1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,889 Speaker: if you didn't have to turn in your homework, would you do it? 2 00:00:02,340 --> 00:00:08,039 Um, and we, we, and equip, uh, which is our little like extra, extra 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,280 credit thing we do before true North, we sometimes we'll have homework 4 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:13,860 and I won't collect it, and they'll be like, oh, why did I even do it? 5 00:00:13,919 --> 00:00:14,189 Right? 6 00:00:14,189 --> 00:00:14,939 That'll happen, right? 7 00:00:14,939 --> 00:00:15,629 Why did I even do it? 8 00:00:15,899 --> 00:00:19,050 If it wasn't for a grade, why did I do it if it, if it wasn't, um. 9 00:00:19,845 --> 00:00:21,585 There was a, there wasn't a grade for it, right? 10 00:00:21,585 --> 00:00:26,025 And that we talked about how with God, sometimes we treat it that way. 11 00:00:26,025 --> 00:00:28,095 Well, if, if I'm forgiven of all my sin, right? 12 00:00:28,095 --> 00:00:30,345 If God's not gonna grade me anymore, right? 13 00:00:30,345 --> 00:00:33,165 If I, if I don't have to, um, answer for the things I do, then 14 00:00:33,165 --> 00:00:34,215 I can just keep sinning, right? 15 00:00:34,215 --> 00:00:36,795 If there's no consequences for my sin, then I can just 16 00:00:36,795 --> 00:00:38,235 keep doing whatever I want. 17 00:00:38,715 --> 00:00:41,835 And that same question is gonna come up, but a little differently. 18 00:00:42,165 --> 00:00:43,605 In our passage tonight. 19 00:00:43,635 --> 00:00:48,945 Alright, so in Romans six, verse 15, we see another question before in verse one. 20 00:00:48,945 --> 00:00:54,375 We saw, um, if we're, or should we keep sinning, if that gives God 21 00:00:54,405 --> 00:00:55,845 opportunities to show more grace, right? 22 00:00:55,845 --> 00:00:58,545 If, if God shows his grace when I sin, then shouldn't I just keep 23 00:00:58,545 --> 00:01:00,015 sinning so God can show me more grace? 24 00:01:00,075 --> 00:01:01,155 Isn't that what I should do? 25 00:01:01,935 --> 00:01:05,024 Instead, we're gonna look at, at this in verse 15 is, okay, 26 00:01:05,024 --> 00:01:09,405 so should I keep sinning because I'm not under the law anymore? 27 00:01:09,435 --> 00:01:09,794 Now what? 28 00:01:09,794 --> 00:01:10,335 What does that mean? 29 00:01:10,395 --> 00:01:11,199 Well, if I'm under the law. 30 00:01:12,390 --> 00:01:14,940 That means that I'm in sense, right? 31 00:01:14,940 --> 00:01:16,530 Being graded by God, right? 32 00:01:16,620 --> 00:01:20,670 I'm, I'm someone who's trying to, to be good enough based on all the 33 00:01:20,670 --> 00:01:22,590 requirements that God gives me, right? 34 00:01:22,590 --> 00:01:24,510 Think of like a spiritual report card, right? 35 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:26,100 Is God gives you these commands, right? 36 00:01:26,100 --> 00:01:28,830 Maybe like the 10 Commandments, and then you say, well, if I'm under the 37 00:01:28,830 --> 00:01:31,590 law, that means my standing before. 38 00:01:32,669 --> 00:01:34,169 Based on my report card, right? 39 00:01:34,169 --> 00:01:35,580 How many of the 10 commandments did you do? 40 00:01:35,699 --> 00:01:35,850 Right? 41 00:01:35,850 --> 00:01:37,140 In our case, that would be zero, right? 42 00:01:37,140 --> 00:01:40,710 We broke all of 'em, and so if we're standing before God based 43 00:01:40,710 --> 00:01:43,800 on the law, then we fail, right? 44 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:45,000 F minus zero to 10. 45 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:50,580 But if we're under grace, instead, if it's God's grace through Jesus, right? 46 00:01:50,580 --> 00:01:54,149 He gives us his righteousness instead of our own, then it's a hundred percent. 47 00:01:54,419 --> 00:01:56,190 So it's like, great, I don't have to do anything. 48 00:01:56,220 --> 00:01:56,550 Right. 49 00:01:56,835 --> 00:01:59,715 That was the whole point of the first five chapters of Romans, right? 50 00:01:59,715 --> 00:02:02,625 That God gives me righteousness, I don't earn it. 51 00:02:02,775 --> 00:02:02,925 Right? 52 00:02:02,925 --> 00:02:07,604 Righteousness is a gift from God, not something I produce of my own effort. 53 00:02:08,413 --> 00:02:11,805 And he says, well, that doesn't mean you should just keep sinning, right? 54 00:02:11,805 --> 00:02:13,875 Even though you, you already got an A in the class, you 55 00:02:13,875 --> 00:02:14,685 should still do the homework. 56 00:02:14,745 --> 00:02:18,225 That's what he, that's what he's saying here in verse 15. 57 00:02:18,230 --> 00:02:21,915 And, and the type of person that would ask this question, um, if you're, if 58 00:02:21,915 --> 00:02:24,105 you're the type of person that says, oh, well, God's gonna forgive me. 59 00:02:24,435 --> 00:02:25,815 I should just sin anyway, right? 60 00:02:25,815 --> 00:02:28,035 If God's gonna forgive me, I can do whatever I want. 61 00:02:28,245 --> 00:02:31,185 If that's the question that, that you think of, right? 62 00:02:31,185 --> 00:02:33,495 If that's the question you're like, oh, well God will forgive me anyway. 63 00:02:33,825 --> 00:02:35,355 I should just do whatever I want. 64 00:02:36,135 --> 00:02:40,334 The, the people who think like that usually, and maybe this is you, are are 65 00:02:40,334 --> 00:02:45,765 people who they think of Christianity more about a set of ideas rather than 66 00:02:45,765 --> 00:02:48,225 a relationship with a person, right? 67 00:02:48,405 --> 00:02:49,065 Maybe that's you. 68 00:02:49,065 --> 00:02:50,984 Maybe you're someone who thinks of your Christianity. 69 00:02:51,510 --> 00:02:55,350 Is just, oh, I, it's just a bunch of rules for me to live by, but if, if, if 70 00:02:55,350 --> 00:02:57,990 I don't have to live by them anyway, if I'm really, I'm just gonna be forgiven. 71 00:02:57,990 --> 00:02:58,860 It, it's not a big deal. 72 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,910 If it's just a set of rules or a set a bunch of ideas, if that's what you think 73 00:03:02,910 --> 00:03:07,230 of, of, of following Jesus', like, then this is, you're gonna say, well, yeah, I 74 00:03:07,230 --> 00:03:08,430 should just be able to do whatever I want. 75 00:03:08,730 --> 00:03:09,930 Why would I want to follow God? 76 00:03:10,650 --> 00:03:12,150 I have no desire to do that. 77 00:03:13,275 --> 00:03:16,785 Last week we talked about how when someone becomes a real Christian, 78 00:03:16,905 --> 00:03:18,584 their desires change, right? 79 00:03:18,584 --> 00:03:22,845 We talked about how two weeks ago, how, uh, when you become a Christian, 80 00:03:22,935 --> 00:03:26,984 you go from sin being on the throne of your life in the castle, right to God 81 00:03:26,984 --> 00:03:28,695 being in control of the castle now. 82 00:03:28,905 --> 00:03:31,155 And so now instead of doing the things that you used to 83 00:03:31,155 --> 00:03:32,715 wanna do, you have new desires. 84 00:03:32,745 --> 00:03:35,565 There's, there's things that you don't wanna do anymore that you used to 85 00:03:35,565 --> 00:03:39,375 wanna do, and there's new things that you want to do that you used to be 86 00:03:39,375 --> 00:03:40,454 like, oh, that's lame, that's boring. 87 00:03:40,454 --> 00:03:40,799 Why would I do that? 88 00:03:42,165 --> 00:03:46,575 So something changes about you that makes you, instead of saying, 89 00:03:46,575 --> 00:03:50,895 how much can I sin, you start asking, how much can I love God? 90 00:03:51,435 --> 00:03:53,204 So your perspective changes. 91 00:03:53,204 --> 00:03:55,575 So instead of asking the question, how much can I sin, how much can I 92 00:03:55,575 --> 00:03:58,785 get away with before God punishes me, you start asking, well, I 93 00:03:58,845 --> 00:04:00,585 I, I don't wanna dishonor God. 94 00:04:00,585 --> 00:04:01,245 I wanna love God. 95 00:04:01,245 --> 00:04:02,115 How can I love him? 96 00:04:02,445 --> 00:04:03,225 How can I serve him? 97 00:04:03,225 --> 00:04:04,755 How can I live for him? 98 00:04:08,265 --> 00:04:08,895 This. 99 00:04:09,285 --> 00:04:12,464 Idea is really, really interesting because I think a lot of people, maybe 100 00:04:12,464 --> 00:04:16,305 at your school, maybe your friends or maybe you, you, you think of following 101 00:04:16,305 --> 00:04:19,454 Jesus almost like it's restrictive. 102 00:04:19,575 --> 00:04:20,954 It's a bunch of things I can't do, right? 103 00:04:20,954 --> 00:04:25,424 Well, if I start following Jesus, I can't talk that way anymore. 104 00:04:25,515 --> 00:04:26,805 I can't make those jokes anymore. 105 00:04:26,865 --> 00:04:28,485 I can't do those things anymore. 106 00:04:28,485 --> 00:04:29,715 I can't watch those videos anymore. 107 00:04:29,715 --> 00:04:32,145 Maybe that's what you think of when you think of following Jesus. 108 00:04:32,145 --> 00:04:33,974 You think of a bunch of risk things I can't do. 109 00:04:34,620 --> 00:04:38,370 You think that's being restrictive and maybe you think of, well, if I'm 110 00:04:38,370 --> 00:04:40,109 not a Christian, that means I'm free. 111 00:04:40,229 --> 00:04:41,310 That means I get to do whatever I want. 112 00:04:41,310 --> 00:04:42,359 There's no rules, right? 113 00:04:42,479 --> 00:04:45,180 I'm not under the law anymore, but I'm free. 114 00:04:45,180 --> 00:04:47,640 I'm free from God's rules too, so I can do whatever I want. 115 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,099 Maybe that's what you think of when you think of, oh, I'm, I wish 116 00:04:50,099 --> 00:04:52,979 I wasn't a Christian, maybe, or I wish I wasn't in a Christian home 117 00:04:52,979 --> 00:04:54,450 and I could go do whatever I wanted. 118 00:04:55,530 --> 00:04:59,190 What we're gonna see in our passage tonight is that being 119 00:04:59,909 --> 00:05:01,650 whether you're a Christian or not. 120 00:05:02,070 --> 00:05:04,919 You're always enslaved to something. 121 00:05:05,039 --> 00:05:06,750 You're always serving something. 122 00:05:06,750 --> 00:05:07,770 We've talked about this a bit, right? 123 00:05:07,770 --> 00:05:10,950 You always do whatever you most want to do. 124 00:05:11,039 --> 00:05:13,900 You're always enslaved to doing whatever you want. 125 00:05:15,015 --> 00:05:18,284 That's why when God changes your desires, you now have new desires 126 00:05:18,284 --> 00:05:20,805 that you want to follow instead of following your old desire. 127 00:05:20,805 --> 00:05:23,925 So I'm gonna give you three questions that we're gonna see in our passage 128 00:05:24,135 --> 00:05:26,325 that'll help you think through what, what we're talking about. 129 00:05:26,354 --> 00:05:26,715 Okay. 130 00:05:26,955 --> 00:05:29,984 In our passage, there's, there's three pairs, not like the fruit. 131 00:05:30,344 --> 00:05:34,305 Uh, three pairs in terms of sets of two, right? 132 00:05:34,305 --> 00:05:35,715 Like animals on the arc, right? 133 00:05:35,955 --> 00:05:36,735 There's three pairs. 134 00:05:36,914 --> 00:05:38,174 We're gonna see two masters. 135 00:05:39,150 --> 00:05:43,920 Then we're gonna see two kind of rewards or two results, and then 136 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,060 we're gonna see two destinies or two destinations, two places you're going. 137 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,810 So our first question is about the masters, one or the other. 138 00:05:51,810 --> 00:05:53,640 Whom will you serve? 139 00:05:56,550 --> 00:05:57,360 And I say whom? 140 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,570 Because even if you don't like grammar, I do. 141 00:06:01,290 --> 00:06:03,450 So we say whom? 142 00:06:05,250 --> 00:06:08,190 Whom will you serve? 143 00:06:10,664 --> 00:06:13,995 I was always thinking, you know, that scene in, um, I think it's, it's one 144 00:06:13,995 --> 00:06:15,705 of those two last Avengers movies. 145 00:06:15,765 --> 00:06:18,015 I dunno if it's Endgame or Infinity War, when they go into space 146 00:06:18,465 --> 00:06:22,034 and, um, it's like Spider-Man and Star Lord and Ironman and Dr. 147 00:06:22,034 --> 00:06:27,044 Strange and, and Star Lord's like holding that, that like gun to Spider-Man's head. 148 00:06:27,465 --> 00:06:30,825 And it's at Infinity War I, I don't know when one of 'em ends 149 00:06:30,825 --> 00:06:31,724 and when one of 'em starts. 150 00:06:31,784 --> 00:06:32,115 Um. 151 00:06:33,135 --> 00:06:35,804 And they're like, who do you like, who's your master? 152 00:06:35,804 --> 00:06:36,734 Like, who do you wanna serve? 153 00:06:36,734 --> 00:06:38,445 And then Star Lord goes, what do you want me to say? 154 00:06:38,474 --> 00:06:39,164 Jesus? 155 00:06:39,405 --> 00:06:39,705 Right? 156 00:06:39,885 --> 00:06:42,375 That's what I kept thinking of whenever I thought about this point. 157 00:06:42,674 --> 00:06:43,664 Anyway, that's for free. 158 00:06:43,875 --> 00:06:49,155 But um, in verse 16, we're gonna see that you really are always serving someone. 159 00:06:49,155 --> 00:06:51,195 And this might be new for you, this might be a new idea for you. 160 00:06:51,195 --> 00:06:53,085 But look here with me at verse 16. 161 00:06:54,419 --> 00:06:57,299 He said, okay, so we shouldn't keep standing even though we're not under 162 00:06:57,299 --> 00:06:58,500 the law anymore, we're under grace. 163 00:06:58,500 --> 00:06:59,190 And here's what he says. 164 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,120 Don't you know that if you present yourselves, we've seen that before, right? 165 00:07:03,239 --> 00:07:08,370 You give yourself over to anyone as an obedient slave, you are 166 00:07:08,370 --> 00:07:10,650 slaves of the one you obey. 167 00:07:10,950 --> 00:07:13,440 So he's saying that you're always obeying someone. 168 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,739 You're either obeying sin, you're, you're obeying your own selfish desires. 169 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:21,090 Which leads to death, or you're obeying God, which leads to righteousness. 170 00:07:21,270 --> 00:07:23,490 So you're always giving yourself to someone. 171 00:07:23,820 --> 00:07:26,730 You're either serving yourself, you're serving your own sin, 172 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:29,430 or you're serving God, right? 173 00:07:29,430 --> 00:07:30,990 There's no middle ground here. 174 00:07:31,620 --> 00:07:39,090 Everything you do is placing yourself at the disposal of your master, right? 175 00:07:39,090 --> 00:07:41,909 You are either serving sin or you're serving God. 176 00:07:43,110 --> 00:07:44,850 You're not a free agent. 177 00:07:45,689 --> 00:07:46,590 Like in sports, right? 178 00:07:46,799 --> 00:07:48,929 In NFL right now it's free agency. 179 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,090 So there's guys that are signing with different teams they wanna be 180 00:07:51,090 --> 00:07:53,189 on, they wanna be on, they don't wanna be on the cowboys, probably. 181 00:07:53,189 --> 00:07:54,090 They wanna be on different teams. 182 00:07:54,390 --> 00:07:58,200 Um, but they want to be on, you know, like the super MVP, he just 183 00:07:58,200 --> 00:07:59,070 signed with the chiefs, right? 184 00:07:59,070 --> 00:08:01,109 Because he's like, oh, I want to play with Patrick Mahomes and I want to, 185 00:08:01,109 --> 00:08:02,099 you know, score a lot touchdowns. 186 00:08:02,099 --> 00:08:02,369 Right. 187 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:04,499 Even though Patrick Holmes probably isn't gonna play for the first month 188 00:08:04,499 --> 00:08:05,489 of the season, but that's okay. 189 00:08:05,489 --> 00:08:05,564 Gimme back. 190 00:08:06,390 --> 00:08:06,990 Sorry, Weston. 191 00:08:07,230 --> 00:08:12,270 Um, but Right, so we often, we think of ourselves as free agents, right? 192 00:08:12,270 --> 00:08:14,310 I can go do whatever I want to do. 193 00:08:14,370 --> 00:08:17,040 I'm in control of my decisions, right? 194 00:08:17,100 --> 00:08:20,010 Which in a sense, you do really decide to do things, but you're 195 00:08:20,010 --> 00:08:22,950 always playing for a team, right? 196 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,310 If you're in the NFL, you don't wanna be a free agent, you wanna be on a team, right? 197 00:08:26,370 --> 00:08:27,540 You're always on a team. 198 00:08:27,630 --> 00:08:30,120 You're either on God's team or you're on sins team. 199 00:08:30,750 --> 00:08:32,640 There's no, I'm on the neutral team. 200 00:08:33,539 --> 00:08:33,929 Right. 201 00:08:34,078 --> 00:08:34,679 There's none of that. 202 00:08:34,740 --> 00:08:36,299 You're either on God's team or you're on sins team. 203 00:08:36,299 --> 00:08:38,789 Everything you do is serving someone. 204 00:08:39,419 --> 00:08:42,719 You're either serving God or you're serving sin. 205 00:08:43,620 --> 00:08:47,130 And what we're seeing here is that if you're not a Christian, 206 00:08:47,219 --> 00:08:49,020 you're always serving sin. 207 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:53,819 You're not just doing whatever you want, having fun away from God, you're 208 00:08:53,819 --> 00:08:56,099 actually serving a different master. 209 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:58,979 And maybe you've never thought about your life like that before, man. 210 00:08:59,130 --> 00:09:01,380 Before I was a Christian, I was serving sin. 211 00:09:02,310 --> 00:09:03,569 Maybe you're thinking, I'm not a Christian. 212 00:09:03,569 --> 00:09:07,709 I, I, maybe you wanna be a Christian, but right now you're serving sin. 213 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,060 If you say, I'm not following Jesus, that means you are serving sin. 214 00:09:14,490 --> 00:09:15,810 So then how do we get outta that? 215 00:09:15,839 --> 00:09:15,990 Right? 216 00:09:15,990 --> 00:09:19,439 How does what happens to a Christian when they, when they become a 217 00:09:19,439 --> 00:09:20,699 Christian and start following Jesus? 218 00:09:20,699 --> 00:09:24,180 Well, he says, thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin. 219 00:09:24,180 --> 00:09:24,675 Remember we talked about. 220 00:09:25,470 --> 00:09:30,030 In the first 14 verses of this chapter that you are freed from sin, right? 221 00:09:30,030 --> 00:09:31,470 Sin doesn't have dominion over you. 222 00:09:31,470 --> 00:09:32,880 It's not dominating you anymore, right? 223 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:34,590 We talked about like the dog on a leash, right? 224 00:09:34,770 --> 00:09:37,140 Sin is not taking you wherever it wants you to go. 225 00:09:37,260 --> 00:09:38,880 You're in control now, right? 226 00:09:38,910 --> 00:09:39,840 'cause you're following God. 227 00:09:40,170 --> 00:09:43,530 You who are, once slaves of sin, have become obedient from the 228 00:09:43,530 --> 00:09:47,040 heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed. 229 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:51,240 So you're starting to obey what God has said, and you're set free from sin 230 00:09:51,690 --> 00:09:53,370 and you're now slaves of righteousness. 231 00:09:53,370 --> 00:09:54,360 So you're still slave. 232 00:09:54,855 --> 00:09:57,615 But now you're serving someone else, you're serving God. 233 00:09:57,615 --> 00:09:59,505 You're not serving sin anymore. 234 00:10:01,185 --> 00:10:02,564 So how does this happen? 235 00:10:02,564 --> 00:10:04,425 How does God free you from sin? 236 00:10:04,605 --> 00:10:06,584 Well, it has to do with your heart. 237 00:10:07,035 --> 00:10:08,625 God changes your heart. 238 00:10:09,105 --> 00:10:12,285 Um, in the Old Testament, God talks about a day when one day, right. 239 00:10:12,285 --> 00:10:14,745 If you think about, maybe you've heard the word, like the new covenant, 240 00:10:15,285 --> 00:10:18,555 God would give people new hearts so that they would want to follow him. 241 00:10:19,515 --> 00:10:20,535 Our daily Bible reading. 242 00:10:20,535 --> 00:10:22,485 We're reading Deuteronomy, which is all about the heart. 243 00:10:22,815 --> 00:10:24,345 Love the Lord your God with all your heart. 244 00:10:24,615 --> 00:10:26,355 You guys have a heart of stone. 245 00:10:26,385 --> 00:10:27,765 You need to change your heart. 246 00:10:28,035 --> 00:10:30,255 And then he says, you can't change your heart, so God's gonna change your heart. 247 00:10:30,255 --> 00:10:30,975 That's what's happening here. 248 00:10:31,485 --> 00:10:33,705 You become obedient from the heart. 249 00:10:33,705 --> 00:10:36,615 So God gives people a new heart by the Holy Spirit, right? 250 00:10:36,795 --> 00:10:38,385 The fancy word for that is regeneration. 251 00:10:38,385 --> 00:10:39,195 He gives you a new heart. 252 00:10:39,345 --> 00:10:41,685 So now you don't wanna sin anymore because remember we said that 253 00:10:41,685 --> 00:10:43,035 you're always controlled by your. 254 00:10:43,875 --> 00:10:44,925 Your desires. 255 00:10:45,045 --> 00:10:46,364 You always do what you wanna do. 256 00:10:46,545 --> 00:10:48,675 So God, what he does, he changes what you wanna do. 257 00:10:48,734 --> 00:10:50,324 He says, well now you don't wanna sin anymore. 258 00:10:50,324 --> 00:10:52,334 Now you want to live for God. 259 00:10:53,265 --> 00:10:57,675 He changes your heart and you become obedient to the standard of 260 00:10:57,675 --> 00:10:58,905 teaching to which you're committed. 261 00:10:58,905 --> 00:11:02,805 This word right here, standard, it comes from a word that's like a, like a mold. 262 00:11:02,864 --> 00:11:06,015 I dunno if you've ever seen one of these before, um, where they pour like 263 00:11:06,015 --> 00:11:11,474 that molten like iron or steel into the something and it becomes a certain shape. 264 00:11:11,835 --> 00:11:13,905 I don't know, like imagine like this is a sword, right? 265 00:11:14,265 --> 00:11:16,815 Um, let's say they take it apart and it's like a sword. 266 00:11:17,175 --> 00:11:19,665 Um, I always think of Lord of the Rings, but you guys probably aren't 267 00:11:19,665 --> 00:11:20,835 cool enough to, to think of that. 268 00:11:21,405 --> 00:11:28,155 Um, but what's happening right, is this is you, this is you, you're this 269 00:11:28,275 --> 00:11:30,795 cool looking molten lava thing, right? 270 00:11:31,425 --> 00:11:36,555 And you're getting poured into the teaching that God gives. 271 00:11:37,155 --> 00:11:39,885 So when you become a Christian, God melts you down. 272 00:11:40,785 --> 00:11:44,955 And he pours you into the, the, the mold of his word. 273 00:11:45,315 --> 00:11:49,185 And what you do is, is you, you come to God and you say, God, I wanna be yours. 274 00:11:49,485 --> 00:11:50,745 I don't wanna live for me anymore. 275 00:11:50,925 --> 00:11:51,825 I wanna live for you. 276 00:11:52,695 --> 00:11:58,425 And so you get melted down and poured into this mold and God shapes you. 277 00:11:58,905 --> 00:12:01,365 Into becoming more like Jesus, right? 278 00:12:01,515 --> 00:12:05,055 You start obeying the things that God says in his word. 279 00:12:05,084 --> 00:12:07,005 That's why we care so much about the Bible here, right? 280 00:12:07,275 --> 00:12:10,574 We don't just want you to do things and read the Bible and get smarter. 281 00:12:10,785 --> 00:12:13,125 We want you to read the Bible because we want you to love Jesus, 282 00:12:13,275 --> 00:12:17,025 and this is how you get shaped into a type of person that loves Jesus. 283 00:12:17,025 --> 00:12:22,439 As you spend time in God's Word and God's word shapes you, and so you want to be. 284 00:12:23,655 --> 00:12:24,435 Lava, right? 285 00:12:24,435 --> 00:12:28,515 You wanna be, you want to be this melted down medal and you want God to shape you. 286 00:12:28,575 --> 00:12:29,505 That's what Christians want. 287 00:12:30,885 --> 00:12:37,665 We become obedient to God and you trust that his way is better, right? 288 00:12:38,055 --> 00:12:43,305 You have to trust that, well, if I'm this lava right, I have to trust that 289 00:12:43,305 --> 00:12:44,775 whatever this is, is gonna be good for me. 290 00:12:44,925 --> 00:12:45,465 Right? 291 00:12:45,885 --> 00:12:49,005 I don't want to get turned into, you know, some, like you have to 292 00:12:49,005 --> 00:12:51,435 trust that if he's turning me into this thing, I want to be this thing. 293 00:12:51,435 --> 00:12:51,585 Right. 294 00:12:52,155 --> 00:12:54,135 Giant ladle looking thing, right? 295 00:12:54,255 --> 00:12:55,665 Or maybe it's a cool sword, right? 296 00:12:55,694 --> 00:12:58,395 You, you wanna, you wanna believe, you know what God, your way is better. 297 00:12:58,395 --> 00:13:01,454 So that's why when we come to God's word, we come to God's word saying, 298 00:13:01,454 --> 00:13:04,005 God, I wanna be like you, right? 299 00:13:04,005 --> 00:13:05,474 I want you to teach me how to live. 300 00:13:06,045 --> 00:13:10,574 That's the posture Christians have towards God's word and what God says, right? 301 00:13:10,604 --> 00:13:13,995 Christians don't come to God's word saying, well, if I agree with it, 302 00:13:14,415 --> 00:13:17,185 I'll do it, but if not, that's okay. 303 00:13:18,045 --> 00:13:18,855 I'll pass on that one. 304 00:13:19,155 --> 00:13:19,455 Right. 305 00:13:19,815 --> 00:13:22,215 When Christians come to God's word, when, when we read the Bible, when 306 00:13:22,215 --> 00:13:25,815 we hear sermons, when we, when we hear Godly advice, we don't say, eh, 307 00:13:26,055 --> 00:13:29,355 well, if I like it, I'll do it right. 308 00:13:29,445 --> 00:13:32,295 When we come to God's Word, when, when you hear a sermon that's from 309 00:13:32,295 --> 00:13:36,675 the Bible, you say, if God's saying it, I wanna be moldable, right? 310 00:13:36,705 --> 00:13:37,965 I want God to shape me. 311 00:13:38,595 --> 00:13:42,855 I don't get to determine, oh, well, I know that God says that about what 312 00:13:42,855 --> 00:13:44,085 types of people should get married. 313 00:13:44,970 --> 00:13:47,370 I think this, so I'm gonna go with what I say, right? 314 00:13:47,370 --> 00:13:48,870 We, we we're supposed to be moldable. 315 00:13:49,830 --> 00:13:52,530 We don't get to make God who we want him to be. 316 00:13:53,250 --> 00:13:57,150 We say, God, I want to, to take you for who you say you are. 317 00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:57,900 Right? 318 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:01,740 That's the type of people we do and that, that Christians are, 319 00:14:01,740 --> 00:14:03,570 and that's how we serve God. 320 00:14:04,620 --> 00:14:06,960 If you're someone who's serving yourself right, you're not gonna be moldable 321 00:14:08,010 --> 00:14:09,480 because you're, you're serving sin. 322 00:14:09,870 --> 00:14:11,580 You don't want to, to follow God. 323 00:14:13,035 --> 00:14:15,045 And so I want you to ask yourself, who am I serving? 324 00:14:15,915 --> 00:14:16,064 Right? 325 00:14:16,064 --> 00:14:18,045 The way I'm living, the decisions I'm making, the way 326 00:14:18,045 --> 00:14:19,665 I approach God and his word. 327 00:14:20,295 --> 00:14:21,495 Am I serving myself? 328 00:14:21,495 --> 00:14:24,285 Am I serving my sin or am I serving God? 329 00:14:26,204 --> 00:14:29,474 I don't want you to fall for the trap that sin is freedom. 330 00:14:30,255 --> 00:14:33,135 I think a lot of people believe that being, that being 331 00:14:33,135 --> 00:14:34,844 away from God is being free. 332 00:14:35,925 --> 00:14:40,605 A lot of people believe that, oh, if I'm living for myself, I'm really actually 333 00:14:40,605 --> 00:14:44,415 happier than, than those lame Christians who can't do all these fun things. 334 00:14:47,385 --> 00:14:51,165 That's a really dangerous lie that the world is trying to sell you. 335 00:14:52,395 --> 00:14:55,665 'cause when you sin, you're really not free because you actually giving 336 00:14:55,665 --> 00:14:57,675 yourself over to a different master. 337 00:14:58,635 --> 00:15:02,265 You're not being free from God and just being whatever you want. 338 00:15:02,295 --> 00:15:03,645 You're actually saying here. 339 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:08,160 I want my sin to take me wherever it wants me to go. 340 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,150 And so even if you are a Christian, you have that choice 341 00:15:12,180 --> 00:15:13,770 every day, every moment, right? 342 00:15:13,770 --> 00:15:14,610 Who am I serving? 343 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:17,490 And so when you make decisions, think about it. 344 00:15:17,490 --> 00:15:19,560 Ask my, ask yourself, who am I serving? 345 00:15:20,190 --> 00:15:22,650 When you think about what college you wanna go to, when you think about who you 346 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,370 want to date, when you think about what you're gonna wear today, when you think 347 00:15:26,370 --> 00:15:30,030 about what sports you're gonna play, when you think about how you're gonna spend 348 00:15:30,030 --> 00:15:32,010 your time, think about who am I serving? 349 00:15:32,010 --> 00:15:32,760 Is this for me? 350 00:15:33,540 --> 00:15:34,170 Is this for God? 351 00:15:34,770 --> 00:15:35,970 Who am I giving myself to? 352 00:15:35,970 --> 00:15:38,070 Am I saying, God, I'm moldable use me? 353 00:15:38,460 --> 00:15:41,160 Or am I saying, God, I want to dress the way I wanna dress. 354 00:15:41,190 --> 00:15:42,810 I want to live the way I wanna live. 355 00:15:42,810 --> 00:15:44,070 I wanna talk the way I wanna talk. 356 00:15:44,070 --> 00:15:46,050 I wanna watch what I wanna watch. 357 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:52,110 We wanna be moldable and serve God instead of serving our sin. 358 00:15:53,460 --> 00:15:59,310 And one reason we want to do that is because the slave master of sin. 359 00:16:00,735 --> 00:16:02,145 Is a horrible master. 360 00:16:02,175 --> 00:16:04,245 He gives, he doesn't give good things. 361 00:16:04,305 --> 00:16:05,835 God is a good master. 362 00:16:05,835 --> 00:16:07,365 He treats us well. 363 00:16:07,695 --> 00:16:12,525 But sin, uh, if you look at the rewards of sin, does not treat us very well. 364 00:16:12,525 --> 00:16:15,435 So we saw two masters, now we're gonna see two results, if you will. 365 00:16:15,435 --> 00:16:17,115 So the second question is, what do you get? 366 00:16:18,015 --> 00:16:18,495 What do you get? 367 00:16:18,495 --> 00:16:19,305 So who am I serving? 368 00:16:20,205 --> 00:16:21,010 Second question, what do I. 369 00:16:24,104 --> 00:16:25,574 What do I get? 370 00:16:25,574 --> 00:16:27,015 When you think about your decisions, right? 371 00:16:27,015 --> 00:16:29,535 When you think about, okay, am I gonna serve God or am I gonna serve sin? 372 00:16:30,255 --> 00:16:32,444 I want you think about am I, what do I get out of it? 373 00:16:32,834 --> 00:16:33,734 How does this work? 374 00:16:34,244 --> 00:16:36,525 What will this bring me down the road? 375 00:16:36,525 --> 00:16:38,354 If I choose to serve God, what do I get out of it? 376 00:16:38,535 --> 00:16:41,744 If I choose to serve sin, what will I get out of this? 377 00:16:43,244 --> 00:16:44,354 So look at verse 19 here. 378 00:16:44,564 --> 00:16:45,584 So we talked about how. 379 00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:49,800 We're being kind of molded by God's word, and he changed our heart, and 380 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,229 that's why we follow him as Christians. 381 00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:54,479 And then he says, I'm speaking in human terms, right? 382 00:16:54,479 --> 00:16:57,930 I'm using a, a human analogy of slavery, right? 383 00:16:58,079 --> 00:16:59,760 Because of your natural limitations. 384 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,299 And he says, just as you once presented, your members as slaves. 385 00:17:03,539 --> 00:17:04,470 So again, right? 386 00:17:04,470 --> 00:17:07,230 If you are Christian, he's talking about you. 387 00:17:07,260 --> 00:17:09,060 This used to be you, right? 388 00:17:09,060 --> 00:17:11,280 When you're, when, if you're sharing your testimony and you're a Christian. 389 00:17:11,970 --> 00:17:15,839 You weren't just, oh, I was like not that bad of a person, and then God 390 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:17,099 saved me and it became a little better. 391 00:17:17,609 --> 00:17:17,849 Right? 392 00:17:17,970 --> 00:17:19,920 No, you were giving yourself to sin, 393 00:17:21,930 --> 00:17:22,140 right? 394 00:17:22,140 --> 00:17:24,089 You need to be real about who you were. 395 00:17:24,810 --> 00:17:24,990 Right? 396 00:17:24,990 --> 00:17:27,810 You don't wanna sanitize it and say, oh, I wasn't that bad. 397 00:17:27,810 --> 00:17:29,040 I was No. 398 00:17:29,070 --> 00:17:31,350 You were offering yourself to sin. 399 00:17:32,925 --> 00:17:37,545 I presented yourself to, to sin as slaves, to impurity and to lawlessness, 400 00:17:37,665 --> 00:17:39,195 leading to more and more lawlessness. 401 00:17:39,195 --> 00:17:43,095 So now present your members, right, your body as slaves to righteousness, 402 00:17:43,095 --> 00:17:44,205 leading to sanctification. 403 00:17:44,205 --> 00:17:49,095 So what I wanna focus on here is that leading to right, you giving yourself 404 00:17:49,095 --> 00:17:50,955 to a master leads to something. 405 00:17:51,525 --> 00:17:53,955 There's consequences, there's results, there's rewards, there's, 406 00:17:54,135 --> 00:17:58,575 there's something that happens when you give yourself over to a master. 407 00:17:59,505 --> 00:18:00,315 See, right here. 408 00:18:00,915 --> 00:18:02,445 Sin leads to more sin. 409 00:18:02,445 --> 00:18:08,385 You see that to slaves, to impurity and to lawlessness needing to more lawlessness. 410 00:18:08,715 --> 00:18:11,535 So when you sin, I remember Pastor Mark said this to me a while ago. 411 00:18:11,715 --> 00:18:15,525 When you sin, it makes it easier for you to sin the next time. 412 00:18:16,755 --> 00:18:20,175 Even if you repent of that sin and you turn from it and, and you feel bad about 413 00:18:20,175 --> 00:18:23,955 it, you ask God for forgiveness, it makes it easier for you to sin that next time. 414 00:18:25,005 --> 00:18:27,615 So even though God forgives you, and even if you're a Christian, God forgives you. 415 00:18:27,615 --> 00:18:28,305 Jesus paid for your sin. 416 00:18:29,010 --> 00:18:31,350 It's gone as far as the east is from the west, it's still, 417 00:18:31,380 --> 00:18:32,430 there's still consequences. 418 00:18:33,660 --> 00:18:37,740 If you give into temptation, it makes it easier for you to give in the next time. 419 00:18:40,980 --> 00:18:44,520 But also, the opposite is true, right? 420 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,070 If you choose to follow God, right in that moment, let's say you're really 421 00:18:47,070 --> 00:18:50,700 anxious about something, but you're really anxious about your test, and as you 422 00:18:50,700 --> 00:18:52,860 pray about it, instead of being anxious. 423 00:18:53,535 --> 00:18:57,135 That makes it easier for you to pray about it the next time and to trust God the 424 00:18:57,135 --> 00:18:59,235 next time so it kind of stacks up, right? 425 00:18:59,235 --> 00:18:59,895 Like a snowball. 426 00:18:59,925 --> 00:19:02,505 You, you know, those snowballs that roll down hills and they get really big, 427 00:19:02,865 --> 00:19:06,225 allegedly, I've never seen this happen, but supposedly that's what happens when 428 00:19:06,225 --> 00:19:07,335 the snowballs roll down hills, right? 429 00:19:07,575 --> 00:19:09,795 Is they, they gain momentum and they get bigger and bigger and bigger. 430 00:19:09,975 --> 00:19:12,135 Righteousness snowballs, right? 431 00:19:12,165 --> 00:19:15,645 If you make righteous decisions today, if you in little things, 432 00:19:15,735 --> 00:19:17,430 choose to trust Jesus and follow him. 433 00:19:18,090 --> 00:19:19,080 That snowballs. 434 00:19:19,260 --> 00:19:24,240 But if you choose to sin and not trust God and live your own way, that snowballs 435 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:28,530 too, and it gets easier and easier to sin and harder and harder to turn from it. 436 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,920 And that's why we care so much about you learning how to 437 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,020 follow Jesus at your age, right? 438 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:35,580 Don't put it off until you're older. 439 00:19:35,580 --> 00:19:36,780 Don't put it off until you're in college. 440 00:19:36,780 --> 00:19:37,710 Don't put it off until you're married. 441 00:19:37,710 --> 00:19:39,630 Don't put it off until you're in high school, right? 442 00:19:39,630 --> 00:19:40,680 Don't put it off until next week. 443 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,760 We want you to to think about it now because the more, the more 444 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:46,560 momentum you get in either direction. 445 00:19:47,535 --> 00:19:48,645 The harder it is to turn around 446 00:19:50,715 --> 00:19:56,745 and so you are slowly becoming your master when you think about it that way. 447 00:19:57,405 --> 00:19:59,955 You, what you serve is shaping you. 448 00:20:00,195 --> 00:20:03,285 If you're serving God, you are going to grow. 449 00:20:03,315 --> 00:20:05,415 You're gonna grow in holiness, is gonna change you. 450 00:20:05,505 --> 00:20:07,215 Who you give yourself to is gonna change you. 451 00:20:07,785 --> 00:20:11,175 If you give yourself over to sin, you're gonna start changing. 452 00:20:12,285 --> 00:20:16,275 You're gonna become more angry or more anxious or less self-controlled. 453 00:20:17,535 --> 00:20:20,595 Over time, your master is going to shape you. 454 00:20:21,585 --> 00:20:24,795 You're the product of all the decisions you make. 455 00:20:26,475 --> 00:20:30,255 Someone I heard, I read this once, they described it to me as you 456 00:20:30,255 --> 00:20:33,945 are putting a vote towards the person you wanna be tomorrow, every 457 00:20:33,945 --> 00:20:35,205 time you decide something today. 458 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:40,695 So when you, let's say you are like, man, I really wanna trust God. 459 00:20:41,505 --> 00:20:45,135 Every time you trust God today, you're almost voting toward a future version 460 00:20:45,135 --> 00:20:46,010 of yourself that trusts God more. 461 00:20:47,310 --> 00:20:49,200 Or let's say you're really, you, you really lazy. 462 00:20:49,410 --> 00:20:50,910 You're just, you just hate doing stuff, right? 463 00:20:50,910 --> 00:20:52,950 You're like those veggie tails, pirates, right? 464 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:54,030 You, you're really lazy. 465 00:20:54,030 --> 00:20:54,810 You don't like doing anything. 466 00:20:55,230 --> 00:20:59,700 Um, every time you give into laziness, you're putting a vote 467 00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:01,050 towards being a lazier person. 468 00:21:01,050 --> 00:21:01,410 Tomorrow, 469 00:21:03,660 --> 00:21:08,400 you're slowly becoming the product of your decisions, and that is 470 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:13,500 especially true for choosing to sin or choosing to trust Jesus. 471 00:21:16,215 --> 00:21:18,075 Something we talked about at the beginning though, right? 472 00:21:18,075 --> 00:21:23,655 Was that slavery to sin feels like freedom, and that's the trick that 473 00:21:23,655 --> 00:21:25,785 sin uses to keep you enslaved. 474 00:21:26,145 --> 00:21:29,925 Verse 20, for when you are slaves of sin, you were free in 475 00:21:29,925 --> 00:21:30,975 regard to righteousness, right? 476 00:21:31,065 --> 00:21:35,475 When you're a slave to sin, you, you don't feel any obligation, 477 00:21:35,505 --> 00:21:37,695 any desire to obey God, right? 478 00:21:37,695 --> 00:21:39,855 If you're not a Christian, you're like, why would I read the Bible? 479 00:21:39,855 --> 00:21:41,985 I don't care that I don't read the Bible, right? 480 00:21:41,985 --> 00:21:45,585 If, if you're a Christian or if you're not a Christian, you don't care about about. 481 00:21:46,215 --> 00:21:47,265 Wanting to pray to God. 482 00:21:47,565 --> 00:21:48,945 You're just like, why would I wanna do that? 483 00:21:49,065 --> 00:21:49,635 I don't need to do that. 484 00:21:49,635 --> 00:21:50,235 You're free. 485 00:21:50,805 --> 00:21:52,485 You don't feel that responsibility to do that. 486 00:21:53,835 --> 00:21:55,425 But in reality, what were you getting? 487 00:21:55,455 --> 00:21:56,325 This is our question, right? 488 00:21:56,475 --> 00:22:00,525 What fruit, what's, what's the result, right, that you were getting at that time? 489 00:22:00,525 --> 00:22:04,905 From the things of now, which you're ashamed for? 490 00:22:04,905 --> 00:22:07,605 The end of those things is death. 491 00:22:07,605 --> 00:22:11,385 So what he's saying is, all you got from your freedom to sin that 492 00:22:11,385 --> 00:22:12,855 you thought you had was shame. 493 00:22:14,565 --> 00:22:18,045 One of the best things you can do when you're tempted is to think 494 00:22:18,045 --> 00:22:19,455 about where is this gonna take me? 495 00:22:20,535 --> 00:22:22,545 What's gonna happen as a result of this? 496 00:22:22,995 --> 00:22:26,955 What's gonna happen is you're gonna be, you're gonna, that sin is gonna 497 00:22:26,955 --> 00:22:32,145 get a stronger and stronger grip on you when you're tempted to be anxious, 498 00:22:32,145 --> 00:22:34,965 when you're tempted to be angry, when you're tempted to be impatient, when 499 00:22:34,965 --> 00:22:36,765 you're tempted to be lazy or lustful. 500 00:22:38,415 --> 00:22:42,135 That temptation, if you give in, it's gonna have a stronger and stronger grip. 501 00:22:42,555 --> 00:22:43,455 On you. 502 00:22:46,035 --> 00:22:48,645 That's what you get out of it, right? 503 00:22:48,645 --> 00:22:51,735 Maybe you get a few moments of feeling good that you, you really 504 00:22:52,005 --> 00:22:54,735 clap back at that person and you put 'em in their place, right? 505 00:22:56,505 --> 00:22:56,985 But 506 00:22:59,265 --> 00:23:00,585 ultimately, what did it get you? 507 00:23:01,335 --> 00:23:02,925 It made you an angrier person. 508 00:23:04,395 --> 00:23:08,625 It brings you shame when, because when you stand before God, you're not 509 00:23:08,625 --> 00:23:10,885 gonna be like, God did, man, you, you thought that I really got that person. 510 00:23:12,090 --> 00:23:13,710 You're gonna be ashamed that you said that. 511 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,770 You're gonna say, you're gonna say, God, I'm so sorry that I said that right? 512 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:18,510 And I'm so glad that Jesus died for that. 513 00:23:21,330 --> 00:23:23,160 So thinking about what will this get me? 514 00:23:23,370 --> 00:23:25,950 Or what, what will I think about this eventually? 515 00:23:25,950 --> 00:23:28,740 How will this feel when I stand before God? 516 00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:30,480 How is this affecting the people around me? 517 00:23:30,780 --> 00:23:35,130 How is my laziness gonna affect my future life? 518 00:23:37,050 --> 00:23:37,650 How is that? 519 00:23:37,710 --> 00:23:41,370 How is, how is that gonna affect my future spouse if you choose to get married? 520 00:23:42,780 --> 00:23:45,630 How is you being lazy now gonna affect them later? 521 00:23:45,660 --> 00:23:45,810 Right? 522 00:23:45,810 --> 00:23:48,930 How are the decisions you make with your purity or with your friends 523 00:23:48,930 --> 00:23:50,430 gonna affect you down the road? 524 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:52,020 Right? 525 00:23:52,020 --> 00:23:53,460 You can't undo those decisions. 526 00:23:53,460 --> 00:23:54,660 They all have consequence. 527 00:23:56,685 --> 00:23:59,145 And sin tricks you to think, oh, it's great. 528 00:23:59,295 --> 00:24:00,345 It's gonna be so fun. 529 00:24:00,375 --> 00:24:01,785 It's really freedom. 530 00:24:01,815 --> 00:24:07,035 There's a, there's a book, um, that's kind of like a analogy for the Christian life. 531 00:24:07,035 --> 00:24:09,855 It's the second most sold book of all time. 532 00:24:09,855 --> 00:24:13,665 But in that book, there's this guy and his name is Faithful, that's him over here. 533 00:24:13,965 --> 00:24:16,965 And he meets this dude, um, who's named Adam. 534 00:24:17,265 --> 00:24:17,625 Okay. 535 00:24:18,015 --> 00:24:21,765 And so Faithful is talking to Adam, and Adam is like, Hey, I 536 00:24:21,765 --> 00:24:23,385 have this great deal for you. 537 00:24:24,090 --> 00:24:28,080 You get to work for me and you get to live with me. 538 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:29,670 I'll provide all, everything you need. 539 00:24:29,940 --> 00:24:33,120 Uh, you get to marry my, all three of my daughters. 540 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:35,100 Not just one of them, but all three of my daughters. 541 00:24:35,490 --> 00:24:37,710 And he, he says, I, it is gonna be great. 542 00:24:37,710 --> 00:24:38,640 It's gonna be awesome. 543 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:40,560 I'm, I'll even pay you right. 544 00:24:41,070 --> 00:24:42,495 Um, for doing all this. 545 00:24:42,495 --> 00:24:46,380 And Faithful is almost, he almost gives in, he says, that sounds great. 546 00:24:46,380 --> 00:24:48,270 I get to, I get to marry these people. 547 00:24:48,270 --> 00:24:49,020 I get to live with you. 548 00:24:49,020 --> 00:24:49,920 You're gonna take care of me. 549 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:50,415 You're gonna pay me. 550 00:24:51,195 --> 00:24:54,345 And at the last moment, faithful says No. 551 00:24:54,375 --> 00:24:57,945 He turns down the offer because what he realizes, he says, I 552 00:24:57,945 --> 00:25:03,315 realized in that moment that Adam would sell me to be a slave. 553 00:25:05,085 --> 00:25:07,245 That is what I want you to realize. 554 00:25:07,245 --> 00:25:11,325 When you're tempted, I want you to look your temptation in the face, right, 555 00:25:11,325 --> 00:25:14,835 and, and you can see all the, maybe it'll be really fun to go to that party. 556 00:25:14,835 --> 00:25:18,525 Maybe you're really fun to say those words or watch that video and it'll make 557 00:25:18,525 --> 00:25:20,445 you really happy for, for a short time. 558 00:25:21,810 --> 00:25:25,830 What that sin is going to do is sell you to be a slave that sin is. 559 00:25:25,860 --> 00:25:27,690 It doesn't care about you, doesn't love you. 560 00:25:27,690 --> 00:25:28,380 Sin doesn't love you. 561 00:25:28,380 --> 00:25:29,550 Sin doesn't wanna make you happy. 562 00:25:30,090 --> 00:25:31,320 Sin wants to kill you. 563 00:25:31,350 --> 00:25:32,460 We talked about this last week, right? 564 00:25:32,580 --> 00:25:35,280 Your sin is actively trying to destroy you. 565 00:25:35,940 --> 00:25:38,160 Your sin is not looking out for your best interest. 566 00:25:39,180 --> 00:25:41,610 Think of the end of your sin. 567 00:25:42,300 --> 00:25:43,230 Where will this take me? 568 00:25:43,860 --> 00:25:44,040 Right? 569 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:48,900 It promises you what you want, and it leaves you with less than you had, right? 570 00:25:49,230 --> 00:25:50,550 That's what someone said about sin. 571 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,060 Think about how it will affect others. 572 00:25:54,060 --> 00:25:57,600 Think about the, the dissatisfaction that, that you'll get out of it. 573 00:25:57,630 --> 00:25:59,430 You're like, oh, well it was super fun for a moment. 574 00:25:59,430 --> 00:26:00,990 And then, right. 575 00:26:00,990 --> 00:26:04,170 Think about, will I, will I enjoy this in 30 minutes? 576 00:26:04,410 --> 00:26:06,000 Will I enjoy this in 24 hours? 577 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:08,130 Will I be glad I did this next week? 578 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,140 Think about that, right? 579 00:26:10,140 --> 00:26:15,180 Imagine it sometimes we see sin and it looks great, it looks so awesome, 580 00:26:15,900 --> 00:26:17,940 and we don't think about the result. 581 00:26:18,495 --> 00:26:20,835 If you don't think about what's gonna happen, and so when 582 00:26:20,835 --> 00:26:21,825 you're tempted, think about it. 583 00:26:22,755 --> 00:26:24,165 Consider, think deeply. 584 00:26:24,195 --> 00:26:25,125 What will this do to me? 585 00:26:25,395 --> 00:26:26,385 How is this gonna affect me? 586 00:26:27,375 --> 00:26:31,065 And that'll do you so much good in resisting temptation, 587 00:26:34,575 --> 00:26:34,665 right? 588 00:26:34,665 --> 00:26:41,385 We talked about how your sin wants to kill you, and that's really what we see, right? 589 00:26:43,005 --> 00:26:44,740 The end of those things is death. 590 00:26:46,125 --> 00:26:48,435 Now you've been set free from sin become slaves of God. 591 00:26:48,735 --> 00:26:51,945 The fruit that you get leads to sanctification and its 592 00:26:51,945 --> 00:26:52,935 end eternal life, right? 593 00:26:52,935 --> 00:26:53,685 You've got two masters. 594 00:26:53,685 --> 00:26:54,435 You've got two choices. 595 00:26:54,675 --> 00:26:56,265 One of them loves you, right? 596 00:26:56,265 --> 00:26:57,705 God wants to give you life. 597 00:26:57,705 --> 00:26:58,665 He wants to give you joy. 598 00:26:58,665 --> 00:27:02,145 He gives you commands not to be restrictive, but because he knows you 599 00:27:02,145 --> 00:27:04,155 and he loves you and he cares about you. 600 00:27:04,365 --> 00:27:08,055 Sin gives you offers because it wants to kill you, right? 601 00:27:08,055 --> 00:27:09,495 Sin gives you poison. 602 00:27:09,495 --> 00:27:10,215 That tastes good. 603 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:19,680 So think about what will I get, what master is looking out for me, right? 604 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,160 God cares way more about me than I do. 605 00:27:23,265 --> 00:27:26,295 God cares way more about me than my sin cares about me. 606 00:27:26,295 --> 00:27:29,265 So ask yourself, what will I get from my sin? 607 00:27:29,355 --> 00:27:29,985 But also, right? 608 00:27:29,985 --> 00:27:33,315 You see in our verses it said the end of these things, right? 609 00:27:33,315 --> 00:27:34,875 The, the final result, the destiny. 610 00:27:34,875 --> 00:27:38,535 So we've got two masters, two results, and two destinies. 611 00:27:38,565 --> 00:27:41,055 Where, where, where does ultimately, where will I end up 612 00:27:41,055 --> 00:27:42,975 if I keep following this master? 613 00:27:42,975 --> 00:27:45,400 So our third question is, where will you go? 614 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:52,650 Because who you serve will take you somewhere 615 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:59,910 and you'll get either shame or joy, and ultimately, you'll 616 00:27:59,910 --> 00:28:00,930 either live or you'll die. 617 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:09,330 That you'll either live with God forever or you will live away from God 618 00:28:10,350 --> 00:28:13,440 and be really disappointed and upset. 619 00:28:14,910 --> 00:28:15,900 Unimaginably. 620 00:28:15,900 --> 00:28:17,730 So, and that's what we see here, right? 621 00:28:17,790 --> 00:28:20,430 You've been set free from sin, become slaves of God. 622 00:28:20,490 --> 00:28:21,240 And that's a good thing. 623 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:22,380 'cause God's a good master, right? 624 00:28:22,380 --> 00:28:27,540 He gives you good rewards for what you do for him, right? 625 00:28:27,810 --> 00:28:30,240 Release the sanctification and to its end, eternal life. 626 00:28:30,270 --> 00:28:32,460 And this verse 23, you've probably heard this verse before, for 627 00:28:32,460 --> 00:28:34,470 the wages, the payment, right? 628 00:28:34,530 --> 00:28:36,630 The result of sin is death. 629 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:42,750 But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 630 00:28:44,205 --> 00:28:45,285 So I want you to see here, right? 631 00:28:45,285 --> 00:28:46,605 We've got our two masters, right? 632 00:28:46,665 --> 00:28:48,435 Sin and God. 633 00:28:48,795 --> 00:28:50,595 Sin has wages. 634 00:28:51,105 --> 00:28:52,845 God gives gifts. 635 00:28:52,905 --> 00:28:53,655 You ever noticed that? 636 00:28:54,135 --> 00:28:55,455 I hadn't noticed that until this week. 637 00:28:56,175 --> 00:28:58,785 Sin gives you wages, right? 638 00:28:58,785 --> 00:29:03,435 You earn stuff from your sin, and what you earn ultimately is death. 639 00:29:03,435 --> 00:29:04,905 Sin kills you, right? 640 00:29:04,905 --> 00:29:08,505 Sin offers you these great looking things and then comes 641 00:29:08,505 --> 00:29:09,735 around and stabs you in the back. 642 00:29:10,335 --> 00:29:12,255 That's what sin does, God. 643 00:29:13,020 --> 00:29:15,060 You don't earn anything from God, right? 644 00:29:15,060 --> 00:29:17,640 You can't put God in your debt to pay you something. 645 00:29:18,420 --> 00:29:19,500 You don't earn stuff from God. 646 00:29:19,620 --> 00:29:21,540 God gives you gifts. 647 00:29:21,540 --> 00:29:24,120 He gives you good gifts, free gifts, right? 648 00:29:25,110 --> 00:29:29,100 When you take God's offer, there's, there's not strings attached, right? 649 00:29:29,100 --> 00:29:29,460 Sin. 650 00:29:29,460 --> 00:29:33,810 It's you take the offer for sin and then it slides in all these, you 651 00:29:33,810 --> 00:29:35,580 know, those like side effects, right? 652 00:29:35,790 --> 00:29:39,120 Taking this medication will result in like, you know, 5 million things and it's 653 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:40,830 like, and probably death, and you're like. 654 00:29:41,355 --> 00:29:42,045 Wow, okay. 655 00:29:42,045 --> 00:29:42,885 That sounds really worth it. 656 00:29:43,335 --> 00:29:45,315 Um, but people take those medications, right? 657 00:29:45,555 --> 00:29:46,395 Because they buy it. 658 00:29:46,845 --> 00:29:49,275 They say, well, that thing that you're offering, even with all 659 00:29:49,275 --> 00:29:50,865 the side effects is good, right? 660 00:29:51,585 --> 00:29:54,225 Sin pays you with death. 661 00:29:54,795 --> 00:29:59,325 When you follow sin, sin wants to kill you, right? 662 00:30:00,315 --> 00:30:05,085 God gives life to his servants, the slaves of God get life. 663 00:30:05,325 --> 00:30:07,395 The slaves of sin get death. 664 00:30:09,045 --> 00:30:12,285 It made me think of, um, one of my least favorite animals. 665 00:30:14,385 --> 00:30:15,885 I have no idea if this is a real picture or not. 666 00:30:15,885 --> 00:30:16,455 I couldn't tell. 667 00:30:17,175 --> 00:30:19,065 Um, but you know what this is, right? 668 00:30:19,065 --> 00:30:19,665 It's the black widow. 669 00:30:20,565 --> 00:30:21,945 You know why they're called black widows? 670 00:30:24,795 --> 00:30:28,605 They're called black widows because, uh, the females eat their husbands. 671 00:30:30,630 --> 00:30:30,990 Right. 672 00:30:31,170 --> 00:30:31,950 The husband. 673 00:30:33,060 --> 00:30:33,180 Yeah. 674 00:30:33,180 --> 00:30:34,050 I don't know if they do this. 675 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:34,590 Probably not. 676 00:30:34,710 --> 00:30:37,320 Like husband falls in love with this lady spider. 677 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:37,650 Right. 678 00:30:37,860 --> 00:30:41,010 And he, he thinks it's, he's gonna live happily ever after and have a 679 00:30:41,010 --> 00:30:46,860 great marriage and they have some kids and then boom, he's on the menu. 680 00:30:48,435 --> 00:30:48,785 Right? 681 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:51,720 That's sin. 682 00:30:53,100 --> 00:30:53,340 All right. 683 00:30:53,340 --> 00:30:56,040 Sin gives, promises you this great life, right? 684 00:30:56,070 --> 00:30:59,490 Oh, if you reject God, if you do whatever you want, right? 685 00:30:59,490 --> 00:31:05,010 If you follow your heart, if you live the way that you want to, you'll be happy. 686 00:31:05,190 --> 00:31:05,430 Right? 687 00:31:05,430 --> 00:31:09,060 You'll, you'll get to, you'll get to enjoy all the things the world has to offer. 688 00:31:09,150 --> 00:31:10,140 You'll get to have so much fun. 689 00:31:10,140 --> 00:31:14,070 You won't have to do those lame, boring things that those Christians do. 690 00:31:14,070 --> 00:31:15,270 You don't have to sound like them. 691 00:31:15,270 --> 00:31:16,410 You don't have to talk like them. 692 00:31:16,410 --> 00:31:18,750 You don't have to to be weird like them, right? 693 00:31:18,750 --> 00:31:19,800 You'll have all these great things. 694 00:31:20,820 --> 00:31:22,770 And you get a little bit of those things, right? 695 00:31:22,770 --> 00:31:26,310 Just like the, the, I don't know, what's the male one? 696 00:31:26,430 --> 00:31:28,890 The male one's called black widows two, I don't even know. 697 00:31:29,100 --> 00:31:33,210 Whatever the, whatever they are, they marry the spider and 698 00:31:33,210 --> 00:31:33,990 they get a little bit, right? 699 00:31:33,990 --> 00:31:37,800 They get a little bit of marriage and then they die and they get eaten, right? 700 00:31:39,090 --> 00:31:39,660 That's sin. 701 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:43,110 Sin says, here, look what you can have, and it gives you a 702 00:31:43,110 --> 00:31:44,310 little bit and then it kills you. 703 00:31:45,300 --> 00:31:47,670 That's the wages of sin. 704 00:31:49,215 --> 00:31:52,215 After all of your service of sin, think about it, right? 705 00:31:52,215 --> 00:31:55,095 Think about how much time you've spent sinning, how much 706 00:31:55,125 --> 00:31:56,145 effort you've spent sinning. 707 00:31:56,355 --> 00:31:58,095 I know for me, think about all the effort I've put into 708 00:31:58,095 --> 00:31:59,775 finding new ways to sin, right? 709 00:32:00,855 --> 00:32:03,345 And all I get for that is death. 710 00:32:04,185 --> 00:32:04,845 That's all I get. 711 00:32:04,935 --> 00:32:09,345 That's what sin will pay me for all the time I spent sinning i'll, I'll die. 712 00:32:09,375 --> 00:32:12,195 All the time you spend living for the world, all the time you spend 713 00:32:12,315 --> 00:32:14,985 trying to find your satisfaction and stuff, that's not God. 714 00:32:15,435 --> 00:32:18,465 The payment you get is death, and that's such a. 715 00:32:18,795 --> 00:32:21,345 Great weapon for you to resist temptation. 716 00:32:22,155 --> 00:32:24,315 When you think about, man, I'm putting all this effort into 717 00:32:24,315 --> 00:32:27,945 sinning all this time, all this devotion really into sinning, right? 718 00:32:28,395 --> 00:32:29,835 And all you get from it is death. 719 00:32:29,985 --> 00:32:32,235 That's the only payment you get. 720 00:32:33,765 --> 00:32:37,905 Whereas God generously gives gifts, right? 721 00:32:37,905 --> 00:32:39,765 He isn't pay you with wages. 722 00:32:40,125 --> 00:32:44,445 He gives the free gift of eternal life that you didn't earn, that you didn't have 723 00:32:44,445 --> 00:32:46,875 to work for, that you received by faith. 724 00:32:48,045 --> 00:32:51,645 You get, as we said two weeks ago, connected to Jesus, right? 725 00:32:51,825 --> 00:32:54,495 So what it means to be united with Christ, you get connected to Jesus 726 00:32:54,615 --> 00:32:57,405 and then instead of God being against you, God becomes for you 727 00:32:58,095 --> 00:33:00,075 and you, you're part of his people. 728 00:33:02,295 --> 00:33:03,045 And so now, right? 729 00:33:03,045 --> 00:33:06,945 That's why it says in Christ Jesus, remember that the free gift of God 730 00:33:06,945 --> 00:33:10,875 is eternal life in Christ Jesus is 'cause you're connected to Jesus. 731 00:33:14,055 --> 00:33:15,375 And so instead of. 732 00:33:16,305 --> 00:33:19,815 Serving sin and, and getting killed for it, right? 733 00:33:19,815 --> 00:33:22,065 You serve God and you gain everything, 734 00:33:24,345 --> 00:33:24,525 right? 735 00:33:24,525 --> 00:33:29,145 Jesus says that, um, you can gain the world and and lose your soul. 736 00:33:30,915 --> 00:33:36,015 And I think a lot of us, we would say, well, I don't know. 737 00:33:36,015 --> 00:33:39,525 Like that doesn't really sound that like, especially. 738 00:33:40,515 --> 00:33:43,755 Like, if you're thinking about it from that perspective of, well, I 739 00:33:43,755 --> 00:33:44,985 could have so much stuff, right? 740 00:33:44,985 --> 00:33:47,205 I could have this great existence, right? 741 00:33:47,205 --> 00:33:49,695 I could, I could live, like there's a lot of non-Christians. 742 00:33:49,695 --> 00:33:51,375 They live very happy lives. 743 00:33:52,395 --> 00:33:53,445 They live happy lives. 744 00:33:53,445 --> 00:33:54,975 They make money, they have families. 745 00:33:55,030 --> 00:33:56,805 They, they do all these great things. 746 00:33:57,975 --> 00:33:59,175 Maybe they're, they're pro athletes. 747 00:33:59,175 --> 00:34:00,615 They get millions of dollars, right? 748 00:34:01,245 --> 00:34:03,045 But all they get for that is death. 749 00:34:03,765 --> 00:34:06,495 All they get for the time they spent living for themselves 750 00:34:06,495 --> 00:34:08,804 is death and they lose. 751 00:34:10,335 --> 00:34:10,905 Everything. 752 00:34:11,895 --> 00:34:12,675 They lose everything. 753 00:34:13,755 --> 00:34:15,435 There's a famous missionary quote. 754 00:34:15,435 --> 00:34:25,005 He says, you're a fool if you give what you can't keep to, or you're not a fool. 755 00:34:25,005 --> 00:34:28,215 Sorry, I almost pastor around, almost fired me on the spot right there. 756 00:34:28,545 --> 00:34:29,085 I'm just kidding. 757 00:34:29,295 --> 00:34:31,665 Um, you're not a fool. 758 00:34:31,695 --> 00:34:33,344 If you give what you can't keep right. 759 00:34:33,344 --> 00:34:34,094 You can't keep the world. 760 00:34:34,094 --> 00:34:34,755 You're gonna lose it anyway. 761 00:34:34,755 --> 00:34:35,034 You're gonna die. 762 00:34:36,045 --> 00:34:36,315 Right. 763 00:34:37,065 --> 00:34:41,415 You give it all away to gain your soul, which stays with you forever, right? 764 00:34:41,415 --> 00:34:42,465 It's you forever. 765 00:34:43,335 --> 00:34:44,925 That's a great trade, right? 766 00:34:44,925 --> 00:34:46,425 It would be a foolish thing. 767 00:34:46,425 --> 00:34:48,315 It would be dumb, right? 768 00:34:48,375 --> 00:34:49,514 You would be tricked. 769 00:34:50,085 --> 00:34:55,125 You would fall for the lie of following sin, of serving sin. 770 00:34:55,155 --> 00:34:57,855 So don't fall for the lie, right? 771 00:34:58,035 --> 00:35:01,245 Instead, follow Jesus. 772 00:35:01,395 --> 00:35:01,605 Right? 773 00:35:01,605 --> 00:35:02,025 He what? 774 00:35:02,025 --> 00:35:04,545 Everything you do for Jesus will always be worth it. 775 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:04,620 Hm. 776 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:09,600 Everything you do for sin, you're gonna be embarrassed about and ashamed of. 777 00:35:11,220 --> 00:35:13,830 Let's pray and we'll talk about that more in small groups. 778 00:35:16,980 --> 00:35:20,970 God, we are so thankful that you are a good master. 779 00:35:22,170 --> 00:35:27,960 We are grateful that everything we do for you is worth it. 780 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,920 Everything we do for you is, um, something that. 781 00:35:32,970 --> 00:35:38,850 We can say, uh, confidently that we'll never be ashamed of, but I pray that 782 00:35:39,180 --> 00:35:46,980 you would help us to think clearly about how embarrassing and foolish it 783 00:35:46,980 --> 00:35:50,220 is to follow sin and to serve ourselves. 784 00:35:50,790 --> 00:35:55,080 I pray that you help us to see through the lies that sin promises 785 00:35:55,080 --> 00:36:01,200 us, and instead believe the sure and certain offers you make for us. 786 00:36:01,830 --> 00:36:05,490 So help us to be focused and to be honest in small groups. 787 00:36:05,490 --> 00:36:06,840 We pray all this in Jesus name. 788 00:36:07,050 --> 00:36:07,440 Amen.