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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good evening. Tonight we're in Matthew chapter 7, or 5, Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5, the Bible reads, And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecute today the prophets which were before you. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under the foot of men. You are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill, cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. If ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shall not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother Rocka, shall be in danger of the counsel, but whosoever shall say, thou fool shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother had ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Fairly I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out then, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery, but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. It hath been said, whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her, that is divorce, commiteth adultery. Again ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Ye have heard that it hath been said, eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give him that asketh thee, and from him that should borrow of thee, turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be children of your father which is in heaven. For he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect. Let's pray. Dear Ligon, just thank you for this opportunity to come and hear the preaching of your word, Lord. Just please bless Pastor and fill him with the Holy Spirit, Lord, as he preaches unto us, Lord. And just be with us in the congregation tonight, Lord, and help us to be attentive to the preaching, Lord, and to take these truths for your word tonight, Lord. And we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay, we're in Matthew chapter 5 this evening, and the title of my sermon tonight is F-tier Bible characters. F-tier Bible characters. I want to tell you, I want to explain who are some of the worst Bible characters in the Bible. And obviously, a tier list would be essentially, you know, ranking certain people or Bible characters regarding how good they were, how many righteous things that they've done, and some of the worst people in the Bible as well. So S-tier would be the most, the best ones. That's where, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ would be. And in fact, I don't even know if it's right to say he would be on the tier because he's God, right? From a human perspective, you know, not talking about that which is divine, we could agree, like, for example, David would be on that S-tier. Moses would be on that S-tier. And then we get into arguments thereafter as far as who deserves to be on that tier. You have A, B, C, D, E, and then F is just like you're at the bottom of the barrel, okay? And you say, why preach on this? Well, this is actually a biblical concept if you think about it. Because look at verse 19 of Matthew chapter 5, it says, So the Bible is literally saying that when we get into the millennial reign, there are going to be people, Christians, believers, including those who are in the Bible, that are known as the least in the kingdom of heaven. They are at the bottom of the barrel. They're essentially some of the worst Christians, the worst believers in all of history, okay? And so we can call them the F-tier Bible characters, F-tier believers. Now, one of the reasons we should talk about this, one of the reasons we should take this into account is because of the fact that we want to avoid ever being like these people, right? You know, the Bible tells us that these things happen unto them for our example, right? And they're written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. The Bible tells us that they are our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they did. And so when we look at this particular list that, you know, I have a list of seven, by the way, of people who belong in the S-tier. And different people in our church, you know, have various opinions as far as who belongs there. But after tonight, I think you would agree with me that these specific seven definitely belong on this list, okay? And when we look at them, we think to ourselves, okay, I got to make sure I avoid some of the decisions these people made and not fall into the trap that they made. But another reason why it's good to kind of, you know, kind of review these people is because it kind of helps us to realize that at the end of the day, you can mess up pretty bad and still be in the kingdom of heaven, right? Why? Because you're saved. And the Bible is telling us here that there are people who break the least of these commandments, and listen to this, and teach others to do the same, right? Now, that's pretty bad. When you are a person who's breaking God's commandments, and you're exemplifying how to break God's commandments, but if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that means that you would be essentially in the kingdom of God, but you're the least in the kingdom of God. You are an F-tier Christian. And so let's go ahead and get into it. Go to 2 Kings 21, if you would, 2 Kings chapter 21. These are the people who the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 that they are saved, yet so as by fire. You read about some of these people and it's just like, oh man, you know, if the Bible wouldn't have mentioned or implied that they were saved, I would probably question their salvation, because they're such bad people, okay? They messed up royally. Now, in my opinion, in order to qualify to be a part of the S-tier category, the Bible would have to imply that they were a believer, okay? Either explicitly or give some sort of terms or mention something about them that would cause us to believe that they were saved, that they were believers. And also, it would have to kind of name them by name or give them a title, okay? And lastly, almost no good can be said about them, because an F-tier means that they were just a complete failure as a believer, okay? And so obviously, if we put this too, if we make the spectrum too wide, we can say Saul, or not Saul, we can say Satan belongs there, right? You can say like some of the word, you know, Judas belongs there. But we're not talking about unsaved people. We're talking about people that were potentially saved. The Bible seems to imply that they're saved, but they just sucked as believers, okay? Like no good can be said about them. They messed up really bad, and therefore this is where they belong, okay? And we can, you know, get into vain jangling after service as far as what you believe is the S-tier, A-tier, B-tier, okay? Now, before we get into 2 Kings 21, let me start off by saying that the number one person on the F-tier list, yes, is Adam, okay? Not Adam, the one in the PA booth, I'm talking about Adam, the first man. And I would even place Eve as being D-tier. Let me explain to you why. 1 Timothy 2 verse 13 says, So the Bible seems to imply that obviously we know that Eve was deceived by the serpent, but Adam was not deceived, but he kind of went along with his wife. So he's a man who essentially listened to his wife in the transgression, which is why all of mankind was damned. Therefore, placing him on the F-tier. Thanks a lot, Adam. And in fact, Romans chapter 5 verse 12 says this, Okay? Showing us that the reason we're in the mess that we're in today, okay, as humanity, is because of Adam. He goes to the bottom of the totem pole, okay? He, you know, transgressed, he damned all of mankind. Obviously, she was deceived, she was deceived by the serpent, but he kind of went along and listened to his wife, and that's why we are in the mess that we're in. Okay, that's why all have sinned. And so, in my opinion, Adam belongs in the F-tier. Now let's get into some very, now you could, you probably have a very, you know, varying opinions on that, but that's why I'm kind of establishing the standard here. But these, the rest of these, you have to agree that these are F-tiers, regardless if you agree about Adam or not. Number two would be King Manasseh, okay? Now, you say, what makes you think that he was like a believer, that he was saved? Well, if you've read the Bible, you see that this guy did a lot of wicked stuff. I mean, excessively wicked, and if no good was said about him, you would think this guy is a straight reprobate, because he was just so wicked. But let me read to you from 2 Chronicles 33 verse 11, it says, Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, listen to this, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him, and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord, he was God. So we have Manasseh actually praying unto the Lord, which according to 1 Corinthians chapter, I'm sorry, 1 John chapter 5, is proof that Manasseh was probably saved. Because the Lord doesn't listen to the prayers of the unregenerated, you know, unregenerated of this world. We see here that Manasseh is in great affliction, he's seeking after his God, referring to the fact that he's possessing this God. This is his God, okay, and the Lord is answering his prayer. He's answering his supplication. And towards the end of this, we see that Manasseh knows, comes to the conclusion that the Lord, he is God. Now that's the only positive thing that the Bible mentions about Manasseh, okay. Now look at 2 Kings 21. So when we go into the millennial reign, you'll probably meet King Manasseh, but you got to go to some alley, you know, in the millennial reign and look for the guy sweeping and picking up trash or whatever. That's probably the guy, he's probably one of the least in the kingdom of heaven. And when the Bible talks about someone who breaks the least of these commandments and teach men to do so, I mean, he's definitely one who did exactly that. We're going to see that right now. Look at verse number 1. It says, Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign, and reigned 50 and 5 years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Hevzibah. And he did that which is evil in the sight of the Lord after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. Look at verse 3. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. So the first thing we see is that Manasseh is such a wicked person because he reconstructed the idols that his father destroyed. Now, if you look at the history of Judah, in general, the kings were really good. I mean, they have a good reputation. You know, you have Hezekiah, who is a very righteous king. Obviously, he's a boomer, whatever, you know, we talked about that on Thursday. He had boomer tendencies towards the end of his life. But in general, you can look at him and say, you know, this is a very righteous man. He did that which is right in the sight of the Lord. He had a heart that was right with God. He got his prayers answered. But because he's a boomer, he ended up raising Manasseh, right, because obviously he doesn't care about the future generation. So Manasseh comes on the scene, and Hezekiah, if you've read the story of Hezekiah, we see that he was righteous. He brought reform to the land. He destroyed the idols. He destroyed the altars. Well, Manasseh comes along, and he reconstructs those same altars and those idols and causes the people to worship them. This is extremely wicked. It says, and he reared up altars for Baal and made a grove, as did Ahab, king of Israel, and worshiped all the hosts of heaven and served them. Now, one of the reasons why Manasseh is exceedingly sinful, in my opinion, is because he's supposed to come from a southern kingdom, or he comes from the southern kingdom, which in general is considered a righteous nation. He essentially had the foundational environment necessary to succeed. I mean, his father is righteous. The kings before him were righteous. He comes from Judah. He's a king of Jerusalem. I mean, this man has everything going for him, and he just completely messes it up. And, you know, the equivalent to this would be someone who grows up in a fundamental Baptist church. They grow up with the King James Bible. They grow up listening to great preaching, Bible preaching, with the right salvation, and then they decide to go off and be an atheist or something like that, right? To be an agnostic or something, okay? Or let's just say that they were saved, they got saved, but they just decide to live a godless, worldly life, a life of blasphemy, a life that is not pleasing unto the Lord, just filing the temple of God to the point where you kind of wonder, is this person saved? Because they're living such a godless life, it makes you wonder if they were saved or not. Now, because we already have passages indicating that he probably was saved, right? You know, then we know that monastic was saved, so this is showing us that Christians can actually go pretty far. Believers can go pretty far into sin in a backslidden state, even to the point where they're rearing up altars, they're doing that which is evil on the side of the Lord. Not only that, but look at verse 4, it says that he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. So what is he doing? He's filing the house of God. He's going into the house of God, and he's building altars for his false gods in the house of God. It's like putting Buddha up here or something like that, you know. It says in verse 5, and he built altars for all the hosts of heaven, so he had, you know, the Virgin Mary, right? He had the saints, obviously Catholicism didn't exist back then, but it's basically the same thing. He built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. So this man is obviously very brazen in his sin, not just, you know, he's not deceived, it's not as though he's just kind of ignorant about the whole thing, he comes from a righteous nation. He had a righteous upbringing, he knows what the King James Bible says, he knows the right doctrine, and he decides to oppose that and live a godless life. Now let me say this, to whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required. You know, God will more readily, severely punish someone who grew up in church and rejects righteous living than a person who is living a godless life but had no teaching in church, right? Why? Because the person who actually grows up in church is given knowledge, they're given wisdom, they're given the right environment. You know, you young people, children who grew up in church, you know, God actually expects a lot from you. Because you have parents that are bringing you to church, you have a church that your parents bring you to three times a week, you sing the hymns, you're part of the Christmas program, I mean, you're practicing, you're memorizing scripture, your house is a godly environment, and then for you to willingly choose to go out and do the exact opposite of what the Bible says, it's iniquity, it's wicked. So we see Manasseh here, though he has a righteous father, he decides to just completely backslide and go the opposite direction into heathenism. Look at verse 6. If it wasn't worse, it says, And he made his son pass through the fire. So what is he doing? He's sacrificing his children to Moloch or to some false god, he's practicing infanticide, and observed times and used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards. He wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. So aside from the fact that he is killing his children, we see that he's also practicing witchcraft. Now given, you know, all this stuff is probably the things that he did, not probably, it's things that he did prior to him coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. But hold on a second, if we were to just mention to anyone Manasseh, do you think that they would think, oh, the saved guy. Oh, the guy who humbled himself, who the Lord is his God. No, they would probably mention all this other stuff. I mean, Manasseh is associated with just wickedness. Even though a lot of this wickedness he did prior, you know, BC, so to speak, right? Before Christ, before getting saved, before knowing the Lord, he did those things. But you know what, sometimes the things that we do prior to salvation can often overshadow, you know, you getting saved. Not that you're not saved, but I'm just saying, if you choose not to change your life thereafter and do righteous things and live righteously and live unto the Lord, your wicked works from the past will often overshadow those things, okay? To the point where your reputation is just, you know, Ray have the harlot. She's saved though, but it's Ray have the harlot, okay? So he's practicing in fantasy society, he's practicing witchcraft, he's participating in the day of the dead, you know, he's dealing with familiar spirits and wizards. And it says that he's provoking the Lord to anger. You know what that means? It's just like he's pushing God's buttons. He's just doing all this and he's just, the Lord is slow to anger, but he's definitely angry at what Manasseh is doing. It says in verse 9, skip down to verse 9, it says, But they hearken not and Manasseh, said of this, seduce them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. So aside from the fact that he's breaking the commandments of God, he's teaching men to do so as well, which is why I would say that Manasseh is the least in the kingdom of heaven, because he's causing the children of Israel to do worse than the nations that are around them, which the Lord destroyed. Obviously, it's referring to the Canaanites. Look at verse 10, And the Lord spake by his servant the prophet, saying, Because Manasseh king of Judah had done these abominations and had done wickedly, listen to this, above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. So what is one of the worst things about Manasseh? He's actually worse than the heathen. It kind of reminds me of 1 Corinthians chapter 5, where it says that it's commonly reported that there's fornication among you, and not so much as is named among the Gentiles. It's like these people are committing these sexual sins that are just things that you wouldn't even hear among unsafe people. And what the Bible's saying here is just like Manasseh, who's the king of Judah, he's reigning here, he's worse than the Amorites, he's worse than the Canaanites, he's practicing more wickedly than those who just have never heard of God, are heathen, they're pagans. He's obviously giving God's religion a bad name, okay? Look at verse 16. Brother Ulysses, put it at 69, please. It says in verse 16, Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much. I want you to notice this, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another. Beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin in doing that which is evil in the sight of the Lord. So why is Manasseh an F-tier Bible character? Well, because of the fact that the Bible seems to indicate that he was probably saved, but he just was exceedingly wicked. And yeah, I get it. You know, he got saved later on, but the Bible doesn't really highlight any good that he did after salvation, does it? It just talks about all the bad stuff that he did, which would indicate to me that God will put him as the least in the kingdom of heaven because he did so much wickedness, so much irreparable damage that at the end of the day, he's not someone who we want to pattern our Christian life after, okay? And so Manasseh, F-tier. Go with me, if you would, to Job chapter 42. Job chapter 42, if you would. F-tier Bible characters. Adam is one. We have Manasseh being another. And I was trying to think, you know, who else would be considered an F-tier Bible character? And here's another one, and this is very brief, but it's worth mentioning. Job's friends are F-tier Bible characters. Because the Bible seems to indicate like these men know the Lord. I mean, they're talking, you know, they're speaking proverbial, like they're giving proverbs, they're giving counsel, and even a lot of things that they're saying is actually pretty good. But it's just not true regarding Job. And I mentioned that this morning that sometimes I want to quote these guys, but I don't because they were wrong about Job. But some of the stuff they're saying is good, it's just not right, they don't have proper judgment. And here's what's so embarrassing about Job's friends. So many chapters dedicated to them. I mean, they get a lot of content in the Bible. They get tons of content, they get entire chapters, each one gets a chapter dedicated to them. Some even two or three chapters dedicated to what they're saying. And not a single chapter is correct. Not a single dissertation is right. How embarrassing is that? F-tier friend, F-tier Bible character as well. Oh, they waxed eloquently. You know, they were able to just, you know, just speak with enticing words of man's wisdom. And they were able to judge so righteously wrong. Look at Job 42 verse 6. Wherefore I abhor myself, or Job 42 verse 6. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. And it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends. For you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. And my servant Job shall pray for you. For him will I accept, lest I deal with you after your folly, and that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and so far the Naamathite went and did according as the Lord commanded them. The Lord also accepted Job. So we see here that nothing good was said about Job's friends. And he literally allowed them to be in the Bible as an example of the type of friend you don't need. You know, if you're ever wondering, like, what kind of friend should I have in my life? You know, there's a lot we can say about that, but here's a good way to know what kind of friends you shouldn't have. Read the book of Job. Miserable comforters are ye all, the Bible says, right? Physicians of no value. I mean, Job had a lot of good one-liners in that book about his friends. Essentially referring to the fact that they are F-tier Bible characters, and nothing good is ever said about them in the Word of God thereafter. Turn with me, if you would, to 1 Kings chapter 12. Talk about F-tier Bible characters. Number one would be Adam. Number two, King Manasseh. Number three, Job's friends. Number four is actually not one person. It's not two, it's not three, it's not four. It's actually an entire tribe. The tribe of Dan is an F-tier Bible tribe. It's true. They're F-tier. You say, why is that? Let me read to you from Genesis 49 and verse 16. It says, Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path that bite at the horse heels so that his rider shall fall backward. So the prophecy that his father gives of Dan is that of a serpent, which the Bible associates with Satan. And when you learn the history of Dan, you see that they actually become a very idolatrous tribe. Judges 18 records in detail the fact that they are conquering people in Laish, and they're robbing them of their idols, of their graven images. And they become very idolatrous in their tribe. Look at 1 Kings 12 and verse 26. Here's the legacy of the tribe of Dan. Look at verse 26. It says, and Jeroboam said in his heart, now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their Lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah. And they shall kill me and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. So what we have here is that when Rehoboam wanted to create a false religion, he essentially created two geographical locations, or put them in two geographical locations, in order to deceive the people so they wouldn't worship the God of the Bible. One he put in Bethel, which means the house of God, and the other one in Dan. Now you can see why he would put it in Bethel, because he wants to deceive people into thinking this is a legitimate place of worship because it's called the house of God. And the reason I believe he put it in Dan is because Dan is already associated with idolatry. It's nothing new, right? And this ended up being the legacy of the tribe of Dan. And here's the last reason why I believe the tribe of Dan is an F-tier Bible character. And that's because they're the only tribe, listen to this, that's not mentioned in Revelation chapter 7. And God doesn't even explain why. Revelation 7, the 144,000 that come in the end times to preach the word of God and evangelize the world in the end times, you know, he splits Joseph into two to make up for Dan. And Dan's just not even mentioned. It's like Dan who? That's an F-tier. Okay? And here's the thing, the reason I would even put them in F-tier, even though they're idolatrous, is because I'm sure there's a lot of the tribe of Dan that were saved. Because they come from Israel, there's individuals there who probably were saved, they believed in the Lord, but they essentially, you know, deviated from the ways of righteousness, became idolatrous in Judges 18, and left a legacy of disobedience and idolatry in their tribe. Go to Genesis chapter 13, if you would. Genesis chapter 13, we're talking about F-tier Bible characters. Adam is number one. We have King Manasseh as number two. We have Job's friends as number three. We have the tribe of Dan as number four. And number five is probably the most obvious one. I'm probably going to spend a more significant amount of time on this guy. And that's righteous lot. Just lot. And it just cracks me up that the Bible says that. Okay, let me read to you from 2 Peter 2 verse 6. Now, when the Bible says that he delivered just lot, it's not saying like he only delivered lot. It was just lot. Just means righteous. And I believe that the Bible is being a little facetious here. A little sarcastic. Because anybody who has read the story of Lot knows this guy was not a just person. In behavior, in conduct, or in conversation, the only thing righteous about him is the fact that he's saved. It says verse 8, Excuse me? So the Bible obviously is going out of its way to express to us and to teach us that this man, as dumb as he was, as godless and backslidden as he was, he had a righteous soul, not because of his deeds, not because of his works, but because he placed his faith in God. The God of the Bible for salvation. He was a justified man. He had his sins forgiven, which is why his soul was vexed from day to day to begin with. Meaning that he was quenching the Spirit. He was grieving the Spirit. He was a righteous person in here. The inner man was bothered by the stuff that he was seeing. And I think everyone could agree that Lot belongs in the F tier category. Because quite frankly, there's so much that's said about Lot, and not a single thing is good. Not a single thing! Look at Genesis 13, if you would, in verse 7. Let's highlight some of the bad stuff about Lot, not some, let's just talk about all the bad stuff. Verse 7 says, And there was strife between the herdmen of Abraham's cattle, and the herdmen of Lot's cattle, and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled in that land. And Abraham said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we are brethren. It is not the whole land before thee, separate thyself, I pray thee from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. Now, Abraham, I'm going to call him Abraham. Abraham is obviously not only a righteous person in the sense that he's saved, he's also just a righteous person in the matter of living. I mean, this man wants no strife, he doesn't want contention, he is what the Bible would call a peacemaker, right? He wants peace, he wants reconciliation, even to the point where he's willing to defraud himself the best of the land in order to essentially salvage his relationship with his nephew. Okay? That's a righteous thing to do. It's like, you know, we're not getting along, or our herdmen aren't getting along, so why don't we just go our separate ways and I'll give you first dibs on the land that you want. Okay? That's a pretty righteous thing to do. Verse 10, So, what happens here is that Lot raises his eyes and he sees this area that reminds him of the land of Egypt. Which, by the way, this is not the sermon, but the reason this passage is significant is because of the fact that when Abraham backslides and he goes to Egypt, he takes with him his nephew. But here's the thing, is that Abraham eventually gets right with God, he bounces back, and he's able to kind of like get back on track, go to the house of God, make an altar, go to Bethel, get right with God. But here's the thing, is that Lot wasn't necessarily able to recover as good as his uncle did. You know, that's a great principle for you and for me, because here's the truth, if you backslide, you might be able to bounce back. You know, if you backslide and go to the world, you may be able to bounce back, but if you take someone with you, the people you take with you may not be able to bounce back as best as you. And if they do bounce back, and let's just say your children for example, they might come back with a little bit of Egypt in them. And they're going to come back with the appetites that they developed in Egypt. Abraham bounced back, he went to the house of God, he was used of God greatly, but unfortunately, his nephew developed Egyptian appetites, worldly appetites that ended up affecting him in the long run. What is the principle there? When you backslide, you never backslide alone. You always take someone with you. And when you return, you may be able to bounce back, but the people you took with you may not be able to bounce back as good as you. Lot was not able to get Egypt out of himself, and that's why when he saw the plane of Jordan, it reminded him of Egypt, that appetite that he had. Look at verse 11, then Lot chose him all the plane of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east and they separated themselves one from the other. Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and listen to this, and pitched his tent towards Sodom. Now what's the problem here? Well the problem is verse 13, but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. So this guy decides to rent an apartment looking straight at San Francisco. He's like, oh man, San Francisco's so beautiful. He's like, what are you talking about? All the feces and all the needles on the floor and all the filth and the disgusting stuff. You got all the fags and stuff. You know, but Lot doesn't care. He's developing appetite for that type of atmosphere. Now Lot himself is not a homo. He's not a sodomite. He's not a queer, but unfortunately he's so desensitized to those abominations because of Egypt, that when he's given a choice, he's like, oh I'd rather look at, I'm not going to live in San Francisco. You know, I just left my heart in San Francisco. I don't want to live there. I just want to look at it. Okay, and the Bible's telling us, here's the thing, it's a really stupid decision Lot, because the men of Sodom are exceedingly wicked before the Lord. Verse 14 says, And the Lord said unto Abraham, After that law was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, southward, eastward, and westward, and so on. Now I like verse 14 because it shows us a very important principle, that sometimes, you know, God can't really clarify his will for your life until you separate yourself from certain people. You know, some people in your life are just kind of bogging you down and causing you not to serve God, and not to read your Bible, and not to walk in the Spirit, and they're influencing you in the wrong way, and sometimes the will of God can be a little foggy, not clear, because of the company that you keep. And it wasn't until Abraham separated himself from Lot that God was able to reveal to him, alright, this is what we're going to do. Okay, go to chapter 14 if you would, chapter 14. So righteous Lot, just Lot, is in the F tier category because one, he likes to look at San Francisco. He wants to pitch his tent towards Sodom, oh he's not living in Sodom, he just wants Sodom to be the last thing he sees before he goes to bed and the first thing he sees when he gets up. Look at chapter 14 and verse 8. So in chapter 13 you have Lot pitching his tent towards Sodom. Chapter 14, he's dwelling in Sodom. What does this teach us? It teaches us that, you know, you can only play with sin for so long. If you pitch your tent towards sin, eventually you're going to be involved in sin. If you're playing with temptation, you're eventually going to cross the line where you actually commit the sin. And you know what? The reason he pitches his tent towards Sodom is because he knows there's fags there. He probably knows that they're exceedingly wicked, but he likes the way it looks. He likes the geographical location. He likes how the waters, the water there, it's well watered, like the plains of Egypt. It reminds him of Egypt. And he's probably thinking to himself, you know, I'm never actually going to live there. I would never actually go to San Francisco. I would never actually go to Tel Aviv. I just like looking at it. But eventually what happens? He's dwelling there. He's living amongst the Sodomites. He's living amongst the reprobates. He's so desensitized that he's willing to live among them. Go to Genesis 19. Genesis 19. Now I get it. You know, there's probably believers in San Francisco. You know, God bless them. I wouldn't want to live there, though. I don't care how nice the house is. Okay? But obviously Lot is taking a loss after loss after loss after loss. Making some of the worst decisions ever. Look at Genesis 19. Of course, we know we're very familiar with Genesis 19. You know, God is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their filthiness, their wickedness, because of their sodomy. He sends two angels to do so. Lot runs into them and he essentially convinces them to come into his house to abide with him. But then, obviously, you have the men of Sodom compassing the house about because they want to know the angels. And meaning that they want to essentially rape the angels. Okay? Look at verse 5. It says, And they called unto Lot and said unto him, Where are the men which came into thee this night? Bring them out unto us that we may know them. And again, know them doesn't mean like they want to know they like long walks on the beach or, you know, what's their favorite color. This is obviously referring to the fact that they're perverts. Okay? They want to violate them sexually. Verse 6 says, And Lot went out of the door unto them and shut the door after him and said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold, now I have two daughters which have not known man. Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you and do ye to them as is good in your eyes. Only unto these men do nothing. For therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. So this should convince you that law for sure is in the F tier category because he's willing to offer his own daughters to predators. I mean, it's like what? But folks, this is what happens when people get out of church. They're not in the Bible. They're not listening to preaching. They're not living righteously. Their mind begins to become polluted with the ideologies of this world. Even to the point where this man is willing to give up his own daughters to these reprobates, to satiate their wickedness. And I always thought it was interesting, you know, when I read this passage, because it says that he has two daughters which have not known man. But then later on, these same two daughters have husbands. So is he lying? Did they just marry? What's going on here? You know, obviously this is a very messed up situation. And this story is here to show us that Christians, if they're not being reformed by the word of God, can be involved in some really stupid stuff. They can do some really horrible, disgusting things. And so, F tier, he's offering his daughters to predators. Look at, skip down to verse 12. So, you know, the angels end up blinding the Sodomites. And, you know, they pull Lot back in. Look at verse 12, it says, And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides, son-in-law, and thy sons and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place? For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxing great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. I want you to notice verse 14. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-laws. So, why is he in the F tier? Well, I'll tell you why, because no one takes him serious. When judgment is coming, you know, Lot's like, to his sons-in-laws, he's like, hey, we gotta get out of here, God's gonna destroy this place. They're like, oh, you're funny, Lot. Funny joke. He's basically like a clown to them. And you know what? If you are a saved person, but you're backslidden, you're at a church, you're not living righteously, but you're trying to preach to your family, you're like a joke unto them. Now, obviously, it doesn't change the fact that you're saved. It doesn't change the fact that you believe the Bible, that you believe salvation is by grace through faith. But you know what? The truth is, is that to you, to your family, you're probably a big joke. If you're drinking alcohol, you're fornicating, you're committing grievous sins, and they know about it, the fact remains, you're as someone who's mocking unto them, you're a clown unto them, you're a big joke. Okay? And the last thing you want to do as a Christian is mar your reputation as a Christian, which is important, that's why it's important to just stay faithful and consistent in the things of God. You know, because sometimes your family's just waiting for you, those who are not believers, they're kind of waiting for this phase to end. You guys know what I'm talking about. They're just going through this phase, this Jesus phase. They're just not really serious about these things. They always do something like this. There's always something new with them, and they're kind of just waiting for you to just fall off the track and just kind of get involved in something else. And you know what? If you become an inconsistent Christian with church, with the Bible, with soul winning, with the things of God, after you've already preached them, that that's what you should be doing, by the way, you're going to be a clown to your family. You're going to be as one that mocks. And you know what? I see this time and time again, where family members, where Christians are constantly preaching to their family how they should be living, and you know, alcohol is wicked and sinful, fornication is wicked and sinful. And you know what? They're right about that. It's true. But then, six months down the road, they're back involved in that kind of stuff, you know, just like, where's thy mouth now? You're saying all that stuff. You're going to be a clown to your family, to your friends. You know, you're causing the enemies of God to blaspheme. You're bringing reproach upon the name of Jesus Christ. You're being a bad testimony is what you're doing. Okay. So one of the best reasons to just stay in the will of God is for the sake of those who are watching you on the outside, trying to make sure that you what you have is of substance, is legitimate. Okay. And I remember just being five years into the Christian life, and my family mocked. You know, they mocked. They're like, oh, it's just a phase of his. He's just doing this, or whatever, for a while, or whatever. But here we are, 17 years later, 18 years later, that's a long phase. Wow. And I'm telling you, it's not until now that a lot of my family members realize, like, oh, I guess he's really serious about this. You know, yeah. Yeah, it's a real deal. Okay. But you could be like Lot, though. And when trouble actually comes and you have the answers, no one wants to listen to you. You know, judgment is coming, but no one wants to listen to you, Lot, because your best friends are fags. Right. He's living amongst homos. He you know, they're his neighbors. What are you doing in San Francisco? Look at verse 12. I'm sorry. Let's get down to verse 15. F here. He pitched his tent towards Sodom. He's living in Sodom. He's offering his daughters to sodomites. You know, no one's taking him serious. He's joking to them. By the way, no Christian should have homos for friends, by the way. Let me just go and say that. That's you. If you are an A tier Christian, you will bump yourself down to a solid D or an F by just having sodomites as friends. You know, and I'm not even saying like, you know, because there's Christians who believe the sodomites can be saved. I don't believe they can. I think the Bible is very clear on that. But there are there's Christians who believe they can be saved. And, you know, they're wrong. And they can believe that if they want. But that's different than, you know, someone who believes they're saved and for that reason keeps them around his company. You know, you're F tier. You're D tier, F tier by allowing you and your family to associate with sodomites and predators and pedophiles. OK. And you know what? If you believe that sodomites can be saved, that's your business. But never bring them to this church. Never bring your sodomite relative to this church. You know, if you want to give them the gospel, that's on you. But a rule that we have here is we do not have sodomites ever darken the doors of First Works Baptist Church. How's the church going to grow? Well, not with sodomites. That's how. And so, you know, don't be a lot. Look at verse 15. Let's continue to look at his failure here as a believer. Says that when the morning arose. What do you mean when the morning arose? I should have been out of there a long time ago. The angels hasten law saying, Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters, which are here, lest that be consumed in the iniquity of the city. I want you to notice this. And while he lingered. Well, I just need to get some stuff. I need to say some goodbyes first. What do you mean? Why are you lingering? You know, the angels are like, can we hurry this up? We got to destroy this place. And he's just kind of like. Playing with his umbilical cord, with his navel, with his belly button, just navel gazing, just kind of like twiddling his thumbs. Why are you lingering? Hey, backslidden Christian, why are you lingering in the world for hasten? Get out of there. Get back in the church. Get back in your Bible. Get out of the world. While he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand and upon the hand of his wife and upon the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto him. And they brought him forth and set him without the city. I mean, you have to be forced out of the city. What a loser a lot is. He's like, I just got to collect some things. You know, my gay neighbor gave me this. You know, why are you what's the point of even what do you why are you lingering there? If God's telling you that he's going to destroy it, you would think that this man would say, all right, you know, here's the back door. Let's get out as far as possible, as fast as possible as we can. But the angels literally had to grab them by the hand and take them out. OK, what does it show us? It shows us that law had zero sense of urgency. He's just dragging his feet all the while God is being literally merciful to him. He's showing grace unto him. He's being patient with law because he doesn't want to destroy him because he's the only righteous person there. And he has to force them out of the city by hand. This is why law is here. He's not fleeing from the wrath to come. He's lingering for the wrath to come. Pharisees at least fled from the wrath of God to come. He's just like. Let me just say this as a Christian, has a sense of urgency, please. Realize that the things of God are important. Be prompt. Look at verse 17. And it came to pass when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life. Look not behind thee. Neither stay down all the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. So the angels, obviously, through the commandment of God, tells law you need to run up that mountain. OK, escape to that mountain so that you're not consumed. Look at verse 18 and lost unto them. Oh, not so, my lord. Behold, now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight and thou has magnified thy mercy, which thou has showed it to me and saved my life. And I cannot escape to the mountain. Let some evil take me and I die. This guy's such a wimp, he's not willing to hike up the mountain. Look, I'm not into hiking either. Sorry, brother Jose. You know, I'm not a hiking type of person, but if fire and brimstone is falling upon Brother, I'll be, I'll be, what's that guy's name? David Goggins? The second. I'll carry logs and boats up that mountain if I have to. But law's like, oh, you know, since I found grace in your sight and you're so merciful and you saved my life, just know that I can't escape to the mountain. Because some evil might take me there. Is that evil that might take you there worse than the evil that's going to come upon Sodom and Gomorrah? This kind of shows me that law's just an idiot. He's just a soft idiot. This is why he's F tier. Behold now, verse 20, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape thither. Is it not a little one? And my soul shall live. So he can't hike up the mountain. He says, can I just go to Zoar instead? The guy just resists hardships all around. And it should have come as no surprise because he can't resist the temptation to go to the plain of Jordan. He could have resisted temptation to actually live in Sodom, although, you know, I don't know why he would want to go there. He can't resist the temptation to offer up his daughters. He's a completely fearful person. And when finally God is willing to rescue him and save him, he's not willing to climb up the mountain. He's so soft and weak. His legs are so weak. He's just like, can I just go to Zoar? It's little. Verse 21, he said to them, see, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also. Man, God is so merciful. God's like, OK, fine. Go, little one, to the little one. I mean, God, if you ever question the mercy of God, just just read the story of law because God could have just been like, stop being such a wimp. Get up that mountain right now. You're lucky I even took you out of Sodom. But God's like, OK, fine. You know, I've accepted the concerning this also that I will not overthrow this city from which thou has spoken. Haste thee, escape thither, for I cannot do anything till thou become thither. Therefore, the name of the city was called Zoar. So what do we see? We see that law is an F tier Bible character because he pitches his tent towards Sodom. He ends up living in Sodom. He offers his daughters to the sodomites. He's considered a clown to his son in laws. We see that when he is finally going to escape, he doesn't go with haste. He lingers in Sodom. And when they finally force him out of the city, he's unwilling to make the climb in the trek to the mountain. And he chooses a little city instead. Look at verse thirty six. Here's the biggest reason why law takes the win for the F. Verse thirty six. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father and the firstborn bear son and called his name Moab. The same is the father of the Moabites. And to this day and the younger, she also bear a son and called his name Benamei. The same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. Last reason why he's an F tier Bible character. He involuntarily committed incest with his daughters because he got drunk twice. I mean, lot. Good night in the morning. What in the world are you doing? But you know what? To a certain degree, I'm thankful for Lot. I am. Because, you know, he's a great example to use for these dumb workspace salvationists. Who think you have to live a righteous life in order to be saved. Well, what about Lot? He's called just Lot. He's called righteous Lot. And there's not a single righteous thing you can point to him. He's one of the dumbest characters in the Bible. The most weak, limp-wristed, desensitized, godless, worldly, just not able to protect his daughters. I mean, there's absolutely nothing good to say about Lot other than at least he's saved. He is, you know, he's pitching his tent toward Sodom. He's fine with living among Sodomites. He's fine with offering his daughters to the Sodomites to be violated. He's not hastening. He's lingering in Sodom. He doesn't want to climb the mountain. He wants to go to Zoar. He ends up committing incest with his daughters. But other than that, the guy's a great guy. Go to verse 24. So, Lot is an F tier Bible character. But let me also say, Lot's wife is also F tier. And why is that? Look at verse 24. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah, brimstone and fire, from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the plains and all the inhabitants of the cities that were, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. So, you know, Lot's wife could not escape the temptation to just want to look back. Okay? And I don't think she's looking back because she wants to see the destruction of Sodom. I think the Bible seems to imply that she looked back because she actually missed Sodom. And the reason I put her in the F tier is because one of the most powerful verses in the Bible is stated by Jesus. I mean, all the verses that Jesus said are powerful, but this one in particular, remember Lot's wife. And he doesn't even expound. You know why he doesn't expound? Because when he said that, everyone knows what he's talking about. You know, because in context, he's talking about end times, and he's talking about, hey, don't let anybody return back to their house to gather your things. And then he's like, remember Lot's wife, and everyone's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's true, that's true, that's true, that's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, the Lord didn't even have to say anything else, right? Because certain people in the Bible and certain people in life become byword and proverbs. We have byword and proverbs in our church. I can literally speak to everyone's mind and tell you who I'm thinking about right now, and everyone knows who I'm thinking about. Yeah, everyone knows because they're a byword and a proverb. You know, I'm not going to say it. I don't need to. You guys are mind readers. But Lot is F-tier because Jesus said, remember her. And there's nothing good to remember her about. It's not like, oh, yeah, she was pretty good. She was a good wife. She's a good woman. You know, she, she loved her husband. No, she loves Sodom. She's a pillar of salt. F-tier all the way. Go to Acts chapter five and we're done. Acts chapter number five. So as I compiled this list of F-tier Bible characters, I was wrestling with who could potentially be someone in the New Testament. Because there's a ton of people in the Old Testament that we can probably point to as being D-tier, F-tier. But in the New Testament, I was like, who could be an F-tier Bible character in the New Testament? Because there's a lot of people that made mistakes, but quite honestly, you can still point out good things about them. You know, I would even consider Demas to be an F-tier. I would say he's a D-tier. Because all it says is that, you know, he forsook him because he loved this world. And, but we see other parts in the ministry in the New Testament where he's serving with the Apostle Paul. You know, and of course we're referring to saved people. But here is, here are two people that I do believe belong in the F-tier. And remember, they have to be saved, they have to be named, and pretty much nothing good can be said about them. Look at Acts chapter 5 verse 1. But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold the possession and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the Lamb? Why has it remained? Was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? That was not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost, meaning he died. And great fear came on all them that heard these things. Now, can we look at Ananias and point to anything good that he did? He did nothing good. He did nothing good. And in fact, one of the most grievous things that he did is that he lied unto the Holy Ghost, or at least he tried to. So, you know, look at verse 6. And the young men arose and wound him up and carried him out and buried him. This is like mafia style. And it was about the space of three hours after when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. That stinks, you know. So she thinks that the plan is still, you know, everything's still going according to plan. She doesn't know her husband's dead. She says to her, tell me whether you have sold the land for so much. And she said, yea, for so much. Now, this statement right here by Peter is just like. Then Peter said unto her, how is it that you have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door and shall carry thee out. That's cold. Then she fell down straight away at his feet, yielded up the ghost. And the young men came in and found her dead and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And verse 11, in great fear came upon all the church and upon many, as many as heard these things. Now, I believe Ananias and Sapphira were saved. But I believe what they struggled with is this matter of greed or even covetousness or even just the desire to have the admiration of the church and of the believers. Because previous to this, you have Barnabas giving a very generous gift to the believers. And then it automatically goes to chapter 5 where Ananias and Sapphira sell their possession. They claim to that they're going to give a certain amount, but then they keep back part of the price. So basically what they're doing is that they want people to think that they're giving a certain amount. Not because they're going to give that certain amount, but because they want people to think that about them. They want to have a certain reputation before the believers, but they lied. So they made this covenant, they made this agreement with God and with the church that they're going to give this specific amount. They don't do it and therefore God ends up killing them. Now, don't worry. I don't think you're going to die if you stop tithing. It's a possibility though. I can't say beyond a shadow of a doubt. You can definitely die if you stop tithing. I'm not saying that's not going to happen. But I think this is a very specific case where God allowed this to happen in order for the fear of God to be placed in the hearts of that early church. Because I guarantee you after this, no one was just making flipping commitments, agreements, or covenants. They're like, whatever we say we're going to give, we're going to make sure we give it. And so we have them placed in the F tier because they're believers, they're in the New Testament, but absolutely nothing good is said about them because of the fact that they chose to lie unto the Holy Ghost. What's the sermon this evening? It's simply this. Let's strive and avoid to be like these people. We want to avoid being like Lot, being like Adam, listening to his wife, being like Manasseh. And by the way, if you've had a past where you've made a lot of bad decisions and you did a lot of wickedness, then it's time to kind of compensate and start laboring for the Lord exceedingly so that your righteous reputation overshadows the wicked reputation you had in the past. God wants us to clean up our lives and have a reputation that is honorable unto the Lord, to the point where it's almost as if if you were to tell someone what your past was like, people would look at you and say, I can't see that. That's crazy. I didn't know that you were that type of person. God has pretty much did a great work in your life. That's great. You know, we want to avoid being like Manasseh. We want to avoid being like Lot's wife looking back at San Francisco. And then we also want to avoid being like Ananias and Sapphira. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word and thank you for these characters that though they failed exceedingly, they prove that someone can be saved in spite of the fact that they are very wicked in some areas, Lord. I pray that you'd help us to avoid being these types of people, Lord, so we avoid being the least in the kingdom of heaven. And we're thankful that salvation is free. That's a gift that doesn't require our works. But in light of the lives of these people, I pray that you'd help us to live righteously, that our conduct in this world would be in such a way that we would honor you, Lord, and give you glory through our lives and the works that we do. That no one would point to us and say that we're a bad testimony of Christ. And I pray that you bless us as we go in our way, Lord. We love you and we thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.