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Amen. So we're finishing up Acts chapter one this evening. So we're going to finish up the last half of Acts. So last week we looked at the part where the apostles basically stood there and Jesus, who had been with them for 40 days, was taken up into the clouds and he was taken off the earth. Jesus rose again from the dead, of course, was with the apostles and he was seen of them many different times. And it's not completely recorded every single time that, or all the time and the things that he said to them, but you know in the Gospels we see some of the appearances that Jesus made to the apostles. And in Acts chapter one we're going to start in verse number 12. So we're looking tonight at the first act that they did after Jesus was taken up and Jesus went into heaven. Look at verse number 12. The Bible says, and they returned, and then returned they. So the angels, you know, they say, what are you doing standing here? You know, now it's time to get to work. So the first thing that they do is in Acts chapter 12, they returned unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. And they were come in, they went into an upper room and they're abode, both Peter and James and John, Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon Zelotus and Judas the brother of James. This is a different Judas, of course. But again, I want you to point out here just very quickly in verse number 13, notice the order, you know, notice the order that the disciples are listed. It kind of starts out, you know, with the leader, Peter, you know, and then it goes into, you know, the ones that are closest to Jesus are listed first, Jesus's inner circle, so to speak. And then it just, it lists in that order a few times in the Bible. Look at verse number 14. The Bible says, but of course to point out, Peter is listed first. Verse 14, these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brethren. In those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples. So it wasn't just the 11 disciples and said the number of the names together about 120. So the 120 disciples at this point, and then Peter starts to kind of give an explanation of what has happened with Judas. He says, men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. So here he's talking about turn to John chapter 13. Peter here is saying, he's saying that David prophesied this. David called this out that this would happen, that Judas would betray Jesus for he was numbered with us in verse 17 of Acts 1 and obtained part of this ministry. The Bible says in verse 18, now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity and falling headlong and burst asunder in the mist and all his bowels gushed out. So turn to John chapter 13 and let's look at verse number 18. John chapter 13 and let's look at verse number 18. So here he's talking about Judas. Of course, we studied that in the last couple of weeks. He's saying one of us betrayed Jesus. He was a guide to the people that arrested Jesus. Of course, we know the story. Judas was paid the reward of iniquity. It's called in verse number 18, but look at verse 18 of John 13. Jesus spoke of this as well. He says, I speak not of you all. I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. So here we see this. Jesus even references that there was a prophecy about Judas who was going to, you know, betray Jesus. He says that the scripture may be fulfilled. He that eateth bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. So both Peter says that David prophesied this and then Jesus himself in John 13 said that this is a prophecy that needs to be fulfilled. Now turn to Psalm chapter 41. Psalm chapter 41. Let's look at this prophecy. Look at Psalm chapter 41. Look at Psalm chapter 41 and notice Jesus said that he that eateth bread with me have lifted up his heel against me. In Psalm chapter 41, look at verse number nine. This is the prophecy that they are talking about right here. David wrote this in Psalm chapter 41. Look at verse number nine. He says, Yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. Now this is an interesting concept here in Psalm chapter 41 in verse number nine because David is the, he's the author. Of course, this is, you know, Holy Spirit inspired. This is the word of God, but David is the author. This is what we would call a dual prophecy in the Old Testament because David, David is talking here about, or, you know, one of the, you know, the prophecies that applies to David himself. If you look at David just writing this from his own perspective is when Ahithophel, you know, turned against him when his son Absalom came, you know, came to take over the kingdom or, you know, performed a coup against David. You know, Ahithophel was this counselor, this, you know, the Bible says in second Samuel, it says that Ahithophel's counsel was like the counsel of God. It was so good. Okay, so Ahithophel was this super good counselor and he turned against David and that was just, it shows you in Psalm chapter 41 verse number nine, it says, you know, my own familiar friend whom I trusted. He's talking about this guy. He's like, you know, and if you read the story in second Samuel 15, I believe it is about Absalom taking over, David's just shocked that Ahithophel went with Absalom. He's just like, whoa, what's going on there? But look at second Samuel chapter 17 in verse number 23. All that to say this, I'm just pointing out that this is a dual prophecy and you will find these all over the Bible, these dual prophecies where, you know, there's a prophecy that applies to that time and then it also applies to either end times prophecy or like in this case, it's a messianic prophecy about Judas betraying Jesus Christ. Look at verse number 23. So what happens is Ahithophel, he goes with Absalom. David prays that, you know, that Ahithophel's counsel would just be turned to foolishness because the Bible says that Ahithophel, like everybody listened to this guy. So David's like, hey, just please, God turn his, David was afraid of the counsel of Ahithophel with Absalom because look, the guy was wise. He was smart. And Ahithophel's counsel actually was the smarter counsel when it came to, you know, what Absalom wanted to do. But then David sent in a counselor to kind of confound that and God worked that out to where David won the big battle. But what happens to Ahithophel? So Ahithophel's counsel was not taken and his pride was so wounded. Look at verse number 23 of 2 Samuel chapter 17. So Absalom decides, I'm going with this other counselor who's a spy of David as God worked it out this way. And in verse number 23 of 2 Samuel 17, and when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose and got him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order and hanged himself. Does that sound familiar? So here we see, you know, the true dual prophecy of Ahithophel betraying David, you know, as a dual prophecy of, you know, Judas betraying Jesus. And that is what Peter is talking about. So Peter is just calling this out. So Peter's standing up and he's saying, look, there's one that's not among us anymore. He's like, now we're 11, we're not 12. But he's saying, this is, but it had to happen. He said it had to happen because this was fulfilling Scripture. He's, you know, Peter is giving, you know, he's giving an Old Testament sermon. He's giving a lesson on what, you know, a messianic prophecy that happened with Jesus. Now, isn't this a little different Peter, by the way? I mean, do you remember Peter who's just like completely confused and just like, you know, he betrayed Jesus three times on the night that he got arrested and then Peter was the one, even after that several disciples saw Jesus, including Peter by the way, resurrected. Peter's just like, he doesn't know what to do. He's just like, I'm going fishing and he takes a bunch of disciples fishing with him. Now, as soon as we get to Acts, I want you to, you know, cause now this is the Peter that you're going to see from here on forward. Now that we're in Acts, Peter's got his head on straight. Peter knows what's going on. Peter's moving forward and he gets it. He gets it. I think this is my personal opinion. This is my personal opinion. It's not listed in the Bible. I think that Peter had some moments with Jesus, kind of like Paul had moments with Jesus. And I think Jesus probably got Peter ready for this type of, you know, mission that he's on because we see a definite different Peter here. When you read the Bible in Acts and then you read the gospels, Peter's on a mission now. He gets it. He understands the prophecies. He understands everything. You know, before you listened to the disciples and the gospels and you're like, how come they don't understand what Jesus is talking about? Like, why aren't they getting this? You know, why aren't they understanding? Now Peter understands. Go back to Acts, chapter one, all that to say this, Peter is on, you know, he's on track to lead now and he understands what's going on and he is leading this group of 120 disciples and he's saying, look, this was supposed to happen, but the point he's getting at in Acts, chapter one is we're down a man. We're down a man. Look at Acts chapter one, verse 19. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem in so much that as the field is called in their proper tongue, alqedima, that is to say the field of blood, for it is written in the book of Psalms, let his habitation be desolate, let no man dwell therein and let his bishopric let another take. He's talking about Psalm chapter 69. You go ahead and turn to Psalm 109, Psalm 69, 25 says, let their habitation be desolate and let none dwell in their tents. And Psalm 109, verse number eight says, let his days be few and let another take his office. All of these have, you know, dual prophecies to what David's going through at the time to what Jesus or what Peter is talking about concerning Judas and Jesus. But look, here's the thing. When you read Psalm 41 nine and you say, you know, you read Psalm 41 nine and you pretend like you were in David's time and you say, okay, my own friend has betrayed me, that ate bread with me, just like he's talking about Ahithophel. And then the situation with Judas and Jesus happens and then we can get it. All that to say that like a lot of these dual prophecies, they won't be understood until they happen. You know, so a lot of prophecies, you know, will not be understood until they're fulfilled. So we kind of have to remember that. So remember that when we were talking about end times things, we're trying to figure things out. Look, there's a lot of things that we just may not know until they happen. You know, until they happen, then we can look back and say, Oh yeah, that's, that's what Psalm 49 was talking about. Or that's what, you know, revelation chapter six was talking about. It happened. So keep that in mind. We don't have to figure out every single thing that we're looking through a glass darkly at, you know, we might not understand everything until it's fulfilled. Okay. All, all that to say that. But what's the point? You say, what's the point of prophecy if you know, we don't understand it until it's fulfilled. Well, it shows the truth of the word of God. That's for sure. And when we look at the Judas and Jesus situation and we look back at Psalm 41 nine, we're like, Oh man, you know, it shows that Bible is the word of God. It shows that no man could have written this book because no man could control these outcomes. It shows the truth of the word of God. And it shows that the plan is way above us, both with end times and you know, with God sending Jesus and how he redeemed the world. Go back to Acts chapter one, go back to Acts chapter one. So back to this, he's talking about how we're down a man, how Judas betrayed Jesus. And look, if we had verse number 21, he says, wherefore of these men, which have accompanied us at all the time that Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, he's like, this guy was with us the whole time under that same day. He was taken up from us. Must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed to Joseph called bar, bar Sabbath's who is surname justice. Surname just means, you know, his nickname and Matthias. And they prayed and said, that Lord God, which knows the hearts of all men show whether of these two thou has chosen that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship. So these men must have been with them and along with them and this, these things as well that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots and the lot fell upon Matthias and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. So now we're back to 12. So what about this casting lots? This is kind of something that that's come up and people have asked about what about this casting lots? So first of all, casting lots, we don't really know what it was, you know, something along the lines of, you know, whether they, they rolled some rock or dice or something like that, or they, they drew straws, you know, they probably didn't play paper, rock, scissors, because that's not totally random. By the way, there's a, there's a skill to paper, rock, scissors, and I'll talk to you about that after the sermon. I actually got my first job by winning at paper, rock, scissors. It was not luck. There's skill to it. I'll explain it, you know, later. But anyway, the point is casting lots was this random thing and it was something that was done all the time. It was actually something that the Lord told them to do at times. Turn to Leviticus chapter 16 in the Old Testament. There's nothing in the Old, in the New Testament that tells us that we should be casting lots. Okay. And another thing is it wasn't gambling. Okay. It wasn't gambling because they're not casting lots for, you know, money. They're not doing this to, to gamble or bet or anything that they're doing it to help make a decision on something. That's what this is used for. Look at Leviticus chapter 16 and verse number eight. Remember the two goats that we've talked about, you know, in the last couple of months and Aaron shall what? Cast lots upon the two goats. Look, this is, this is talking about God telling him how to do this. Aaron is supposed to cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. Look at Proverbs chapter 16. So it's a way to choose something. It's a way to make a decision on something. Look at Proverbs 16 and verse 33. Proverbs 16 and verse 33. The Bible says the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. So, I mean, casting lots is, is mentioned dozens and dozens of times in the Old Testament. Look at Proverbs 18, Proverbs 18, just a couple pages over in your Bible. The Bible says the lot cause it, causeth, contentions to seize and parteth between the mighty. So this is really kind of the answer of what casting lots was used for right here. Casting lots was so for, if me and brother George, you know, need to make a decision on something and we want to let the Lord decide, we will just cast lots. That way it takes the decision out of his hands. It takes the decision out of my hands and you know, we, it just, the Lord decided, you know, it was nobody's single decision. It, it takes the, it takes the contentions out of the situation and it put it in the Lord's hand. And you know, even in Joshua, they cast lots for the different portions of land. It was a very common thing in the Old Testament. Now that we're not to, you know, we're not called to do this. We have the word of God to help us make decisions today. We have the whole Bible. We're not going to be casting lots in this church. But the point is, is that it was, it was commonly done. The Lord commanded it at times in the Old Testament and it was not done in a way where people were gambling for money. It was just to help make a decision. You know, people think like dice. They're like, oh, they're playing dice. No, it's just, it was to help make a decision and it was to leave that decision up to the Lord. And that's what they did mentioning, you know, casting lots for these two men. Another thing I want to address before I get to the, the main point of the sermon tonight is this idea of the 12th disciple. A lot of people think, and you know, I've, I've thought about it myself that, that Paul was supposed to be the 12th disciple and that, you know, Peter shouldn't have done this. Peter shouldn't have gone and chosen between justice and Matthias and cast lots and filled this vacancy. And you know, what's my opinion on that? Well, first of all, the Bible just doesn't tell us. The Bible doesn't tell us whether or not Peter should have done this or not. The Bible tells us what Peter did. You know, we're just hearing a record of what happened here and he cast lots. Matthias was chosen. And here's the thing, like if you think that Paul was supposed to be the 12th disciple, I mean, that's okay. That's an opinion to have. There's nothing wrong with that because it really doesn't matter. I mean, if God was like, I want Paul to be the 12th disciple and Peter shouldn't have done that. God obviously made Paul an apostle anyway. So God, you know, God obviously created, he met Paul on the road and he got Paul moving in the direction he wanted to regardless of what Peter did here. But there's no indication to me that Peter did anything wrong. He was just trying to, you know, follow the Bible, fill the vacancy just as the Bible said should have been done. So I don't believe that anything was done wrong there. And casting lots was just something to use to help make that decision, to help give that decision over to the Lord. And that shows that Peter, he didn't want to just be this guy making all these calls. He wanted to just leave it up to the Lord to pick between these two men. Now, so that's what they do. They're getting ready. They're getting ready. They fill Judas' vacancy. We see Peter has become the leader that he needs to be. He's understanding the prophecies of Jesus. He's looking forward and we're going to see as we go into Acts 2 and on, you know, just the man Peter has become. And I believe that Jesus, you know, created Peter. He, well, I mean, not created, but he, he built Peter into that leader. And that's, you know, that's encouragement for all of us. It's encouragement for all of us when we look at, you know, some mistakes that Peter made in his life and just it, it, maybe he spun his wheels a little bit, took him a little while to get going, but boy, when he got going, he got going. And this is where we see it start in Acts 1. Turn back to verse 18, if you would. Turn back to verse number 18. Acts 1, verse 18. Peter says something interesting in Acts 1 and verse 18 that I want to kind of focus on this evening. So here we see the context. Jesus has taken up. The disciples are ready to go. There's 120 of them. We're about to get into, you know, a big event in Acts 2, but I want to point something out for the application this evening. Look at Acts 18, Acts chapter 1 and verse number 18. Let me get there myself. Acts chapter 1 and verse number 18. Talking about Judas, now Judas committed a terrible sin. We know he betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ, but look at number 18. It says, now this man purchased the field with the reward of iniquity. Now, of course, you know, we know that, you know, it wasn't really, it was his money that, you know, purchased the field. It wasn't Judas that purchased the field. But the point is, is that there's an interesting three words there. It says the reward of iniquity. Now we talk a lot about iniquity in this church. We talk a lot about sin. We talk a lot about, hey, if you get into these types of sin, here's what's going to happen to you. Here's the consequences. God's going to punish you. You're never going to get away with anything. But it's interesting because Peter uses this word right here and he says that this field was purchased with the reward of iniquity. What was that in this case? It was those 30 pieces of silver. Judas brought the money and he took it back to the Pharisees. He's like, I don't want this. But they just went and they bought the field with it. The point is Judas got money for what he did. Now it didn't work out for Judas. He ended up killing himself, but that's not the point. But the point is, turn to Luke chapter 15. Judas got paid. Judas got paid. We talk a lot about the punishment for sin because the Bible talks a lot about the punishment for sin in every part of the Bible. But look at Luke chapter 15. But the Bible also says here in Acts chapter 1 and verse 18 that there's a reward for iniquity too. Look at Luke 15. Let's look at a story in the Bible. He said a certain man had two sons. Acts chapter 15 verse number 11. A certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, give me this portion of goods that follow to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the young son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country. And there he wasted his substance with riotous living. So here we see a man that had two sons and this younger son comes up to his dad and he says, I want my inheritance now. I don't know if he's 20, 25, whatever age he is. He's a young man. He's like, I want all the money now. And his dad just gives them all the money. And then he goes and he just lives this riotous lifestyle. And at this end of verse 13, it says that he's living this riotous life. I mean, he's out there and he's, look, I'm sure that if you caught this kid at this time, that it would be tough. You know, he would have been having a good time. He'd have been having a good time, you know, because he's in that stage where he's getting rewarded for iniquity. You know, he's engaging in pleasures, whatever those pleasures were. He's probably, you know, getting into alcohol and, you know, fornication. I mean, these are just some things, you know, think about people that get into drugs and alcohol. Look, they don't do it because they want punishment. They do it because there is a reward there that they're after. There's a reward. Look, those things make you feel good for a short time. That's the reward for iniquity. This is why people do it. But the thing is, it's temporary. It's a short time. Look at verse, you know, the very next verse, the guy's like living with the pigs. You know, so it was a very short time. But I bet if you would have went up to him in verse 13 and said, hey man, this isn't good, you know, you're gonna be punished for this, this is gonna be bad, he probably wouldn't listen to you at all because he was getting rewarded for his iniquity. He was in that short, temporary time. So the point I'm trying to make, and the point that Peter was making in verse 18, is that there's a reward to sin. There's a reward to sin. But most of the time, it's temporary. It's very short-lived. And here's another thing about the reward to sin. Most of the time, it's only for you. Most of the time, the reward for sin is only for you. The people around you usually begin to suffer right away. They don't get a reward. When somebody is on drugs or they're on alcohol or whatever, it may make them feel good right at that time, but immediately, their family, their children begin to suffer immediately. They don't get that short high or that short whatever it is, you know, but people go out and they do that and they get drunk or they get high and they just feel super smart or whatever. They feel super powerful. I mean, there was some guy walking down the street that woke us all up the other night, and he was out there, and he was just like punching the air and like screaming as loud as he could. Like that guy thought he was really powerful. I mean, he must have thought he was like Superman or something, how he was acting. But to everybody else, including the people I'm telling this story, he just looked and sounded like an idiot, like a fool. But to him, he was being rewarded for that iniquity at that moment at that time. To everybody else, you know, whatever family he had, you know, maybe he had a wife or kids or whatever in the past, I mean, it's just nothing but damage, damage, damage, damage. But he's been rewarded for iniquity. He's been rewarded for that. You know, I mean, you look at some of these people that get into this, you know, drunkenness and drugs, and, you know, I mean, basically, here's the thing, folks, like if you're a loser, there's two paths for you. You can like fix yourself and not be a loser anymore, or you can go get drunk and get high and make yourself feel like you're not. But you still are, and it's temporary, but that's what they're chasing. They're chasing the reward of iniquity. That's why they do it. What about us? What about Christians? You're like, you know, we don't struggle with these types of things, hopefully. No one here struggles with these types of things, but what about us? I mean, it's the same thing with us. It's the same thing with things in our lives. The reason that we get into iniquity is because there's a reward there. We're rewarded for it. That's why people fall into it. People don't just decide as a Christian, like, hey, I'm gonna do this because I like to be beaten by God, because I like punishment by God. You know, they get into it because they're rewarded for it. They're after that reward. How about this one? How about this one? How about complaining? Ever complained? You know what complaining does? It makes you feel better right away. When you complain about something or somebody, it just, at least temporarily, it makes you feel better. It makes you feel better. But look, here's the thing. What's the long-term effects of that? The long-term effects of becoming a complainer is that, you know, you become an unthankful person. That's a terrible consequence. But it makes you feel good right away. You get rewarded right away. You know, even small things. Think about this. Think about soul winning. We go out soul winning, and we go out and you knock 100 home map and nobody wants to talk to you. And, you know, you could look at that and you'd be like, man, 100 homes and zero salvations? What? What? You could be like that. And, you know, it may make you feel better to sit there with your soul winning partner and just complain about it a little bit. Complain about how unreceptive people are. Or, you know what, but you know what? You could get to be a negative person, an unthankful person, if you just continue that in your life. And you continue trying to get that immediate reward for complaining. Or you could be this type of person. You go out soul winning and you knock 100 homes and you're like, thank God I can walk. Thank God my legs work. Thank God I could go out soul winning today. And thank God that, you know, I thank God that I have so many people around me. That's one I thought about just last night. I went out to eat. I took a trip with Ashley to get the chairs. And we went out to eat together. And we were sitting there in this restaurant. And we saw a lady come into the restaurant and just sit all by herself. And she came into this. And I'm just thinking to myself, who comes to a restaurant and goes and eats by herself? Well, you know, maybe she didn't have anybody to go eat with. You know, maybe she didn't have anybody to go out and eat with her. You know what? I just got to thinking, like, sometimes I think to myself because I'm just, I'm constantly surrounded by people. I mean, there's people around me all the time. You know what? Sometimes I get to the point where I'm like, man, I wish I could just have 10 minutes by myself. But maybe I should think, you know what? Thank God for all these people that are around me all the time. Thank God that I will never, you know, hopefully, you know, be by myself. Thank God that I'm surrounded by my wife and my family and my children and my church family. You know, thank God for this. I mean, look, complaining is easy to do because it satisfies us. We get a reward for it right away. Well, it's something we should stay far away from. Turn to Numbers chapter 11. Complaining will seriously affect your children too. If you complain a lot and your children hear you complain, it will negatively affect them. Just like the drunk who's getting a high right away, immediately the family starts to suffer. It's the same way with complaining. You complain about things, you complain about people, and your kids will become negative complaining people. That's a terrible thing to even think about. I mean, look at Numbers chapter 11. This shows you right here just how complaining and people that complain, how they affect people around them. Look at Numbers chapter 11 and verse number 14. This is Moses and he's saying, like, the people are complaining that, you know, they either don't have food and then they have too much food, and then they want meat, and then they're going to have too much meat. And he's just like, every single thing these people are complaining about. Look at Moses, what he says to God in verse 14. He says, I'm not able to bear all these people alone because it is too heavy for me. Just because they're complaining here. All they're doing is complaining. They're not trying to attack him or kill him or anything. It says, if thou dealeth us with me, look what he says to God. He says, kill me. I pray thee out of hand. I have found favor in thy sight and let me not see my wretchedness. He has people complaining all around him, and he's like, God, just kill me. That should show you right there. Like, being around people that complain all the time, if you're not a complainer and you're trying to be a positive person, it just really affects you. Look at Moses right here. He's like, God, just take me home. Because these people, all they do is complain. So people around complainers suffer greatly. It's just like the drug user. He gets the high, everybody else suffers. And then, look, I mean, you may get a high rate away from complaining, but you become an unthankful person, that's a nightmare state to find yourself in. To be somebody that just isn't thankful for anything in your life. Look, folks, just keep this in your mind because this might be the one thing that is wrecking people in this country. You deserve nothing. You deserve nothing. Just remember that in your life. And you know what? It's pretty easy to be positive at that point. When you realize that you walk through life, maybe things at work don't go well, maybe things aren't going well over here, but it's like, you know what? I deserve nothing. I deserve no material things. I actually spiritually, I deserve to go to hell. Spiritually, I deserve to go to hell. Yet what? Okay, I got this life, maybe things are going well, maybe they're not, but I'm going to heaven either way and I don't deserve it. It's people that think they deserve things, that something is owed to them, they become unthankful people, and those are miserable people. And you don't want to be that type of person. Here's another one. Turn to Proverbs chapter 19. I'll just go through a few. I could go all day on this one. But go to Proverbs chapter 19. Here's another one. It's iniquity that gives you a reward right away. All iniquity will give you a reward right away. But we don't struggle with drugs and alcohol here, but here's some things that a lot of people struggle with. Here's what. Look at Proverbs 19. Look at verse number 15. Proverbs 19 and verse number 15. The Bible says this. It says, slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. You know what? Slothfulness will reward you right away. Slothfulness will give you an immediate reward. You know why? Because it feels good to sleep. It feels good to sleep. I mean, it feels good to just sleep in. I can't remember what that's like, but I'm sure it feels good. It feels good to sleep. But the problem is if you sleep all the time, turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 10. If you sleep all the time, trouble will follow. That reward is there, though. That reward is there. You know, that reward is to let yourself slip a little bit at work. You know, just get a little bit lazier. Just get a little bit like, hey, everybody else is doing it. Look, folks, a lot of slothful people out there. It'd be a really easy thing to follow. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 10 and verse 18. So if you chase that reward, if you chase that reward for slothfulness, the Bible says by much slothfulness, the building decayeth. And through idleness of hands, the house dropeth through. Slothfulness is much more than 1 Timothy 5.8. Slothfulness is much more than just providing for your family. Slothfulness in general, whether you're married, whether you're not, look, it will ruin you personally. You can chase that reward and say, you know what? I just want a little bit more sleep. I just don't like to work that hard. But men, you need to be working. Men, you need to be working. Look, working is the opposite of slothfulness. And working actually has the opposite of the reward of slothfulness, because working, working hard will hurt it first. Working hard is completely opposite as getting rewarded with that sleep right away at slothfulness, because working hard will, you know what? It may be downright unpleasant at first. I mean, but then as you push through that unpleasantry, hard work is the opposite. Diligence is the opposite. As you're diligent, as you work hard over time, you will begin to like it. That's what will happen. So chasing that reward from slothfulness, it will end. Look, it will ruin a man. It will ruin a man. I've met many a ruined men because they're lazy, and that one thing has ruined them. And guess what? Those lazy people, those slothful people, you know what they become? They become unthankful, too. You read Romans 1, unthankful. We're talking about reprobates, the wickedest people on the planet. Unthankful is one of the words used to describe those people. I'm not saying lazy people are reprobates, okay? But what I'm saying is that being unthankful is a horrible, horrible thing to fall into. But guess what? It's the same thing with a lazy woman. You look at Proverbs 31. You look at the Proverbs 31 woman. That woman's working. That woman's working hard. She's strong. Look, being a lazy woman will ruin a family. Being a lazy woman will ruin your children because you'll raise lazy, uneducated children. But it's chasing that reward. It's chasing that reward of iniquity that drags us in. Turn to Proverbs chapter 20. How about this one? Proverbs chapter 20. Look at Proverbs chapter 20. Proverbs chapter 20. Look at verse number 23. Proverbs chapter 20 and verse number 23. The Bible says, diverse weights are an abomination under the Lord and a false balance is not good. How about this one? Just unethical behavior. How about this one? Just being unethical. Maybe you're at work. And you know what? People do this all the time too. Maybe you're at work and you just take credit for something that you didn't do. Something small. Maybe somebody gives you credit for something you didn't do and you just don't say anything. You know what? There'll be a reward for that. If somebody comes up to you and says, hey, you know, brother, that was a great job. You know, you did that project last week and you're like, you didn't do it. It was some other guy that you work with. You're just like, oh, thank you. You know what? There's a reward for that because you will get the credit for that and maybe you don't even have to say anything, but it's unethical, but you're rewarded for it. Maybe you don't defend somebody who's being trashed at work or being tracked in some social circle or whatever. Maybe you just don't defend them. Maybe it's something as simple as that. And you just let somebody, maybe you have a conflict with that person. You're like, you know what? If they're lower, I'm better. How about that? There's a reward for that. You know, people get themselves ahead this way. You know, people that are, you know, get super high up in companies, you know what? They operate. There's a lot of people that are pretty good at unethical behavior. And you know what? There's a reward for it. There might be promotions for it. There might be recognition for it. There might be bonuses. There might be money for it. You know, there's a reward there. How about this? How about just gossip? Just gossip. You know what? There's a reward there. Maybe you're whipping somebody down that you don't like, that you want below you. But these things can have rewards for you personally in the short term. But you know, for the unsaved, you will see people get ahead in life operating this way. You will see people get ahead at their jobs, get ahead in circles this way. It can actually lead to great wealth for the unsaved. You know, you think about it like just the elaborate financial schemes that you've heard over the last maybe decade or 15 years, just people that just ripped people off for like millions, hundreds of millions of dollars or whatever it was. But they were just lying. They were just stealing. They were just operating unethically. They got rewarded for it. They got hundreds of millions of dollars for it. There was a reward to that iniquity. It works. You know, if you're a thief, you can go out and be a thief. And you know, if you don't get caught, look, you're gonna get caught. But if you go out and you be a thief, there's plenty of thieves that go out there and are pretty good at stealing, and they don't get caught, and they're rewarded, especially in California, when you know you're encouraged to steal things here. But there's, iniquity has rewards. But here's the point. Here's the point, folks. There's a reward to it. That's why people do it. You sit here and you think of like, you look at these people that you've heard of, maybe famous people or people you know, and you're like, why did they go into the alcohol? Why did they commit adultery? Why did they do these horrible things? Because they were chasing the reward of iniquity. That's why. And they weren't thinking about what was coming. They were just chasing the reward. And by the way, it's much easier to, so, oh, but it's temptation to this reward. You know, this, I'm tempted to drink alcohol, or I'm tempted to just be dishonest, or I'm tempted to complain about things because I like that feeling. Guess what? And especially for the kids in a Bible preaching church, you know what? If you never go down these roads, you will never want that reward. If you never go down the road of alcohol, if you never go down the road of becoming a negative person and a complainer and a gossip, you'll never want the rewards because you just, you've never done it. If kids, if you're raised and you just were raised to work hard, you'll never be tempted to just sleep all the time because you'll be like, you'll look at people that do that and you're just like, I don't understand. I don't get it. But it's harder for people that have been down those roads because they've gotten that reward and they desire it and they can desire it. But if you never go down those roads, this is why we preach so hard against sin in this church. Because we're not trying to beat up people that have sinned in the past, we're trying to get people to not go down those roads in the first place. So they don't even want the reward. They don't desire the reward. They don't even think about the reward. They just know what's coming is punishment if they do those things. They just know that the Bible is true. Because guess what? What's coming is always worse. The punishment for you from your heavenly father, adopted sons and daughters is always worse. And it could be, it could be irreparable in your life on this earth. So look, I mean, sin has two sides, folks. We talk about the consequences of sin all the time. We talk about the consequences of sin all the time. But the problem is, turn to Proverbs 25. The problem is, is that we are still lured in by this reward. People are still lured in by this reward of iniquity. It still gets Christians. It still gets them. This need, and you know what it is, it's this need, it's this need for immediate gratification. It's this need for, you know what, I want that and I have to have it right now, regardless of what the punishment is. Look at Proverbs 25. Proverbs 25. Sin has two sides. It's a double-sided coin, folks. Proverbs 25, look at verse 28. The Bible says, he that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls. Think about that for a second. What this is saying is if you just have no rule over your own spirit, meaning you can't, this is what it's saying, you can't control yourself. This is somebody who just doesn't have control over themselves. They just like, they see something, they want it, and they're just like, I have to have it. Maybe you shouldn't spoil your kids, by the way, because you know what, that's what you're teaching them to do. You're teaching your kids, when you never say no to your kids and you just give your kids every single thing that they ever want, sorry kids, what you're teaching them is against Proverbs 25, 28. You are teaching them that whatever they see and they want, they get. And that's a horrible thing because you know what, you will raise a city with broken down walls. And guess what? What happens to a city with broken down walls? Well, nothing, unless some enemy comes along. But guess what? The devil's going to send enemies your way. You will have enemies passing by constantly. And you know what? Satan, for even you grown men and women in the room tonight, Satan will send the enemies where he knows your wall is the weakest. And he will send them by your broken down walls. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Satan will make sure as you're a city with no walls, as you raise your kids with no walls, because you've given them every single thing they've ever wanted, he will make sure that he sends plenty of enemies by those piles of rubble. He'll make sure something comes along and he'll make sure it's something that seems good to you. He'll make sure that it's something where you're like, you know what, there's reward there. There's reward there. And if you're a city with broken down walls, you're just like reward and you just go after it. And you don't think about consequences. You don't think about the people around you. You just go after that reward. But guess what? 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the Bible gives us hope here. If you are saved, guess what? If you're saved, you will never get away with anything and punishment is always coming to you. The reward of iniquity is so stupid for a saved person because the punishment is going to be so much worse. And it's a price that you would never want to pay if you knew it was coming right up front and you were focused on anything other than just the reward of iniquity for just yourself. But guess what? God gives us a promise. Yes, He promises that He will chastise us, that He will punish us and we will not get away with things. But He also promises us this. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, look at verse 13. He says, there is no temptation taken to you, but such is common to man. He's like, whatever you're going through right now, other people have gone through it. You're like, big deal, I'm still going through it. He says, but God is faithful. That's the key right there. What I'm saying here is true because God is faithful. Underline those words. Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able. It says here, God says, I promise. I am faithful in what I'm about to say. And He says, you will not be tempted with anything that you can't handle. You will not be tempted, but you're like, but you know what? I'm tempted and I fail all the time. You know, I'm tempted and I chase that reward of iniquity all the time. You know what? That's because you're weak. That's because you're choosing to fail. That's because you're Proverbs 25, 28 and you don't have rule over your own spirit. But the Bible is saying that if you're saved, that any temptation, any reward of iniquity that is put in front of your face, you will be able to withstand it. God's telling you, you can withstand it. You know what? It's possible. So here's the thing. That's why, you know, you need to be strong. If you're a parent, if you're an adult, you want to be, you know, you want to be a mature Christian. Look, you need to be a strong person. You need to be somebody that has rule over your spirit. Otherwise, what chance? I mean, look, this ministry needs strong men and women that just don't go around chasing stupid rewards of iniquity and not thinking about consequences. Because look, if you fail, the Bible was saying here, you chose to fail. You chose to fail for that reward, for that reward of iniquity. And look, you know, and the Bible is telling you here, that if you take that reward of iniquity in your life, saved believer, it's a bad trade. It's a bad trade for you personally. And it's especially a bad trade for those people around you, for your family and for your children. So yeah, there's a reward to iniquity. You can look around you and you can see people living these lives around us. You say, you know, these people that are living these lives that aren't separated like us, seems like they're having a good time. They're getting rewarded for that iniquity. They're chasing the reward for iniquity. Number one, it doesn't work the same for us. The price will be paid for us on this earth. And I wouldn't want to be an unsaved person just chasing rewards of iniquity in my life. you