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So, Genesis chapter number 2, the Bible begins in verse number 1, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Now, right away we see the Sabbath being talked about, or the seventh day. Go to Hebrews chapter 4, because you have to ask yourself, Did God really need a day of rest? Obviously God does not become tired or weary or faint, the Bible says. He does not slumber or sleep, the Bible says in Psalm 122. He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. God does not need to rest, so obviously God rests for a very specific purpose, and it was an important thing that he was trying to teach us there. And the Bible explains it very clearly in Hebrews chapter 4, what that purpose was. Look at chapter 4 verse 1. It says, Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Now, what do you think of right away when you hear the term come short? What do you think? Yeah, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Well, the next words after that in Romans 3, 24, it says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Okay, so when it talks about coming short, it's talking about in regard to salvation or justification, and that we have to be saved through his grace, not by our own works because we come short. Now, it says here, Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, and because that's what we're talking about with God resting on the seventh day, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, so he gets right into it, salvation again. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them. But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. So here, if you get the context of chapter 3, which we're not going to look at right now, but in chapter 3, he talks about the children of Israel not being allowed to enter into the promised land because of their unbelief. It says we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief, and they end up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years in the book of Numbers. Well, the Bible says here that that's symbolic or a picture of the fact that those who believe on Jesus Christ enter into rest or enter into his promised land, and those who don't believe do not enter into rest. You say, well, why is salvation referred to as rest? Look at the next phrase. He says, well, that's one illustration, the children of Israel entering the promised land, but he says the works were finished from the foundation of the world, which is what we read about in Genesis 1, right? The foundation of the world. He says in verse 4, for he spake in a certain place, and we happen to be reading that place this week, for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, referring back to the children of Israel in the wilderness, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief, again he limited the certain day, saying, and David, today after so long a time, as it is said, today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, for if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God, for he that has entered into his rest, and here's the key verse in verse 10, for he that has entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, that means stopped from his own works, as God did from his, let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. What is this talking about? God is saying that when we get saved, when we believe on Jesus Christ, because he's got two different things here, he's got being rest, entering into rest, and then there's unbelief. Well, if you believe on Jesus Christ, the Bible says, we which have believed on Christ, have entered into rest, and it says that we who have entered into his rest, have ceased from our own works, as God did from his. Therefore, what God was trying to teach, when he said of the Sabbath day, that God rested from all his works, he was showing us that that's what salvation is. We cease from our own works, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason that man had a day of rest, was to symbolize and to picture the fact that we don't work our way into heaven. We just rest on what Jesus Christ has already done, and that's very clearly laid out here in Hebrews chapter 4. That's why it's so significant that when Jesus died on the cross, on the 14th day of the month, Abib, which was the day they were supposed to celebrate the Passover, it fell upon a Thursday, okay? And the reason why it fell upon a Thursday, is because of the fact that they were to take a day of rest or a Sabbath, not the Sabbath as in the end of every week, but they were supposed to have a Sabbath on the 14th day of the month Abib for the Passover. No work was to be done during the day of the Passover. Then the next day, the 15th, they were supposed to have the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was also a Sabbath, a day that you weren't supposed to work. Because not only did they take one day and seven off in rest, they also had holidays throughout the year. Well, these were two very important holidays. The 14th was the Passover, the 15th or Friday was the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then Saturday, of course, was the seventh day that they would normally rest in the first place. And then Jesus Christ rose again, what? On the first day of the week. So for three days and three nights that he was in the heart of the earth, those three days and three nights were Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. He rose again on Sunday. I mean, it's not that complicated. He rose on the first day, so he was dead for Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Well, think about it. Was any work supposed to be done on Thursday? No, it was the Passover. Was any work supposed to be done on Friday? No, it was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And was any work supposed to be done on the Sabbath? No. What message was being sent there? Jesus Christ was doing everything required for salvation. He didn't need us to be working and adding something to it, because it's not all works that save us. It's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but by his own mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Now, I personally do not believe that we are to observe the Sabbath day as far as taking a day off each week to rest in the New Testament. The reason that I don't believe that is if we, first of all, if we look at the example in the Book of Acts, we see that the big thing that they were doing a lot on Saturday, it seemed like, was soul winning. I mean, they were going out and preaching the gospel, and they'd go into the synagogues and preach there, and then they would get together with the other believers and disciples on the first day of the week, and they would break bread and so forth. But go to Romans 14 quickly, Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14, and while you're turning to Romans 14, I'm going to read for you from Colossians chapter 2, because Colossians chapter 2 deals with this as well. The Bible says in verse, Colossians 2, 16, Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of in holiday, that would be like your, you know, your Passover, your unleavened bread, your Feast of Tabernacles, whatever, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days. So the Bible says don't let anybody judge you and tell you that you have to do this, or you have to not do this in regard to meat, drink, holiday, new moon, or Sabbath day, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. So in Colossians chapter 2, he ties in the Sabbath days and the holidays, two things listed there, as being part of what was a shadow of things to come, and part of what is not something that we are under in the New Testament. Because, of course, he mentions in Hebrews the meats, the drinks, the divers, washings, has all been rolled back in the New Testament. Well, he ties in the Sabbath with that in Colossians chapter 2. It says in Romans 14, 5, One man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day to the Lord he did not regard it. He that eateth eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks, and he that eateth not to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. So the Bible's real clear here that it's okay to pick one day and set it aside, and honor Jesus Christ on that day, and have a special day that you dedicate to the Lord. And some people call Sunday the Lord's Day and say, you know, every Sunday is the Lord's Day, and I'm going to do X, Y, and Z, and I'm not going to do X, Y, and Z. That's fine, because the Bible says, hey, if you want to set aside a day like that, go ahead. But it says, another man esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind, because it's not a commandment that we're under in the New Testament to observe the Sabbath, according to Colossians 2, and a lot of other places. But I just wanted to touch on that briefly. Same thing with holidays. There are no New Testament mandated holidays that we must celebrate, but is it okay to celebrate holidays? Yes, it's okay to set aside a day to celebrate, and to have a day dedicated to the Lord, and so forth, in some area. And that's what the Bible's saying in Romans chapter 14. So it's something that we have freedom on, which way we want to go with that. And it tells us not to judge others who choose to do otherwise. Go to Genesis chapter 2. So, for example, I don't have a problem with working on Sunday. People say, you can't work on Sunday, it's the Sabbath, or whatever. I don't believe that. Now, I do think it's wrong to miss church. And I don't miss church to go to work. You know, I'm always faithful to church. I made that a priority a long time ago. And so, you know, I make it a priority to be in church whenever the doors are open. But, when it comes to, you know, having to work before or after church, or between the services, sometimes you have to do stuff like that. I don't see where in the world that would be unscriptural at all. Now, some people have built a whole religion on the Sabbath, the Seventh-day Adventists. And then there are even Seventh-day Baptists, and they demand that people meet for church on Saturday instead of Sunday. And they say, you know, Saturday's the Seventh-day. Now, here's what's so silly about this. Who says that Saturday's the Seventh-day? I mean, who made that up? Where's the word? Show me the word Saturday in the Bible. It's not there. There is no Saturday in the Bible. Okay? And, by the way, if you go to Europe, which I spent some time in Europe and my wife grew up in Europe, guess what the first day of the week is in Europe on every calendar? Monday. And the last day is Sunday. That's the way their calendar is laid out. Here in America, we figure it on Sunday to Saturday, and we call it the weekend. We call Sunday the weekend for some reason. I'm not sure why, if it's supposedly the first day of the week. But the bottom line is, when the Bible says, you know, Six days shalt thou labor, but the seventh day shall be a Sabbath abreast unto thee. Is it really mandating a certain day of the week? Like, do we really know that our calendar is the exact calendar that we've been on for thousands of years, all the way back to the week of creation? And we don't really know that for sure, because there's been a lot of tampering with the calendar through the years, and people have changed dates and changed weeks and so forth. And so, I think it's a pretty weird thing to be that hung up on and to build a whole religion on. Because if you're working, even if you believed in observing the Sabbath in the New Testament, which I don't, Jesus Christ is the Sabbath. We've entered into rest by believing on Him. But, even if you believed in observing the Sabbath, if you worked six days and the seventh day happened to be Sunday, and you took that as your day of rest, what in the world is the difference? No, it's Saturday! It's Saturday! Show me that in the Bible. For example, the Bible says that Jesus rose again on the third day. Does it not? Who thinks the Bible says that He rose on the third day? Oh yeah. But doesn't it say that He rose on the first day of the week? So, when the Bible says the third day, it's not talking about Tuesday, is it? Because He rose again on the first day of the week. So, He didn't rise on Tuesday. But it says He rose the third day, meaning what? Meaning three days after He died, He rose again three days later. Well, it's the same thing. You work for six days, the seventh is a day of rest. You know, people are hung up on a calendar. But see, this is how cults and false religions are. They pick something and they throw out the whole rest of the Bible. They throw out everything that's important. And they fixate upon one thing that is really completely irrelevant to us in the New Testament in the first place. And that's observing the Sabbath day. So, go to Genesis chapter 2. You say, well, is this irrelevant? No, it's extremely relevant. Because it teaches us right away, salvation is already on God's mind. Even from the foundation of the world. Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And God, even before man has even sinned, is already picturing salvation. Because God said that that's why He rested, according to Hebrews 4. Was to show us that picture of salvation. Even before man even sinned, He rested. So, that shows God's plan right here, all the way at the very beginning. Now, look at verse 4. It says, these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens and every plant of the field before it was in the earth and every herb of the field before it grew. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth and there was not a man to till the ground. We already dealt with that verse last week when we talked about creation. But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Now, keep your finger here in Genesis 2. Go to Ecclesiastes 12. Now, some people will misinterpret this verse, I believe, when it talks about God breathing into man's nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. I've heard people just equate this to just normal air that you breathe. Like, there was a preacher who said, well, you know, abortion's not murder because the baby's not alive until it breathes its first breath. You know, because that's, you know, the Bible says God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. That's when he became a living soul. So there's no soul. Well, I've got news for you. God does not breathe into the nostrils of every baby the moment it's born. He's not there breathing into its nostrils. This is when he created man from the dust of the earth. Now, the other thing is that when he talks about man becoming a living soul, what does he mean by that? Well, I think if you look at Ecclesiastes 12, this might help you see what he meant by that. He says in verse 7, he's talking about death. He talks about how you're young and then you get older. And he says in verse 7, at the end of your life, Ecclesiastes 12, 7, Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it. So, this is a verse that's dealing with the subject that God was making man from the dust of the earth and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. He says when you die, your body goes back to the dust and the Spirit returns to the God who gave it. So, when he says soul there, man became a living soul, and we talk about the breath of life, we're not just talking about the fact that he brought us to life or that he put air into our lungs. We're talking about a spirit. We're talking about something spiritual taking place because this is something that's different than the animals. This is something where we are an eternal being made in the image of God, unlike animals. Animals breathe, but do they have a soul in the sense that we have a soul that's going to return unto the God who gave it? No. And so, when the Bible says that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, remember that the word spirit is similar to the word breath. Jesus breathed on the disciples and said receive ye the Holy Ghost. He breathed on them. If you think about a respirator, what's a respirator? It's a device that helps you to breathe. And notice the word spirit, respirator, do you see the connection there? Because often God's breath or God's spirit is signified in that way. And so, when God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul, this is talking about a spiritual being that he's creating, unlike the animals. Man is the only creature that's made in the image of God. He created all the animals in Genesis 1. He said let us make man in our image after our likeness. And it's amazing to me how people will look at, what are the ones that they say that we came from? Is it the orangutan? Which one do they say is our main relative? Not the monkey. That's the one they always get mad about when you say it. I'm talking about the godless school system. The gorillas? I don't even know. Oh, Pastor Anderson, you're so ignorant. You don't know which one we came from. Whichever one it was, look how creative man is. Look at man's achievement. And God gets all the glory for all of man's achievements because God is the one who gave us wisdom and knowledge and understanding and the power to get wealth and the power to build things and so forth. And look at the society that man has built. Look at the great buildings and the technology. Look at all the stuff that we've achieved mentally as human beings and the math and the science and the arts. And then look at the animals at the zoo. There's just a really big difference. And there's nothing in between. I mean there's nothing in between. And I personally believe that people of all colors and people of all nationalities all over the earth, that there's not a huge difference between them. That they are all man. They're all made in the image of God. They're all of one blood. It's not like we can say, well these humans are dumb and they're backwards. Whenever you see humans that are backwards and so forth, it's just because they're in a godless society or they're in a primitive society. But you can take a person out of that and train them. But even a person who's from the most primitive society still has the brain and the capabilities of a human being. Whether they're red, yellow, black, white, all human beings have intelligence and have an awareness that no animal can even come close to. Which doesn't even make any sense because if evolution were true, wouldn't there be people all over the planet kind of at different stages of evolution? You know, different continents. Because you have civilizations that were spread out and separated. I mean, let's face it. Human beings look very different from one another when you look at say a white person versus a black person versus a Chinese person. There's a big difference in their features and appearance. But why do they have the same or similar intelligence and the same or similar skills and knowledge and so forth? Why is it that we're all clearly humans? If we supposedly all evolved, wouldn't we be evolving separately and some people would be way smarter than others and some people would be way more physically fit than others? It's just not that way. I mean, it's just mankind. It's clearly, there's a certain amount of uniformity there. But then when you look at the animals, it's just total stupidity. I mean, go down to the Phoenix Zoo. I don't care which one it was that we came from, supposedly. The chimpanzees, I think that's the one. Oh, they taught to ride a bicycle. Okay, look. There's a huge, huge difference between those animals at the zoo and mankind. It's not even close. And you have to be a fool to believe that we are also primates like them. We are men. We are humans. We are made in the image of God and we are not even able to be compared to an animal, no matter what animal it is. Oh, we both have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. That means nothing. I mean, there are a lot of crazy animals that have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. It doesn't mean that they're related, though. And so, I don't understand how anybody could look at man's greatness and then look at the stupidity of the animal kingdom and think, Oh, see? No, I don't see it. There's such a colossal difference. What's the difference? That God made us in His image and breathed into our nostrils the breath of life. We became a living soul. We have a spirit. We have intelligence given from God. Now, it says in verse 8, the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed, and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out to Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison. That is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good. And there is Belyam and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon. The same as that is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel. That is it which goes toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. Now, you say, What's going on with these rivers? Well, one thing that I think is interesting is that God mentioned some of the same places that are going to be around after the flood. So that tells me that when the flood came, it didn't just completely alter the geography into something unrecognizable, because they had the Euphrates River before the flood, and then it's flooded, and then there's still a Euphrates River long after. And also the land of Ethiopia. That land mass was still there in a recognizable form. So we don't know everything that happened when the flood took place, but it couldn't have been so cataclysmic that everything was so dramatically altered that you couldn't even recognize the continents anymore, or couldn't even recognize these basic features because of the fact that they're listed here. And also he mentions the gold of the land of Havilah. Now, why does he bring up the gold? I think God's just tying in a little symbolism here, and I preach about this on Sunday, but showing us the fact that heaven and the Garden of Eden are two very similar places because they have so much in common. They both have the tree of life, they both have a river, they both have plant life, they both have gold, and so forth. So I think that's symbolic of just a paradise or heavenly things. Also the two stones that are mentioned, the delium and the onyx stone. Of course there are a lot of precious stones mentioned in heaven also, and in the new earth that's going to be created one day. So I think the new earth is going to be in some ways similar to the Garden of Eden and this creation that God made before man's sin. It says in verse number 15, And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now this is the first commandment that God gave the man chronologically. Of course in chapter 1 we have the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. But that did not come until after Eve was created. And this is before Eve was created when it's just the man in the garden, and he's told, Do not eat of the fruit of the tree, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. But notice before that he said, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. So really the first instruction that God gives man, Before he tells him what not to do, He tells him of all the trees in the garden thou mayest freely eat. You're free to choose and to eat whatever you want. So right away we see free will in the Bible. Right away. God's giving man choices, not just a robot that he created to just, Okay, you're going to have this tree for breakfast, you're going to have this one for lunch, and you're going to have this one for dinner. Here's a yearly meal plan for you to go through and eat all this stuff. No, he just says, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. Now people constantly complain about God's rules. And they say, Oh man, it's so strict! You come from one of those really strict Christian families with all the rules, And oh, you go to one of those legalistic churches, They preach all these biblical rules, And the do's and the don'ts and the thou shalt nots. But really, there are so many more things that you can do, And there's very little that we can't do. I mean, and this is a perfect illustration. God's got this whole garden of all types of trees there, And he says, Eat whatever you want, except one. Now that's a pretty good selection. I mean, if you've got everything to choose from except one, You've got all the variety in the world, literally, except one. And that's the way it is today. I mean, yeah, God has rules, but look, God's rules are not, I mean, this is the whole book, and it's not like the whole book is rules. There are a lot of stories, there are a lot of promises, There are a lot of positive things in here, There are a lot of other doctrines and so forth. It's not all rules. But if you look at man's rules, Oh, good night, just the city of Tempe, way more rules than this. I mean, you couldn't even, I mean, you know what it says about Jesus, All the books in the world cannot contain? That's like all the laws in our society. You know, the world couldn't even contain it. You know, thank God for electronics. They could probably condense it into like, you know, electronic files or something, All the rules. I mean, when they pass a bill in the Congress or the Senate, I mean, it's a thousand pages long a lot of times. It's 1,500 pages long. I mean, my Bible, how long is my Bible? Let's see, my Bible's, yeah, let's see, Revelation 20, the end. I like that. 1,235 pages. This is like shorter than Obamacare. That's like one bill or whatever. I mean, this is the whole book, okay? And man passes one law that's longer than this with all their rules. And they want to regulate every part of your life. They want to tell you everything cradled the grave. God is not like that. God is not a tyrant. God is not a slave master that just gives us a dictation of exactly what we have to do every day. God gives us a lot of freedom, a lot of flexibility. He gave man a ton of freedom. He said, eat whatever fruit you want. Then he starts forming the animals from the dust of the earth and bringing them to the man and allowing him to name them. And whatever he named them, that was the name thereof. I mean, God is deferring to man on what animals are going to be called. He's going to man. What do you want to call it? Oh, let's call it lion. You know, let's call it elephant. Let's call it giraffe. And God says, okay, that's what it's going to be called. From now on, that's what it is. It's a giraffe. It's an elephant. And I realize he wasn't speaking English. But that shows how God gives us choices and freedom and flexibility. But what it is is that people just don't like God's rules. Even though there are few in number, people don't like them. I mean, God lets us do so much. He just wants us to flee fornication. He just wants us not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to kill. These are things that we shouldn't be doing anyway. And they're things that are for our own good and for society's good and that we might be partakers of His holiness. But He doesn't tell us what to eat. I mean, you might like to eat things completely different from what I like to eat. He's not going to tell you, you must eat a burrito, you must eat pizza, you must eat Chinese food. You can eat whatever you want. Now, I mean, there are some things that you probably shouldn't eat just because they're not good for you. But honestly, there are so many good foods out there to eat and so many good drinks you can drink. But everybody just fixates on the one drink he doesn't want you to drink, alcohol, beer, wine. That's what he wants you to stay away from. But look at all the things you can drink. Instead of focusing on what you can't do, why don't you focus on all the things you can do? And by the way, we have more food and varieties of drinks than probably anybody known to man. We literally eat and drink like kings today. We get stuff flown in from South America if we don't have it in season. We get the fruit and vegetables brought in from another part of the world. And we can drink any kind. Go to the grocery store. You can just walk a few feet here and go to Food City or go to Fry's and find any kind of fruit juice pretty much known to man in those places. But no, you just have to drink alcohol. You just have to, you know, get high and smoke weed. You know, there's so many other things you could be doing with your life. And people just want to do the few things that God told them not to do. There's really a lot of variety and a lot of things that we can do. God's a very unrestricted God. He said you can freely eat of whatever you want. You can do what you want. You can live the life you want. He doesn't tell you what to do for a living. He doesn't tell you you must be an electrician or a carpenter or a plumber or a pastor. You can be what you want to be. God gives us a lot of freedom. And freedom is something that's found throughout the Bible. It's man that enslaves his fellow man. It's not God. God gives a lot of freedom. And it says, Of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now is he telling them, Hey, you're going to die hundreds of years after you eat of it? No. So he's not referring to a physical death here. Because did Adam physically die when he ate the fruit in chapter 3? No. This is spiritual death because of the fact that that's what happened that day. The Bible says in Ephesians 2 verse 1, You have to be quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. That's not talking about being physically dead. It's talking about the Spirit is dead. And the moment that we believe on Jesus Christ, our Spirit is quickened or brought back to life. Just as Jesus Christ was physically resurrected from the dead, our Spirit is resurrected the moment that we believe on Christ. Until then we're spiritually dead. Adam was spiritually alive. He ate the fruit. He died spiritually. His Spirit died. And then it was regenerated when he believed the promises of God regarding the Lord Jesus Christ when he put his faith in the Word of God. The Bible says in Genesis 2.18, And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet for him. Now it's interesting that right after he finished giving the first rule, you know, he gives the first law, the first rule, he says, Do not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The next words out of his mouth are, It's not good for the man to be alone. I will make him and help meet for him. Why? Because often when you're alone, it's a lot easier for you to do bad things when you're alone and nobody's watching than when somebody's around you and people are watching. You're less likely to do bad things. Now that doesn't mean that you're automatically going to do bad things when you're alone. And ultimately, of course, it was this helper that ended up, you know, bringing him into sin by giving him the fruit and telling him to eat it. But honestly, when you're alone is when you have to be the most careful and on guard of yourself not to commit sin because it's easier not to sin when you're in the group. It's easier not to sin if it's the right group, of course. But like, for example, young people that are 17, 18, 19 years old, they grow up and they're with their parents and their parents have rules for them. If they show up at 3 in the morning, their parents aren't just going to, Oh, okay, just making sure it was you. Good night. You know, they're going to be upset. They're going to say, Hey, wait a minute, you know, you need to be home by a certain time. You call us and tell, I mean, that's how my parents were. You know, I had to call them and tell them where I was and what I was doing because they were watching over me and so forth. And they kind of could see what I'm doing. They know what I'm doing because I live with them. Okay. Then when I got married, then I moved in with my wife, of course. And when I'm living with my wife, well, now again, even though she's not an authority figure over me, there's still accountability there where she sees what I'm doing and I see what she's doing and we want to be a good example for one another and want to do the right thing and be accountable to one another. That is helpful to keep you on the right track, having someone else there to be accountable with. Now, what we see today, though, is we see children becoming 17 or 18 years old. And, you know, I heard somebody say that 17 is the new 18 in certain places because in, I think it's Texas and some other places, they allow you when you're 17, you can move out now and there's nothing your parents can do about it. You know, they can't stop you or whatever. Now, just because that law has come to pass or whatever, that doesn't make it right in the eyes of God. You know, God does not teach that when you're 17 or 18, you just leave home and room up with a buddy. And today we see the average young person does not, you know, leave their house and get married and start a family. Your average young person today at 17, 18 years old leaves mom and dad and they're just roomed up with a roommate, okay? And you say, oh, man, I'm offended by this or whatever. Look, I'm just telling you, that's not the way things used to be. That's not the way it's supposed to be. And obviously people are in all different situations. You say, well, you know, I'm alone, this is my situation. Okay, I'm not preaching against you personally, okay? I'm not ripping on people for their situation. Obviously we live in a world that's not a perfect world. But I'm going to tell you something. I'm teaching my children to not grow up and leave the house when they turn 18 and go off to Bible college or whatever, some surrogate parents, surrogate family where they can go be in a bunk bed with three other guys or whatever in some dorm room. I don't want that for my children. And I don't want my children to grow up and be 17. And you know what? Don't get offended by preaching. This is what people need to hear. This is what my children and your children need to hear. And I thank God that I learned this. When I was a young person, because when I was a young person, my plan was when I hit 18, I'm gone. I'm moving out of the house. I'm going to get my own apartment. But guess what? I didn't do that because I learned this truth from the Bible. I heard this kind of preaching. I saw it in God's Word. And I'm glad that it probably saved me from a lot of sin and wrongdoing because at 18 years old, I wasn't ready to be living out on my own and to be roomed up with some other young person and no supervision, no accountability. That would not have been a good situation. It was a much better situation for me to be. Look, God's perfect plan is the family. And that's what God created here in Genesis 2. He created the man. He created his wife. And He said unto them, be fruitful and multiply. That's a family right there. One man, one woman physically multiplying. That's what God ordained. That's God's plan. Today we have everything else as the norm. Now, are there exceptions to God's plan? Yes, there are. In 1 Corinthians 7, the Apostle Paul talks about the fact that he's single and that he's able to serve God full time. He made it clear in other places, though, 1 Corinthians 9, for example, two chapters later, that all of the other apostles were married except him and Barnabas. So what does that show you right there? Does it show you that the average plan is to be single or that the average plan is to be married? You know, God laid this out in Genesis chapter 2 and you see all the apostles are married except Paul and Barnabas. And Paul says, hey, you know, if you're in a situation where you're single, turn there if you would. In 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 7 in the New Testament, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 7, verse 7, it says, But I would that all men were even as I myself. Because before that he's saying, you know, in verse 2, Nevertheless, to avoid fornication let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband. Look, getting married, it says in verse 9, But if they cannot contain, let them marry, for it's better to marry than to burn. And the Bible says, look, your average person is not going to be able to handle being single. They're probably not going to want to be single. So to avoid fornication, it's better if just every man has his own wife and every woman has her own husband. But he says in verse 7, For I would that all men were even as I myself, referring to being single. And every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it's good for them if they abide even as I. So he's saying, you know, hey, if you're single and you're unmarried or you're a widow, it's not a bad thing to be single, it's not a bad thing to be a widow. He's just saying, look, most people can't handle that. Everybody's got their proper gift of God. But for some, being single is something where they could serve God in a greater way. He talks about later on how those that are married, it says in verse 33, But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. It says in verse 32, But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord. So he's saying basically, theoretically, theoretically you could do more for God theoretically as a single person because you could just, that's all you have to worry about. But here's the thing though, is your average single person, just that's all they're thinking about. Just what they can do for God, what they can serve God. Is that why 18 year olds are moving out? It's just because, you know, I just, I'm not reading my Bible enough at home. I'm not doing enough soul winning at home. I'm not going to enough church services. I want to move out just so that I can just be like the second apostle Paul. I'm going to be the apostle Paul of 2012. That's not what you're seeing happening. You're seeing young people move out to get out from under the watchful eye of mom and dad so that they can commit sin. That's what's going on. Okay? And they want to go, and please don't tell me that going to Bible college is serving God full time and you're like the apostle Paul in your little dormitory with Barnabas or whatever. That's not true. Because Bible college is not even mentioned in the Bible. It's not God's plan. And here's what they, these Bible colleges are supposed to finish raising your kids. That's what they even say. They even call them kids. They treat them like kids. And they are, in a certain way, kids. Just young 18 year olds who just, you know, I call them 13th graders. That's what they are. But you see, we need to get an understanding that God has ordained the family. It's under attack today. We've got a bunch of fags that want to live together and call it a family and call it marriage and whatever. And you say, oh, you know, is gay marriage a big issue for you? I don't have an issue with gay marriage. They can get married before they're stoned to death. So what? I'm for civil unions, marriage, all of it. Right before they're stoned with stones, their blood shall be upon them. Leviticus 20, 13. So what? But you see, we get these big arguments about it. And people, I don't want to go into a big political rant, let me just hold my tongue, about how Obama is against gay marriage. Who knew that? Who knows that Obama is against gay marriage? Did you know that Obama has always been against gay marriage? Did you know that President Barack Obama, when he was campaigning for the President, was against gay marriage? Did you know that President Barack Obama has said that he's against gay marriage right now and just reiterated that recently? Did you know that? No, you didn't know that, did you? But all your favorite little Republicans, they're all against gay marriage. Just like your buddy in the White House, Barack Obama. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Because that's not what the Bible says. The Bible doesn't say, thou shalt not allow gay marriage. It says, if a man lie with mankind as he lied with a woman, they shall surely be put to death. That's what the Bible says. And you say, well, but it's better than nothing. No. I'm not a compromiser. There's no compromise. It's either all or nothing. It's everything or it's nothing. If you're not going to tell me that the homos are an abomination in the eyes of God, then shut up. I don't care what you think about the homos. Because that's all God says. He says they're an abomination, they're a predator, they're a pervert, put them to death, end of story. That's all it says. Any other opinion than that is the wrong opinion. No, I think that they're lovely, nice people. I'm not going to discriminate against them. I think they're wonderful. I think they're sweet. But let's just not let them get married. Let's just give them a civil union or let's just let them adopt kids and not be married. It's all a bunch of stupidity, folks. Quit letting the world brainwash you. Welcome to church. Welcome to the house of God where the work of God is preached. This is biblical doctrines. And don't come to me. People come to me and say, what do you think about gay marriage? I say, I don't think about it. It's too sick. It's too weird. All I think about is capital punishment that's laid out in Leviticus 2013. That's my thoughts on gay marriage. Next question. Marry them to a stone. They could be one flesh with a stone that makes impact. So, I don't know what that had to do with the sermon. I just needed to get that off my chest. But it's so stupid. Look, this world is out to brainwash you. Let me just go aside from Genesis 2 for a minute. This world is out to brainwash you. Through TV, through magazines, through the radio, through billboards. And look, we're all exposed to it. But you know how we keep from being brainwashed? This book. Don't let them brainwash you to thinking that homos are these wonderful nice people but just don't let them get married. That is a smokescreen. That's an illusion. That's a decoy. It's to try to get you worrying about an issue that doesn't even matter. I mean, who would have thought 50 years ago that we'd be talking about whether homos should be getting married or not? No one would even... What? People would think you were insane if you even brought that out. They'd say, what? Why are you talking about whether they should get married? It's not even... It's a sin. It's abomination. It's not even acceptable. It shouldn't even be around. But shouldn't they be married? I mean, it's so stupid. But that's where we... It's like we go with the world with all their stupid arguments. I mean, that's like if we sat there and argued about how many kids they're allowed to adopt. How many kids do you think that homos should be allowed to adopt? It's a stupid argument because they shouldn't even exist. Anyway... You say, what does that have to do with Genesis chapter 2? What does that have to do with... He made a man and a woman. He didn't form some other guy out of the earth and say, this is your help meet. He formed a woman. Let's read about it. It says, in the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make it help meet for him. That's why young people who are 17, 18 years old, they want to move out and do their own thing and party and whatever. Wait till you get married. It's good advice. Don't go out and get that apartment and it's just going to lead you into sin and problems because of the fact... And look, those of you who are single, those of you who do live alone, you know what? If that's your situation, I'm not passing judgment on you or telling you what to do. But I will say this, be careful. Be careful because when you're alone, it's easier to sin. And even for myself, if I'm out of town or traveling, I need to be on my guard. If I'm in a hotel room, it doesn't mean I need to just flip on the TV. Well, nobody's around. Flip on the TV, flip on Showtime, flip on Cinemax. Look, it'd be a lot easier for me to flip on a TV in a hotel room than it would to flip on a TV in my living room, wouldn't it? But you know what? That's why I'm saying if I'm out of town or if you're by yourself or if you're living alone, you've got to be even more careful about temptation because of the fact that you're by yourself. And that's what God is saying here. It's not good that the man should be alone. You want to thank God for the local church, a place where you're not alone, where you can be with other like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ. It's a family in a sense. He says it's not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet for him. And out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. Now, in Genesis 1, God talks about creating animals before he creates man, right? He forms all the beasts of the earth, then he creates the man. But here in Genesis chapter 2, it's basically a flashback to the sixth day when God created man because he hasn't created the woman yet. If you look at the order of events in Genesis chapter 2, he created the man, Adam, then he created animals, showed them to Adam, Adam named them, then he created the woman. Do you see that chain of events in that order? Now, I believe that God still created the animals before he created Adam. But I think that what he did was he created the plants on day three, if you'll remember, okay? He created the animals, some on day five, and then of course the land animals on day six. But here we see that he's creating them just in the garden for Adam. Like, for example, he populated the whole earth with animals and plants, but then he plants a special garden, and then he starts making animals right in front of Adam, forming them, showing them to Adam, bringing them to Adam, and he calls out the name of it, and then he brings them another one, and then he brings another one. So Adam is witnessing the animals being created by God before his very eyes. Even though many were created before him, before he even came along, God actually showed him, and it must have been pretty interesting. Can you imagine Adam just sitting there watching God create animals out of the dust of the earth? That's pretty amazing. And Adam must have been a pretty smart guy to come up with all those names. That would be tough to come up with. I mean, what do you call it, you know? I mean, I'm not that smart, I guess, or maybe I'm not that creative would be the word. He must have been a very creative guy because he gave everything a name, and God, you know, approved all of his names and everything like that. It says, Adam gave names to all cattle, verse 20, and the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found in hell meat for him. Now, the word meat there means suitable for him or fitting to him, okay? So when the Bible says there was not in hell meat for him, there was not in hell appropriate for him is probably the word that we would use today in 2012. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof, and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. He's used to naming the animals, so he decides to name her. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. So he looks at the woman and he realizes this is the one that is meat for him. This is the one that's suitable for him. All the other animals, they're a great servant to man. You know, dog is man's best friend and the horse is something that he can ride upon, and God told the man to have dominion and lordship over all the animals, but it just wasn't a companion, a fellow human being. So when the woman is brought to him, he sees finally his companion has arrived, and he says, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and go to Bible college and go to the dormitory and go to the Baptist monastery. It really is like a Baptist monastery. I mean, what's the difference between a monastery and a Bible college? You're segregated with all guys, you're learning God's word, and you're bumped up in this place. That's not biblical. It sounds Catholic. We need to get back to the local church. And look, if Bible college is so wonderful, why is it never mentioned in the Bible ever? You know what is mentioned? Church. So what do you think is more important, college or church? Church. What did God, upon this rock I'll build my college? He said, upon this rock I'll build my church. And so the Bible says a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. That's why also I don't think it's God's will for you to stay living with your parents when you get married. Does the Bible say get married and stay living with your parents? No. It says leave father and mother. Now you might have your parents move back in with you at a time. For example, when they get old and you need to take care of them and so forth. But I think what the Bible is teaching you when it talks about leaving father and mother is that you're no longer a child in that home. You're no longer under that authority. You've got your own home now. You're the head of the house now as a man. You're not still under mom and dad's authority for the rest of your life. Once you leave and get married, now you're on your own. You're doing your own thing. And notice he says, therefore, what is the therefore referring to? Because of the fact that he said this is now by bones and flesh of my flesh, therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and they shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed. What does that mean? Well, what the Bible is teaching here is that your wife is your relative. You are related to your wife now. He says this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. And just as much as you're related to your sister or your parent, would you think of divorcing your sister? I'm not talking about if you're living in Kentucky or West Virginia or something. I'm saying it's supposed to be a permanent bond. This is supposed to be bone of your bones and flesh of your... It's like getting a divorce would be like cutting off your arm or something. Do you get what I'm saying? It's one body. The Bible says that when you're joined unto your wife, it uses this language in 1 Corinthians 6, one body. He said there are no more twain but one flesh. And a divorce would be similar to chopping off one of your body parts because she is your flesh. Your blood and your bone. And you ought not have more allegiance to your sister and your brother and your mother. Your wife is your relative too. She's blood to you too. She's your blood, bone, flesh relative. And you ought to love her as a permanent part of you. And the Bible very clearly teaches in this passage... You say, I don't think that's what this passage is referring to. Well, this is what Jesus referred back to when he taught against divorce in Matthew 19. He pointed back to this. And he said, nope, that's not what the Bible said from the beginning. He said, there will be one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And so the Bible is really clear on this. And so there's a lot in this chapter about the family. We've got a man and his wife. Go back to Genesis 1 quickly because I didn't really touch on this last week. I was talking about so many other things about the creation of the earth. It says in verse number 28, and God blessed them. And God said unto them, talking about the man and his wife, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. And subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Now, does that say if you want to? Does that say be fruitful and multiply if you want? Is that what it says? No, he says be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Now, when God ordained marriage, when he basically created a man, and he created his wife, and it says he said unto them, God blessed them and said, be fruitful and multiply. So this is after the woman's created. So he's got a man and a woman, Adam and Eve. And he looks at Adam and Eve and he commands them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Now, you say, well, that's just because it was pretty empty back then. So he needed them to fill it up. Once they filled it up, it's filled up. Now you can start pumping the birth control pills and it's already full. Hey, it's full enough. Well, here's what I have to say. Who decides when it's full? First of all, okay, number one. Number two, when did God ever repeal this? And the way I see it, if God says something, I'm going to go with that until he tells me different. Like with the Sabbath, okay, he tells us something different. With the tabernacle and the priesthood and the meats and drinks, he spells out to us, okay, there's been a change in the law. But when did he say, okay, now it's time to cut back on all the multiplying, okay? Yeah, it's too much. Too much multiplying. It's too full. The world's overpopulated. You'll never find that in the scripture. He said be fruitful and multiply. Now, you say that's just for Adam. Well, he didn't just say it to Adam. He also said it to Noah. Well, you say, well, it's the same thing because Noah got off the ark and there's only eight people. But wait a minute, notice what he says to Adam. Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it. Well, the word replenish, it doesn't mean to fill. It means to refill, okay? Replenish. And look, it's not that God doesn't know how to use the word fill because just a little bit earlier in the same chapter, if you look at verse number 22, when God blessed the birds and the fish, he said, and God blessed them saying be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the seas. So does God know how to use the word fill when he's given blessings? Okay. You say, well, why did he say replenish? Is it because there were other people and other galaxies and other planets? No. The reason they said refill or replenish, okay, is because replenishment is a continual process of filling and refilling and refilling. It's not that he's telling them to refill because it's never been filled before. It's that he's telling them to replenish as you go, refill as you go, okay? For example, if I asked my wife to bring me a glass of milk and I said I'm going to want this replenished throughout this meal, that means basically I don't want her to just fill it one time. I want her to fill it, then I'm going to drain it off, and then I want it filled again. And that would be a replenishment that would take place, okay? You're going to be here to replenish my milk if needed, okay? That's what replenish means. It means when something is gone, you put it back, and then it's gone again. You put it back. You replenish. When you're playing a board game, it will tell you you need to replenish the cards. It uses that word a lot. So is God just talking to Adam if he's saying replenish? No. He's talking to mankind because if he were just talking to Adam, it wouldn't be replenished, it would just be filled. It would just be fill the earth, okay? Well, Adam's not going to fill the earth probably in his lifetime anyway, number one, because the earth's pretty big. It's going to take a long time to fill it up. So Adam's not going to fill it personally in his lifetime anyway, and number two, Adam's definitely not going to refill because he's the first man. But mankind is being told in general to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth on a continual basis. People are constantly dying and the population's constantly being replenished. And so that proves that this cannot be talking just to Adam or wouldn't he use the word replenish? That's why it's so important. Every word in the Bible is the way it is because the NIV will change this to fill. Your modern Bible verses will change it. The King James says replenish for a reason because it's a continual process. And if you look throughout the Bible, God's people believe in this. The children of Israel and Egypt, they multiplied into a great nation while the Egyptians were practicing birth control. And they outnumbered the Egyptians because they multiplied so greatly. And so we get some very good instructions right away in Genesis 1 and 2 on the family. Number one, it's a man and a woman, okay, for all the little Republican, little, you know, for a maritime, you know. Okay, there you go. It's a man and a woman. Number two, it's for life. They're no longer two. They're one flesh. They're bone and blood and flesh. If you tear apart that marriage, it's like you're tearing apart bone and flesh and blood. It'd be like tearing off a body part, okay, is what you're doing. You're tearing apart a union there that God has joined together. And not only that, but it's part of the purpose is to bring forth fruit and to replenish and to be fruitful and multiply for reproduction. That's part of the reason why God instituted marriage. Now, some people will say, well, that's the only reason God instituted marriage. No, what was the reason God instituted marriage in this passage? Why? So the man wouldn't be alone, a companion, okay? Fellowship and companionship was the reason why he created the woman. But he also commanded them to be fruitful and multiply. That's part of it. And so we as Christians should try to get a more scriptural world view of the family and a more traditional, if you could call it that, view that says, you know, you grow up, you get married, you stay married to one person for the rest of your life, and you multiply and have lots of children. And don't let the world tell you the children are a burden when the Bible says the children are a blessing and the children are a gift from God and the children are a reward from God. If you get a biblical viewpoint, you'd have a family viewpoint that says, I'm going to get married and I'm going to have children. I'm going to stay until one of us dies and then I'll get remarried or whatever. But, you know, I'm going to stay with this person for life. And it's not when I'm 18. And show me the number 18 in the Bible. Show me where the Bible says when you're 18, you know, you just go out and do whatever you want to do. It's not what it says. And so you ought to be under your parents' authority. And I understand there are weird situations. And we live in a day where, and I don't want you to get mad at me and then think that I'm ripping on you or something if this is not your situation. Because you know what? I've known people that were in weird situations. For example, their parents got divorced and got remarried and then it was kind of weird. They kind of weren't really wanted to be living in their home or they weren't really welcome there. But is that really God's plan, though? That that took place? So, I mean, there are a lot of things. There are a lot of people who are divorced today. There are a lot of people who are divorced really early in life. There are a lot of people who are in a lot of situations for a lot of reasons that are not biblical. But I'm preaching in a perfect world. And you know what? This is God's perfect will and God's perfect plan that I'm preaching. You grow up, you get married, you have children, you stay together for life, and you multiply. That's what God's teaching in this passage. And if it offends people, then don't let the door hit you on your way out. Because you know what? I'm going to preach the truth to my family and to other people's families. And if you've already messed up your life, I'm sorry. But the bottom line is, this is what the Bible teaches. And I'm going to stick with it and I'm going to stand up for it. And I always have and I always will. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, dear God. And we thank you for this clear teaching in the Bible. There's so much confusion out there today about marriage and about the family and about childbirth and child rearing and so-called family planning and having children, dear God. Help us to just cut through all the garbage and just get back in your word and see what your original intent was of setting up a family, setting up a husband and wife. And Father, those that are in a situation where they're single, help them to take comfort in the words of the Apostle Paul and to dedicate their lives to serving you more fully. And those that are young and coming up, dear God, I pray that they would follow your plan for their life. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.