Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome here to our afternoon service at Calvary Baptist Church of Trehearne. And once again, welcome to those in Trinidad all over the world via internet. Please open the hymnal to number 290. 290, be still my soul. Number 290. Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side. Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side. order and provide. In every chance, ye faithful will remain. Be still, my soul, let this thy heavenly frame leads to a joyful end. Be still, my soul, thy God doth undertake to guide the future as he has the past. Thy hope, thy On old Viznir you shall be bright at last Be still, my soul, the waves and wind shall know His voice who ruled than while he dwelt below. Be still, my soul, we are with hastening on, when we shall be forever with the Lord. when grief and fear are gone. Sorrow forgot, love's furious joys restored. Be still, my soul, when chains and tears are parted. All safe and blessed, we shall meet at last. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful this afternoon that we can be at rest with Thee. We don't have to be troubled in our hearts. Don't have to be worried about what's coming. We're thankful that we know that we have a God who is in charge, who's in control. Thankful that we can be held in thy hand when we're saved. We pray for anyone that's joined us this afternoon that's not saved, that they might see their need to turn to thee in humility, to be forgiven, to be saved, to know thy peace in their hearts. We continue to pray for our country of Canada, pray for souls to be saved in this country, pray for our meetings with the Filipinos, that we can be a help to them as well. We're thankful for those that join us and just pray that thy will be accomplished there in each one's life and that we would be a help to them. We continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for Jews across the world to be saved, for peace to come to the literal land of Israel, Mr. Netanyahu would be saved. Pray for the soldiers that are out there fighting, for their families as well, that many would come to know thy peace and blessing. We pray for the hostages that they'd be released soon. Pray for the Arabs in Israel, as well as around that area, that many of those would get saved as well. As well as for those that are moving into our country to cause trouble, we pray that we'd be a good testimony to them. Just pray that we would honor Thee and Thy will be accomplished in our service here. We'd allow Thee to direct us that we would receive a blessing from Thee. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. And over to 314. 314. I am Thine, O Lord. now 314. I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice, and it showed Thy love to me. But I long to rise in the arms of faith, and be closer now to Thee. Draw me near, nearer, blessed Lord, to Thy cross, life. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side. Concentrate me now to thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine. Let my soul to come with a steadfast hope, And my will be lost in Thine. Domine Re, Re, Reblessed Lord, To the cross where Thou hast died. Domine Re, Re, Reblessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding sun All the pure delights of a single arms That before thy throne I spent When I knelt in prayer and with thee my God And communed as friend with friend Dominere Mirror, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou wast Thine. Draw me nearer, Mirror, blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side. There are depths of love that I cannot till I cross the narrow sea. There are heights of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace with Thee. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou art lying. Draw me nearer, And over to 498, 498. Glory to his name. Number 489, sorry. Down at the cross where my Savior died Down where for cleansing from sin I cried There to my heart was the blood applied Glory to His name Glory to His name Glory to His name to my heart was a blood applied. Glory to His name. I am so wondrously saved from sin. Jesus so sweetly abides within. There at the cross where He took me in. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. There to my heart was a blood applied. Glory to His name. O precious fountain that saves from sin I am so glad I have entered in There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean Glory to His name Glory to His name Glory to His name There to my heart was a blood applied, Glory to His name! Come to this fountain so rich and sweet, Cast thy poor soul at the Saviour's feet, Planced in today and be made complete, Glory to His name! Glory to his name. Glory to his name. There to my heart was a plan applied. Glory to his name. Take your Bibles and turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Gonna be reading there this afternoon from verses 26 2.31. We'll stand please for reading of God's Word, Hebrews chapter 10, beginning there at verse 26. For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful this afternoon again that we have thy word, thankful for the book of Hebrews, which helps us again to remember that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is better than the Old Testament law, the Old Testament covenants, because the Lord Jesus Christ is able to forgive our sins. His shed blood on the cross of Calvary was required for us to be able to be forgiven and saved. And we're thankful that we can know that we have been forgiven. So we pray again for each one that's listening this afternoon. Thou knowest the heart of each one. If there's someone listening that is still bound in their sin, I pray that they would see that they can be forgiven. They can be saved. They can begin to live in victory in their lives. We pray for those of us that are saved that we'd be growing in thee and allowing you to direct us in our daily walk. We pray that thou wouldst help us again to set aside any hindrance that would keep us from receiving the blessing that thou wouldst have for us this afternoon. May thy will be accomplished in the study of thy word, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. The title of the message this afternoon is The Mighty Hand of God. The Mighty Hand of God. Our world is in a mess, not just our country, but the world is in a mess. And that mess began when Adam chose to sin against God. With the increase in population, the number of lost people has increased because everybody born from Admoniv is born as a lost individual. Those who fear the Lord have always been in the minority since the fall of man. And they will never make up the majority on this earth. During the beginning of the millennium, there will only be saved people on this earth. But as the time moves on, the majority of the people, even in the millennium, will be lost because they're born lost and they will never repent and be saved. But it is important for us to hear the word of God and to be saved. So the first thing we want to notice from this passage is willful sin. Willful sin. Last time, we noted the importance of holding fast the profession of our faith. And this exhortation, it's obvious that it has not been adhered to very well in church history. This week, I clicked on a website that was a hymnsing So it's a place where it was a Baptist church that they were going to be singing hymns for about an hour, I guess it was. So I clicked on it, and it was a Baptist church. They had a song leader. And it started out, I don't even remember what song it started with, but it started out good. But then the song leader, the next song that he was going to lead the church, there was a choir there, and the congregation. The next song he's going to lead them in, he said, the Baptists tend to sing this song a little too slowly. And then he talked about the pianist they had that was from the Church of God, which is a false religion. Why they had that pianist in the Baptist church, but obviously it tells you something about the church. And he said, this pianist knows how to sing it like the charismatics, play it like the charismatics do. And so that's how we're going to play it and sing it. And they did. That church, whether it ever was a true Baptist church or not, I don't know. But they demonstrated with their choice of music that they didn't know the truth now. So I didn't stay on that site. It's important for us to understand the importance of keeping the truth alive. We don't have to try to make the truth alive. It is alive. I remember in the past that people have attended our church and they said, your church is too dead. It needs to be more lively. Well, what they're talking about is they like more rocked up music. They like the CCM style of music. Our church is alive because we have the living word of God. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me. So our church is alive. It's just that people don't like the life that God offers. They want something else. They want what the devil offers. That's what Eve accepted by deception. That's what Adam chose to believe. was a different way of living, which was actually death. Physically alive, but spiritually dead. So in our text tells us the danger of willful sinning. If we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Let's go back into the Old Testament. In the book of Numbers, Numbers chapter 15. Numbers chapter 15, we're gonna read there verses 28 to thirty one let's start verse twenty seven says and if any soul send through ignorance then he shall bring actually gold of the first year for a sin offering and the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that's in this ignorantly when he sent it by ignorance before the lord to make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that doeth aught presumptuously, whether he be born in the land or a stranger, The same reproacheth the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among the people. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off. His iniquity shall be upon him. Then we'll go over to Deuteronomy. Chapter 17. Deuteronomy chapter 17. And verse 12. And the man that will do so presumptuously and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, or that man, even that man shall die, and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously. So that's the background to what the writer of Hebrews is telling us in chapter 10. Twice here, God warned the nation of Israel, whether it's a person who is born and raised in Israel, or whether it's a stranger that is living amongst them. If the person sins presumptuously, which is to sin knowing what is right, but choosing to do what is wrong. There's no sacrifice for that. God allows for a person to sin who sins ignorantly, doesn't accept it, doesn't say it's okay, but he knows that we sin out of ignorance. And when an Old Testament person sinned out of ignorance, there was a sacrifice they could offer to cover for that sin. But the person that ignored the facts and decided to sin anyway, that person was to be cut off from the nation. There was no remedy for that sin. So we come to our text now, and God is using that as the background to the fact of someone who sins willfully after they have received the truth regarding who Jesus Christ is and why he came. So it tells us there again back in Hebrews 11, 26, for if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth. The book of Hebrews has been giving us the knowledge of the truth. Jesus Christ is the eternal son of God. Jesus Christ came to shed his blood on the cross of Calvary for our sins. Jesus Christ is the only one who provides forgiveness of sin through his shed blood. So to ignore that and to say, well, that's fine, and claim to be a Christian, having received the knowledge of the truth, but then saying, But I want to go to the bar. I want to go to that dance. I want to go and have some liquor. I want to go and use some drugs. I want to go and curse and swear. Whatever it is. That person, it says, there's no place of forgiveness. Why is that? Well, because what happens when a person who knows the truth decides to sin? He is rejecting the sacrifice that was made on his behalf. When we reject the sacrifice of Jesus' shed blood, where are we going to go for forgiveness? Where can you find forgiveness if you won't receive it from the only place that it's available? And when God forgives, he removes the stain of the sin, and in salvation, he gives us eternal life, John 1, 12, as many as received him, unto them gave he the power to be called sons of God. So the Christian, again, is the one who has the power to say no to sin and yes to God. So when the Christian says, Yes, I've been forgiven and saved, but I want to sin. Why should God then forgive him? And according to our text, he doesn't. Because it's a willful sin. It's choosing to go the wrong way after we know the right way. So it tells us in verse 27 that instead of the sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. That's why the Bible warns those who are saved that if we choose to sin and die without forgiveness of that particular sin, we lose rewards. The Christian can't lose their salvation, but the Christian can lose rewards. And the Bible tells us of that danger, that there's a danger of losing out on blessings that God promises to the child of God but blessings that the child of God will not receive because he deliberately chose not to follow God's way. Again, it's not a matter of working for salvation. It's a matter of being saved, but refusing to follow God's way after being saved. There's a danger there. So we've been looking in the book of Hebrews at the fact that Jesus Christ is better than the angels, than the prophets, than the apostles, better because he forgives sin. Were the prophets wrong? No. Was the Old Testament law wrong? No. Were the apostles wrong? No. But none of them could forgive sins. Jesus Christ needed to do that. Everything before him pointed to him. It set the way to Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ came, he replaced everything that came before him. And he showed that he is the Savior. So those who are saved need to be reminded, as the writer of Hebrews tells us, that we need to be reminded of the importance of realizing who we are in Christ. We've talked many times that Christian life is the only life there is. It's worth living. We can live the Christian life. It's not a dreadful life. It's a good life. But there are responsibilities that come with being a child of God. God doesn't tell us that to scare anyone away from being a Christian. In fact, the writer of the book of Hebrews is writing to saints. He's not writing this to lost people, he's writing to saints and helping the saints to realize, because keep in mind in the book of Hebrews, one of the problems being addressed is the problem of the Judaizers. The Galatians is another book that deals with the Judaizers as well. The Judaizers were like the Pharisees. And they were believing that it's okay to trust in Jesus, but you still have to keep the law in order to be saved. The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ is the end of the law for those who trust in him. We don't live by law-keeping. Nobody is saved by law-keeping, but many lost people think that they will make it to heaven by law-keeping. Used to be you could talk to people and you could ask them, are you going to heaven when you die? Well, I hope so. Why do you hope you're going to heaven? Well, I tried to keep the Ten Commandments. That won't help you. It won't do a thing for you. But that's how many people think. I don't know about nowadays anymore because we have come so far away from most people even having any sense of the fear of God anymore that most people don't even think that way anymore. They don't care. They're so dead in their sins. That's a real danger as well. But for those of us that are saved, the Bible warns us that We need to live like Christians. The second thing we see here is the danger of treading Jesus underfoot. Verse 29, or verse 28, it says, he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. So we're reminded here in the Old Testament, someone that broke Moses' law which was God's law given by Moses, not telling us that this is some independent law, but it's the law that God gave to Moses for the people. But there needed to be witnesses to authenticate that the person had broken the law. It wasn't enough for someone to say, I saw that person do this wrong. And that's enough. There had to be two or three witnesses. And it tells us that if there were two or three witnesses, there was no mercy. So the Old Testament, for instance, talks about adultery. So if a woman or a man was caught in adultery, and there were two or three witnesses, that person was to be stoned to death. Remember when Jesus was on the earth that they brought a woman to him, caught in adultery. Who brought that woman to him? The elders. It wasn't one person, there were several men that brought this woman to Jesus. What did Jesus do with that case? Well, he showed those men that they were not in any position to bring this woman before Jesus. They had two or three witnesses, supposed witnesses, but again, when we look at the matter of adultery, it takes two people to commit adultery. One person can't do it. So they brought a woman, where was the man? Maybe one of them was the man, who knows? Doesn't tell us. But they only brought the woman. And Jesus stooped down on the ground and started writing. We're not told what he wrote, so we don't need to imagine what he wrote. We don't know. But Jesus started writing. And as he was writing, one by one, those men left. And it ended up being Jesus and the woman there. And Jesus asked her where all the men were, and they were gone. And none of them could condemn her of her sin. And Jesus said he didn't condemn her either and told her to go and sin no more. And of course, the only way that she could meet that criteria is not because she would never sin again, but if she were to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for her salvation, and when she sinned, she would ask forgiveness and be forgiven and cleansed. So looking at our text again, he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose he, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. So the blood of the covenant, that's Jesus Christ's blood. So here we see that the person who sins willfully as a Christian is in fact saying that Jesus' blood is not worthy. Jesus' blood cannot change me. That's what we say when we choose to sin willfully after we've been saved. So it says here, the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified. What's that word sanctified mean? It means to be set apart unto holiness, set apart unto God. And so it says here that this person who chooses to sin willfully is looking at that sacrifice of Jesus Christ as an unholy thing. Unholy in the sense that it is not able to do what the Bible says it can do. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's the promise. The saved individual has everlasting life. The saved individual is passed from death unto life. The saved individual has been made a new creature in Christ. Many other things the Bible tells us. So we have been set apart, sanctified, but we have decided if we want to live in sin, We have decided that that is an unholy thing and have done despite unto the spirit of grace. Now, the Calvinist takes grace and uses grace as a license to sin. If you go back in your Bibles to Romans chapter six. Romans chapter six. Romans chapter 6 and verse 1, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? What is the purpose of God's grace? Well, let's go to Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 16. Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So what is the purpose of that spirit of grace that we read about in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 29, I believe it is. What was that verse there? Yeah, verse 29, the spirit of grace. What is the purpose of that spirit of grace? That spirit of grace is there to help us to live the Christian life. We're saved by God's grace. Once we are saved, we live by God's grace. We don't live and trust in ourselves, we trust in God. So that spirit of grace is there to help the child of God to overcome temptation. That spirit of grace is not there to say, well, we all sin, and so therefore, yes, I sin, but it's okay, because we all sin. And that's how too many people look at grace today. They look at it as something by which God overlooks our sin and accepts us in spite of our sin. That's not biblical grace. But there are many people who think they can live that way. You can't live that way. It's important to live by God's grace, which is that ability for the child of God, as we read again in Hebrews 4.12, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13, it tells us that God has made a way of escape when we are tempted. Where's that way of escape? Well, I believe Romans or Hebrews 4, 16 gives us an answer to that. We run, it says, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. So when we are tempted, we run to God. And we ask God to help us to overcome the temptation. We don't entertain it. We don't follow through with it. We ask God to help us to overcome it. David was on the roof of his house. Bathsheba was on the roof of her house. She was taking a bath. David couldn't sleep and so he's up there and the moon must have been shining. The stars must have been shining. He sees this woman up there taking a bath. He doesn't know who she is, but he sees her up there taking a bath. Of course, when you take a bath, you're not dressed. He sees her, his mind takes off with him, and he wants that woman. He likes what he sees, even in the distance. And so he asks that she be brought over. And we know the story. David already committed adultery in his heart by looking at that woman with lust. Then he brought her over and he committed that act of adultery physically with her. But it started in his heart because he chose to, rather than trust in God, he had more than one wife then already, too many, But rather than trust in God, he allowed his own flesh to control and he committed sin. By God's grace, he was not killed for that, should have been stoned, but God did not. He used that as a testimony, as a picture to David, but to the nation as well. David brought shame upon himself, upon his own house, and upon the nation of Israel because of his sin. A hard lesson for David, a hard lesson for his family, a hard lesson for the nation of Israel. And yet today there are still many people who are saved, married, and still committing adultery. We today, as it says in the book of Acts, in times past God winked at those things, but now requires that everybody repent. So the important difference is that David lived prior to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, prior to the giving of the Holy Spirit to indwell the child of God, But today, we, those who are saved, we don't have any excuse. We cannot look at David and say, David sinned with Bathsheba, God forgave him and allowed him to keep her as one of many wives. We can't look at it and say it was justified for us today to commit adultery. That somehow a man can leave his wife and marry another woman and it's okay because David did it. We can't do that. The Bible tells us that one woman, one man for life. And the Bible tells us that if we put God first, that relationship will work. It won't work when God is not first in our lives. So, We better be careful, because it tells us here that when we ignore what God has provided through Jesus Christ, it's like trotting underfoot the Son of God. That's a very terrible thing to try to do. Now, ultimately, we can't do that, but we can try to do that, and we can make it look as if God's salvation is cheap. that it's not effective, that it cannot bring about the victory God says it will. We have the individual that we've mentioned before, Jack Hiles. Jack Hiles was famous for trotting underfoot the Son of God. Personally, I doubt that Jack Hiles was a saved man, but even if he was, and God knows that, I don't need to know that. I do need to know that following his example is wrong. Using him as a pedestal of a good godly man is wrong. He's no one to follow after. He's someone to warn people of, danger zone, stay away. And so there's a warning given to us here in regard to how we need to live the Christian life and how that we need to be careful not to take that precious gift of the blood of Jesus Christ and trod that underfoot by thinking that we can sin when we know it's wrong And we think that we can say, well, we live by God's grace. And so therefore, I can pray and ask God to forgive me after I have yielded to temptation. Wrong attitude. God says, don't do it. Third thing we see here is don't fall into the hands of God. verses 30 and 31. For we know. So again, this is something, this is not something that's done in ignorance. We have the book of Hebrews. We've come far enough now in the book of Hebrews that there are things that we know. So everybody that's been listening to our study of the book of Hebrews now, everyone that has been listening knows this. Some of those who've been listening are not saved. So they don't know it in their hearts, but they've heard it. Those that are saved, we know it in our hearts. For we know him that has said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, sayeth the Lord, and again, the Lord shall judge his people. So we don't need to be concerned. That's again, we go back to the issue of marriage. A Christian or a person, generally speaking, doesn't go to the church to get a divorce. Now, in the Catholic religion, you go to the church to get an annulment. But even the Catholics don't grant a divorce. They grant an annulment. But anybody that wants a divorce goes to the courts. and they get their divorce through the courts. And then they may go to a church to get sanctioned on their adultery, which they call remarriage. They may do that, but they don't get it from the Bible. The minister has to ignore the word of God, has to reject the word of God in order to officiate at such a situation. And the Bible tells us, vengeance belongeth unto me. God's going to repay any sin. So we need to understand that it does not matter what some person says is okay. What matters is what does God say? Does God accept that action that you took as legitimate? Does God say white lies are white lies? Does God even say there is such a thing as a white lie? And the answer is no. And so we need to be careful that we don't twist what God says and make God's word into a mockery. And then in verse 31, it says, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We want to be in God's hand, John chapter 10, but we don't want to fall into that hand because we have sinned. And so we know from the word of God, we know from our study of the book of Hebrews, that to ignore what God has said, be saved and ignore what God has said and live like a new evangelical, live like the carnal Christians in the book of Corinthians did, live like the emergent church people do, that doesn't work. It doesn't matter, again, how many preachers are out there that say it does work. It doesn't work. It doesn't matter how many followers of Jack Hiles there are out there that say, that's okay. You are living in sin, but you're still good. You're just backslidden. No, it doesn't matter what those people say. What matters is what does God say? Can you prove that from the Bible? And the answer is no, you can't prove that from the Bible. And that's what we need to concern ourselves with. And so the warning is given here to anyone who wants to claim that they can commit sin willfully and say, well, but God is a God of grace. And so he'll forgive. He'll give me, there's a common phrase that I've heard Too many times recently is that God is the God of the second chance. And that phrase, again, doesn't come from the Bible. It comes from the devil. God is willing to forgive sin, no doubt about it. But as we noted already, even in the Old Testament, to sin presumptuously, there was no sacrifice for that. Here in the book of Hebrews, which is New Testament, just in case someone says, yeah, but that's Old Testament, doesn't apply. But here in the New Testament, it says, if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. That's New Testament. That's after Jesus Christ died, shed his blood, was buried, rose again, ascended back to heaven. This is after that. There's no place to go when we want to live in sin and claim to be a child of God. No place to go. So it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Again, the born-again Christian can't lose their salvation, but the born-again Christian can lose rewards. The Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy as a younger man. The Apostle Paul encouraged him that there's a crown of righteousness awaiting him, the Apostle Paul, but also all those who walk in the fear of the Lord, who walk in the truth. So every true child of God wants that crown of righteousness. He doesn't want to lose it. And yet there are many who are in danger of losing that. Obviously, that crown of righteousness is available. The Apostle Paul said he was looking forward to receiving it. He was encouraging Timothy to be living in such a way that he would receive it as well. So obviously it's there for those who are saved. But if we as saved individuals don't live right, we have the book of the Revelation where Jesus addressed seven different churches. And there was a danger in many of those seven churches of losing out on blessings from God that God promised to the saints And they were in danger of missing that because they were not following God's word. The church in Corinth had lost their first love. Some of the churches were entertaining the spirit of Jezebel, the spirit of Balaam, and other problems that were in the churches then. They were still churches, but they were in trouble. And so the danger is for those who are truly saved, who want to, in our time, follow the philosophy of new evangelicalism, of the new emergent church idea, following that. And as I observe the independent Baptist churches of our time right now, I am seeing more and more of them following that spirit. of the compromise rather than holiness. That's not a good thing because the world is looking for answers. If Christians can't provide them with the answers, where are they supposed to turn for answers? There's nowhere else. They're not going to get it from the psychiatrist They're not going to get it from anywhere in the world. And when Christians refuse to accept the holiness of God, being sanctified, being set apart unto holiness, and when we say, no, that's not for me, that won't get me many people following me, we've got to change the message. We've got to adapt the message to suit the time in which we live. And so the end result is that we have a lot of people walking around thinking that they're saved, but they're not because they've been lied to. And not that they can't know the truth, but they've chosen to believe a lie because it's easier rather than seek out the truth and truly be forgiven and saved. So we need to be careful. We have the truth. We can know the truth. The truth is that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness, gives us a new nature. And when we sin, and we will, there's forgiveness. But when we choose to sin, and then still think, well, I can do this, my flesh wants it, I'm going to do this, but I'll come to God later and ask him to forgive me. The Bible says there's no more sacrifice for sin. We've trampled the blood of Jesus Christ underfoot. Where are you gonna go? When you spit in Jesus' face, where are you gonna go? When you say, I don't want that, I don't want that kind of holiness, I want a different brand of holiness, I wanna make up my own brand, where are you gonna go? When Jesus Christ is the one who saves, and when he saves, he gives us a new nature. So we need to be careful, we need to think carefully as we decide what we're going to do on a daily basis after we're saved. How are we going to live? Are we going to live for God? Or are we going to think that we can still play around in the devil's territory and still know the peace and blessing of God? And the biblical answer is, no, we can't. The biblical answer is we need to understand the importance of a holy walk with God, a separated walk with God, once we are saved. And there's great blessing in doing that. So let's not shortchange ourselves and think that we can have the pleasures of this world, which only lasts for a season, and still be blessed of God. In chapter 11, when we get there, we're going to see more of that. But it's important for us to be careful and understand what we have received in Christ, the riches of his gift of eternal life, of his salvation, that is a blessing for us to have and that we can help others when we walk in truth and show them the blessing that there is in God's forgiveness of sin. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we're thankful that we have thy word, thankful for the truthfulness of thy word, the privilege that we have of studying thy word, and that we truly can live in that spirit of grace. We don't have to be trapped in sin. We can find that help that we need, that we need in time of need, that Blessing that is there in walking by faith and not by sight. And we're thankful that we have that opportunity to know Thy forgiveness and blessing today. May Thy will be accomplished in the heart and life of each one that's listening, that each one would truly know Thy peace and truth. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.