week all the way down to verse 4. or the week before. Whatever week it was, we covered it. We didn't have the week during Thanksgiving, but the week prior to that, we did Romans 2, verses 1-4. And we went over misconceptions about judgment. I don't know if you remember that, but it says in verse 1, Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judges do with the same thing. So, how many of you were here when we went over this, Romans chapter 2? Two people? Okay, three people, four people. So, what were some of the, does anybody remember what some of the misconceptions were? Was the problem with the judgment? Or was it with something else? So last week we went over, because everyone has this misconception that it's wrong to judge. And I know what they're saying is, you cannot send somebody to heaven, and you can't send somebody to hell. But it is not wrong to say to someone, thou shalt not steal, you should stop stealing. Okay? That's not what it's talking about. And the reason that you have the warning here and also the warning in Matthew chapter 7, you've heard a million people say, you're like, you should stop getting drunk. And you'd be like, bro, you can't judge me. Only God can judge me. No, actually, I can tell you that you shouldn't drink. So the problem was not with telling somebody they shouldn't do something or pronouncing judgment. The problem was with the underlying sin, right? Cast the beam out of your own eyes. And we use the illustration that if you're going to be an eye surgeon, you should probably not be blind, right? And so we went over that, and then we went over some different areas of people's life where if they fail to do judgment, their life is horrible. Because anybody remember any examples where you need to have judgment in your life from that week? Just trying to get some engagement, not... So, the Bible says, here's one of my favorite, there's much food in the tillage of the poor, but there's that which is destroyed for want of judgment. Okay? So you see a lot of people, they work so hard in their life, and they make decent money, but they have nothing, because they take their money and buy alcohol and lottery tickets and different things like that. So all the tillage, all the food that they earned and worked for, they have nothing. So my dad says to me, I gets a job, and he says, well, how long have you been working? And I said, oh, I've been working a year. He said, well, where is it? What happened? And I said, well, I went to McDonald's. He said, you ate a year's worth of work? Son, I didn't even work for a year and we're in the same boat. You should have just did what I did and not even worked. And I said, that's not good, right? And so what, people work so hard, and it really breaks my heart to see people that work so hard, and then year after year after year, and then, well, you know, it's like the guy that said to the bum, on the street, or the homeless man, he's like, look, you are even, I'm like millions of dollars in debt, which isn't a good either. Okay, so that's an example of judgment, that people having problems in their life for refusing to do judgment. So judgment is not the problem, it's the underlying sin. that we talked about. Now, let's look at verse 4 and 5 quickly, and then we'll go on to the next point of this message. It says, Romans chapter 2 and verse 4, Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering? So, the goodness is connected with the forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. And what that goodness is, is the Lord saying, I know this person should have the hammer fall on them, but I'm going to hold off for a while and I'm going to have a little patience with them. Long suffering. And the Bible says that goodness of God is what leads thee to repentance. The Bible says in Psalm 10 and verse 11, He hath said in His heart, God hath forgotten, He hath hidden His face, He will never see it. But God doesn't forget. What He does is He just gives us time to get things straightened out with, right? Now there's ladies in here, and I love ladies, they're so talented. And one of the talents, many talents that ladies have that men, some men have this talent, but women are very gifted in this area. If somebody did them wrong, they will not forget it. You'll remember. Years down the road, oh, I remember so-and-so. I was driving through this. And I was at that stoplight when she called me, right? But then they do all these things, or we do all these things, and we think God's just going to forget. God's not going to forget. It's His goodness that leads you to repentance. He waits. And verse 5, after thy hardness... And the reason I'm reading this is I want you to underline a phrase. After thy hardness and impenitent... Don't try to straighten nothing out hard. Treasureth up thyself wrath against the day of wrath. And so, you just store up traffic tickets and parking tickets against God, and one day, He's going to drop the hammer and you're going to have to take care of all this stuff, right? So you treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Okay? You treasure up to yourself wrath against the what? Treasure up to thyself wrath against what? The day of wrath. Now I want you to underline that phrase because we're going into this next passage here and that's going to be very important moving forward. Okay? Now look at verse 6. It says this, but after thy hardness, or verse 6 says this, who will render to every man according to his deeds? Look at verse 7, "...to them by patient continuance and well-doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life." Verse 8, "...but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation, anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile." But glory, honor, peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile, for there is no respect of persons with God." Okay. Now, here's why I had you underline that. In this passage, if you're reading through this, can present a problem for a lot of people that don't pay attention to the context and compare Scripture with Scripture. And let me show you what I'm talking about. We said in v. 6, He'll render every man according to his deeds. And then it says in v. 7, those by patient continuance and well-doing, eternal life. Let me ask you this. How do we obtain eternal life? Do we obtain it by Doing good deeds? No. Well, that's what the passage says, right? And so here's where the problem comes in. If you take something out of context and you don't compare these things and look at things, then you have a problem. When the Lord looks at me to determine whether I am able to go to heaven or hell, does He look at my deeds and what I've done and what I haven't done? No. What determines whether I can go to heaven or hell, Brother Phil? your faith and what you've done with Jesus Christ, right? I'm going to heaven not because I'm good, but I'm going to heaven because Jesus was good. Now, this doesn't mean you should not do good things, but so you say, well, what's the problem here? What is Paul talking about? Because either I'm wrong or I have something wrong because the Bible is not wrong, right? We should never try to filter the Bible through our theology. We should filter our theology through the Bible. But at first glance, it can look like, hey, we have everything wrong. You're not saved by grace. You're saved by glory and honor and immortality, seeking for eternal life, and God's going to render us according to our deeds. Well, that's not what he says. He says that in verse 5, treasure up thyself wrath against the day of what? the day of wrath. So what is he talking about here? Is he talking about the judgment seat of Christ or is he talking about something else? Now let's see what that day of wrath is and what the Lord's talking about. Let's just look at a couple verses here so we can see. Look at Job chapter 21 and verse 30. And then we'll look at Zephaniah 1 and verse 14. And when you're going to Zephaniah, hopefully you're looking for it on your smartphone or you might not be able to find it. Because it's in the Minor Prophets. So, he didn't say that you treasure up yourself wrath upon the day of your death. He said it's against the day of the wrath of God. Wrath. Day of wrath and revelation of the judgment of God. That's what he said. He didn't say upon death. So he's talking about a judgment. And let's find out what judgment he's looking at. Job chapter 21 and verse 30. That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction and shall be brought forth to the day of what? Wrath. Okay? Now, if a person dies without Jesus Christ right now, where do they go? They go to hell. And then you have a judgment, and we'll go through that in a second. They're brought out of hell, and the sea gives up the dead, and the graves get up for the dead, and then they stand before the judgment, right? And then after that, they're cast into the lake of fire. When you first get arrested, you go to jail, right? After your trial, you go to the big house. And so when you first die without Jesus, you go to hell, which is the heart of the earth. And then when everything's done, and He has the great white throne judgment, and He brings all the dead people forward, they're judged there. And that judgment there is according to their deeds. And that judgment isn't for heaven or hell. It's usually to determine how hot you'll burn, right? And so after that judgment, they go there. The Bible says in 2 Peter, don't turn there, but 2 and verse 4, if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. Right? And that's what the Lord does. He reserves people unto judgment. In the Old Testament, before Jesus died, there was a place called Abraham's bosom and there was a place called hell. Right? If you read that in Luke chapter 16. And if a righteous man died that was righteous under the law, they went to Abraham's bosom. They couldn't go to heaven because Jesus hadn't shed his blood yet. And the lost people went to hell. And there was a goal fixed, and Abraham was in his bosom, and the rich man was in hell, and they could talk across there. And then when Jesus died, he went down to the heart of the earth, and it says he led captivity captive, right? And he took it out. But that's where that reservation is, or was. And it is for hell. And it says in 2 Peter 3 and verse 7, but the heavens and earth which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Now look at Zephaniah and remember what clue are we looking for? We're looking to place the day of wrath. That's what we're looking for. We're looking to figure out, in Romans chapter 2, this judgment that Paul is talking about here. Is he talking about the judgment seat of Christ? Or what is he talking about? Because if I go to this one, then everything that every preacher has been telling me is wrong because I've been under the impression that I'm going to be judged according to Christ, not according to my works, right? And so we're going to go to Zephaniah 1 and verse 14. And the Bible says this, The great day of the Lord is near, and hasteth greatly. Even the voice of the day of the Lord, the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of what? Wrath. So we've all of a sudden been able to place it. Let's look what he's talking about. A day of trouble and distress. Have you ever heard that we're supposed to be looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Okay? You have the day of Christ and you have the day of the Lord. You have the blessed hope and then you have the wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. And you know what we're looking for? We're looking for the blessed hope. We're looking for Jesus Christ to come back. And it says, a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wastedness, of desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and against the high towers, And I will be in distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord. And their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung." Remember when in the book of Revelation he calls to the fowls of the heaven and says, come and feast on the flesh? When you read this, can't you kind of hear in the back of your head the events of Revelation going through these passages? Silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the..." What? "...the Lord's wrath. For the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, and He shall make even a speedy reddence of them that dwell there." So this isn't talking about the blessed hope. It's talking about the day of the Lord when the Lord comes back there at the end of the tribulation. You know what you're being judged for? Back to Romans 2. Here in this judgment, you're being judged for eternal life. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we're not being judged for eternal life, but we're being judged for our service. And we'll show you that in a second. But this one is for salvation. It's not about service. You and I are not judged on our works. We're judged about something else. Look at Revelation 20. And this is at the end of time. This is after the rapture, Revelation 4, when the window in heaven is opened. This is after the witnesses in the streets. This is all the way at the end. In Revelation 20, look at verse 11. And he says, And I saw a great white throne, and in Him that sat on it from whose face, the earth and heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." And now watch this very carefully. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to what? According to what? Their works? Isn't that what we read in Romans chapter 2? according to their works." You know what he's talking about? He's talking about the great white throne judgment. And then he says, "...and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them." Remember I told you they're reserved in hell? And they were judged every man according to what? He says it again. Their works. "...and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." This is the second death. "...and whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. So the great white throne judgment, the Lord gets His books out, and one book records what you've done. Right? And He said, yeah, there's nothing here. Well, let's double check the book of life. And He said, no, sorry, buddy. You're going to the big house. And then death and hell are cast in the lake of fire, and that's the second death. So, the reason people get their doctrine messed up is they take the great white throne judgment that Paul was talking about there, he's talking to the lost Jews, and they plop it right there, and they say, okay, well now we have to do works to get saved. Now, people have a horrible misconception about Christians. They say, you believe you can believe in Jesus and do whatever you want. No, it doesn't work like that, okay? Once you get saved and born again, your life should be about pleasing Jesus Christ. That should be the point of your life, right? A strange thing happened. When I got saved, I stopped wanting to kill people. weirdest thing, you know? And so look, as a lost man looks at it, they say, you know what? I really want to do all these things. And if I get saved, I get a free ticket. But something happens where you get saved, where the Lord changes your heart, right? At least he did for most Christians that I know. So we're not saying to give you a license. Shall we continue and send anymore that grace may abound? God forbid. It's not a license to send. Okay? So, now just real quick in case we're confused before we look at our judgment. Look at Romans chapter 4 and verse 5. And I want to just show you that we are not judged according to our works. Romans chapter 4 and verse 5. It says, to him that worketh not. Doesn't that sound good? Listen, I don't know if you've ever done this, but I've tried to work my way to heaven and it's exhausting. Right? And so when I heard about rest and Jesus paid it all and I could rest in that, I'm like, well, I'll never get it done on my own, so I'm going to take that payment because this is exhausting. To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." See, you're not judged according to your deeds. You're judged according to Christ. So, the judgment is different. You can also write beside that Galatians 2, 16-17. So, now, here's the question. So we've concluded that Romans chapter 2 is talking about the great white throne judgment. But don't you and I go to a judgment? Isn't that true? Isn't everybody going to stand before God? Okay? But you have to understand the judgment we go to, it's a different judgment and it has a different purpose. Okay? It's not for salvation. but for service. It's not for salvation, but it's for stewardship. Right? God said, I've given you some things, and we're going to see what you've done with what I've given you. Okay? And we're going to go to one for stewardship. Let's look at this. Romans 14, verse 10. Briefly, we'll cover it when we get to Romans 14. But repetition is the key to learning. And so we need to make sure we understand Because if you're going to court and you're going to stand before God, don't you want to know what you're going to stand before God for? Wouldn't that be helpful? Because that way you can prepare for your day in court, you know? This idiot in South Carolina, he decided to act as his own attorney. I said, man, this... because they said that he's... He's sane and he can stand trial for killing all those people. And then he says, I want to act as my own attorney. I'm like, that is not sanity, amen? The guy is crazy. He's going to be toast. But do what you want to do. But look, I want to prepare for the day in court. Romans 14, verse 10. But why dost thou judge thy brother? Why dost thou set it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. You see, there's the great white throne judgment. There's the day of wrath and the revelation of the judgment of God. And there's also the day of Jesus Christ and there's the judgment seat of Christ. And this is for Christians. It's not for lost people. It is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess, so then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. You see, what are we doing? We're giving a count. You see, the Lord's an accountant. And He's going to say, okay, now I gave you 70 years. What did you do with the years I gave you? He's going to say, I gave you a whole lot of oxygen. What did you do with my oxygen? I gave you a Bible. I gave you a wife. I gave you children. I gave you a church. I gave you a job. I gave you some money. Now, I gave you all these things, and you know from the Bible I'm expecting a return. So we're going to see what your life has amounted to. And that's what the judgment seat of Christ is about. For stewardship, not for salvation. Look at 2 Corinthians 5. And let's look at the judgment seat of Christ here. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and I want you to notice the difference in this passage from the beginning to the end of it. And I want you to underline everything that talks about confidence. Okay? Look at this. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 1. For we know, underline that, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, that's this body, this is called our earthly house. You are not your body, you are a soul dwelling in it. If it's dissolved, if somebody puts acid on it, or somebody kills you, or torches you or something, if this is dissolved, our body, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For this we groan earnestly, you ought to anyway, desiring to be clothed with our house from heaven." And if you've ever heard about your house from heaven and your glorified body and the ability to walk through walls and stuff like that, listen, look, I don't know much about walking through walls, but I've seen Batman and Superman, and I'm getting pretty excited about my house from heaven, right? If so, being clothed, we shall not be found naked, like the souls under the altar in Revelation. For we that are in this tabernacle, the earthly one, do groan, be in burden, not that we should be unclothed, but that we should be clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up in life." So notice in 5.1, we know, we have, look at verse 5. He that hath wrought us for the self thing is God, who hath also given us the earnest of the Spirit." So this is pretty confident. We know that God hath given us the earnest of the Spirit. How many of you have bought a house and put earnest money down? Okay? Look, you have a contract to buy this house. I'm going to come back on a certain day, and I'm going to give you the full amount, and this house is going to become mine, right? And you know what? He says, Paul's talking to people that haven't been to the judgment yet, and he says, look, we have an earnest... God's put a down payment. He's put the Holy Spirit in there. And we have a house in heaven. We know that we have it. We're confident. Look at verse 6. Therefore, knowing we are always confident, knowing, confident knowing, those are strong words, that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the body, from the Lord, for we walk by faith and not by sight. Here's another strong word, verse 8, we are confident, I say willing, rather to be Absent from the body to be present from the Lord. Now is there any question there that you're going to be present with the Lord and you're going to have a house and you're going to be clothed upon and the Lord's going to come get you and put a down payment on you? Confident? No, we have. Those are all strong words. Is there any question there? Absolutely not. Now look at the next verse, verse 9. Wherefore, because of that what we know, wherever there's a wherefore, there's a therefore. Does that make sense? Where there's a wherefore, you've got to find out what it's there for. Or where there's a therefore, you have to find out what it's where for. So, wherefore, because we know we're going to heaven. We know that. We have a house there. We have a down payment. We put earnest money down. That's where we're going. Wherefore, We labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive eternal life or damnation." No. That everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad. That's stewardship. It's not salvation. And one more time, we'll see it one more time so it will be absolutely clear and we'll go on. Look at 1 Corinthians 3. And by the way, the judgment seat of Christ, if anyone asks you about it, Romans 14, 2 Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians 3. Those are the strong ones where it appears. 1 Corinthians 3. If I'm going too fast, slow me down. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 8. It says this, Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. And this is talking about our laboring together in the Lord. You plant a seed, somebody else leads the person to the Lord. We're one. But everyone's going to receive his own reward according to his own labor. Once again, working and getting your reward. The stewardship idea. For where labor is together with God, ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. There it is again. According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wide master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." So, before you even start building, you have to be saved, you have to have the foundation of Jesus Christ. Okay? Now if any man build upon this foundation, Jesus, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, it shall be revealed by fire, verse 13, the end of verse 13, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Okay? So what's being tried at the judgment seat of Christ? Not your soul, but your service. Your works. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall what? Receive eternal life? No, a reward. They're different. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall go to hell. Does it say that? No. He shall suffer loss, in verse 15, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Okay? So, those are the differences in the judgments. Things that are different cannot be the same. Back to Romans 2. And before we continue for a couple more minutes, is there any questions about the judgment seat of Christ versus the great white throne judgment? Okay? Let's proceed. Romans 2, verse 7. We have discovered that verse 5 and 6 are talking about the great white throne, where lost people go, okay? Or Old Testament saints and people that are not in the church, people before the rapture. So, verse 7, to them who by patient continuance and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality or eternal life." That's the Old Testament saints. But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, they argued with Noah and they drowned. But obey unrighteousness, they argued with Moses and the earth swallowed them up. Indignation and wrath. Verse 9, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile." Okay? Now, doesn't the Bible say, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die? And so, one thing that I just want to briefly touch upon, and this might raise more questions than it's worth, but look at Romans chapter 7. What I'm giving you is one more proof that Romans 6 is not talking to Christians. I mean, it's not talking about the judgment seat of Christ. Romans 7 and look at verse 15. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But that what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no more I that..." What? "...do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." Okay? So Paul says a Christian that's doing these things, he said, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Now, hang on to that thought. Okay? Because what you tend to think in your depraved flesh is, well, if it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me, then I can do it and it doesn't matter. But that's not the right way to think about it. But it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. And we're going to illustrate that and make that clear in a second. But before we do this, look at a couple more verses. 1 John 3, verse 9. 1 John 3 and verse 9. And the Bible says, 1 John 3, 9. The Bible says, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. Now, most of the people in here are saved, right? And if I came to you and I say, Miss Jessica, do you sin? She'd be like, yes, I've committed sin. I'd get angry at Ashton and I'd want to kill him. Amen? That's not good. Or whatever. I'm not just picking on her. But Michael, do you sin? Yeah, we would say we do. But the Bible says here, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Now didn't Paul say it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me? Okay? And the judgment in Romans 6, he says he's judging the soul that sinneth. Right? Didn't he say that? The soul that doeth these things. And so it's not talking about that. Now, one more verse and we'll put all this stuff together. Leviticus 5. Leviticus 5 and verse 2. Just hang in there. We're going to put this all together in a second. Leviticus 5, verse 2. Now remember, this judgment in Romans 6 brings tribulation, anguish, and wrath upon every soul of man that doeth evil. Now, a Christian Paul said, no more I that do it that sin that dwelleth in me. John said, he that is born of God cannot commit sin. Right? Now, Leviticus 5 and verse 2, and we'll put all this together. If a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be the carcass of an unclean beast or a carcass of unclean cattle, or of the carcass of any unclean creeping things, it be hidden from him, he shall be unclean and guilty. Now, in the Old Testament, if a man touched something unclean, he was unclean, right? And he couldn't go to church on Saturday or Sunday and bring his thing. He had to wash and be unclean. And you know how he became clean? By washing his flesh, sprinkling with hyssop, right? Now, can I cook bacon on Sunday morning and still come to church and be okay? Does my soul get defiled when I do that? You see, a lost man, his soul and his flesh are connected. Okay? So a lost person, when he sins, his soul and his flesh are connected, so it gets him all dirty. But a saved person, it's different. Now, I'll explain this further, but before I say this, you say, well, then I can do whatever I want to do and it doesn't matter because it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. Now have you ever, and I know this is nobody in here, so please don't think I'm pointing to anyone in here. Have you ever seen, been at a restaurant on an airplane where there's a child and he's just evil? Right? And it's a horrible child and all this stuff, right? Let's say the child gets mad and the stewardess comes by and he says, I don't like you, and he kicks the stewardess. I've seen stuff like this happen on an airplane. Did the parent do that? Is it the parent's fault? We can say with confidence, please. Yes. Right? You see, the parent is responsible for what the child does. And the parent is supposed to train the child not to do that. Okay? Now, let's say I get all angry at Ms. Kathy and I said, I am done with church! And I go get Michael and I said, come on Michael, let's go out and get a pack of beer and a bunch of cigarettes and we go sit there and smoke them and we say, we're sick of this. Okay? Now, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwell within me, but my flesh is like a child. And I am supposed to train it to be a tool for righteousness, and I am responsible for what my flesh does. See, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. But I will give an account as a parent for what my child does, and I will give an account as a Christian for what I allow my flesh to do. Does that make sense? It's like an owner and a pet. If you have a bulldog and it kills a child, did the owner of the pet kill the child? No. But is he responsible and can he be held criminally liable for it? Absolutely. Yes? Yes. Yeah, that power, it's in you. Absolutely. And then the other illustration, I've heard a preacher say this, is we had the Civil War come by, and then during the Civil War, we had emancipation where all the slaves were set free, right? Okay? But there were still some people that told the people they weren't free, and they still were made to serve them. Were they free? Yes. Do they have to be there? No. Okay? But you have to be willing to walk out on your flesh. And don't let your flesh lie to you. Because you know what your flesh will say? Your flesh will say, one more bite. Your flesh will say, only ten more minutes. Your flesh will say, you know what? Let's just watch another YouTube video of hashtags on Jimmy Fallon and forget about our Bible. Amen? And then you'll watch that, and you'll be like, well, I just want to watch one more. This one's stupid. Or this one's funny. And you know what? Your flesh will lie to you and lie to you. No, you do not need another cookie. You do not have to sleep more. You can get up and read your Bible. You do not have to have that cigarette. You do not have to drink that beer. You do not have to look at that filthy stuff. You are responsible for what your flesh does. But it's no more I that do it. Sin that dwelleth in me. So I just wanted to, because Romans 6, remember that judgment, Romans chapter 2 I mean, in verse 9, tribulation, anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil. Okay, now we understand that there's a difference between the lost man and the saved man. We understand that the lost man touches things and it gets on his soul, and we understand the saved person touches things and it doesn't get on his soul. So what's the difference in what happens? Because this is really good, and it'll explain this a little bit clearer. Let's look at two verses. First, let's look at Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12, and then we'll look at Colossians chapter 2. Hebrews 4 and verse 12. Hebrews 4 and verse 12. The Bible says this, For the Word of God is quick and powerful. Faith cometh by what? And hearing by what? And the Word of God is what? Is quick and powerful. Sharper than any two-edged sword. And then he says in verse 12, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrows, and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." So what can separate your soul from the body? The Word of God and the Spirit of God can make that separation. Look at Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2 in verse 10, it says, And ye are complete in him which is the head of all principality and power, in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands." So this isn't talking about a physical thing, and it's not only talking about men, it's talking about Christians, everyone, men and women. It's a circumcision made without hands, putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. So, we know from the book of Luke, the rich man died and was buried and in hell he lift up his what? Eyes. And he said, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his what? In water and cool my tongue. Okay? Now, where was Lazarus' body? Physical body. Was it in Abraham's bosom or was it in Lazarus' tomb or on earth? Right? Where the rich man died, Was his body down in hell or was it on earth? Earth. But he said, still dip the tip of my finger and cool my tongue, right? So I think from that verse and some other verses like that, that our soul, you know, it says that we're going to be clothed upon, and if we're not clothed upon, we'll be found naked, right? And we want to be clothed with our house, which is from heaven. And there's the souls under the altar, and they don't have a body, and they said, and then the Lord gives them white robes to cover them, right? And so you know what I believe according to this? I believe your soul, and I don't think this is nutty, maybe you do, but I think it's biblical that your soul is the shape of your body. inside your body. Okay? And in the Old Testament, when you touched the carcass, your soul and your body were connected so it got unclean. When you're lost and you do those things, those sinful things, it gets on your soul. But you know what happens when you get saved? The Lord goes in there and separates the flesh from the spirit and the soul. Because this is a cursed flesh. And you will never be able to get sin completely out of it. And God can't let sin into heaven. The Lord's in our temple, and so there has to be that separation there. So He cuts it loose. Now it's no more I that do it. They're not even connected. Right? So it's kind of complicated and stuff like that, but that's the only way I can... Look, because when I grew up, and I don't know if you had this problem, I'd have my dad would say, you see there, whosoever is born of God doesn't commit sin. Do you sin? I'm like, yes, I'm a teenager. There's never a time when I'm not sinning. Right? And he said, well, you're not saved. He that is born of God does not commit sin. I said, what about you, dad? Never sin. Never. Not once. Ever. I've never sinned. I'm a saint, not a sinner. I'm only a sinner saved by... Well, I'm not a sinner, I'm a saint. I said, what is going on here? And then he would point to these verses, and I couldn't wrap my head around them. But when I learned those things, it made sense in my head to where... I don't know if that helps you yet, Brother Phil. Expound on that. Good. That's good. Paul is a tent maker, that's temporary. Jesus is a carpenter. And you know what Jesus did? He went to prepare a place for us. And let me just ruin your day real quick before we quit here. How many of you heard we have a mansion in heaven? And the Bible says that we have a mansion. A mansion over the hilltop, right? Now, I'm going to propose something to you tonight because of the Bible in 2 Corinthians 5. I'm going to say that your mansion in heaven probably doesn't have five bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom, and a fireplace, so you can sit down and read Tom Clancy novels at night. Okay? In heaven, there's no night there. Right? There's no storms. If there's no night there, are you going to sleep? There goes your bedroom. Well, what do you need five bedrooms for if you're not even going to sleep? Now, here's the other thing. Is there going to be anything that defileth? There goes your bathrooms. But I want a mansion. Look, whatever God's giving you and He's building for you up there, it's a whole lot better than our definition of mansion down here. Right? Whatever he's building, this is our house down here, and you know what? I used to build houses, and I used to build houses on Pensacola Beach, and really nice houses cost several million dollars and stuff like that, and people were nuts for building them. You can't even own the land, you just lease it for a hundred years. Like, who would do that, right? But they would build all these million dollar houses out there and stuff, and they were nice, but they can't even touch this body. Right? God said, you can build a mansion on the beach out of cutting down all the living things I made and destroying it and build a house out there, but I can make a hand. Right? And if this has fallen and we think this is so terrible and we're groaning to get out of it, if this is cursed and if this is Stinks? Can you imagine what he... I mean, he made this just out of a pile of dirt in a few minutes, and he breathed on it and says, come on Adam, get up. And Adam's like, why did you make me out of a mud pipe? I only had a few seconds to work with. But he told them that I go to prepare a place for you, and that's been a couple thousand years. Right? And he has a lot of elements up there that we haven't even discovered yet. Maybe it's made out of space dust. I don't know. Alright, well let's pray and we'll be dismissed. Lord, thank You so much for Your Word. Thank You for the exciting things in Your Word. Thank You for being able to study and understand these things. And we pray that You'd give us greater understanding. And I pray that the study here in Romans tonight would be a blessing to someone and help them on their way in their Christian life. In Jesus' name, Amen. You're dismissed.