuel came not to Gilgal and the people were scattered from him and Saul said bring hither a burnt offering to me and peace offerings and he offered the burnt offering. So what happened? There's the Philistines a great host that's coming against Saul and his army and everyone's terrified. I mean put yourself in this situation I can understand how maybe they're going through a little bit of fear They have this huge Army coming after them and their priest isn't even there to do sacrifices unto the Lord to try to get Lord's the Lord's favor on their side Well, let's look and and we saw what Saul did. He decided to make the offerings himself Now was that right is the question absolutely not stay there and I'll read for you Hebrews 5 1 the Bible says for every high priest taken from among men is Ordained for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins verse 4 And no man taketh his honor unto himself But he that is called of God as was Aaron so in the Old Testament the Levites were ordained to be the priests of God and they were Ordained to do the work of God by performing the sacrifices by doing all the offerings for the Lord No, man can just take that honor on himself Hey, you can't just go start a church and ordain yourself Adam Fannin. God has an order for things You don't just bring the honor on yourself God ordains people for positions of leadership and guess what King Saul was ordained the king of Israel But you know what? He was not he was not ordained high priest It was not his job to make sacrifices to God It was his job to lead the battle. That was his job and he thought that well Samuel isn't here yet And you know all these people are scared. So I'm just gonna go ahead and do it myself. Let's see what happens verse 10 And It came to pass that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering behold Samuel came and Saul went out to meet him that he might salute him and Samuel said what hast thou done and Saul said because I saw that the people were scattered from me and that thou camest not within the days appointed and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Micmash therefore said I the Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal and I have not made supplication unto the Lord I forced myself therefore and offered a burnt offering. Do you see the excuses just pouring out of his mouth? He's like, well you weren't here yet. All the people were scared You know, I wanted to I wanted to inquire of God. He even makes it spiritual. All right I mean he was breaking God's law because he's so spiritual and You know a lot of people when they break God's commandment They try to just make it look like it's a spiritual reason, you know Well, you know, I know I'm divorced and the Bible says not to get remarried But Bible does say it's better to marry than to burn and you know I just don't want to be in the state of lust and so I'm just gonna break God's commandments that way I could be more Spiritual it's like that's not how the Bible works. That's not how Christianity works You don't get a break God's commandments and make excuses for it so much the more giving spiritual excuses for it It does not fly and you'll see that in this chapter. It does not fly Look at verse 13 and Samuel said to Saul that was done foolishly That was not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God which he commanded thee For now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever But now thy kingdom shall not continue the Lord of Sodom a man after his own heart and the Lord hath commanded him to be Captain over his people because thou has not kept that which the Lord commanded thee Did God accept his excuse absolutely not Samuel had to tell him look you would have been established as the king But now the kingdom's got to be taken from you and it's going to be given to someone Who is a man after God's own heart and that man ends up becoming King David, you know It's very interesting King David later in his life He committed a great sin, too but when he was told when he committed adultery and when he had Uriah the Hittite murdered and he was told by the prophet thou Art the man, you know what he said He said I have sinned and did God take away his reign did God take away his kingdom? No, he didn't he had mercy towards him, you know people that make excuses towards God when they sin You're more likely to receive less mercy from God when he sees that you're just making excuses to him He's gonna come down harder on you and when you sin, it's better just to be humble and we'll get a little more to that later But let's look at another example. I'm getting a little ahead of myself first Samuel 15 Let's look at another excuse Saul gives In first Samuel 15 verse 1 Samuel also said unto Saul the Lord sent me to anoint the king to be over his people over Israel now Therefore harken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord thus saith the Lord of hosts I remember that which Amalek did to Israel how he laid weight for him in the way when he came up from Egypt now go And smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not but slay both man and woman Infant and suckling ox and sheep camel and ass What is the instruction? Hey go to the Amalekites and completely wipe them out every living thing wipe them out And why did God have him do such an order? Well, the Bible talks about how these nations were doing just like the most wick wicked and sick things you can imagine They were sacrificing children. They were just a complete Reprobates obviously God would not just wipe out an entire nation of people that are righteous like in Sodom Remember he was saying hey if there's ten righteous in the city I'll spare it for the city. These were extremely wicked nations and he tells Saul go and completely wipe them out Everything that's breathing even the animals just get them off the face of the earth Let's see what he does verse 14 He doesn't he doesn't do it and Samuel said what meaneth then this bleeding of the sheep in mine ears and the lowing of the ox, which I hear I'm sorry. Let's let's go back one verse and Samuel said to Saul and Samuel came to Saul and Saul said unto him blessed be thou of the Lord I have performed the commandment of the Lord and Samuel said what meaneth then this bleeding of the sheep in mine ears and the lowing Of the oxen which I hear so Samuel comes and checks on him. Hey, did you do what God told you to do? Did you wipe out all the Amalekites? He's saying yes I've I have followed God's commandments and Samuel saying then why is it that I'm hearing the lowing of sheep right now the lowing of Cattle right now. Why is it that I'm hearing these things? It's like, you know, son Did you turn off the Xbox and the mom can like you still hear you playing Xbox or something like that, right? It's just like it's sad that he's trying to hide this when obviously he could see the cattle's right there You know what? He gives an excuse. He gives an excuse. Let's look at verse Verse number 22 verse 22 and Samuel said hath the Lord I'm sorry verse 20 and Saul said unto Samuel yea I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone the way which the Lord sent me and have brought a gag the king Of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites But the people took of the spoil sheep and oxen and chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed To sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal So his excuse this time was to blame other people his excuse for disobeying God's commandment this time was other people You see Christians do this all the time, especially teenagers when they get caught in sin. Hey, it's just well peer pressure Well, they were all doing it too. You know, it's like hey, why did you drink? Well, everyone else was drinking, too That's not an excuse. You can't blame other people for your own sin look at verse 22 and Samuel said hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to harken than the fat of rams, you know, it's all thought Hey, I'll just take all of these animals and I'll just make a sacrifice to God for it But I think about it Is that really gonna please God when God wanted all of those animals dead and slain right there? No, if anything your sacrifice is just a testament to God that you disobeyed him that you didn't think highly enough of his word to Actually obey what he said to do and doesn't matter how spiritual you try to make your excuse if you're disobeying God's commandments He's not pleased with that. It's like oh, you know, well, my wife is unsaved and she doesn't want to follow God So I'm just gonna divorce her and move to Phoenix, Arizona so I could serve God. No, that's not gonna be pleasing to God That's just gonna be a testament to God that you decided to break his commandments on divorce and remarriage God is not pleased when we break his commandments Especially especially when we make excuses for it and I mentioned this earlier, but go ahead and turn to 1st Peter chapter 1 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ obedient Children not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance But as he which hath called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation Because it is written be ye holy for I am holy notice. He calls us obedient children God's commandment to us as obedient children is hey, he's holy. We need to be holy now That's a hard commandment obviously right because we're sinners but think about it. How much disobedience. Do you tolerate from your children? Do you tell your children? Well, son, it's okay to disobey five percent of my commandments No, you tell them it's unacceptable to disobey my commandments at any time Obviously we show grace to our children when they're humble But you know what if they're gonna make excuses for their sin, the grace is not there at that time Is it it's the same thing with God when when Saul is making excuse after excuse for his sin God ends up just removing him as king. He does not show grace unto him. He removes him He comes down on him hard, you know but there's a group of Christians today called like the hyper grace movement or the free in Christ bro type movement where they're like This where they think that sin is just totally excusable that because Jesus died on the cross. We're just excused We could do whatever we want Has anyone ever heard of this man named Joseph Prince? Does anyone heard of him? Okay, you've heard of him So he is in let's see what country he's in. He's in Singapore megachurch 24,000 members 24,000 people this is a huge huge church and I heard about this guy way back in 2015 of People I knew here in Texas that were listening to him So this guy infects even the state we're living in right now with his doctrine. You know what he said He said that the Holy Spirit never convicts you of your sins. I Challenge you to find a scripture in the Bible that tells you that the Holy Spirit has come to convict you of your sins You won't find any challenge accepted go to John chapter 16 John chapter 16 you won't find a scripture in the Bible that says the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin Okay, let's see if that's true John chapter 16 Verse 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away For if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send him unto you What's the context we're talking about the Holy Spirit the comforter and when he is come He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment You know what? The Holy Spirit has come to do to convict you of your sin to tell you you're wrong about doing that Hey, you're wrong for lusting after a woman in your heart. You're wrong for doing drugs. You're wrong for doing alcohol That's what the Holy Spirit convicts us of doing What a wicked thing to say the Holy Spirit never came to convict us of our sins. That's garbage You know so many Christians today the free in Christ bro mentality will tell you oh you want to get a tattoo Well, hey, you're excused just as long as the Holy Spirit hasn't convicted of you that of that of you yet You have an excuse so people today are able to bring their excuses For their sin by saying well, you know, I know I'm living in fornication But the Holy Spirit hasn't convicted of me yet. How exactly does that work? How exactly does the Holy Spirit convict you of something? Do you get a burning in the bosom like the Mormons do when they read the Bible? No, you know how the Holy Spirit has convicted us of sin by the Word of God By showing us that we've all broken God's commandments by showing us that we do not measure up to his be holy for I am Holy standard, but you know what just because we don't measure up to it That doesn't give us an excuse to just go and break God's commandments. Oh You know, we're in the New Testament. So, you know Leviticus 19 where it talks about printing marks upon your body That's okay. Now because the Holy Spirit hasn't convicted me of that yet What about Leviticus 20 or in Leviticus 19 where it says to not prostitute your daughter to cause her to be a whore? Has the Holy Spirit not convicted you of that too? Would it be acceptable for you to use that excuse to sell your daughter as a prostitute and just say well the Holy Spirit hasn't Convicted me of that yet because that's what the type of mentality that false prophets like Joseph Prince bring in people and that's why people today Think that we're legalists and think that churches like ours are Crazy people think that we are crazy for believing the Word of God and for believing the law of God Even the IFB has gotten so out of their mind that they think we're crazy crazy for believing Leviticus 2013 they think that we are crazy for believing the sodomites should be put to death Hey, even though the Holy Spirit has convicted the sodomites of that in the Bible Let's go to Leviticus chapter 2013. What does it say? What is the Holy Spirit revealed What is the Holy Spirit convicted about sodomites verse 13 if a man also lie with mankind as he lies with a woman Both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death their blood shall be upon him Hey, you know what? The Holy Spirit says should happen to sodomites is that they should be stoned to death That's what the Holy Spirit has to say about that subject and you know the ruckmanites they think we're so crazy For believing that the Word of God should be applied today because they believe that only the Old Testament It applies to the Jews and that Leviticus chapter 20 was given to the physical nation of Israel Therefore you can't apply it in the New Testament. That's that's garbage. That's garbage That's the type of mentality that comes from an unsaved mind. There's no excuse for sodomy Sodomites don't get to just pull out the card and say well the Holy Spirit hasn't convicted me of that yet Yes, he has but you know what the Holy Spirit has also convicted all of us of all of our sin, too And you know what? You better not go around making excuses for your sin You know you kids when your parents confront you with your problems when they tell you you've done wrong you say yes, sir Yes, ma'am. I've sinned that's the attitude you should have now come at them with this garbage mentality of bringing excuses You know what? God doesn't accept it and neither will your parents. It's a stupid mentality to have giving excuses God does not accept the atheist excuses today. God does not accept the unsaved religious people's excuses You know what? He doesn't accept our excuses either when we sin go to Go to Matthew 25 Why you're turning there I'll read for you James 4 6 the Bible says but he giveth more grace Wherefore he sayeth God resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble You know the best attitude you could have when you sin is to come before God humbly Confessing your sin asking him for forgiveness. That's when grace is gonna abound towards you these people like Joseph Prince this hyper grace mentality They don't know what grace is They've turned the grace of God into lasciviousness is what they've done No Grace is when you acknowledge that the Holy Spirit has convicted you of something and you acknowledge that you also messed up and did that Sin, but you come to God humbly asking him for forgiveness Hey, that's that's grace right there because he said be holy for I am holy I'm not holy but God's gracious to me and to you and we humbly ask him for forgiveness But not only does God not accept our excuses when we sin number three tonight is that God does not accept our Excuses to not serve him. God does not accept our excuses to not serve him Matthew 25 Let's read this parable in verse 14 the Bible says for the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country Who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods, you know, Jesus Christ came to this earth and he left us with the ministry of Reconciliation second Corinthians 4 1 I believe it is says therefore seeing we have received this ministry We have faint we faint not so we've received the ministry. We've received the Great Commission Which is I'll read for you the Great Commission Matthew 28 verse 19 the Bible says go ye therefore and teach all nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I've commanded you and lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world Amen, so, you know what God has came and you know, Jesus Christ is in a far country now He's in heaven right now, but he's left his servants with his goods. He's left us with his church He's left us with his gospel. He's left us with the Great Commission with work to be done for him Let's look at verse 15 of Matthew 25 And unto the one he gave five talents And to the other two and to another one to every man according to his several ability and straightway took his journey then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made them other five talents and likewise he that had Received two he also gained two. So notice these people that have received the talents from their Lord What are what are they doing with it? They're profiting. They're making their master profit They're multiplying their master's goods Making profit a picture of us going out and multiplying ourselves by getting people saved by bringing forth fruit by bringing profit to God Stay there and I'll read for you 1st Corinthians 12 7 the Bible says but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all For to one is given by the Spirit the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of knowledge by the same Spirit to another faith by the same Spirit to another of the gifts of healing and he Goes on giving a list of all these spiritual gifts that God has given us You know one talent that God has given every single person in this room is the gospel of Jesus Christ You know as some people have more some people have these spiritual gifts and you know You may be the five talent guy. You may be the ten gout talent guy There's people in this world that are like 20 or 30 talent guys in my opinion But you know what every single person is that one talent guy for sure Everyone has been committed the gospel Look at verse 18, so we just saw the first two they were pleasing to their Lord They brought him profit verse 18, but he that had received one Went and digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents saying Lord Thou deliverest unto me five talents behold I have gained beside them five talents more his Lord said unto him Well done thou good and faithful servant thou has been faithful over a few things I will make thee ruler over many things enter thou into the joy of thy Lord He also that had received two talents came and said Lord thou deliverest unto me two talents behold I have gained other two talents beside them his Lord said unto them well done good and faithful servant thou has been faithful over a few Things I will make thee ruler over many things enter thou into the joy of thy Lord so notice it wasn't necessarily the Quantity of profit that these people brought forth that determined whether or not they were going to be pleasing in the Lord's sight What determined it was whether or not they brought profit at all because hey the one guy who only brought forth two more talents Had the same answer given to him as the guy that brought five more talents Hey, if we go out and preach the gospel if you only get 30 people saved a year You know God is gonna be pleased with you Just as much as he would for the person that goes and gets a hundred person people a year saved He's gonna be pleased with us if we're profiting if we're doing what he's told us to do And you know not everybody is the five talent guy not everybody is the ten talent guy Not everybody has the circumstances in life to where they can go so many as much as other people You know women that are raising young children are probably not going to be able to go out and preach the gospel as often as The young single guy can right that's why the Apostle Paul was single He even said it's because I could do more work for God right, but hey no matter what when you're bringing profit forth for God He's gonna be pleased with you, but let's see you this other person in verse 24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said Lord I Knew thee that thou art a hard man reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strode You know what he just did he gave an excuse He gave an excuse for why he was not profitable to his master. Let's see if his master Accepts that excuse and I was afraid and went and hid that talent in the earth low there How there thou hast that is thine and his Lord answered and said unto him thou wicked and slothful servant Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where I've not strode Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers and then am I coming I should have received mine own With usury take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him which hath ten talents For unto everyone that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath Notice he was given the one talent and when he did not bring profit to his master You know what his master thought of him that he was a wicked and slothful Servant you know what sadly today. There's very few Christians Although we've all been given the one talent of the gospel although Jesus Christ gave the Great Commission to every single saved person on this planet Sadly the majority of Christians today are the one talent guy that have buried their town in the earth and know what Jesus thinks of them wicked and Slothful you know in Revelation he talks about the churches that have left their first love That they need to repent and do the work first works He says hey you better repent quickly or I'm gonna come and take that candlestick from you Notice how it says that it's gonna be taken from him and given to him that has lots of talents already And you know what churches today that do not preach the gospel are going to die Churches today that do not go out and and be profitable for the Lord and hey even if all you have is that one talent Even if the only ministry a church has is going out and preaching the gospel Jesus is gonna be pleased with that church Hey It doesn't matter if you have the the day where you go and shoot the machine guns It doesn't matter if you have the day where you go out to a nice steakhouse. Hey, what matters is preaching the gospel That's what God cares about he doesn't care about anything else. That's what pleases him You know what sadly today Baptist churches have forsaken preaching the gospel There's very few people is very few churches in this world that go out and and preach people the gospel You know what they do they leave door hangers on people's doors They do bus routes and take them into some Sunday school where the kids dance around and eat ice cream and cake for all the whole time They're they're burying their talent in the earth. God's given all of us that talent to profit He's given us gifts You know Ephesians talks about he's given gifts of pastors and teachers and evangelists for the edification of the Saints. What are we doing? Why are we in this building right now? What are we doing coming together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ? Hey We're building an army of people to go out into the community and to preach them the gospel To get them here to baptize them and to teach them all things whatsoever Christ has commanded. That's what we're doing You know today a lot of Christians make excuses for why they can't preach the gospel I've heard so many excuses. Oh, you know my leg hurts. You know, I'm just not called to that ministry I don't have enough time. You know, I have too big of a family. I have too small family You know what? You can make any excuse you want to make but at the end of the day Jesus Christ is gonna say to you that wicked and slothful Servant if you don't go preach the gospel, is that what you want Jesus Christ to think of you? Your excuses don't work with God. It doesn't work with anyone this person He gave that lame excuse to his master God didn't accept it You know, what's sad when I was preaching one time at Sir Foundation Baptist Church in Spokane, Washington I was driving back that night from Spokane to Vancouver and I made this wrong turn I ended up going just like way out in the middle of the country Way off the beaten path from where I was I was meaning to go and we were just in this tiny itty bitty town I'm talking there was maybe like 75 people that lived there if that and you know what I saw when I was in that town Mormons on their bicycles Preaching the gospel, you know The Mormons go to every nook and cranny of this earth to make people twofold more the children of hell than themselves You know how many Baptists have that kind of dedication not very many sadly You know how many of us have the talent though all of us? Any single person can go and become a missionary can go and do great things for God, you know Or you can get tons and tons and tons and tons of people saved just right here in Houston guys have eight Million people in this city that is insane. That is a huge huge city Do you know how long it would take to knock every door in this city with this group of people? We probably couldn't do it in our lifetime You know what though, you know why we can't because of wicked and slothful Christians That's why because if everybody who had that talent was in this room right now and was out with us preaching the gospel We would not have that problem in this country. We would not have that problem. It's a disgusting thing to see The excuses that people give when it's eternity on the line. Our life is a vapor Are you gonna let a bum leg cause you to not preach the gospel? Are you gonna let your back pain cause you to not preach the gospel? Hey I'll push you in a wheelchair if I have to you need to get out soul-winning and you know what this excuse of oh You know, well, I'm a lady so I'm not I'm not called to go soul-winning. That's a garbage excuse to Ladies sometimes think that they're just excused from going soul-winning. You know what? That's your ministry, too You know what if you're a lady and you never preach the gospel You're wicked and slothful and if you're a man and you never preach the gospel you're wicked and slothful And you know what children you need to learn how to preach the gospel because you're called to work, too This is a this is a job for man woman boy and girl and you know what? It doesn't matter how much work you do if you're going out and you're profiting for God He's gonna be pleased with you Well done now good and faithful servant the the problem is not that we have a lack of 10 talent people in America The problem is not that we lack all these apostle Paul's in America The problem is that we have all these one talent people that bury their talent in the earth. That's the problem We'd get a lot more done for God if the one talent people would stop making excuses for not serving God and would get to work Don't be a wicked and slothful church. Let's make sure that this church always always preaches the gospel God's not accepting Excuses today from the atheists. God is not accepting excuses today from the unsaved religious people He's not accepting excuses today for our sin and he's not accepting our excuses for not serving him today There's no good reason not to do it if anyone had an excuse Hey, maybe it would have been the Apostle Paul who was stoned Shipwrecked beat. I mean he went through so much. You know what? He said none of these things moved me neither count on my life dear unto myself He didn't count his dear little life, you know, so precious to himself. He just kept preaching gospel Anyways, and that's why he was qualified to write one of the most powerful verses in the Bible I'll read for you first Corinthians 15 verse 58. Therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast Unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord You know, that's a really challenging verse when you sit down and think about what that's saying Hey, you always have to be steadfast. You always have to be unmovable You always have to be abounding in the in the work of the Lord. Well, what about all my excuses? Nope It doesn't work. There's not a place in this verse that has room for an excuse. Is there? Hey and anyone if anyone could have had it would have been the Apostle Paul But he didn't make excuses and that's why God was able to use him so greatly You know what? Even if all you are is that one talent person you need to stop making excuses too Because your labor is not in vain in the Lord either No matter how few in number of people you get saved compared to someone like the Apostle Paul. That's not in vain Those are souls that have an eternity ahead of them as well. We need to be a church that does not make excuse Let's have a word of prayer Lord. Thank you so much for this day. Thank you for all that you do for us I just pray that you'd help us to all build a strong foundation That when trials and tribulations come in our lives we wouldn't make excuses to want to quit serving you or excuses for our sin, but that we would just be steadfast and Unmovable pray that you'd help this church to always be a soul winning church and in Jesus name we pray. Amen