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you you you you you you you Well good evening everyone welcome back to Mountain Baptist Church Take your song books and turn to song number 39 Song number 39 your song books will sing how beautiful heaven must be and if you would stand we'll sing song number 39 We read of a place that's called heaven It's made for the pure and the free These truths and God's Word he hath given How beautiful heaven must be How beautiful heaven must be Sweet home of the happy and free Fair haven of rest for the weary How beautiful heaven must be And have a no drooping nor pining No wishing for elsewhere to be God's light is forever. They're shiny how beautiful heaven must be How beautiful heaven must be Sweet home of the happy and free Fair haven of rest for the weary How beautiful heaven must be Pure waters of life there are flowing and all who will drink may be free Rare jewels a splendor are flowing how beautiful heaven must be How beautiful heaven must be Sweet home of the happy and free Fair haven of rest for the weary How beautiful heaven must be The angels so sweetly are singing up there by the beautiful sea Sweet cord from their gourd harps are ringing How beautiful heaven must be How beautiful heaven must be Sweet home of the happy and free Fair haven of rest for the weary How beautiful heaven must be Let's pray Heavenly Father Lord, we just want to thank you again God for just our church. Thank you God for just this specific day where we get to just think a little bit more about your resurrection Lord We just want to thank you for salvation and just how great of a price that you paid so that we do not have to go to hell that we can go to heaven and just Be with you for all eternity. We just love you so much and we pray all of us in Jesus name. Amen All right, you may be seated and take your mountain Baptist Psalms hymns and spiritual song books And turn to Psalm 24 Psalm 24 in your blue mountain Baptist song books and we'll sing Psalm 24 All right, yeah sounds good The earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof the world and they that dwell therein For he had founded it upon the sea And established it upon the floods Who shall ascend into the hill of the lord or who shall stand in his holy Place he that hath clean hands and a pure heart who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully He shall receive the blessing from the lord and righteousness from the god of his salvation This is the generation of them that seek him That seek thy face. Oh jacob seelum Lift up your hands Oh ye gates and be lift up ye everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in Who is this king of glory The lord strong The lord Lift up your hands Oh ye gates Even lift them up ye everlasting doors And the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory The lord He is the king of glory Amen welcome back to mountain baptist church And Some announcements here look at the soul winning numbers to this week All right, so As far as this week, I know we had one yesterday, uh during the week Three on tuesday and then um, I want to say didn't Brother jim what? I thought there was two two others Yeah, um I should have checked that before Okay so So six total for the week then Was there any others there wasn't any others yesterday? I don't think so So keep up the good work with the soul winning and then uh as far as Uh service time should be normal this week, uh, wednesday night. We'll be continuing our study through the book of luke um And then the regional soul winning times there on the list monday tuesday thursday saturday and then um, We have the the sowing marathon in washington pa that brother rich is going to be leading up And so that'll be this coming saturday and so get with brother richie for any details on that Um, and then uh men's prayer meeting at the end of the week or not the end of the week in the month Chapter memory for the month is psalm 11 and then first corinthians 15 three And four is our memory verses for the week. And so Good ones. I have memorized there Uh, we got the birthdays I got that this morning and then the pregnancy just be in prayer for these ladies on the pregnancy list Uh miss tiara amanda and jennifer and so just be in prayer for that. Everything goes well with the the babies the mothers everything from Pregnancy to delivery everything, uh, just being prayer there I think that's about all I got for announcements. I don't have anything. Um Really different than this morning Offering boxes in the back there if you want to give a tie their offering Uh mother baby rooms for the mothers babies only, uh, we are continuing our our uh series through ecclesiastes three. So um Brother, uh, david you're gonna be reading this, uh this afternoon. So we're gonna read ecclesiastes three after we do one more song Was there something? Oh, okay. I bet you're looking at me like, uh, you're forgetting something Sometimes you get those looks So All right, take your song books and turn to song 32 Song number 32 in your song books. We'll sing he lives on high song number 32 Christ the savior came from heaven's glory To redeem the loss from sin and shame On his brow. He wore the thorn crown glory And upon cavalry took my blame He lives on high he lives on high Triumphing over sin and all its stain He lives on high he lives on high Someday he's coming again He arose from death and all its sorrow to dwell in the land of joy and love He is coming back tomorrow And he'll take all his children home above He lives on high he lives on high Triumphing over sin and all its stain He lives on high he lives on high someday he's coming again Weary soul to jesus come confessing Redemption from sin faith Look to jesus receive a blessing There is life there is joy and victory He lives on high he lives on high Triumphing over sin and all its stain He lives on high he lives on high someday he's coming again All right, if you would take your bibles and turn to ecclesiastes chapter number three The ecclesiastes chapter number three, we'll have brother david come and read that for us The ecclesiastes three if you're there's amen And the bible reads to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven A time to be born and a time to die a time to plant and a time to perk up that which was planted A time to kill and a time to heal a time to break down and a time to build up A time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing A time to get and a time to lose a time to keep and a time to cast away A time to rend and a time to serve a time to keep silence and a time to speak A time of love and a time of hate a time of love and a time of peace What prophet hath you that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail which god hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it He hath made everything beautiful in his time also he hath set the world in their Heart so that no man can find out the work that god maketh from the beginning to the end I know that there is no good in them but for a man to rejoice and to do good in his life And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It is the gift of god I know that whatsoever god doeth it shall be forever Nothing can be put to it nor anything taken away know anything taken from it and god doeth it that means to fear before him That risk has been is now and that And that which is to be hath already been and god require with that which is past and moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment That wickedness was there and the place of righteousness that iniquity was there I said in my heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked for there is for there is a time to every purpose and for every work I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men that god might manifest them And that they might see that they themselves are beasts for that which we befall of the sons of men befall of beasts Even one thing befall of them as the one diet so diet the other Yea, they have all one breath so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast for all his vanity All go into one place all of the dust and all turn to dust again Who don't the spirit of man that goes upward and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth? Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works But that is his person for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him That's very dear lord, I thank you for this opportunity to come back to chase I pray that you feel fast with your spirit and pray that you help us to be identified in jesus name. Amen Amen to here there in ecclesiastes chapter 3 and uh The name of the series is a time to every purpose and so you can see there in verse one That if the bible reads to everything there is a season and time to every purpose under the heaven and so this is where we're Basically rightly dividing the word of truth and the idea of that there's there's a time There's a time to kill there's a time to heal there's a time to love there's a time to hate and kind of going down Through these different ones. We're actually on verse five Where we did last last week. We did a time to cast away stones a time to gather stones together And this afternoon we're going to be doing a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing And uh, and i'm going to show you two different Applications to this I think the the main application or the one that I would just off the cuff I think we're going to be thinking about Is uh embracing your wife Compared to not embracing some strange woman. Okay, so let's uh, let's look at that And this obviously would apply also with um, you know, if you're not married, that would be a time not to embrace, you know Uh, but uh go to go to song of solomon song of solomon chapter two song of solomon chapter two And so there's a time to embrace there's time to refrain from embracing and Yeah, the first thing I just want to mention is that you know if you're married Uh, it's a time to embrace your wife. So if and it's not a time to embrace uh Some other woman. Okay, and so, um song of solomon chapter two and uh Let's just start in verse one there. It says I am the rose of sharon in the lily of the valleys by the way That's the woman talking That's why we don't sing lily of the valley. Okay, so And it says as a lily among thorns so is my love among the daughters So that tells you that the lily is talking about a woman So then they're going back and forth as the apple tree among the the trees of the wood So is my beloved among the sons I sat down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste so basically She's saying i'm the rose of sharon and then uh Basically, he's saying that she's like a lily Among thorns, you know, it's kind of like you're a rose among thorns baby, you know, it's that kind of uh love song if you will um But then it goes on to say in verse four He brought me to the banqueting house and his banner over me was love Stay me with flagons comfort me with apples for I am sick of love now That kind of sounds like like i'm sick of this, you know sick of this love stuff We would say it loves sick right you're love sick So that's where that comes from the idea is that basically she's head over heels, uh in love with this guy Okay, so that's what she's saying His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me. Okay, so You know, you can picture obviously how you would uh, you know Kiss your wife and you have your your hand behind her head and you're embracing her with your other hand the idea of embracing right and go to song of solomon eight in verse three song of solomon eight in verse three It's very similar very similar And actually song the song a lot of times will repeat because it's a song so I mean you think about a song repeats And uh, we'll say the same things over but in verse three here It says his left hand should be under my head and his right hand should embrace me So The idea here is that that's what should be going on You should be embracing your wife and this is the from the woman's perspective, right? From the woman's perspective. She's saying He should be embracing me, right? Go to proverbs chapter five proverbs chapter five proverbs chapter five So So when it comes to being married this is uh, you know, it's a time to embrace okay now Uh, that's why we get married, okay, just so you know I didn't marry my wife or a roommate You know Or just like someone that can do my laundry And like cook for me and all this other stuff. Um, you know, that's obviously, you know We have our different roles of what we do. But the idea here is that the reason you get married Is to avoid fornication to embrace and in proverbs chapter 5 verse 15 It says drink waters out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad and rivers waters in the streets Let them be only thine own and not strangers with thee now It's talking about physical I believe physical, you know cisterns physical Physical waters here, but then he's going to you, you know, it's using that to show you in the same manner The same thing applies with your wife, right? You have your own wife You know, you're not you're not going over some strange wife or anything like that or strange woman, right in verse 18 It says let thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth Let her be as a loving hind And pleasant row let her breasts satisfy thee all At all times and be thou ravished always with her love and why wilt thou my son be ravished with a strange woman? Notice this and embrace the bosom of a stranger So very simple, right the idea is that we should be embracing our wife Not some strange woman Okay And go to proverbs chapter 6 proverbs chapter 6 And proverbs hits on this a lot as far as the virtuous woman, you know, the wife of your youth compared to the strange woman You know that's out there trying to basically get you to commit adultery. Okay, and So we need to have the embracing in the right spot right we're embracing our wife we're not embracing some strange woman, okay In general rule guys is that i'm not hugging on other women, you know You know, I think that when it comes to like there's a time to embrace there's time to refrain from embracing I think there's exceptions to that rule, you know as far as like let's say there's like some tragic event And you know, like you're at a funeral and you know, people are hugging each other and stuff like that Those are kind of like exceptions to the rule as far as like you're dealing with like extreme sorrow and grief and stuff like that Um, but in general I don't come into church to start hugging everybody's wives Okay Actually, I don't do that at all i'm not starting that i'm not doing that um, but I don't think anybody else does that, you know where you know, you're you're hugging up on, you know, other people's wives and stuff like that But you know just a general rule you don't do that so that It doesn't lead to other things. Okay And listen, you may say well that never happened You know, wherefore let him think as he stand to take heed lest he befall there are many cases where Safe people have gotten into adultery within churches And we need to be very careful of this and uh, so the thing is is that focus on embracing your wife And not embracing someone else. Okay, uh proverbs chapter 6 and verse 23 Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 23 it says For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light and reproofs of instruction are the way of life To keep thee from the evil woman from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman Lest not after her beauty in thine heart neither let her take thee with thy with her eyelids For by means of a horse woman a man is brought to a piece of bread and the adulterous will hunt for the precious life Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one one go up go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth into his his neighbor's wife whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent I mean the idea here is that Don't let some woman flatter you and and listen husbands and wives we need to be thinking about this and the fact that We got married. Obviously. We're we're in a vow. That's till death do us part, right? But know this is that each one of us is human and even though it would be wrong to get out of that And it'd be wrong to do these certain things You have to set up guards as if you could Okay, when it comes to uh flattery or different things like that. You have to be aware of that type of stuff that You know when for example when you have a bunch of kids your wife's not exactly just throwing compliments at you all the time, right? Like she's just trying not to pull her hair out at the end of the day and trying to survive And so when you come home fellas when your wife's not just like complimenting you out, you know Out the gate when you get there and be like man, you're handsome man, you know, just how did I get so lucky? To marry such a good-looking guy, you know what I mean? Like You you have to understand and the same thing ladies is that you know, we're in survival mode, too So when the compliments aren't just flying all over the place you have to understand that too so Because what happens a lot of times where people will commit adultery is that Some woman or some guy will be complimenting the other person, right? And they're not the ones ha they're not the ones living with that person dealing with The day-to-day things not dealing with the kids all that stuff and so it's easy for them to flatter it's easy for them to throw out compliments and On both ends we need to uh nip that in the bud If anybody ever flatters you or or tries to throw out compliments you know Basically, you know just Put that on the wayside and don't mess with it. Okay, don't play with fire and that's basically what it's saying here. Don't play with fire Because everybody likes compliments, you know, it feels good when someone compliments you I mean every guy in here it would feel good if some woman thought that you looked attractive, right? It feels good to to Think that you're attractive And i'm sure the ladies i'm not a woman So I don't know but i'm sure the ladies would probably feel the same way if like people thought that they were attractive but We need to basically Not play with fire. Don't play with that type of stuff when we're out fellas. We need to make it very well known that we're married Okay, and just so you know, it's not like I have women fawning after me You know, I just I I you know when I go places I just get looks all the time Numbers are thrown at me, you know, i'm like sorry ladies Taken, you know just constantly i'm just like beating them off with a stick Okay, so obviously i'm in reality and that's not happening But at the same time you got to treat it in the manner of like being ready for that type of stuff and just being guarded Because we don't want to be a case where you fall into adultery or anything like that and it does start with the eyes The eye affected the heart and then the lust that's in the heart and you say well, you know You know, I i've lusted after this woman, but it's only in the heart. Well, it's still adultery. Okay, but here's the thing though though that's not as uh, you know Condemning of a sin as the physical act. That's what leads to the physical act Right if you weren't looking at it, then it's not going to affect your heart And if you weren't lusting after that in the heart, then it's not going to cause you to do something physical Okay, there's a progression and the the idea is the same thing that we'll be getting to in first Corinthians chapter seven go ahead and turn to first great thing chapter seven Is why it says it's not good for a man to touch a woman. So if you're not married you know You may say that seems extreme to not touch, you know, like for a man not to touch a woman But the idea is that progression as far as what goes down. It's not necessary. It's not a sin for Let's say a girl to like shake a boy's hand, right? I don't believe it's a sin for them to hold hands But one thing leads to another, you know, the idea there is that That will lead to another thing, you know that will lead to something else and then ultimately that goes down the fornication. Okay, and We need to be guarded. Okay. So in first great thing chapter seven here, it starts off kind of deal It's dealing with the unmarried And it says in verse one now concerning the things where i've Erode unto me it is good for a man not to touch a woman nevertheless to avoid fornication Let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband. So the premise here is that we want to We want to avoid fornication. So don't touch right? so You know when if you're dating the idea is like don't touch each other as much as possible, right? But it doesn't mean that if you're like all you helped her like up the steps or you helped her It's like you're in sin wicked, you know, like it's not what it's stating but at the same time That's the guard you're putting up. It's like in general. You're like trying not to like Touch at all. Okay, because one thing leads to another now the idea is that how do you how do you uh, Avoid fornication you get married, right? so Because marriage is honorable and all in the bed undefiled But foremongers and adulterers god will judge so That physical act is not inherently wrong, but it is wrong outside the bonds of marriage. Okay? And keep reading there though because now dealing with husbands and wives In verse three it says let the husband render unto the wife do benevolence and likewise also the wife unto the husband The wife hath not power over Hath not power of her own body but the husband and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body But the white the fraud you not one another one the other except to be with consent for a time That you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again that satan tempts you not with your incontinency So Obviously when we're talking about doing benevolence we're talking about coming together talking about the act that married people do And not to get you know, obviously uncomfortable about it. But the idea is that that's that's what married people do. I mean That's what causes you to be married. Okay, besides obviously taking the vow but the idea here is that This is a 50-50 Yeah, a lot of people are just like I want marriage to be 50-50, you know as far as the power structure Well, the power structure is not 50-50 except for in this one case And you say well, you know, when would the husband not want to render do benevolence It's a valid question. But the thing is is that David for example had multiple wives. Okay. So let me just use him an example David had multiple wives and Michael if you remember she despised David in the heart and when he was dancing and everything and She was barren the rest of her life, but I don't believe it was because God made her barren I believe it's because David was actually defrauding her okay, and So it shouldn't be on either case that either either spouse is defrauding one another And the only time that you should not be coming together is if there's consent Okay, so in this case you could have a case where it's a time to refrain from embracing but it's for a short period of time Okay for prayer and fasting and so I'd say I'd say the the worst case scenario there is 40 days right because no one's ever fasting past that time and so But that being said is that when it comes to embracing you need to embrace your wife you need to embrace you know the wife of your youth and That I believe will take care of these A lot of these temptations that are out there right because if this is being taken care of at home Then I don't believe You'll have I'm not saying it's a foolproof like you won't have any temptation anywhere else But I'm just saying is that if that's being taken care at home, and that's fine right there Then why would your spouse be searching for it other other places right? I mean think about David when he's on the rooftop, and he saw Bathsheba bathing, right? It is the middle of the night He has multiple wives, okay Why isn't he with one of them right like what's he doing by himself on a roof looking at some woman bathing right and The the the idea here is that that that obviously is a problem The dupe in Evelyn's is a problem. It was a problem obviously that David had with with Michael Sol's daughter and so This is something that I believe husbands and wives need to take seriously and honestly in a chapter that a lot of people are trying to obviously take out of context when it comes to Divorce and remarriage and all that stuff I personally believe that that's the major region reason for divorce I mean the major reason for Adultery being committed is because that is not something that is happening at home That is something that is either lacking not there or there's some kind of You know the dupe in Evelyn's isn't happening and therefore the spouse is looking elsewhere Okay, and obviously it's wicked to look elsewhere Okay, but at the same time we need to recognize that we need to know that hey this is something that we need to keep in check as Husbands and wives that it's a time to embrace okay, and And You know like I said, I don't think the men have a problem with this as much as women a lot of times we'll have a problem with this and You know it's it's not an easy sermon to preach, but here's the thing I think ladies you need to know that that is something that men need that's something that husbands need and If it's not there, we're not threatening you we're not saying like hey well If it's not there, we're dwarfs you know just know that that is something that will affect the marriage That is something that will strain the marriage that is something that there are women out there That are hunting for the precious light there are women out there that will try to be a homewrecker Okay, and your husband? You know has no right to Indulge okay, I'm not giving anybody credence. I'm not giving anybody Any type of leeway on this because it's wicked if any husband would do that at the same time We need to all help our spouse not make that you know something hard to deal with right What we should be doing is saying hey, let's make our spouse Let's let's make it easy on our spouse to not even have to deal with that situation right and so When it comes to embracing you know husbands and wives Yes That's the answer yes, and obviously there's times where you think about after giving birth Obviously I preached on that leviticus chapter 12 talks about there's a recovery process That women go through after they give birth There's prayer and fasting stuff like that, but besides these these exceptions like that this should be something you know rejoice in the life of your youth embrace your wife and You know just like the the the woman in the Song of Solomon that His his right hand should embrace me You know that idea that there should he should be right you should be embracing your wife not someone else, okay? So but another aspect of embracing or not embracing. I go to acts chapter 20 acts chapter 20 And I believe this deals with fellowship of believers, okay? Fellowship With believers there's a time to basically have fellowship, and there's time not to have fellowship, okay, and Just so you know like that there's embracing that's involved with fellowship with believers is accept 20 in verse 1 It says an after the uproar was ceased Paul called unto him the disciples and embraced them and departed for to go into Macedonia Okay, go down to verse 36 verse 36, so He ends up going into Ephesus He's talking to the elders that are in Ephesus all this stuff but it says in verse 36 when he had thus spoken he kneeled down and Prayed with them all and they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more and They accompanied him onto the ship so the idea here is that the embracing that you you would have with just fellowship right he's leaving a group of Christians and disciples they embrace and They go you know he goes a separate way Then he comes and he's dealing in Ephesus they embrace But let me just give you a bunch of verses here about the idea of embracing and having fellowship with believers and the idea of Something that we don't necessarily practice in America Which I'm all about not practicing this is greeting one another the holy kiss of charity Okay, so go to a Roman chapter 16 Roman chapter 16 But you think about like in Europe sometimes people when they greet each other They'll kind of like kiss each other on the cheek kind of thing And we don't do that here in America. I don't even like giving people handshakes at the time Give me the fist bump you know With all the sicknesses around that's the last thing we need right Everybody kissing each other on the cheek, right? But you know the idea though I think that's behind this even if we're not actually physically kissing one another is the idea of the embracing of believers right that It says in verse 16 of Romans 16 salute one another with an holy kiss the churches of Christ salute you go to 1st Corinthians chapter 16 1st Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 19 And I'm just going to kind of go through these these these different Salutations if you will just so you see that this happens a lot. You know when we're dealing with Churches and he's writing to those in Rome, but here he's writing to the church That's at Corinth and in verse 19 of chapter 16 It says the churches of Asia salute you Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the church that is in their house All the brethren greet you greet you in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord In their house all the brethren greet you greet you one another with an holy kiss the salutation of me Paul With mine own the salutation of me Paul with mine own hand go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 verse 11 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 verse 11 it says Finally brethren farewell be perfect be of good comfort be of one mind live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you Greet one another with an holy kiss all the Saints salute you the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ And the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all Clara Anna Stop talking or you're gonna be split up and Go to 1st Peter chapter 5 1st Peter chapter 5 1st Peter chapter 5 and verse 13 So I think you get the point but at the same time when we're dealing with writing to Churches to brethren that we're having fellowship with there's this idea of embracing one another hey Paul embraced those that he was with You know they were I mean weeping and embracing and like You know the the idea of just the embracing of fellowship of believers and that care that we have for each other and that fellowship That we have 1st Peter chapter 5 verse 13 It says the church that is in Babylon elected together with you salute with you so does Marcus my son Greet you one another with a kiss of charity peace be with you all that are in that are in Christ Jesus. Amen so The church that is at Babylon I believe we're talking about the church That's in Rome actually because I believe Rome was the Babylon of that day and He's stating to greet one another with a kiss of charity the idea here is that we're embracing one another We're having fellowship with one another But the question is is there a time where Christians shouldn't be embracing right that would be the question right is there a time? where we shouldn't be You know for lack of better terms singing Kumbaya with each other, right? And I think there are cases where there's gonna be either church discipline or there may just be cases where I'm I don't care for It's the same the same part of the same church. I'm not I'm not embracing Somebody else that's a believer based off of maybe certain things that they're doing. Maybe it's certain things. They believe whatever the case may be The idea of being separate and coming out from among them Even if it's a believer there's cases where I believe ex communication is something that needs to happen go to Matthew chapter 18 Matthew chapter 18 Because there's a lot of people that would just think well, no, you should always embrace Christian, you know, like every believer There's never a time to where you're just like listen not hanging out with you. We're not embracing we're not gonna we're not gonna just You know be friends and be around each other until Something's right, you know set right, okay The Bible doesn't teach that you're just a have fellowship with every believer Okay So we definitely see that there are cases where we are where we are supposed to be embracing one another We're I mean to the point of like a kiss of charity grieving one another But in Matthew chapter 18 and verse 15 notice what it says Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee Thou has gained thy brother But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more That in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established and if he shall neglect to hear them Tell it unto the church But if he neglect to hear the church let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican Barely I say unto you whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be Loosed in heaven and again again I say unto you that if if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything That they shall ask it shall be done for them of my father Which is in heaven for where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them? So this is a case where you have a brother So we're talking about believers here, right? We're not talking about unbelievers we're talking about believers and you have a quarrel where basically someone did the other one wrong and The idea is to just go to them directly and just say hey You've done me wrong Let's fix this and they're just like nuts to you buddy. You know and it's just like no Then you say okay. I'm gonna take two men with me right and we're gonna address this right and be like hey You messed up you you stole this or you took this or you did this over here you need to this needs to be set right and two other men come with them and There's three people standing there witness, you know, there's at least two people alongside the person that's Been wrong is standing there and the guy is just like no Nuts to you all right then you bring it before the church and if he doesn't hear the church at that point Then there's excommunication that's there This passage is not talking about some false prophet reprobate that comes in and trying to infiltrate the church. Okay? You know like when people just like oh you didn't let me come before the church You didn't do Matthew 18 because it doesn't apply to you This applies to brethren in Christ Okay, this also applies to somebody that is wronging an individual in the church. It's not that they're like They're not sowing discord among brethren They're not like trying to split the church and and trying to like spread some false doctrine around and let's say it's even a saved Person that's spreading that's spreading like stuff that we don't believe or whatever, right? Let's say someone was in here They're saved and they're just trying to convince the church on the pre-trib rapture or something like that Right, and they're just vindictively trying to get people to come against the pastor and all that listen That is not Matthew 18 Matthew 18 is like someone backed into my truck and they they did it. They know they did it and I'm like, hey man You know You're gonna try to help me out with this, you know, you're gonna try to like right the wrong here I'm just giving an example, you know someone back in my truck I probably wouldn't really care but let's say I cared and I wanted them to like fix it or whatever and They're just like nuts you buddy. Sorry about your luck, you know, and they were just like belligerent like that Then I may say hey, you know brother Dave brother Matt come with me We got to go talk to this guy and just be like, hey, what's up, man? like why you acting like this and Then he's just like nuts to all of you guys, right and then you're just like, all right They want to do this, but I'm gonna bring it before the whole church because you're just being so Belligerent about it and then then he's just like nuts to everybody in the church, right? I don't care. I backed into his car or his truck. I don't care like I'm not doing anything. What are you guys gonna do about it? And at that point you're just like, all right, buddy go walk go walk and until you until you come back and you're repentant on what you're you know, what you've done or whatever then Then you're just gonna be like a publican and a heathen to us. Okay That's what that's dealing with. It's not dealing with false doctrine It's not dealing with some pedophile coming in here right or something like that. Well, we need to bring that to the church Now you need to bring that to the police is what you need to do right and so There are times for excommunication, but that's a case of let's say it's not necessarily like some major sin It could just be it could be something so petty It could just be something really petty that You know, this is where first Corinthians 6 comes in where he's saying is there not like the least among you that's worth you know that it's able to judge in these matters and Then he kind of goes on to say like this should be judged like things where people are being defrauded But then he's like, why don't you just suffer to be defrauded right? Let's say no one will judge these matter Let's say I can't find guys and the church just won't like judge on the matter in the end I just needed to suffer to be defrauded and just move on and just serve the Lord, right? So there's ideas like that when it comes to excommunication I go to first Corinthians chapter 5 and this is you know, obviously a big passage when it comes to church discipline First Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 1 In all these cases when it comes to brethren Reconciliation is the ultimate goal, right? Even that person in Matthew chapter 18 you want them to be reconciled you want them to Come to their senses, right? I mean, that's why you kind of go through all that process You're not just at a hair trigger Be like this person you're out of here buddy. You know what I mean? Like it's not this hair trigger type of thing and first Corinthians chapter 5 we're gonna deal with some major sins that would cause somebody to be kicked out of church and Let's look at what it says here in first Corinthians chapter 5 verse 1 it says it is reported commonly That there is fornication among you. I want you to just notice that It's reported commonly that there's fornication among you and that is something that is very clear that everybody knows about right? It's known throughout that there's fornication going on and such fornication as is Not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife. So the idea here is that this is obviously a major sin because I Mean Leviticus hits on this. Okay, Leviticus hits on the fact of not basically committing fornication or not You know lying with someone else, you know, like your father's wife now, obviously this isn't his mother It's not that but at the same time it's still wicked, right? Let's say your your your father got remarried, right? It's still wicked. It's still adultery It's still fornication and it's actually it's worse, right? If you were to commit fornication with someone that's not married and it's not anywhere connected to your your parents That's still wrong but this is even a higher level if that makes sense, like there's higher levels of fornication and It's basically commonly reported but notice what it says in verse 2. Here's the big issue It says and ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned That he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you For I barely as absent in body But present in spirit have judged already as though I were at or were present concerning him that hath done that hath hath so done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together in my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ To deliver such in one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus your glory is not good Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump Purge out there for the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are Unleavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us Therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness But with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth I wrote unto you in an epistle not the company with fornicators Yet not all together with the fornicators of this world or with the Covetous or extortioners or with idolaters for then must ye needs go out of the world, but now I have written unto you not the company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or Covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such in one know not to eat For what have I to judge them also that are without do not ye judge them that are within that are within But then that are without God judge it therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person So the idea here is that they should be putting this guy out of the church. It's commonly reported It's just they're puffed up about it. No one's mourning about it. It's just basically like yeah, this is fine It's fine that this is going on and It's Levin that's leavening the whole lump right because this guy thinks it's fine. That's doing the act Everybody else is it's leavening everybody else to think it's fine Okay, for example if someone is living with let's say their girlfriend or boyfriend, you know Like some guys living with her girlfriend they're coming here and then they're just flaunting it and saying yeah, I'm living with my girlfriend and There's nothing wrong with that Flaunting that around and everybody else is just like yeah, that's cool. You know, I hope you guys work out No ain't happening That is something that's gonna be nipped in the bud Okay, because I don't want my kids to look at that and be like, oh, that's fine. They can live together and they're not married Now what Different pastors will have different amount of time that they give someone to fix that situation, but I'll say this It depends on their their response on how fast I deal with it Okay, for example, let's say I go up to the person say hey listen, you know first Corinthians 5, you know If they if they tell me we're not committing fornication, I'm gonna be like, I'm not an idiot Okay, I'm not an idiot if you're living with your girlfriend you're committing fornication Point blank, you know and You know, I'm not I wasn't born yesterday, okay so But if they say to me No, I'm not getting we're not getting married. We're staying like this and they're just belligerent about it They're just like in your face like no, this is fine And I show them verses on it and they're just like nope be like hit the road jack Right then and there Okay That if that's the response Now if they say oh, you know, you know, can I can I look at this and study this and you know I see where you're coming from. I'm not sure if I agree, you know, can I look at this? I'll give him a little more grace. Okay, or if they say yeah, you're right and you know, you know, I Let me talk to her and see if she's you know If we can get married and or if I can move out or whatever and give him some grace I'm like give them some time to move and kind of get out of that situation Or how are you either getting married or moving out and like living in separate quarters, right? But it really depends on their attitude On how I'll deal with that Okay But it has to be commonly reported or I won't know about it. Does that make like if it And I don't know, you know, it's not like I go up to be like are you living with your girlfriend? Do you have a girlfriend are you living with them? Are you committed for indication like I don't go up to people and just start drill, you know Like like put a spotlight on them and just grilling them about what they're doing in their life Okay, this is why in first Corinthians chapter 11 when we do the Lord's Supper I Put that caveat to examine yourselves because there are times where people are in church and they are guilty of sins That would get them kicked out. We just don't know about it. I don't know about it. But yet the Lord does and The Lord will chasten you harshly for that. Okay, especially if you take the Lord's Supper in that. Okay So but it's saying like listen We can eat bread and let's say you're trying to win someone to Christ, right? Let's say you're you know And they're living with their their significant other or whatever and you're trying to win them to Christ and you're hanging out with them Or whatever. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about those that are called those that are brothers in Christ those that are saved You know, what's the other reason that you're talking to this person right and hanging out with them You're not trying to win them to Christ if they're a brother So the idea here is that by excommunication What I believe happens, let's say let's say someone was in some major sin to where they get kicked out. Okay, and I would say, you know, if there was anybody in here that was in some major sin, I just maybe I'm just a you know Optimist but I have a feeling that there's gonna be that people aren't gonna be just that belligerent with me It'd just be like nuts to you pastor. This is fine, you know and just kind of had that attitude I'd imagine it probably more repentant and like oh, yeah, I'm struggling with this I need to fix this and all that and that's a whole nother story, right if someone's just like hey I need to fix this I need to work on this help me with this Right then someone that's just like it's in your face and they're just trying to shove it down your throat, right? And then they're trying to get other people to be convinced about it ain't happening. Okay? but When it comes to You know, what was I gonna say I just completely lost my train of thought lost it it's gone I Had a thought that was going down with that with the the church discipline and I just completely lost it I Anyway, let's move on to another point when it comes to that When it comes to church discipline the idea though, is that reconciliation is the ultimate goal. I want you to you know One go to another place in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 in Verse 18. I'm sorry 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 in verse 14 Just another place that kind of states the same thing It'll come to me like way later I'll be like, oh there it is 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 in verse 14 says and if any man obey not our word by this epistle note that man and have no company with him That he may be ashamed Yet count him not as an enemy but admonish him as a brother. I just thought of what I needed to say Okay, there we go. I don't know if that helped me or not, but I was just thinking To be delivered unto Satan. Okay The idea of church discipline is that I believe that believers that are in church and that are serving the Lord There's this hedge of protection that's about them. Okay, and don't underestimate the idea of like the the assembly and the fellowship and all that that's there because I believe that in that assembly if you know It talks about we have the church has the power to lose or to basically You know bring back those into the church and God will regard it right if we as a church Excommunicate somebody God's regards that But if we forgive somebody and bring them back in God also regards that okay, but when it talks about That they may be delivered unto Satan For the destruction of the flesh the idea here is that in the church there's chasing you that that happens from the Lord Out there though. It's kind of like the idea where You've gone past the hedge right? There's this hedge of protection that's about you in life you get kicked out of a church and I believe that protection is taken away and the idea is that When you're out there and you realize that hedge of protection isn't there It's gonna cause you to want to come back and get things right and you know get you straightened out It's obviously not the way you should go, okay, that's not the way it should happen, you know, like You know personally I'd rather have the chasing the Lord here in the church and the Lord chasing me than the world even David said Let me you know when you have the choice of basically the world Punishing him or the Lord. He said let me fall into the hands of the Lord So when it comes to church discipline, you don't want to be cast out Okay, and so it's something that you because you may say well, how's that gonna help somebody? Because that's the argument right if someone isn't like in that type of sin and they're belligerent about how's it gonna help them to cast Them out. Well one it doesn't matter what you think is right. It's what God said to do So whether you understand it or not, it doesn't really matter does it because if God says to do it Thus said the Lord but I believe his ways are above our ways. His thoughts are above our thoughts So therefore when they're cast out, I believe that there's this bigger form of punishment that's going to be put upon them That could cause them that would cause them to get back in the fold, right? And so That's what I was gonna say Second Thessalonians is kind of the same thing, you know, it's kind of the idea of not keeping company with them But it says yeah count them not as an enemy. You're not like enemies with this guy you had you're Unmonishing them and as a brother, right? So you don't want to keep company with them, but you're not enemies. You're not at odds with them. You're just Admonishing them, right and So go to go to Luke chapter 15 Luke chapter 15 because the ultimate goal here and this is what are we talking about? Embracing or not embracing in this case. We're talking about not embracing a brother Not keeping company with a brother not eating with a brother in Christ But what we want is that reconciliation to where we can We want to embrace them again. We want to bring them back to the fold. Okay, Luke 15 is dealing with a prodigal son but this is a case where He comes back to the fold right the lost sheep coming back to the fold if you will In Luke 15 and verse 18. It says I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son Make me as one of thy hired servants and he arose and came to his father But when he was yet a great way off his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed Him so what do we see here and embrace right? And The son said unto him father I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son but the father said to his servants bring forth the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and Be married for thy son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found and they began to be married So what are we dealing with here? We're dealing with someone that was basically gone out into the world and basically got The destruction of the flesh if you think about it Right the hedge of the protection was gone. He's out there. Just eating the husks that were just put out for the swine, right? He's about to eat these things and then he just came to himself like what am I doing, right? What am I doing? I'd rather be a hired servant Back where my father's at right and you kind of think about let's say someone's in a in a Let's say someone's like in a high position at church, right? But then they commit some big sin to where they're kicked out You know what when it comes to the punishment that would be from being excommunicated from church It could come back. He'd come back and be like I'd rather just be you know The doorkeeper the janitor like whatever is better than being out there Right, it's better than being me out there But the idea is that when you come back when someone comes back, let's say someone gets kicked out But then they come back and they're repentant. We should be acting like this father and the fact that we're embracing them We're celebrating we're married. We're not bringing up What were you thinking, you know? that's the idea is that and a lot of times I think a lot of people are probably afraid to come back because They're afraid of that kind of judgment that's gonna come upon them. They've already been judged right at that point Being out there in the world and you know Satan, you know Basically destroying the flesh and like a hedge of protection being gone That brought them back at that point just need to forgive and forget and let's move on right and we're glad you're back, right? So we need to have that attitude go to second Corinthians chapter 2 second Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 5 Second Corinthians chapter 2 verse 5 I believe that that that man in first Corinthians 5 actually did get reconciled and here's where I believe it states it. Okay So that idea of basically, you know sending them out for the destruction of the flesh That's in first Corinthians chapter 5 verse 5 of chapter 2 second Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 5 it says but if any Have caused grieve he hath not grieved me but in part that I may not overcharge you all Sufficient to such a man is this punishment which was inflicted of many So that contrary wise ye ought rather to forgive him Okay, so he I believe he's referring back to the fact of what he originally wrote to them because he talks about how they were Obedient like they actually listened and did what he said to do. Okay So the contrary wise you ought rather to forgive him and comfort him lest perhaps Such a one should be over swallowed Up with over much sorrow Wherefore I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward him For to this end also did I write that I might know the proof of you whether ye be obedient in all things To whom you forgive anything I forgive also for if I forgave anything to whom I forgave it for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ But Satan should get an advantage of us we are not ignorant of his devices, right? So it's kind of like you you allow them, you know, you throw them out to the wolves if you will but Anna Is that you making that noise? Stop that you throw them out to the wolves so to speak throw them out to Satan, but we're not ignorant of his devices We're not just throwing them out. They're just gonna be completely destroyed The idea is that they're destroyed to the fact to where they'll come back You know and then they'll come back into the fold and we can embrace again and just like the prodigal son You know if they come out if they go outside they go astray from the fold Right. The idea is that we want to bring them back and we want to reconcile it. This is talking about brethren by the way Not false prophets now go to Roman chapter 16. So let me end on this We are not to be embracing false prophets heretics You know, I'm not embracing Methodist preachers Pentecostal preachers most Baptist preachers because They're preaching false Gospels and so That's not what I was talking about when we're talking about church discipline and reconciliation When it comes to someone preaching false document they may get saved they want to be if they want to have If we're gonna embrace it all But in a lot of cases these people are devils and They're not gonna get saved. Okay, because there's people that are obviously ignorant, but a lot of these guys are not ignorant They know what the truth is and they hold the truth in unrighteousness now Roman chapter 16 verse 17 says now I beseech you brethren Mark them which caused the visions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ But their own belly and by good words and fair speeches to see the hearts of the simple Does it sound like we should have anything to do with these people? You know Jesus even said about the Pharisees. He says is let them alone Let them well, they'd be blind leaders of the line I'm not I'm not Fellowshiping with these guys. I'm not trying to now there were leaders that Jesus fellowship with I mean Simon the Pharisee, you know Nicodemus was a Pharisee There was people that Jesus fellowshiped with that were higher up that didn't believe right Okay, but they were doing it ignorantly and I believe Nicodemus got saved I believe other people got saved but listen when it comes to like Caiaphas you think Jesus was hanging out with Caiaphas and Annas Do you think he was trying to get in their circle I'm not trying to get into the circles of the preachers in this area I'm not trying to embrace that and Go to Titus chapter 3 Titus chapter 3 Titus chapter 3 and verse 9 There's a time to refrain from embracing and I feel like a lot of Baptist preachers try to embrace too many people I'm not embracing politicians I'm not embracing all these other false teachers that are out there You say well, maybe we should embrace them so that we can you know change their doctrine So we can get them saved and then we could change their doctrine What if we change their mind and then they can influence their congregation. What does the Bible say though? The Bible says mark them and avoid them He says about the Pharisees and Sadducees beware of their doctrine beware of their leaven, right? Let them alone Don't have anything to do with these people Okay, and so I'm not I'm not going to go Meet up with them have coffee with them and talk doctrine Well, we just we just disagree about the fact that salvation is by grace through faith. Oh That's all No, I'm gonna avoid that I'm gonna mark that mark them which walk So as you have us for an example for many walk of whom now I've told you often and I'll tell you even weeping That they are the enemies of the cross of Christ That's the Bible says mark them they're enemies of the cross Christ I'm gonna have anything to do with them Titus 3 9 says but avoid foolish questions and Genealogies and contentions and strivings about the law for they are unprofitable in vain should I embrace foolish questions? Should I embrace genealogy should I embrace contentions and strivings about the law that are unprofitable? Should I embrace that? No, I'm not gonna embrace I'm gonna avoid it a man that is in here take after the first and second admonition reject Knowing that he did it as such as subverted and synod to being condemned of himself Should we just be embracing everybody? That's just a big heretic Someone that won't listen to the Word of God that will just reject clear passages in the Bible. Should I embrace that? I'm not gonna embrace it. I'm gonna mark it and avoid it I'm gonna let him alone and Second John the last thing I'll show you here in 2nd John verse 9 2nd John verse 9. I Believe it would be sin for me to embrace it By embracing and like having fellowship with with these false teachers, I believe you are basically bidding them godspeed. I Mean can you Matt what would that look like if I'm just like yeah, you know what that Catholic priest down the road We're gonna have coffee this this Saturday we have coffee and we're gonna talk and just Have some fellowship Would you I mean who in here would be like What in the world are you doing Right, you'd be like why are you having coffee with this guy? Why are you why are you embracing this guy? Why are you having fellowship with this guy, right? and Notice what it says in verse 9 whosoever just trans whosoever transgressed and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ Hath not God and that's the Catholic priests. That's the Methodist Pastors or pastorettes or whatever you want to call them minsterettes That's all these people that believe false false Gospels they don't abide in the doctrine of Christ They don't have God he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son if there come any unto you And bring not this doctrine receive them not into your house not a bit him Godspeed Not having them over for tea and crumpets my friends And I'm not having crumpets anyway, because I'm not British but I'm not having them over and fellowshipping with them We're not singing kumbaya. I'm not embracing these false prophets for he that biddeth him. Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds I'm avoiding them. I'll pretty hard against them And you say well, what about their congregates I'm gonna go get him saved We're gonna go out door door knocking and we're gonna run into those people and We're gonna give him the gospel and get him saved I don't need that person that that false prophet to get saved for me to win the people that are in his car in his congregation to the Lord and By the way, that's not God's way When it comes to soul winning when it comes to preaching when it comes to church discipline when it comes to the the administration if you will of how we do things the Bible is the roadmap and Whether we agree with it or disagree with it humanly speaking. It doesn't really matter does it? Because I've heard a lot of people say well church discipline, you know, like how would that work? How was that? How is that gonna reconcile somebody? Well, I'll say this I may not understand exactly how it's gonna happen or whether it will happen I'm gonna do it because God told me that's the way it's supposed to be done but chips far where they may and Too many Christians think they're smarter than God Too many Christians think that too many pastors and preachers think that they know more than God does They think that they can just have everybody love them and no one hate them and still be godly But yet the Bible says Marvel not if the world hates you They hated me before they hated you Well went to you when all men shall speak well of you Yeah, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus how suffer persecution. I mean We're not gonna be friends with everybody and we're not to be friends with everybody we're not to be embracing everybody I Didn't get on reprobates, but of course there They're not to be embraced But yet churches embraces, don't they? They embrace that queer flag And all that garbage They embrace it and they're partakers of their evil deeds. They embrace false teachers. They're partakers of their evil deeds and Listen, if you embrace somebody that's been kicked out of the church that you're going to That has church discipline and you're embracing them and fellowshipping with them You're partakers with their evil deeds. You're you're openly Defying what the church has decided that should be done there. God has regarded it Okay when it comes to that so there is a time to refrain from embracing and Hopefully with those cases as far as like brethren being excommunicated that there's reconciliation. So hopefully that's not something that's gonna be long But what if it is what if it's till the end of your life so be it Do you want to be friends with someone that's just belligerently breaking God's commandments and doesn't give a rip about it Or do you want to be around people that love the Lord and want to keep his commandments? So and when it comes to our wives husband's wives There's a time to embrace and husband wives when it comes to other people's spouses or just other you know You know like men other women It's not a time to embrace. Okay, and I'm talking about physically embracing women. There's obviously exceptions to the rule Okay, someone's dying. You got to pick them up, you know or something like that or someone fell over You got to embrace them and bring them up or or there's a funeral and they're just completely distraught And you're just you give them a hug to try to come for them in some manner or something like that Obviously there's exceptions to the rule, but I don't come to church and be like and just hug everybody I'm not a hugger anyway, but let's say I don't think we should be doing that Now my wife I can hug whenever I want And I should be hugging my wife. I should be embracing my wife I said, you know that the do benevolence should be happening at home do benevolence should be happening with husbands and wives throughout our church But it should be contained within that marriage And we need to be guarded against embracing someone else. It starts with the eyes my friends It starts with the eyes and listen. There's so much stuff out there nowadays when it comes to Instagram Facebook all this stuff and listen I'm guilty of watching like these funny reels and stuff like that that are out there and I don't think that that's Sinful to watch funny reels where people are like falling off a roof and Getting hit by cars or something like that. I Can't think of the one right off the top of my head but but anyway You know, there's there's there's things that are out there that are funny that people do especially when you have kids and all that stuff That are just funny, but listen those things these apps are inherently run by wicked people and They are gonna end up trying to point you to other stuff. That's not Godly that's not just a joke. It's not just funny. It's actually getting into wickedness You gotta you gotta watch that stuff right as soon as that stuff, you know, something pops up You're just like whoa, what was that and be like shut that thing down? Because that leads to something else That could lead to that could lead to pornography that could lead to if in a pornography can lead to you lusting after other women that are around you and That lusting after women that are around you can lead to the actual physical act of adultery and now your marriage is ruined Your kids are now gonna have to live in separate, you know Like, you know your your wife could leave you and you can end up like not being around your kids all the time and One thing leads to another lust when it has conceived bring it for sin and sin when it is finished bring it for death You know how you don't you don't You don't get duped by the strange woman. You don't go out to the corner of the street where she's standing Or she's dressed like a harlot The whore that she is that's out there trying to pull you in You don't go out there and whether that's to get off any type of like social media apps that would cause you to do that Whatever you have to do. You got to get a listen. It starts with the eyes I affected the heart and then the heart is where the lust is going to be conceived and Listen, I'm not a thought police officer up here. I don't know what you're thinking. I Don't know what's in your heart. I don't know like You know think throughout the week or anything like that nor do I want to know don't come professor since we all on a daily basis here, but But we all have to be guarded with that because that can turn into something that can turn into a first Corinthians chapter 5 and Then now we got to deal with that and listen getting kicked out of church is one thing losing your whole family's another thing We're a church full of young families And You know, I don't want to see that, you know as a pastor, I don't want to see any families in our church get get Split up or like crazy stuff like that happen I want to see every single one of our families be a strong family where the husband and wife stay together they stay faithful to each other and that adultery doesn't happen and And the same thing with the kids listen kids you need to think about this stuff before you even get in the marriage on the fact that you're gonna stay true to your spouse and Know hey, here's the warnings. Here's the things here's how you don't get into that stuff and today's age Everything's at our fingertips when it comes to tech when it comes to what you can see You have to guard yourself on that stuff Guard yourself on what you're seeing and Just know this here's my advice when it comes to social media assume that everybody's watching I'm not a tech savvy person that may not be true That's that but what I assume is that what I see on my phone and what I see on my computer if it's connected to The internet I just assume everybody can see it I'm a pastor of a Baptist Church that Preaches hard against sin and you know that they want to find any kind of dirt they can on me if they could find it I assume That they're looking now. I'm obviously not that big of a name to where I think that they're actually coming after me I assume it though Because you know what that does that keeps me like Don't I don't even be looking at anywhere near that stuff over here because of the consequences Okay Whatever it takes to put the guard up in your mind to say I'm not gonna look at this I'm not gonna be over here. I'm not gonna look at this over here Whatever it takes I don't care what it takes Guard yourself from it wherefore let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall if you think that you're above pornography then Take heed lest ye fall if you think you're above lusting after another woman And I'm talking to the men particularly right now if you think that you're above lusting after another woman Take heed lest ye fall if you think you're above ever Committing the act of adultery take heed lest ye fall and I pray to God that none of us ever do anything like that and Never comes into that mind or anything like that, but set up the guards hedge yourself about with that stuff I Don't care if you have to work 18-hour days to where you can't do anything, but work and sleep if you have to do that to guard yourself do it Okay, because your family is more important than that your kids are more important than that God's more important than that and We need to all guard ourselves when it comes to that stuff There's a time to embrace and there's time not to embrace and when you're not working and when you're not sleeping embrace your wife You know, that's that's my advice. So let's end with a word of priority. Holy father. We think for today Thank you for your word. Thank you for the book of Ecclesiastes and Lord these these passages where we can see That there's a time to to do the polar opposite of things whether it's to embrace or not to embrace Whether it's a time to love a time to hate time of war time of peace when it comes to these issues and these times Lord help us to have discernment to know when we need to Do certain actions and which route to go in these certain situations give us discernment Lord give us wisdom Give us knowledge and what I pray for our families in this church when it comes to embracing Pray that you'll keep us from any type of sins That would be considered sins to be kicked out of church or anything like that and Lord just paid you to Help us to stay separate to be holy as much as possible and Lord. We love you in parallel in Jesus Christ name Amen, but they will come sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed All right, take your song books and turn to song number 46 Song number 46 will sing my Savior first of all, if you would stand we'll sing song number 46 When my life's work is ended and I cross the swelling tide when the bright and glorious morning I shall see I Shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side and his smile will be the first to welcome me I shall know Him I shall know him and Redeemed by his side. I shall stand I shall know Him I shall know Him by the print of the nails in his hands Oh the soul-flowing rapture when I view his blessed face and the luster of his kindly beaming How my full heart will praise him for the mercy loving grace that prepare for me a mansion in the sky I shall know Him I shall know