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🎵Piano music plays🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 🎵Piano music continues🎵 Hey man, welcome to First Works Baptist Church We're going to get started with song number 17 One Day Song number 17, One Day It's a great song, goes through the whole life of Jesus Song number 17 Let's all stand together for our first song Song number 17, as you find your seats Let's all stand together if you are able to Song number 17, seen on that first verse 🎵One day when heaven was filled with his praises🎵 🎵One day when sin was as dark as could be🎵 🎵Jesus came forth to be part of the virgin🎵 🎵Come what may, my example is he🎵 🎵Living, he loved me🎵 🎵Dying, he saved me🎵 🎵Bury, he carried my sins far away🎵 🎵Rising, he justified really forever🎵 🎵One day he's coming🎵 🎵O glorious day🎵 🎵One day they led him up Calvary's mountain🎵 🎵One day they led him to die on a tree🎵 🎵Suffering anguish, despised and rejected🎵 🎵Bury our sins, my Redeemer is he🎵 🎵Living, he loved me🎵 🎵Dying, he saved me🎵 🎵Bury, he carried my sins far away🎵 🎵Rising, he justified really forever🎵 🎵One day he's coming🎵 🎵O glorious day🎵 🎵One day they led him alone in the garden🎵 🎵One day he rested from suffering free🎵 🎵Angels came down on his neck🎵 🎵Hope of the hopeless, my Saviour is he🎵 🎵Living, he loved me🎵 🎵Dying, he saved me🎵 🎵Bury, he carried my sins far away🎵 🎵Rising, he justified really forever🎵 🎵One day he's coming🎵 🎵O glorious day🎵 🎵One day the grave could conceal him no longer🎵 🎵One day the stone rolled away from the door🎵 🎵Then he arose over death he had conquered🎵 🎵Now is ascended my Lord evermore🎵 🎵Living, he loved me🎵 🎵Dying, he saved me🎵 🎵Bury, he carried my sins far away🎵 🎵Rising, he justified really forever🎵 🎵One day he's coming🎵 🎵O glorious day🎵 🎵One day the trumpet will sound for his coming🎵 🎵One day the skies with his glories will shine🎵 🎵Wonderful day my beloved ones is bringing🎵 🎵Glorious Savior this Jesus is mine🎵 🎵Living, he loved me🎵 🎵Dying, he saved me🎵 🎵Bury, he carried my sins far away🎵 🎵Rising, he justified really forever🎵 🎵One day he's coming🎵 🎵O glorious day🎵 Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer. Dear God, Heavenly Father, I wish to thank you so much, Lord God, that one day you die on the cross for our sins, Lord dear God, and one day you will be coming back to rapture us, Lord dear God. And Lord, I do pray that you please, Lord God, just be with us, Lord God, throughout the service. We thank you so much, Lord God, for allowing us to be in your house. We do pray that you please just bless every aspect of this service, Lord God. Please bless the singing unto you, and please, most of all, please bless the preaching of your word. Please be with Pastor Mejia as he preaches your word, filling with your Holy Spirit. And I pray that you'd also just be with us, Lord dear God, that you would please help us, Lord God, to just understand your word as it's being preached, Lord God, unto us, and that we would just apply it to our lives, that we might leave here changed, Lord God, this morning. I pray now these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Song number 230, Heavenly Sunlight. Song number 230, Heavenly Sunlight is our second song. Song number 230, seen on that first verse. Walking in sunlight, all of my journey, over the mountains, through the deveil. Jesus has set out, never for safety, promised divine that never can fail. Heavenly Sunlight, Heavenly Sunlight, body my soul with glory divine. Alleluia, I am rejoicing, singing His praises. Jesus is mine, shadows around me, shadows above me. Never conceal my Savior and guide. He is the light in Him is no darkness, ever a monkey close by His side. Heavenly Sunlight, Heavenly Sunlight, body my soul with glory divine. Alleluia, I am rejoicing, singing His praises. Jesus is mine in the bright sunlight. Ever rejoicing, pressing my way to mansions above. Singing His praises, gladly I'm walking, walking in sunlight, sunlight above. Heavenly Sunlight, Heavenly Sunlight, body my soul with glory divine. Alleluia, I am rejoicing, singing His praises. Jesus is mine. All right, wonderful singing. Thank you for being here this morning. Just a few announcements before we sing our next song, which will be 258, if you want to get that ready in your songbooks, 258. If you did not get a bulletin, go and raise your hand and one of the ushers can get one for you. Some important information on there. Our services are as follows. Sunday morning is at 1030 Sunday evening at 5 p.m. And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock. We are currently going through the Book of First Samuel, so hope to see you there. You see the so many times and teams, the list of expecting mothers, if you can continue to keep them in your prayers. And the important reminders, please make sure that you are supervising your children in the building. No children should be in the mother baby room or any room for that matter alone without their parents. And of course, no men allowed in the mother baby room or in the women's fellowship restroom. Men, if you're taking your children out during the service, if they need to be distracted or for whatever reason, you can utilize the foyer and the fellowship hall for that. There are screens as well as speakers available in those rooms. And then some of the upcoming church events. We have the ladies prayer night coming up this Friday, March 4th. I believe that's around 630, if I'm not mistaken. Does anybody know? I'm just going to throw that out there. Yeah, 630. It's 630 from now on, right? There is dinner available for all the ladies who come. And so it'll be here at the building. And then we have the birthday breakfast and Judea soul winning on Sunday, March 6th, as well as Pastor Jonathan Shelley preaching for us. So he's going to be with us next week. It's exciting. He's the pastor of Steadfast Baptist Church over in Hearst, Texas. He's a good friend of mine and he's a great preacher. And so make sure you are here. Amen. Be a blessing. Be here. Be in support. Of course, he's fighting a great battle right now at his church. He's being evicted from his church building in Texas. You would think that Texas is such a free state. You know, it's like the freest state there is, but yet you can't preach the truth out there because if you do, you'll get evicted from your building. And so he's getting persecuted right now. And so we want to be a blessing to him. He'll be here preaching Sunday morning, Sunday night. And he's bringing his whole family with him, by the way. And so it's going to be a blessing to have him. That'll be next Sunday. Bring some visitors with you. And then the San Diego Sewing Marathon is coming up on Saturday, March 12th at 830 a.m. You see the location there. And we're teaming up with Faithful Word Baptist Church to win some souls to Christ there in San Diego. And then the music training is coming up on Saturday, March 19th. If you're involved in the music training in any way, whether you're a piano player or playing in an orchestra, song leader, or you're part of the music CD that we're putting together, you're vocalist on that, make sure you're there for that training. We're going to give out some important information about our ministry here in regards to the music, so don't miss out on that. And then just the regular reminders there, no food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee. No loitering in the foyer and fellowship hall during the preaching service. And quiet time is at 3 p.m. from this afternoon from 3 p.m. to 4.15 in the main auditorium, mother-baby room. And please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service. And that's pretty much it. Let's go ahead and sing our next song, 258. 258, Christ Receiveth Sinful Men, song number 258. Song number 258, Christ Receiveth Sinful Men. We'll sing it on that verse. Sinners Jesus we'll receive Sound this word of grace to all Who the heavenly pathway lead All who linger, all who fall Sing it o'er and o'er again Christ receiveth sinful men Make the message clear and plain Christ receiveth sinful men Come and He will give you rest Trust Him for His word is plain He will take the sinful less Christ receiveth sinful men Sing it o'er and o'er again Christ receiveth sinful men Make the message clear and plain Christ receiveth sinful men Now my heart condense me not Pure before the law I stand He who claims to be promised fun Satisfied his last demand Sing it o'er and o'er again Christ receiveth sinful men Make the message clear and plain Christ receiveth sinful men Christ receiveth sinful men Even me with all my sin Purged from ev'ry spot and stain Head with Him I enter in Sing it o'er and o'er again Christ receiveth sinful men Make the message clear and plain Christ receiveth sinful men Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time, more churches will be receiving the offering. And please turn your Bibles to James chapter 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James chapter number 1, the Bible reads, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, the twelve tribes which are scouted abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfect and entire wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and abraighteth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted. But the rich in that he is made low, because as a flower of the grass he shall pass away. But the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth. So also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, cometh down from the Father of lights, with him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness, and suffer fluidly of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is likened to a man beholding his natural face in a glass, for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But if so looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion, and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and keep himself unspotted from the world. Let's pray. Dear Lord God, I just thank you for this opportunity to assemble, to hear the preaching of your word. I just ask that you be with our pastor now. Please just fill in with your Holy Spirit, and please just prepare our hearts to hear your word, and to take diligent heed to it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Okay, we're in James chapter number one this morning. Look down at your Bibles at verse 13. It says, Let no man say, When he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. The title of my sermon this morning is The Ravages of Sin. The ravages of sin. I want to talk about the consequences of sin. What are the ramifications of sin? What are the wages of sin? Of course, we know Romans 6 23, but I want to expand that a little further, and talk about how sin affects our lives as Christians. What are some of the things that it does in our lives? How does it destroy us, etc. Here in James chapter one, we really see the progression of a man being tempted to the final outcome of giving in to his sin, which is death. And let me just say a couple things here. In verse 13, it says, Let no man say, When he is tempted, I am tempted of God. And in the Bible, there are actually two types of temptations that we see. When it comes to temptation, you have the temptation which simply means to be tested. And we see this where God tempted Abraham, for example. He's not tempting him with sin. He's not putting iniquity before him. He's not trying to cause him to transgress or do something that is contrary to his laws. A temptation, when it comes from God, is referring to a test. We often can refer to it as a trial. A difficulty that God places in our lives. It's when he's testing our faith, trying to make us stronger. That is the definition of being tempted. But then there's another temptation that's referring to causing someone or placing a stumbling block before someone. It's basically the step right before you commit sin. And this is the specific temptation that we see in verse 13 when it says, Let no man say, When he is tempted, I am tempted of God. No one can say when they've committed sin, Oh man, why did God place this temptation in my life? No, you put yourself in that situation to cause yourself to be tempted which eventually caused you to lust, which eventually caused you to sin. Don't say that you are tempted of God or God placed that sin in your life or God did this. You know, that's a very Calvinistic way of viewing God. You understand? Where it's like, Well, it's God the one who allowed this to happen in my life and allowed me to commit this sin. Wrong. It says, Therefore God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. You know, atheists and unbelievers will take verses like this and say this is a contradiction because we see God tempting people in the Old Testament yet here it says that he doesn't tempt any man. But that's because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. They don't understand that words can have different meanings based upon its context. So how do you know that it's not referring to sin when it's in regards to God? Because God doesn't sin and he doesn't cause people to sin. That's against God's divine nature. So he explains the fact that God is not the one that causes you to be tempted or causes you to sin and he places the responsibility on the individual themselves. It says in verse 14, Every man is tempted when he is drawn away, listen to this, of his own lust. Because everyone has their own lust, right? A specific sin that they struggle with based upon what they're predisposed to as they grow up or maybe the type of family you grew up in, the type of environment that you have. You have a specific lust that you struggle with. Not everyone struggles with drunkenness. Not everyone struggles with drugs. Not everyone struggles with particular sins, for example covetousness or gambling. Everyone has a specific thing that they struggle with. And here it says that a person is tempted when they're drawn away of their own lust. They become enticed and then they begin to lust. And when lust, if it's not checked, if it's not dealt with immediately, it conceives and then it brings forth death. Now turn with me if you would to go to Romans chapter number 6 if you would. Romans chapter number 6. And let me make this disclaimer also is that temptation is not a sin. You know we're all tempted and we all face temptations in this world, but temptation is not a sin, it's not a transgression, it's not wrong. And in fact the Bible tells us of Jesus Christ that he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. So it's actually possible to be tempted and not given to sin, not allow yourself to transgress or commit iniquity. But here's the goal folks, the goal should be that you stay away from temptation. Because guess what? We're not Jesus. You understand? We don't have, we're not 100% God, you know we're only 100% man, and we have the corruptible flesh dwelling within us. And so what we need to do is steer clear of temptation since it operates as an agent of death. It seeks to bring you to the point where you are before sin, you commit sin, and then death is eventually conceived, and death of a vision, death of, you know, blessings, death of whatever it may be. The Bible tells us here in Romans chapter 6, I'm going to read to you from a couple of other verses here. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse 17, Breath of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. And this is a great way to describe the effects of sin. Because sin can be sweet for a time. And in fact it says here that the bread of deceit is sweet to a man. But then once you finish eating it, once you finish consuming it, it's like gravel in your mouth. The after effects, the aftertaste is disgusting. You know, I'm sure all of us can attest to a type of food or drink that initially tastes great, but then it leaves a bad taste in your mouth thereafter. Someone give me an example, I can't think of one right now. KFC. KFC, that was like out of left field. I like that aftertaste of KFC, I don't know, maybe I got all these GMOs in my body that allowed me to like lack them. Alright, what's another example? Bangs. Bangs, oh yeah. Bangs energy drinks is a perfect example of that. And in fact, in my opinion, the initial taste is disgusting from beginning to end. It's worse! But you know, there's certain things in this world that once you drink it or eat it, it may taste good at the very beginning, it may be palatable to you, but you know what, afterwards thy mouth shall be filled with gravel. And in the spiritual sense, that's exactly how sin works. You know the Bible says of Moses that he chose rather to suffer the afflictions with the people of God, listen to this, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. So what does that tell us? It tells us that sin is actually pleasurable, but only for a season. And then afterwards it produces death. Afterwards thy mouth shall be filled with gravel. Afterwards you receive the ramifications, the consequences, the aftermath of sin is always a lot worse. And often, you know, the ramifications or the outcome of sin is actually a lot worse than what the pleasure was at the beginning. Okay, it overshadows it. So let's talk about the ramifications of sin. Let me just point out the most obvious one when it comes to the consequences of sin is death. Right? The famous verse here, Romans chapter 6, look at verse 21, we'll start at verse 21. It says, Famous verse here, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, you know, this could be applicable to a lot of different things, right? We can compare this to James chapter 1 of what we just read, how sin produces death. And we could apply it to many different areas in our life. You know, sin can bring death to our family. Sin can bring death to our character, to our reputation, to God's blessing in our life, to a lot of different things. But in its most literal sense, it's referring to the fact that this entire world will receive the punishment of sin, which is the first death referring to hell. Okay? That's actually what it's referring to right off the bat. Okay? Now, you stay there in Romans chapter 6, we're going to come back to that. And I'm going to read to you from Revelation chapter 20. You say, well, how do you know it's the first death? Pastor, I think you're putting words in the mouth of God here when you say the first death, when it only says that the wages of sin is death. Well, here's the thing, folks, when the Bible talks about a second death, Okay? You know, if we count correctly, that would mean if there's a second one, then guess what? There's a first one as well. Okay? Revelation 20 verse 13 says, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell were delivered up, the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell, listen to this, were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Now, we obviously understand, and this is not a sermon on hell, but let me just briefly explain this, is that hell and the lake of fire can both be considered hell. Okay? And you say, why can't they be both considered hell? Because you burn in both places. And whoever is currently in hell today will be in the lake of fire in the future. Okay? The difference is that the lake of fire is a lot bigger, first and foremost. And the lake of fire is a place where not only the soul goes, according to the Bible, but also the body. So the Bible actually says that at the end of the world when the great white throne judgment takes place, both soul and body are actually cast into hell. Okay? Now, this is the sequence, the order of events that happens to an unsaved person. Okay? If an unsaved person dies in this lifetime without Christ, their soul descends into hell. The Bible says that they lift up their eyes in hell being in torment. Okay? And you know what? They may not even know why they're there. Exactly. Okay? They're like, man, I'm just burning in hell. And they can, I don't know, maybe they can speculate as to why they're there. Maybe, you know, I rejected that soul winner or whatever it may be. But they are lifting up their eyes. The people that die today on Sunday without Christ will lift up their eyes in hell. Okay? Which is that first death. But then you have what's called the second death, which is the lake of fire that comes after they're judged by God out of the books and out of the, to see if they're in the book of the living, but then they're also judged out of the books, referring to the Bible. So in other words, it's their trial. Okay? They stand before God and God judges them and says, these are the sins that you've committed and you're not found written in the book of life. In other words, you're not saved. You didn't believe on Jesus Christ for your salvation. And so now you're going to be cast into the lake of fire. Okay? So death and hell after that's finished are relocated into the lake of fire, which is known as the second death. Now that, people have a hard time wrapping their minds around that because when we think of death, we think of finality. Right? You know, when a physical body dies, it's dead. It's never going to relive again. But when the Bible talks about death, it doesn't mean that they cease to exist. They actually live forever. The difference is the Bible actually describes it as dying forever. They're eternally punished. They're conscious of what's going on. They can feel pain. They can feel sorrow. They can feel all those things. The difference is that God doesn't consider them to be alive. You understand? Someone who is alive, even though they're dead, is someone who has died and gone home to be with the Lord. Whereas a person who dies without Christ, their soul is in hell. God considers them to be dead. They will eternally be punished. The Bible says that the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever. Okay? This is what's known as the second death. Revelation 21a, a very famous verse that we use when we go out sowning, says, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters. And just in case you didn't commit any of those things, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So how do you avoid it? Well, Revelation 2, verse 11 says, He that hath in the ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death. And again, let's not put our own definition or what we think overcome means according to the Bible. We need to go to the biblical definition of what it means to overcome, which is that you place your faith in Christ. Okay? The Bible says in Romans chapter 8 that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Another word, a synonym for conquerors is an overcomer. So the true overcomer is Jesus Christ, but when we believe on Jesus Christ, we too become overcomers. We too become conquerors over death. Okay? And so what is the ramification? What is the greatest ramification? The greatest consequence, the greatest aftermath that someone can experience when it comes to sin? Hell. This is why our church is called First Works Baptist Church, because we want to emphasize the fact that we need to go out there and preach the gospel, get as many people saved as possible, help them to pull them out of the fire, help them to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ so they don't receive the consequences of their sin, which is hell. Okay? And let me just say this. You know, when it comes to salvation, there's two sides of this coin, because people can ask, like, why do people go to hell? And we can say, well, it's because of their sin, and it's true. But we can also say, well, it's because they haven't trusted Christ as their savior, and that's also true. Both of them are actually true. And the reason I say it is because years ago I remember pastors kind of having that debate and the old IFB is like, no, it's because of their sin. No, it's because they haven't trusted Christ. It's both. Because when you believe on Jesus Christ, you are absolved of all your sins, past, present, and future. You understand? And so, you know, people go to hell to pay for their sins, but it can also be said that they go there because they have not trusted Christ as their savior. You understand? And that is the greatest ramification of sin. And this, you know, for thousands of years, people have gone to hell. There's people in hell today, folks. There's people that are burning in fire. They're burning in brimstone. They're tormented. And, you know, I'll be honest with you. I have family members who are in hell today, unfortunately. You know? I have family members that I've never met before, you know, from my past, or family members that I have known, but they rejected Christ. They died, and they went to hell, folks. It's a real place. It's where people go. It's why it's important that we keep the main thing the main thing, which is soul winning. And it's not to say that, you know, nothing else is important. We understand that we need to do works, you know, and please God. You know, we're created in Christ Jesus into good works, and we need to do everything else. But priorities are also important, okay? Because we need to get people saved, but, you know, we need to be balanced in our ministry as well and make sure that we emphasize everything, okay? And so let me point something out here. You know, and here's the thing is, some people listen to a point like this and say, Yeah, you know, the wages of sin is death, but yet you're over here preaching a greasy grace type of a gospel and not telling people to repent of their sins for salvation. Well, the reason I don't do this is because the Bible tells me not to do that. So I think we should do what the Bible says. And not try to impose our own doctrines and say things that are unbiblical. And in fact, to teach anything else other than the biblical way of salvation is considered damnable heresy. And here's one of the favorite verses they like to quote. Look at verse 1 of Romans chapter 6. Well, look at chapter 5 verse 20. It says in chapter 5 verse 20, Listen to this. Chapter 6 verse 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Now, let me just point out something really, really, really, really, really obvious. He says there, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Let me ask you a question. What is God forbidding for us to do? To continue in sin. But let me ask you this. Does he forbid for grace to abound? No. No. Pretty obvious, right? Yeah. God forbid. What does he forbid? For us to continue in sin. But does he forbid for grace to abound? No. Why? Because he knows that we do what he forbids. Yeah. And the people who want to quote this every single day and condemn us, they are continuing in the sin that God forbade them to continue in. Okay. And so it's hypocritical to say, God forbid, while they're also doing the same thing. Thou that teacheth another, teacheth not thyself. But thankfully, you know, the Bible tells us that, yeah, he forbids us to sin. But you know what, if we sin, according to the Bible, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. That's what the Bible says. Because we're not perfect. We're going to sin. We're going to make mistakes. And therefore, the grace of God will continuously abound. God's grace will always be ahead of our sin. Always. Sin will never, as safe people, sin will never catch up to God's grace. God's grace will perpetually be ahead of our sin. It will never fall behind. Why? Because it will always abound. And God will never forbid it to abound. He forbids us to sin because he wants us to live a life that's pleasing unto him. He wants us to be blessed. He doesn't want to punish us. He doesn't want us to suffer the ramifications of our sin. But if it does happen because it's natural, it's man's natural propensity to sin, then at that point, we understand that grace will abound. And so, you know, got to mention that because people, oh, you know, you just teach this greasy grace and all this stuff. No, your heart is as fat as grease. Because your heart is filled with all these YouTube bozos out there. They don't know what they're talking about. And you're obviously not looking to God's word. Yeah, but you know, you can still walk away, though, from the gift. You can still give it back, you know. Go to Romans chapter 9. First of all, who in their right mind, who in their right mind would give back salvation? Right? Who would do that? Like, you know what, I don't want this. Being saved sucks. It's like, I want hell. No one really wants that. But let me just show you that it's actually impossible to give salvation back. Because here's the thing. Anybody who is not saved, according to the Bible, is under the wrath of God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on Him. And the Bible tells us that if you are under the law, that you're accursed, according to the Bible, right? Well, look what the Bible says in verse 1 of Romans 9. I say the truth in Christ. I lie not. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. Look what it says. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Why is he wishing that? Because it's not possible. He says, I wish I could, but I can't. Why? Because I can't lose my salvation for any reason. Not for his own reason, not to get other people saved, not to help others come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He says, I wish I could be accursed, but he can't because nothing, the Bible says, can separate us from the love of God. Nothing can. Not even yourself. And so, you know, we're talking about the ramifications of sin. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Just want to throw that in there. A little tool that you could use there when people say things like that. Oh, you can give it back. Well, Paul said that I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ. In other words, he can't. Because if it were possible, he'd be like, well, time to make myself accursed. Let me just go ahead and give the gift back. Let me take my gift and give it to someone else and therefore I lose it or something like that. It's impossible. So what are the ramifications of sin? What is sin's aftermath? Well, death is one of them. But let's move on to the believer. Because here's the thing is that once we get saved, we're forgiven of all sins past, present and future. But this doesn't mean that you don't suffer the consequences of sin in this lifetime. And this is the common accusation that people bring to us who preach the gospel, go soul winning. You know, they're saying, oh, so you're saying that once you're saved, you could just live however you want. You just go on and commit all kinds of sin. I'm not saying that, you're saying that. Because that's a weird thing to say, too. Who, like, which one of us in this room would say, I'm saved, so I'm just going to go commit a bunch of fornication. I'm just going to go drink, eat, drink and be married for tomorrow, go to heaven. No one says that. This is an accusation from people who that's in their heart. They're like, well, if I had it my way, I'd be saved and just commit all kinds of sin, all types of wickedness. Folks, those of us who know God's word, those of us who have the mind of Christ understand that there are consequences to sin for the Christian. What does it do? It incures the wrath of God is what it does. And we're not talking about the wrath referring to hell, we're talking about wrath that you could experience here in this world. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10, I'm going to read to you from 1 John chapter 5 verse 16. It says here, If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. What is he saying? There's certain sins that you can commit and when you commit them, it doesn't mean you're just going to die automatically. But the Bible says there is a sin unto death though, I do not say that he shall pray for it. There are certain sins that can cost you your life. Now obviously in its most literal sense we can say that if we're living under Levitical law, there's a lot of sins that can just bring you the death penalty. But folks, there's sins that we can commit in this world and our lifetime that can cause God's hand to be against us to the point where he kills us. If you really wanted to. Sins such as fornication, sins such as idolatry, sins such as covetousness, certain sins that God can deem fit to say, well I'm just going to take you home. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1 for an example of this. Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now what does it mean to be overthrown? It means to be destroyed. Now these things were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. So God allowed the overthrowing of these people to be recorded in the Bible so that we can read it and say, well we should not do that. Because I don't want to be overthrown. I don't want to die, I don't want God to punish me, therefore I need to steer clear of these particular sins. It says in verse 7, Just like that. 3 in 20,000 just destroyed them right off the bat for fornication. Now let's say someone in our church commits fornication, let's say like 3 people commit fornication in our church, and then like 6 die. You know that would probably stop a lot of people from committing fornication. They're like, you know what, I'm not going to do that. I want to be married. We're not, no. But you know what, it doesn't need to happen in the church because God wrote it in the Bible for us. He didn't do it to 6, he did it to 3 in 20,000. Neither let us tempt Christ. Now I'm not saying that every fornicator is going to receive this. But do you really want to roll the dice on that though? Neither, listen to this, neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. You know God is very creative when he chastises his people. He sends serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now what is murmuring? It means complaining, so complaining is actually a sin. So when you're complaining and whining and murmuring and disputing and just are not grateful, God considers that to be a sinful thing to do, even to the point where he sent Apollyon. Also known as Abaddon, to go and destroy them. Now listen to my sermon on Apollyon and Abaddon. This guy is crazy. God brings him out for like some of the worst plagues the world has ever known. That shows you how upset God gets with murmuring and complaining. Now all these things, verse 11, happen unto them for examples and they are written for our admonition. Upon whom the ends of the world are come. So he's saying look, God recorded them and look, this is aside from the things that God did not record. There's plenty of things that God did, God judged that he did not record, but these are specifically written for us so that we are warned that we do not commit these things and fall at the hands of God. Look at verse 12. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Go to Hebrews chapter 10 if you would, Hebrews chapter 10. Now we've often quoted that verse, I have often quoted that verse. And when we think of that particular verse, let he that standeth take heed lest he fall, we automatically associate that with falling into sin. Don't be prideful, don't be arrogant, don't be presumptuous because if you think you're just strong in the Lord and in the power of his mind and you can withstand sin, you know, you're going to fall into sin. That's often how I've interpreted it, that's how I've heard it preached, that's how I've preached it. But really this isn't saying that standeth take heed lest he fall into sin, that's not what it's saying at all. Because all the examples that we see is God destroying them. What is he talking about? Well look at Hebrews chapter 10 verse 26. For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Now people also will use a passage like this to teach that you can lose your salvation, right? And they'll often point to this and say, well there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. And here's my answer, yeah because we're not in the Old Testament. We don't do animal sacrifices to atone for the sins of our flesh anymore. Which is something that they did in the Old Testament to atone for their daily sins, they would do these animal sacrifices on a daily basis to do so. Verse 27 says, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. Listen to what it says in verse 28, he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Now this is proof beyond a shadow of a doubt that this isn't referring to a spiritual death. Because when it says that they died without mercy under two or three witnesses, it's referring to someone who's guilty of capital crimes. Because when you have two or three witnesses, they're the ones who are testifying against you of the crime you've committed, and they're the ones who are going to stone you. Because they're the ones whose hands should be upon you first, because they're the ones who viewed that first. And they shall die without mercy. The Bible reiterates this, or states this, excuse me, in the Old Testament as, you know, mine eyes shall not pity, thine eyes shall not pity. Another way of saying that is without mercy. This was God's justice system. And by the way, this is why we believe in the death penalty, amen. It's not, we don't believe in the death penalty that we should be carrying out the death penalty, as many people would falsely accuse us of believing. You know, words are so violent today. It's just like, oh you guys are so violent, you guys believe in the death penalty. Not by me! I'm not an executioner. I'm not a person designated for that job. I'm preaching what the Bible says, that people should be put to death for capital crimes. And you know what, the crime rate would drop, I mean, a lot. Considerably, if the death penalty was instituted for capital crimes once again. Because people would see that, I'm like, you know, I'm not going to do that. I don't, I'm not going to commit that crime. I want to commit that crime, but I'm not going to. Verse 29, of how much sore punishment suppose he, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under the foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified in an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. So he's saying, you know, you're not going to physically die by two or three witnesses in the New Testament because we're not under that law. If you're sinning willfully, but that doesn't mean that you're saved from God's hand. Because God can still punish you. It says in verse 30, for we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people. I didn't write the rest of the verse on here. Verse 31, it is a fearful thing, listen to this, to fall into the hands of the living God. So when 1 Corinthians 10 says, he that standeth take heed lest he fall, he's not saying lest he fall into sin, he says lest he fall into the hands of the living God. Now obviously we should fear the consequences of sin, but you know what's way more scarier than that? Is the hand of the living God, who can just destroy your life. And God knows how to hit you where it hurts. So what are the ramifications of sin for a Christian? Well it can destroy your life, it can incur the wrath of God upon your life. This is why we preach holiness, this is why we preach against sin. This is why we tell you to repent of your transgressions and iniquities, to live a life that's pleasing unto God, why? So that God's hand won't fall upon you. You're like, oh I'm fine, I think it'll be okay, take heed, lest he fall into the hands of the living God. The Bible says in Proverbs 28 verse 13, he that covereth his sin shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. The Bible says, go to 2 Samuel chapter 12 if you would, 2 Samuel chapter 12. We're talking about the consequences, the ramifications, the aftermath of sin. What are the ravages of sin? Well for one, for unsaved people it can take them to hell. But number two, it can incur the wrath of God upon a believer. Number three, it can bring a reproach to the name of Christ. Now for the carnal Christian, they may not even care about that. I'll just be honest with you. But people who love the Lord, they love the Bible, that means a lot. Because someone who loves the Lord and is walking in the Spirit and wants to do right, they want to glorify the name of God. They want to be the reason why people glorify God on our behalf. We want to be the ones who are pleasing God, we're a good testimony to this world. And look, I'm not saying compromise God's word to be a testimony because at that point you're being a bad testimony to God. When people want to just be a politician rather than a Christian and just try to please both sides, yeah you may be a good testimony to this world but you're being a bad testimony to God. And from God's perspective, you're still being a bad testimony because you are misrepresenting Jesus Christ and the Word of God. But sin can bring a reproach to the name of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? People can speak evil of God's ways of the Bible because of your sin. They look at you and say, well you're a Christian, yet you are drinking on the weekends, you're still smoking pot, you're living with your girlfriend, you are unjust in your dealings, in your business dealings, you're a liar, you're deceitful, you're dishonest, and yet you say that you are a Christian. What does that do? It brings a reproach to the name of Jesus Christ. So yeah, it may not affect you personally but eventually it will because of the fact that you are affecting the name of Christ, Christianity, etc. Now people will tell this to me practically every day, every week. Oh you're bringing a reproach to the name of Jesus Christ because you're so hateful for your preaching and you preach all these things. And I'm thinking to myself, you're a reproach because you don't even know that what I'm preaching is actually the Bible. So you should be ashamed of yourself and embarrassed that you are rebuking someone who is actually preaching the Word of God. I quote you Jesus, you quote me Gandhi. And say that that's Jesus. Shame on you my friend. You're a bad testimony. You're a bad testimony to me. You're in 2 Samuel 12, I'm going to read to you 1 Peter 4 verse 14. It says, If you be reproach for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. In other words, you know, being reproached is just a part of the Christian life. But you better make sure that you're being reproached for the right reasons, and not for the wrong ones. Be reproached for the name of Christ, you should be happy. That's why our church is one of the happiest churches I've ever been to. We're extremely happy. Why? Because we're always being reproached for the name of Christ. People are always condemning us for preaching the Bible, for standing for God's Word, and we quite like it around here. But we don't want any of us to suffer as a murderer, though. As an evildoer, as a thief, as a busybody, as a man who's committing sin. Because at that point, you're being reproached, or Christ is now being reproached on your behalf. Because of your sins, because of your transgressions, iniquities, whatever it may be. Look at 2 Samuel, look at an example of this. Of course, David is a man after God's own heart. He's the sweet psalmist of Israel. But folks, he's like every other man, he's like every other human being in this world. He made mistakes, grievous mistakes at that. And he suffered a lot of consequences because of it. Of course, I'm referring to the death of Uriah by his hand, and also the adultery that he committed with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife. So he commits these sins and then he covers them up hoping that he would prosper. But the thing is, he didn't really take into account that God was watching him. And the Bible tells us in chapter 11 that God was not pleased with David in the thing that he hath done. And look what it says in verse 13, And David said unto Nathan, of course Nathan confronts him, he says, I have sinned against the Lord, and Nathan said unto David, The Lord hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. Now this is very different from what we read in 1 John chapter 5, right? But the reason why is because David just confessed that I have sinned. Okay, which will lead me to another point in just a little bit, but obviously David was sincere, he was grieved over his sin, and therefore he himself did not die, but that didn't mean there wasn't consequences to his sin. Because he says in verse 14, Howbeit, because by this deed, thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. So unfortunately the child suffered the consequences of David's sin. And why is that? Well because by David's actions, he caused the unsaved nations that surround him to blaspheme the name of the Lord. Now what does that teach us? It teaches us that unsaved people are always watching us. Always watching us. You know, we as Christians, we kind of live in a glass house, right? People are always watching us, especially the enemies of the Lord. You say, man that's kind of stressful. Well not if you just do right. Not if you're just honest. Not if you just serve the Lord. Not if you just read the Bible and just take care of your responsibilities and not be a two-faced Christian. You should be good to go. And you know, there's no way of avoiding reproach for the name of Christ, but you know what? If you are sinning and covering up for your sin, and you're not prospering, and you're committing transgressions and iniquities, you know what? And if the world finds out about it, they're going to blaspheme the name of the Lord. They're going to reproach the name of Christ because of your actions. And that's not to say that we don't make mistakes. Obviously we make mistakes. And when we make mistakes, we plead for God to have mercy on us, to be gracious to us. Obviously we know that we can confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And we can plead that God will be merciful to us, and often He is merciful to us. More often than not. But you know what? We don't want to place ourselves in a position like David where we have to plead for that, but there's still consequences to be paid. You understand? Go to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter number 2. So people can suffer the consequences of their sin, and one of the consequences is that they become a reproach, or Jesus becomes a reproach in the mouths of the unsaved because of our actions. But look what Titus 2 verse 3 says. That's not the only way. Look what verse 3 says. The aged women also, the aged women likewise, excuse me, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young men to be sober, excuse me, young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands. Why? That the word of God be not blasphemed. So when you have Christian women feminists, it's an organization of blasphemers of God's word. When you have women who do not obey their husbands, oh you're such a male chauvinist pig, pigs are females, hogs are males. I gotta correct that every time someone says that. I get what you're saying, but hogs are males. But secondly, I'm preaching God's word. And the Bible says that women should obey their husbands, and look, I'm not telling, I'm not just getting on the women because men should love their wives as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Men are to live lives that are sacrificial towards their wives, provide for their wives, love their wives, be there for their wives, wash their wives with the washing of the water by the word, the Bible says. The Bible tells us these things, but here it says that a woman should have these qualities and if she doesn't, she's actually blaspheming God's word. Because you claim to be a Christian, yet your character and qualities and your so-called virtues are opposite to God's word. You're labeling yourself a Christian while you're doing the complete opposite, you're blaspheming God's word, it's not right to do. This is why Joyce Myers needs to sit down and shut up. Talk about a ministry dedicated to blaspheming God's word. And she needs to grow out her hair too. And what's up with her husband sitting on the front row, amen-ing that? By the way, Joyce Myers is obviously a false prophet. And here's the thing, I'm not against women preaching because we have many women in our church who go out every single Sunday and preach the gospel to every creature. They are formidable soul winners for the Lord. They can preach the gospel like any other guy in our church could. Just as good as any man in our church. And you know what? They can also preach God's word to their children. They dedicate their lives to teaching their children, raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, teaching them doctrine, teaching them Bible stories, teaching them what the word of God says. That's great. But you know what Joyce Myers is doing is not great. That is literally a ministry dedicated to blaspheming the word of God. And shame on any guy. First of all, who not only listens to her, but goes to her service? Talk about high estrogen levels. Good night in the morning. Like do you go there with a trench coat? I mean I hope you do. That's embarrassing folks. It's embarrassing. It's a shame. And so, you know, she's causing the name of God to be blasphemed. She's causing the word of God to be blasphemed because she is claiming that she's sent by God, that God has sanctioned her to do so, which is wrong. Understand? Go to Psalm 51. So Joyce Myers is the consequences of sin. Her ministry are the ramifications of sin. And I know people get offended at that, but you know what? You need to take your liberal views somewhere else. And adhere to God's word, adhere to the statutes and precepts of the Bible. Yes, they're offensive, but if they offend you it's because you need to love God's word more. Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them, the Bible says. Alright, we'll move on from that. What are some other ramifications of sin? Well, let me just say this is that sin can cost you your joy. You see, as Christians we have access to the greatest joy ever known to mankind. We can be the happiest people on the face of the planet. We have joy. We have joy of the Holy Ghost. You know, the peace and the joy that comes with that. But what robs us of that wonderful joy is actually sin. And we gave the example of David in 2 Samuel, but here in Psalm 51 he actually writes his psalm of repentance. His psalm where he's grieved over his sin. Look what it says in verse 9. Hide thy face from my sins and blood out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me, listen to this, the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then I will teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee. So notice he didn't say restoring to me salvation. He says restoring to me the joy of thy salvation. Because sin will rob you of your joy. Now let me just say this is that we obviously understand that you don't have to be sorry for your sin to be saved. Right? But after salvation you should be sorry for your sin. It should grieve you. And you know I'm leery of people who just want to have this over the top kind of view or just like I'm just emotionless I don't care and you know and nothing really bothers me. It's just doctrine doctrine doctrine doctrine. Yeah I'm all about doctrine too, but you know the Bible also talks about emotions. And just remember this is the Bible says that grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. So that means the Holy Spirit grieves. Feels grief. Feels sorrow. You know in like manner so should we. And here's the thing what we're not saying is that if you don't feel grief over your sin we're not saying you're not saved. But what we're saying is this you should feel grief for your sin. Now if you don't feel grief for your sin it just means you have a hardened heart. It just means you've been desensitized. It just means that you don't you no longer possess listen to this a tender heart for the things of God. And that should that should bother you a little bit. You know if it doesn't if when you read the Bible you read certain things it doesn't do something to your soul ever once in a while that should bother you. If your sin and the sins of others doesn't bother you that should bother you. Something needs to change. Why? Because sin is a grievous thing. It robs us of our joy. I'm going to read to you from Psalm 38 verse 1 it says Oh Lord David here rebuke me not in thy wrath neither chasing me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger. Listen to this. Neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. You know I think it's safe to say that sin bothered David. He's just kind of like there's no rest in my bones because of my sin. Like I'm bothered by this. I just I can't seem to just live a normal life. There's no soundness. I don't have the peace of God right now. He says in verse 4 for mine iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I'm trouble. I am bowed down greatly. I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease and there is no soundness in my flesh. Now he's not referring to like he's like literally diseased. He's referring to the disease of sin. That's what he's talking about. He's like my loins are filled with it. In other words it's affecting his life. And you should never get to a point where you can just sin and it doesn't bother you. And you just kind of go about your day and you're not grieved. It should be that when you sin it pricks you in your heart. And if it doesn't you need to start tenderizing your heart. And by the way this happens to all of us. Myself included where we can get to a point where our hearts become a little too hardened. And we tolerate sin in our life or tolerate sins of this world. And you know we just kind of need to check ourselves and say Lord forgive me because I'm not bothered by this as I should be. And I know this bothers you and I know that it should bother me but it doesn't bother me. And I need your help to help me to help it bother me. And the Bible often refers to itself as a hammer. So what breaks up the fallow ground of our hearts when it's hardened? It's the hammer of God's word. It's reading God's word and realigning yourself once again with what bothers God. And allow it to bother you as well. He says in verse 8, You know what I love about David? That dude is a man's man first and foremost. Guys killed a lot of people in the Old Testament. He's destroyed a lot of enemies of the Lord right? But you know what then you have this side of him where you see that he is a man after God's own heart. He says my desire is before thee Lord. You know how weak I am. You understand how hardened I become. You know my sinful nature. You know me. My desire is before thee. He's basically asking God please fix me because I want to be right before you. And there's nothing wrong with going before God and saying Lord please fix me. Fix my heart. Fix my mind. Renew within me a right spirit. Help me to have a heart that hates sin as much as I should because I don't. And let's just be honest. None of us hates sin as much as we should. And therefore it needs to be a continual thing that we ask God Lord help me with this. Go to 2nd Samuel 24. I'm going to breeze over some of these points here. Number 5 is that it can hinder your prayer life. You know when you sin it can cause God to not answer your prayers when you are petitioning for a specific thing. Mark 11 24. You're in 2nd Samuel. Mark 11 24 says therefore saying to you what things so ever you desire when you pray believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them. And when you stand praying forgive if ye have ought against any that your father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive neither will your father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. So we see here that our prayers can be hindered when we are asking or petitioning for certain things if we have sin in our lives. Number 6 is that it can rob us of God's blessing. The Bible says in Jeremiah 5 24. Neither say excuse me verse 25 your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have withholding good things from you. Look at 2nd Samuel 24. Here's one of the greatest things that sin can do in your life. And I think all of us can attest to this. Sin just complicates things. Sin makes everything just complicated. And here's the thing when there's so many variables of sin in a family in a person's life they want like one good solution. But here's the thing here's the problem because there's sin involved sometimes there's no good solution. Sometimes you can have different choices and none of them are good. And this is like frustrating for me as a pastor because sometimes people come with problems and they you know I wish I had a wand. Then you just bring up one solution for everything and we can ride off into the sunset as a church and we live happily ever after but it's just not going to happen. Because sin complicates things. And often the solutions or the options that you have are not good options. And people get upset at that they're like well none of those are good and it's like that's what we have to work with though. Because sin complicates things. Look at 2nd Samuel 24 verse 10. Back to David. It says in verse 10 and David's heart smote him after he had numbered the people. By the way showing you again that he has a tender heart. It smote him. I have sinned greatly and that I have done. And now I beseech thee O Lord take away that iniquity of thy servant for I have done very foolishly. For when David was up in the morning the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer saying, Go and say unto David, dost sayeth the Lord, I offer thee three things. So David committed a grievous sin in the eyes of God. And God will forgive David's sin but because David is a king, he's a magistrate, he's a leader. He holds a high position. It has to be punished. God has to deal with it. So although he's forgiven David of his sin he's like I'm going to give you three options. You can choose one of them. Choose thee one of them that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David and told him and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? Seven years of famine. It's like, ah not that one. Or wilt thou flee three months before the enemies while they pursue thee? Well I know what that's like, I don't want that one either. Or that there be three days pestilence in thy land? It's like where's the one where you say you just like bless me and everything will be okay and do I have a lifeline? Can I call a friend? Is there something else? Is there a number four? It's like no, these are the three that can happen to you. It's like why isn't there one where it's just like everything's going to be okay? I'll tell you why, because sin complicates things. It presents you with all bad options. And the recipient, the person who is responsible for the sin can't complain that there's not a good option available. Because this is what happens when we commit sin, it complicates things, it never gives us a good option to work with. Now David is a very godly man, he's a man with wisdom, he's a man who knows the Lord, and thankfully he knows them very well to the point where he can choose the best of the worst. Okay? Because he says, Or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land, now advise and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait. Yeah, you think? He's like this is a hard one to make, what am I going to do? He says this, Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great. And let me not fall into the hand of man. So he chose the best out of the three, which was basically pestilence. And the reason I say he's very wise is because he said, well, I know that if seven years of famine come upon us, a lot of people are going to die, obviously. And if I run from my enemies, my enemies will have no mercy upon me. But if I allow myself to fall into the hands of God, I know God is merciful. So this is a man who's actually experienced the mercies of God. He's experienced God's grace, he's experienced God's mercy, so he knows from times past, you know God is actually pretty merciful, so even if we suffer pretty bad, he's going to repent of the evil that he's brought upon us. And will eventually lay off his hand off of us, which is exactly what happened. Now, it should be that we're not put in this position, though. So how do I avoid this? Well, don't commit those sins. Or when you commit sin, just get it right, right away. Get it right before God, put it away from yourself, confess it, forsake it, because you don't want to be put in a position where it complicates your life beyond measure. And then you go to a spiritual leader, you go to an authority and say, can you help me with this? And when they present you with the options, it's like, I don't like any of those options, though. Can't you just fix the entire problem so it just goes away? Nope. There's only these options to work with. Go to 1 Kings 22 and we're done there. 1 Kings 22. We're talking about the ramifications of sin, sin's aftermath, what are the consequences of sin in a Christian's life? Here's one that can hit home, close to home for you and for me, and can be a great motivator to make sure that we just do the best we can to please God and keep sin out of our lives. Number eight is that sin can predispose our children to the same sins. Sin can predispose our children to the same sins. So there might be a sin that you struggle with and you have a hard time getting under control, but when you think of the fact that your children can possibly struggle with those same sins, it's a great motivator to say, you know what, I'm going to work twice as hard not to do this because I don't want my children to suffer the consequences of this sin. Look what the Bible says in 1 Kings 22 verse 51. Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, the 17th year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nabab, who made Israel to sin, for he served Baal and worshipped him and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel, according to all that his father had done. Now let me make a disclaimer to this point. You know, if your dad or your mom was involved in some grievous sin, don't use that as an excuse to say, well, this is what I'm predisposed to. I guess I'm just going to be a drunkard myself. I guess I'm going to be a loser myself. I guess I'm just going to be a fornicator, an adulterer. I guess I'm just going to be a lazy person all the days of my life because that's what my dad was. Wrong! Wrong! Because here's the thing, God is not going to punish your dad or your mom for choosing to walk in their ways. He's going to punish you. And even more so because you know the truth. You're in church. You have the Bible. You're here preaching right now that is warning you about that path. And you know, let's not have this victim mentality. This generation is filled with people with victim mentalities. Just blaming everyone for their problems and for what everyone else did because their mom fed them with a slingshot and their dad went to go get milk and never came back. All this nonsense and they blame society, they blame their parents, they blame everything for all the bad decisions that they made. Folks, we were all to a certain point given a bad hand in this world. All of us. Well I didn't grow up with my parents. Join the club! What else you got? My dad wasn't there. Neither was mine. I'm a pastor now. What you got? Yeah but we're broke. Well that's good because it made you humble so you can get saved. I grew up in the ghetto. Good, it made you have thick skin for the future battles ahead. Well I was... Save it. Save it. My dad was an alcoholic. Well so what? You don't have to be one. Folks, I come from a family of alcoholics. I come from a family who drank a lot, smoked a lot, was involved in that life. But you know what? You never see me saying, I just have this propensity. Not me because I believe in the Bible. Not me because I hate alcohol. Not me because I preach against alcohol. I don't have to be characterized by that life. I don't care what my parents did or what my family and my aunts and uncles have done. I don't care if I grew up around that. It doesn't have to affect me because I am a Christian. I'm a believer. I believe in the Bible. I'm God's son. Right? We're children of God. And therefore we don't have to be given over to these things. But on the other hand, you know, parents are still responsible to making sure that we raise our children in the nurturing and admonition of the Lord. And our children will be spitting images of us. They will take on our strengths, but they will also take on our weaknesses. They will take on our righteous qualities, but they will also take on even our sinful habits as well. It can predispose your children to the same sins. That should be a great motivator to say, Lord, help me to clean up my life as best as possible so I can be an example unto my children so that they can be blessed doubly more than myself. Because they're not exposed to these things. I'm not going to expose them to the things that I was exposed to. Okay. Talk about the ramifications of sin. And you know, obviously a lot of what I talked about this morning, a lot of you probably already know. Maybe some of you don't. Doesn't matter. At the end of the day, these are reminders to us of what sin can do in our lives. It can ravage our life and destroy it. Give heed to this sermon. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your Word. Thank you so much for the grace of God that abounds in our life, Lord, even when sin abounds. I pray, God, that you'd help us, Lord, to continue to fight the flesh, fight the world, fight the devil, resist the devil so that you would flee from us, Lord. And I pray that you'd bless our people, bless our church, Lord, that you would help us to live a life that's pleasing unto you, be a church that's pleasing unto you, to exercise righteousness, loving kindness and justice. And bless us if you're going our way, Lord, the soul winning, the service tonight and all there is. We love you and we thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Song number 244, Amazing Grace, is our last song. Song number 244. Song number 244. Seen on that first verse. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. Was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. Tis many dangers, toils and scares I have already become. Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. When we've been there ten thousand years, Christ shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. Amen. Wonderful scene. You are dismissed. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.