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Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Good evening and welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Let's go ahead and find our seats Find the seats and find a hymnal close to you and turn to page number 257 Psalm number 257 Open the service with Look and Live Psalm number 257 We're going to sing it out on the first I'm a message from the Lord Hallelujah The message unto you I give It is recorded in this word Hallelujah It is only that you look and live Look and live my brother live Look to Jesus now and live It is recorded in this word Hallelujah It is only that you look and live Psalm number 257 on the second I'm a message full of love Hallelujah A message of my friend to you It is a message from above Hallelujah Jesus said it and I know it is true Look and live my brother live Look to Jesus now and live It is recorded in this word Hallelujah It is only that you look and live Let's sing it out on the third Psalm number 257, let's sing it out on the third Life is offered unto you Hallelujah Eternal life thy soul shall have If you only look and live Hallelujah Jesus who alone can save Look and live my brother live Look to Jesus now and live It is recorded in this word Hallelujah It is only that you look and live I will tell you how I came Hallelujah To Jesus when he made me whole He was believing on his name Hallelujah With trust in him he saved my soul Look and live my brother live Look to Jesus now and live It is recorded in this word Hallelujah It is only that you look and live Amen, great singing, welcome to Verity Baptist Church Here on our Sunday evening service, we're glad to see everyone here this evening Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you, we thank you for everything that you've done today Lord, thank you for the rain, thank you for the opportunity to be in your houses Lord, thank you for the people that are here, Lord, to sacrifice your time, Lord, to sing praises to you and to listen to your words, preach and learn truth from your words Lord, we love you, we pray that you bless the service tonight in Jesus' name I pray, Amen We will sing a stanza from the song that you picked Let's start over here with Justice 216? 216 216 We're not gonna sing that last tag, alright? Sing it like regular Skip the last tag, sing it out, 216 on the first A pilgrim was I, and a wandering In the cold night I'll sing night in Rome Jesus, the blind shepherd found me And now I am on the way home Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life Ah, Miss Dogma, go ahead Song number two, four, Amen And can it be that I should gain? Sing it out, song number 24 on the first And can it be that I should gain An interest in the Savior's blood And guide me to Thee Who caused this way for me Who will to death pursue? Amazing love, how can it be God should sigh for me Amazing love, how can it be That Thou, my God, sure will sigh for me Brother Luke, go ahead 355 Song number 355 Song number 300 And 55, what a friend we have in Jesus Let's sing it out on the first What a friend we have in Jesus All our sins and needs to be What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer Oh, what peace we have to hold dear Oh, what needless fame we bear All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer Brother search, go ahead 215 Song number 215 Heaven came down and glory filled my soul Let's sing that last act We're gonna sing that last act on the first Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful day A day I will never forget After that wondered and darkness away Jesus, my Savior, I met Oh, what a tender but passionate friend He meant the heat of my heart Shadows dispelling the joy I am telling He made all the darkness depart Heaven came down and glory filled my soul When ever comes to see who can be heard My sins were washed away And my night was certain day Heaven came down and glory filled my soul Sing it out Heaven came down and glory filled my soul Miss Diane, go ahead 143 Amen Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine Sing it out on the first Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine Heir of salvation, churches of God Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior all the day long This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior all the day long Sing one more song Madison, go ahead 210 Song number 210 Last song for favorites Wonderful grace of Jesus We're gonna sing it out on the first Wonderful grace of Jesus Greater than all thy sin How shall my tongue describe it? Where shall its praise begin? Taking away my burden Setting my spirit free For the wonderful grace of Jesus He just needs it out Wonderful the massless praise of Jesus Deeper than the mighty rolling sea Eye of the mountain Farting like a fountain Most efficient praise for thee and me And on and on the storm Where my tracks shine Singing with her heart My sin and shame Will magnify the precious Name of Jesus Praise His name Amen, all right, well let's take our bulletins this evening And we'll look at some announcements If you did not receive a bulletin on your way in Just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you If you need a bulletin just put your hand up And we will get one for you The verse this week Proverbs 13 23 Much food is in the tillage of the poor But there is that is destroyed for want of judgment And that's a good verse there We like that if you open up your bulletin You'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. And we had a wonderful service this morning We're glad you're back for the evening service We do invite you to be with us on Wednesday night for the Wednesday night Bible study And we are in the book of Amos We started Amos last week And we're just doing one chapter a week So we did Amos chapter 1 last week We'll be in chapter 2 this coming week And I encourage you to read Amos chapter 2 And be ready to study it together on Wednesday night If you look at our soul winning times Our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. Then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m. If you are a soul winner don't forget to add your salvations on the communication card So that we can add that to the bulletin If you have a map that you did not finish Clearly mark what was done what was not done And put it in the bin in the foyer So that we can get that recycled through and get that finished Or if there was something wrong with the map Please let us know we want to fix those And if you're running late of course you can call us or text us at the number there 916-868-9080 If you're a first time guest we're glad you're with us We have a gift for you as you walk out of the church building this evening If you go out the main foyer you'll see a little table set up And on that table you'll see these little gift bags Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight And if you are a guest we'd ask that you please take a moment and fill out the communication card Which is inserted in your bulletin And if you fill this out if you need a pen just raise your hand One of our ushers can bring you by a pen And we'd like to have a record of your attendance We would actually like to send you a little gift but we need your info to do that So please take a moment to pull the card out When we're done with the announcements we're going to sing a song When we're done singing we're going to receive the offering And as the offering plate goes by you can drop this card in the offering plate If you need to be baptized please let us know We'd love to baptize you You can let us know on your communication card If you look at the announcements and upcoming events Of course we've got the judgment series that we've been doing on Sunday mornings And we're back in our declaring doctrine series on Sunday nights And we have the book of Amos on Wednesday nights Nine chapters a day I hope you're keeping up with it I hope you will not quit And then on Wednesday January 25th We're having Deacon Corbin Russell from Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tucson Arizona He's going to be preaching for us And we'd love for you to make plans to attend on that midweek service Wednesday night And then of course teen activity is on Friday January 27th at 6pm It is laser tag, the address is there for you And make sure you sign up if you've not yet signed up The United Kingdom missions trip We just want to let you know This is not until August, later on this year August 22nd through the 31st But I will be preaching at the missions trip there At Sure Foundation Baptist Church in the UK And if you are interested in attending or would like information You can sign up on your communication card And we can get you information and all that stuff that you would need But we want you to be aware of it We're letting you know many months in advance So if you'd like to go you can make plans to attend I've already had several people say that they're interested I do want to just kind of announce this Just to help anybody without having to ask any odd questions But you obviously have to pay for yourself So you've got to get yourself to England Cover your hotels or whatever But if you pay to get yourself there we'll let you hang out with us So that's kind of how that works But if you'd like to go to the UK I think it will be a fun trip We'd love to have you Choir practice, they started They've been practicing, they're a good homeschool group They've got a PE class this Thursday, January 19th Upcoming cleaning crew, you can check for your name there There's other things there for you to look at Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off Replace them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody If you look at the back of the bulletin Birthdays and anniversaries for January Today is Ms. Sarah Coffney's birthday, January 15th Also Madeline Gonzalez's birthday, January 15th And Ms. Eva Rodari's anniversary, January 15th And then this week we have Shanou Herr's birthday on January 16th Yaseline De Diosa's birthday on January 18th Brother Moses Thompson on January 19th Ms. Tamara Cervantes on January 19th Celeste Cruz has a birthday on January 21st And Brother Montel Johnson has a birthday on January 21st Praise Report, Money Matters All those things are there for you to look at I do have just a couple of announcements that I need Just a little bit of help with the parents Last Wednesday night and this morning I got a couple of complaints that I think some of the boys might be running around having Nerf gun wars after the service I'm just going to ask the parents if you could help us with that And this is a family integrated church and we love the kids Honestly I like the kids more than I like most of the adults So I don't have a problem with the kids But it's not a playground and if you could help us We can't have kids running around shooting guns at each other We've got older people here, we've got pregnant ladies And we just want to make sure that no one gets hurt So if you could help me with that Honestly I don't even know what kids it was or whatever But I've had a few people mention it to me So if you could help me with that we would appreciate that One other thing that I actually did notice this on Wednesday night Is the restroom here for the men I walked in there and there was some boys They might have been playing Nerf gun, I don't know what they were playing But they were hiding in there And just if you could help us with that The restroom is not anywhere for kids to be playing Restrooms have a specific use Men are going in there to use the restroom And we don't need three or four kids hiding in there So if you could help us with that I would really appreciate it I'm not upset with anybody and I hope you understand that But we just want to make sure everybody stays safe and all those things So if you could help us with that that would be great I think that's it for all of the announcements So we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week Which is the insert in your bulletin And we'll sing Lord I need you As we prepare to receive the offering this evening Sometimes when life seems gentle Sing it out on the first Sometimes when life seems gentle When life seems gentle and free I turn my gaze away from you And soon forget to pray But when the spark of fire Turns to fear My anxious voice cries a word With words you long to hear Lord I need you When the sea of life is calm Oh Lord I need you When the wind is blowing strong Where the trials come on seas Keep me always on my knees Lord I need you Lord I need you Good you're singing well tonight Let's go ahead and sing it out on the second Could you slow it down just a tad bit Let's slow it down a little bit Sing it with some purpose And sing it with some passion on the second Lord help me to remember I'm weak but you are strong I cannot do Apart from you For Lord you are my song Although I wonder And boast in all I do Lord keep my eyes turned upward And find me God Good here we go Lord I need you When the sea of life is calm Oh Lord I need you When the wind is blowing strong Where the trials come on seas Keep me always on my knees Lord I need you Lord I need you Amen, good singing We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer Heavenly Father, Lord we do thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight Lord we pray that you bless the offering, we pray that you bless the gift and the giver And Lord we ask that you meet with us as we take another portion of scripture on the subject from the Bible And learn together, in Jesus' name we pray, amen Amen, good singing Amen, good singing Amen, good singing Amen, good singing Amen, good singing Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew chapter number 4 beginning in verse number 1 Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew chapter number 1 Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew chapter number 1 Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew chapter number 1 Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom Matthew 4, we'll read the entire chapter as our custom I want it to almost be like if you were to sign up for a systematic theology course at a Bible college or a seminary I want us to cover that material. The only difference is that we're doing it without all the heresy so that we're actually giving you the word of God. But we started last week with the doctrine of sin and I preached a sermon called the concept of sin and we talked about sin as a concept or sin in theory. If you remember we talked about the origin of sin, the fact that original sin is not passed down but the nature of sin death is passed down. We talked about the definition of sin, that sin is the transgression of the law according to the Bible and that sin is identified by the law. We talked about the payment of sin, it is a physical death and a literal hell. And then we talked about the knowledge of sin. We talked about the age of accountability and the sin of ignorance. That was the concept of sin. Tonight we're going to talk about the practice of sin and there are several areas I want to deal with and headings I want to cover and I'll just give them to you up front. The first is the temptation of sin, the second is the committing of sin the third is the equality of sin and the last is the salvation from sin. So I'd like for us to cover that material tonight. So I'm going to begin tonight with the temptation of sin if you're taking notes maybe you can jot down number one, the temptation of sin. I want you to notice first of all that there is a tempter, there is the tempter. In Matthew chapter 4 and verse 1 of course we have the famous story of the Lord Jesus Christ being tempted by the devil. I want to highlight for you that the Bible teaches that the devil is the great tempter. Matthew chapter 4 and verse 1, notice what the Bible says, then was Jesus let up of the spirit into the wilderness. Notice these words, to be tempted of the devil, to be tempted of the devil and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights he was afterward in hunger and when, notice this phrase, when the tempter, that is what Satan is referred to, the tempter. When the tempter came to him he said if thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. And of course we read the entire chapter in its context, I'm not going to take the time to go through the whole story I've done that at other times but we see that the tempter brings several temptations to the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course we know that he comes out victorious and does not yield to any one of those temptations but I want you to notice that the devil is the great tempter. He is the one that we see in the Bible often bringing temptations and he is referred to as the tempter. Let me give you a couple of other examples. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. If you would, 1 Corinthians chapter 7. You're there in Matthew. Just flip over to Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 5. 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 5. And of course 1 Corinthians chapter 7 is a chapter dealing with marriage and here in 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 5 the Bible says, Defraud ye not one another, and this is just for you to have the context it's referring to a physical relationship between a husband and a wife. It says, Defraud ye not one another, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again. I want you to notice why it is that Paul is admonishing couples to not defraud one another by withholding the physical relationship from each other. He says, you should only withhold that. He says, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer. And he says, and then you should come together again. Why? Notice what he says, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. And that word incontinency refers to the inability to control or the inability to restrain yourself. And here he's saying, hey be careful about not going too long without engaging in that marital act because of the fact that Satan can use that to tempt you. And I just want to highlight for you that it is Satan who is highlighted as the tempter. He is the tempter that came to Jesus. Here Paul says to come together again that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. Let me give you another example. Go to Genesis chapter number 3. We spent time on this last week, Genesis chapter 3, the story of Adam and Eve. But I'd like for us to spend a little bit of time on it as well here. And the point is that the devil is the great tempter. That's what the Bible refers to. And we see him throughout the Bible being the tempter, bringing temptations. And of course, probably the two biggest, the two most famous and well-known stories in the entire Bible of temptation are of course what we read in Matthew chapter 4, the temptation of Christ. And we see that he was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when the tempter came to him, the Bible says. And then the next most well-known story on temptation is of course Genesis chapter 3, the fall of man. And the story of Adam and Eve when Eve was tempted by the devil, notice Genesis 3 and verse 1. Now the serpent, and we saw this last week so I don't want to spend a lot of time on it, but I just want you to see it. Now the serpent, we know the serpent of course is the devil, was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he, the devil, said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of the tree of the garden. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know. Excuse me, I skipped down to verse 4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as God's knowing good and evil. So I just want you to notice that the devil is known as the great tempter. He is the tempter in the Bible. Go with me if you would to the book of James, James chapter number 1. Towards the end of the New Testament, if you start at Revelation, go back, you've got the book of Jude, 1 chapter, 3rd, 2nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter, and then the book of James, James chapter number 1. With that said, that the devil is the great tempter, I do want to make it clear that the devil has never made you sin. People will often say and they'll use this little phrase, the devil made me do it, but the devil doesn't make you do anything. When you and I partake in sin, we partake in sin of our own will. James chapter 1 and verse 14, the Bible says, but every man is tempted, notice these words, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. The Bible says that when we are tempted and when we give in to that temptation, we are drawn away of our own lust. We are enticed by our own physical and fleshly appetite. So when we talk about the temptation of sin, yes, there is the tempter, the devil, he is the great tempter, and you've got to be careful, of course, of the devil and with the devil because of the fact that he will often try to tempt you and try to get you to sin. And of course, probably not literally physically the devil himself is bringing temptations, but we know that he's got many devils and demons that are in this world. And look, there is a such thing as spiritual warfare in which he's going to try to get you to sin. If he could get you to sin and get you entangled into sin and cause that to pull you out of church, pull you out of soul wedding, pull you out of living for God, then that's what he wants. So he will do that. But when he does that and when someone gives in to that, let's not put all the blame on the devil. Yes, he might have brought the temptation, but he didn't make you do it because when man is tempted, he is drawn away of his own lust. Someone put it this way. Temptation is bait on a hook. The devil knows how to bait your hook. And he knows how to bait you. He knows how to attract you. And by the way, let me just say this. Though the devil is the great tempter, realize that not all temptation comes from the devil. Sometimes we tempt ourselves. And you know, obviously when it comes to sin and the life of sin, you've got the devil, but you also have the world and then you also have the flesh. We've got three. There's an axis of evil there, an axis of sin there that we are fighting when it comes to living a separated and holy life. You've got to fight the devil at times. You've got to fight the world at times. You've got to fight your flesh all the time. These are all areas in which we've got to fight and engage. But I do want you to understand that the Bible does refer to Satan as the tempter. And he is seen as the great tempter throughout the Bible. Do me a favor. Keep your place there in James. We're going to come back to James. Put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there. We're going to leave it and come back to it. And then go with me to the Old Testament book of Joshua. Joshua chapter 7. Towards the beginning of the Old Testament you have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua. So we talked about the tempter and the big takeaways are this. Yes, the devil is the great tempter, but the devil did not make you do it. Nobody made you do it. When you and I sin, we choose to do it. We are drawn away of our own lust. The second thing I'd like to just talk about or teach you or help you understand under this heading of the temptation of sin is not just that of the tempter but also that of the temptation itself. Now I want you to understand kind of the process by which temptation works and how temptation works. And I'm taking you to Joshua chapter 7 because there's a story here that I think is just a beautiful illustration if you could use that word which is probably the wrong word. It's an illustration of how this works. It's not beautiful in the sense that it's obviously sin, but the way that it's so clearly seen in the story I think it will help you understand it. Joshua chapter 7 verse 20, the Bible says, And Achan answered Joshua. And if you're familiar with the story, you know that Joshua has led the children of Israel into the Promised Land. They have had their first victory in Jericho and they went to fight their second battle which was a much smaller city called Ai. And though Jericho was much larger and bigger, they had a great victory when they went to fight in Ai which was a much smaller and easier battle. They actually lost. Thirty-six men lost their lives. And Joshua finds out that it is as a result of sin in the camp. Achan, who we're going to see here in Joshua chapter 7, stole the accursed thing from Jericho when God told them don't take anything from Jericho. Jericho was their first battle and they were not to take any of the spoil. Now going forward after Jericho, as they fought other battles, they were allowed to take stuff, they were allowed to take all the spoil for their own good. But the first battle, Jericho, no one was supposed to take of it. It was supposed to be set aside unto the Lord. And of course there's a picture there of the first fruits and of tithing, the idea that the first victory, all of that was set aside for God. Well Achan decided he didn't want to tithe. So he stole from Jericho and he took that which was accursed. And because there was sin in the camp, the blessing of God had left the children of Israel. Look at Joshua 7 verse 20, notice what it says. And Achan answered Joshua and said, this is after Joshua has pretty much found him and is asking him, what did you do? He said, indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel and thus and thus have I done. I want you to notice that Achan describes for us the process in which he gave into this temptation and sinned. And this process is the same process for every single person. When it comes to temptation and the act of temptation leading us to sin, there were really three steps that you can outline in these verses. The first is the trigger, the second is the craving, and the third is the execution. And I use those terms because those are terms that are often used when if you read literature on habits and habit formation and addiction, these are the types of terms that are used and though not every sin is an addictive type sin or a habit forming sin, all sins pretty much follow these three steps, the trigger, the craving, the execution. Notice here in Achan's confession, notice what he says to Joshua. Joshua chapter 7 verse 21, he says, when I saw, that's the trigger, he saw something and it tempted him. He said, when I saw, what did he see? Among the spoils, he saw a goodly Babylonish garment, a piece of clothing, and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold and 50 shekels of weight, money, gold and silver. He says, I saw these things and that was the, because Joshua's asking him, what did you do? What have you done? Tell me what have you done? And he said, well, here's what happened. I saw the goodly Babylonish garment and the 200 shekels of silver and the wedge of gold and 50 shekels of weight and he is explaining that the first thing was that he saw. He got this trigger. He saw it and it triggered something in him. And by the way, you can follow that same pattern in every area of sin. I won't take the time to have you go there but if we go and look at the great, the major sin of David, committing adultery with Bathsheba, you'll know that it started because of the fact that he was up on the rooftop in the middle of the night when he should have been sleeping, when he should have been at war and he should have been fighting and he should have been tired and sleeping but instead he's sitting at home doing a whole lot of nothing and because he's not doing anything and he's not working, he can't sleep at night. If you say, you know, I've got this free time. Let me tell you something, idle time is devil time. And he's up on that rooftop doing nothing and what does he see? He sees a woman bathing. He sees Bathsheba bathing. So we see the trigger. Achan says, when I saw. But then I want you to notice the craving. Notice it again, verse 21. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold and 50 shekels of weight. Notice what he says. He says, then I coveted them. The word covet is used synonymously with the word lust. It means to want or desire something. So we have the trigger. He saw the garment. He saw the shekels of silver. He saw the wedge of gold. But simply seeing the opportunity is not necessarily a sin. Just having it tempt you. Now the fact that he continued to look at it, did not look away from it is a sin because at that point even then he's giving in to the sin. But then you see the craving there. He says, I saw it and then I coveted it. Then I wanted it. He says, I saw it. He says, then I coveted them. And then look at the third step there in verse 21 again. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold and 50 shekels of weight. Then I coveted them. Notice the third step, the execution and took them. I mean that's pretty much the process of sin. He says, I saw. I coveted. I took it. I saw it. I wanted it. I took it. The trigger, the craving, the execution. Go to Genesis chapter number 3. Genesis chapter 3. Let's look at the same pattern in the temptation of the serpent to the woman. Genesis chapter 3. Now I want you to notice, I just want you to see how consistent this is. In fact, I think any time you look at any story in the Bible where somebody gives in to sin, you'll probably be able to identify these three steps. The trigger, the craving, the execution. In Genesis chapter 3 verse 6, notice what the Bible says. And when the woman, Eve, notice what it says, saw, right? Because Satan shows up and he says, Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of the tree? He says, Thou shalt not surely die. He's trying to sell her on the idea that you can go ahead and eat of the tree, of the knowledge of good and evil. You don't have to listen to what God says. But notice what the Bible says here in verse 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and it was pleasant to the eyes. What is that? That's the trigger. That's the same as when Achan said, When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment. The Bible says when the woman saw that the trigger was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes. And, notice the second step, a tree to be desired. What is that? The craving. The same thing that Achan said, Then I coveted them. Here, Eve says, I saw the tree, then I desired the tree. The Bible says, A tree to be desired, to make one wise. Then notice number three, the execution. She took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat. So notice we have the trigger when she saw that the tree was good for food. We have the craving, a tree to be desired, to make one wise. And then we have the execution. She took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat. This is the process that people go down in order to partake and give in to temptation and partake in sin. So, let me just give you real quickly just some application thoughts regarding these steps of temptation. The trigger, the craving, the execution. Obviously, you're not in control of the fact that if something happens to come across you that is a temptation. Simply being tempted is not a sin. You need to understand that. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says, was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. So simply being tempted is not a sin. Now where this gets a little shady for people or where the gray area, people think, Well, I saw something. Yeah, when you see something and you realize, Oh, that's not something I should be looking at. Then you need to turn away. Hey, that's not a sin. But when you look back the second time, now you've sinned. Alright, men? Now, you know, when David was up on the rooftop and he saw Bathsheba bathing and maybe he didn't go there on purpose to see that. Maybe he did. We don't know. But maybe if his heart was right and he saw it, he should have said, I need to get out of here. I need to look away. I need to go get to work or do something different. But the fact that he looked a second time and he kept looking and kept staying. That was, he'd already given in in his heart. So we have the trigger. This is why we tell people. When it comes to temptation, I often teach people, it is easier to avoid temptation than to resist temptation. It's easier to avoid it than to resist it. You say, I want to live a life where I have victory over sin. Okay, well let me help you out. It's much easier to avoid it than to resist it. Because if you don't, if you're never even triggered, if there's never that temptation, if you're never even are offered the opportunity, then you're not going to go down that road. You're cutting it off before it even starts. So you should avoid sin, not plan to resist it. Because this is what people, people have these crazy ideas. They're like, oh I'm going to go to my work, this work party event. They're all going to be drinking and I'm just going to resist. No, no, no. Avoid it. Don't be anywhere near it. Just don't even be in a position where you could be triggered. By the way, you parents, be careful about putting your children in positions where things are, you say, well I didn't take them to that bad movie. Yeah, but you let them watch things that are advertising that. Look, I don't even want my kids seeing things that will advertise things that I don't want them watching. Do you understand that? Because you say, why? Why are you just really overly protective? No, it's just I've learned that it's easier to avoid a temptation than to resist a temptation. And I'd rather they not even know. I'd rather they not even know. And by the way, let me just say this, you Verity Baptist Church members, be careful what you're exposing these children to. Just because you think it's okay to talk about X, Y, and Z, their parents may not. Their parents may not want you filling their brains with all these things, so be careful about those things. Why? Because we start opening doors, we start opening doors with these kids, and they start getting curious, and they start, whoa, what about this, and what about that? Hey, let's shut that door, let's pretend that door's not even there. Let's just walk past that door. We don't need to learn all about that. We don't need to be exposed to that. We don't need to go down that road. It is easier to avoid temptation than to resist it. But let me just say this, obviously you can't live your entire life without ever being tempted. So the first step is to avoid temptation instead of resisting it. But when you find yourself have already been tempted, that's where you do need to resist. The Bible says resist the devil and he will flee from you. So that's where you need to be able to just flee. So how do I resist? We talked about this in our series on habits and on addictions, but you need to flee, you need to be accountable to other people, you need to get your life out in the light, in the open. And then the execution, if you give in and you sin, then you need to confess it before God, confess it to whoever you hurt, if you hurt anybody, and you need to make it right and get right with God. But the point is that these are the steps, that temptation. See, temptation is just trying to trigger you. It's trying to tempt you, give you something, allure you. And then the craving is that desire where you are drawn away of your own loss as we read in James. And then the execution is the partaking in sin and oftentimes the craving itself is already sin in your heart. And then I say, be careful. And look, I threw that out there about the kids. Let me give you a perfect example because you're probably just like, what are you talking about? Here's a perfect example. Don't talk to these kids about dating. I know you grew up in a high school where everybody was fornicating and kissing and whatever. Our 13-year-olds, no adult needs to be walking up to a 13-year-old, a 14-year-old, a 15-year-old, a 16-year-old, a 17-year-old, an 18-year-old, a 19-year-old. If their age ends with this word teen, it is insanity. People walking up to 17-year-olds, oh, you guys are going to get married? What are you talking about? They're a child. I mean, you do whatever you want, but you walk up to my 17-year-old and when I've got 17-year-old daughters talking about when they're going to get married, we're going to have a talk. Don't open that door. I'm not trying to open that door. I'm trying to keep that door closed as long as possible. They've got a whole lifetime to open that door. I don't need to be fighting some teenager with that door because some idiot church members don't know what to talk about. Don't talk to kids about dating and boyfriends. You don't need to be opening that door. We don't need to be fighting that battle when they're 12. It's ridiculous. You say, you don't think teenagers should be dating? Well, here's what I think. I think that the purpose of dating is marriage and if you don't have a job and you don't have a high school diploma and you can't even clean your room without your mama telling you to, you've got no business getting married, so therefore you've got no business dating. So do me a favor and don't open that door. I'm trying to lock that door and keep it shut as long as possible. I don't want some 30-year-old living in my house, but I don't need a 13-year-old talking about these things. I don't know how he got off on that, but it needs to be said, I'm sure. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Go back to Hebrews if you would. Going backwards from James. Look, just because you think something is acceptable does not mean that everybody thinks it's acceptable. So be careful about opening these doors with these kids talking about things you don't need to be doing. You say, well, I don't think it's a big deal. Yeah, but you are worldly. I don't know how else to say it. So you've got the temptation of sin, the tempter, the temptation. The devil is the great tempter, but the devil did not make you do it. The temptation, the trigger, the craving, the execution. Number two, let's talk about the committing of sin, the committing of sin. When it comes to committing sin, and we talked about how we get there, the trigger, the craving, the execution. When it comes to committing sin, Hebrews 10.26, there are two ways to commit sin. One is the sin of commission, Hebrews 10.26. For if we sin willfully, and I don't want to spend a lot of time on this because we talked about this last week with the age of accountability, the sin of ignorance. Obviously there is a difference between someone ignorantly sinning and then the sin of ignorance. You're guilty on both ends, but God looks at them differently. Hebrews 10.26, if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. So you have the sin of commission. This is where you purposely set out to do something, you do it. You do the act of whatever that sin is. But that is not the only way to commit sin. There is the sin of commission, and then go to James if you would. You're there in Hebrews, just go back to James chapter four. James chapter four, look at verse 17. James 4.17, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. So there is the sin of commission, that is where you go out and you do. Because remember the Bible defines sin as the transgression of the law. So when you perform the sin that God said not to do, that is the sin of commission. But then there is the sin of omission. The sin of omission is when you fail to do what God has told you to do. To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. So it's not just doing something wrong that is a sin, it's also the omitting of or not doing. So here's an example, God says you're supposed to be a soul winner. So when you choose to not be a soul winner, and I'm not talking about, there's a flood warning so I'm not talking about that. I'm saying when you choose, you say I'm not going to be a soul winner, I'm not going to not go. That is a sin of omission, you are not doing what God has called you to do. When you don't read the Bible, that's a sin of omission because God commands you to read the Bible every day. When you forsake the assembly, the Bible says not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together. When you choose to forsake the assembly of the church family, that is a sin. Because God has commanded you to participate in the congregation in the church family. So there's a sin of commission and there is a sin of omission. You're there in James chapter 4, go to James chapter 2. James chapter 2. So we talk about the temptation of sin, the tempter, and the temptation, the steps, the trigger, the craving, the execution. We talked about the committing of sin, sin as a commission and sin as an omission. And then thirdly, I want to talk about the equality of sin, the equality of sin. And this is something that a lot of Christians will, and I say Christians because a lot of them are not saved, but there are some that are saved. People have this idea and you may have heard this statement before, people say it all the time, all sin is equal. The Bible does not teach that. You didn't get that from the Bible. The Bible does not teach the equality of sin. In fact, the Bible teaches the opposite of that. But let me just make something clear and this is where maybe a lot of confusion happens or when someone's trying to prove the point that all sin is equal, they often accidentally, they'll make another point and they'll try to use that to prove the point that all sin is equal. Let me just say this. It is true that any sin will send you to hell. Any sin will send you to hell. James chapter 2, are you there? James 2, 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, this is a hypothetical. Someone was able to keep the whole law, but they offended in one point. They failed at one point. This is not you. This is a hypothetical. You and I have offended many more than one point. But he's saying, even if someone could keep the whole law and only offend in one point, they told one lie, one time. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, notice, he is guilty of all. And you say, well, what does that mean, he's guilty of all? Doing one sin makes you guilty of all the sins? The point that is being made, first of all, understand that the context is salvation. And the point that is being made is this, when it comes to salvation, the breaking of any part of the law is like breaking any other part of the law. When it comes to salvation, there is no differentiating between, well, I've lied, but I've never killed anyone, so maybe that will get me into heaven. No, no. What gets you into heaven outside of the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ, is you've got to be 100% sinless. So any sin, no matter how small we might consider it, any sin is enough to condemn you and send you to hell. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Notice verse 11. For he that said, here's the reasoning behind that, the logic behind that. Why is it that offending on one point makes you guilty of all? Here's why. Here's why. Because he that said, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art becoming a transgressor of the law. He's saying the same God that said, don't kill, is the same God that said, don't commit adultery, is the same God that said, thou shall not steal, is the same God that said, thou shall not bear false witness. It's the same God, it's the law of one God. So if you break it at one point, you've broken it. And you're in need of salvation. So it is true that any sin will send you to hell. And that's important for us to know that and understand that because people, religious people that want to reject the Bible want to say, well yeah, I'm bad but I'm not that bad. I mean, yeah, no one's perfect but I've never committed adultery, I've never robbed the bank, I've never killed anyone and they try to justify themselves. And when it comes to salvation, we need to be clear, no matter how good you are, if you've performed any sin, you're not good enough. It is true that any sin will send you to hell. However, go to John chapter 19, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, John chapter 19. Though it is true that any sin will send you to hell, that does not mean that all sin is equal. The Bible does not say, God never said, Jesus never said all sin was equal. In fact, Jesus taught the opposite. Let's run some verses. John 19, 10. John 19, 10. Then saith Pilate unto him. This is, of course, Jesus being judged by Pilate before his crucifixion. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Jesus refusing to speak to Pilate and Pilate says, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except that were given thee from above. Notice, I just want you to notice the last phrase of verse 11. Therefore, he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. Does it seem like Jesus taught or believed the idea that all sin is equal? He's saying, look, Pilate, you're sinning, but those Jews that delivered you to me, they have the greater sin. You say, why is that? Because Jesus was anti-Semitic. He was a Jew. Why is it that he said that the Jews have the greater sin? Jesus is taking into account the fact that Pilate was a Roman, a heathen, who did not have the oracles of God, did not understand the Old Testament, and also Pilate is being manipulated by the Jews. If you remember, Pilate's trying to free him. He's trying to let him go, but the Jews are pressuring him and manipulating him. That's why he washes his hands and he says that he wants to pretty much distance himself and say that this is not something wrong. Now, look, did Pilate sin? Absolutely, yes, he sinned, because he was a coward and he was not a good leader because the leader is supposed to do what's right no matter what the people are pressuring you to do. So did Pilate sin? Yes, he did. But Jesus understood that the Jews had a greater sin. So the Bible does not teach this concept that all sin is equal. Go to Matthew chapter 12. If you go backwards, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Matthew chapter 12. Let me give you another example. I'm sorry, I told you to go to Matthew. I do want you to go to Matthew, but go to Luke first, Luke chapter 20. You're in John? Go to Luke chapter 20. Luke chapter 20, verse 47. Not only does the Bible teach that there are greater sins, but the Bible teaches that there's greater damnation. Luke 20, 47, here's what Jesus said, which devour widows' houses and for a show make long prayers. Notice what he says, the same shall receive greater damnation. The same shall receive greater damnation. So Jesus says, look, there is a such thing as a greater sin. There is a such thing as a greater damnation. The Bible talks about different levels of hell and the lowest hell. And look, do we really understand how all of that is going to work? No, we don't. We will one day. But you just need to understand, do you really think, do you really think that hell is going to be the same for some elderly man or elderly lady who lived their entire lives in a false religion, they rejected Jesus, they rejected the gospel, but they were Mormons or they were Jehovah's. They died and go to hell, but they lived a pretty clean and moral life. They died and go to hell. You think hell is going to be the same for them and Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer? There is greater sin and there is greater damnation. There's greater punishment. The Bible is very clear about that. Go to Matthew chapter 12, look at verse 31. Here's an example. Matthew chapter 12. So there is no such thing as equality in sin. Matthew 12, 31. Here's another example. And we could look at a ton of stuff in the Old Testament to prove this point. I'm not going to do that. I just want to show you enough references just to prove the point. Matthew 12, 31. Wherefore I say unto you, this is Jesus speaking, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto you, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto them. So here even he's like, you know, there's blasphemy, there's other blasphemy that I'll forgive, but I'm not going to forgive the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. That is differentiating two different types of blasphemy as one being worse than the other and having separate punishment, one will not be forgiven. In other parallel passages, Jesus said, if you were to blaspheme against the Son, that would have been forgiven you, but because you blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, that will not be forgiven you. Not in this life or in the life to come. Not in this world or in the world to come. So the Bible is clear that there are differences between sin and that sin is not equal. And if you just think about it logically, that obviously makes sense. I mean, you can go back to the Old Testament. We're not going to do it. You go to Matthew chapter 10. You can go back to the Old Testament and look at the criminal law that God established for the children of Israel. And what do you have there? The criminal law or the civil law that God established for the children of Israel had sins and had punishments and those punishments varied in how great or how bad they were based upon the sin. I mean, think about this. There are things in the Old Testament that God said are a sin yet they carried no criminal punishment at all. I mean, right? I mean, He said, thou shall not bear false witness. And lying is a sin. But there was no criminal punishment for lying. Now, there was a criminal punishment for bringing an accusation and trying to get someone to be punished. Then that punishment would come to you. So even in that, there's a differentiating. But how about drinking alcohol? That's a sin. That's always been a sin. But there was no criminal punishment for that. So in the biblical law, some sins had no criminal punishment. Other sins had some criminal punishment, right? Read the Old Testament. There were fines. There were beatings that the Bible says, if you do this, they could beat you. A judge would beat you. If you do certain things, you'd have to pay a certain amount of fines. But there's other sins that carried the death penalty, right? I mean, murder, adultery, certain things that, witchcraft, certain things that people did would carry the death penalty. So the different punishments show you that God sees sin at different levels and in different ways. And look, just think about it again logically, and it makes perfect sense that there is, though it is true that any sin will send you to hell, that does not mean that all sin is equal. Look, do you understand that like stealing something from your boss or your company is a sin? I mean, I hope everybody has the discernment to know that. You know, you should not go to work and steal a stapler from your job and take it home. You say, is that really a big deal? You need the judgment series. Yes, it is. That is a sin. It's a sin to steal a stapler from your boss. You say, oh, he'll never miss it. That's not the point. Oh, you know, the money has, the company has, that's not the point. You'd steal a stapler from your job, that is a sin, and if you've done it, I'm talking to you, and I'm just kind of, I really hope no one here has done that, but if you've done it, you should take the stapler back, take the stapler back, confess you're the boss, you know, ask them to forgive you. The point that I'm making, some of you have done it. Stealing a stapler from your boss is a sin, but do you understand that a reprobate predator pedophile raping a child, those are not the same. They're not even close to the same. They're not equal in any way, shape, or form. Now, they're both sins, but there's no equality of that. There is a such thing as greater sins, greater damnation. I mean, it should be pretty clear to just think about it logically. Matthew chapter 10. We talked about the temptation of sin. We talked about the committing of sin. We talked about the equality of sin. Let's finish up with talking about the salvation from sin, salvation from sin. Now, the doctrine of salvation is actually dealt with in a different sermon in this series, but I want to just talk about the salvation of sin. When we're saved, we're saved from sin, and we're saved from a couple of different facets of sin, and I just want you to understand that. The first is that we are saved from the penalty of sin, and usually when we think of salvation, this is what we think of. Matthew 10.28 says this, And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Obviously, when you got saved, you got saved so that you would not have to go to hell, so you would not have to pay for your sins in hell. So when you and I get saved, we are saved from the penalty of sin. When does that happen? That happens immediately. The moment you get saved, the moment you believe, the Holy Spirit moves in, you are saved from the penalty of sin. But that is not the only thing you're saved from. That is not the only facet of sin from which you are saved at salvation. Go to Romans chapter number 6. Romans chapter 6. You're there in Matthew. You've got Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. Romans chapter number 6. Now that's usually what we emphasize, and that is by far the most important thing, that you are saved from the penalty of sin. The payment of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. A physical death, yes, and death in hell, the lake of fire. So at salvation, we are saved from the penalty of sin. But the Bible also teaches that we are saved from the power of sin. Romans chapter 6 and verse 12. Notice what the Bible says. This is just one passage that proves this. There's others. Romans 6, 12. Let not sin, therefore reign. You see that word, reign, like a king reigns, like someone who has authority. He says, let not sin, therefore reign in your mortal bodies. Notice what he says. That ye should obey it in the lust thereof. He says, you do not have to let sin reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. Romans 6, 13. Neither yield. You see the word yield there? What does it mean to yield? It means to succumb to. It means to submit to. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness. The word members there is a reference to your body or body parts. He says, neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. He says, don't yield your members as instruments of righteousness unto sin, but here's your new option, yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Look at verse 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you. The word dominion means to have power or control or authority. And I want you to understand this. When you got saved, you got saved from the penalty of sin. The wages of sin have been paid for and I will never pay for my sin. I will never die and go to hell. Even when I die physically, I will be in the presence of God. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And even my body will be saved eventually from death because it will be resurrected. So we are saved from the penalty of sin. But you are also immediately saved from the power of sin. Sin does not have to have dominion over you. Now this is the difference between saved people and unsaved people. And I want you to get this and I want you to understand this. Unsaved people are under the power of sin. They could not sin if they wanted to. They could not stop sinning if they tried. They can't stop sinning. Do you understand that? And I'm not talking about every sin. Obviously, unsaved people can get victory over certain sins. We get that. But the point is this. They cannot live a wholly separated life. They cannot be filled with the Spirit of God. You have to be saved to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So unsaved people... So look, there's no point in trying to get unsaved people to stop sinning. This is why Paul taught in 1 Corinthians when he taught on church discipline. And he talked about fornication and drunkenness and certain things. He said, look, I'm not talking about your unsaved co-worker. He said, go ahead, you can have lunch with your unsaved co-worker if he's fornicating. They're unsaved. They couldn't stop sinning if they wanted to. But when you are saved, you are saved from the penalty of sin and you are saved from the power of sin. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law but under grace. Look at verse 15, Romans 6, 15. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid. I want you to understand what he's saying here. You're saved from the penalty of sin and you're saved from the power of sin. Now that doesn't mean that you're going to stop sinning. I'm not teaching sinless perfection here. What I'm saying is you don't have to sin. And when you do sin, it's because you want to. A saved person going back under the bondage of sin, drugs, alcohol, smoking, whatever, it's like a slave that's been set free and volunteering to be a slave. I just miss getting beat down. Can I just be your slave? You know you're free. Someone paid for your freedom. I know, but I just want to be here. I just want sin to reign over me. I just want sin to have dominion over me. I'm just volunteering to be brought down by... That's why Paul said, hey, I will not be brought under the power of sin. For sin shall not have dominion over you. For ye are not under the law, but under grace. He says, verse 16, know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are. Let me say this. You will serve someone. You will serve something. People think, I don't want anybody telling me what to do. I'm going to go do my own thing. No, you won't. I don't want a pastor telling me what to do. I'm going to go live out in the world. So that the drug dealer can tell you what to do? So that the drugs can tell you what to do? So that the alcohol can tell you what to do? You're going to serve someone. Know ye not that to whom ye yield, to whom ye submit, to whom ye succumb yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are, to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you, being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. The point that I'm making is this, that you have been saved from the penalty of sin, but you've also been saved from the power of sin. You don't have to live in sin. You don't have to live in bondage. And if you do live in sin and you do live in bondage, it's because you're volunteering to. Because God has saved you. He's given you the Holy Spirit of God. He's given you the ability to understand and read the Bible. He's equipped you and given you everything you need to live the victorious Christian life. So you've been saved from the penalty of sin. That happens immediately. And you've been saved from the power of sin as well. The penalty of sin happens immediately. And the power of sin, I like to say it this way, happens potentially. Because you get to decide. You get to decide whether you want to yield yourself to sin or yield yourself to God. And then lastly, let me say this. We've been saved from the penalty of sin. We've been saved from the power of sin. And we will be saved from the presence of sin. The penalty of sin is immediately. The power of sin is potentially. The presence of sin is eventually. Romans 8, 19. You're there in Romans 6. Just flip over to Romans 8. We'll finish up here. Romans 8, 19. For the earnest expectation of the creature. When you see that word creature there in Romans 8, just think creation. That's how that word is being used. The creature is creation, all of us. But not just human beings, all creation. Earth, the animals. For the earnest expectation of the creature, he begins by talking about creation in general, and then he talks about saved people. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. So what is that talking about? Paul is teaching here that creation itself, the creature, is waiting and anticipating for the manifestation of the sons, plural, of God. What is that a reference to? That is a reference to the millennial reign of Christ. When we, the sons of God, will be made manifest in our glorified bodies. Creation is looking forward to the day when the sons of God are manifested on this earth. Verse 20. For the creature was made subject, the creature, remember creation, the animals and earth itself was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by the reason of him who had subjected the same in hope. Paul is a deep thinker and a deep writer. I just want you to understand what he's saying here. He says in verse 20, for the creation, the creature, the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly. Remember when Eve sinned, when Adam sinned, they died. That day they became corrupt, but not only did they die, animals began to die. Nature changed. A curse was given upon the earth as a result of sin. So the creature, Romans 8 20, for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, earth didn't want to sin, earth didn't want the curse upon it, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope, verse 21, because the creature, the creation, itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Do you understand that when Jesus sets up his millennial reign on this earth, there's going to be a lifting of the curse? That's why the Bible says that the lamb will lay with the lion, with the wolf, with the bear. The creature, creation itself, is waiting for that deliverance. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. So what is that referring to? It's referring to this. Everything on this earth is in pain. Everything on this earth is hurting. Everything on this earth is groaning and travailing in pain together. You and I, because of sin and because of the presence of sin, have to live with the heartaches of life. But the animals aren't having fun either. Watch those shows where they actually show you what the animals do. They're all killing each other. And all of creation is groaning and travailing in pain together until now, verse 23. And not only they, but ourselves also. Now he's talking about Christians, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. One day we will be saved. Because see, when you got saved, you got saved from the penalty of sin. And from the moment you got saved until you die or the rapture, you are potentially, you got saved from the penalty of sin immediately. And you potentially are saved from the power of sin on this earth. You do not have to yield yourself to sin. But one day, eventually, we will all be saved from the presence of sin. Paul says when this corruptible puts on incorruption, when this mortal puts on immortality, when the curse is lifted from this earth, we are all waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. We'll be saved from the presence of sins. We'll live for all of eternity in the presence of God in the absence of sin. That will happen eventually. So salvation from sin happens in these facets. Salvation does not happen gradually. Salvation happens in a moment. The moment you believe, you're saved. In that moment, you are saved from the penalty of sin. But then, aside from salvation, we have sanctification. Sanctification is a Christian life, living the Christian life. And during that process, from the moment you got saved to the moment you die or you're raptured, you have the potential to be saved from the power of sin. You do not have to yield your members unto sin. And one day, eventually, we will all be saved from the presence of sin. And one day, there'll be no death, there'll be no pain, there'll be no heartache, there'll be no turmoil. We will live with God for all of eternity, separated from sin, the salvation from sin. We talked about the temptation of sin, the committing of sin, the equality of sin, and lastly, the salvation of sin. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for what the Bible teaches. And Lord, I just want our church family to be knowledgeable about these biblical doctrines and what the Bible teaches. I want them to understand what sin is, the concept of sin, but also the practice of sin and how we're tempted to sin and how we succumb to sin and the fact that we don't have to. We can live the victorious Christian life. It's our choice. Lord, we thank you for that. In the maxillist name of Christ, we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother R.J. come up and lead us in a final song. I just want to remind you that, of course, we're going to be in Amos chapter number 2 on Wednesday night. So I want to encourage you to be here and I want to encourage you to read chapter 2 as you prepare to study it together. And then, of course, I want to ask if you would not mind just looking around in your area and anything that your kids might have made a mess with or whatever. You can put the hymn books away and kind of fix things that helps the cleaners the next day. We really appreciate your help with that. If there's anything that we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother R.J. come up and lead us in a final song. Amen. Let's grab our song books and turn to page number 10. Song number 1, 0. And service with Jesus keep me near the cross. Song number 10. Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. Jesus keep me near the cross. There are precious mountains reaching for our healing stream. Roads run down His mountain in the hearts of Him. Leave my holy heaven till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river. In a cross a travelling soul, love and mercy found me. There a bright and morning star said, It's good to round me. In the cross, in the cross, in my holy heaven till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river. In the cross, O Lamb of God, He sings before me. Help me walk from day to day when it's sad and lonely. In the cross, in the cross, be my holy heaven till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river. Sing it out on the last. Near the cross I'll watch Him reign, hoping justly ever. Till I reach the golden strand, just beyond the river. In the cross, in the cross, be my holy heaven till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river. Amen. Great seeing you. If anyone here has questions about salvation, baptism, or church membership, Pastor will be at the door. He would love to talk to you or direct you to someone who's trained to do that as well. Brother Nate, would you dismiss us with a word of prayer? Dear Heavenly Father and Lord, I pray that you keep us safe, keep us strong, help us to go home this evening, Lord, and by this sermon to arise, Lord, help us to keep ourselves from sin, help us to keep ourselves free from sin, Lord. In Jesus' precious only name I pray, amen. .