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Okay, so that was Psalm chapter 10 and the title of my sermon today is The Evil UK Gambling Industry. The Evil UK Gambling Industry, because it is evil and it's actually steadily getting worse and worse in this wicked nation. I don't know if many people are aware of that here. Statista, which is an online stats site, says that 32.3% of people gamble weekly here. 32.3%. In 2018 there were 36.6 million online remote gambling customer accounts at facilities licensed by the Gambling Commission in Great Britain. 36.6 million, of which 33.6 million were active, meaning they were used to gamble in that year. Okay, so 33.6 million active online accounts that have been used within the year. Now considering there are approximately 55 million adults, which are 18 plus, because you have to be 18 plus to gamble here, that's over 65% have an online gambling account. Over 65% of adults in this country have an online gambling account. You see why, I hope you can see why I'm preaching about this sin, and it is a sin. The now online gambling market here is massive, okay, and it's changed a lot obviously with the online gambling market. Now the UK's share of that is this. According to a study by Edison Investment Research, Europe dominated the global online gambling market in 2018 with 54% of the share. Asia and the Middle East had the next largest with a 12% share, and then North America came in third place with 12%. Now given that Europe consists of 54%, the UK's revenue made up 15% of that total, and how small is the UK as a part of Europe? It's clear to see that UK's contribution is substantial. Now what types of online gambling activities does the UK enjoy the most? So the statistics show the share of online gambling participants in the UK is sports betting is the biggest, you've probably all seen adverts and stuff for sports betting, 81.3%, casino games were close behind with 73.6%, virtual dog or horse races made up 65%. Now look, many years ago, and in fact not many years ago, not that many years ago in fact, sorry, you had to walk into some smoke-filled bookies, obviously a betting shop, casino, or really go to a horse or dog racing event to be able to gamble in this country. Now, and I'm not saying that was right, but that was a big difference from now, now people are just on their phones, straight on their phone, and the temptation is there for everyone, and I'll tell you what, for kids growing up here and for some people here, some will be more tempted than others. Now it is massive, and there has been a steady progression to this point in this country, so just over six years ago it was illegal, just over six years ago, it was illegal to take bets away from a dog or horse track, okay, illegal in this country, so again you can see what a decline we've had in six years, it was illegal, there was a few loopholes where you could kind of get someone else to go and wager and through third parties, but it was basically illegal, and they tried to find loopholes. Now, low stakes football pools were the only thing allowed apart from that, and that was a mail order thing, and it was really low stakes, it was based on the whole season, and it was almost like a lottery, almost, but again, I'm not saying that's right, but that's the difference there, now, you know, it's a completely different thing, now there were some illegal backstreet gambling dens there, of course, there's always going to be stuff like that, but the betting act in 1960, I don't know if anyone knows much about this, for the first time allowed off course gambling, and by the following year, May 1961, a whole host of new betting shops opened across the length of the country at a rate of 100 a week, so as soon as the government, you know, got their palms greased I'm sure, maybe they didn't, but whatever happened, then suddenly 100 a week were just opening up everywhere. Now, there were still strict rules, but the shops became popular, led to the UK becoming the biggest gambling nation per head in the world, okay, so we have a history of gambling here, it's nothing new, but when I say history, I'm talking about from 1960, and look at what have we become now, in 60 years, now, in the 90s, the rules changed more, and people could bet on individual sports matches, that was only in the 90s, you couldn't go in and just bet on a football match before 1990 in this country, then 2000s onwards was the start of online gambling, and by the way, when they did that, they still had some rules in place, but from 2000, we started having the online gambling, a new government regulatory body, the gambling commission, you know, one of those, those real like toothless regulatory bodies, require it, well, toothless when I say against the big companies, but what they did do is make it really hard for the small players to get involved, so requiring licenses and taxation, which seemed to all help to keep it amongst the now big companies, okay, and with it, the UK saw an explosion in online gambling, okay, a massive explosion, and in contrast, in case you're thinking why isn't this everywhere, the majority of US states outlaw online gambling, still to this day, the majority are out in terms of just any sort of online gambling like we can have here, so they have a few allowing it in varying quantities, so some only allow online casinos, sports betting, some allow all three of them, some it might be one or the other, but here it's absolutely massive, there is no, no, you know, no restriction to it, you can just get on your phone, go straight onto one of these evil websites and just start gambling within a few seconds, it's pretty bad, isn't it? Now, here's some key, excuse me, here's some key facts from the gambling commission, 5.9 billion, they say, and check this out, so bear in mind, the gambling commission is the people that are meant to be overseeing this, make sure that it's all, you know, safe and sound for all of us, 5.9 billion pounds is the total gross gambling yield, GGY of the gambling industry in Great Britain, in brackets underneath, April to September 2020, so in six months, yeah, why are they telling us six months stats? Because from Statista, during the period April 19 to March 20, the industry generated a GGY of 14.22 billion British pounds, okay, that's in a year, 14.2 billion pounds, the GGY is basically a metric used, it's basically profit, okay, it's comparable to sales revenue, okay, it's basically profit, they have a few costs, they don't have that many costs, okay, that's what comes in as opposed to what's paid out, 14.2 billion and that's the stuff registered with the gambling commission. Now, 14.2 billion pounds made by these scumbags by conning people into thinking it's fun and you could win big, because that's what they're doing, it's all a massive con, it's a massive con, 4 billion pound total gross gambling yield of the gambling industry in Great Britain again for six months, excluding lotteries and we'll talk about the lottery in a minute, and there's a few other things, 9,000 total premises in Great Britain, 6,700 plus total number of betting shops in Great Britain, 470 million pound total GGY from great gaming machines in Great Britain, 396.8 from category B3 machines, they have different categories on what they pay out, what stakes you're allowed to put in as well, 3.1 billion from remote betting bingo and casino sector again in just six months, okay. Right, going forward, just there's a few other stats you probably wouldn't be that interested in, but here's one, 196.8 million contribution to good causes from large society lottery, 775 million contributions to good causes from the national lottery in six months, so you can pretty much double that to over a billion and a half that the national lottery apparently paid to good causes and we'll have a look at those in a minute. So who's spending all of this money and who's it going to? So who's it going to? In Psalm 10, if you're in Psalm 10, the Psalmist starts by asking the common question, why aren't you getting involved God? Okay, and we probably all ask that at times, haven't we? Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? Why hideest thou thyself in times of trouble? He says, a wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor, let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. So much of this wicked industry is aimed at the poor. Okay, now get away from the Hollywood movies with the rich high fliers gambling and it's just, you know, all these rich people and they're making money. No, it's aimed at the poor. They target the poor with this. Don't be fooled by the top hats at Ascot. The majority of people at the horses, at the dogs everywhere else are working class, yeah, if they're even working a lot of the time. And they always have been. The betting shops have been set up always in the most deprived areas. Okay, always. The most deprived areas in the country have the highest amount of betting shops in them. Now there's been controversy, I don't know if you've ever read about this, surrounding so-called FOBTs, anyone heard of these? So these are fixed odds betting terminals in land-based bookmakers. So these gaming terminals offer basically casino-style slots and roulette to punters off the high street. Despite campaigns to limit bets and to pace the player's losses, FOBTs continue to bolster a huge homegrown betting industry. So basically, you could just walk into a shop in the high street, and in a row a shop's usually probably on a deprived estate or nearby somewhere, and literally within ten seconds you could be playing high-stakes casino games on a screen. It's as quick as that. You could just walk in, you're going past, they've got all the adverts, they've got the spinning roulette and everything else, you walk into the door and suddenly you've got money in your pocket, bang, you're on high-stakes. And that's not like that at a casino, is it? It's a bit more involved to stopping, going into a casino, some will have dress codes in this country especially and other things, sometimes you'll have to get chips, there you're literally just going money straight in, and you see people going in and out of these shops, you ever been nearby them? And you see people who look very poor a lot of the time. Okay, don't forget as well the fruit machines, the working class pubs where they'll have more fruit machines. The fruit machine shops, anyone seen those? On the high street, so they're literally like arcade and it's just one up, literally like 50 fruit machines. They never seem to have that many people in it, you've got so many machines. Now, this tactic of targeting the poor has continued online and just in case you're wondering like that, it is wicked to be targeting poor people with this. Now we can sit here and think, well, you shouldn't get involved, should you? But look, they're getting targeted hard by this, okay? And how do they target them in the online industry? The gambling industry is using third-party companies to harvest people's data, helping bookmakers and online casinos target people on low incomes and those who have stopped gambling. This is a report in The Guardian. Now, they say traditional online gambling ads have become more expensive which has encouraged betting firms to resort to alternative means to hook customers. This led to the increasing use of data analysis to when new customers' industry sources said, but they did have this guy, you know, they claim because I know sometimes when they say sources, they could just be saying it. But again, I would, you know, I'd be sure that this is true. This is what he says, third-party data providers allowed us to target their email list with precision, set a digital marker who counted betting companies among his clients before leaving his agency last year. Lower income users were among the most successfully targeted segments. We could also combine segments, we could target users who are on less than 25K a year, own a credit card and have three kids via these providers. And that sort of thing they're doing. They're targeting people who have a low income but obviously will have high outgoings, so they don't have much money, right, target them and they're the ones they're sending the emails to. Anyone who's gambled before, they're getting lots and lots of emails, offering them 10 free spins, free £10 bets to start off and more and more and more, you know, and they'll hit all this stuff. And you've probably heard these tactics from casinos that do that sort of stuff as well, especially ace players, they'll start sending them all sorts of offers and deals. Okay, so-called data houses, this is what they call them, collect information on age, income, debt, credit information, insurance details which they pass to betting affiliates, companies that refer customers to online bookmakers for a fee. This helps the affiliates and the gambling firms tailor ads and target people based on what they earn. Basically, they're absolute scum, aren't they? Let's be honest, they are absolute scum. There are some scumbags in the world but this is pretty low, isn't it? You're targeting poor people, poor people with families and trying your utmost to get them into something that you know they're going to lose money in the long run on, aren't they? They might get the odd win here and there but they're going to lose money and it's highly addictive as well. Proverbs 14.31, you don't have to turn there, it says, he that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his maker, but he that honoureth him have mercy on the poor. They're treating God with contempt by oppressing the poor, okay, that's what they're doing because God made the poor, didn't he? He made everyone. They're treating him with contempt. On the other hand, we as Christians should have mercy on the poor, shouldn't we? We should have mercy on the poor. How do they get away with it? Well, basically, they're enabled by our wicked government, okay. They're enabled by our wicked government who are meant to be keeping an eye on things like that, aren't they? Verse 3 in Psalm 10 said, for the wicked boasteth of his hearts as iron blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth. They're all wicked, they're all covetous, so that kind of works either way, but you could apply that to our wicked government getting things in return for blessing these covetous companies because they are massively covetous, aren't they? They should all be arrested. A whole lot of them should be arrested, shouldn't they? Who are they then? Shall we just have a quick look? Because part of preaching the Bible is preaching on these things, isn't it? And let's have a quick look at the top, top company, Flutter Stars Group. Now, again, this is an interesting one because they don't just own one, oh, well, it's a really big successful betting company online or a bookies. No, Flutter Stars Group own Paddy Power, Betfair, Skybets, Poker Stars and many, many others. So all this nonsense like they're in competition, they're not. It's a massive scam owned by the same people, largest betting company in the world, 38% of online market share these people have, ranking number one, headquarters Dublin, Toronto, both that is, revenue £3.8 billion, they earn a year, £3.8 billion, okay, revenue, not just that comes in, revenue, yeah, that's basically their profit, isn't it? Employees, 12,500, High Street Shop 600 in the UK, they were established in 2020, that was a merger recently which created this even bigger betting company. Number two is Entain PLC, oh, they haven't heard of that, well, no, you have. They're Ladbrokes, Coral, Gala and the rest of them, you know, Gala Bingo where the old ladies go and waste their money, yeah? Coral, Gala, Ladbrokes and many others, ranking number two, headquarters London, revenue £3.7 billion, employees 30,000, High Street Shop 4,000, established in 2004. You've got Bet365 Group Limited, you've probably seen those adverts around, ranking number three, headquarters Stoke-on-Trent, revenue £3 billion, employees 4,700 but High Street Shops none, established 2,000. William Hill PLC, you've probably heard of that, they're one of the original ones I think in this country. Ranking number four, headquarters London, revenue £1.6 billion, employees 16,000, High Street Shops 2,300, established in 1934. Betfred, ranking five, headquarters Wellington, revenue £800 million, employees 1,000, High Street Shops 1,650, they're established in 1967. Kindred Group, they've got Unibet, 32 Red, Stan James, they're all online ones mainly I think, ranking six, headquarters Malta, probably some sort of tax-swerving there, revenue £800 million, employees 1,400, High Street Shops 100, Stan James that is, all the High Street Shops, established in 1997. And number seven, 888 Holdings PLC, ranking seven, headquarters Gibraltar, again definitely for tax reasons there, revenue £600 million, employees 1,400, no High Street Shops, established in 1997. That's seven of the scummiest greedy exploiting companies operating in the UK, okay, that's seven of the scummiest companies in the UK, because it's not just that they're targeting poor people to get richer, they know full well the devastation caused by gambling addiction, okay, they know full well the devastation they are causing. Keep a finger in Psalm 10 and turn to Proverbs 30, keep a finger in Psalm chapter 10 and turn to Proverbs chapter 30 and verse 14. Proverbs 30 and verse 14 says, there is a generation whose teeth are as swords and their jaw teeth as knives to devour the poor from off the earth and the needy from among men. They devour the poor and needy, these people, they're filth. Of all the people to target the poor, I mean it's hardly Robin Hood is it, you know, they're literally just targeting the poor to rob what little they have and to rip them off. Now according to Providence Project, in the UK it is estimated that approximately 430,000 people are suffering from compulsive gambling. That's a lot and that, again, that's what they think by, this is a rehab centre that have been dealing with this for many years. They think nearly half a million people are suffering from compulsive gambling, they're people that basically will admit they can't stop people who are gambling very, very regularly. People with a gambling problem are 15 times more likely to take their own life, that's really sad isn't it, 15 times more likely according to the largest study of its kind, prompting calls for swifter action by the government to tackle betting addiction. You think they're going to tackle that? Sure. Academics at Lund University, Sweden monitored more than 2,000 people with gambling disorders finding a significantly elevated risk of suicide among participants compared with the general population over an 11 year period. So that was a proper study, it wasn't just a quick kind of stat check. That would be more than 10 per week in the UK. So that would be 10 suicides per week in the UK due to gambling addiction. How sad is that? And these people know full well don't they, they know full well what they're doing. We should care about that shouldn't we, we should care about that. As Christians I hope you care about that. Job 30, Job chapter 30 verse 25, we don't have to turn there, says, Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? Okay and that's Job speaking there and our soul should be grieved for the poor, that should anger us, they're people that are just getting targeted by these scummy companies. Back to Psalm 10 though, Psalm chapter 10 and verse 4 says, The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God. God is not in all his sorts. His ways are always grievous. Our judgments are far above out of his sight. As for all his enemies he puffeth at them. Imagine what sorts of threats and skullduggery go on to become one of the major players in this horrible business. Can you imagine? To get to that point where you're on the five, six billion, I can only imagine what goes on behind the scenes and has done to get there, but regardless verse 6, He have said in his heart, I shall not be moved for I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud. Under his tongue is mischief and vanity and they do deceive people into thinking it's fun, don't they? It's a bargain. Oh yeah, you know, the free spins, the first free bet, the five pound free, the 10 pound, the 20 pound, you know, the buy one bet, get one free, all this stuff. Yeah, you know, it's all deceit. They want to defraud you. Anyone who ever thinks about gambling, they're trying to defraud you, okay? It's all tricks and lies. The whole thing is marketing tricks and lies. Verse 8, He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages, in the secret places that he murder the innocent, his eyes are privily set against the poor. The betting shops are secret online accounts and there are many people in the world that have secret online accounts and won't mention it to, you know, family, friends, etc. The secret online accounts, the betting shops, they're pretty murky lurking places, aren't they? They've tried to upmarket them a bit recently but previously, you know, I remember when I was young, you know, and my family would do the Grand National once a year and you go down these places and they were pretty, like, nasty dens, weren't they, you know? And to be honest, as it changed a lot, they tried to make them a little bit more glamorous. He lieth in weight secretly as a lion in his den, he lieth in weight to catch the poor, this is verse 9, he doth catch the poor when he draweth him into his net. It's a trap. It's a trap, isn't it? The whole industry is a trap. A little bit on the Grand National or a one penny per spin on the roulette online, oh, that's only a penny, it's just going to keep me amused. Low stake fruit machines, cheap scratch cards, it's a scam. The whole thing's a trap. It's just to get you into it and you start doing it a bit more and you get a little win sometimes. You feel like, okay, this is pretty good and then you're chasing that win again, you're chasing that feeling, aren't you? Now, you might chase it for a lot more money than that win was because people do, well, I'm going to get it eventually and then it just increases. Now, that could go on for years. Some people will stay low stakes for years. Some people, there are few people that could control it. There are people that will bet on the odd football match, they think that's their minimal but there are many, many people where it eventually will destroy them, okay? It's wicked. It's all a trap. Eventually, it becomes people's crutch, doesn't it? So, it becomes that thing where I'm just feeling really rubbish, a little bet would help me out, just a little hour on the roulette online or something else or a little scratch card that'll cheer me up a little bit. That's what people do, don't they? They do many addictions. It starts to become your excuse to make you feel better. Verse 10 says, he croucheth and humbleth himself that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He humbleth himself. These wicked people preying on the poor. For example, anyone seen the slogan, when the fun stops, stop? This is what they have on the front of some of these shops. They have it on some of their adverts for gambling. You come up maybe on YouTube when you're watching something, you get a gambling advert, say, when the fun stops, stop. Oh, yeah, they're so humble. They really care about you. They really care. Just make sure that it's just fun. In a way, you're basically telling everyone it's fun, aren't you, as well? It's like an advert, when the fun stops, stop. But it's really fun, you know? Oh, but actually, no, no, that was actually some sort of government initiative, apparently, where they had to put this on. And they're basically just advertising their product, aren't they? Because a lot of people can't stop, can they, when the fun stops? Wicked. What about, oh, we give away lottery money to good causes. What about the lottery then, yeah? Oh, we create multiple millionaires every week. It's such a good thing, really. All these happy people, they're so happy. And all the money we're giving away to good causes. Yeah, the lottery. 7.9 billion pounds spent on it in a year from 19 to 20. 7.9 billion has been wasted on that. Camelot says, they say, oh, we only take 1% profit. It's only 1%, it's so little 1% profit. By the way, that's after 4% in operating costs. OK, so it's not we only take 1% total. We've already done all our operating, we've paid everyone, we've paid ourself, we've paid our CEOs and everyone else a high figure. Then on top of that, we only take 79 million pounds a year profit. Only 79 million, you know, 79 million a year, you know, it's only a little 1%. Sounds so much better when you say 1%, doesn't it? Who's that going to? That's 79 million profit. And guess who plays it the most? The poor. The poor. Play it the most. They'll go down there with their last 20 quid and get 20 lottery tickets, won't they? Again, being lied to. Just a bit of fun, they say. They say we give plenty away to good causes. They humble themselves. Yeah, you know, we're just really, it's really to help people out, isn't it? You know, it's for the fun and everything else. We only take 1%. It's basically like giving to charity. Have you heard people say that before? Yeah, but yeah, I play the lottery, it's like giving to charity, you know. Really, do you want to know some of the good causes that the National Lottery money goes to? Yeah? Come on, let's hear it, yeah? And I tell you what, it's quite educational about what sort of causes there are out there, so-called causes. MicroRainbow. Anyone heard of MicroRainbow? MicroRainbow is a nationwide organisation with a vision to create a world where lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and intersex, I haven't heard of this one, this is LGBTQI, people are free from discrimination, persecution and have equal opportunities in life, including accessing employment, training, education, financial services, healthcare, housing, places of faith and public services. Some of the amazing projects is from the National Lottery website, they've been working on include providing safe housing to LGBTQI asylum seekers and refugees. Bring them in, guys, bring them in, we've got safe housing for you. Facilitating access to employment, volunteering, training and education for LGBTQI refugees through their Moving On programme. They should be moving on, shouldn't they? Providing social inclusion activities to reduce the extreme isolation faced by LGBTQI people, so basically a big hook-up, massive hook-up area for them, recognising that in 76 countries homosexuality is illegal and that 1,500 LGBTQI refugees from those countries come to the UK every year. Anyone know that? Every year. MicroRainbow opened the first safe house in the UK dedicated solely to supporting the LG blah blah blah asylum seekers and refugees. Because of their sexuality, gender identity, gender expression or intersex status, they often still aren't safe here and they may face being abused in refugee accommodation by the refugees who often come from the same countries they're escaping from. We haven't been as brainwashed as here yet, meaning they become homeless, depressed and living in poverty, rejected by their ethnic communities, MicroRainbow provide a safe and temporary shelter from this. Find out how you can get involved via and again all over the National Lottery, so when you're playing the lottery your money's going to organisations like that. And again I've found these quite interesting, I didn't, you know, they're not the sort of thing you're going to read about often. So let's hear about another one, the Mosaic Trust, based on in North London, the Mosaic Trust are committed to building a strong and cohesive, this is LGBT+, is that just like we're going to forget adding letters anymore, we just put a plus now, yeah, anyone know that apparently? I think so, community that is safe and free from prejudice with a hope to enable every LGBT+, young person, oh yeah, what do they go after again? The kids, young person that feel empowered, inspired and proud of who they are, so this is just an open paedophile organisation isn't it? Their fantastic team of colleagues and volunteers, yeah I bet there's a lot of volunteers, organise numerous activities, programmes and services to provide essential resources, advocate for LGBT plus rights and embrace, promote and endorse the diversity of young people, that is basically, we are a paedophile organisation isn't it? And I bet when they have their volunteers, I bet they don't employ, whether voluntary or not, a cross-section of society do they? How about some fundamental Baptists come down there, get involved as well, because they don't want to discriminate do they? With our own views, you know, what the Bible says, the Mosaic Youth Club is one of the life-changing programmes provided by the organisation, can you believe this wickedness? And this is where your money, if you play the lottery, is going to, the Mosaic Youth Club, this is a weekly safe and supportive club for under 18s, encouraging members to make new friends and enjoy workshops exploring sexual health, queer history and more, all while being their true selves without fear of prejudice. Youth Club membership also includes access to Culture Club, a regular programme of discounted or free, they're even trying to bribe them into it, enriching trips to LGBT plus related cultural experiences, what on earth are they? Can you believe this? This is what's going on in our country, find out about how you can get involved at and then be involved. They've got one, and again, because we have a few Scottish viewers, let's have a look what goes on there, LGBT Youth Scotland, again, what is it? Youth Scotland, support, they support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex, we're back to the LGBTI now, young people with their mental health and wellbeing as well as enabling them to build personal resilience and develop stronger connections within their communities, basically we're going to hook you up with queers if you're a young youth so-called queer. A network of dedicated team members and 75 plus volunteers run a selection of weekly youth groups for young people across Scotland aged 13 to 25, aged 13 to 25, 75 plus volunteer paedophiles run a selection, this is going on in the UK in Scotland and I'm sure it's going on down here as well, provide regular digital support groups, an interactive live chat system, can you imagine that? Who's moderating that? The wolves and an online advice centre offering information on everything from parental advice to bullying and hate crime reporting. In celebration of Pride Month the organisation is currently sending out digital Pride picnic packs encouraging people to come together outdoors and reconnect with loved ones whilst raising money for charity so why not invite your friends, get creative, talking to 13 plus here and make the most of this summer with a Pride picnic, order your kit here and I can't read any more of this, I've got another one there, United Pride Friends, just the same old film, that is wicked isn't it? Not only the fact that they exist is that wicked, it should be shocking isn't it, it's shocking that there are organisations like that out here, out in this country openly advertising this yeah, openly advertising this but our national lottery chooses to fund them, our national lottery chooses to fund them and where you start allowing a certain amount of wickedness it all just goes more and more does it, where you've got sodomites in the land the rest goes hand in hand with it so every time anyone buys a lottery ticket, a euro millions ticket, a lottery scratch card, you're giving some of your money to perverseness like this and by the way I only read a few of those, they've got a whole, they've got all sorts, got some sort of queer heritage or something they call it, they've got all sorts and by the way and that's only the sodomite stuff let alone the rest of you can imagine where your money's going if you play the lottery, you go in and you get a scratch card, you think it's a bit of fun, some of your money, you're enabling this filth, you're enabling these nonces okay, it's wicked. 2 Chronicles 19 2 you don't have to turn there it says, and J the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to king Jehoshaphat, shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the lord therefore is wrath upon me from before the lord. Wrath, don't play the lottery, don't play any of it, can you imagine this 60 years ago, the lottery would have been illegal okay, that was illegal let alone then giving a load of money to a bunch of perverts okay and it has got a lot worse, yes I know there's nothing new under the sun but the state of it now okay, 60 plus years ago, no way. Verse 11 back to Psalm 10, verse 11, he have said in his heart, God hath forgotten, he hideth his face, he will never see it. Arise O Lord, O God, lift up thine hand, forget not the humble, wherefore doth the wicked condemn God, he has said in his heart, thou wilt not require it, thou hast seen it for thou beholdest mischief and spite to requite it with thy hand, the poor committeth himself unto thee, thou art the helper of the fatherless. Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man, seek out his wickedness till thou find none. Wait a minute, that's not very loving is it? Oh hold on, must have been a misprint, must be an error, translation error. It's not very loving though is it, to forget the victims of all this evil is it? That's not loving, oh never mind, oh well you know what will be will be, no that's not loving, yeah. Oh but they wear suits, they wear suits, the people you know organizing this and running, they must be all right, can't be that bad, can't be that bad, get you know the common criminals, get the poor you know, no these people are the vilest criminals that run these organizations aren't they and that includes Camelot, that includes all these betting companies, they're wicked. Verse 16, the Lord is king for ever and ever, the heathen have perished out of his land, Lord thou has heard the desire of the humble, thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear, to judge the fatherless and the oppressed that the man of the earth may no more oppress. There's a day coming soon isn't there, there's a thousand years coming soon, what a time that's going to be eh, what a time that's going to be but until then, until that day what can we do, what can we do as Christians other than following the command of God because it is a command of God to preach it from the pulpit, if only if only churches had done this eh, if only churches in this country had carried on or had preached the word of God, I'm sure some did, if that had happened and they carried on following the command of God and we carried on having churches, having churches planted, having churches built because they were following what God told them to do and they were preaching the word of God and preach against this sort of evil, we wouldn't be in this position now would we, we wouldn't be in this position now but unfortunately they haven't have they, so we need to make sure that we as God's people keep as far away from this wickedness as we possibly can don't we okay, every single person, every single child here growing up because look how much has it gone in our, in our lifetimes, how much has this changed okay, who knows what, what, what sort of way they're going to be pushing gambling out as one of many, many sins in your face when you're older okay, because right now we've got it right on a phone at the click of a button, there are apps aren't there, you can literally just click an app straight on and you're gambling you know, credit card details put in once, it's wicked, the ease they make it to sin, okay so we need to make sure we keep away from it, now you might say well okay I get it about the lottery brother Ian okay, maybe I did or I didn't realise that, I don't play already yeah okay, I get that we don't want to donate money to basically God hating child abusers yeah, no one wants to be doing that, we all get that okay, if you didn't already I hope you get that now okay, but almost every big company is evil and predatory and that's true isn't it, pretty much every big company if you got to the point where you just went well they're evil or they're wicked, you'd probably have a Christian farmers market somewhere where we would probably all and maybe a few select from around the country would meet up and trade and that would probably be about it, so we can't, we have to live in this world don't we, if we boycotted everyone we wouldn't be able to live in this world and you might say and there's no verse that says thou shalt not gamble, is there a verse in the Bible that says thou shalt not gamble, there isn't, no there's not, but how about thou shalt not covet, how about that one, thou shalt not covet and obviously we could give a list of things but anything that is our neighbours yeah, thou shalt not covet, if you're not coveting the winnings or something to get with the winnings, why are you gambling yeah, if you're not coveting the winnings or whatever you want to buy with the winnings, why are you gambling, why on earth would you gamble, gambling number one then, so things that we can do as Christians or points sorry as to why it's a sin and why we need to avoid it, number one gambling is covetousness, gambling is covetousness all day long, turn to 1st Timothy chapter 6, 1st Timothy chapter 6 and from verse 6, 1st Timothy 6, 6 but godliness with contentment is great gain if you're content while you're gambling, verse 7, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can carry nothing out and having food and raiment let us be there with content, are you gambling to afford food and clothing, if any Christians are, crazy because the chance are you're going to lose aren't you, but they that will be rich fall into temptation and snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition, if you're not chasing riches why are you gambling, why are you gambling, that's why people fall into the temptation and snare of it don't they and look it's both foolish okay, it is foolish, the odds are stacked against you, did you see the profit these people are making, 14 billion in the industry, it's all profit, the lottery's foolish, that's why they're making one and a half billion a year profit from it after they've given a load of money to a load of queers because the chance of you winning, well the chance of you winning the actual lottery like the jackpot of zero yeah and there's many debates, I don't want to get into that, some people think the whole thing's an absolute scam I don't know but for me it's ridiculous yeah, why would you play it, why would you play it, it's foolish, it's hurtful isn't it, it's said here in verse 9, they that will be rich, so want to be rich, their goal is on riches, fall into temptation and snare into many foolish and hurtful lusts and look the amount of families, think about the amount of people that are committed suicide, think about the devastation of destructual families, the ones that haven't, what it's done to people, I've known people, I've talked before I think I mentioned it once I think when we're talking about covetousness, an old friend of mine who absolutely like complete addict, he has to have his partner, his long-term girlfriend sadly has to take his bank card away, she has to have his bank, his money from his employer straight into her account the day it comes in because otherwise he'll find a way to gamble it away on online poker and it'll be gone within a day, he's a complete addict, you admit that you know and then when you see him and this is a guy that used to be a confident bold guy, he's like he's just this embarrassed mess because when you talk to him he's just got absolutely no self-respect at all because he knows that he's he basically has to just do everything his girlfriend says or the money's just going to go, she has to control his finances, she controls his life, she has to buy things for him out of his money because if she gives him any access it will just be gambled away and he's one of many, he's one of many, I know other people that have destroyed their lives through gambling, it's hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition, they're drowned in the repercussions aren't they, drowning in it and people you've ever been in hard times like that or times that you feel like an addiction or something's getting worse, people feel like they're drowning can't they, they feel like they're drowning there's no way out. Verse 10 says for the love of money is a root of all evil which while some coveted after they have heard from the faith and pierce themselves through with many soils, it's covetousness, pure and simple isn't it, covetousness. Verse 11 but thou o man of God flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness, like fornication flee covetousness yeah, we all understand that we should flee fornication in the same way we should flee covetousness, flee these things he said here, flee it, that means run, get away, get as far away as you as you possibly can, gambling isn't righteous, godly, faithful, loving, patient or meek is it, none of it is and look Hebrews you don't have to turn Hebrews 35 says let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he have said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, our behavior should be without covetousness and look even even buying a scratch card it's covetous, it's covetous, I don't care what people say it is, oh it's just a bit of fun, why don't you have a bit of fun without the money being the reward yeah, oh well you know it's like playing an arcade game, we'll go and play an arcade game then you know, why are you doing something which where the reward's money, it's not very fun pressing spin, spin, spin or whatever else is it, I mean think of much more fun games where you might use a little bit of you know a bit of coordination or something else, but we should have content with what god provides for shouldn't we, so number one was it's covetousness, number two gambling is bad stewardship, gambling is bad stewardship, look if you've got the money in your gambling you're a bad steward, if you've got enough money in your gambling whether you feel you're an addict or not you're a bad steward, if you haven't got the money in your gambling you're a fool okay, if you haven't got the money you think you're going to make what you need from gambling you're a fool okay, so either way, either way you're a fool, did you not hear the profit these people are making, surely okay, from idiots who give them their money because that's really what it is and again look we should have pity on the poor, they're targeted but we know better yeah, we're you know and from this sermon hopefully anyone that still goes out and gambles is a fool okay, you're a fool, the house always wins, the house always wins in the end doesn't it, otherwise they wouldn't have their businesses, they wouldn't be merging and setting up however many sub-businesses underneath, they wouldn't, why are people in this business because they always win, because they always make money, you don't see casinos closing down because they've gone bankrupt do you, if God has provided you with money don't just give it away to some wicked God haters, because you might as well just go and find the wickedest people you can and just go here's some cash, here's some cash, oh can you give me a bit of fun for it you know sing me a song or something or do a jig you know because that's really what you're doing okay, you could give it to a real charity couldn't you and I say real charity because again like if you're going to be a good steward of money don't just put your money in the in the box, I don't even have that much because they're trying to steer away from cash, don't just put your money in the box at the till, yeah don't just give money to whatever idiot comes to your door stops you on the street going you know I'm collecting for this charity because if you when you look in a charity that would be a good sermon one day I'm going to I'm going to expose some charities because they are wicked, a lot of them are a complete scam they pay their once a month secretary 100 grand a year and stuff like that and and that's at the lower end you know so much scam but but give it to a real charity you know that you actually have some idea where your money's going the church you could give it to a church didn't just have to be ours you could support one of our one of our friendly churches you know you could use it for something profitable yeah use it for something profitable turn to Luke chapter 16 Luke chapter 16 and verse 11 Luke 16 11 says if therefore ye have not been faithfully mammon who will commit to your trust the true riches mammon being money there we need to be faithful with the money that God gives us don't we okay it's not faithful giving it away to some evil scummy company and then is he really going to entrust us to true true riches no number three then number three is gambling is seeking easy money okay gambling is just seeking easy money isn't it okay okay it might be some people say it's for fun really it's the easy the quick cash Genesis in Genesis 3 you don't turn there God said cursed is the ground for thy sake for your own good he then said in the sweat of thy face shout thou eat bread proper work is good for us isn't it proper work is good for us the biblical principle is to work for our money okay it's to work for our money not to try and find whatever quickest easiest way of getting some money without having to work for it is it okay we're meant to work and you're better and you're happier and you're more content men when you work for your money aren't you for sure proverb 13 11 says wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished but he that gathereth by labor shall increase wealth gotten by vanity that's emptiness just quickly easily shall be diminished it goes quickly but he that gathereth by labor shall increase the occasional big wins from gambling will just go quickly won't they yeah it does quick easy money goes quickly when you haven't earned it it goes quicker you know the people that get the easiest money spend the most don't they because when you earn it with proper work you keep it for longer because you have a bit more respect for the money that you've earned don't you when you've had to graft and i'm not saying necessarily physical when you've had to work long hours be it in front of a screen whether it be you know digging lifting carrying whatever it is when you've earned that money when you've put the hours in you don't want to just whittle it away do you you don't want to whittle it away turn to proverbs chapter 28 and look like i've just picked a few proverbs here there's so much in the bible about work isn't there work for your money about being diligent about working not being slothful yeah not being a sluggard and sadly a lot of gamblers are aren't they not all but a lot of them a lot of them it's the covetous there's maybe some of them it might be on top of a job you know but a lot of them they're trying to find a way some sort of way some sort of tip something to get easy money proverbs 28 and verse 22 says he that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye and considerth not that poverty shall come upon him being in a hurry to get rich and sin go hand in hand don't they they go hand in hand he have an evil eye and considerth not that poverty shall come upon him and sadly like with many other get rich quick ideas so many gamblers eventually end up poor yeah and and look you know we want to earn our money and there's nothing wrong with with being enterprising and things like that but when you're trying to find something which is just quick easy money it ain't going to work out well for you especially not as a child of god um okay number four gambling is addictive okay it is addictive it might not be a physical addiction in terms of some sort of chemical in your body that goes in but you know what it's a chemical that's released when you gamble which is addictive first corinthian 6 12 says all things are lawful unto me but all things are not expedient all things are lawful for me but i will not be brought under the power of any so many people under power gambling and it might not be this every day it might be this once a week it might be that they just can't resist once a month they're still under the power of it aren't they and i'm sure there are many christians worldwide that would say that that would admit to that don't think though that you're too strong to end up an addict don't think don't don't think that you're too strong to end up an addict look there are many gambling addicts in the world that probably felt that when they started yeah they probably felt that they're all right they got a lid on it they're controlled they can get away with just a bit here a bit there no turn to titus chapter two while i read first peter 211 so you turn to titus 2 1st peter chapter 2 verse 11 says dearly beloved i beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lust which war against the soul he beseeches them to abstain from the fleshly lust which war against the soul the soul you're definitely not in the spirit when you're down the betting shop are you oh i'm just so in the spirit right now while i'm down the betting shop you know putting money on this playing the fixed odds betting machines in a casino you're in the spirit in the casino buying lot of tickets when you stop at the garage yeah i'm just so in the spirit right now yeah give me a roll of 10 of those number whatever you know you see guys spending a lot of money on that don't you 20 30 quid i've seen people just like 20 pound nine they've got 20 scratch cards what a waste of money you know um or on someone like casino site you're in the spirit when you're holding your phone and just clicking on this or betting on that placing bets on some random sport no way titus 2 11 12 says for the grace of god that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world we've got to deny ungodliness of worldly lust there is no doubt it's a worldly lust isn't it it's a worldly lust it's addictive because lusts are aren't they they're addictive get rid of the addictions they war against the soul and they do don't they they war against the soul get rid of the addictions do what you have to get them out of your life you want to serve god you want to be a good christian you want to be in it for the long haul as well you've got to get rid of them okay you might think well i'm doing all right right now you know okay so i bet now and again or gamble now and again but but i still read my bible i soul win i come to church i do this eventually it's going to it is right now warring against his soul eventually there's a big chance going to win that war isn't there okay look we don't want to be roman candle christians here do we okay because a lot of people are fairly new really in the grand scheme of things aren't they that's you know really most people in here are fairly new to christianity if you look at really places where there's people that have been saved from a lot younger i mean we're quite a new generation of people that have been getting saved you know later in our life and and look we've got to take heed yeah he who think if he standeth take heed lest he fall because it doesn't matter you might be getting the salvations you might be going so when you might be going to church might be reading your bible might be reading 12 chapters a day plus you might be praying to god and everything else that doesn't mean that right i'm i'm i'm in it man i'm there for the long haul it can easily fail can't it how many christians that start off great end up backsliding don't be a roman candle christian burns brightly and then just peters out yeah okay so number five number five gambling is a bad testimony isn't it gambling is a bad testimony okay matthew 5 16 says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven we don't want our unsaved friends or family thinking that we're just some degenerate gambler do we okay those unsaved people that you're trying to show your good works to as well yeah sure you want to preach them the gospel we know we're not preaching works but we want to be an example don't we because they want to bring you down they want to criticize you they want to find fault in you and that scratch card stub in your in your car or your van or your your house or whatever it is that those old lottery tickets wherever you know that online account or or you know they catch you on your phone look over you know that's that's such a bad testimony isn't it okay we don't want to be that because they want to find fun oh yeah so cool christian gambler and you might think you've got a limit you might think you're just having some fun you might think it's just a betting stub for a horse you know someone gave me a tip you know it wasn't unwise someone gave me a tip i i played you know i i bet it on on this whatever race it is you know it was a one-off i just went down to dogs with some work friends from work you know i just had a couple of you know just to keep i didn't drink but i just you know played a few played a few of the or however you say i don't know what they say betting on a few races i suppose yeah you might have just done you might have just done that but but you know what's if what what the friends and family are going to say they're going to see it as you're a gambler you've got a problem because they want to see the worst in you don't they it's a bad testimony okay and we also don't want our saved family and friends and children and everyone else thinking well it's not that bad because he does it she does it it's not so bad because mum does it you know mum just plays now and again i've seen you know i've glanced at her phone she just plays a little little arcade you know little fruit machine game now and again it can't be that bad she's quite a godly woman you know she she's pretty she's pretty on the right tracks can't be that bad and you know kids kids pick up on all that stuff don't they you might think you've hidden something from your kids oh it's covetousness yeah it's covetousness and that's a church discipline offense isn't it it's a church discipline offense covetousness turn to first peter chapter one it's a church discipline offense and and look covetousness will get you kicked out of a church now i'm not saying right if you've ever gambled that's it you're covered as you're getting out but after this sermon if people are still gambling then for me that's a big sign that you've got a covetous issue and we want to get that out don't we before it infects other people in the church okay and look you know we want people in the church we want people to get right don't we and it look by the way i'm not preaching i haven't got someone's come and whispered to me and gone the gambling kids if you want to either no i'm joking no one's done that yet but but look considering the stats that i read earlier and it's just something that came to me i saw some advert for some for a betting sign i thought it's massive in this country it's massive here yeah and and we've got a church of you know 57 we had in last week's we haven't done a tally up today yet and and we've got however many watching online and over the course of the week maybe a couple of hundred that watch it or 100 or whatever it is and if i mean by by the stats there's going to be some people that at least the door maybe has been opened at some point yeah at least and i hope there's no one here that that habitually gambles but if there is get right because if it does come to to my attention then then the the you know you're covetous it's covetous especially after this sermon if you can't get rid of it you've got an issue there yeah and you need you need to deal with it quickly turn turn you turn to first peter chapter one verse 13 says wherefore gird up the loins of your mind be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of jesus christ as obedient children not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance so like i said if you've had a problem with this in the past put it behind you yeah put it behind you okay that was in ignorance but don't even glance through the crack of that open door yeah don't even look at it because it's so addictive it'll pull you back in so many addictions are things any issues that any of you have had in life before salvation even post salvation even up until this sermon and sermons that come in the future then look you've got to put them behind you and you've got to make sure you've got to treat it with respect yeah addictions are like that you've got to treat me with respect and keep as far away as possible for the rest of your life yeah don't go if even if it means changing a route that you don't walk past the betting shops you know on your way to work or whatever it is you know do what you can because eventually when you're weak when you're low when you just had a row with the wife or a row with the husband or whatever else is just stressed someone's died or in your family or something else that's when it gets you that's when someone will go sod this i'm i'm going to go and place a bet i'm going to go and you know whatever it is you know have a drink or or that's when it happens isn't it you might think well things are going good now i'm doing well i'm strong but you've got to make sure it's just as far away as possible there's no possibility you've got gambling it or old online accounts cancel them cancel them make sure you're off them make sure that you've unsubscribed from any emails put them in your spam folder make sure you're not because eventually it will get you i hope i hope and pray it doesn't and i hope that people hate take heed because if you've had this problem or any other problem that goes with any other addictive sort of sin um okay verse 15 says but as he which has called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation that's in all of our behavior yeah we're called to be holy aren't we because it is written be ye holy for i am holy there's nothing holy about gambling in any form is there nothing holy about it we want to be a testimony to those around us and gambling prevents that doesn't it okay gambling will prevent us being a testimony to those around us at some point sadly a lot of the time people will just will crumble with it as well it'll destroy you okay so other than giving your money oh sorry other than giving your money to the wicked oppressors of the poor not to mention playing the national sodomy five reasons that gambling is a sin number one gambling is covetousness number two gambling is bad stewardship number three gambling is seeking easy money number four gambling is addictive number five gambling is a bad testimony surely one of those would be enough isn't it one of those should be enough i don't care if it doesn't say thou shalt not gamble we shouldn't be doing any of those things on that list should we and that makes it clear to me it's not only a sin it's a sin with it on multiple levels multiple levels and there are many sins in life which aren't pictured which aren't like set out in text in the bible we know they're sins don't we and this is one of them okay gambling is a sin it's a wicked sin it's a destructive sin it's a sin in this country is gonna is getting pushed on us promoted on us more and more and more as the years go by our kids are going to come up against this and kids i hope you've listened i hope you've listened to this there's nothing good about it's only going to cause you destruction kids please just don't even go down that route don't place a bit of money on the grand national whatever the tradition is you know i don't know what i don't know if they still push that and promote that maybe they do still get away from the online gambling it's not fun if you have to play a computer game which are addictive as well but at the least play something that doesn't have money at the end of it don't get sucked into it don't play the poker with the friends or so oh we just pay for pennies because again it starts to get that enjoyment that lure that that little feeling when you win off your mates and you're a kid you win a pound in pennies or something like that and it just that can suck you in it's a trap it's a snare and then after that you start well you know that's quite fun let's play for pounds next time and then it goes up and up as you get older steer clear of it all because you might think well i'm good enough i'm going to win but the problem is you'll then start playing more and more and then you'll start playing the online where they're just stitching you up or whatever it is because you'll get addicted to the gambling it's not well i'm a good poker player i know a guy that claimed this this guy was he was a mathematic wiz this guy and i was at school with him he was this he was unruly as as hell this kid but he was he was a brain box okay and he ended up doing some sort of i mean he was like the eternal student doctorate and wave studies next and it was this just all like just just the maths was unreal in fact he was intelligent in many areas but this guy was actually getting paid to play online poker as well and everyone went wow you know how cool you know this guy's so good he's playing online poker he's some bum somewhere now some drug addict bum somewhere you know he's not making no money he's skin last time i heard and to be honest i think he's now reprobate from what i can gather and and look you know and this guy you would think well if anyone's going to play you know or you can card count you might be a clever kid oh well i can call it doesn't matter it doesn't matter you'll always lose yeah it's an addiction it's a fleshy lesson it's a sin so on that guys let's just steer clear of that like many many other sins in life and on that let's pray father i thank you for your word and i thank you that you just give us so many principles in the bible that make so many new sort of sins or maybe not even new but but things which aren't exactly spelled out just so clear to us when we read and when we study and when we know the word we we can't excuse things like gambling along with many many other sins um i pray that you'll help those that are affected by it um not just in this church but the poor in life that we should care about we should we should care about and uh i pray that you'll just break the arms of the wicked the wicked people that that are preying on the poor in this country and around the world and and uh supporting the filth the filth that we're seeing that again it's just victimizing what probably a lot of the time ends up being poor kids as well and many others um i pray that you not only break the ones that break their teeth as well and and we pray that you just punish those people punish them um and and just help all those afflicted by it but i pray as well for for the members of our church as well and those that regularly listen online that you're just if anyone has been down this route or had problems with this in the past you just help them help them to get rid of it out of their life um that you help them to be strong you help them to be sensible to be wise and anyone else that might possibly get tempted by this in the future that you just keep them away from this sin um and and and all other sins as well but especially this sin we're talking about today just just pray that you just keep them wise and and and distance from it and and lord i pray that you just help us now this afternoon to go out and get people saved and hopefully get ones that want to come also and hear the word of god preached and change their lives as well like so many of our lives have been changed and we pray all these things in jesus name amen