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Romans chapter 6, and we're going to finish up Romans 6 here today, and last week we finished the first chapter of the chapter, and I'm not really in a long rush to get through Romans because there's a lot of great information, and the name of the sermon today is this, Whom Will Ye Serve? Whom will ye serve? And a comparison about who you're going to choose is often made in the Bible, but it's not always the same comparison. Sometimes you could say God versus the devil, sometimes you could say God versus money. Here in this sermon, what we're comparing is God versus sin, okay, because that's the comparison that's being made here, either serving God and obeying Him or serving and obeying sin, okay? Now notice verse 11, likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so the Bible says this, that when you get saved, the Bible says you're dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Being saved does not mean that you will change your life. It does teach you that you should change your life though. And as we talked about last week with baptism, that especially is a moment where basically you should realize, you know what, I should start serving God, okay? And so this comparison is made, and the first point is this, that in life you will serve one or the other. You will either serve God and obey Him or you're going to serve sin. It's going to be one or the other. Notice verse 13, verse 13, he says, neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God. So notice the comparison that's being made, either you're going to yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin or unto God, it's going to be one or the other. There's no in between, either God or sin, either righteousness or unrighteousness. As those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Verse 16, know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, His servants ye are to whom ye obey. So what he's saying here is this, you're going to make this choice, you're going to be a servant either to God or a servant to sin. You are going to serve something in this life. In the United States, there's a popular political party, the Libertarians, and it gets that name from Liberty, the Libertarians, and the Libertarians are filled full of Bible believing Christians and hardcore atheists and sodomites that hate God. It's like one or the other. You say, why? Because some people say, you know what, I don't want to have any rules. I don't want to serve anything. And others just say, well, we don't want government making all of our decisions for us. But see this idea that you're just going to do whatever you want and not serve anything is ridiculous. Look, if you decide to serve sin and make that choice, you will be a servant of sin. You will lose your freedom. You will not have freedom. Look, if you say I want to have freedom to do whatever I want. Well, you know what the problem is, you're going to become in bondage. That's what the Bible teaches. You don't just have free will to do whatever you want in your life and nothing bad is going to happen. I mean, imagine someone saying, I want freedom to just do drugs every day, but have really great health and die when I'm 100 years old. It's not going to happen. If you make that choice, there are repercussions for that. Notice what it says in verse 18, being then made free from sin, he became the servants of righteousness. When you become free from sin, the result is you're a servant of righteousness. There's no in between stage where you're not a servant of anything. You will be a servant either of what's right or what's wrong. It's one or the other. Verse 19, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness into iniquity onto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness onto holiness. So in verse 19, two things are being compared. You're a servant of uncleanness or you're a servant of righteousness onto holiness. Verse 22, but now being made free from sin and become servants to God. Being free from sin does not mean you're free from anything. It means you're going to be a servant of God. But if you have freedom from God, you're going to be a servant of sin. You will serve something in this life. So the first point is this, that you will serve something. The second point is this, you have a choice whom you're going to serve. It is up to you which side you pick. Verse number 12, he says, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. So in verse 12, he says, let not sin. He's commanding them do not allow sin to reign. Do not become a servant of sin. Now let me ask you a question. If serving God was automatic after you got saved, would Paul have to command you not to let sin reign? Right, because isn't this what the repentance of sins preachers say? Isn't this what Calvinists say, well, if you're really saved, you will automatically be sanctified until the day you die. Isn't that what they say? If it's automatic, what does Paul say? Let not sin. It's a command. Why? It's your choice. You have free will to decide which side are you on. You can leave here today and say, you know what, I'm going to read the Bible. I'm going to do what's right. I'm going to pray. I'm going to be nice to my husband or my wife, nice to my kids. Or you can go home today and do drugs. You have that free will. Getting saved does not mean you automatically are going to serve God. If that were the case, then why would he even have to tell you any commandments? Because all it's about is just getting saved and then just it magically happens. No, you have a choice which side you're going to serve. And look, this is true before and after salvation. Before salvation, you've got a choice if you're going to just obey what you think is right or not obey. We understand an unsafe person is not going to be able to 100% understand these things and obey everything, but look, not everybody is a drug dealer before they're saved. Not everybody's a murderer of men and women before they're saved. Not everybody does wicked things before they're saved. In fact, I would say probably the majority of people in this room didn't go down those roads and do a lot of those wicked things. So you have a choice before and after salvation. It is not automatic to serve God after you get saved. Notice verse number 13. He says, neither yield ye your members. He's commanding once again, do not yield your members. Do not make the choice to serve sin. What's the implication? You have a choice. You have a choice. Are you going to serve sin or serve God? Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God. Paul is speaking to save people and he's commanding them to serve God. As those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto God, of righteousness unto God. Verse 15. What then shall we sin because we're not under the law but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves. Paul is saying this, you as a saved person, which side you decide to be on whom ye yield yourself. That is your personal choice. Verse 19. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as ye have yielded your members. Once again in verse 19, what do we see? We see a choice. Now look, this seems very basic. You say, brother Stuckey, you're just saying the same, just repeating these verses and just explain them. Yeah, but you know what? Calvinists don't get this. Repentance of sins preachers don't get this. Free will. Free will. Free will. I mean, don't you see free will in like every verse in this chapter? He's saying don't yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness. Do right. Do right. Do right. He says it over and over and over and over again and yet most even saved people will say, well, you know, I think if you're really saved, you're going to start to walk the walk and it's just like, it makes me wonder, are you saved, right? When people make these fuzzy, weird comments, you start to wonder about them and they're just like, yeah, it's just by faith. You can't lose it. You don't have to change your life, but if you're really saved and it's like, I'm wondering if you're really saved, right? It's like, no, salvation is faith alone and let me tell you something, save people. Didn't we see Samson in the first sermon here today? I mean, he did some pretty bad things in his life. Save people can do bad things. You say, why? They have the same sinful flesh. You go to these churches and they make you doubt your salvation every week. They get done with the end of the sermons and it's just like, well, you know what? If you still are having trouble reading your Bible every day, you might want to check your salvation, right? I mean, you hear those comments on sermons all the time and here's the reality to someone who's newly saved, it can make you start doubting your salvation and it's like, when I first got saved, I started to listen to good preaching and bad preaching and look, by hearing this bad preaching like that, I started to wonder, it's like, man, I know it's forever. I know it's by faith, but did I pray right? I mean, do I, and it's just like many people pray multiple times because of the fact their pastors scare them. They hear sermons that scare them that, hey, if you're really saved, you're going to walk the walk. Show me the verse in the Bible that says it's automatic to serve God after you get saved. Your flesh does not change when you get saved at all. It doesn't change even a little bit. You say, well, if you're really saved, you're going to start to desire to do what's right and do what's right, then why does he command throughout the Bible to desire the sincere milk of the word? If it's automatic, why does he command you to desire the sincere milk of the word? Why? Because getting saved doesn't mean you're like, man, I'm just going to pray for an hour this morning. I just feel like praying now. I just feel like reading the Bible, man, just for hours and hours. That doesn't happen when you get saved. What happens when you get saved is you are indwelled. What happens when you get saved? One second, technical difficulties. We good? Maybe, hopefully. What happens when you get saved is you are indwelled with the spirit of God, but your flesh does not change one bit at all. Not one bit. Next, turn to Joshua 24. Go to Joshua 24, Joshua 24, Joshua chapter 24. This is a very famous passage in Joshua 24 where you see Joshua who basically he commands his family or says they're going to start to serve God, ask for me and my house. Notice what it says in verse 14 of Joshua 24. Joshua 24 verse 14, Joshua chapter 24 verse 14. Notice what the Bible says. Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth. What Joshua is doing is he's commanding the people to serve God and fear God. What does that mean? It means you have a choice. It's not automatic. Look, every preacher ought to be getting up here and commanding the people to serve God. Hey, start reading the Bible every day. Hey, start praying every day. Hey, get rid of this sin and that sin. And you say, why do you have to do that? Because living for God is not automatic. It takes effort. It's not easy. And he commands them, serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt and serve ye the Lord. And if it seemed evil on you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve. Look, throughout this passage, it's freewill, freewill, freewill. You are going to serve something, but it's your choice which side you choose. Turn in your Bible to Romans chapter six, Romans six, Romans six, Romans chapter six. Point number one is this, that you're going to serve something. Point number two, you have a choice. You have freewill to decide which side you're going to serve. But point number three is this, you become in bondage to the choice you make. You have freewill to decide which side you're going to go. But once you make that choice, you become in bondage. You become enslaved by the choice you make. You say, what do you mean? Notice what it says in verse 12. He said, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. See, what Paul says is this, if you allow sin to reign in your body, what ends up happening is you end up obeying the lusts of your own flesh. You are in bondage to what your lusts want to do. Basically, you can't do right if you want to do right. And once you choose to start living a sinful life, you are going to obey what the lusts of your flesh wants, and you are in bondage to the choice you made. Notice what it says in verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you. Dominion, think of dominating you, think of controlling you. And what Paul is saying is this, sin might end up controlling your life. It might make the decisions for you, where basically you want to do what's right and yet you still keep doing what's wrong. Why? Sin has control. You have free will to make your choice, but once you make that choice, you become in bondage to the choice that you made. Verse 16, know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey? His servants ye are to whom ye obey. What he's saying in verse 16, he kind of reiterates himself. He's like, do you not realize that if you pick this side, you will obey this side? He's saying you have your choice. He says I want you to choose this side, but if you choose this side, his servants ye are to whom ye obey. You will start obeying what this side wants you to do. You become under control, under bondage to the choices of sin and the lusts of your flesh. You lose your free will. You have free will to decide what you want to do, but then basically your sins and lusts take over and you're basically in bondage. You want to do what's right and you just can't do what's right. And look, this is the story of a lot of people. You say, what are you talking about? Here's what I'm talking about. Most drunks don't want to drink alcohol, right? They don't want to drink alcohol, but what do they do every day? They drink alcohol. You say, why? They're in bondage. You say, well, how did that happen? Was it random? Was it genetics? No, they made a choice and they chose this side. Now they're in bondage to that choice. Now they can't even do what's right, even if they want to do what's right. And look, in our lives, I think we could think of areas. I think all of us have certain areas where we are in bondage, where basically there's something we do not want to do and we keep doing it. And you say, why? Because you decided to walk down that path and now you're in bondage to the choice that you made. Verse 17, but God be thanked that you were the servants of sin. I mean, being a servant of sin basically means whatever sin tells you to do, you're going to do it. And look, the reality is this, that many people, their whole lives are just lived for what are the lusts of their flesh want them to do? And they can't control themselves. They cannot stop themselves from doing what's wrong. Verse 20, for when you were the servants of sin, you're free from righteousness. And he said, when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. Now what exactly does that mean? Well, here's the thing, you're going to go home tonight and you're going to go to bed and you're going to pray to God and you're going to feel guilty about the mistakes you made and you say, I'm going to want to do better, you're going to wake up in the morning, God forgive me, help me to do what's right today. And you say, why? Because you want to do what's right. But see, once you start walking down the road of living a sinful life, you're free from righteousness. You don't feel any obligation to do what's right. You say, what are you talking about? What about David when he committed adultery with Bathsheba? I mean, a whole year goes by, a baby is born. And guess what? During that time period, according to Psalm 51, he wasn't soul winning because he said, once you restore the joy, then I will teach transgressors thy ways. So for a whole year, David got nobody saved. Why? He was free from righteousness. He didn't even feel like doing what's right. He didn't feel obligated to do what's right. Once you start living a sinful life, what ends up happening is you don't even feel like you need to do what's right. I mean, it's amazing how that works. People that read the Bible are like, man, I need to read the Bible more. People that don't read the Bible and are living sinful lives, they don't even feel the need to read the Bible. People that go soul winning, they feel the need, I need to do more soul winning. People that don't go soul winning, they don't feel the need to go soul winning. People that come to church once every three months, they don't feel like it's a big deal. People that come to church regularly but miss a service, they're like, man, I got to be in church. Why? Because you feel the need to do what's right in righteousness if you're serving God. You feel an obligation and a desire to do what's right and it's a scary thought that I'm saying right now because if you decide to backslide, this feeling of obligation to do what's right could vanish away and all of a sudden you could start being living a sinful life and you'll start justifying in your mind and saying, you know what, it's really not that big of a deal if I read the Bible. It's really not that big of a deal if I come to church. It's really not that big of a deal if I do what's right. That is what happens when you start living a sinful life. All of a sudden you start obeying the lust of the flesh and you know what? You're free from righteousness but you're not free from sin. You're not going to be free from both sides, my friend. See, you're going to be a servant of one of those sides and look, that's the thing to keep you hooked into living for God because look, you say, man, I feel guilty about it. I don't read the Bible enough and everything. Man, I wish it was easier but if you reject this way, you'll become a servant of sin. So yes, you may be free from feeling like I must read the Bible, I must go to church, I must go soul-willing but you know what? Now you're a servant of sin and you're doing what's wrong all the time. So look, by no means is it worth it to reject living for God because you become a servant and in bondage to sin then. People that don't live good lives or people that are Christians but not really living for God, they're free from righteousness. They don't even feel like they need to do what's right. I mean, to us, we're just like, man, we are a soul-willing church. We give people save. We're a church. You know, we read the Bible. You know, in January, our New Testament Bible reading challenge but you know, other people that go to, I don't know, victory or whatever church, it's just like, man, it's just like they don't read the Bible much, no big deal. You go to a lot of these Baptist churches, don't read the Bible much, you don't even feel an obligation to read the Bible but you think you're right with God. Whereas once you start living for God, all of a sudden, you're like, man, I have a lot of work to do, right? Why is that? Because of the fact when you are the servants of sin, you're free from righteousness. And if you are free from righteousness, what are you? You're a servant of sin. You're not free from both, okay? Verse 21, what fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. Now I want you to notice in verse 21, when he says fruit, what he's saying is what positive thing came out of being a servant of sin? What good things happened? What he says to them is this, whereof ye are now ashamed? What Paul is saying is that when you get saved and you're serving God, what happens is you are ashamed of things you did wrong in the past. What's funny about this is you got a lot of preachers that will stand up and say, man, before I was saved, I was the worst drunk. Man, you should have seen me. The fights I got in with everybody, it's like I'd get in bar fights, you know, I was cheating on my wife and doing all these wicked things, but man, I repented of all my sins and got saved. Bless God. Right? I mean, that's what they say. Now, maybe not with the southern accent, like, you know, where I'm from in West Virginia, but look, this is what they say. They stand up here and they brag about the fact that they were wicked, rotten people. The Bible says when you get saved, you ought to feel ashamed about it. Look, I made a lot of mistakes before and after I was saved. I'm not going to get up here and brag about it. It's like, man, I did this sin and this sin. It's like a competition. I mean, you've got like a preaching event or whatever. One pastor gets up here and says, man, you know, I got drunk like, you know, a hundred times in my life. Another one gets up and says, man, I fathered five kids out of wedlock. Another one gets up and says, I killed someone. I was like, all right, end of the conference, end of the conference, right? No, but they get up here and they brag about it. It's like they're proud of the fact they lived wicked lives. Why? Because they believe in their own flesh. They gave their lives to God. They did some great work. It's work salvation, my friend. And look, the Bible says this, you know, if you're saved, you ought to feel ashamed at the mistakes you made in the past. I'm not saying to dwell in the past, the past, the past, whatever happened is whatever happened. Look, I mean, if you used to be a drug dealer, whatever, it's the past, but don't brag about it. And it's like, you know, some of these people too, you know, the way they preach the gospel is this. I was a terrible person and I gave my life to God. Look, the Bible says the testimony of the Lord is what saves you. Your personal testimony saves nobody because salvation is not changing your life. Salvation is believing that Jesus Christ, the testimony of the Lord, that he died and he paid for sins and rose again. So look, you know, these repentance preachers that get up here and they brag about all the things they did. Look, the Bible says you ought to be ashamed of your past. And by all means, don't dwell in it. It's the past, but don't brag about it either. Turn in your Bible to Galatians 5, Galatians 5. And so look, this idea of becoming in bondage to the choices you make, you know, take something that I don't think is really a major sin, but I still think it's a sin because it's unhealthy, smoking cigarettes, right? I think everybody would probably say that's unhealthy. It's not good for you. You shouldn't smoke. But I want you to understand something that every single person who smokes pretty much, because here's the thing, people start smoking when they're 14 years old because they think it's cool. It's like, oh, this is what my friend's doing. So then they start smoking cigarettes. And then what ends up happening? Well, 40 years later, they're still smoking cigarettes. Look, people that smoke cigarettes every day, they don't want to smoke cigarettes. You say why? Because they're spending all of their money on cigarettes and destroying their health. Are they free? They don't want to smoke cigarettes, and yet they smoke every day. Are they free? They're free from righteousness. They're not free from being in bondage to sin. People that are drunks, look, they don't want to destroy their lives and drink every day. But you know what? That's what they do. Why? They're in bondage. Right? Or how about people that do drugs? Do you really think that people that are living on the streets because they've drugged away their life? It's why it's called a drug addiction. They have no freedom. They are addicted to it. I remember someone in Sacramento because there's a lot of homeless people that are kind of near the church. There's a lot of homeless people in California in general because it's a warm weather state. But I remember this guy, and he was missing an arm. And this guy was a bad guy. I mean, this guy, I don't know the things he did, but it's like that guy was probably like a wicked devil. He was like a scary. I mean, one time, literally, we were at the church working and everything, and he was walking by the door, and we had these big white cupboards where we would put church supplies. And he walks by, and he looks at me and Brother Oliver from the church, and he's looking at the cupboard. He's like, I wonder how much you can fit in those cupboards. He said something that made us think like, are you trying to hide a dead body in here? It's like, what in the world? And they were just like, okay, this is scary. But this guy, he was missing an arm. And look, I was kind of naive to why he was missing an arm, and somebody told me, well, here's the reason why. Because people that are addicted to drugs, they end up using a dirty needle by mistake, and they get an infection, and they have to cut off the arm. Ask someone who's missing a limb from their body if being addicted to drugs is worth it. And look, it explains, because I've seen many people addicted to drugs that are missing a leg or missing an arm, or they end up getting all these diseases as a result of this stuff. Ask them if they want to do drugs every day. But every single day, they do drugs. Are they free? They're in bondage. They don't want to do that. I mean, imagine if right now I said, you know what, I got this button up here. And you can come up here after the service, and you can press this button, and by pressing this button, you will no longer desire to do what's wrong. You're going to desire to read the Bible every day. You're going to always be kind to your wife. I mean, you're going to desire to only eat healthy food. You're going to start to say, man, I love to eat healthy food. I don't want sugar and everything like that. Look, and so many problems would disappear from your life. Everybody would come up here and press that button if they could change their desire like that. Right? And look, a drug addict, if they had the ability to press a button so they no longer desired to do drugs, all of them would do it. Why do they do drugs? Because they do desire it. But if they could not desire it, they would press that button. What does that tell you? It tells you that they're a servant of sin. They're not free. Look, if you go down a road of living a sinful life, you lose your freedom. You become in bondage. And that comes to sin, but it also comes to the aspects of what's going to happen in your life. You become a drug addict. Good luck being successful in the workforce. See, I want to be free to just commit all these sins and yet have all the money in the world and be successful and have a fancy car and a fancy house. It's not going to happen. If you live a sinful life, it will destroy your life. You don't have freedom. Now turn in your Bible to Galatians five and notice verse 16, Galatians five verse 16. This I say, then walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If you are walking in the spirit, you're not going to fulfill the lust of the flesh. Notice verse 17 for the flesh lust against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. So as a saved person, your spirit and your flesh fight against each other every day. This is a battle, okay? And these are contrary the one to the other. Notice this so that you can not do the things that you would. What is that saying? You are not able to do what you want to do. What is that slavery being a servant, no freedom, right? You can not do the things that you would, right? I mean, think about this. When you're in church and you're hearing the word of God preached. Maybe right now in your mind, you're like, man, I want to live for God. Maybe in your mind you're thinking, I want to read the Bible more. Maybe I want to be kinder to my wife or my husband or whatever, but you want to do what's right. And yet all of us, we go home and we sometimes do the things we don't want to do. You say, why? Because you're in bondage to that. I mean, there are many people and it doesn't matter how many times I say it about how Facebook is a waste of your time. You're going to spend a couple hours on Facebook tomorrow. Why? You're in bondage to it. Or people that gossip, they know they shouldn't gossip, but they just can't help themselves. What is that? It's called being a servant to sin. People that are envious and bitter. I mean, you can talk to someone who's envious or bitter and tell them that and they just can't stop. Why? They're a servant of it and it's going to destroy their life. Everybody who's addicted to cigarettes is trying to stop every day of their life, but they cannot do the things that they would. And look, that saved people as well that are addicted to smoking or drinking or whatever. Verse 18, but if he be led of the spirit, you're not under the law. Now turn in your Bible back to Romans chapter six, Romans six, Romans six. And so point number one is this, that you will serve something. Point number two, you have a choice what you're going to serve. Point number three, you become in bondage to the choice you make. Point number four, the sin is going to get worse and worse once you become in bondage. Notice what it says in Romans six, verse 19, I speak after the manner of sin, after the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as if yielded your members servants to uncleanness, notice this, and to iniquity onto iniquity. Do you see how sin is basically multiplying itself? You became a servant to uncleanness, and then it's iniquity onto iniquity, more sins, and it gets worse and worse and worse and worse. You go down a road of starting to live a sinful life, you start saying, well, I'm just going to be a little bit worldly. It's just this one TV show. It's like, I know Brother Stuckey hates Vice Pongy, but he doesn't know I watch him, even though he's off the air and everything, maybe he's on the air again, I don't know. But it's like this one TV show, I know Brother Stuckey says it's wrong, but you know, I'm just going to watch this one show. But you know, it's just going to increase to more. It's not going to stop. There's this one rock band I love. It's like, I know rock music's wrong. I know it's the devil's music, etc, etc. But just this one rock band, you know, what's popular? The Beatles aren't around, right? Who's popular? I don't know. Justin Bieber, is he still popular? It's like this one artist I like to listen to, but then it becomes another artist and another and another and another and another. It doesn't stop. Or somebody complains about one thing in their life. This one thing I just can't help but complain about. Does it ever stop with one thing? It becomes more and more and more. Somebody has anger towards one person, this one person I hate. Then they end up hating more and more and more and more people. You say why? Because iniquity onto iniquity. It adds, it gets worse and worse and worse. That's the reality. It says iniquity onto iniquity. Now go back in your Bible to, we'll go to Romans 6 verse 17, Romans 6 verse 17. Point one, you're going to serve something. Point two, you have a choice. Point three, you're in bondage to that choice. Point four, that sin is going to get worse and worse and worse. But here's the good news. Point five, you can be set free from that bondage. And we're going to find out how. Once you make a choice to do what's wrong, you will be in bondage but the Bible does have a method, the magic key so to speak, that will set you free from that bondage. You say what is that? Romans 6 verse 17. First let me show you that this is something that you can break. It says, but God be thanked that you were the servants of sin. Past tense. You were the servants of sin and then you flipped the switch. But ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. So why is it they flipped from being a servant of sin to basically serving God? Because they obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to them. So basically you hear doctrine, you hear the word of God and from the heart, not just an outward motion where you're pretending to actually care about the things of God, but from your heart from the inside you make the change. This can come in two forms. One is when you read the Bible on your own time. You read the Bible, you memorize the Bible, you're seeing and hearing the doctrine from the Bible. And hopefully you're doing that a lot. Because I preach a lot of verses but you know what? You can learn more in your own free time. I've learned a lot from a lot of great preachers but I can sincerely say I've learned more from reading the Bible on my own than from listening to sermons. And I've learned a lot from sermons, don't get me wrong. By all means you find a Godly preacher. Listen to Pastor Jimenez as much as you can. You will learn a lot but you know what? You'll learn more on your own if you dig into the word of God. And so look, when you hear the doctrine preached or you read it, the word of God is quick and powerful. And you see what the Bible says, what you must do is obey from the heart. Not just the outward motion like, well, you know, I'm going to change the way I dress on the outside. No, on the inside change it, right? Not just, well, you know, I'll start coming to church so people see it. No, on the inside just say I want to come to church. Not just on the outside I'm going to do this. No, on the inside you say, you know what, I don't want to fight with people anymore. On the inside I don't want to have problems in my life. Not just I try to avoid it on the outside but on the inside I just want to get along with people. I don't want problems. You obey it from your heart on the inside. What happens if it's on the inside? It manifests itself on the outside. Isn't that true? You fix the inside, it will cleanse the outside. Now go to Luke chapter eight, Luke chapter eight, Luke chapter eight. Now in Luke eight, we have the famous parable of the sower and look in, in Verity, we preached a whole sermon series on this, so I don't have time to get into all that tonight, but basically, you know, there's four groups of people mentioned. This does not cover every single person that we would talk to at the door, but what this is is a soul winning parable. It is not a salvation parable. That's an important difference. What the Bible's doing is giving us pictures of basically when we go soul winning, this could be the result at the door. The first group of people in the story of the parable of the sower, they don't believe. You don't believe? No salvation, right? The second group, they believe and receive the word with joy, and these have no root. What is that? It's called people that get excited, they get saved and get excited, but they just kind of fade away, okay? The third group of people is this, people that get saved, but they're among the thorns, the Bible says, in its worldliness, cares and riches and pleasures of this life, whether it's the things of the movies and TV and entertainment, or the riches, you want money, but basically worldliness makes them stop living for God. So the first group, they don't get saved, the second group gets saved, but they kind of fade out with persecution and problems that come. Number three, basically they start serving God, but then basically worldliness gets to them, and then number four is the group that gets saved, starts serving God, and never stops serving God. So the question is, what's the difference between group number four and group number two and three? Because this is what makes you last in the Christian life, and look, if you're here today, I don't want to scare you, but most people don't really last in the Christian life. Most people serve God for a couple years, and the zeal kind of fades, and just somewhere along the way they just throw in the towel, right? And you'll always have an excuse why you leave church, but really you just decide to stop living for God. And oftentimes it's a slow downward fade, but that's the reality, okay? What is it that makes you last in the Christian life? Now remember what we saw in Romans 6 was this, obeying from the heart, that form of doctrine. Luke 8 verse 15, but that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, honest and good heart. What is an honest and good heart? Now then it says this, honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. This is not just talking about the moment you get saved, because groups two and three got saved. It's not just you heard the word and started serving God, no, it's saying every time you hear the word of God. Salvation's in a moment. Serving God's a lifetime, right? You get saved by hearing the word of God once, you believe it, you get saved, but then if you're serving God, you're in church hearing the word of God all the time. You're reading the Bible, you're hearing the word of God all the time, and this is what makes you last in the Christian life. This is a soul winning parable. This group starts serving God and never quits, why? Every time they hear the word of God, they do this. They have an honest heart, an honest heart. What does that mean? Here's what it means. If you're somebody who's just full of envious, and I preach a sermon against envy, which is coming in two weeks, part of the church problem series, and I preach a sermon on envious, when you hear that, you must have an honest heart about it, which means on the inside you admit to yourself, you know what, I'm guilty of that. If I preach a sermon on pride, on the inside you have an honest heart and say, you know what, I'm a prideful person. If you're worldly, you have an honest heart. Here's the great thing about this church, we don't force you to just get down in front of people and just make a big scene at the altar call. Happens on the inside. That's why I'm not really concerned what happens on the outside. What happens on the inside? Because that's what makes you last. In your own heart, you hear the word of God and you make the change. And here's the thing, in a way, a church is like a hospital. All of us are filled full of problems. I'm filled full of problems. Look, when I preach sermons, I'm like, man, I ripped myself left, right, and down the center. I'm like, man, ouch, this one's gonna hurt me, right? I'm guilty of a lot of these things and it forces you to start living for God. When you hear the word of God, have an honest heart about it no matter what the topic is. I mean, no matter what area you're failing in life, because look, we try as much as we can to preach on everything the Bible says. And look, it takes a lot of time and we can't just, I don't believe in basically just drive by doctrine where basically I rip this, this, this, this, and this in one sermon, and next week, this, this, and this. No, you gotta actually develop those sermons and preach them, but then I show you the Bible and apply it no matter what the topic is. There's no need to compare yourself to other people because we all have a lot of problems. And whatever the sermon is on the inside, look, if you're struggling at being a father and you hear a sermon on being a good father, apply it. Otherwise you're going to destroy your children's lives. Why wouldn't you apply it? Wouldn't it be foolish to hear what the Bible says and just not apply? I mean, isn't that the end of the Sermon on the Mount? The greatest sermon ever preached. And then all of a sudden he gives two groups of people, basically those that are on the rock and those that aren't, those that apply it and those that don't, and those that don't apply it. Guess what? When the flood comes, boom, they're gone. And look, I could preach the greatest sermon ever or Pastor Mendez could come and preach the greatest sermon ever and it means nothing if you don't apply it to your life. It means nothing. That's why preaching is not just like a show to just make this big entertaining thing, but it does it actually make a difference with the people, but you on the inside in your heart must decide to apply what is preached in the Bible. And if you would apply it, it would fix your life. Look, when I was at Verdi Baptist Church, there were many sermons where I was like, ouch, that one got me. There are sermons, my wife was like, ouch, that one got me. Right? Remember sermons were in, and I, I'll have to ask Pastor Mendez, I think it was specifically, you know, for me and my wife where he would preach things and say, hey, if you're going to make it in the ministry. And I was like, ouch. It's like he's got the hammer just hammering me and I was like, I got to make those changes. My wife's like, I got to make those changes. You say why? Because when the word of God is preached, you must apply it. And if you don't, what's the point of even being at church? What's the point of hearing what's said if you're going to have a stubborn and hard heart and just say, well, you know, the only reason why I gossip is because of everybody else. It's like brother Stuckey doesn't understand how Darren say gossip is wrong. This is the reason why I'm justified. Why are you even in church then? If you're not going to apply anything that's preached, why even come to church? See brother Stuckey, are you trying to just tell me to leave church? You know what? Look, I'll be honest. If you're not going to apply anything you hear, you'd be better off just leaving because you know what? You're going to be held accountable for what you hear. That's the reality. I mean, I want to change my life. And look, I know, you know, the majority of people in here, hopefully everybody wants to change your life. Here's how you do it. No matter what the sermon is, apply it. And it starts with just having an honest heart. If you're guilty, just admit to yourself. Don't lie to yourself as the Bible says. Just admit to yourself, you know what? I'm guilty of that. I'm not good at that area. You know what? I need to apply it. Now here's the thing. When you come to a church, everybody looks good on the outside. Everybody puts on the nice clothes and everything. That doesn't tell you what's on the inside. So you don't have to look at other people and say, man, I'm just so terrible and everyone else is so perfect. No, I mean, all of us have problems. And so no matter what it is, you know, it's not about the outside, it's about the inside. No matter what the topic is on the inside, just say, you know what? That's what the Bible says. Look, I don't, I don't command you to do things and not show you what the Bible says. I show you what the Bible says. So you see it. So it's not me that you're obeying. It's God's word you're obeying. If you choose not to obey, then by all means, then do whatever you want. You can get mad at me, whatever. But I'm just showing you what the Bible says. Listen, the Bible says, if you want to last in the Christian life, you say, isn't lasting the Christian life being bold and zealous and no, I mean, just have an honest heart. Pretty simple, but hard to apply when no matter what you hear, have an honest heart and admit, you know what? I need to make the change. Having an honest heart and good heart. What does a good heart mean? Well, you look up good throughout the entire Bible. What it's basically saying is you're doing what's right. So basically when you hear the sermon, have an honest heart with yourself about it and then do it. Make the change. It's that simple. Look, if I preach a sermon on why you need to read the Bible every day and you don't read the Bible every day and I give you tips on reading the Bible every day, like put away your cell phone, do it early in the morning, away from distractions, you know, before 3.15 in the morning when my daughter woke up this morning, right? If I give you tips about when to read the Bible and everything and I give you tips and you're not reading the Bible every day, look, you're a fool if you don't apply it. Have an honest heart with yourself and you say, you know what, yes, I'm not reading the Bible every day. I need to figure it out. You know what? Then have a good heart about it. Just make the change. That's all you got to do. It's really simple. This whole sermon is like, it's pretty simple. Just have an honest heart with what you hear no matter what the sermon and just apply it. Have an honest and a good heart. Then it says this, having heard the word, keep it. Keep it. What does that mean? Here's what that means. It means if you don't read the Bible every day and I preach a sermon on why you need to read the Bible every day, have an honest heart about it. Have a good heart. Start reading the Bible every day and always keep that. Never change it and look, it doesn't matter what level you're at right now. If you just hear every sermon and have an honest heart and a good heart and then keep the things you learn and start doing them, you know what, in a couple of years you're going to be an awesome Christian. It doesn't matter what level you're at right now. I mean, your life will change so much. Look, you say, brother, I've never been in a church like this where you just give us lots of doctrine and teach us and show us all these things. I'm giving you everything. All you've got to do is just apply it and once you apply it, you keep it. You struggle with your prayer life. Get the changes that are mentioned in sermons and you know what, always keep that. And then just keep adding on to the things you already do. You get rid of worldliness, okay, you're starting to serve God, you got rid of worldliness. Always keep that. Don't go back to your garbage music. Don't go back to your garbage television. If you are able and strong enough to get rid of it, because that's the hard part, getting rid of it, just keep it. Have an honest heart, have a good heart and keep it. That's the result, you will bring forth fruit with patience. Now with patience is interesting because you know what, patience in relating to soul winning, what exactly does that mean? Well, I mean, I think what it means is this, you're going to have trials and mistakes along the way. It's not going to be the easiest thing. You basically have to just be patient throughout your entire life. You go through new phases of life, right? I mean, you get married and have kids, you know what, it might be a little bit more difficult. You kind of figure it out and with patience, you go through those various things and then you learn how to keep serving God and you go through everything. And so it's going to take patience, it's going to take trials. Of course, there's mistakes along the way, but look, by all means, when you start doing something, don't stop it. Keep it. What's the result? You'll bring forth fruit with patience your entire life. Turn to Ephesians four, Ephesians four, Ephesians four, Ephesians chapter four. We'll look at one last place, Ephesians four. By no means am I saying this is an easy thing, and that's why the more you read the Bible, the better. You say why? Because that's the medicine to fix the sickness, reading the Bible, hearing the word of God. I mean, what he says is having heard the word. So every time you hear, so look, if you struggle in areas, the more times you read it and memorize it, it's going to have more of an effect, right? I mean, it's like high level vitamins for whatever the problem is, okay? The more you read it, the more it's going to help fix the problem. So look, if you have areas of your life you're trying to change, and if you have a specific area, you say, Brother Stuckey, you know what, I struggle in this one area. Well, read the part of the Bible that really talks about that. By all means, do your Bible reading chart and then just keep reading the part that you're struggling with. And the more you read it, you know what, the word of God is quick and powerful. And eventually that will win out, and you will start serving God. If you hear the word enough, if you read it enough, Ephesians four, verse 22, that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Now the old man doesn't go away, okay? This is something that's a daily thing. You got the old man, you got the new man, you got the flesh, you got the spirit, you got this battle every single day. And this is not something that happens at salvation where you basically put off the old man permanently. No, I mean, it's the start. You're now a child of God, but every single day is sanctification. Every single day, you must make the decision to put off the old man. Now I use this example a lot, but I think it's a great example because the Bible likens serving God basically to climbing a mountain. And you say, why does it do that? You know, Moses in the Old Testament climbed a mountain to get close to God. Well, because climbing a mountain is an uphill climb and it's difficult. And you know what, you're constantly trying to get better and better. And here's the thing, when you're serving God, you're slowly getting up that mountain and when you make a mistake, you fall back 20 feet. Isn't that how it's like climbing a mountain? It takes a long time to get up the mountain. It certainly doesn't take long to fall down that mountain, right? That's how serving God is. It's an uphill climb where you're putting off the old man every day. But here's what takes place. When you go to bed tonight, no matter how godly you were today, when you wake up in the morning, you're not moving, you're stopped, you're stalled. I mean, imagine a stalled car, right? Whenever you see cars that get stalled, what do you see? You have a bunch of guys standing behind the car, they start pushing it to get it going. Once it starts going, it starts flying, right? It's like they're pushing and pushing and pushing. It's not even moving. It's not even moving or it's moving a centimeter. Then all of a sudden it's just going like 10 miles an hour, right? It takes a lot of momentum to get it started. This is why I encourage everyone, read the Bible first thing in the morning. You say, why? Because you're not, you're basically in neutral right now. And if you don't start the momentum going up that mountain, you're going to naturally just slide down that mountain. And all of a sudden, and look, I understand people's work schedules are different, and I understand this doesn't apply perfectly to everyone, but here's what I'm saying. You know what? If you don't get time with God in before you get your day started, you know, at work, you're going to probably be miserable and grumpy and complaining and come home in a bad mood, and then you're not going to feel like reading the Bible. That's usually what happens, right? Because look, you know, as much as you strive to read the Bible first thing in the morning, there are times when you just sleep in past the time or you're busy, you're like, oh, I missed my bivalry. Those are the worst days at work. So I would always read the Bible first thing in the morning, but you know, when I didn't get around to it, man, those days were terrible. You're like, oh, this day is awful. Because you're used to getting your time with God in the morning. So by all means, I think you should do it first thing in the morning because at the start of the day, you're putting off the old man and putting on the new man every single day. Verse 24, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. And when you do it, it says you renew the spirit of your mind. And you say, why? Because this whole life you are being brainwashed by the devil and by the world. You're being brainwashed throughout the day, throughout the week by this wicked world that is lying to you. They are brainwashing you. That's why church needs to be the pillar and ground of the truth, where you're learning the word of God. You say why? Because there's 168 hours in a week. I understand. I mean, you sleep like, you know, 42 hours, 50 hours or whatever, but that's still over 100 hours. And you know what? For most of the day, you're being brainwashed by the world. So look, if you don't read the Bible and you don't hear the word of God preached, good luck serving God because you're getting brainwashed and defeated by the devil and by the world every single day. You must renew the spirit of your mind every single day. And you say, what is the result? The result is you can be set free from the bondage in your life. And when it comes to the bondage in your life, it's depending on what area it is. Right? Like for me, I have never smoked a cigarette in my life. Do you think it's likely that you're going to catch me next week smoking a pack of cigarettes on the side of the road? Probably not. I'm not in bondage to smoking cigarettes. I've never smoked cigarettes. I mean, the smell still makes me cough, right? It's like, you know what? I'm not in bondage to smoking cigarettes. By all means, I'm in bondage to some areas that I'm trying to break free and get better and strive and grow. But what I'm saying is this, you know, there's certain areas of your life because you chose to go down a path and you know what? It's an addiction. It's a bondage. By no means do you have to throw in the towel, but you know what? You need to break that bondage. And you say, how do you do that? You do that through the word of God. You do that by growing spiritually. You do that by hearing the word of God preached, and then you apply it to your life. Look at verse 23, Romans 6 23, go to Romans 6 23. We'll close up Romans 6 23. If I had asked you a few weeks ago, what is Romans 6 about? You'd be like, Romans 6 23, right? The gift of God is eternal life. And yet I have talked zero about salvation pretty much the last couple of weeks. But I do think verse 23 ties into what we're talking about because the whole chapter is about serving God. And one thing we need to remember, yesterday, you know, in Pampanga, we took the Lord's Supper. It's a time of remembrance of the death of Jesus Christ. Well, think about this. If Jesus Christ died and paid for our sins, because the Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus Christ paid for all your sins and he gave you a gift, which means you don't have to pay it back. It's 100% paid for. Any good things you do, you get rewards. But if somebody gives you a gift and it's free, your attitude should be to do something with it. Right? If somebody just blesses you with a gift and says, here's something and you don't deserve it and it's a big blessing to you. You know what? You ought to do something with it. Do you have to? No, because it was a gift. Are you going to lose it? No, it's a gift. No exchange for a gift. I mean, you have to pay it back. You can't pay it back. All you do is get rewards for the good things you do. But you know, the natural thing as a human to do is if somebody gives you a gift that you should be thankful for and you know, if you're thankful for it, you know what it ought to do? It ought to change the way you live your life. You ought to decide, you know what? Jesus Christ gave everything to me, all to him I owe and you want, I'm going to dedicate my life to serving God. No, it's not going to be easy, but you know, dying on the cross is not easy, right? It's not going to be easy to serve God. It's going to be difficult. You're going to make mistakes along the way, but you know what? You should have an honest heart and a good heart and just say, you know what? I want to do what's right. You know, one prayer that I've said many times in my life, it kind of comes from that song, take my life and let it be, which is one of my favorite songs in the hymnal, but you know, take my will and make it thine. It shall be no longer mine. One of the best prayers you can make to God is just, God, I don't desire to do this. I should desire it. I'm wrong. Please just change the desires of my heart. I pray that all the time in areas I'm struggling in where I just don't desire to do what's right because if we're honest, there are areas we just don't want to do what's right. You know what you should do? Pray to God and say, God, just change my heart. Just make me more like you, more like the savior every day where I'm doing what's right. God, just please change my heart. I don't read the Bible every day, God. I know I should. I know I should desire. God, please just change my desire so I want to read the Bible. And you know what, I believe if you have an honest and a sincere heart, why wouldn't God answer that prayer? Now, I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but of course he's going to want to answer that prayer. I mean, if your marriage is struggling, I mean, wouldn't God want to bless you in that area? I mean, if you prayed about it, if you're struggling being a parent, wouldn't God want to help you out? If you say, God, please help me. You know, I'm struggling. I'm not doing a good job of being a father or being a mother. God, please just help me. Wouldn't God want to answer that prayer? And you know what, when you pray that prayer, I believe God can change your heart. And if you have an honest and a good heart, what's going to happen? In 50 years, you're still going to be serving God. You're going to bring forth fruit with patience your entire life. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here in your house today and ask you to help us to apply this sermon to our lives. God, help us to just decide to serve you above anyone else, God, and help all of us in the areas that we're struggling with not to just give in and just give up and say, well, I'm doing enough, but help us to be more like you each and every day, God, please change the desires of our heart, whatever areas it is that we're struggling with. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.