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Music You You You You You You You You You You You Good morning everyone welcome to strong tower Baptist Church You're on a Sunday morning service. Please let us all stand and join me on our first hymn this morning That will be hymn number 403 what a friend we have in Jesus hymn number 403 what a friend we have in Jesus Oh Trouble Oh Oh Heavenly father, thank you for bringing us together this morning the pray Lord your bless all aspects of the service bless the singing bless the preaching and Keep it safe as we go out soul winning this afternoon in Jesus aim. I pray amen. Amen while you're standing there Please turn in your hymnals to him number 219 God will take care of you. That's him number 219 God will take care of you Oh Oh When danger Take care God will take care of you Lean when we want His breath God will take care of you God will take care of you Every day He Okay, good morning everyone welcome to strong tower Baptist Church We don't have a bulletin. Please raise your hand when the ushers will help you bring you on Just like to say a happy new year to everyone Some some people we didn't see on Wednesday for many reasons. I know Not dig at anyone but happy new year for everyone that we haven't seen yet Have a look. Um, have a look down on your on your bulletins where we've got a Tower in the middle of some cold fields and it's a bit cold right now, isn't it? But um, Uh, we've got a verse a week. It's some 143 verse 9 some some 143 9 which is deliver me Oh lord from mine enemies. I flee unto thee to hide me and that's going to be uh, A verse that we look at in a bit of depth with some other bits and pieces With the morning message, uh, have a look on the inside of your bulletins where you're in our sunday morning service Which is at 10 30 am as usual. Um, the 4 pm evening service Is going to be uh back with the book of proverbs proverbs 27 and part 2 we're going to be on Uh, we're getting very close to the end of the book of proverbs We're going to be doing the second half of proverbs this evening Um, and that's been a it's end up being a long long series We we had a break in the middle of it as well. But um, i've really enjoyed studying through the proverbs I think i'm going to miss going through them actually and although it's a bit of work going through each one They are um, they have hopefully been been useful and hopefully many people have had some proverbs there that really spoke to them Over the past year we have um, wednesday evening service at 7 p.m Which is a prayer night as well. So please remember to send in your prayer request. It's back to wednesday evenings. We had um, We we had a couple of morning services being new year's day and um and christmas day and on on new year's day So the the wednesday morning sermon just gone, um, I did preach on our goals as a church our goals Uh what we achieved last year goals for the new year so if you didn't manage to see that and you're a member of our church and Can I just encourage you to watch that because it is you know, the the we're a team, right? We're a team this church. We've got um, we've got some team goals to achieve this year There are a lot of team goals we achieved last year Um, and i'd love to have everyone on board with that with trying to trying to reach our targets this year Um, so that's on our on our youtube channel. Um, and it and yeah, it was the wednesday morning sermon. Um, And it was cool. Don't you remember into 2025? Can anyone remember that again? Laboring with god in 2025. Thank you very much brother. Um, so yeah, that's going to be uh, that's on our youtube channel It's also um, it'll be on our website shortly as well. Um, it's on our facebook channel as well So if you didn't then it'd be great to get on board with that. Um, the uh soul winning, right? So I want to talk about soul winning, uh this year and what we're going to be doing on a sunday so um Obviously our goal our main goal on a sunday is to knock every door in our local area Okay, and we've been doing that. Um, you know since we came back into south then we've just been knocking every door that's local however There there are obviously there are many doors that will just never answer there. There are doors We just can't get into as well. There's flats there's blocks there's things that we can't get into as well So i'd also like to have an option on a sunday of the high street Um in south end high street, which has been really receptive for us on a wednesday evening Um now when I say an option it is just sat an option So if you're sitting there thinking I can't think of anything worse than standing in the high street trying to preach gospel Don't worry, you don't have to ever go there if you don't want to okay So the the the doors are the priority But what we are going to do and you might have noticed when you came in and if you haven't then please after the service Um is to to just put down whether you're willing to go on the high street or you know If it's an option for you You'd like to and then what we're going to do is is each week we'll we'll always have them Uh less pairs on so if we had I don't know say we had uh, uh only six pairs out Then i'm only going to have a couple of pairs on the high street If we have seven we'll have three and the maximum we'll ever have is three pairs and our Focus is still the door. So if we've got ten pairs out we'll only have three pairs on the high street But I've found three spots as well, uh, which are literally Pretty much equal distance from each other one on one end one on the other one in the middle Which all are undercover as well in case you're looking outside thinking what on earth is he trying to do to us, right? But um, so they they are undercover they are sheltered. Um, it is receptive It might not you know, for example, maybe on a cold, you know, january day when it's wet out There might not be as many people but you know what even on those cold wednesday evenings We've still been getting a lot of salvations there it gives people as well There might be people that come in the south end and stuff that then at least get a chance here in the gospel um And but on the same hand it's receptive as well and we will be getting Hopefully quite a lot of salvations that way but like I said, it will only ever be a maximum of three pairs You won't be on every so if you decide yeah, I want to do high street It doesn't mean you'll be on there every week. Um, however, we will just try and rotate it do it fairly Uh, try and pair people that want to be on the high street together sometimes but not all the time. So, um, Yeah, if you just just let the let uh, the usher know, uh, lucky he's been been collecting a list of people. Um, Andre and jr will be doing the pairing So just speak to one of them after the service if you haven't and let them know if you do or don't and again No one's going to think badly of if you think no that's not for me. It's not for everyone um, you know it is but but for those that that you know, like the idea of that then uh, Please just let let the let the usher know or let um, let one of the guys know he's doing the pairings afterwards Um, so that's going to be sunday afternoon. So we're going to give that a crack But I I do think that's going to be successful. I think it's going to be Positive, you know, we're trying to weigh it up between obviously look we want the most receptive soul winning we can do We want to get salvations. That's our goal But on the same hand, we still want to reach our local area And we do want to knock the doors local to our church. We want to give them that chance each year Um, however, we do have a good turnout on a sunday. We are still getting pretty far with the gospel on a sunday Um, so i'd also like to add, uh that you know Lots of salvations as well, which is going to happen in the high street and give like I said Give a chance to people whose doors we just can't access. Um, and people that come into town for the day as well. So, um, That's going to be soul winning on a sunday. Um on on a monday. It's as usual in mitchum And that's at 4 p.m. Um on a tuesday. It's as usual in basildon at 6 30 30 p.m. On a wednesday. It's as usual here. Uh, we go to the high street. That's at 4 30 p.m And on thursday, it's at 6 30 p.m in tilbury, uh, so there are so there are regular soul winning times Uh, we do a saturday marathon at the end of each month. So, uh, there'll be one coming up at the end of the month and um If you're down in exeter up in sheffield at all, then um, we there's also soul winning going on there and and the times of days Where it's usually on a sunday, um in both those unless they're down here visiting the church Um, and there's sometimes the midweek soul winning in exeter as well. So, um Right praise reports, so we finished as you know the year we finished it on uh, and for those that missed the sermon We we ended up with 1520 salvations for the year, uh, including our foreign groups, which is great. Okay, that's By far our best ever. We just made a thousand last year. Um, we we added 500 last year, which is great Um, we we managed out of just the uk church to get over a thousand Uh again, which is great 2020 there was bang on 500 in fact abroad with our group in south africa and our group in switzerland Um, so we we had a great year our target for this year is 2000. So, um We we need to we need to get out and get soul winning right and and we're already off the mark for january We finished december 182, which again is our best ever december, uh, which usually quiet in december and and uh, We were just talking about it myself and down earlier Just how having that target just spurred people on at the end of the month as well to get out there to get soul winning Uh to make the times to to uh, try and get that number so it's great to have that target It's great to get close Had we already made it maybe it would have been quite a december But uh, it was good to have a target that we were trying to reach to so it was great We end up with 82 for december and we're off the mark already for uh with two with uh in january Hopefully we're going to add to that today. I know it is a bit wet out there. Just reminder guys, uh, Something that the at least I managed to do and just so we don't trash everything the bibles and materials the follow-up stuff Is if you just take a bin liner or a carrier bag and and put your stuff inside that within whatever bag you use Then you're gonna if it is pouring with rain when you're out there. So when are you going to save? Um, just everything getting wrecked and everything because once those flyers get wet They're a write-off. Okay. So, um, just remember that if it is still wet, um, just to bring out something that's uh, That can keep the stuff dry. Um We we want to get some baptisms in this year. So, uh, please remind your salvations You know of the importance of baptism our god wants people to be baptized after they're saved It's the answer of a good conscience toward god. It's it's obeying god in it and also it's you know We consider someone I I you know I I consider someone a member of our church once they're baptized if they're saved and baptized and obviously baptism after salvation So we want to encourage people that we get saved to come and get baptized Um, there are total salvations But they don't count off our foreign groups where where they've they've just added five yesterday Up in praetoria, which is great. They got another five salvations yesterday. Um, and they I think overseas now we're there for on about 750 I think that we've they've managed to get um in in those those two locations in Lausanne in switzerland and praetoria in south africa We're on 176 total baptisms tenants titles are down there for the last week Um, there are some um, there are still there are still a few people ill from the church Please just keep keep everyone in your prayers Uh, just to you know, those aren't here and those are are here Uh as well just to manage to fend off the illnesses because there's been a bit of a nasty bug going around as well So, um, please keep everyone in your prayers right now, um to be able to be in church It's obviously that time of year. Sadly when the illnesses are worse, uh, we we have on our announcements upcoming events We've got a the next soul winning marathon is going to be in romford. Um, it's on the 25th of january It's a marathon which means we'll be meeting at 9 a.m So winning from 10 till 12 stopping for lunch and then so winning again from 2 till 4 So it's going to be um, hopefully receptive there. It's not too far from here. Um There will be some some high street spots there as well. It's quite a busy sort of town center there as well So, um, there'll be a bit of both and and uh many doors to knock there as well So, uh, that's going to be the 25th. So put that in your calendars. Uh, the 26th is going to be immense preaching night Um, so if you haven't and you fancy preaching at that, uh men Then please let me know and just reminder as well if you haven't or you're kind of a bit You know, you either haven't preached before you have and you think well i'd like to still um, you know Get a bit more practicing before I stand up and preach in a church service And I am happy to put on beginners men's preaching nights as usual. Uh, they're usually on a friday evening We do them about 7 30. Um, and they're they're uh, they're not live They're you know, it's a private video for yourself to look at if you want to you know Learn and try and improve and that's from 7 30 On a friday if if I have more than more than two guys or two or more Then i'm happy to put one on so just let me know if you fancy beginners men's preaching night Let me know and i'll book in a date for that But we have a men's preaching night, which is in the church service on sunday the 26th and that's the evening service. Um sunday the 13th I just thought i'd give you a heads up on this because for many You know for some that are away and and come from afar they want to get this in their calendar We we at this church do a once a year lord's supper So we're not like the the local c of e churches that do a weekly morning lord's supper. However, that works Uh, but we we do a once a year lord's supper. It's the the week before christmas. Uh, sorry before easter Uh, but and we we uh, well i've I will preach on that again. I preach it every year Why we do what we do, you know what we believe about the lord's supper with it being basically a replacement a continuation Of the passover and we do that, um on on the week before easter And it's going to be uh, sunday the 13th this year It'll be in the evening service for so for those of you that do come from afar that can't make every week Necessarily then that's one to put in it's once a year the lord's supper Uh, the uh, manchester preaching soul winning event is going to be may 24th to 25th. So something else to put in your calendars Um, that's a friday, uh the preaching it will be as usual. We'll do something, you know, um in the daytime there And then uh as a church a fellowship time Um on the friday afternoon if people are able to get time off work for that and then the evening will be a preaching service And then we'll do a soul winning marathon on the 25th and manchester is is receptive. Um, It is good for soul winning So if if yeah, if you want some receptive soul winning you'd like to come on a on a little road trip Then that's the that's the next one. That's may 24th to 25th Um, and then the bible memory challenger on week four, which is matthew 121 Which is and she shall bring forth the son and thou shalt call his name. Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Um, that's week four got two more weeks to memorize and then uh, it's testing time. Um, Can I remind you that there's a lost property section at the back just where there's so many materials are on the top of there There's loads of stuff there. Um, please just just grab anything if you think it might be yours, please grab it Um, that'd be great as it's just getting bigger and and you know It's going to start to get spill over onto two shelves soon. Um, please turn your mobile phones off place more silent for the service Okay, so we've got a we've got a couple couple of birthdays. So jack christie is today. Um, happy birthday jack for today If you're watching, uh, we've got the silvers, uh wedding anniversary today as well So happy anniversary to the silvers there they are there and we also have hoonah's birthday on the seventh. So that's tuesday, right? Do you want to sing today or wednesday? Wednesday, okay hoonah's wednesday. Um So happy birthday hoonah for tuesday. Uh, happy anniversary to the silvers and uh, jack If you if you make it this afternoon, we'll sing to you as an incentive for him Okay, so we've got um, or maybe not maybe he's definitely not coming in Okay, we've got a few more coming up we've got uh, the lavender's anniversary on the 12th, uh, caline is on the 14th We've got marchetta geneva and nekha, uh to come at the for the rest of the month But if you if your birthday or all anniversary is in january and you're not on our list And please let my wife know it's not too late to get on for january Um, and obviously if you haven't let her know about your birthdays and anniversaries for the rest of the year as well Uh, please, uh, talk to me if you want details for online donations Uh, we're family integrated church and and just to remind you that the kids are welcome But please use your mother and father baby rooms. I think everyone here knows where they are and what the rules are with that Um, also just just remember to keep your children attended in the building, please Please, uh know where they are at all times and on that we're going to uh, pass back over Please turn in your emails to him number 461 I love to tell the story him number 461 I love to tell the story I love to tell the story all together on that first I love to tell the story Of unseen things above Of jesus and his glory of jesus and his love I love to tell the story Because I know it's true It satisfies my luggings As nothing else can do I love to tell the story Will be my feeling glory To tell the old old story of jesus and his love I love to tell the story It is pleasant to repeat What seems each time I tell it more wonderfully sweet I love to tell the story For some have never Ever The message of salvation From god's unholy word I love to tell the story It will be my feeling glory To tell the old old story of jesus On the last I love to tell the story For those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting To hear it like the rest And when it seems of glory I see the new new song Will be the old old story That I have loved so long I love to tell the story Will be my feeling glory To tell the old old story of jesus Um Let us pray heavenly father, will you thank you that I will hear today a lot to hear you wait Thank you for your kindness That is for us this followed to pray that you bless the suffering that you may continue to do your work in jesus name I pray thank you Thank you Me Me Please send your bibles to the book of psalms chapter 1 4 3 So that's the book of psalms chapter 1 4 3 So The bible reads in the book of psalms 143 starting in verse one Hear my prayer. Oh lord give ear to my supplications In thy faithfulness answer me and in thy righteousness And enter not into judgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified For the enemy hath persecuted my soul he hath smitten my life down to the ground He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me my heart within me is desolate I remember the days of old I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands I stretch forth my hands unto thee my soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land Hear me speedily. Oh lord. My spirit faileth Hide not thy face from me lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning for in thee do I trust cause me to know the way wherein I should walk For I lift up my soul unto thee Deliver me. Oh lord from mine enemies. I flee unto thee to hide me Teach me to do thy will for thou art my god thy spirit is good lead me into the land of uprightness Quicken me. Oh lord for thy name's sake for thy righteousness's sake bring my soul out of trouble And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul for I am thy servant Let's pray heavenly father. We thank you lord so much for this great passage We pray lord, please help us to be attentive to the message lord just help us to apply what we learned today Please fill uh pastor tavern of your spirit lord helping to preach with boldness and we love you and we pray in jesus name. Amen Amen, okay So like I said earlier just just again happy new year to everyone that couldn't make the new year's day service And uh, like I said, we did look at our achievements as a church last year and our goals ahead So please have a look at that if you missed it, but it we I am going to um I'm going to continue the new year theme Uh lot on wednesday. I mentioned that the goals of your church are more important really than your individual goals We're doing the work of god here, aren't we? And um, obviously that that's of utmost importance However, many of your individual goals might directly or indirectly help your church goals Uh, the big church goal obviously being salvations that's always going to be our number one goal at this church Well, well, there are individual, uh pitfalls snares dangers That are going to destroy both your spiritual goals and therefore then affect the church's goals, too I look down at psalm 143 in verse 9, which says this psalm 143 9 says deliver me o lord for mine enemies I flee unto thee To hide me and the title of my sermon this morning is fleeing unto god in 2025 Fleeing unto god in 2025. I'd like to pray before we get going father. Thank you for your word Uh, thank you lord for uh this church. Thank you for everyone here lord Thank you that we have a new year to To try and persevere and try and keep working for you to keep serving you lord And I pray right now that you just help everyone to to just really pay attention lord and listen To to the the you know, the the things which can affect our walk with you things I'm going to focus in on today lord and help everyone to just want to Want to flee from those lord not to just you know You know think that they're they're going to be fine that there's no problem but to flee to run the other way From these pitfalls from these dangers in our life lord Um and help them to run the right way as well where you want them to run to please, uh, please help me Uh as I preach this fill with your spirit, please lord and just don't pray. Amen Okay, so the title is fleeing unto god in 2025 So when we flee from danger in life, okay fleeing is obviously to run away fast you could say Okay, the obvious and only worthwhile direction is towards god Okay So if you're fleeing if you're a christian you're fleeing from something in life You're fleeing from danger in life, uh, the the direction that you want to run to is toward god so so i've seen people in in you know in in sort of Um, my my kind of time as a believer i've seen people flee from traps temptations Serious sin and end up either going to another sin Or doing a circle back to the original problem Okay Which happens often so people might be able to flee for a time and then they come back to that problem Or they're just fleeing to something else and replacing that sin replacing that addiction replacing that problem with something else so It's god though that that delivers you. Okay, it's god that protects you. It's god that hides you but how does that practically work? So, how does that practically work because we can say these things well run to god run But what does that actually look like? How do you run to god? How does god hide you? How do you go in hiding with god? Well, we're going to look look down at psalm 143 to see how the psalmist david describes this. Okay, so The psalmist david it's the psalm of david in verse one says this hear my prayer Oh lord Give ear to my supplications in thy faithfulness answer me and in thy righteousness and enter not into judgment with thy servant For in thy sight shall no man living be justified So no, the the only justification comes from what our faith in the lord. Jesus christ Okay, he said in verse three for the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has smitten my life down to the ground He has made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. So so what's the answer when you feel like that? When you feel persecuted when you feel smitten overwhelmed desolate well look at verse five I remember the days of old I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands He then said I stretch forth my hands unto thee My soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land sealer Hear me speedily. Oh lord, my spirit faileth hide not thy face from me lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit cause me to Hear thy loving kindness in the morning for in thee do I trust Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk for I lift up my soul unto thee deliver me Oh lord for my for mine enemies. I flee unto thee to hide me Teach me to do thy will for thou art my god thy spirit is good lead me into the land of uprightness quicken me our lord for thy name's sake for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble and of thy mercy cut off mine Enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul for I am thy servant So he said in verse five there that I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work Of thy hands and how does that come? How do you meditate on all his works? How do you work on muse on the work of his hands? It comes from reading god's word doesn't it hearing it preach dwelling on it thinking about it it being in the center of your life In verse six he said I stretch forth my hands unto thee and that's that sounds like prayer to me Doesn't it stretch you forth your hands asking for things of god unto god in verse eight. He he said To hear thy loving kindness in the morning. Okay, and that's again. How do we hear god's loving kindness in the war morning? It's from the word of god It's from the first thing you do in the morning opening up the word of god reading the word of god He said that he puts his trust in him and how do we put our trust in god? It's by doing What he wants us to do in his word It's by putting trust that when you do what he tells you to do things will go well when you make that decision Now i'm going to do what god tells me to do what the word tells me to do then things will go well Then i'll prosper even though it might not seem like it makes sense at the time Even though it might not be what the flesh wants to do. That's how you trust in the lord That he said that he wants to know the way wherein I should walk That comes from the word of god again, it comes from reading it it comes from hearing it preached hearing certain Subjects certain parts certain verses honed in on to know the way wherein you should walk And that is how in verse 9 David could say I flee unto thee to hide me It's being in the word in prayer in god's will walking the way wherein We should walk is what it said in verse eight it's doing all those things that's how you flee unto god Okay, verse 10 then said to teach me to do thy will Again, that that's asking god to show you how does he show us through his word through reading his word memorizing his word? Hearing his word preached which is which is by saying lead me into the land of uprightness Which I think he's just basically saying lead me into uprightness To just an upright life upright living And that's being honest being upright. Yeah, not not dishonest not guile-filled not constantly deceiving not trying to find a way to Deceive people he then said to save him from trouble And and cut off his enemies to destroy all of those persecutors. Why? for for because I am thy servant. Why because he's serving him He's saying deliver me he's saying save me from trouble destroy my persecutors because i'm your servant Because i'm serving you because i'm putting you first because i'm trying to live for you god I'm serving you and the obvious way we do that is in the house of god is Soul winning is doing the things that god clearly wants us to do just just some clear things that god Shows us that he wants us to do so when in verse nine, david said deliver me. Oh lord from mine enemies I flee unto thee to hide me that incorporates being in the word of god in prayer being in the house of god Trusting god following him in the way that he wants us to walk doing his will being upright serving god. That's how david fled unto god And that's that's still how we flee onto god today in 2025 Okay, and there are some things that we need to flee from Okay, so it's not just well We just flee to him and that look there are some things that we definitely need to flee from we need to run the other Way from and we run to god so all that was by way of introduction if you don't understand it when you're told to flee From something by god. He doesn't mean flee to the next sin Doesn't mean right flee from that one and go to the next one flee to some empty temporary gap filler Which is never going to last in the long term when god tells us to flee there is only one destination And there are a few things in the new testament that god tells us to flee from So turn to first corinthians six for the first of the four fleas today you're going to turn to first corinthians chapter six Just after the book of romans in the new testament for the first of the four fleas. So when god tells you to flee something You need to do just that you need to run the other way. You need to get far away from it So the title this morning is fleeing unto god in 2025 and point number one Is flee from fornication in 2025 Flee from fornication in 2025 first corinthians 6 and verse 13 says this first corinthians 6 13 Says meats for the belly and the belly for meats But god shall destroy both it and them now the body is not for fornication but for the lord and the lord For the body, so what is fornication just to make it clear. It's physical relations outside of marriage. Okay, it's a physical relationship With someone outside of marriage it differs from adultery where there's no married person involved Okay, it's not adultery If there's no married person involved it's fornication and of course god wants us fleeing adultery too Okay, that should go without saying but today in 2025 britain Although most people still accept that adultery. Well is at least a sin Many still accept it's a wicked sin But I I don't think I actually preached a sermon on adultery out in uh, switzerland recently, uh, if you didn't see it They've got a channel. It's it was obviously in english and um, my french preaching is still still on hold but uh But however, what I what I did do is I preached on adultery out there and it was because there was some alarming stats That in the french-speaking world in in the nation of france Adultery is seen by nearly half the population. It was as not even being a Moral issue. Okay. However here it's not as bad as that yet Okay, and here people most people still accept that adultery is a sin But it's a different story when it comes to fornication in this nation, isn't it? That's a completely different story with it being completely socially acceptable now. I mean pretty much across the board Isn't it people that are pretty conservative church going whatever that means, you know christian types Raising their children in this nation Will even probably allow it under their roofs nowadays with their Sometimes not even adult children. That's how bad it's got isn't it? I mean, it's horrendous just This is something that that again when when you're unsaved or even saved when you're not in the word of god your your viewpoint your your how you look at this is Completely the opposite to how god looks there and that's the effect of just years and years and years decades and decades of brainwash And conditioning and things like just movies where and it's subtle isn't a lot of the time There'll be oh, there's no there's there's no sexual content in this movie Just that the the hero and the heroine wake up in the morning in bed Oh, well, that's okay but they're just constantly sowing these seeds and it's and it's people that you're looking up to people that are meant to be heroes people that Young boys are growing up to want to be like james bond in the old days or whoever and in fact James bond still seems to be running now, right? And and that stuff is just constantly being pushed constantly being promoted, isn't it as it's cool as it's okay Is it something to be like and same with the women and this is something that's been pushed for many years With it being so socially acceptable. I would say that the opposite is frowned upon now It really is The opposite you you you say no I want to wait to my wedding day people would act as if you're a problem They would be encouraging you. Oh, is that a sensible idea? Are you sure that you don't want to try each other out? I mean, it's it's nuts, isn't it? That we've got like the complete like opposites opposites to how god sees it sees it how god wants us to see it And here's the thing. God hasn't now changed his opinion Because of the 1960s onwards and i'll tell you the 60s. It's been gradually there I'm sure that there's nothing new under the sun. I'm sure throughout history There's been problems with this but god hasn't suddenly changed you didn't go. Oh, okay, right Well, I just I I need to lighten up a bit Luckily those hollywood producers and everyone else have now encouraged me to see things, right? No, god still sees this as he saw it Two thousand years ago here. He said to flee and as he saw it, you know Maybe three and a half thousand years ago when he was killing You know thousands of thousands of people on one day because of fornication of his people. Okay. This is a wicked sin And especially when it comes to his people verse 14 said and god has raised as both raised up the lord It will also raise up up us by his own power Know ye not that your bodies are the the members of christ Shall I then take the members of christ and make them the members of an harlot god forbid? So there's a common theme in the new testament that the new testament church is considered the body of christ He's ahead and we're all body parts. Okay, and You know if you read through the bible Even just once you read through the new testament you're going to see this regularly the the problem is okay What he's saying here is aside from the sin itself Is that the physical union then joins that other person to the body of christ So that physical union with someone else is joining them to the body of christ Okay, he said what know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body For to saith he should be one flesh. That's a physical union But he that is joined unto the lord is one spirit flee fornication Every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body So you're also sinning against the body of christ. You're joining us all to a harlot or you could add to a horn monger You join the whole lot of us if you're part of the body of christ You're part of a new testament church when you commit fornication you're joining that whole body to that harlot or to that horn monger So God through paul said to flee fornication He didn't say i'll try not to do your best. I'll just abstain a little bit. He said flee it Run the other way get as far away from it as possible Don't play with fire Don't play with it. Don't think well, yeah, you know, it's oh no, we're not meant to do it So, you know i'll do my best he said flee it you should have a real black and white policy with this It's just just this is clear as day no fornication This is a such a clear clear topic in the bible, isn't it? There's no gray area here now people want to make it a gray area They want to act as if it's not and then start to well, you know, maybe it's kind of like marriage, you know No, no, no No marriage is marriage fornication is fornication flee fornication So flee fornication doesn't mean for example be on your own with your girlfriend and try your best That's not flee fornication be on your own hang out together and just try your best and see what happens You never know. You might be able to make it. No, it means flee. It means run the other way It means don't do it. Just just put what you need to put in place so that it's never even an option It doesn't mean to go out on dates with harlots It's like well, you know, I can't find a nice Christian girl. I'll just keep dating whores and harlots No, it means flee it means run the other way it means don't even have the temptation of it It doesn't mean to hang around with the work harlot Well, i'm a single guy. She's good company. No because you know where that's eventually going to lead because you ain't going to marry her It means to run the other way it will ruin your your life christian It will ruin your life. It will wreck your life Diseases Yeah, and listen, i'll tell you something You're saved you're a christian you're a believer god hates this sin Believe me now when you go ahead and you go and do this sort of stuff The repercussions are really going to get you you might have got away with it when you're unsaved Okay, but now you have a father that's that's there ready to chastise you diseases unwanted children sadly Kids with someone that you could never ever have a you know parent with on the same level because you just are completely the opposite You you have no intention of marrying them now suddenly you got a child with them Lifelong disastrous relationships. You've got a child with someone it that's it. You're in a relationship for life or you abandon your kid and I mean you've got people that that just have have drama for the rest of their life because of fornication It causes so much so much grief so much trouble Let alone kicked out of church. Yeah, we kick out fornicators Chastise by god when you're kicked out of church And it's not your body to defile How about that? It's not yours. It's not your body to defile. What does he say in verse 19? What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you which you have of god And ye are not your own For you're bought with a price That price by the way was the precious blood of the lord. Jesus christ Blood of the lord jesus christ first peter 119 says that we weren't redeemed with corruptible things But with the precious blood of christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot He said to flee fornication, how do we flee it well look at the rest of that verse said for you bought with a price therefore glorify god in your body And in your spirit Which are gods? Do you know how you flee fornication? You flee unto god You flee unto god you busy your life with glorifying god in your body and in your spirit You put god first you center your life around god And remember, what did that mean fleeing unto god it included being in the word of god In prayer being in the house of god trusting god following him in the way that he wants us to walk Doing his will being upright serving god That's how you flee fornication You know, oh well i'm fleeing fornication because i'm i'm trying to avoid it No, you flee fornication by running to god By running to god and serving god And if you're single looking for a spouse, okay, just for those out there going. Well, how do I look for a spouse? Hopefully you're looking for the right spouse well Therefore hopefully you would want to be that right spouse as well And do you know obviously you don't want to be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever So if you think well, yeah, i'd like to get married one day in the future. Well, hopefully you're going to show The father up there That you're the the suitable spouse for one of his children And he watches everything doesn't he and I say this often but it's a good reminder to have When people are kind of walking around going. Oh, well, I just can't find a husband wife But they're busy staring at harlots every day and fornicating or whatever else it's like Yeah, you know what? You want the right woman you want you want you want the right man ladies? Well start living for god living for god being guided by god You're being a will of god and you can be confident then you can pray to god and hopefully that right person Will will come along and when they do come along you can be confident. Yeah, this is the right thing to be doing Turn to first corinthians 10. David said in psalm 143 in verse 9 deliver me. Oh lord for mine enemies I flee unto thee to hide me I flee unto thee to hide me. Uh, the title is fleeing unto god in 2020 Sorry fleeing unto god in 2025 and point number one is one is flee from fornication in 2025 Okay, obviously that's going to apply to those that aren't married in this church and number two Is flee from idolatry in 2025 Point number two is flee from idolatry in 2025 first corinthians 10 12 said wherefore let him that think if he standeth take heed lest he fall said Please don't listen to this sermon and think that you're okay because you're currently standing So if you listen to all these points of this sermon you listen to the four fleas and you think yeah, i'm doing all right here Don't think well then therefore i'm okay. Look you still need to flee these things You need to get as far away as possible from these things Wherefore let him that think if he standeth take heed lest he fall He said in verse 13 there has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man But god is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able But will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. So with every temptation There's a way out, right? Is that not what that verse says? I don't buy the whole well in this situation The only choice is to sin you get these people do this a lot. They go like well, what about this hypothetical say your choice? Is this who your choice? It's like Yeah, great, but you've just taken god out in the picture See we're children of god maybe for the unsaved. Yeah, maybe that might be a case But not for god's children god's children. He makes a way to it to escape There is a way out. He will not allow you to be tempted above that which you're able For god's children with that in mind We should be able To avoid sin now we all sin. Okay. I'm not saying we don't we we all sadly look, you know, we we all will will fail often in life But it's not because we had to There was a way out there will always be a way out. I believe verse 14 says wherefore my dearly beloved flee from idolatry So what is idolatry? Well, the simple explanation is worshiping anything or anyone that isn't god Anything or anyone that is not god and just to help you out with that. Okay, that includes false versions of god Okay, false versions of god are idols Psalm 96 5 says for all the gods of the nations are idols But the lord made the heavens so the repent of your sins for salvation. Jesus is a false god And therefore an idol is he not he's an idol. He's a god of man's own making the repent of your sins Jesus where you've got to give up all your sins try to give up all your sin, whatever But they always have a different version They're happy with each other as long as they say there's some version about your sins It doesn't matter if they don't agree with any other version of the repentance It's as long as they say there's some version of works are happy. That's a false god It's an idol the work to keep your salvation pentecostal. Jesus is a false god and an idol That's not the god of the bible You don't have to work to keep your salvation salvation is a free gift paid for and for by the lord. Jesus Christ That's an idol. It's idolatry worshiping that sort of jesus the the Azar the buddha statues that people worship their idols. Okay, the moon god allah is an idol The million or so hindu gods are idols. Okay. These are all idols They're all the the gods of man's making they're not the god of the bible All the gods of nations are idols said psalm 965 And maybe most here aren't tempted by these particular gods of the nations. Okay. Hopefully no one here is worshiping images For example as well Hopefully no one's got a little crucifix with some fake image of jesus and they're bowing down to it or whatever else. Okay We shouldn't be worshiping images worshiping things In place of god, we shouldn't be worshiping anything other than god. Okay. God is who worship the god of the bible But idolatry also includes things and people and this is a temptation Now for many christians out there Okay, where they venerate something or someone and worship it or them instead of god So with things the obvious stuff is things of value cards, for example, there are christians out there that worship their car They're a bizarre thing to worship isn't it? But but people do they work you see people there are many There are many christians right now who instead of being in church There are safe people right now that instead of being in church are probably on their hands and knees in front of that car Bowing down to it while they're polishing this and you know touching this and looking, you know Is that a scratch or not? I just can't work it out on my lovely my my pride and joy, you know They're they're prostrate in front of their cars right now. There are there are people that worship their homes, aren't there? Their house has become an idol in their life. It's become more important than god That home that house that that dream home or whatever it is whether they have it. Maybe they don't have it Yeah, is there is their idol? It's more important. That's what they really care about. That's what they're worshiping That's what they're they focus on that's what their thoughts are full of Some people it's even their garden Again, what a weird thing, you know, they're again. There are christians out there that right. Maybe not right now It's a bit wet for that. Maybe they'll even ask something. Okay, they're even in the wreck and they wouldn't go out So would he? They wouldn't get to church, but they'll be out in that garden making sure it's as beautiful as possible There are people that worship their dogs their pets, aren't they? Okay, they've become more important than god that pet it takes that that whoa the whoa the dog's barking I don't think I could go to church. I don't think I could I could do the things of god because the dog's more important Okay that that they they start to become an idol in their life And there are people that that make idols out of their jobs as well, don't they? So the job becomes more important. The job is what their focus is on what they what they basically worship their job That's the most important thing in their life. No god needs to be the most important thing in your life Okay, god needs to be the most important thing you love but also there are things like popularity Body idolatry is a big one for many, isn't it? Okay When people they make an idol of their body an idol of their physique an idol of of how they look That becomes more important than god in their life Hobbies you can think of many different hobbies that become an idol in many people's lives and the the hobby becomes more important The hobby is is is the most important thing on and it's not just about on sundays or on a midweek It's just in Their focuses on that hobby more so than it is on god and with people idolatry, okay And this is something again. It's a this is a big problem for many christians There are things like free the obvious stuff and things that you might have heard of is making an idol of a loved one And some people do it with a dead loved one as well Don't they where they start to try and worship and talk and act as if it's some sort of like Like presence and god over them there is that but they're they're people make idols of loved ones in their lives as well Where they are the most they're more important than god in their life Some celebrity people make idols of okay, and and again You can think of obvious examples of that pop stars people make idols of they worship them They're the most important thing there, you know, they they they they would worship the ground they walk on influencers But here's one that i've seen a lot in baptist circles the idolatry of a pastor or preacher and also of pastors wives And believe me i've i've i've seen this a lot Okay, where they've become an idol now in their life now just to make it clear Okay, following your pastors. They follow christ is an idolatry nor is enjoying a preacher respecting a man or woman of god That's not idolatry. Okay, so nothing wrong with that everyone We're listening to sermons from abroad and you know enjoying a a certain pastor preacher thinking yeah, you know learning from them Nothing wrong with that but many in this look many in this nation have learned from overseas pastors Okay, and and we've had a real dearth of churches here I'm not saying that's idolatry but something that i've noticed a lot Is people that have more interest in what so and so said than what the bible says And here's something I noticed really early on when getting involved with other baptists and people that were listening to you know Soul-winning church pastors there was an old group chat. We're in where questions would be asked Okay, so this was like quite a lively group chat at one point people would be like, what do you think about this? Or what does what does this mean or what does this what should I do in this situation? And and the go-to response pretty much 90 of the time was well pastor so-and-so said this mrs mrs, so-and-so said to do this but and it's like What does the bible say and he's like don't get me wrong a lot of the time it would be the right answer, right? But it was like there are people there were literally like oh i'll find a sermon on it. It's like You're a christian. You're a believer. You're meant to worship god. You're meant to say what does the bible say? It's great to to enjoy preachers great to have respect for for the knowledge of pastors and things like that But don't make them an idol in your life Don't make them that they're they they're the final authority the word of god is the final authority And this is something you see out there a lot. Okay, and i've seen this a lot There's nothing new under the sun. Okay, people are still quoting charles spurgeon instead of the bible to this day Passers behind a pulpit will quote charles spurgeon instead of quoting the word of god Like why would you quote quote? Well the pastor said Listen, i've seen people do this It's like what on earth right and so many of those weird idolaters over the years that I met turned out to be unsaved devils They were unsaved devils who are idolaters They made an idol of pastor whoever in their life who was like they worshiped him and then often often Then they end up absolutely despising that idol when and you know what they do They usually just stop swap it for a new idol Just people that just have to have an idea. They have to have someone to follow instead of god follow god But it's not just freaks and weirdos Okay, who who have to imitate people in life because there are those as well They like they almost try and be that person as well. It's really weird. Okay, sadly, it's like it's weird Okay, you get this a lot He's talking to a church of majority safe people here and he said in verse 14 wherefore my dearly beloved flee from idolatry So he's telling these carnal christians these babes in christ flee from idolatry. So it's not just nutters. It's not just the unsaved Believers do this christians can do this And i'll tell you one of the reasons people do it with like pastors preach and stuff like that because it's easier Than studying the bible. It's easier just to repeat verbatim what someone else has said It's easier just to go or just to have a list. It's easier just to listen to sermons Then read your bible then study your bible It's easier just go what did he say i'll go with that because he must know more than me But you're starting to make him more important than the word of god And like I said and people do it with women as well but Here he's talking to believers. He's saying flee it because we can all We can all we all we all have the flesh we can all get into idolatry of one form or another He said run the other way flee from idolatry. Don't dabble with it Don't wonder if something is or isn't an idol in your life if someone is or isn't an idol I don't know why they might be but hey ho flee from it Flee from it run the other way from idolatry. Okay, that doesn't mean oh, no No past taviters not telling you you don't listen to preaching don't listen to so i'm not saying that but i'm saying if something is Or someone is becoming an idol in your life. You need to flee from that. How do you flee it? Well, he said in verse 15 I speak as to wise men Judge you what I see goes on to then explain that the idol has no power compared to god But yes, this church had problems, okay, they were described as still only capable of the milk of the word But he's saying that he's speaking as to wise men When he said flee from idolatry speaking as unto people with wisdom How does someone with wisdom flee idolatry? We'll look at verse 31 verse 31 says wherefore sorry whether therefore you eat Or drink or whatsoever you do do all to the glory of god It's putting god at the center of everything. David said I flee unto thee to hide me And we saw that was being in the word of god Okay, that's the actual literal black and white words of god Not well i'm in the word of god because I just this is sermons i'll repeat all day and that's my that's my bible study No, no, no in the word of god Okay in prayer being in the house of god trusting god Not whoever not the idol of your life. Not the celebrity not the influencer not the buzzer god, right? following him In the way that he wants us to walk doing his will being upright serving god. That's how you flip Otherwise what you do? What do people do? They just run from one idol to the next in life And i've seen this recently where a lot of people made an idol of of a pastor in their life And then they've decided right? He's no longer my idol Let me find a new idol So then they make a new pastor or not even a pastor a pastor's son or something there I mean, it's nuts. You can't make this stuff up, but they're just they're just unsaved idolaters Who are just looking for idols? It's like I just need an idol. I need someone to something physical tangible. I can worship instead of god. We're meant to worship god And nothing wrong with respecting men of god. Nothing wrong with learning from men of god, but you gotta put god up here It's god that's that's up here Okay, we're going to look at another form of idolatry that paul hones in specifically on turn of first timothy six David said in psalm 143 9 Deliver me. Oh lord from mine enemies. I flee unto thee to hide me The title is fleeing unto god in 2025 Point number one flee from fornication in 2025 point number two flee from idolatry in 2025 And point number three is flee from covetousness in 2025 So in first timothy six paul starts by telling timothy to teach his church to obey their boss at work Okay He then says this in verse three if any man teach otherwise And consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our lord jesus christ to the doctrine which is according to godliness He is proud knowing nothing but doting about questions and stripes of words Where of cometh envy strife railings evil surmising Evil surmising. Sorry, so he's warning of false prophet types. Okay pride filled but knowing nothing. They're strife seekers Envious they they rail they have evil surmisings He said perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds. So that's what he's talking about here Okay, these isn't saved people they're reprobates and destitute of the truth. Okay, they got no truth They they're unsaved, okay supposing that gain is godliness from such withdraw thyself So these false prophets are everywhere that suppose that gain the most common being obviously financial gain is godliness. They're everywhere, aren't they? Right, and you can think of like whole kind of huge denominations where where they're trying to promote that they're they're basically covetousness All they're spending all their money all their cash and everything else is somehow a sign of their godliness I mean and sadly so many people are deceived by this stuff as well. Okay, notice how he didn't say get them saved Teach them to be less covetous did he? He said withdraw thyself from such withdraw thyself. So get away from them Covetousness being an inordinate desire of wealth. Usually okay, it can apply to other things too, though He said in verse six, but godliness with contentment is great gain For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can sorry it is certain we can carry nothing out and having food and raiment let us be there with content So that's the key. Okay to be content with food and clothing. That's what we should be That's what we're trying to be is just to be able to say look i'm content that I have food and I have clothing But they that will be rich now, it's not that they that are rich It's they that will be rich. Okay You see it's people whose goal is riches people focusing on riches people who are striving to be rich they that will be rich fall into temptation a snare And into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition For the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows so a common denominator amongst evil people is the love of money They're not all successful at gaining it, but they usually love it. Okay. Romans 1 29 says that they're filled with covetousness filled with it Yeah filled with all covetousness But but it's it's also a temptation to the believer which is why he says in verse 11, but thou o man of god Flee these things we're told to flee these things paul said to timothy Okay, and really god is saying to every man woman child of god out there to flee these things What are these things the will to be rich? We saw the love of money coveting after it and you could add the destruction perdition The many sorrows that go with it as well flee that as well if you're fleeing the covetousness You're going to flee all of that as well. He said flee these things. So so again run away from it Don't get sucked into it Don't get pulled into that kind of one-upmanship trying to be richer than you know Than the joneses next door or whoever it is in your life. Don't get pulled into supposing that gain is godliness that you're really being blessed by god if you've got money if you've got cash if you Don't get pulled into that stuff gain isn't godliness. Yeah Don't get sucked into willing to be rich Don't get don't I just need more. I just want to be rich. I just want to have more I just and then just fight Well, I just want to be comfortable comfortable with a cup, you know Another car another, you know a bigger home or whatever it is, right? I just need to be comfortable with the amani suits, you know or whatever else, okay People look people find ways to justify covetousness, okay Don't get don't get sucked into that don't get sucked into just loving money A lot of people just love money even people that don't have much money love money You see people with next to nothing just spending 20 pounds 30 pound plus on the lottery or something What a waste of time. What are you gonna do with it? And all they're doing is making themselves poor This is ridiculous, isn't it? But people with all the scratch cards Sometimes you're standing behind someone in petrol station and it's like they're like i'll have 10 of that one So you're just what are you doing? And what is it? It's a love of money really, isn't it? They're just loving it They're just desperate for it How does a man of god flee covetousness? No, well verse 11 said this but thou o man of god flee these things And follow off the righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness What's our theme you flee unto him, right? You flee unto god you do the things of god you follow after righteousness Looking for the righteousness It comes from the word of god that comes from living for god the godliness that he wants us to try and behave like The faith you're following off that faith having strong faith being in things of god the love right the love And that should be love for the brethren. It should be love for the lost as well the patience Something that we're striving for that that's built upon when we build upon our faith That's one of those things that we're striving towards to get to that point of patience and meekness. That's humility not pride filled All those things come from living for god. It all comes from being in the fight He said in verse 12 fight the good fight of faith Lay hold on eternal life where unto that thou art also called there is professed a good profession before many witnesses So he said to keep fighting in the faith to lay hold or or we might say focus on eternal life on the things of god Really make it a center of your life. He's saying flee covetousness by fleeing unto me We saw david combine that with what being in the word of god in prayer being in the house of god trusting god following him In a way that he wants us to walk doing his will being upright serving god And here it was described as following after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness Fighting the good fight of faith laying hold on eternal life because if you genuinely do all that You can't serve the god of money at the same time you can't Matthew 6 24 you don't have to turn there says no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one who love The other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other you cannot serve god and mammon And you know what i've seen in life I've seen people that have wanted to serve mammon the god of money They've gone for money instead and they might not say outright I hate god, but what they'll do is they'll find a reason to hate their church to hate the other christians To hate soul winning to hate whatever else they just find his excuse because they they end up choosing money over god And they end up hating god. Ultimately, they hate the things of god On the back of that turn to second timothy two Day, you flee it. How do you flee it? By by fleeing unto god you flee covetousness by fleeing unto god And by the way, just just a reminder with that Fornication idolatry and covetousness all get you kicked out of church as well. Okay, so definitely you want to flee it Okay, you want to flee it? Why does it get you kicked out? Why does god kick out fornicators idolaters and come and covetous people? Because it's a it's leaven that leavens the whole lump because it poisons other people in the church Because it's not part of a healthy church Okay fleeing unto god in 2025 We uh, we saw that david said in psalm 143 9 deliver me Oh lord from mine enemies and these are all enemies of us in life. I flee unto thee To hide me we saw flee from fornication 2025 flee from idolatry in 2025 Flee from covetousness in 2025 and number four flee from youthful lusts in 2025 Flee from youthful lusts in 2025 So in second timothy 220 paul tells the pastor timothy in verse 16 verse 16 of second timothy So not 220 verse 16 of second timothy 2 but shun profane and vain babblings for they will increase unto more ungodliness So he goes on to say that there are bad people like hymenaeus and philetus that need purging from god's house He then says in verse 20 but in a great house They're not only vessels of gold and of silver But also of wooden of earth and of some to honor and some to dishonor if a man therefore purge himself from these He shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified And meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work. He then says this in verse 22 flee also youthful lusts So as well as shunning these profane and vain babblings paul is telling timothy to flee also youthful lusts And I think that's what what the also being, you know as well as that What are youthful lusts? Well, these are the lusts of desires associated with the youth okay with being youthful The things of your past you could say maybe the things that you used to do in your past And it's not necessarily inherently evil things but but even empty worthless things. Yeah In first peter one, you'd have to turn to peter tells us to behave as obedient children Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance So these aren't necessarily just clear sin, these are just things just form a lust youthful lusts things that you just did ignorantly So maybe for example on that lot, maybe it's gaming. How about gaming? Let's see a bit of gaming for a bit Yeah, okay, and your gamers here are going on, okay How about gaming that's a youthful lust isn't it a youthful lust where it's just like man i'm gonna be the best at whatever it is Yeah, the best at this game and i'm gonna be the best out now I'm gonna beat the i'm gonna have the highest score in the old days people. It was like you only beaten the computer so It kind of lost its appeal after a while, right? But but especially when like the the leaderboard would get wiped when you switched it off or something It's like what a waste of time that was right, but nowadays You've got a whole internet You've got a whole world of people that you're competing against trying to beat trying to be better than but really it's a youthful lust Okay, really? It's big kids Now look Don't get me wrong. They can be fun games. I know a lot of these games really Well, they're kind of geared towards both they're geared towards adults and then kids play them as well And some of this stuff's pretty bad stuff, right and some of this stuff really messes up with kids and adults heads Look you spend your day walking around with something very realistic blowing people's heads off and and And other things where the graphics look pretty lifelike look pretty good and you just spend many many hours a day shooting and killing And and slaughtering people It's probably not so good for your mental health Yeah, it's probably not the sort of thing you want to be immersed in regularly. Well Yeah, is it are all games sinful? No are some probably Is it youthful lust? Yeah Like how do people even have the time for that stuff so much more productive stuff to do with our lives? They're running around shooting kill and it's not just shooting killing all this different stuff, right? Maybe uh, maybe that's a useful us. Maybe it was seeking fame and glory in some sport Because that is a youthful lust is it sinful? No You know depending on your goals and and and reasons and what you're doing But but a lot of people put a lot of time and effort into that as a as a youth But suddenly you're older you've got responsibilities. You've got families. You've got things like that. Can you really still do that? That could be a temptation for for many and it's something that can continue into adult life, can't it? Okay. Well, I didn't make it as a football. I might make it as a veteran Walking football i'll be the best walking or whatever it is, right? And and look you can think of many things with that What about thrill seeking as well? That's a youthful lust, isn't it? When you're young that stuff sounds fun. It looks great. I could be like the best, you know, I could Jump from however many miles up in the sky. I don't know how it's not miles, but whatever right? Do a skydive and do this and do and you know get on the best roller coaster in the world and everything else But as you get older it just should become less important shouldn't it and you get a bit of motion sickness I can't think of anything worse now Okay, but when I was young that stuff was fun, right? And maybe you sought that stuff and maybe as you go into your 20s and stuff and you're still thinking yeah This is exciting stuff fun stuff But this stuff full and as we see in a minute this stuff starts to pull you away from the things of god Maybe it was being a boy racer Yeah, and and a lot of people when they're young that that was a temptation to have the fastest car to have the fastest You know spoiler on it the best sticker Saying that i'm a fast driver or something like that the best backwards cap Mate, okay. These are like a lot of these are men things. Maybe it's getting attention ladies Maybe that was a youthful luscious. I just need to get that attention when I walk down the road I'll find a way Somehow if I wear the right thing i'll get attention if I walk the right way if I do my hair the right way I'll get attention from that bloke in a van Oh, what a goal what a great goal for life, right? They're all out there these women like that, right? Maybe it was popularity Okay, and some people you know, that's a youthful lust, isn't it? It's just like I need to get I want to be popular I want to be popular in the school or popular in the in the circles in the social circles popular on social media If I could just get more friends people are going to think i'm really cool. I'm really popular. I mean, it's a youthful lust, right? What about what about fashions? Think about that one as well What about fashions and and you know, and again i'm not saying you have to be unfashionable Okay, maybe go too far with this. I'm going to show that I don't care at all You know You're looking at me going is that you? I don't know what is a fashion, right? But what past is a suit is it? I don't know, but but some people they go really far and and as a youngster you really care about some some really care about this Stuff don't they i've gotta gotta have the labor. I've got to advertise the brand Surely If I don't advertise the brand in massive letters on the front of my t-shirt I'm, not gonna look cool if i'm not a free advertisement. In fact, not a free if I don't pay to advertise their brand and sometimes it's sometimes people it's it's Maybe more subtle fashions. Maybe they didn't get pulled into the advertising the brand fashion, which is Quite quite a remarkable scam that was pulled on most of the population of the world But maybe it was something maybe it's like the subtle stuff may and people spend a lot of money on that stuff Maybe some political ideals that you like to champion when you were young and you just wanted to debate everyone because you suddenly knew it all You found out about the jews or something or whatever else and it's like i'm gonna convince everyone Yeah, I we need a row today. Who can I debate with today? Which family member can have a debate with today and a lot of that's youthful lust, right? Maybe it was just all of that debating and striving with people first 23 He seems to perhaps give that as an example. He said but foolish and unlearned questions avoid This is on the back of this verse 22 But foolish and unlearned question avoid knowing that they do gender strives and the servant of the lord must not strive But be gentle unto all men act to teach patient in meekness. It's humility really instructing those that oppose themselves If god-paired venture will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. So not striving The meekness, okay where again? These are things that probably not really associated with the youth youthful people often associate you associate striving, don't you? That youthful sort of wanting a row wanting, you know thinking that you can take on the world and convince everyone They're wrong the meekness again a lot of sadly, a lot of young people that go through like a prideful phase where they think they know it all because they've you know, For whatever reason they suddenly, you know have and just the way it is, right? We've all been there sadly So why the emphasis on fleeing these things if they're not all terribly sinful because they're the things that pull us out of the race That stop at serving god That we can continue to waste away hours of our lives with Look, maybe I didn't mention something on your list But you can probably think things on your list things that you've been doing from young those youthful lusts Which will which can and maybe still do pull you out of the things of god There are gaming adults still whiling away hours of their lives Hours of their lives just playing some pointless game for nothing at all And yeah, yeah, there's some entertainment from here, but it goes beyond entertainment when it goes into the hours And people do don't they with with these things adults committing hours per day to their old hobby or sport Hours and hours to that stuff again. It just there's there's not really enough time in a day, is there? You know, especially if you've got a wife or you've got a family or you know, you've got kids you've got And you've got a church to be in and everything else a lot of this a lot of a lot of the reason people aren't serving god is because of those old youthful lusts that they're still Wiling away hours with hours still following that football team How many hours to follow a team to watch their games which you can pretty much watch without even turning up now? But let alone turning up to a ground. I mean that that is and that's a lot of the time that starts from youth, isn't it? It's a youthful lust and it carries on where most teams now are playing, you know At least like the bigger teams are playing what they're playing in europe They're playing a cup game and they're playing a league game probably three games a week, you know on average and and You're talking six hours already gone let alone then the time before half just Reading up on it looking at all the pundit reports and the game that you already watched and everything else Right and this stuff can take take a lot of time out of your day Years years in fact out of your lives. How about the old guy with his back to front cap on Still putting those go faster stickers on his car. They're out there They undertake me on the motorway They undertake me then cut in front of me, you know and tailgate me beforehand, you know They're still out there with their go faster cars and everything and it's a youthful lust It started when they were younger and they're still driving the Renault 5 Or the the Ford Escort RS Turbo that looks like it's about to fall apart They still managed to get get a bit of acceleration out of it or something The the women still spending hours and fortunes trying to look like they've been punched or stung on the lips Seriously There are women out there still to this and that's that was a youthful lust wasn't it and they still haven't Haven't worked out yet. That ain't the be-all and end-all looking like you've been whacked on the mouth or something I mean your lips up here, you know and and there are still people just just desperate for that Desperate for that. Okay desperate. No offense if anyone has got into all that botox stuff but anyway Okay, the the adults still desperate for attention on instagram Oh, it's instagram now, is it? I don't know tick tock instagram. You used to be facebook. Maybe still on facebook still desperate Just like I just need some likes Please just like my stuff It's still there and that again it starts as in the youth that might seem important That's a youthful lust and it continues to this day those still seeking and searching debates about anything and everything And they're still out there aren't they? And you only have to google or on search on youtube for speaker's corner And you'll find a load of adults seeking and searching debate Okay And it's a youthful lust so the problem is that once you enjoyed that stuff The temptation is still there and it will usurp your spiritual life Okay, well just get in the way of your spiritual life It will take you away from the things of god. You'll be distracted by the youthful lust so that's why he's telling you to flee them To flee them. These are going above like others, you know, sort of other maybe minor sins you might say whatever you want to say, even if they're not because These youthful lusts will pull you out of the things of god and that's what we're here to do We're here to serve god, which is why paul speaking to the pastor timothy Warned him to flee also youthful lust and by now I reckon you all have an idea how you flee them Okay, if you don't then you haven't been listening. All right, but Where you flee to but follow Righteousness faith charity peace with them that called on the lord out of a pure heart righteousness faith charity Okay, they're occupying yourself. That's a charity reaching the lost. Yeah Okay, ultimately that's what it is really that's ultimate charity is going out and reaching the lost you do those things You put your time and effort into the things of god Peace, okay. So avoiding all that striving those foolish and unlearned questions And notice an extra pearl of wisdom here as well with them that call on the lord out of a pure heart He's saying flee youthful lust by getting around godly christians Flee youthful lusts by getting into the things of god and being around godly christians Where do we do that in the house of god? Okay, god's saying flee unto me, isn't he? Being in the word of god in prayer being in the house of god like we saw from psalm 143 trusting god following him in the way that he wants us to walk doing his will being upright serving god That's what he wants you doing. That's how you flee all these things. That's how you flee the youthful lust That's how you flee the covetousness the idolatry the fornication That's how you flee all these things you flee to god you flee to god you make him the center of your life Flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness faith Charity peace with them that call on the lord out of a pure heart He's saying flee youthful lusts in 2025 by fleeing unto god in 2025 turn to james four. We're finishing up james chapter 4 David said in psalm 143 in verse 9 deliver me. Oh lord for mine enemies. I flee unto thee To hide me the title is fleeing onto god in 2025 number one flee from fornication in 2025 Number two flee from idolatry in 2025 flee from covetousness in 2025 was number three And number four flee from youthful lusts In 2025, they're the four fleas We flee unto him to hide us from all our enemies and here's a great thing about fleeing unto god Okay, when we humbly come to him to protect us our enemy then flees from us James 4 says this in verse 6 james 4 6 says but he giveth more grace Wherefore he saith god resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble Verse 7 then says submit yourselves therefore to god Resist the devil and he will flee from you So you submit yourselves therefore to god you resist the devil and he will flee from you Draw nigh to god and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded I was thinking about it. It's like those tom and jerry cartoons again If you remember the old tom and jerry cartoons, maybe maybe all of you do maybe only the the older fellas do I don't know I don't know if they still run him now. They've probably got a weird now I reckon Jerry's probably a sodomite mouse or something. I don't know If you think in those cartoons again jerry, what does he always or what does he often do to get away from tom? He runs over to the dog, doesn't he? He runs over to what's the dog called? Can anyone remember what the dog's called? He's like say again, is it spike? Yeah, i'll go with spike. It's like that big bulldog type dog. Yeah, and he runs over to him right to to escape from the cat And when jerry is with the dog, he's fine, isn't he? So like sometimes you get some of those episodes if you remember them He's like he's got to the dog and then he's there just relaxing like this with the dog He's just like he's living it up. He's doing fine He doesn't have to fear the cat at all because he's with the dog and you kind of look at it and you think jerry You should just spend your whole time with the dog you idiot And you wouldn't be having to run around getting your tail caught by the cat and just about to get swiped before the dog turns Up again. Yeah, it's like just get over to the dog. Just flee to the dog and you'll be all right Yeah Well, it's kind of like that with us with god You know if we just spent our time with god, we we wouldn't be having to keep fleeing. We fled to god We're there with god. We're safe with god. The problem is is that we get to god we get protected The the the enemy like tom the cat flees away from us But then we go back for more don't we in one way or another because we come away from that protection of god So he said submit yourselves to god He said to draw nigh He said there which which is to draw close to god to cleanse your hands to get clean basically to purify your hearts And he's saying you don't you don't money because you can't do both So you either run to the protection of god you flee to god and you stay under god's protection or you go back There's no both you've got to just and it comes from a mindset the mindset is I just want to flee unto god and not dabble play Flirt with all these things with the fornication with the idolatry with the covetousness with all those different youthful lusts He said flee unto god and i'm saying flee unto god in 2025 Okay, we've got a year ahead where look we can do great things for god You can do great things or you can get pulled straight out of the way you get pulled out of race for life And look we look and and churches are like that we've lost people who have been pulled out of the race and we've gained people who hopefully will stay in the race, but take heed if you think if you you know, he who think if he standeth take heed lest he fall because Look everyone here could get pulled out. We don't want to get pulled out. How do we not get pulled out flee unto god? Flee unto god and all those areas it's not just because it's not like oh well, they're a bit extreme they go to church three services a week You know, what a weirdo. Well, they go out and knock doors Once or twice a week, you know for an hour They spend 15 to 30 minutes, whatever you do in the morning, maybe a bit in the evening reading the bible Extremists I mean, you know what all that stuff is what is what stops you? Getting caught up in the rest of that stuff Getting caught up in the fornication the idolatry the comfortlessness to the youthful lust and all the other stuff We flee unto god because that's ultimately where we're safest. He's doing the things of god and having him at the center of our lives That was flee unto god in 2025 and on that we're going to finish in the word of prayer Father thank you for your word lord. Thank you for um, well the the the you know What is consistent instruction there in the word of god that along with the instructions to flee from certain things Is is the solution and it's by fleeing unto you. It's by following after you know, the righteousness of faith The charity all those things that you want us doing lord And ultimately it's by fleeing unto you. It's by being you know under your wing lord It's by being you know in that strong tower and being safe lord And we we pray that you just help us to all just remember that uh this year lord and um to to keep that You know in our hearts to know that we need to to flee all the dangers in life And maybe many others that haven't been mentioned today Individual problems and issues and dangers that we know are risks of pulling us out of the race and and stopping us Serving you lord and help us to flee those things But know that not by fleeing to something else but by fleeing unto you lord by by making living for you important You're at the center of our lives lord and help us to do that Not just this month but going forward for the rest of the year Help, uh the soul willing to go great this afternoon lord and for us to return for the sunday evening service in jesus name Pray for this. Amen Up Our last hymn this morning is hymn number 391 Stand up stand up for jesus Let us all stand and please join me in our last hymn this morning hymn number 391 Stand up stand up for jesus All together on that first Up for jesus He soldiers of the cross Lift high his royal banner It must not suffer loss From victory unto victory His army shall he lead Till every foe is vanquished And christ is lord indeed Stand up stand up for jesus the Fourth to the mighty conflict in this his glorious day For Up for jesus Put on the gospel Each piece put on with prayer Where duty calls of danger Be never wanting them Stand up stand up for jesus The strife will not be long This day the joys of battle Shall be Shall Let's bow our heads dear heavenly father, thank you for today Thank you for the message that our pastors preach for us. Lords. We pray For that our hearts will be tender to your word that would actually respond to what you've told us lord And not just discard what we've said or harden our hearts to what you've said But to actually respond to your word so we can see the power of your hand in our lives Please bless the rest of our days in the name of your son. We pray. Amen So Hi there, my name is pastor in tavern of strong tower baptist church I'd just like to take a few minutes today to show you how you could be 100 Sure that if you died you'd be going straight to heaven So a lot of people teach all these strange things about how you can be good enough to go to heaven Um how you got to follow a list of commandments get to heaven. See they're really the other religion There's only really two religions in the world There's good you go to heaven bad you go to hell and all the varying versions of that some of them are very subtle Oh, you've got to at least give up a certain amount of sin You've got to at least try not to sin and then there's a bible which says no no No, go to heaven is a free gift and I want to show you how you receive that free gift today A few things you've got to understand first. So before you receive that gift and that's Number one is that you are a sinner i'm a sinner We're all sinners the bible says in romans 323 for all have sinned to come short of the glory of god See, we're all sinners. We've all broken god's commandments in one way or another And the bible says because of that we come short of the glory of god We cannot be good enough to go to heaven which means that we're on our way somewhere else There's only two places you go You either go to heaven or you go to hell and the bible says for the wages of sin is death We're all sinners and what we get in return is death And in the end that's in a place called the second death, which is a lake of fire The bible says in in rote in sorry revelation 2014 and death and hell will cast into the lake of fire This is the second death Um, if the wage of sin is death and the second death of the lake of fire That's not a very good picture being painted there. In fact in revelation 21 8 We see just a quick list of common sins to show that we're all on our way to to the lake of fire The bible reads but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters And all liars and that's you me and everyone else in the world Shall have their part in the lake which burneth for fine brimstone, which is the second death However, god doesn't want you to go to hell hell is eternal hell is a very real place But god wants you in heaven And in fact, he made a way for you to go to heaven in romans 5 8 the bible says But god commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners christ died for us. So jesus christ the son of god God in the flesh came to this world and he didn't commit any sin He he lived a perfect life and then at the end of his life He he was hung up on a cross He died to pay for our sins the bible says in in second corinthians 5 21 for he had made him That's jesus christ to be sin for us who knew no sin jesus christ was sinless However, he became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of god in him. He swapped with us He took that punishment for you. He he died on that cross and he he then tasted death for every man The bible says in acts 231 he's seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of christ His soul was not left in hell neither this fresh should see corruption because on the third day rose again He showed the holes his hands the holes his side. It was a bodily physical resurrection. He wasn't a ghost They ate with him they handled him and then 40 days later. He went to heaven Now, what does that mean? Does that mean everyone's going to heaven? Well, of course not see there's one thing we have to do To receive that gift and and in act 16 30 someone asks a question Sirs, what must I do to be saved the apostle paul and silas answered and they said Believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house So what does that mean believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved? Are they saying to just believe that he exists? Are they saying to believe that there's a person called jesus? No They're saying to believe on or put your faith your trust in that death burial and resurrection of jesus christ To have paid for all your past present and future sins and you can go to heaven That's what it means. It's to put your trust in jesus like it says in the most famous verse of the world John 3 16 for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish But have everlasting life see the bible teaches us time and time again But the only way you're going to heaven is by putting your faith and trust in what jesus christ did not what you do see many people claim to be christians and say oh Yeah i'm going to heaven because I believe in jesus and i'm a good person and I got Baptized and I read my bible and I do this and I do that. Well, they're not trusting jesus christ They trust themselves and the bible says if they're not trusting jesus christ, they're going to help Ephesians 3 and 9 says for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves? It is a gift of god not of works as any man should boast the bible said it's not of yourself It's not of your own works. It's just faith alone in christ alone. It gets you to heaven And a lot of people find that really hard to understand now they they look at the Bible and think yeah But you've got to follow the commands. You've got to do this. You've got to do that Yeah, look as a child of god when you get saved when you become one of one of god's children by faith in christ Jesus Which is what galatians 3 26 says for you all the children of god by faith in christ. Jesus Once you become that child god's going to punish you in life. He's going to reward you in life However, the only way you become that child The only way that you could ever get to heaven is by what jesus christ did not what you do Once you receive that gift, that's it. It's a gift you're saved the bible says in fact in john 10 28 And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand My father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand See once you're saved you've received that gift. You've become a child of god You could never go to hell. Otherwise, jesus christ lied when he said all you had to do is believe He lied when he said that you shall never perish And that's the gospel gospel means good news the good news is that your sins have been paid for all you've got to do Is receive that gift? And in fact in romans 10 9 the bible reads that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that god is raised from dead thou Shalt be saved says in verse 13 of romans 10 for whosoever shall call upon name lord shall be saved If you believe if you want to put your faith your trust in jesus christ, just ask him And i'd like to lead you in a short prayer now if you believe everything i've just said if you believe that you're a sinner You believe that you that the wages of sin is death that you deserve hell That jesus christ the son of god that he died was buried and rose again to pay for your sins And that all you've got to do is put your faith and trust in him and once you've done that There is no way you could lose that salvation then please please just repeat after me Did jesus I know i'm a sinner. I know I deserve hell I believe that you died was buried and rose again to pay for my sins I trust in you now and only you please take me to heaven when I die. Amen If you believe that and you've called the name of the lord for salvation congratulations, you're saved And i'll be seeing you in heaven one day god bless you You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You