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Constantly abiding, rapture divine. He never leaves me lonely, whispers oh so kind. I will never leave thee, Jesus is mine. All the world seemed to sing of a Savior and King when peace sweetly came to my heart. Troubles all fled away, and my night turned to day. Blessed Jesus, how glorious thou art. Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine. Constantly abiding, rapture divine. He never leaves me lonely, whispers oh so kind. I will never leave thee, Jesus is mine. This treasure I have in a temple of clay. While here on his footstool I roam. But he's coming to take me some glorious day. Over there to my heavenly home. Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine. Constantly abiding, rapture divine. He never leaves me lonely, whispers oh so kind. I will never leave thee, Jesus is mine. Great singing. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day. And thank you for a full house this Sunday morning. I pray that you bless every person here. I pray that you'd give strength to our pastor to preach boldly this morning. And you just bless every aspect of this service. We love you so much. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right. For our second song, we'll go to song 296. Follow on. 296. Follow on. Song 296. Follow on. And in the valley with my savior I would go. Where the flowers are blooming and the sweet waters flow. Everywhere he leads me I would follow, follow on. Walking in his footsteps till the crown be won. Follow, follow, I would follow Jesus. Anywhere, everywhere, I would follow on. Follow, follow, I would follow Jesus. Everywhere he leads me I would follow on. Down in the valley with my savior I would go. Where the storms are sweeping and the dark waters flow. With his hand to lead me I will never, never fear. Danger cannot frighten me if my Lord is near. Follow, follow, I would follow Jesus. Anywhere, everywhere, I would follow on. Follow, follow, I would follow Jesus. Everywhere he leads me I would follow on. Down in the valley or upon the mountain steep. Close beside my savior would my soul ever keep. He will lead me safely in the path that he has trod. Up to where they gather on the hills of God. Follow, follow, I would follow Jesus. Anywhere, everywhere, I would follow on. Follow, follow, I would follow Jesus. Everywhere he leads me I would follow on. Good morning, thank you so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you don't already have a bulletin, you can lift up your hand nice and high. One of our ushers would love to come by and get you a bulletin. On the front we have our Bible memory passage where we've been going through the book of John. It's definitely a lot of verses, but if you can quote the entire chapter, there will be a special prize. Of course, since it's such a lengthy chapter, there'll be a very good prize. I encourage you to do that. On the inside we have our soul winning times as well as our church stats. If you have any church stats to update, you can always send that to your soul winning captain whenever you get that. I'll still try to gather that on Wednesdays and Sunday nights for those that maybe forgot or anything like that. Couple notes, or a couple things to pay attention on the soul winning. The regional soul winning, the last Saturday of every month, we don't have some of the regional times being separate. Brother West and Brother Lugo combined. And so then they do kind of like a big push. And it's gonna be in Arlington this month specifically. We'll put the address in the bulletin the next week or whatever. But if you wanna come out and join us, we're gonna target like department areas and stuff. And it's been very receptive the last few times they've gone out there. And so I encourage you to participate. On the right, we have the list of expecting ladies. We have our prayer list. If you have any prayer requests, you can either fill out a card, slip that in the offering plate, or you can email us. Either is really convenient for us. Also upcoming events, we have our men's conference, August 18th through the 20th. I'm really looking forward to this. We're gonna have a friendly competition this year, and I'm really excited about that and crowning a champion. But see, here's the thing. We have to take the prize home ourselves, okay? We can't let other people, some of their guests or other people that are coming, we gotta stand strong, okay? Can't let some weak person from like Oklahoma that puts beans in their chili or something, or from even out of Texas, Oklahoma area win. And there's gonna be some stiff competition. So I'm excited about it. It's gonna be fun. Also, we have a new thing that we're gonna try. It's Sundays on Sundays. And that's gonna be the last Sunday of every month. So the last Sunday, August 28th, where if you go out snowing with us on Sunday afternoon, we're gonna have Sunday treats for everyone that comes back and survived. No, I'm just kidding. So it'll be a lot of fun. And also we have a snowing marathon in Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana. And so I just had to hit where it hurts because there's a lot of Oklahoma City people visiting with us today. So I just have to hit, I haven't gotten to see them in a little while. But I'm planning to go back up there pretty soon. That's pretty much all I have for announcements this morning. We're gonna go ahead and go to our third song, 301 Sweet Hour of Prayer, song 301. We actually have to sing one song before that. And that is Happy Birthday to our pastor. So if everyone will sing with me here. My musicians don't know how to play it. They can play all these wonderful, great songs, but they can't play Happy Birthday. So we'll have to go a capella here. On the first, here we go. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear pastor. Happy birthday to you. All right, there we go. I'm sure I'll pay for that one somehow, but we'll go to 301 Sweet Hour of Prayer. 301 Sweet Hour of Prayer. 301 Sweet Hour of Prayer. Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, that calls me from a world of care and bids me at my Father's throne, make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief. Escape the tempter's snare, by thy return, sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, thy wings shall my petition bear, to him whose truth and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless. And since he bids me seek his face, believe, trust his grace, I'll cast on him my every care, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, may I thy consolation share, till from Mount Pisgah's lofty height, I view my home and take my flight. This robe of flesh shall drop and rise, to seize the everlasting prize, and shout while passing through the air, farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer. As the offering plates are passed around, turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 10. We'll read the whole chapter together, as is our custom, you can follow along silently, starting at verse number one, Hebrews chapter number 10. And the Bible reads in Hebrews chapter 10, for the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year, continually make the comers their run to perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshipers once purged, should have had no more conscience of sins, but in those sacrifices, there was a remembrance again made of sins every year, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls, and of goats should take away sins, wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body has thou prepared me, and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou has had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest not, neither had his pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all. And every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he had perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also was a witness to us, for after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified and unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, but call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated ye endured a great fight of afflictions, partly whilst ye were made a gazing stock both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For he had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Let's fire our heads for a word of prayer. Father God, we thank you for the morning service and for the opportunity that we have here to listen to the word of God being preached. I just pray that you would fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit and just help him to thunder forth the message you've laid on his heart. Lord, soften hearts in the room so that we can apply the sermon to our lives. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. Let's look back at verse 24 where the Bible reads, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully after that we receive the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. And the Bible makes it really clear here that while God loves his people and he loves the children of God and he wants us to do good, and while hell has been taken off the table as a punishment for us, that does not mean that God will not chastise, that God will not still punish us in this life. And what you have to understand about Hebrews chapter 10, let's get some context, we're talking about saved believers here. We're talking about, let us consider one another, okay? Assembling of ourselves, we're talking about church, we're talking about the brethren, we're talking about the saved, and we're saying we need to constantly exhort one another to go to church, to get plugged in, to maintain good works, to do that which is right and Christian, because when you decide to just live however you want, even though you're saved, there is still gonna be judgment that comes from the Lord. And in fact, notice what he says in verse 26, for if we sin willfully, after that we receive the knowledge of the truth. So he's talking about people that sin willfully, but they're saved. This is not talking about people that are sinning willfully and are not saved, this is talking about the saved brethren, knowing what to do, knowing what's right, and then just doing wrong anyways. And it would shock you, it would probably horrify you to realize how sinful saved believers and Christians are, and how all kinds of weird, crazy things they do, and in fact, lots of times the sins they commit, it's not like they're ignorant, it's not like they don't know that it's wrong, it's not that they haven't heard it preached, it's not that they didn't show up at church and the pastor didn't rip on it, it's just they don't care. Or maybe they think they care, at least in their new man, but their old man is just dragging them around, taking them wherever they don't wanna go, and there's a problem because there's still gonna be a punishment for that. Look what it says in verse 27, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. Now sometimes you hear the word fire and you just always think hell, right? That could be an association you might think, but the problem is the word fire doesn't always mean hell. Sometimes you can get a fiery indignation and it's not death and hell, it's death on this earth. It's a fiery indignation here. It's illustrating God's passion, God's desire, God's vehement anger, but it could even literally describe a fiery death. I mean, you can die a lot of gruesome ways on this earth even though you're saved. Think about people like Samson. Samson died by having his eyes poked out and then he was grinding in the house, then he was brought with some pillars, and then he tore the pillars down and died in a horrible collapse of a building. That wasn't a great way to die or anything. That wasn't a lot of fun. Why did he die that way? Because he willfully sinned, because he just kept sleeping with harlots, he just kept committing fornication, he just kept doing that which was wicked in the sight of God. He ended up telling this horrible woman his secret of God and becoming a backslider, transgressing, getting away from the Lord, and then the Lord causes him to be under the will of his enemies. Can you imagine just someone getting a hot poker and just shoving it right in your right eye? That sounds like a fiery indignation if you ask me. And then they rip it out. Think if they didn't successfully do it the first time, and then they have to shove it back in there and just kind of like wiggle it around a little bit and then just slowly weed out that eye, and then they just jam it into the second one. What if they go a little too far and hit some other parts of your body? I mean, this sounds pretty pleasant, doesn't it? This is a saved person in your Bible. In fact, it's one of the people that God highly recommended in scripture, talks positively about in scripture, used mightily by God. Did you see the punishment that he got? Then he has to go and grind, and then he has to die some horrible death. And what I'm telling you is this is not just a one-off case. Christians can go through some serious, serious repercussions for their sins. And it's like people just don't understand that there's a real punishment that God can dole out to you. You say, why? Why don't I realize this? Because of God's grace. Because of God's grace, it often lulls Christians to sleep in their sin, in their iniquity, going down a bad path. Because God is long suffering, you can just start doing whatever you want, and there's no one gonna come and arrest you right afterwards. But you don't realize that that punishment is coming down the pike. And often what happens is when God's grace runs out, instead of getting a light affliction, it's just, bam! It's just hot poker in the eye. It's just you wake up, and there's all these Philistines, and they're attacking you, and you have no strength anymore. And then they're just shoving pokers in your eye. They're dragging you into prison. That's why you don't wanna mess around with God's grace. And the title of the sermon this morning is this, Wasting God's Grace. Wasting God's grace. Let's keep reading in this passage. It says in verse 28, He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall ye be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. Notice what the passage is saying. He's saying, hey, the guys in the Old Testament, they just died without any mercy whatsoever. If you just willfully broke God's commandment, death. You just pick up sticks on the Sabbath day, you just spit in the face of God and say, hey, I know that's wrong, I'm gonna do it anyways. Death. But he says, hey, that guy got a pretty harsh punishment. I have bad news for you. How much sorer of a punishment will you get in the New Testament when you decide to just do whatever you want and spit in the face of God? And just say, hey, I don't really care what the Bible says. And I'll warn you this, how much more sore of a punishment would someone that comes to a church that actually preaches the whole counsel of God, that actually warns the people of God of sins in the Bible, that actually brings up passages like First Corinthians, chapter number five, that actually brings up the Old Testament law, that actually makes manifest what sin is, for you to just spit in the face of God, spit in the face of the Bible, and just do despite unto the Spirit of grace, how much sorer of a punishment will you receive? And it's like, why do I keep getting old asleep? Because of God's grace, you forget that there is a real punishment that God can deliver. And we should never, ever get to a place where we're comfortable sinning. We should never get to a place where, hey, I know that's what the Bible says, but last time I did it, nothing really seemed to happen. Oh, I saw this other person in church do it, nothing bad's happening to them. You don't even know what's gonna happen to them. You don't even know what did happen to them. It's a foolish idea, and it happens or it creeps in the minds of Christians where we basically just make sin a light thing, we're not really worried about sin, because it's like, well, I'm going to heaven. Oh, there's plenty of punishment to be doled out. Look at verse 30. For we know him that has said vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, say the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of living God. Let me tell you something. Every person that I've ever seen just spitting in the face of God, knowing what's right and going against it, I always eventually see in their life just total destruction, judgment, horrible consequences, evil befalling them, and then they come back and they're like, what do I do? And it's like, okay, you're doomed. Like, sorry. I preached a whole sermon called No Good Option, and you have to understand there's sometimes in the Bible where you find yourself in a position where you have literally no good options. You're just in a doomed type of situation because you just made so many bad decisions beforehand. Don't think that the people that ignore what this book says are going to have a happy life. I don't care who you are. You don't have to come to this church. But you know what? If you decide not to do what this says, good luck with your life. Go to chapter 12 for a second. Go back to chapter 12. God's like doubling down on his promises. When he's like, he's promising us lots of things. He's promising us judgment, though. I mean, he was just saying like, hey, we know he said vengeance belongeth unto me, and again. So let me give you another thing to remind you of. The Lord shall judge his people. Now, who does that sound like, the saved or the unsaved? We're talking about the saved this morning. Hebrews chapter 12, look at verse five. And you have forgotten. Maybe some people forget. The exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, my son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. So let me explain something to you. If you think that you're gonna go out and sin and get away with it, the only way that is possible is if you're a bastard on your way to hell. That's it. That's your only option. Which doesn't sound like, oh, that's a great option. Hey, I escaped the physical punishment. Now I just have to go to an eternity of hell, eternity of the lake of fire, right? But if you know you're saved, let me give you a warning. You will not escape the chastisement of the Lord. Notice what he says very clearly in verse number eight. But if ye be without chastisement, notice this, whereof all are partakers, whereof all, every saved person is a partaker of chastisement. Every saved person is gonna face the consequences of their sin. Every child God loves and he will punish. You know, a good parent, if their child's screaming or throwing a fit in the store, they're gonna punish them. They're not gonna just be like, oh, let's give him a candy bar. You know, and God is so much better of a parent than we are, so when he sees us kicking and screaming and throwing a fit and doing wrong, of course he will punish us. You know, it's a foolish idea to think that God somehow is not gonna punish you for your sin. Now go over to Hebrews chapter four, Hebrews chapter four. Why is it that people often spit in the face of God, do despite the spirit of grace? Why do they do these type of things? There's a lot of reasons. One of the main reasons is the fact that God is just a very gracious God. And because we don't often see a consequence to our actions right away, there's not necessarily an immediate reaction. Sometimes there is. Sometimes there's a delayed response. Sometimes there's a delayed judgment that's coming down the pipe. But here's another thing that's great about the Lord. Sometimes your punishment is not what you deserve. Okay, look what it says in Hebrews chapter four, verse number 16. Let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So here's one of the cool things with the Lord. I can screw up and do wrong and then I can get on my knees and I can beg God to be merciful unto me and he can actually give me mercy and I can escape whatever judgment he may have been deciding to hand down to me. Now, I would still argue that I suffer, you have to suffer some level of punishment here because the chastening of my heart, the fact that I feel really bad for my sin, the fact that I basically feel that uncomfortable feeling of doing wrong and needing to seek the Lord, that is a form of punishment. And of course, that's what we would all like. That's what you want, right? Don't you wanna screw up and tell your parents like mom and dad, sorry, I took the cookie, sorry, I didn't clean my room and they're just like, well, you should have cleaned your room but I'm not gonna spank you. You're like, all right, sweet. But you still got the talking to, right? You still got the admonishment, you still got the correction and that's the best case scenario. We can get the same with the Lord in essence. I believe that the Lord a lot of times will give us that mercy. But here's the thing, you get that when you seek him. You get that when you get on your knees and you confess your sin and you forsake your sin, then a lot of times, God won't necessarily bring down the hammer on you, won't necessarily give you exactly what you deserve. People like David, David confesses sin, David understood that he sinned against the Lord with the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba, when he committed adultery, also committed murder. And after basically feeling sorry for it and trying to get right with God, God allowed that his physical punishment of death to be put away. So did he get exactly what he deserved? No. But he still got punished. And in fact, he still got even worse punishment than just the talking to. As he reads further in the story, come to the Wednesday night and you can hear that, all right? But go if you want to Romans chapter number six, Romans chapter number six. So we want to seek for grace. There's nothing wrong with seeking for grace. But we want to seek for grace with a sincere heart, with a sincere attitude. Hey, Lord, I am truly sorry. I shouldn't have done that. And actually forsaking it, and a lot of times God can give us that grace. So that's one reason, though, why because God will sometimes give us that grace, we could get kind of an attitude of, oh, well, I'll just say sorry later or something. But the problem with that attitude is if it's not sincere, it's not gonna work. You know, God's not an idiot. God's not a fool that you can trick. You can't lie to God. God understands that you can't just sin on Saturday night and say sorry Sunday morning every single week and think that he's just like, oh, okay, yeah, this guy really means it. No, you have to actually get right with the Lord in your heart. It's not even necessarily even your physical actions as much as what's in your heart. And only you know what's going on there and the Lord knows what's going on there. But there could be this attitude of like, well, let's just sin because there's grace. Look at Romans chapter six, verse one. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? I mean, if you're telling me, Pastor Shelley, I can go to heaven and I can commit every sin in the book. I can live however I want. I never have to go to church. I never have to read the Bible. I can just eat, drink, and be married because tomorrow we die. I mean, why not live like that? Isn't that what the Bible's saying? No, verse two, God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Now, here's the thing you have to understand about grace. Yeah, you could be the worst Christian on the planet and God will still take you to heaven. Yeah, you could do literally nothing for God, literally zero works, but believe in Jesus Christ and still go to heaven. And we use that as an example of soul winning just to help people understand the concepts that we're teaching. But let me tell you something. I'm not recommending that to anyone. And God's not recommending that to anyone. God's not saying, hey, I know that salvation's of no works, so do no works. No, he says the exact opposite. He says, hey, I know that salvation's not of works, but you need to do as many works as you possibly can. And there's still gonna be a punishment when you don't. And why would we wanna live that way anymore? Verse three, know you not that so many of us were baptized in Jesus Christ or baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with and by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. In fact, one of the pictures of baptism specifically is that you no longer wanna live like you did when you were unsaved. Do you no longer want to let the flesh decide what to do? You wanna decide to walk in the Spirit. Do you wanna walk in newness of life? Do you wanna follow Jesus? You know, we sing the hymn that we're gonna follow Jesus, but it's more than just singing to him. It's actually a lifestyle. You know what's more important than singing to him? Living to him. Not just coming and just singing it and then just going and living however you want. I will follow Jesus into the bar, to the whorehouse, all the way down to sin. That's not what it says. No, we wanna follow Jesus's commandments. That's what it really, you know, when we're following Jesus, let me, well, here he is. It's Genesis, it's Exodus, it's Leviticus, it's Numbers, it's Deuteronomy. That's following Jesus. Don't fool yourself. Don't think it's just some cutesy saying. It is a real, literal, practical application. And when you decide to just not follow God's commandments, he can dole out a serious punishment. Go to 2 Corinthians, chapter number six. Go to 2 Corinthians, chapter number six. Pastor Shelley, it sounds like you're mad at me. Sounds like you're preaching against me. Well, first of all, I'm definitely preaching to you. Is this sermon about me? Yes, it is, okay. I'm trying to help you realize how bad it is when you despise God's grace. And it doesn't matter how mad I get or how mean I am or how many times I hurt your feelings this morning, it won't even, it will pale in comparison to what God's gonna do to you when you don't actually abide by this message. You'll think, like, that was a light affliction in comparison. And you may even like the sermon. I don't know, I'm just saying that even if you don't, what's gonna be way worse is when you don't do what the Bible says. And look what it says in 2 Corinthians, chapter six, in verse number one. We then as workers together with them beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain. So this is where I'm kinda drawing the title of my sermon, Wasting God's Grace. There could be grace bestowed upon you from God that ends up being vain. And what does vain mean? Pointless, worthless, didn't really benefit anything. So you could end up giving someone grace and they basically don't use that grace for good. They actually just keep doing bad. So just think about your children. Maybe your children disobey your rules and instead of punishing them, you say, you know what, I'm gonna give you a second chance. But then they just break it right away. Well, that was taking your parents' grace in vain. The same would be with God. There could be us where we're doing something wrong. We're not perfectly aligned with God's will. We're not doing something right. And God, instead of just punishing us or taking us out or doing whatever, he gives us a second chance. He gives us another opportunity. You know, you could think of Samson. It's like, okay, he slept with this harlot and then God gave him grace. So then he hooked up with Delilah. It's like, well, that was kinda wasted. Why did you do that? And it's like, God's not just gonna keep being like, okay, let's go to the next girl then. More grace, next girl, next girl. You know, he might give you a couple opportunities, but eventually it's gonna run out. Eventually the grace is gonna cease. And the apostle Paul is making it abundantly clear that he had not received the grace of God in vain. Why? The apostle Paul was a blasphemer. The apostle Paul had persecuted the church of God. The apostle Paul had been zealous in a false religion. And God gave him a lot of grace. Because arguably the apostle Paul may have deserved a very serious physical punishment for his actions, maybe even death, but, but God gave him grace. Why? So that he could become the greatest apostle to ever live. So that he could go out and get a lot of people saved. And he's telling them, hey, this grace was not in vain towards me. God gave me this grace, but then I'm gonna use that grace for good. And we wanna use God's grace for good. We don't wanna waste God's grace in our lives. How many of you are sitting here because of God's grace, but you're gonna end up wasting it? I don't know. I'm hoping less after you're reminded of what the Bible says. But you could have a pretty good life right now for one reason, God's grace. Not because you're actually right with God, not because you're actually doing that which is right, but because God is just still giving you basically some guard rails, some bumper lanes on your bowling, okay? And it's like, you're just bowling gutter balls, but somehow you keep getting strikes because it just like hits it back and like gives you the strike. But pretty soon God's just gonna drop the gutter lanes, your bumpers, and you're just gonna start rolling gutters in. I mean, you're just gonna basically, your life's gonna become a complete train wreck and you don't even realize it. I mean, it's funny, like children, when they start learning how to bowl or they do these things, maybe like T-ball, I was thinking about T-ball, my son really likes baseball. And it's like, man, with T-ball, I get a hit every single time I swing. Not realizing it's because it's set up on a T. That's like God's grace in your life. Sometimes God just sets up your life on a T and you're just like, bam, bam. But then you get in the fast pitch machine with no T-ball, with no T, and it's intense. And if your form is bad, if you step in front of the ball, I mean, you could get hit, it would hurt, okay? And this is what you don't understand. Some of you in your lives could be sitting here and thinking like, my life's going great, but you have to ask yourself this question, why is your life going great? Is it because you're right with God or is it because you've just been getting a lot of grace from him lately? And you don't want to just sit here and waste that grace because if you study the Bible, typically what happens is when God's grace runs out, it's a hammer drop. I mean, it's just complete, just boom. Govee Wood to Judges 14, I brought this story up a lot, I want to go there. And let's talk about it for a minute. But Samson's one of those. And I know I keep bringing him up, but he's such a good example of this where when you finally get judged, you don't want that punishment. You know, the fiery indignation, the swift judgment of the Lord. Judges chapter 14, look at verse one. And Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines and he came up and told his father and his mother and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, now therefore get her for me to wife. Here's the thing, that was a mistake. Samson shouldn't have gone and searched for a daughter of the land, he knew that was wrong, but then he just wants to get married to her anyways. And you know what, you'll see people in churches like ours, fundamental Baptists, they're gonna see some girl and they're gonna say, you know what, I know she's not a fundamental Baptist, she might even be saved, but she's really pretty. And they're gonna marry them, or vice versa. Some girl, he's a bad boy, he's really nice, I know he doesn't care about church or the Bible or soul winning, but you know what, he's a stud. He's such a stud, I'm gonna marry him, just waiting for the six pack that's coming from Budweiser and it's not as cool down the road. You think I'm lying, look, there is tons of people in this world that are saved, or married to unsaved people. And their punishment is usually not the wedding, it's usually not the honeymoon, it's probably not even the first few years, it comes later, it comes later when they divorce you. And that's a hammer. It comes later when they don't wanna have children. It comes later when they commit adultery. It comes later when they get drunk out of their mind. It comes later when your husband is such a loser that he like gets drunk and then beats you up like a coward. You know what, you're no better than these trannies that go there and compete in women's sports when you beat up your wife. In fact, you're almost worse because they don't even know better. It's sick, it's disgusting. But I'm telling you, hey, if you decide, hey, I don't care what God said about marriage, you know, I'm sick and tired of waiting for the right person and I'll marry the wrong person. Oh, well that's gonna be a world of hurt. You know, you're supposed to follow God's commandments. And you know what, Samson may have enjoyed his honeymoon, he may have enjoyed his wife, but you know what he didn't enjoy? When he told his wife a secret and then she told all of his enemies, which happens in this chapter. He gives a riddle and they threaten his wife and you know what, she betrays her husband, she backstabs her husband, then she's given to a completely nother guy. Like this is like all the worst things that could happen. Your wife backstabs you and then commits adultery with another dude. I was just like, that's the two worst things that could ever happen to me, probably. Because to me, my wife's the most important relationship I have. I mean, the idea of adultery is just like, it would suck. Now obviously you can get past that, but at the end of the day, you know what, that's a severe consequence to marry that woman. As we keep reading in this, look at verse 17. Says, and she wept before him the seven days while their feast lasted and it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her because she lay sore upon him. I guess nagging works. And she told the riddle to the children of her people. And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, what is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, if you had not plowed my heifer, he had not found out my riddle. He's a little mad, okay? And he's just like, man, you guys are too stupid to figure this out. You obviously cheated, right? Verse 19, and the spirit of the Lord came upon him and he went down to Ashkelon and slew 30 men of them and took their spoil and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled and he went up to his father's house, but Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. Not only that, Samson's friends take his wife. I mean, it's one thing for your wife to commit adultery. It's another thing with your friend. I mean, it's just like, what kind of Jerry Springer show is this? And Samson, even though he has the spirit of the Lord coming upon him, notice he's suffering a lot of consequences even in the midst of having the spirit of the Lord come upon him. You know, some people think like, well, you know what, I go soul winning, so nothing bad will ever happen to me. Look, you could be a wicked person and go out there and the spirit of the Lord could just come upon you and you could just get someone saved and then you're still gonna suffer like horrible consequences right when you're done with soul winning. Or maybe God'll just throw you in prison for doing wickedness. You could have the spirit of the Lord come upon you, get someone saved, and then you're executed, you know, five minutes later for your punishment. Don't think that just because the spirit of the Lord came upon you, don't think just because you know the Bible, don't think just because you can get people saved that God won't punish you. This is in the midst of punishment. He still has the spirit of the Lord. Look, God is giving him a lot of grace still though. Right. Chapter 15. All right, let's skip to chapter 16. I don't wanna spend as much time there. Chapter 16, then went Samson to Gaza and saw their harlot and went into her. That was quick. I mean, you say, why did Samson do that? For a lot of reasons. But one of the reasons I wanna point out that I'm bringing up this morning is this. He may not have realized the consequences of his sin previously and he kind of got confused with God's grace, so he just does it again. Now, here's another reason why people will spit in the face of God and do despite and under the spirit of grace is they falsely attribute the bad things going on in their life as someone else's fault. Like something bad will happen to you and instead of realizing it's because you sinned against God and you're being punished, you just blame other people. You're just like, well, my life would be going good if it weren't for Biden. My life would be going good if it wasn't for my boss, if it wasn't for that coworker, if it wasn't that my tires blew out, if it wasn't for that whore harlot, if it wasn't for this other person in my life. Instead of realizing that that was a punishment from God, they just attribute it to bad luck or just some confusing situation or misfortune or they're a victim or systemic racism. It's like, look, systemic racism is not your problem. It's not following God's commandments that's your problem. There's plenty of people that are very successful of all races in America. You know why? Because it has nothing to do with your skin color. There's plenty of people that are right with God despite what their skin color is. Don't just make yourself a permanent victim. Oh, well, my life would be better if I was a man or if I was a woman or if I was a tree or whatever. It's like, don't be like that Hindu, Buddhist. Well, if I was a butterfly and I could just fly around. Yeah, until I see it, squash it. You would kill a butterfly, Pastor Shelley? Yes, I would. Look, you don't understand that a lot of the bad things that happened to you were probably consequences to your actions. You're like, why? And a lot of times, they're not able to be fixed. You know, here's a problem that you can't fix when your child is already raised and a wicked person. And you're like, well, how do I fix this? Don't raise them crappy for 20 years. Actually teach them the Bible for 20 years. And you're like, well, I wanna teach them the Bible now. It's like, too late. Chasing thy son while there is hope is what the Bible says. Yeah, it would be nice to be like, hey, Cain, come here, I wanna show you something. Don't kill, okay? It's like a little too late after he killed his brother. And you know, there's a lot of people, they don't realize the consequences of not punishing their children, not teaching them the Bible, not giving them any kind of life skills, not doing anything that's right, and then later, when they're an adult-grown child and they are like a communist, leftist, liberal, they're like, what happened? It's like, you didn't do anything. If you do absolutely nothing and just give your kids to the public school system, don't be shocked when they come back to you wanting to vote for Biden. When they come back to you, they love CNN. They're obsessed with TikTok. They're dressed like a literal whore. They are a literal whore. They have all kinds of STDs, bastard children. They wanna get an abortion for their most recent knockup. All of their relationships have ended in disaster. I mean, why do you think that stuff happened? It's because parents did nothing. They didn't care what the Bible said. They just let the world raise their children and the world raises train wrecks. And Samson here, thinking, oh, I'll just go lie with a harlot, I see a harlot, lie with her. Here's an option, see a harlot, turn away. That's a pretty good option. But then he sleeps with Delilah. Look at verse four, and it came to pass that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. Verse seven, and Samson said on earth, they bind me with seven green wits that were never dried then shall I be weak and be as another man. You know, I'm just skipping ahead. I hopefully know the story a little bit, but Samson, his strength is in his hair because he's never shaved it completely. So God made him a Nazarite from his womb. He was never allowed to eat any kind of grapes, raisins, which that's okay. Drink any wine, no I'm just kidding, I like raisins. Nothing from the fruit of the vine and he couldn't shave his head. Now the length of his hair is questionable. I don't know exactly how long it was. It was obviously probably more than a buzz cut because he's actually gonna have them kind of tie the locks together of his hair at some point. But I don't think it necessarily was this long-haired hippie either. You know, it could have been just kind of like a bushy haircut or something like that. And it wasn't that he couldn't cut his hair, it's that he couldn't pull his head. You know, he couldn't go all the way down like a shaving or a very severe military-style haircut or something. That would essentially cause him to lose his great strength. And the enemies of Samson, they can't defeat him. Why, because when God's on your side, you can't lose. It's like they just keep trying to fight you and just keep winning. But what they try to do is they try to tempt you and get you away from God, because once God's not protecting you, then they can do whatever they want to. That's why it's nice to stay behind his shield. So they tempt Delilah, they offer a bunch of money, and since she's a whore, she's willing to take money to sell out this guy. Let me tell you a secret about whores. They do things for money. You know what's great about not marrying a whore? She won't betray you for money. You know, when you marry a literal whore, you should be afraid when a higher bidder comes along, when a richer guy comes along, when a more handsome guy comes along, because they'll drop you like a bad habit, because they're a whore. Now, she's trying to get this information out of him for money. He tells her this lie, because he doesn't want to lose his strength. He knows it's wrong. He's just trying to, I really, you know, I don't understand Samson's logic. Maybe he just never thought they would try it. He's just kinda like, ah, you do this weird thing. You know, just get seven green wits and just, you know, if I was tied up with those, then I wouldn't be strong. Well, what happens? Then he wakes up and he says, in verse eight, then the Lord of the Philistines brought up to her seven green wits which had not been dried and she bound them with them. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said to him, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he braked the wits as the thread of toe is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known. Now, I don't understand the story, okay? Maybe you understand it. I'm guessing he realized that there was guys in the chamber eventually. Because I mean, she's kinda saying like, there's guys in the chamber. And then he came to, I mean, I would think he would look. I don't think it's like a giant chamber. I don't know what happened to the guys. Maybe he killed them. I don't know. But I'm thinking like, if the night before I tell Delilah, hey, if I get tied to these green wits, I'm gonna lose my strength. And then I wake up in the morning tied to those green wits. I'm like, there's something off. And there was literal enemies in my house when I woke up. I mean, that was a lot of weird coincidences, okay? But think about this. Should he have even told her that he's like lying? He's almost divulging his secrets? Obviously God wouldn't be pleased with any of the actions of Samson at this point. So he got grace on the first wife. He's gotten grace on the harlot. He's gotten grace on being with Delilah. He's gotten grace on this situation where he's basically divulging information lying to her. Well then look at verse 11. And he said to her, if they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak and be as another man. Round two. Fight. What happens? Same thing, he wakes up, tied up. But he survives it, right? 13, and Delilah said unto Samson, hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies. You're the gas liar, okay? Tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said under, if thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. So he just keeps making up all these things. That doesn't happen. So finally verse 17, or verse 16, let's back up. And it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him so that his soul was vexed then to death. Apparently a nagging wife is worse than death. And you know I know that's true. The devil did not kill Job's wife. Look, the devil threw everything at him in the kitchen sink. He didn't go back to the Lord and say, now, you know, I know I said skin for skin, all that a man hath, you know, will he forsake your skin. But if you take his wife, then he'll, then he'll get mad. It's like, no, no, no, I'm leaving that wife around. I'm gonna get in her mouth. And you know what's worse than death is the nagging wife. But that's what it says. So that his soul is vexed then to death. It's just like, I would just rather die than have you keep asking me this stupid question. And it's like, you're gonna get that. Verse 17, that he told her all his heart and said in her, there hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go for me and I shall become weak and be like any other man. So they just keep trying, but she kinda realizes like, oh, this is the real one. This is the real deal. This is the King James Bible. And they do it. But think about Samson's life. First wife, grace. Harlot, grace. Delilah, grace. First lie, grace. Second lie, grace. Third lie, grace. Seems like God might've ran out. Fourth lie, hammer. Look what it says in verse number 19, and she made him sleep upon her knees and called for a man. And she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head and she began to afflict him and his strength went from him. And she said, the Philistines be upon these dams and he woke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself and he wished not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass and he did grind in the prison house. You know, there wasn't, I don't feel like there was a lot of grace in that verse. But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass and he did grind in the prison house. Here's another proof text that Samson's hair didn't have to be long. Is notice that it says in verse number 22, howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. So even just when he gets a little bit of hair, later God ends up strengthening it, okay? But look what it said in verse number 23, then the Lords of the Philistines gathered them together and said, our God has delivered Samson our enemy in our hand. Now, what I like about this verse in the context of our sermon, remember when I said sometimes people, they'll keep sinning against God because they falsely attribute the consequences of their actions to someone else? What if Samson believed a lie and said like, oh man, this Dagon got me. Isn't that what they're saying? Oh, Dagon got you. Dagon had the victory. Dagon is the reason that you are in the condition that you're in. But wait a minute, is it because of Dagon? No, no, no, no. It's because he's not right with God. Dagon is a stupid dumb rock that can't even speak. Dagon is nothing. It is a figment of their imagination. At best, it's a devil that they're worshiping that they call Dagon, but it's not real and has no power over Samson unless the Lord allows it. And sometimes there can be something bad in your life, some kind of evil in your life, and you're just thinking like, oh, well, it's because of Dagon. It's because of Biden. It's because of government. It's because of whatever my parents, right? If my parents had given me more money or if my parents had spent more time with me or if I had a better job or if I had a better house or if this situation didn't happen. And it's like maybe you're just not right with God and you just keep thinking like, oh, well, you know, I mean, I know I got a bunch of STTs in college, but it was just because I was sleeping with the wrong whores. No. Look, you have to understand that there is so much evil and so much oppression in this world and it's because people are not right with God. Like you think like America's not the way it used to be. It's because we're not right with God. It's not because Dagon. It's not because of the devil. It's not the devil even having victory. You know, we kind of think of it like, oh man, the Satanists are really winning. Don't you have that thought? You're like, oh man, the Satanists are winning or the devil's winning or the pedophiles are winning or whatever. They're not winning. It's that we're not right with God. It's that we've gotten away from God and then he lets the enemies come and have their will with us. You know, if we would just get right with God, then we wouldn't have to worry about them. They're powerless on their own. The only reason they have any kind of victory is because we're not right with God. If the devil's having a way with your life, here's a question, are you right with God? Now of course, we understand there's persecution and I've preached little sermons delineating these two. I'll quickly help you understand. When you're suffering because you preached the gospel, that's persecution. When you suffered because you didn't lie, that's persecution. When you suffer because you lied, that's a punishment. When you suffer because you hoard around, that's a punishment. So you have to think, okay, this bad thing that's happening in my life, was that because I went soul winning or took a righteous stand or followed God's commandments or is it because I wasn't doing that which is right? Because I'm not going to church, because I'm not reading the Bible, because I'm not teaching my children, because I'm not seeking godly relationships in my life. Now not only do they poke his eyes out but then they bring him out to just mock him and make fun of him and ridicule him. And I mean, it's gotta even hurt just a little bit that they keep acting like their God is victorious, praising their God over the God of the Bible. I mean, that vexed David when Goliath is sitting there defying the God of Israel, defying the armies of Israel. Go to Genesis chapter 19, go to Genesis chapter 19. Look, I'm telling you that when God drops the hammer, there's no going back. How do you fix your eyes being poked out? Explain that to me. That's called no good option. It's not like, well now just look out of the left eye. It's gone. You will never see again. I mean, of all my body parts, eyes have got to be at the top. I don't know if they're the number one, but they've got really high up there. I'd rather be deaf than be blind. You can do a lot of things when you still can see. But when you can't see, you are 100% dependent on other people for everything. Going everywhere. I mean, just even just how terrifying it would be. I mean, something touches you, hits you, you don't even know what it is. I mean, just think how many times you fall or run into things. I run into things and I can see. Can you imagine what you would do if you couldn't see? How about Genesis chapter number 19 and talk about when God's mercy or grace runs out, how about in the city of Sodom? Now, God operates the same with the unsaved too. He'll give them all this long suffering and grace to get saved and when they finally reach their point of no return, hammer. Or just literal fire and brimstone down from heaven. But he can do the same to a Christian and look what it says in Genesis 19, 19. Behold now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight and thou has magnified thy mercy, which thou has showed unto me in saving my life and I cannot escape to the mountain lest some evil take me and I die. Now, think about Lot. Lot is in this story. Lot's getting rescued. The Bible makes it clear it's for Abraham's sake, not for Lot's sake. What was Lot's problem? Lot was dwelling with Abraham, but then Lot decided to turn towards the city of Sodom. He pitched his tent towards Sodom as the Bible describes and then pretty soon he's just living in Sodom. And I'll tell you, it's so frustrating as a pastor when you see this. You'll see people that are going to church, they're free to thrive and then all of a sudden they just start pitching their tent towards Sodom. And it's like, then all of a sudden they start skipping a few services. And then pretty soon it's just Sunday morning only and then pretty soon they're just in the world, they're in Sodom. And you're just like, man, what happened to you? Man, why'd you do that? But Lot is just not right with God. His family's a train wreck, but notice he found grace. Now here's a question. What is Lot gonna do with this grace that God has rescued him from a wicked lifestyle and living in a wicked place? What's he gonna do with that? Well, let's keep reading. It says in verse 29, and it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. Did God give Lot grace because of Lot? Isn't he just telling us, hey, this isn't because of Lot? He remembered Abraham and sent out Lot. You could literally be so blessed and you don't even deserve any of it. I mean, obviously it's grace. It could be like someone in your life's praying for you. It could be your spouse is praying for you so that your life is going well and God would just smoke you otherwise. And it's just for your spouse's sake, it's for your parents' sake, it's for a family member's sake, it's for a church family member's sake. Hey, it could be your pastor's praying for you and you don't even deserve it, but just for your pastor's sake or just some other Christian's sake, you're not getting punished by God the way you should. But let's see if he uses that well. And Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain and his two daughters with him. For he feared to dwell in Zoar and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. Well, way to go, Lot. I'm so glad you get to escape Sodom and just go live in a cave with your daughters. What kind of stupid, I mean, you just saw God, I mean, you didn't literally see it because if you did, you'd turn into salt like his wife, but I mean, you literally were there and heard it. Your entire city got nuked for how wicked it was. Don't you think at that point, you're just kind of like, you know, maybe my life's not right, maybe I need to change some things. But then you just go live in a cave. And you know what, this frustrates me. I see people do this. Instead of living in a cave in Texas or in Oklahoma, it's a farm. Or they just go live out in the boonies or they just go somewhere where they can just hide. And it's like, well, Zohar's so wicked. It's like, no, you're wicked for not serving God. Sorry, don't come cry to me about how bad Zohar is when you're living in a cave by yourself. Here's a question, who are your daughters gonna marry? Hey, Lot, I mean, you're just literally ruining your daughter's chances of ever finding a godly person. It's like, well, how am I gonna find one in Zohar? How are you gonna find one in the cave? Look, I know people like that. And they'll just isolate themselves and go hide themselves, and it's like, that's not a good lifestyle. Now, it might sound cool, but you know what's only cool for the parents? The children are gonna be raised, then what are they gonna do? You know, your children need to interact with their children and get married, serve God, learn about church. If you never take your kids to church, how are they gonna be a godly Christian that wants church when they grow up? You know, train up a child the way he should go when he's old and will not depart from it. If you train your child to just go live on the farm and never come to church, then guess what he's gonna do when he's older? Live on the farm and not go to church. And let me tell you something, how many people are getting saved by wandering around on some farmland and a rancher comes by and gets them saved? In fact, virtually every time I run into somebody, they go to that cowboy church, they're not even saved. Cowboy church teaches work salvation. You wanna know why they teach work salvation? Because they all work really hard. They're like the hardest working people you'll ever meet, ranchers and farmers. But you know what's the problem? A lot of them are gonna die and go to hell because they're trusting in their works because they're prideful people. And you know what kind of prideful person decides, the world's too wicked for me, I'm gonna go live in a commune, but I'm not the Amish because I use technology. Oh, way to go. You're so much better because you use a microwave. Right? Well, I'm not the Amish, I have a microwave. But you're living in isolation? You're not gonna be around people? Hey, Jesus Christ didn't say take them out of the world he said to keep them from the evil. And you know what, law is wasting his life because he already quit on God and went and lived inside him or just did his own thing. God takes him out and he's like, oh, now I'll just live by myself in a cave. What a stupid thing to do. What a dumb thing to do. Well, I won't get punished out here by myself. Oh, let's keep reading. Verse 31, okay, they're in a cave and the firstborn son of the younger, our father is old and there's not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth. Notice that the daughters figured it out. Now did it affect lot? No, because as a father you kind of almost never want to give your daughter away. Every guy you're just kind of like, you know, get away, my daughter. You don't deserve her, okay? We get it. You know, you need to give your daughter away eventually. Verse 32, come, let us make our father drink wine and we will lie with him that we may preserve see to our father. Oh, well, if we just raise them out on the farm then they'll have good values. These are some pretty good values, huh? Look, no one has to teach your kids how to sin. Have you even had a kid? I mean, kids are evil. The Bible says, foolishness is bound in the heart of a child but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. So if you weren't even disciplining them on the farm, even though they didn't go to public school, guess what, they're still gonna be foolish. They're still gonna have wicked ideas. They're gonna dream up all manner of evil. These daughters dreamed up all kinds of evil. And especially since they went to Sodom High School before this. And then you think dragging them out in the woods is gonna fix it. No. I mean, what kind of a wicked, weird idea is this? Verse 33, and they made their father drink wine that night and the firstborn went in and lay with her, father, and perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose. And it came to pass on the morrow that the firstborn said to the younger, the old I lay yesterday night with my father, let us make him drink wine this night also and go that way and lie with him that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also and the younger rose and lay with him and he perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. Now, remember when I said there's times where you can be in a situation where there's no good option? This is exactly that situation. Or when you're doomed. How do you even explain that to anyone? You thought it was weird to live in society before. How about bringing your family into town now? He became a dad and grandpa in the same moment. I mean, this is a song that only country music singers sing. I am my own grandpa. Who knows what I'm talking about? Okay, someone does. I mean, this is bizarre, folks. Oh, well, there's no punishment. God's gonna be gracious to me out here. I'm just gonna get away from the world. Look, sin will find you. Be sure in your sin will find you out. And if you just say, you know what, I'm just gonna keep riding God's grace train, it could go right off the cliff. And talk about wasting God's grace. I mean, God gave a lot all this grace to do this? I mean, some people in this room, it's gonna be frustrating. Even the people that we know in our lives, we're gonna see, they're gonna get so much grace from God, and then they're just gonna blow it. They're gonna just totally ruin their lives. They're gonna come to you with all the broken pieces. And just be like, but my life was going good for the last five years. Here's this situation. And I hope this situation ever happens, obviously. Okay, that one's really bad. But how about just the Samson one? People come to me with all kinds of bizarre situations, folks, and it sucks. Go to Psalm 73, Psalm 73. I'm trying to get you to not make that decision. I have so many other stories, but how about Saul? Saul just, I mean, this guy rebelled against God, stayed king when he shouldn't. Then he threw a javelin at David. Then he threw a javelin at David again. Then he went on a mission, a hunt, to track David down. Then he is just like lying and gaslighting continuously. He threw a javelin at his own son, Jonathan. Then he gets Doeg the Edomite to kill a whole bunch of priests of God, which ends up not even just killing the priests, kills their whole families, just massacres, just dozens and dozens of people. Then Saul still goes after David. Then Saul gets rebuked by David and then still comes after him. I mean, it's like, how much grace is God gonna give this guy? But then he inquires of a witch. And Samuel comes up and he's like, tomorrow you're gonna be with the Lord. Tomorrow you're gonna be with me. Hammer drop. Look, I mean, that's a lot of wickedness to get away with. That was a lot of evil that he just, it was just grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. And you just sit here and you think like, I can just keep doing whatever I want. Nothing bad's ever gonna happen to me. No, no, no, the hammer will drop. Where of all our partakers? There's a certain looking for of fearful judgment, of fiery indignation. I mean, you can just have the worst life. You say, well, why would I not, why would I get sucked away into that? Well, look at Psalm 73, verse one. Truly God is good to Israel, even as such, as there of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well my slipped, for I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. You know what? You could see someone quit this church and put as much effort and energy as they were putting in this church into their work, and they'll start making tons of money. I've seen it. I've seen people that were three to thrive, soul winning people, they quit this church and then put that much effort and energy into their job, and they're making tons of money. I mean, so much money that they can even fill up their gas tank. I mean, you know, it's like, I mean, it just seems like they have no problem. Nice houses now, nice car, everything's going well. No one says they're in a hate cold or anything like that, you know? You say, what's gonna happen to them? Well, the hammer hasn't dropped, but I've read the Bible. Their kids aren't raised yet, but I've read the Bible. Hey, go do it, if you wanna destroy your life. Hey, go do whatever you want. You can literally do whatever you want. You're here this morning because you wanna hear what the Bible had to say. I'm trying to tell you what the Bible actually says, and let me tell you something. It is an ironclad guarantee that if you don't do this, your life will end up like the foolish. But of course, it's easy to get envious of the foolish, envious of the wicked, and think like, wow, nothing bad ever happens to these guys. Look at verse four. For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. But remember Hebrews chapter 12, that if you have no chastisement, you're a bastard. Why would I wanna sit here and look at a bastard? Why would I wanna look at my Catholic neighbor and cross the street, committing adultery every week, getting drunk every week, driving home drunk, whoring around, and then he comes up to you, he's like, I've never been arrested. I have no STDs, my life is just super great. And you're thinking like, I'll try that. You'll try that and die. You'll try that and kill someone and go to jail for the rest of your life, which might even be worse than dying. I mean, if I had to press a button like die now or go to jail for the rest of my life, I would die now. Nope, not even a question mark. Look what it says in verse five. They are not in trouble as other men, neither they plague like other men. Therefore, pride compassed them about as a chain, violence covered them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish. They have everything they could ever want. You know, I saw, I don't pay attention to the lottery, but I just saw a headline and I didn't realize, someone won like $1.4 billion in the lottery. And I was like, man. And I think, like with the lottery, you can either get like a 30-year annuity, I believe, or like an immediate payout. And the immediate payout is like $780 million. It's just like, that is so much money, it's unfathomable. I was like, okay, what would be the annuity, right? And I calculated, I'm not necessarily putting taxes in, so I don't know exactly, because I don't know how the taxes would go, but you're basically getting, if you did the 30-year annuity on $1.4 billion, you could check my math later. I think it was about $2 million a month, which would be the way smarter option, okay. $2 million a month, you couldn't spend that if you wanted to. And maybe you could the first few months, but then it would just start stacking up and you wouldn't even know what to do. And this is what would happen, you'd have like everybody you've ever thought of would come find you. And they would want so much money and they would get mad at you for you not giving them money. All your relationships would turn into vanity. You would stop from having sincere relationships. You wouldn't be able to go anywhere in public anymore. Your life would be completely ruined and you'd think it'd be great, but it'd actually be horrible. But he's like saying, oh, these people can have everything they want. Yeah, but you know, the things that people really want, money can't buy. You know what you really want? A wife that truly loves you. If you have just won $1.4 billion, you'll have a lot of women that would marry you and it'd be hard to find one that loves you. I mean, you get a fancy car and for whatever reason, girls just like fancy cars. I don't get it. It's like they work for the insurance company or something. I don't know. But I'm telling you, it seems like, you have to understand that this passage is not saying literally, it's saying like from your perspective. Because if we actually found the people that have this kind of money or have these kinds of things, they're miserable people. Like Elon Musk, Elon Musk, I think he has like five children and I think it's all from the first wife or something, but now they've been divorced and then he's just been in this random string of hookups, one including Amber Heard, which is like who would ever want to be like, that was one of my exes. And I think he has like twins maybe someone correct me if I'm wrong. At least I think he has twins and I think one of those twins is like a sodomite. It's like an open sodomite. And it's just like, this guy's life has got to be a train wreck. I mean, who cares how much money, who cares what your car is like when you go home and you have no wife there. And you have five children that are just like bizarre, freaks, spoiled rotten brats. They're turning into sodomites. I mean, this guy, oh, he can have more than he wants. Yeah, who cares? I mean, food and clothing and cars, they can only get so fancy. And then it's just, and to me, it starts getting bad. Like I don't even like, you know, it's like the Royal's Royce. I don't even think I would want to drive that. It looks like a model T car or something. You know, I'm thinking like, I would just want like a nice truck or something, you know, you're these like Lamborghinis and stuff. It looks cool, but it's so low. You know, it's like so small and tiny. And it's like, man, if that thing touched anything, it would just shatter, you know, or just like break or whatever. It's like, and I mean, oh, I have 10 of them, but you can't even drive 10 cars at the same time. Last time I checked. And I stayed with a guy, he lived in this giant mansion and he had tons of like really nice cars, like Ferraris and stuff. And you know how many miles are on these cars? Like 2000. Because as soon as you put miles on these cars, they lose their value. So they only drive them like very seldom. And I'm thinking like 2000, like my truck has like 350,000 miles on it. I'm like, 2000 is nothing. That's like a couple of weeks going to Houston. I mean, that's all I got to enjoy it. It's just like one. And it's like, you go to those really fancy restaurants and it's like, you know, you go to Fogo to Chow and it's like steak all you can want. Like, you know, it's like 50 bucks a plate, which is kind of expensive. But then you go to like the really fancy places, it's like $250 and the steak's like this big. And it's like, but we massage the cow's neck and back while, you know, and then, and then we, you know, we prayed over it with our Hindu God and we put this like Bernays sauce on it. I'm like, you know, if you put A1 on a steak, you're a heretic. So, you know, it's like, why do you have to put sauce on it? Is it not, did you not make it right? It's like, you look and you're like, can I just go like Fogo or something, you know, or go to Outback, Outback's fancy enough for me. You know, why do I have to go? When you go to really, really fancy places, it's just like, what is this? What did they do to it? You know, or they have like, I think that I looked at a menu recently and it said like, they have fo gra. I think I'm pronouncing that correctly. Who knows what I'm talking about? Fo gra, I can't even remember. It's like the weirdest thing ever. It's like goose, like did weird things and then they serve it to you or something. It's like, I don't want that. You look it up, okay. I'm just thinking like, you know, caviar and all this kind of stuff. I'm just like, oysters and all these bottom feeders of the ocean, I'm just like, give me a cow. You know, I want cow for appetizer, cow for dinner and if you could somehow put it in dessert, I mean, I'd probably eat it. Okay, at least bacon, right? Go to James chapter four, that's what I suppose I return, okay. Why am I preaching this sermon? Look, I just don't want your kids and you to commit fornication and you get the hammer and the drop of an STD because there's no going back. There's no going back when your eyes are poked out. There's no going back when you knocked up your two daughters. There's no going back when you knock up a girl. Either you can have abortion, which is the worst thing you could do in that situation or you could want to save the child and the woman just gets an abortion or she could have nothing to do with you and then raise a reprobate for you and you had to pay for it, called child support. I mean, how wonderful would that be? Funding your child becoming a reprobate. I mean, there are countries in this world where parents want to literally have their child go through a transformation surgery while you're paying child support. Can you imagine paying for your child's bottom surgery? Well, be a whore. Marry the wrong person. That's a hammer drop. That's a doom. That's a no good option. You know, you get a hasty marriage and then they just want nothing to do with you. I've heard of it. I've seen it. People come to a church like ours, they marry a girl real quick and then she says, if you ever go to that church again, I'll divorce you. It's like, wow, thanks Delilah. And you know what? That puts you in a no good option situation. You know, you commit adultery, then you have divorce, a second divorce, STD again, your family split, God could kill you. You drink alcohol and you do drugs. You could die in an accident. Worse, you could kill other innocent people. You could kill your old family. You could beat your children up when you're just so drunk and out of your mind. You could get impaled by something. You know, a lot of like personal injury calls for like EMTs is because they were drunk. Because when you're drunk, you can't really feel pain the same way. And they'll just hurt themselves, jump through windows and land on fences and try to hang on the top of a car like an action movie or something. It's like, that's stupid. Drive on a motorcycle as fast as they can without a helmet. Which I don't even recommend going on them, but you can do whatever you want. You know, you just rail and rail and rail like shimmy eye on David and then bam. Hey, there's people that are constant railers and slanders. And you think like, nothing's happening to these people. That's just God's grace. But beware, something bad is gonna happen to them. Eventually, God's hammer will drop. Saul, his hammer dropped. You know, we don't wanna live this Christian life of just thinking, oh, God's grace is just always gonna cover my sin. It will when it comes to going to hell. But in your personal life, you beware Christian. James chapter four, look at verse five. Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusts to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore, he saith, God resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble. Let us not be prideful Christians this morning and think that we can just get away with sin. Let us humble ourselves unto the mighty hand of God this morning. Because some of us may be not right with God. But we're just still under God's grace. And we need to humble ourselves and get right with God so that the hammer that's coming doesn't actually land. I wanna avoid God's hammer. I don't wanna see God's hammer in your life. I don't wanna see God's hammer in any of my saved brother and sisters in Christ's lives. I want us to humble ourselves and say, we need the Lord. We need church. We need the Bible. We need to pray. We need to seek his commandments in all areas of our life and not think that this is just a fun game. It's just a cool activity. It's just the thing that I get some enjoyment out of. Make it your life. Because those that make this their life are gonna have blessed lives. And those that spit in the face of God are gonna have the hammer drop. Let's close in prayer. Thank you Heavenly Father so much for the word of God. Thank you for giving us instructions so that we can know how to behave ourselves. I pray that we wouldn't take our Christian life as a joke, as a game, as light. I thank you so much for giving us grace. I thank you so much for giving us not just the grace to escape hell, but even just the grace that allows us to escape many of the punishments that we even deserve in this life. I pray that that grace that you bestowed upon us in this room this morning, that we wouldn't waste it, that it wouldn't just be in vain, but rather we do something with the grace that you've given us, that we would change our lives, that we would be motivated by preaching, that we would be motivated by the word of God to make changes in our life, and not to just wait until the hammer drops. I pray that those that need to get right with God would be convicted in their hearts this morning, the Holy Spirit would convict them that they would decide to make changes in their life so that you wouldn't have to punish them the way they deserve, but that you would continue to give them more grace. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. For our last song this morning, we'll go to 245, The Old Account Was Settled. 245, The Old Account Was Settled. Song two, four, five, The Old Account Was Settled. ["The Old Account Was Settled"] There was a time on earth when in the book of heaven an old account was standing for sins yet unforgived. My name was at the top and many things below. I went unto the keeper and settled long ago, long ago, long ago. Yes, the old account was settled long ago. And the record's clear today for he washed my sins away when the old account was settled long ago. The old account was large and growing every day for I was always sinning and never tried to pay. But when I looked ahead and saw such pain and woe, I said that I would settle. I settled long ago, long ago, long ago. Yes, the old account was settled long ago. And the record's clear today for he washed my sins away when the old account was settled long ago. When in that happy home, my Savior's home above, I'll sing redemption's story and praise Him for His love. I'll not forget that book with pages wide as snow because I came and settled and settled long ago, long ago, long ago. Yes, the old account was settled long ago. And the record's clear today for he washed my sins away when the old account was settled long ago. Oh, sin or trust the Lord, be cleansed of all your sin for thus He hath provided for you to enter in. And then if you should live a hundred years below, up there you'll not regret it. You settled long ago, long ago, long ago. Yes, the old account was settled long ago. And the record's clear today for he washed my sins away when the old account was settled long ago. Thank you all so much for coming. God bless.