1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,040 Speaker: Romans one is where we're going. 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:02,820 Romans one. 3 00:00:03,225 --> 00:00:05,865 And we're gonna be looking at verses 24. 4 00:00:07,185 --> 00:00:08,204 This is 32. 5 00:00:08,235 --> 00:00:16,515 Romans 1, 24 to 32, Romans 1, 24 to 32. 6 00:00:16,515 --> 00:00:22,995 So you may have heard, you may have heard that today something really sad happened. 7 00:00:23,924 --> 00:00:28,845 Um, something really sad and really, really evil happened. 8 00:00:28,845 --> 00:00:31,095 So there was someone who, um. 9 00:00:32,534 --> 00:00:41,925 Who believes some things that the Bible says, and they were shot by someone 10 00:00:41,925 --> 00:00:43,275 who didn't like that about them. 11 00:00:43,545 --> 00:00:46,035 They didn't like what they believed and they shot him. 12 00:00:46,275 --> 00:00:50,055 Um, I would not, I would, I would tell you, don't go look this 13 00:00:50,055 --> 00:00:52,695 up because it's live on camera. 14 00:00:52,695 --> 00:00:54,795 Someone caught it on camera, so don't watch it. 15 00:00:55,425 --> 00:00:57,705 Um, so don't watch it. 16 00:00:58,245 --> 00:01:00,165 But the reason I bring it up is 'cause some of you might have heard about it. 17 00:01:00,765 --> 00:01:01,275 Um. 18 00:01:02,175 --> 00:01:06,465 And the reaction to it was, obviously people are very, feel 19 00:01:06,465 --> 00:01:08,055 very bad about this, right? 20 00:01:08,055 --> 00:01:11,414 Someone, a guy died, a husband died, a father died. 21 00:01:12,135 --> 00:01:17,685 Um, but one of the reactions that I noticed, someone I know, um, their 22 00:01:17,685 --> 00:01:21,855 reaction was really, really, really sad, actually made me feel sick. 23 00:01:22,395 --> 00:01:25,005 Um, they were excited and they were happy that this person died. 24 00:01:26,070 --> 00:01:30,630 They were celebrating that this person was shot and that these, this wife 25 00:01:30,630 --> 00:01:32,970 doesn't have her husband anymore, and that these kids don't have their dad anymore. 26 00:01:32,970 --> 00:01:36,780 They were excited because they think this person spreads hate and 27 00:01:36,780 --> 00:01:40,170 this person spreads violence, and they think that this person doesn't 28 00:01:40,170 --> 00:01:43,860 deserve to be alive, and so they are celebrating that this person was shot. 29 00:01:44,370 --> 00:01:48,990 They're celebrating an innocent person's death because they 30 00:01:49,170 --> 00:01:50,850 disagree with what this person says. 31 00:01:51,750 --> 00:01:52,620 It's really sad. 32 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:54,420 How does someone get to that point? 33 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,100 How does a real person, a real, not, not just someone online, but 34 00:01:59,100 --> 00:02:02,790 a, a real person gets to the point where they're excited that an 35 00:02:02,790 --> 00:02:06,030 innocent person got shot and killed. 36 00:02:07,530 --> 00:02:09,180 What makes someone get to that point? 37 00:02:11,700 --> 00:02:18,210 What takes someone to, to be that hardhearted and set in their sin and 38 00:02:19,650 --> 00:02:21,695 is, is what we're gonna look at tonight? 39 00:02:22,695 --> 00:02:28,125 This passage, Romans one is gonna show us a downward spiral of sin. 40 00:02:29,415 --> 00:02:31,995 It's gonna show us where that spiral starts and kind of 41 00:02:31,995 --> 00:02:33,465 the steps along that spiral. 42 00:02:33,465 --> 00:02:35,954 And it, it's kind of a, it's, it's a spiral 'cause it's cyclical. 43 00:02:36,015 --> 00:02:39,255 It, it reoccurs and you go further and further, further 44 00:02:39,255 --> 00:02:42,734 down into what this death spiral. 45 00:02:44,595 --> 00:02:49,515 And you end up like this person that I know who. 46 00:02:51,704 --> 00:02:55,545 Just, I can't even explain how horrible this is, that they're excited, they're 47 00:02:55,545 --> 00:02:57,405 celebrating this person's death. 48 00:02:58,245 --> 00:03:03,135 Um, and that's because they are currently living out this passage. 49 00:03:03,405 --> 00:03:04,665 This passage talks about our sin. 50 00:03:04,665 --> 00:03:10,515 It talks about, um, what happens when we reject God and, um. 51 00:03:11,835 --> 00:03:13,905 That's what we're gonna see in tonight's passage. 52 00:03:13,905 --> 00:03:18,135 So our main point tonight is that rejecting God starts 53 00:03:18,135 --> 00:03:20,894 a deadly spiral of sin. 54 00:03:24,404 --> 00:03:26,385 It begins with a rejection of God. 55 00:03:26,385 --> 00:03:29,115 It doesn't begin with who your parents are. 56 00:03:29,115 --> 00:03:31,755 It doesn't begin with how you were raised. 57 00:03:31,755 --> 00:03:38,024 It doesn't begin with your who you follow on Instagram, or the kind of books you 58 00:03:38,024 --> 00:03:39,584 read, or the podcast you listen to. 59 00:03:39,584 --> 00:03:40,485 It begins. 60 00:03:41,145 --> 00:03:45,615 With what you do with God, with who God is to you. 61 00:03:45,675 --> 00:03:47,085 That's where it starts. 62 00:03:47,295 --> 00:03:51,525 And once you reject God, once you say that, that you don't want God in your 63 00:03:51,525 --> 00:03:57,105 life, once you oppose God in that way, you have set yourself on this trajectory, 64 00:03:57,105 --> 00:04:03,135 this downward spiral that will take you to terrible, terrible places, obviously 65 00:04:03,735 --> 00:04:06,315 in eternity, apart from God in Hell. 66 00:04:06,315 --> 00:04:10,455 But also along the way, you, you won't go to places that you. 67 00:04:12,030 --> 00:04:12,960 Want to be in. 68 00:04:13,650 --> 00:04:16,320 So remember the big picture, right? 69 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,170 We're we're seeing Romans one, two, and three are showing us 70 00:04:19,170 --> 00:04:20,610 that God's wrath is righteous. 71 00:04:20,610 --> 00:04:24,330 It's a good thing for God to show his wrath. 72 00:04:25,095 --> 00:04:26,685 It's a good thing because God is a good judge. 73 00:04:26,685 --> 00:04:27,675 He's being a good judge. 74 00:04:27,675 --> 00:04:30,165 When he shows his anger towards sin, that's the, that's what we're 75 00:04:30,165 --> 00:04:34,695 looking at for these first three chapters of Romans, and this passage 76 00:04:34,695 --> 00:04:36,315 is showing us what that looks like. 77 00:04:36,405 --> 00:04:38,805 So what's gonna be interesting about this passage is that this is 78 00:04:38,805 --> 00:04:41,265 actually how God shows his wrath. 79 00:04:41,655 --> 00:04:45,975 He hands people over to their spiral of sin. 80 00:04:46,425 --> 00:04:50,115 He says, okay, if you're gonna reject me, I will let you keep doing that, 81 00:04:50,355 --> 00:04:52,425 and I will send you down this path. 82 00:04:53,490 --> 00:04:59,190 Down this spiral to your destruction, and this is what 83 00:04:59,190 --> 00:04:59,969 we're gonna see in this passage. 84 00:04:59,969 --> 00:05:00,300 Okay? 85 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:02,010 I don't know if we're gonna be able to read through the whole thing, 86 00:05:02,340 --> 00:05:03,960 but this is what the spiral is. 87 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:05,730 There's three steps to the spiral, okay? 88 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,000 The death spiral of sin starts with rejecting God. 89 00:05:09,450 --> 00:05:12,210 People reject God to worship other things. 90 00:05:13,020 --> 00:05:17,130 They say this is better than God, this thing that they want. 91 00:05:17,130 --> 00:05:19,680 Maybe it's money, maybe it's power, maybe it's control. 92 00:05:19,770 --> 00:05:20,760 Maybe it's pleasure. 93 00:05:21,615 --> 00:05:23,955 Maybe in, in this case, it's a statue right? 94 00:05:23,955 --> 00:05:25,155 In, in, in Romans one. 95 00:05:25,784 --> 00:05:29,984 Um, they worship other things than God. 96 00:05:29,984 --> 00:05:30,914 They say, I don't want God. 97 00:05:31,065 --> 00:05:31,815 This is better. 98 00:05:31,844 --> 00:05:37,724 Remember we talked about last week, sin is preferring something else to God, right? 99 00:05:37,875 --> 00:05:42,224 Sin is is not first and foremost something bad. 100 00:05:42,224 --> 00:05:45,585 The reason it's bad is because you're saying something's better than God. 101 00:05:46,034 --> 00:05:46,575 That's sin. 102 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,190 So it starts with rejecting God to worship other things. 103 00:05:50,340 --> 00:05:56,820 Then God shows his wrath by handing people over to their sin. 104 00:05:56,820 --> 00:05:59,190 He says, okay, if that's what you want, if you really want something 105 00:05:59,190 --> 00:06:01,620 other than me, I'll let you have it. 106 00:06:02,909 --> 00:06:08,190 You can have this thing besides me to to be your God. 107 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:10,109 He hands them over to that. 108 00:06:10,109 --> 00:06:11,039 He says, here you go. 109 00:06:11,310 --> 00:06:11,979 You wanted it. 110 00:06:13,844 --> 00:06:16,275 Then those people say, awesome, great. 111 00:06:16,275 --> 00:06:18,015 I finally got what I, what I wanted. 112 00:06:18,015 --> 00:06:20,325 I don't have God in my life anymore. 113 00:06:21,525 --> 00:06:22,485 I got rid of God. 114 00:06:22,695 --> 00:06:23,895 I, I'm the authority now. 115 00:06:23,895 --> 00:06:24,705 I'm in control. 116 00:06:24,914 --> 00:06:26,055 I'm most important. 117 00:06:26,145 --> 00:06:27,435 I finally got what I wanted. 118 00:06:27,435 --> 00:06:28,455 I can do whatever I want. 119 00:06:28,455 --> 00:06:29,115 No more rules. 120 00:06:29,115 --> 00:06:32,414 No more restrictions, no more big, bad God telling me what to do. 121 00:06:32,655 --> 00:06:33,885 And they're, they're free from that. 122 00:06:33,885 --> 00:06:35,925 And they embrace that sin, right? 123 00:06:35,925 --> 00:06:37,635 They embrace their, their. 124 00:06:37,950 --> 00:06:39,989 They're in control of their lives now, or they can do whatever they 125 00:06:39,989 --> 00:06:42,179 want, this freedom, this autonomy. 126 00:06:42,179 --> 00:06:46,500 They can do whatever they want and then they keep on going down this spiral. 127 00:06:47,940 --> 00:06:50,190 That's what this passage is gonna show us, that there's 128 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:52,979 these three steps to this spiral. 129 00:06:54,870 --> 00:06:58,409 So the, but it starts with rejecting. 130 00:06:59,099 --> 00:07:02,099 Starts with rejecting God, and that's what we see in this passage. 131 00:07:02,099 --> 00:07:05,070 All right, so what I want you to see is just from, I took kind 132 00:07:05,070 --> 00:07:07,109 of a few verses from Romans one. 133 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:12,060 Just to kind of show you what Paul is saying, people reject God, right? 134 00:07:12,060 --> 00:07:13,410 They, they know God. 135 00:07:13,470 --> 00:07:14,580 They don't honor him as God. 136 00:07:14,610 --> 00:07:15,780 They know about God, right? 137 00:07:15,780 --> 00:07:18,540 They say, oh yeah, God exists, but they say, uh, well, I 138 00:07:18,540 --> 00:07:19,710 don't really wanna worship him. 139 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:22,290 And he's saying, everyone is in that boat. 140 00:07:22,290 --> 00:07:24,510 Everyone knows God exists. 141 00:07:24,510 --> 00:07:27,690 Everyone can know that God exists because of his creation, right? 142 00:07:27,690 --> 00:07:30,930 We talked about that I think two weeks ago or last week, that everyone can 143 00:07:30,930 --> 00:07:32,850 know God exists because of his creation. 144 00:07:32,850 --> 00:07:36,030 He's made it obvious that he exists, but people don't worship him. 145 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,039 People don't treat him like he's God. 146 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:39,240 They live their own life. 147 00:07:40,650 --> 00:07:44,310 Another way they do that is they exchange the glory of God for images. 148 00:07:44,310 --> 00:07:48,480 They say, well, I know that I'm supposed to worship God, but instead I want this. 149 00:07:48,900 --> 00:07:49,830 This is better than God. 150 00:07:49,860 --> 00:07:50,880 This is more important than God. 151 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:51,750 This is cooler than God. 152 00:07:51,990 --> 00:07:54,720 This will make me happier than God could make me. 153 00:07:55,049 --> 00:07:57,150 They exchange the glory of God for images. 154 00:07:58,650 --> 00:08:02,310 Right in, in our day it's maybe not a, a picture or, or a statue, 155 00:08:02,580 --> 00:08:06,600 but it's a feeling we want or a position we want, or a relationship 156 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:07,980 we want or something, right? 157 00:08:07,980 --> 00:08:10,650 We, we say, I want this more than I want God. 158 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,750 Something else that we do is we exchange the truth about God for a lie. 159 00:08:15,750 --> 00:08:20,520 We say, well, maybe, maybe you think that about God, but I think God is like this. 160 00:08:20,610 --> 00:08:23,125 We, we take things that are true and we say, I don't want to believe those. 161 00:08:23,955 --> 00:08:27,405 I know maybe you say that God exists or you say that God says this, 162 00:08:27,405 --> 00:08:28,395 or God wants me to live this way. 163 00:08:28,395 --> 00:08:29,895 And you say, I don't want, I don't wanna believe that. 164 00:08:30,105 --> 00:08:31,155 And you believe lies. 165 00:08:31,184 --> 00:08:32,745 That's the other thing that we do. 166 00:08:33,075 --> 00:08:35,265 Another way we reject God is we take things that are true 167 00:08:35,265 --> 00:08:36,164 and we say, I don't want those. 168 00:08:36,585 --> 00:08:38,115 I don't want things that make me feel good. 169 00:08:38,145 --> 00:08:38,924 Things that I like. 170 00:08:39,615 --> 00:08:41,683 I'd rather hear what I like than hear what's true. 171 00:08:43,365 --> 00:08:44,564 And then another way, right? 172 00:08:44,564 --> 00:08:45,405 Don't fit, see, fit. 173 00:08:45,405 --> 00:08:46,185 To acknowledge God. 174 00:08:46,185 --> 00:08:47,560 We say, I don't, I don't want to deal with God. 175 00:08:48,465 --> 00:08:50,715 I'm just gonna put God to the back of my mind. 176 00:08:50,715 --> 00:08:52,395 I don't want to, I don't want to think about God. 177 00:08:52,395 --> 00:08:55,125 I don't wanna live as though God exists. 178 00:08:55,125 --> 00:08:59,355 So it starts with a rejection of God. 179 00:09:00,194 --> 00:09:04,485 And so these points, the three points tonight, they're gonna be what not to do. 180 00:09:05,085 --> 00:09:08,564 These three points are three ways to ruin your life. 181 00:09:09,314 --> 00:09:11,954 So the points are what's not or you're not supposed to do, right? 182 00:09:12,074 --> 00:09:15,555 The points are three ways to ruin your life, three ways to, to 183 00:09:15,555 --> 00:09:17,625 take this downward spiral of sin. 184 00:09:18,405 --> 00:09:21,195 And end up under God's wrath. 185 00:09:21,195 --> 00:09:25,215 So the first way to ruin your life and blend in with, with our world 186 00:09:25,215 --> 00:09:28,905 that hates God is to reject God to worship other things, right? 187 00:09:28,905 --> 00:09:30,135 That's the first step in our spiral. 188 00:09:30,165 --> 00:09:31,755 It starts with rejecting God. 189 00:09:33,915 --> 00:09:37,605 Just like we said last week, all sins starts with preferring something to God. 190 00:09:38,115 --> 00:09:40,485 All sins starts with, I want that. 191 00:09:40,695 --> 00:09:41,505 I don't want God. 192 00:09:42,735 --> 00:09:45,015 I wanna do things my way, not God's way. 193 00:09:47,265 --> 00:09:48,855 This is better than God. 194 00:09:49,125 --> 00:09:50,745 That's how sin starts. 195 00:09:53,745 --> 00:09:54,825 We even see that, right? 196 00:09:54,885 --> 00:09:59,535 I showed you this earlier, but we see that here they exchange the truth about God. 197 00:09:59,535 --> 00:10:00,195 Verse 25. 198 00:10:00,825 --> 00:10:07,160 So these people who are, whose God's handing over to to their own desires, 199 00:10:07,350 --> 00:10:11,115 they exchange the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served 200 00:10:11,115 --> 00:10:12,760 the creature rather than the creator. 201 00:10:14,070 --> 00:10:19,260 Said, I like the things God made more than God, right? 202 00:10:19,260 --> 00:10:21,480 That that's all of us in this room. 203 00:10:22,590 --> 00:10:25,860 We want the things that God made more than we want. 204 00:10:25,860 --> 00:10:26,160 God. 205 00:10:26,850 --> 00:10:27,870 That's called sin. 206 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:29,430 We're all sinners. 207 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,710 We're all wired this way. 208 00:10:32,190 --> 00:10:34,380 Everyone starts off in this boat. 209 00:10:34,590 --> 00:10:40,440 We all start wanting what God made more than we want God, right? 210 00:10:40,590 --> 00:10:42,780 We want approval more than we want God. 211 00:10:43,185 --> 00:10:45,015 We want money more than we want God. 212 00:10:45,225 --> 00:10:47,895 We want security and comfort more than we want God. 213 00:10:48,045 --> 00:10:49,695 We want pleasure more than we want God. 214 00:10:50,145 --> 00:10:52,215 All these things, we want more than God. 215 00:10:53,145 --> 00:10:56,295 We serve what God made instead of serving God. 216 00:10:57,465 --> 00:10:59,145 That's how sin starts. 217 00:10:59,505 --> 00:11:04,845 Every sin trades something true about God and and says it's a lie, right? 218 00:11:04,845 --> 00:11:06,195 If you think about this, even with. 219 00:11:07,515 --> 00:11:09,375 Sins that maybe seem more common, right? 220 00:11:09,375 --> 00:11:11,745 Something like, well, I'm not like worshiping an idol. 221 00:11:11,895 --> 00:11:12,944 What about like anxiety? 222 00:11:13,635 --> 00:11:14,084 Anxiety? 223 00:11:14,084 --> 00:11:16,214 You're trading the truth about God for a lie. 224 00:11:16,875 --> 00:11:19,545 Anxiety is saying, well, I know that God's in control, but I don't 225 00:11:19,545 --> 00:11:20,745 really feel like he's in control. 226 00:11:20,985 --> 00:11:21,915 I know that God loves you. 227 00:11:21,915 --> 00:11:23,025 I don't really feel like he loves me. 228 00:11:23,685 --> 00:11:27,375 And so you believing a lie instead of what's true, right? 229 00:11:27,375 --> 00:11:34,305 Or something maybe like impurity you're saying, I know that God promises joy, but 230 00:11:34,334 --> 00:11:35,805 really I think this will make me happen. 231 00:11:35,805 --> 00:11:37,964 Be or laziness. 232 00:11:38,204 --> 00:11:43,005 I know that following God and doing this hard thing would actually be better for 233 00:11:43,005 --> 00:11:48,495 me, but I'd rather listen to my, my flesh and I will buy the lie that being lazy 234 00:11:48,525 --> 00:11:51,104 and undisciplined will be better for me. 235 00:11:51,974 --> 00:11:54,224 So every sin, you're, you're buying a lie, right? 236 00:11:54,224 --> 00:11:55,574 We talked about that last week, right? 237 00:11:55,574 --> 00:11:57,795 You're, you're trading, you're making a bad trade, right? 238 00:11:57,795 --> 00:11:59,714 You're, you're, it's like you're the general manager of the Cowboys. 239 00:11:59,714 --> 00:12:00,704 You're making a bad trade. 240 00:12:02,220 --> 00:12:05,940 You're, you're, you're trading something true for a lie. 241 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:13,110 But then part of this spiral is you also reject God's good design. 242 00:12:13,110 --> 00:12:16,890 So you not only reject God, you reject the way he made things to be. 243 00:12:16,890 --> 00:12:19,680 That's what the next few verses talk about, verses 26 and 27. 244 00:12:19,980 --> 00:12:20,790 For this reason. 245 00:12:21,210 --> 00:12:22,560 So what reason? 246 00:12:22,620 --> 00:12:25,110 Well, the people exchange the truth about God for a lie. 247 00:12:25,740 --> 00:12:27,240 So then God gave them up. 248 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:28,830 He handed them over to their desires. 249 00:12:28,860 --> 00:12:30,815 He said, okay, you wanna worship something other than me? 250 00:12:31,830 --> 00:12:32,490 Here you go. 251 00:12:33,750 --> 00:12:38,610 I'll let you, I'll give you over to those sinful desires that you have. 252 00:12:40,140 --> 00:12:42,690 And this phrase, natural relations comes up, right? 253 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:47,250 The point that Paul's making is these people, these women and these men, they're 254 00:12:47,250 --> 00:12:49,710 sinning against God's created design. 255 00:12:49,890 --> 00:12:52,830 God made the world to work one way, and they're saying, God, we don't 256 00:12:52,830 --> 00:12:54,090 like the way you made the world. 257 00:12:54,330 --> 00:12:55,290 We're gonna make it. 258 00:12:55,380 --> 00:12:58,620 We're, we're gonna do our own thing that we think is better. 259 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,640 What happens with sin is we not only reject God, we 260 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:04,050 reject the way he made things. 261 00:13:04,380 --> 00:13:04,740 Right? 262 00:13:05,069 --> 00:13:08,970 In this case, what Paul is talking about is Paul is talking about 263 00:13:08,970 --> 00:13:12,660 homosexuality here in this passage, right? 264 00:13:12,660 --> 00:13:13,230 That's what he's saying. 265 00:13:13,410 --> 00:13:16,560 Women who exchange natural relations for those that are contrary to 266 00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:18,420 nature, against nature, right? 267 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,600 God designed marriage between a man and a woman. 268 00:13:22,470 --> 00:13:25,050 God designed there to be men and women. 269 00:13:26,339 --> 00:13:33,510 And for you to stay a man and a woman or a woman, they're women. 270 00:13:33,660 --> 00:13:37,260 So these people, they, they say, I don't want the way God designed me to be. 271 00:13:37,260 --> 00:13:38,370 I want a different way. 272 00:13:39,270 --> 00:13:43,229 And so they're exchanging that they're going against God's created design. 273 00:13:43,229 --> 00:13:44,250 Verse 27, same thing. 274 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:45,780 These men do the same thing. 275 00:13:46,140 --> 00:13:50,880 Instead of wanting to be married to one woman, they say, well, actually 276 00:13:51,270 --> 00:13:54,990 I want to, I, I desire other men. 277 00:13:55,845 --> 00:14:04,935 So this is a down the spiral consequence of rejecting God. 278 00:14:05,325 --> 00:14:09,015 You reject God, then you start to reject what he says, and 279 00:14:09,015 --> 00:14:10,275 so then you reject his design. 280 00:14:10,635 --> 00:14:13,425 So it's down the spiral, right? 281 00:14:13,425 --> 00:14:16,245 So you reject God, you start rejecting things. 282 00:14:16,245 --> 00:14:17,445 God says that's what happens. 283 00:14:18,765 --> 00:14:19,694 And that's what Paul's talking about here. 284 00:14:19,694 --> 00:14:21,824 He's talking about homosexuality. 285 00:14:21,824 --> 00:14:25,574 Now, next week we are gonna talk more in depth about homosexuality. 286 00:14:25,785 --> 00:14:29,234 So if you have questions, don't terrorize your leaders yet next 287 00:14:29,234 --> 00:14:30,074 week you'll be able to do that. 288 00:14:30,135 --> 00:14:34,275 So next week we're gonna talk about what the Bible says about homosexuality, 289 00:14:34,395 --> 00:14:38,354 how to talk to people who maybe believe that other things about homosexuality 290 00:14:38,354 --> 00:14:41,354 or any of the other LGBTQ plus letters. 291 00:14:41,775 --> 00:14:43,305 That's what we're gonna be talking about next week. 292 00:14:43,334 --> 00:14:43,574 Okay? 293 00:14:43,574 --> 00:14:47,204 So if you have questions about that, what the Bible says, save 'em for next week. 294 00:14:47,700 --> 00:14:50,490 But we do care about that. 295 00:14:50,490 --> 00:14:51,720 We, 'cause God cares about it. 296 00:14:52,110 --> 00:14:55,650 Um, and so we want to explain that to you and equip you to maybe talk 297 00:14:55,650 --> 00:14:56,640 with people who believe those things. 298 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:58,380 So that's what we'll be covering next week. 299 00:14:58,410 --> 00:15:02,220 But right now what I want you to see is that, what Paul is saying 300 00:15:02,220 --> 00:15:05,490 here is that homosexuality is a rejection of God's design. 301 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,420 It's, it's an extension of rejecting God. 302 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:11,940 You reject God, so then you reject the way he made things. 303 00:15:12,690 --> 00:15:12,870 Right? 304 00:15:12,870 --> 00:15:14,040 That's, that's Paul's point. 305 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:14,910 So. 306 00:15:15,885 --> 00:15:17,415 Then what happens next? 307 00:15:17,895 --> 00:15:20,084 Well, maybe you're like, well, my sin isn't that bad. 308 00:15:20,415 --> 00:15:24,074 I'm not one of these people that's totally rejecting the way God made the world. 309 00:15:24,465 --> 00:15:27,405 Well, look what else Paul says, verse 28. 310 00:15:27,584 --> 00:15:31,305 Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, these people who, who didn't wanna 311 00:15:31,305 --> 00:15:35,355 worship God, God gave them up to a debased mind, like a twisted, messed up 312 00:15:35,355 --> 00:15:37,245 mind to do what ought, ought to be done. 313 00:15:37,245 --> 00:15:39,165 And then he has this big list of things. 314 00:15:40,064 --> 00:15:42,555 There's like over 20 things on this list. 315 00:15:44,655 --> 00:15:45,585 I'm on this list. 316 00:15:46,185 --> 00:15:48,195 You're on this list, right? 317 00:15:48,195 --> 00:15:50,205 Maybe you were like, oh, well I'm not one of those people that 318 00:15:50,205 --> 00:15:51,405 totally rejects God's design. 319 00:15:51,675 --> 00:15:56,505 Well, you're still one of these people, right? 320 00:15:56,505 --> 00:15:59,805 You're still one of these people who don't acknowledge God as this, 321 00:16:00,045 --> 00:16:03,555 and then you, or before you were Christian, you were one of these people. 322 00:16:05,115 --> 00:16:08,025 So there's this big list of things and some of these things you're like, man, 323 00:16:08,025 --> 00:16:09,255 that's tor, that's terrible, right? 324 00:16:09,255 --> 00:16:10,125 You see murder over there. 325 00:16:11,309 --> 00:16:14,130 You see haters of God on there. 326 00:16:14,370 --> 00:16:18,180 You see heartless or, or ruthless, and you're like, man, that's terrible. 327 00:16:18,930 --> 00:16:20,219 Those are really bad people. 328 00:16:20,430 --> 00:16:22,739 Well, who's, who else is in the same category? 329 00:16:26,039 --> 00:16:27,029 Anyone ever done that before? 330 00:16:28,170 --> 00:16:28,620 Right? 331 00:16:29,219 --> 00:16:29,880 What about this one? 332 00:16:30,959 --> 00:16:32,249 You ever wanted something that wasn't yours? 333 00:16:33,930 --> 00:16:34,620 What about this one? 334 00:16:35,579 --> 00:16:36,150 You ever lied? 335 00:16:37,049 --> 00:16:37,620 What about this one? 336 00:16:39,449 --> 00:16:39,660 Right. 337 00:16:39,660 --> 00:16:41,670 This is all the same category, boasting. 338 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:45,090 It's all the same group. 339 00:16:45,540 --> 00:16:47,550 All of these people deserve God's wrath. 340 00:16:47,759 --> 00:16:48,719 You deserve God's wrath. 341 00:16:48,930 --> 00:16:49,920 I deserve God's wrath. 342 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:51,900 And the worst sin you can think of deserves God's wrath. 343 00:16:53,009 --> 00:16:54,479 Every single person does. 344 00:16:55,860 --> 00:16:57,989 All of us reject God. 345 00:17:02,580 --> 00:17:06,614 All of us categorically do the same. 346 00:17:07,395 --> 00:17:08,505 Same thing, right? 347 00:17:08,505 --> 00:17:10,634 We sin, we say, I want this more than God. 348 00:17:11,954 --> 00:17:17,473 So before you say, well, I'm not as bad as those people keep reading the passage and, 349 00:17:17,473 --> 00:17:23,848 and, and think about, man, I, according to Paul, I do what these people do. 350 00:17:25,723 --> 00:17:28,185 The people who reject God, I do the same things that they do. 351 00:17:30,134 --> 00:17:31,784 So how do I not do this right? 352 00:17:31,784 --> 00:17:33,105 How do I not start this downward spiral? 353 00:17:33,105 --> 00:17:34,065 How do I not right? 354 00:17:34,065 --> 00:17:34,695 I, I'm a sinner. 355 00:17:34,695 --> 00:17:35,475 I, I know that. 356 00:17:35,565 --> 00:17:36,435 I, I see it. 357 00:17:36,764 --> 00:17:38,745 Okay, how do I not reject God? 358 00:17:38,745 --> 00:17:42,375 Well, hopefully you've already done this, but you, you embrace God 359 00:17:42,405 --> 00:17:43,545 the opposite of rejecting, right? 360 00:17:43,545 --> 00:17:46,875 You think of like rejecting, pushing on away, embracing you. 361 00:17:46,875 --> 00:17:48,764 You come to God, you say, God, I want you. 362 00:17:50,295 --> 00:17:52,155 That's what trusting God is. 363 00:17:52,215 --> 00:17:53,145 It's embracing him. 364 00:17:53,505 --> 00:17:55,485 Or you, maybe you heard the term, receive Jesus. 365 00:17:55,875 --> 00:17:59,715 That means like to, to come to him, to, to embrace him. 366 00:18:00,585 --> 00:18:01,304 And you say. 367 00:18:02,279 --> 00:18:02,460 You. 368 00:18:02,460 --> 00:18:03,179 You trust God. 369 00:18:03,179 --> 00:18:03,630 You say, you know what? 370 00:18:03,630 --> 00:18:05,279 God, what you designed is good. 371 00:18:05,339 --> 00:18:06,839 The way you made the world to work. 372 00:18:06,929 --> 00:18:09,120 The things you say in your word is good. 373 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:10,469 It's good for me, right? 374 00:18:10,469 --> 00:18:11,159 You're a good God. 375 00:18:11,159 --> 00:18:11,940 You're a kind God. 376 00:18:11,940 --> 00:18:14,069 You're a loving God and I trust you. 377 00:18:14,069 --> 00:18:14,909 I trust you to save me. 378 00:18:14,909 --> 00:18:15,540 I'm messed up. 379 00:18:15,540 --> 00:18:16,170 I'm a sinner. 380 00:18:16,500 --> 00:18:18,060 I need you to save me. 381 00:18:19,469 --> 00:18:21,900 And that starts when you become a Christian, but also for the rest of 382 00:18:21,900 --> 00:18:26,250 your life, there's gonna be things that are hard for you to believe 383 00:18:26,250 --> 00:18:28,170 that what God says is better. 384 00:18:29,205 --> 00:18:31,995 It's gonna be hard, like for the rest of your Christian life. 385 00:18:32,534 --> 00:18:35,895 It's not just a one time, okay, I, I didn't reject God. 386 00:18:35,895 --> 00:18:36,165 Great. 387 00:18:36,195 --> 00:18:36,764 I'm a Christian. 388 00:18:36,795 --> 00:18:37,065 No. 389 00:18:37,065 --> 00:18:39,945 It's like, well, I, you keep on embracing God. 390 00:18:39,945 --> 00:18:41,715 You keep on saying, God, I trust you. 391 00:18:41,804 --> 00:18:42,764 Your design is better. 392 00:18:42,795 --> 00:18:42,975 Right? 393 00:18:42,975 --> 00:18:44,865 Maybe I didn't get into the school I wanted to go into. 394 00:18:44,865 --> 00:18:48,045 I don't have the friends that I, I thought I'd have, or I'm not as good 395 00:18:48,045 --> 00:18:50,475 at this as I want to be, or what. 396 00:18:50,505 --> 00:18:54,705 You have to trust God with those things and say, God, you are working for my good. 397 00:18:56,655 --> 00:19:00,435 And then also something else to, to prevent this spiral is you see how 398 00:19:00,435 --> 00:19:03,795 destructive and, and terrible your sin is. 399 00:19:04,940 --> 00:19:07,065 You, you, you see where this goes? 400 00:19:07,875 --> 00:19:11,415 You see where this spiral, that's why Paul does this, is he shows you where 401 00:19:11,415 --> 00:19:13,695 your sinful desires will take you. 402 00:19:15,585 --> 00:19:18,375 You refute lies with truth. 403 00:19:18,420 --> 00:19:20,415 You, you, you think back when you're tempted to sin. 404 00:19:20,415 --> 00:19:20,985 You say, what? 405 00:19:21,045 --> 00:19:22,034 We talked about this last week, right? 406 00:19:22,875 --> 00:19:24,495 Your sin is trying to sell you something. 407 00:19:24,554 --> 00:19:26,715 It's trying to make, it's trying to offer you something, and 408 00:19:26,715 --> 00:19:27,554 you say, well, that's not true. 409 00:19:27,554 --> 00:19:28,125 It's not worth it. 410 00:19:28,125 --> 00:19:29,264 Here's what God offers me. 411 00:19:29,475 --> 00:19:30,705 God offered me something better. 412 00:19:30,764 --> 00:19:33,135 And that's why you need to know what God says because if you don't know what 413 00:19:33,135 --> 00:19:38,295 God says, it's gonna be hard to believe that what he has for you is better. 414 00:19:40,010 --> 00:19:40,230 So 415 00:19:43,005 --> 00:19:47,804 the first step in this spiral is to reject God and worship other things instead 416 00:19:47,804 --> 00:19:49,965 to want other things more than God. 417 00:19:50,429 --> 00:19:53,880 And the second step in our spiral right, was that God hands people 418 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,270 over to their, to their sinful desires, which is interesting, right? 419 00:19:57,270 --> 00:19:59,130 'cause God is the one actively doing that. 420 00:19:59,130 --> 00:20:00,989 It's not that you did it, God did it. 421 00:20:01,830 --> 00:20:03,900 It's that's how God shows his wrath. 422 00:20:05,549 --> 00:20:08,969 Even presently, God is presently showing his wrath against people who 423 00:20:08,969 --> 00:20:14,699 are living and walking around on the earth by giving them over to their sin. 424 00:20:14,759 --> 00:20:17,310 And that's what we see in this passage. 425 00:20:17,310 --> 00:20:18,060 I forgot to show you this. 426 00:20:18,540 --> 00:20:19,799 This is how Paul ends Romans one. 427 00:20:20,670 --> 00:20:23,520 Those who practice such things disobeying their parents, gossiping, 428 00:20:23,580 --> 00:20:25,740 envying, deserve to die, right? 429 00:20:25,949 --> 00:20:27,630 You need, we need to see how bad our sin is. 430 00:20:27,630 --> 00:20:29,880 My sin put Jesus on the cross, right? 431 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,929 My sin deserves hell, just like that person's sin, who maybe seems worse. 432 00:20:34,050 --> 00:20:39,030 Anyway, that was our first point, talking about now the second phase in our spiral, 433 00:20:39,150 --> 00:20:43,199 that God gives people over to their sinful desires when they reject him. 434 00:20:43,860 --> 00:20:44,429 We see that right? 435 00:20:44,429 --> 00:20:46,260 Verse 24, 26, 28. 436 00:20:47,159 --> 00:20:47,610 Like this. 437 00:20:47,670 --> 00:20:49,260 That's where I got the spiral idea from. 438 00:20:49,260 --> 00:20:49,440 Right? 439 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,750 It's like a, you ever seen a spiral staircase, right? 440 00:20:51,990 --> 00:20:55,170 Paul is like walking down this spiral staircase of sin, and 441 00:20:55,170 --> 00:20:59,070 God is the one who's saying how, here's how I'm gonna show my wrath. 442 00:20:59,070 --> 00:21:05,159 I'm going to hand you over to your lusts, to your passions, to your sinful thinking. 443 00:21:05,159 --> 00:21:06,659 I'm gonna give you over to those things. 444 00:21:06,659 --> 00:21:09,360 It's like almost like, um, in a courtroom, right? 445 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:12,120 When someone's convicted, they hand them over, right? 446 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:13,200 They're guilty, they hand them over. 447 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:13,980 He's saying, here you go. 448 00:21:14,490 --> 00:21:15,270 This is what you wanted. 449 00:21:16,290 --> 00:21:18,990 It's actually how God shows his wrath. 450 00:21:20,159 --> 00:21:22,830 God punishes you by letting you sin. 451 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:23,760 Isn't that weird? 452 00:21:25,500 --> 00:21:29,970 So if you wanna continue down the spiral of rejecting God 453 00:21:29,970 --> 00:21:31,740 and ruining your life, 0.2 454 00:21:31,740 --> 00:21:33,810 would be to let your desires loose. 455 00:21:35,405 --> 00:21:40,800 That's the second way you can ruin your life and end up 456 00:21:41,550 --> 00:21:43,380 apart from God under his wrath. 457 00:21:44,355 --> 00:21:47,355 Do whatever you want, right? 458 00:21:47,355 --> 00:21:49,485 Don't hold back any of your sinful desires. 459 00:21:49,485 --> 00:21:53,264 Just follow them wherever your body, wherever your sin tells 460 00:21:53,264 --> 00:21:54,915 you to go, follow it and just go. 461 00:21:55,545 --> 00:21:58,455 That's how you ruin your life. 462 00:22:01,425 --> 00:22:02,685 But it's really interesting to think about that. 463 00:22:02,685 --> 00:22:05,595 God shows his wrath by letting people sin, right? 464 00:22:05,595 --> 00:22:06,735 He hands them over to their sin. 465 00:22:07,095 --> 00:22:07,755 That's that. 466 00:22:07,755 --> 00:22:09,080 It's probably something you haven't thought about before. 467 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:11,310 And how does that work? 468 00:22:11,310 --> 00:22:14,880 Well, if what you want is bad for you, it's a punishment to 469 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,100 let you keep doing it, right? 470 00:22:17,100 --> 00:22:18,750 If what you want is bad for you 471 00:22:20,790 --> 00:22:22,889 to punish you, I would just let you keep doing it right, 472 00:22:22,889 --> 00:22:23,670 because that's bad for you. 473 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:29,520 It reminded me of this really old book that I read in elementary school. 474 00:22:30,060 --> 00:22:31,830 I don't, no one's probably ever heard of this book. 475 00:22:33,239 --> 00:22:34,199 It's called Mrs. 476 00:22:34,199 --> 00:22:34,920 Pickle Wiggle. 477 00:22:36,525 --> 00:22:40,665 Now this book, so this, this, it's this about this old lady and Mrs. 478 00:22:40,665 --> 00:22:45,554 P wiggle is like this, this lady who's like really good at like parenting tricks. 479 00:22:45,915 --> 00:22:49,455 So all the people in their little town, they come to her and they're like, my 480 00:22:49,455 --> 00:22:53,205 daughter has this problem, or my son has this problem and they ask her to fix it. 481 00:22:53,205 --> 00:22:56,445 And she comes up with some like really funny, like clever way to help them. 482 00:22:56,655 --> 00:22:57,045 So. 483 00:22:58,065 --> 00:23:01,575 For example, uh, this dude, he didn't wanna put his toys away. 484 00:23:01,605 --> 00:23:02,895 He never wanted to clean up, right? 485 00:23:02,895 --> 00:23:03,764 He never wanted to clean up. 486 00:23:03,764 --> 00:23:04,725 His toys are all over his room. 487 00:23:04,725 --> 00:23:05,325 He doesn't wanna clean up. 488 00:23:05,715 --> 00:23:07,305 And so here's what Mrs. 489 00:23:07,305 --> 00:23:08,385 Pickle wiggle decides to do. 490 00:23:08,385 --> 00:23:10,605 She says, okay, fine. 491 00:23:11,625 --> 00:23:12,915 Just let him keep all his toys out. 492 00:23:13,220 --> 00:23:15,255 And it's like, what? 493 00:23:15,345 --> 00:23:16,695 That seems counterintuitive, right? 494 00:23:16,700 --> 00:23:19,965 But what happens is they, for like, I don't know how long, maybe it's like a 495 00:23:19,965 --> 00:23:22,875 month, they let him keep all his toys out and he takes all 'em out and he has, 496 00:23:22,875 --> 00:23:25,784 his room is full of toys and eventually he can't even like get out of his room. 497 00:23:26,505 --> 00:23:29,324 And like he's, there's like delivering him food at the door of his room. 498 00:23:29,324 --> 00:23:30,344 Anyway, it's really funny. 499 00:23:30,675 --> 00:23:31,304 But then what Ms. 500 00:23:31,304 --> 00:23:35,235 Tickle wiggle does is she leads like a parade, like a really fun parade, 501 00:23:35,235 --> 00:23:39,614 like this big party outside the house, and he's stuck in his room 502 00:23:40,065 --> 00:23:41,955 because he wouldn't clean up his toys. 503 00:23:42,195 --> 00:23:44,175 So now he can't go enjoy this parade. 504 00:23:44,264 --> 00:23:48,404 He can't be part of this awesome party because he didn't put away his toys. 505 00:23:48,795 --> 00:23:49,275 You see that? 506 00:23:49,364 --> 00:23:52,364 So what she did is she said, Hey, don't, it's fine. 507 00:23:52,725 --> 00:23:53,480 Keep all your toys out. 508 00:23:54,389 --> 00:23:57,540 You're gonna miss out on what's better, right? 509 00:23:57,659 --> 00:23:59,730 Same thing, I, I'm not sure if it was this girl. 510 00:23:59,730 --> 00:24:00,989 It was, there was a girl in the book. 511 00:24:01,770 --> 00:24:02,850 She never wanted to take a bath. 512 00:24:02,850 --> 00:24:03,600 She never wanted to shower. 513 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:04,710 Right. 514 00:24:04,710 --> 00:24:07,170 Which that's pretty easy to hand someone over to, right. 515 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,920 So what they did is they were like, fine, we're just gonna let you not shower and 516 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:12,929 not take a bath and never clean yourself. 517 00:24:13,529 --> 00:24:15,085 And then this girl gets like so dirty. 518 00:24:16,335 --> 00:24:18,074 They like, it's really weird. 519 00:24:18,344 --> 00:24:22,574 They plant like a like seeds on her 'cause there's so much dirt on her 520 00:24:23,355 --> 00:24:28,514 and she ends up like covered in like plants, which is probably not good. 521 00:24:28,755 --> 00:24:32,445 But the point is, okay, fine, you don't wanna take a shower, that's totally fine. 522 00:24:32,445 --> 00:24:34,905 You're just gonna be gross and disgusting, right? 523 00:24:34,905 --> 00:24:38,355 That's what God does when he hands you over to your sin. 524 00:24:38,355 --> 00:24:42,074 He says, okay, you wanna keep sinning, you wanna keep following your impure thoughts. 525 00:24:42,225 --> 00:24:44,415 You want to keep being anxious and not trusting me. 526 00:24:45,105 --> 00:24:47,985 You wanna keep coveting and envying and gossiping, and slandering, 527 00:24:47,985 --> 00:24:51,465 and disobeying your parents and all the things on that list, fine. 528 00:24:51,585 --> 00:24:52,155 Do it. 529 00:24:53,175 --> 00:24:53,895 It'll kill you. 530 00:24:56,115 --> 00:24:57,075 That's what God says. 531 00:24:57,105 --> 00:24:58,665 That's how God shows his wrath. 532 00:24:59,505 --> 00:25:04,305 By letting you keep sinning, you miss out on these amazing things 533 00:25:04,305 --> 00:25:09,705 that he has to offer because you settled for something lame, right? 534 00:25:09,705 --> 00:25:12,705 You, you kept all the toys out in your room and you missed out on the party. 535 00:25:14,385 --> 00:25:18,825 You ended up gross and disgusting in your sin because that's what you wanted. 536 00:25:18,825 --> 00:25:21,555 You wanted it, and he says, here you go, have it. 537 00:25:22,395 --> 00:25:24,135 That's part of this spiral. 538 00:25:24,284 --> 00:25:26,985 If you let your sinful desires lead you, right? 539 00:25:26,985 --> 00:25:31,215 If you let your sinful desires take you where they want you to go, where you 540 00:25:31,215 --> 00:25:35,625 think you want to go, you will continue out in this spiral under God's wrath. 541 00:25:36,495 --> 00:25:38,835 That's why self-control is such a good thing. 542 00:25:40,545 --> 00:25:45,585 Self-control is a, is a good thing because it prevents you from following 543 00:25:45,585 --> 00:25:48,614 this spiral and ruining your life. 544 00:25:50,025 --> 00:25:54,764 Paul is trying to show you the end of the story, this passage, what God is doing. 545 00:25:54,945 --> 00:25:58,784 God doesn't want you to to end up stuck in your room with all your 546 00:25:58,784 --> 00:26:00,134 toys out missing out on the party. 547 00:26:00,495 --> 00:26:03,045 God doesn't want you to be gross and disgusting with plants all over 548 00:26:03,045 --> 00:26:04,094 you because you didn't wanna shower. 549 00:26:04,620 --> 00:26:06,000 God loves you too much. 550 00:26:06,150 --> 00:26:08,699 And so he gives you warnings and he says, if you keep going 551 00:26:08,699 --> 00:26:10,440 that way, it'll kill you. 552 00:26:11,699 --> 00:26:15,330 And so he says, don't like follow me. 553 00:26:15,540 --> 00:26:17,159 He gives you a better offer. 554 00:26:18,150 --> 00:26:22,739 But we have to fight our sinful desires to do that even if 555 00:26:22,770 --> 00:26:23,730 it feels good in the moment. 556 00:26:23,850 --> 00:26:26,730 Think about when you're, when you're tempted, right? 557 00:26:26,730 --> 00:26:28,650 You want to, your desires are pulling at you. 558 00:26:30,540 --> 00:26:33,509 The best thing to do in that moment is to think, okay, where is this gonna take me? 559 00:26:34,844 --> 00:26:37,125 If I give into this temptation, where is this gonna go? 560 00:26:38,384 --> 00:26:38,565 Right. 561 00:26:38,565 --> 00:26:40,965 Kind of like you ever been to all you can eat Korean barbecue? 562 00:26:41,355 --> 00:26:41,745 Yes. 563 00:26:42,284 --> 00:26:44,625 It's like Kenneth just woke up. 564 00:26:44,955 --> 00:26:47,565 Um, so right. 565 00:26:47,565 --> 00:26:49,455 All you can eat Korean barbecue, they have all those like, 566 00:26:49,455 --> 00:26:50,625 random things out on the table. 567 00:26:50,625 --> 00:26:53,174 You know, like, there's like vegetables and weird stuff, right? 568 00:26:53,594 --> 00:26:55,605 I know some people that don't even eat the rice at cream barbecue cup. 569 00:26:55,634 --> 00:26:55,995 Why? 570 00:26:56,205 --> 00:26:59,355 Because they wanna save as much room as possible for the meat. 571 00:27:00,285 --> 00:27:04,425 They wanna save as much room as possible for the bulgogi and the, you know, 572 00:27:04,905 --> 00:27:07,725 Korean fried chicken and the pork belly. 573 00:27:07,725 --> 00:27:10,185 They want to save all the room for that. 574 00:27:10,185 --> 00:27:11,325 So they're like, no appetizers. 575 00:27:11,325 --> 00:27:11,835 I don't want it. 576 00:27:12,585 --> 00:27:14,025 Some people even skip lunch. 577 00:27:14,625 --> 00:27:17,715 They're like, I wanna be ready for this, so I'm gonna skip lunch so 578 00:27:17,715 --> 00:27:20,655 that I can be as hungry as possible to eat the, to get my money's 579 00:27:20,655 --> 00:27:22,275 worth on this 30 something dollars. 580 00:27:22,275 --> 00:27:23,385 All you can eat barbecue, right? 581 00:27:23,415 --> 00:27:23,595 Mm-hmm. 582 00:27:25,185 --> 00:27:28,395 So what helps you be self-controlled? 583 00:27:29,100 --> 00:27:31,770 Let's say you're skipping lunch, which don't do it, but let's say you're 584 00:27:31,770 --> 00:27:33,630 skipping lunch to, to enjoy your all. 585 00:27:33,630 --> 00:27:38,040 You can eat Korean barbecue at dinner when you're starving at 3:00 PM and you want to 586 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,980 go to the to the pantry and grab a snack. 587 00:27:41,370 --> 00:27:45,420 What's gonna keep you motivated to be self controlled and not give into your desires? 588 00:27:45,695 --> 00:27:49,259 You gotta think about, you gotta think about the Korean barbecue. 589 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:50,909 You gotta think about how good it's gonna be. 590 00:27:51,029 --> 00:27:53,190 You gotta think about, oh man, I can just order like however much 591 00:27:53,190 --> 00:27:54,299 I want and I can just eat it. 592 00:27:54,449 --> 00:27:55,770 And you think about how awesome it is. 593 00:27:56,070 --> 00:27:57,660 You're like, oh, you know what? 594 00:27:57,720 --> 00:27:58,200 I'll wait. 595 00:27:58,230 --> 00:27:59,460 I'll pass on the Doritos. 596 00:27:59,460 --> 00:28:01,830 I'll pass on the whatever, snacks, pretzels, whatever. 597 00:28:01,830 --> 00:28:02,190 I don't know. 598 00:28:02,730 --> 00:28:07,530 I'll pass on the snacks because I want, I want what's better, right? 599 00:28:08,370 --> 00:28:09,840 That's what God is offering you. 600 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:15,450 He's saying, here I have an all you can eat barbecue of, of goodness 601 00:28:15,450 --> 00:28:20,790 for you, but you're settling for the lame little appetizers on the table. 602 00:28:21,810 --> 00:28:26,520 You're, you're eating the kimchi and the, the salad and the whatever you're, you're 603 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,630 eating all that, and you should be saving room for what's, what's really good. 604 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:33,150 That's how you'd be self-control. 605 00:28:33,150 --> 00:28:36,450 That's the secret to self-control is, is to have a, a bigger desire. 606 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,620 Well, I want this more, so I'm not gonna fall for the little thing. 607 00:28:41,850 --> 00:28:44,070 I'm not gonna snack because I, I want dinner. 608 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:47,940 That's what God gives us. 609 00:28:48,090 --> 00:28:49,800 He gives us promises, he gives us warning. 610 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:50,475 He says, if you eat this. 611 00:28:51,975 --> 00:28:54,014 You won't be hungry for dinner, you'll miss out. 612 00:28:55,455 --> 00:28:59,955 So think about right when you're attempted and you feel the pull of your desires. 613 00:28:59,955 --> 00:29:00,884 Think about the end of the story. 614 00:29:00,884 --> 00:29:02,205 Think about where is this gonna take me? 615 00:29:02,475 --> 00:29:04,574 How is this gonna go for me? 616 00:29:07,455 --> 00:29:08,085 And think about that. 617 00:29:08,085 --> 00:29:11,835 Your sinful desires are destructive too, right? 618 00:29:11,835 --> 00:29:13,665 They'll kill you, right? 619 00:29:13,665 --> 00:29:17,085 They, they appear to be good, but really they'll kill you. 620 00:29:18,299 --> 00:29:20,730 I heard a story, I, I forget where I heard it a long time ago, 621 00:29:21,299 --> 00:29:24,480 about how some people kill wolves. 622 00:29:25,049 --> 00:29:27,719 They're shepherds, they're trying to protect their sheep, and 623 00:29:27,719 --> 00:29:28,889 this is how they kill wolves. 624 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:29,190 Okay. 625 00:29:29,219 --> 00:29:30,480 It's, it's kind of crazy. 626 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:36,389 Um, what they do is they take a, um, they take like a, a steak, 627 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:43,319 essentially like meat, and they put it over a, um, a knife and then 628 00:29:43,319 --> 00:29:46,330 they freeze it and they put it out. 629 00:29:47,460 --> 00:29:49,679 The wolf smells the meat, right? 630 00:29:49,679 --> 00:29:50,760 And there's like blood and everything. 631 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:55,530 And so the wolf starts licking the ice to get the meat off or to get the ice off 632 00:29:55,530 --> 00:29:56,790 the meat so he can eat the meat, right? 633 00:29:57,030 --> 00:29:59,760 So the wolf's like licking, licking this ice to get, to get this meat. 634 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:00,870 And all the wolf tastes. 635 00:30:00,989 --> 00:30:04,050 The wolf smells the meat, the wolf tastes the meat, and there's blood. 636 00:30:04,050 --> 00:30:05,580 And so he tastes, he tastes blood. 637 00:30:05,580 --> 00:30:06,360 And that's good, right? 638 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:07,530 He's hungry, he wants blood. 639 00:30:08,550 --> 00:30:12,600 So as the wolf starts licking this, this ice and chewing on this meat, 640 00:30:13,020 --> 00:30:16,094 he starts licking the the knife. 641 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:19,920 And then it cuts his tongue and his tongue's bleeding and the whole time 642 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,259 he's licking it and like chewing on it. 643 00:30:22,409 --> 00:30:27,270 And he's tasting what he thinks is the animal that he's trying to eat, 644 00:30:28,469 --> 00:30:29,880 but whose blood is he really tasting? 645 00:30:30,900 --> 00:30:31,469 His. 646 00:30:31,949 --> 00:30:33,480 And then the wolf bleeds out and dies. 647 00:30:36,900 --> 00:30:40,860 Yeah, that's, that's what your sin is doing. 648 00:30:41,699 --> 00:30:42,960 Your sin is tricking you. 649 00:30:44,190 --> 00:30:48,450 Your sin makes you think you're eating this awesome steak, but 650 00:30:48,450 --> 00:30:53,370 really you're, you're dying, you're bleeding out on your own blood. 651 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:56,880 That's what your sin does. 652 00:30:57,630 --> 00:31:00,060 And the hard part is seeing it for what it is, right? 653 00:31:00,060 --> 00:31:03,389 Because you're, you're, you get so wrapped up in, oh, this tastes so good. 654 00:31:05,700 --> 00:31:08,550 And you, you, for, you don't realize what you're doing to yourself, right? 655 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:10,590 And so that's why God gives us these warnings. 656 00:31:10,590 --> 00:31:11,790 That's why he says, Hey. 657 00:31:12,945 --> 00:31:14,264 Look out, right? 658 00:31:14,264 --> 00:31:16,245 God's wrath is coming on. 659 00:31:16,245 --> 00:31:19,935 These types of sins, God's wrath is, is against these people. 660 00:31:20,085 --> 00:31:22,034 These type of sins will lead you to death. 661 00:31:22,125 --> 00:31:25,005 That's what God says, and the reason he says that isn't 'cause he hates 662 00:31:25,005 --> 00:31:26,085 you and wants you to have no fun. 663 00:31:26,085 --> 00:31:27,860 It's 'cause he loves you and doesn't want you to die. 664 00:31:31,725 --> 00:31:34,455 So your your sin, your sinful desires. 665 00:31:34,455 --> 00:31:37,424 If you follow your sinful desires, it tricks you because it gets 666 00:31:37,424 --> 00:31:38,534 you to like what kills you. 667 00:31:39,690 --> 00:31:39,870 Right. 668 00:31:39,870 --> 00:31:41,940 That, that's, that's how your sin kills you. 669 00:31:42,090 --> 00:31:43,740 It gets you to like what kills you. 670 00:31:44,190 --> 00:31:48,360 And so you keep, you keep licking it and you bleed out because you, you're 671 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:52,500 enjoying it, but you're, it's like you're addicted to poison, right? 672 00:31:52,500 --> 00:31:55,260 You're just drinking and drinking and drinking poison, and you kill yourself 673 00:31:56,070 --> 00:31:57,630 because you're enjoying what kills you. 674 00:31:57,630 --> 00:31:58,500 That's what your sin does. 675 00:31:58,500 --> 00:32:00,150 And so you have to see where is this taking me? 676 00:32:00,150 --> 00:32:00,870 What is this doing? 677 00:32:03,870 --> 00:32:06,520 But that state right of I, I enjoy what kills me. 678 00:32:07,665 --> 00:32:08,804 That's what sin does to you. 679 00:32:09,014 --> 00:32:10,875 And if you follow this spiral, you reject God. 680 00:32:10,875 --> 00:32:12,315 You let your desires lead you. 681 00:32:14,235 --> 00:32:19,215 That's what Paul means when he says that God gives you over to your sinful desires. 682 00:32:19,425 --> 00:32:20,595 He talks about your mind. 683 00:32:20,985 --> 00:32:23,625 He says they're, they're, they're futile in their understanding 684 00:32:23,625 --> 00:32:24,885 or they claim to be wise. 685 00:32:24,885 --> 00:32:28,245 They became fools because they started to like what kills them. 686 00:32:29,264 --> 00:32:29,835 You see that? 687 00:32:30,929 --> 00:32:33,240 In our passage from last week, they became futile in their thinking. 688 00:32:33,389 --> 00:32:36,870 They thought they were smart, but they were actually being foolish, and then God 689 00:32:36,870 --> 00:32:39,090 gave them up to a debased mind, right? 690 00:32:39,090 --> 00:32:39,810 A sinful mind. 691 00:32:39,810 --> 00:32:40,409 Verse 28. 692 00:32:42,510 --> 00:32:47,190 What your sin does is it gets you to like what's killing you, and that's 693 00:32:47,190 --> 00:32:49,260 how you end up trapped in this spiral. 694 00:32:49,679 --> 00:32:51,330 That's the very bottom of the spiral. 695 00:32:52,170 --> 00:32:59,250 You like your sin and you hate God, and you love hating God, and you love sinning. 696 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:05,520 So the last step in this spiral is to embrace sinful thinking and values. 697 00:33:06,420 --> 00:33:08,760 So you start enjoying it, right? 698 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:10,679 Your sin used to feel bad and now it doesn't anymore. 699 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:13,980 Now it just feels normal, and then it starts feeling good 700 00:33:14,909 --> 00:33:15,870 and doesn't bother you anymore, 701 00:33:19,594 --> 00:33:19,945 right? 702 00:33:20,455 --> 00:33:24,449 If you're, if you're starting to enjoy your sin, if you're approving 703 00:33:24,449 --> 00:33:28,290 your sin, if you're saying, this is great that I'm doing this, I love. 704 00:33:28,695 --> 00:33:30,795 Being lazy, right? 705 00:33:30,795 --> 00:33:34,065 I love being, I love gossiping. 706 00:33:34,065 --> 00:33:34,725 It's so fun. 707 00:33:34,755 --> 00:33:38,025 Just the thrill of being able to spread news and, and the control I 708 00:33:38,025 --> 00:33:41,865 get from being able to, to define the narrative around people or, oh, 709 00:33:41,865 --> 00:33:46,710 I, I love, I just, I love how much better I am than other people, right? 710 00:33:47,685 --> 00:33:50,775 And your pride, once you start enjoying it, and once it starts 711 00:33:50,775 --> 00:33:54,885 being comfortable and normal for you, you're in a really bad spot 712 00:33:57,225 --> 00:33:57,764 because. 713 00:33:59,145 --> 00:34:04,364 You've got, you're, you're enjoying what's killing you, right? 714 00:34:04,364 --> 00:34:05,324 It doesn't bother you anymore. 715 00:34:05,804 --> 00:34:08,774 Or when you watch that, it, it doesn't really convict you. 716 00:34:08,864 --> 00:34:11,355 Or when you play that game or hear those words or make those 717 00:34:11,355 --> 00:34:14,594 jokes, nothing, it doesn't, there's, there's nothing happening. 718 00:34:14,955 --> 00:34:16,455 You're just like, oh, that's really funny. 719 00:34:17,205 --> 00:34:18,944 Or That was such a, that was really good. 720 00:34:23,504 --> 00:34:24,585 And, and that's what. 721 00:34:25,844 --> 00:34:27,344 That's what God is warning you right? 722 00:34:27,344 --> 00:34:32,714 Is, is people at the bottom of this spiral, and maybe that's, you think 723 00:34:32,714 --> 00:34:34,185 that they're, they're doing great. 724 00:34:34,424 --> 00:34:36,014 They're like, look how free I am. 725 00:34:36,043 --> 00:34:38,594 I don't have to listen to God. 726 00:34:38,594 --> 00:34:39,614 I don't have to read the Bible. 727 00:34:39,614 --> 00:34:41,293 I don't have to be just, I can do whatever I want. 728 00:34:41,444 --> 00:34:44,415 I get to escape all of these rules that my parents put on me or that, 729 00:34:44,563 --> 00:34:49,514 that the Bible says they think they're doing great, but in reality they're 730 00:34:49,514 --> 00:34:54,049 foolish because they're saying, I love this thing that's killing me. 731 00:34:57,225 --> 00:34:59,415 And that's where Paul goes, verse 27, they're, they're 732 00:34:59,415 --> 00:35:00,915 doing shameless things, right? 733 00:35:00,915 --> 00:35:01,995 They're not embarrassed about it. 734 00:35:01,995 --> 00:35:03,524 They're, they're doing it openly. 735 00:35:03,825 --> 00:35:07,424 They're not, they're not embarrassed if someone knows that they're sinning, right? 736 00:35:07,424 --> 00:35:11,834 Maybe they're bragging about it or they, this last part, they 737 00:35:11,834 --> 00:35:13,769 approve people who do those, right? 738 00:35:15,345 --> 00:35:17,415 That's like what we do when we laugh at a dirty joke. 739 00:35:17,415 --> 00:35:19,154 We're giving approval to someone who's sinning. 740 00:35:20,745 --> 00:35:22,575 We're saying, oh, that's, that's great. 741 00:35:22,874 --> 00:35:23,229 That's funny. 742 00:35:29,370 --> 00:35:29,819 So 743 00:35:31,830 --> 00:35:36,299 at the bottom of this spiral, your sin becomes more normal and more enjoyable. 744 00:35:36,299 --> 00:35:39,419 And, and the problem is you don't really notice it, right? 745 00:35:39,419 --> 00:35:46,200 Just like that wolf doesn't notice when it went from sheep blood to wolf blood, you 746 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:48,089 don't notice it because it's so subtle. 747 00:35:48,089 --> 00:35:52,529 And that's why, um, your sin, like pastor PJ mentioned on Sunday. 748 00:35:53,729 --> 00:35:57,390 You can't just have a little sin in the corner and be like, 749 00:35:57,390 --> 00:35:58,229 oh, it's just a little one. 750 00:35:58,229 --> 00:35:58,649 It's okay. 751 00:35:58,979 --> 00:36:03,809 It's just gossip or it's just coveting or it's just lying or, uh, well, I don't, 752 00:36:03,809 --> 00:36:05,459 I don't act on my lustful thoughts. 753 00:36:05,459 --> 00:36:06,629 I just have lustful thoughts. 754 00:36:08,399 --> 00:36:11,279 Those desires are trying to kill you. 755 00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:14,910 They're not just there. 756 00:36:16,109 --> 00:36:16,439 Right. 757 00:36:16,589 --> 00:36:20,579 It's like having you hear about every once in a while you hear this headline about. 758 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:23,339 You know, owner killed by Pet Snake. 759 00:36:24,629 --> 00:36:28,500 It's like, why did you have, why did you have a pet boa constrictor 760 00:36:28,500 --> 00:36:30,720 that was probably gonna kill you if it got out of its cage? 761 00:36:30,750 --> 00:36:31,109 Right? 762 00:36:33,390 --> 00:36:35,879 If you're treating your sin casually, like, oh, it's just a little sin, 763 00:36:36,060 --> 00:36:37,170 it's just not a, it's not a big deal. 764 00:36:37,410 --> 00:36:41,879 You're, you're keeping a, a deadly pet and it will kill you. 765 00:36:41,879 --> 00:36:43,200 It's trying to kill you. 766 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,470 And so this, this whole thing starts with rejecting God. 767 00:36:50,910 --> 00:36:55,440 This whole spiral of now at this point, the bottom of it, you're 768 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:57,240 embracing sin, you're celebrating sin. 769 00:36:57,240 --> 00:36:58,980 You're not embarrassed about sin, you're not convicted. 770 00:37:00,090 --> 00:37:05,610 It starts with the rejection of God, and that's why your relationship with 771 00:37:05,610 --> 00:37:10,290 God, even as a Christian is so important because the closer you are with God, 772 00:37:10,290 --> 00:37:12,120 the more obvious your sin will be. 773 00:37:13,290 --> 00:37:13,470 Right? 774 00:37:13,470 --> 00:37:13,980 Just like 775 00:37:16,950 --> 00:37:17,580 the cleaner. 776 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:22,200 Your house is the more obvious it is when something's dirty. 777 00:37:22,380 --> 00:37:22,590 Right? 778 00:37:22,590 --> 00:37:26,490 I, my, um, college apartment, I had two roommates. 779 00:37:26,490 --> 00:37:28,290 I moved in to their apartment. 780 00:37:28,290 --> 00:37:29,370 It was, it was disgusting. 781 00:37:30,180 --> 00:37:33,180 Like this one dude like literally stopped doing his dishes, 782 00:37:33,330 --> 00:37:34,980 like just put 'em in the sink. 783 00:37:35,610 --> 00:37:37,380 And I was like, what in the world? 784 00:37:37,620 --> 00:37:38,940 Like, what are we doing guys? 785 00:37:39,509 --> 00:37:42,750 Um, the other dude would like stay up till 2:00 AM and play. 786 00:37:43,245 --> 00:37:46,274 Rocket League and never clean anything. 787 00:37:46,634 --> 00:37:49,634 It was, it was like the worst of what you think of from college living. 788 00:37:49,634 --> 00:37:51,164 And then they both graduated. 789 00:37:51,225 --> 00:37:51,914 Praise the Lord. 790 00:37:51,944 --> 00:37:55,814 After I got there, and then I had this other roommate moved in and this roommate, 791 00:37:55,814 --> 00:37:59,475 he's from Germany, his name is Marcus, and he was like the best thing ever. 792 00:37:59,475 --> 00:38:02,265 He came in, he like deep cleaned everything right? 793 00:38:02,294 --> 00:38:05,834 He was like, he took like everything outta the stove, like all the 794 00:38:05,834 --> 00:38:06,975 burners out and everything. 795 00:38:06,975 --> 00:38:07,424 And I cleaned. 796 00:38:07,424 --> 00:38:08,325 I was like, this is wild. 797 00:38:08,325 --> 00:38:08,865 This is awesome. 798 00:38:09,194 --> 00:38:09,555 So. 799 00:38:11,294 --> 00:38:14,924 Now, right now I'm married and I'm not living with dudes 800 00:38:15,615 --> 00:38:16,814 I'm living with, with Shay. 801 00:38:16,814 --> 00:38:19,814 And Shay's a very clean person and she designs things that 802 00:38:19,814 --> 00:38:21,435 look really cool and awesome. 803 00:38:22,064 --> 00:38:28,045 Um, and so if one of my old college roommates wanted to to 804 00:38:28,274 --> 00:38:32,714 live with us for a month, we would notice very quickly, right? 805 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,720 Dirty things started showing up, or there was footprints on 806 00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:37,620 the floor because it's clean. 807 00:38:37,799 --> 00:38:39,600 But if it's already dirty, you don't notice it. 808 00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:40,049 Right? 809 00:38:41,339 --> 00:38:44,400 If your relationship with God is, is close, right? 810 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:47,490 If you're in God's word, you're your time in, you're spending time in prayer. 811 00:38:47,490 --> 00:38:51,180 You, you have a, a, a growing love for him, a concern for others. 812 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:52,890 You're excited to be with Jesus. 813 00:38:52,895 --> 00:38:58,589 You're, your sin will hurt more because you're closer with God, so you'll 814 00:38:58,589 --> 00:39:02,315 notice your sin more and you'll be less vulnerable to this type of spiral. 815 00:39:05,294 --> 00:39:05,714 So, 816 00:39:07,874 --> 00:39:11,475 like we talked about on Sunday, which I, I hope you're paying attention 817 00:39:11,475 --> 00:39:16,785 to Pastor PJ when he's preaching, but holiness right of putting off 818 00:39:16,785 --> 00:39:19,694 sin is, is how you enjoy God, right? 819 00:39:19,694 --> 00:39:23,115 The, the holier you are, the happier you'll be because the more you'll enjoy 820 00:39:23,115 --> 00:39:25,785 God, the closer you'll be with God. 821 00:39:25,785 --> 00:39:28,665 So the reason we, we warn you about these things and we tell you about 822 00:39:28,665 --> 00:39:31,515 this spiral and how to ruin your life and all that is so that you go to God. 823 00:39:32,265 --> 00:39:35,565 We want you to go to God and 'cause God loves you and God will 824 00:39:35,565 --> 00:39:37,335 make you happier than your sin. 825 00:39:38,745 --> 00:39:40,035 Hands down, end of story. 826 00:39:41,595 --> 00:39:47,265 And so the reason that, that Paul is pointing all this out is because he's, 827 00:39:47,265 --> 00:39:49,965 he wants to show you that you need Jesus. 828 00:39:51,195 --> 00:39:53,985 That's where that's where we're gonna go at the end of Romans chapter three. 829 00:39:53,985 --> 00:39:56,895 He's gonna say that all of sin and fallen short of the glory of God. 830 00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,470 And so the only way to have a relationship with God, to enjoy 831 00:40:01,470 --> 00:40:03,210 God is to have your sin taken away. 832 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:06,990 And so as a Christian, it's putting off sin because you've already been forgiven. 833 00:40:06,990 --> 00:40:10,290 But primarily it comes from forgiveness, from justification, 834 00:40:11,100 --> 00:40:12,900 from getting Jesus righteousness. 835 00:40:12,930 --> 00:40:17,430 That's how you enjoy God is the, the, the gateway into that is 836 00:40:18,270 --> 00:40:19,410 putting your faith in Jesus. 837 00:40:19,410 --> 00:40:24,960 And so if, if, if you saw yourself in this spiral tonight, if, if 838 00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:26,820 you saw, you know that to me. 839 00:40:27,404 --> 00:40:28,424 I'm enjoying my sin. 840 00:40:28,424 --> 00:40:29,564 I'm celebrating my sin. 841 00:40:31,904 --> 00:40:35,205 Don't fall for it and turn to Jesus. 842 00:40:35,625 --> 00:40:35,745 Right? 843 00:40:35,745 --> 00:40:38,504 You, you've been shown that your sin will lead you to your 844 00:40:38,504 --> 00:40:42,104 death, but Jesus offers you God. 845 00:40:42,104 --> 00:40:44,625 That's the, that's the reason we, we get forgiven. 846 00:40:44,984 --> 00:40:47,745 That's the reason Jesus gives us righteousness so we can be with God. 847 00:40:48,705 --> 00:40:50,984 The whole point of forgiveness is who you get. 848 00:40:51,044 --> 00:40:51,765 You get God. 849 00:40:52,484 --> 00:40:55,615 So, um, if you're a Christian, pursue holiness so you can get God. 850 00:40:56,175 --> 00:41:01,035 If you're not, get trust Jesus and get his righteousness so that you can enjoy God. 851 00:41:01,365 --> 00:41:03,105 Let's pray and we'll go to small groups. 852 00:41:06,795 --> 00:41:10,845 God, we are grateful that you want us to be happy, and maybe we've never thought 853 00:41:10,845 --> 00:41:15,165 about that before, but thank you that you love us and you made us to enjoy you. 854 00:41:15,675 --> 00:41:17,355 That's what Christians for. 855 00:41:18,855 --> 00:41:22,665 Centuries have said, is the purpose of our existence to glorify 856 00:41:22,665 --> 00:41:24,734 you and to enjoy you forever. 857 00:41:25,004 --> 00:41:29,444 So I pray that we would see sin as something that hinders, that, 858 00:41:29,535 --> 00:41:33,314 that prevents us from being happy, and that we would see you as. 859 00:41:33,675 --> 00:41:37,035 Our ultimate happiness that you, God, love us so much and you want what's 860 00:41:37,035 --> 00:41:40,125 best for us, and we can trust you to make us happy if we follow you. 861 00:41:40,695 --> 00:41:44,295 So I pray tonight that you would help us to see our sin for what it is, and I pray 862 00:41:44,295 --> 00:41:47,955 that in small groups as we talk about our sin and, and its consequences and, 863 00:41:47,955 --> 00:41:52,065 and its effects that we would be honest about ourselves and, and how we're so 864 00:41:52,155 --> 00:41:56,505 drawn to our sin and that we would repent of sin, put it off and kill it so that 865 00:41:56,505 --> 00:42:00,225 we can put on you and enjoy you more. 866 00:42:00,435 --> 00:42:01,000 We pray this in Jesus' name. 867 00:42:01,665 --> 00:42:02,024 Amen.