Brother Price told me that those calendars are actually NASVBDC something. They're not they're not King James. No, I'm just kidding. No, I'm just kidding. No, no, no, no, please that would not happen here. Open up your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 11. Deuteronomy chapter 11, in verse 1 it says, Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments always. And know ye this day, for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, and his miracles, and his acts which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land. And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day. And what he did unto you in the wilderness until you came into this place. And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and the son of Reuben, how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession in the midst of all Israel. But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did. But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did. Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong and go in and possess the land whither ye go to possess it, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swear unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. For the land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt from whence he came out. Where thou sowest thy seed and waterest it with thy foot as a garden of herbs, but the land whither ye go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven, a land which the Lord thy God careth for. The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments, which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn and thy wine and thine oil, and I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle. that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit, and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thine house and upon thy gates, that your days may be multiplied in the days of your children in the land which the Lord swear unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him, then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you. And you shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours, from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even into the uttermost sea shall your coast be. There shall no man be able to stand before you, for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as He hath said unto you. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse, a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, and a curse if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God. but turn aside unto the way which I command you this day to go after other gods which ye have not known and it shall come to pass when the Lord thy God hath brought thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it that thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Ebel and they Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way, where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the Champagne, over against Gilgal, beside the plain of Moher? For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it and dwell therein. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I want to thank you so much for your goodness, grace, and your mercy. Lord, I pray that you'd fill me with thy Spirit, anoint me from on high, Lord. I pray that you'd speak to our hearts and move amongst us. Father, please, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, I ask all this. Amen. Here in verse 7 in chapter 11, it says, but your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did. And when I was praying about what to preach on, what had came to mind, what was already had actually been on my mind, was one of the things that I believe in. I believe it's a need that we need to take notice of. And that is that, you know what? You people, myself included, that have gone through some things that have actually maybe been redeemed from a life. We didn't get saved as children, as little ones. We got saved later on in life. I got saved as a 16-year-old teenage boy. But some of us that have seen some things and maybe got out there have messed up or actually been out there. You know, we need to warn our young people. We need to tell those about us. We need to share those things that, you know what, listen, you don't want to make those same mistakes. We've seen God deliver. We've seen the mighty hand of God chastise. We've, myself, experienced God's chastisement. Now, we need to show that we do care by sharing these things. Now, I understand that, you know what, sometimes advice that isn't asked for is, you know, Often it's despised and seldom heard. You know what I mean? And you know, you've heard things that just, you know, people say, let them learn for themselves. You know, I mean, I don't know how many times I've heard somebody tell me that. You know what? Let them learn for themselves. You know, I had to learn the hard way, you know. Wow, that's okay. I mean, why should they get it easy? Nobody made it easy for me. I mean, you've heard those things. But you've also heard those who don't know history are destined to repeat it. Why not allow your experience to help someone else and become a blessing? I mean, the truth is, yes, you may have had it hard. You had to learn the hard way. You were hard-headed. You had to learn for yourself. But does that mean you have to make everybody else do the same? Does that mean that you can't be a warning? You know, one of the reasons I sit there and I thank the Lord, that He allowed me to make it back. I mean, I'm talking about saved at 16, prodigal, just went off, messed up, lots of scars, baggage and whatnot, and He let me come back, He let me make it back. I believed, I said, why Lord, why would you allow me? to make it back. And one of the things that I just settled on, and one of the things that I believe, was that the Lord was saying, because you're going to warn folks. You're going to be a warning sign, because you've been down there. Don't keep your mouth shut. Don't sit there and say to yourself, well, let them learn the hard way. Don't have the attitude, well, You had to learn the hard way. I mean, you didn't have it so easy. So, you know, why should they get it easy? Well, the truth is, I don't believe that. I don't think that's the reason that the Lord allowed me to make it back. I mean, I remember I used to tell my brother all the time, I used to say, Shannon, if you want to know how bad it is, just ask and I'll tell you. I'm not going to hold any punches, pull back any punches. I'm not going to sugar coat it. I'm not going to do any of that whatsoever. I'm going to let you know how it is. And one of the things I believe that we need to do is be a warning and a help to others. I mean, listen, I understand that some people fear, well, they're not going to listen anyways. You're right. You're going to have folks, they're not going to listen anyway. You're going to tell them how it is, and guess what? They ain't going to care. They ain't going to listen. But guess what? They can't say that you didn't care enough to share and tell them. They're not going to be able to say, hey, you know what? Why didn't somebody tell me? Why didn't somebody warn me? You know, that was one of my things. I used to say to myself, you know what, why didn't folks at Liberty Baptist Church walk up, grab me by the scuff of the neck or the, you know, grab me by the scuff of the shirt, pull me up and close their face and say, you're making a big mistake. Do not go off and do this. You know, don't go down that road. Brother Taylor, very wise, told me when I mentioned this to him, he said, would you have listened? I said, no, I wouldn't have listened. But guess what? I wish somebody would have still given me the opportunity. I really do. And it's probably true. I probably would not have listened. Now, don't get me wrong. I mean, from the pulpit, of course I was given warning after warning after warning. I don't know how many messages Brother Bach would preach in devotions and youth activities and constantly warning us teenagers and warning us not to go down those roads, not to make those decisions. And yet, for some reason, I can't remember. I can't remember all those messages. I do remember when he sat there in that van and he looked over to me and he said, You can let this help you or you can let it hurt you. You can let it help you when you realize the time is very short. Life is very short. And you can try to win as many people to the Lord as you possibly can. Try to warn as many people. Or you can let this hurt you. And cause you to get bitter. Sure enough, that's what I did. But here are some things that you can not do when you're sharing. Don't do these things. Don't make these mistakes. And the reason I know some of these is because I've made these mistakes when sharing that road. Do not make sin desirable. Don't make sin desirable. Listen, it's tempting enough as it is. You don't need to help it out. I don't know how many times I've been telling an account, a story, and the truth is, it's got a horrible, tragic ending. It may be a night of revelry. And for some reason, I made it sound too desirable. I didn't make it sound, for what it was, drunken debauchery that ended at a commode. You know? You know, praying. Let me live through this! Please! I'll never do this again! I mean, you know, I didn't, I didn't, uh, it was a wrecked car. Yeah. Ended wrecking the car. You know, had to flee the scene. You know, why didn't I make it, why didn't I make it sound as bad as it truly was? One of the things, I think I've made a terrible mistake in doing it, I've messed up, is I've made it as though sin was something that might just be acceptable to toy with. You know, like it was fun, like you'd miss out if you didn't go and sow some wild oats, or you didn't experience this one day in your life. And that is a terrible mistake. In Isaiah 5, verse 20, it says, Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. You see, my responsibility and my job was not to make sin pleasant. It's not to make sin desirable. Remember, I'll tell I'd tell the story of as a as a teenage as a wall actually I was younger than she knows probably 9 10 11, you know right around there I Got this bright idea to take a sheet a bed sheet and I tied one side one corner around this wrist and I tied this other corner around my other wrist and then I tied the other corner down around my ankle and I tied the other corner around my other ankle and I climbed up on the roof and And I was like, all right, you know what? Those flying squirrels, they're able to do it. I mean, it's similar to a parachute. I mean, physics, air should be captured into this sheet, and I should float to the ground. That is not what happened. I mean, I'm talking flat. I don't even know why I didn't put my hands in front of my face, in front of my body, or even fall, you know. I just like jumped out and quack! Knocked the air out of me. You know, after rolling around, I said to myself, I think I wasn't high enough to actually give it time to capture air. So what I need to do is I need to get up higher. So I climbed into a tree. And I mean, climbing into a tree with this sheet is kind of, it ain't, it isn't easy. You know, it was very difficult. And somewhere up the tree, I really wish it would have hit me that this is not gonna end well. So I got up in this tree and I'm like, okay, here it goes. And I jumped out and now here's where it hit me. That really, really hurt. And this is probably going to hurt again. So then I jumped and reached out and went ahead and grabbed another branch. And I swung out and did not fall. But I'm holding on. And now I've got extended arms. Well, now my feet are up like this. And I'm hanging there like this with my knees pointed straight down. And I'm yelling, help! And I'm like, you know what? I'm going to shatter my kneecaps. There's no way I can let go. I can't let go. Now, it didn't occur to me that if I let go, when I let go, bring my hands down as quick as possible so I can bring my feet up underneath me so I can land. Didn't occur to me. I hung there for quite some time. Some folks driving by saw me in my state, came out, helped me down out of this tree. But you know what? Listen to me. Now when I told my children this story, when I talk to folks and I tell kids this story, you know what? It'd be very dangerous if I don't make it sound pretty, pretty dangerous. Possible death, broken neck, shattered, you could be crippled for quite some time. If I don't make this, you know, for what it is, extremely dangerous. I mean, you know, you've got to go through classes and courses and practice for you to parachute and do this. I mean, they run you through all this. You just don't go up in a plane and jump. I mean, that's not the way that goes, you know. And surely they do not take you up in a tree and have you jump out, you know. You actually practice your jump out of just a few feet off the ground. Just practice jumping out. If I don't make sure, I could end up not making sin as desirable as it can come out. You know, you've heard people, they talk about alcohol. And you know what? They talk about it like they miss it. They talk about some college night or something like that, and it's like that they missed it. They missed the best years of their life or something like, oh man, those were the best years of, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. At the end they throw in, yeah, but don't do that, it's wrong. I mean, really? You've heard people from the pulpit say, you know, now I'm not trying to glorify sin. Now, and they'll give you an example of something, and there are those you can tell, like, well, they're good, they're not, they're really making sin exceedingly sinful, and they're not trying to glorify sin. Some won't, I've actually heard some not even speak of it and go there, because they don't want to make it something that seems desirable. That's what we have to be careful for. Do not make sin desirable when you're sharing. When you're trying to, you know, Lead somebody the right way. When you're trying to actually, hey, you know what? You don't want to make that mistake. I've made that same mistake or a similar mistake. I've messed up also. You don't want to go down that road. You don't want to add, well, there's a ramp at the end. And if you hit it just right, I mean, you can just launch off and fly. No, come on. Don't make it so desirable. Knuckleheads like me go, yeah, I'll be the one that survives. And that's not the case. That's not the case. Number two, don't forget to give God the glory. You know the reason that we make it through some of those things? You know the reason that we've messed up, we've gotten our face down in the hog pen and we've just, you know, Made it out It's because of God Only by the grace and mercy of God. Are you kidding me? How can how could I forget to give God the glory? Like I did it in my own power like well, you know, I just wised up one day Hello, I did not wise up one day you know the Lord had to press down upon me and You know what? Hey, this is it. In the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4 we have a story of Nebuchadnezzar. Who thinks Nebuchadnezzar wrote this? wrote this part. Nebuchadnezzar the king unto all people, nations, languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs and how mighty are his works, wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his dominion is from generation to generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house and flourishing in my palace. I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the Asusayers, and I told the dream before them. But they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. But at the last, Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belshazzar, according to the name of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And before him I told the dream, saying, O Belshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, And no secret troubleth thee? Tell me the vision of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. Thus were the visions of my head in my bed. I saw and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. And the tree grew and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all. And the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a Watcher and a Holy One came down from heaven. He cried aloud and said, thus you down the tree and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves and scatter his fruit. Let the beast get away from under it and the fowls from his branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the field. And let it be wet with the dew of heaven and let his portion be with the beast in the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven times pass over him. This matter is by the decree of the Watcher, and the demand by the word of the Holy Ones, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the beasts of men, bassest of men. This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now there, O Belshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, for as much as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation, but thou art Then Daniel, whose name was Belshazzar, was astonished for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake and said, O Belshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation thereof trouble thee. Belshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. "...the tree that thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth, whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much. And in it was meat for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation. It is thou, O king, thou art grown and become strong, for thy greatness is grown and reached unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. And whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from heaven and saying, Hew the tree down and destroy it, yet leave the stump and the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron, brass, and the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him. This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which come upon my lord the king. that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. Wherefore, O King, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility. All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar, and at the end of 12 months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth. There fell a voice from heaven, saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar." You know, this is what took place because Nebuchadnezzar failed to give God the glory. You see, in verse 37 it says, Listen, don't forget to give God the glory. I mean, if you're sharing an experience, don't forget. Please, let us not. It's a shame how many times I think that I've given some account or some sort of story or experience that I've gone through, and I failed to give my God the glory for his mercy, for his strength, for his power. Why wouldn't God let any more than 300 go? Because he said, hey, you know what? They're gonna take the glory. They're gonna accept the win as their own. There's so many of them here. He whittled it down to 300. Why? Because there's no way they could take the glory for that one. You know what? God had to whittle us down some. And sometimes, if we're not careful, we'll forget to give God the glory. Do not forget to give God the glory when you're sharing. Number three, do not teach wrong. Do not teach wrong. Go to 2 Chronicles. The book of 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles chapter 21. 2 Chronicles chapter 21 verse 1. We're going to talk about Jehoram. In verse 1, 2nd Chronicles 21 it says now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead and he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat Azariah and Jehiel and Zechariah and Azariah and meet now I may mess a lot of these names up okay so please I don't I don't claim to know how to pronounce any one of these. So if you've got a different, you know, it's actually supposed to be said this way. I just try to say I'm like the way Alexander Scorby said taught me, you know, I'm just kidding. I don't I don't even get him that good. But anyways, just like his voice whenever he's reading them. So. Michael Shefetaya. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel. And their father gave them great gifts of silver and of gold and of precious things with fenced cities in Judah. But the kingdom gave he to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and slew all his brethren with the sword, and diverse also the princes of Israel. Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab. For he had the daughter of Ahab to wife." No wonder. I mean, man, he took the daughter of Ahab. Wicked King Ahab. Who's... Where did she learn all this? Who was her mom? Jezebel, wasn't that? Anyways. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab. For he had the daughter of Ahab to wife, and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord. Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the covenant that he had made with David. And as he had promised to give a light to him, and to his sons forever. In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah and made themselves a king. Then Jehoram went forth with his princes and all his chariots with him. And he rose up by night and smote the Edomites, which compassed him and the captains of the chariots. So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libna revolt from under his hand, because he had forsaken the law of the Lord God of his fathers. Moreover, he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto. And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, because thou hast not walked in the ways of Joseph, thy father, nor in the ways of Asa, king of Judah, but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a-whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself. Behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people, thy children, thy wives, and all thy goods, and thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day." That's pretty horrible. But you know what? He was teaching the children of Israel wrong. He was leading them wrong. You know what? I remember I messed up and I got put in jail. I'm glad I got put in jail as a young person because it started my... my criminal activity, my record quickly. I mean, I can't imagine if I had never been caught and never experienced jail and until later, later on. I mean, who knows what kind of wicked ungodly criminal I would have been or things that I may have committed. But I'll tell you this, I ended up in jail young. And it was amazing to me. It was amazing that, you know what, how many of these criminals were trying to teach me how to do it right? Here's where you made your mistake. What? Oh, I'm in jail. I messed up. I shouldn't have done this in the first place. But you're trying to teach me where I made my mistake. They'd say things like, next time. Oh, so next time. They'd say things like, I should have. And it didn't end with I should have. Not done that in the first place, and I should have got in church. No, it wasn't not like, I should have done this instead, so and so. This was my mistake, and it wasn't theft, stealing, taking wasn't mine. No, it was, well, it was like a solution as to how not to get caught next time. I wouldn't have gotten caught if, what? I mean, even as a young person, I was like thinking, This doesn't sound like what I should be hearing. You older fellas should be telling me, look, buddy, if you make it out of here, you better not ever come back here. Don't, you know, get right, do right, get in school, get your education, you know, stop that activity, get yourself a job, join the military or something. I mean, they should have had something other than this, you know, criminal training. You know, I was like, wow. You know, get in trouble, get locked up, and now they want to teach me how to be better at doing this. That shouldn't be the way we portray ourselves when we're sharing the experiences that we've had to go through. It shouldn't be a training how to sin, training how to do wrong, you know. It's not like, you know, you tell how drinking is wrong and how the Lord, you know, saved your soul and then he helped you to kick this wicked, ungodly sewer water, you know. It shouldn't come out with some, there was this favorite drink of mine, and then how to make it. Really? That doesn't, for one, it doesn't make sin exceedingly sinful. Number two, what are you trying to teach him how to make it? The recipe? I mean, really? Well, after some things that we shouldn't do, here's some things that we can do when we're sharing. Make sin exceedingly sinful. Romans says, let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil. That's kind of strong. That is really truly kind of strong. Abhor that which is evil. You know, I'd sit there and I'd read about these bus captains, you know, telling these bus programs. And, wow, this one bus captain brought this pack of cigarettes. It was just a box. Brought it on the bus. And, I mean, he was preaching against smoking. And he took that thing and he threw that thing down and he started stomping it and kicking it. And, I mean, he was going crazy over this thing. I mean, just... I was like, wow, if that ain't making smoking exceedingly sinful, how wicked and ungodly this is. This could destroy your life. And have you seen some people that have smoked years and years and years? It looks like the years got sucked out of them. But I mean, I remember I used to clean houses for a living. And we used to get these contracts where we'd go into these apartments, and they'd have fully furnished apartments for people that would come into town. They would get themselves a fully furnished apartment, and then they'd stay there. I mean, it had everything. It had the silverware, all of it, fully furnished and everything. They'd stay there, and then they'd pack up and leave and take their stuff. But a lot of times, they'd leave the refrigerator with a bunch of things in it. I don't know how many times I'd go, and I'd open up the refrigerator, and I got to clean out this refrigerator, and there'd be a bunch of alcohol in it. There'd be a bunch of liquor in there. And I thought to myself, wow, this is an opportunity. I one time grabbed a bunch of this alcohol and we went out to the dumpster and I had my kids sitting up on top of the the car and we were Smashing that stuff into the dumpster and we were saying how wicked and ungodly this is disgusting I mean, this is the devil's sewer water I mean, he just wants to destroy your life and we're tossing it in there and throwing it in there. I wasn't sitting there pouring out going Like I was losing my best friend You know, make sure you make sin exceedingly sinful. In Genesis chapter 13, God says, but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Didn't really pull a whole lot of punches when it talks about, you know, man that sleeps with mankind, it's an abomination. I mean, well, you know, they just love in a different way. Really? It doesn't sound like it's exceedingly sinful. It sounds like it's almost becoming acceptable. Well, you gotta love them. Amen? Go ahead, love them. I'm not going unhugging on them. You know? Pray for them. They need to get right and get away from it. Number two, after making sin exceedingly sinful, what we can do when we share? is give God the glory. Who saved you? I mean, who rescued you? Who lifted you up out of the miry clay? Who took you up out and set you up on that rock? Give God the glory. The only reason I'm able to stand here tonight is because of the goodness, grace, and mercy of my God. I do not deserve to be here. I never will deserve to be standing here amongst you and before you, preaching from the Word of God. But because of God's grace, because God was so merciful to me, and said, you know what? I'm going to save his soul. And even after he's messed up, even after he's gotten some scars, Even after He went over there and did those wicked ungodly things, I still love Him. I'm going to keep Him alive, because He's going to warn people, and thank God, He's going to give Him the glory, because it's only by God's grace that I stand here tonight. Do not forget to give God the glory. Give Him the glory. If you made it back, if you've got some experience that you've lived through, when you share it, give God the glory. Number three is teach right. You know one of the best ways you can teach right? Live right. Live right. Do it right. You messed up. Well, now do right. Your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks a lot louder than your talk talks. You know, sometimes you can tell somebody something, but if you ain't doing it, they're kind of watching. You're like, well, you don't do that. You know, when you share, tell them how to do it right. Hey, look, I went down that road, and let me tell you something. It didn't end well. Well, I mean, you're here right now. Yeah, only by the goodness, grace, and mercy of God. I tell you what you do. Let's go down to the altar. Let's go down to the altar and pray together. And ask the Lord to give you victory over this. Now. Or let's pray right here and now about it. You want to teach somebody how to do right right away? Let's pray about this thing right now because you need help. Let's start it out right and go to God that can help you. That can help you get the victory over this. Teach right. Well, you might want to put it off. What? Teach right. Women, you know, the Bible tells the aged women to teach the younger how to do this and how to do that and how to do this and how to do... It doesn't say, teach them how to, you know, be tattlers and busybodies and, you know, gossipers and... No, it says, teach them how to do these other things. Do it. Teach the right way. Guys, I mean, listen, yes, we've gotten out there. Some of us have messed our lives up. Some of us have not gotten out there and tasted some of that, but you know somebody who did. Or you've had to experience it in your life because of a loved one. You can teach the right way. You can teach right. An old man going a lone highway came at the evening cold and gray to a chasm vast and deep and wide through which was flowing a sullen tide. The old man crossed in the twilight dim. The sullen stream had no fear for him, but he turned when safe on the other side and built a bridge to span the tide. Old man, said a fellow pilgrim near, you're wasting your strength with building here. Your journey will end with the evening day. You never again will pass this way. You've crossed the chasm deep and wide. Why build this bridge at evening tide? The builder lifted his old gray head. Good friend, in the path I have come, he said, there followed after me today a youth whose feet must pass this way. This chasm that has been is not to me. To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be. He too must cross in the twilight dim. Good friend, I am building this bridge for him. Listen, when sharing, show that you care by not making sin desirable, by not forgetting to give God the glory, by not teaching sin and wrong. What you can do is make sure when you do share, make sin exceedingly sinful for what it is. Give God the glory and teach right. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I want to thank you so much for your goodness, grace, and your mercy, Lord. Oh, Lord, thank you so much. Thank you for allowing us to be here this evening. Lord, it means that you care about us and you love us, Lord, to allow us another day. Father, I don't know how many times I've made the mistake, Lord, not giving you the glory, Lord, and many times I may have made sin desirable when it ought not have been.