(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

You may as well keep your place there in Exodus chapter number 13. So this morning we're going to look at one of the words that keeps coming up over and over in Exodus chapter 13. The title of the sermon this morning, we're going to look at this word and we're going to kind of find out why this word is so important, what God means by this word, and of course we'll apply that to what it means for us today. But the title of the sermon this morning is The First. So you see this word, first, keep coming up again and again in Exodus chapter number 13. If you're there, look down at verse number 12. We're going to look at this idea of the first, why this word keeps coming up. We're going to look at many other places in the Bible where the Bible talks about the first and see why God wants the first. What is this about? What does it matter? We're going to study this this morning and then we're going to apply it to what it means for us today. Look down at Exodus chapter 13 in verse number 12. Moses is talking to the children of Israel here. He's explaining to them things that now they've been brought out of Egypt. He's explaining to them things that they need to be doing and he goes into a very specific set of commandments here in verse number 12 where he says, That thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast, the males shall be the Lord's. So he's talking about every firstborn male livestock of whatever they have is to be the Lord's. Look at verse number 13. And again, we see again, it says in every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb and if thou wilt not redeem it then thou shalt break its neck and all the firstborn of man among thy children shall thou redeem. Look at verse number 14. And it shall be when thy son asked thee in time come saying, What is this that thou shalt say unto them? By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt from the house of bondage. So what he's saying here is that giving the firstling to the Lord is picturing what the Lord did for them coming out of Egypt and it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let us go that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix being males, but all the firstborn of my children I redeem. And we're going to get to the children part here in just a couple of minutes. But what he's saying is that this pictures what God did getting them out of Egypt. Saying why when the children asked you why are we giving all the firstborn of the livestock to the Lord, you're to tell them the story about how God, you know, at the very last plague, he killed all the firstborn of the land other than the children of the nation of Israel of course. But it wasn't just the firstborn sons, it was the firstborn of all the livestock of the land as well. And that was a very important picture. But right away Moses is saying just on the surface, we're going to go below the surface this morning, but he's saying just on the surface when your children ask you why we're doing this, you're going to tell them the story about how the God brought us out of Egypt through these great plagues and these great miracles. But go back to Genesis chapter 4 if you would and look at verse number 4. So the firstborn, this firstling giving to the Lord, this is not something new. This was like this from the beginning. If you look at Genesis chapter 4 in verse number 4 and you remember the sacrifices brought by Cain and by Abel, of course, not to get into that story, but Abel brought a favorable sacrifice to the Lord, but there's something that's interesting about that sacrifice. Not only was it a blood sacrifice, was it from his flock, but look at what it says in verse number 4 and it says, and Abel he also brought of the what? Of the firstlings, of his flock and the fat thereof and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. So he didn't just bring a lamb to the Lord. It was a firstling, meaning it was a firstborn lamb. Turn to Leviticus chapter number 19. So there's definitely something, look, that was before, that was before Egypt. So in Exodus chapter 13, the children are to be, when they ask about the firstlings and why we're giving the firstlings, the children, they're to use that as a reminder to the children, which is, look, it's a great reminder, you know, to always remember what the Lord did for you. You know, if you ever have in your family, if you ever have blessings in your family, you ever have the Lord really do something for your family, this is a good model right here that you should make sure that the children remember this. You should tell your children when they're older, you know, we were blessed this way when you were younger and the Lord really did some great things for us when we were younger. You should find ways, you should find milestones in your family to remind the children of those blessings that God has brought upon you. And look, God's going to bring blessings upon you in your life and that's kind of a subpoint of the sermon this morning. But the point is, there's a deeper meaning because even before the Exodus, before they were brought out of Egypt, Abel was giving the firstlings to the Lord. So that's what we're studying this morning. Why is that? Why is that? Look at Leviticus chapter 19, look at verse number 23. Now, I mean, it's not just animals either. It's not just the firstlings of the flock and the cattle and all these things. Look at verse 19, or verse number 23, I'm sorry, of Leviticus chapter number 19. The Bible says that when you should come into the land and you should have planted all manner of trees for food, you shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised. Three years shall it be uncircumcised unto you, it shall not be eaten of. Uncircumcised, that's a picture of it's not to be touched, it's not to be taken. Now, what it's talking about is going in and planting, going in and planting fruit trees. And I've often wondered this, and I've asked some of our agricultural church members how this works because you see new orchards and you see them put in trees in the orchards. And I just think to myself as kind of an agriculturally minded person, like, how long does it take those trees to produce? You know, how long? I mean, after you tear out trees and then you have to plant new trees, and then you just have to wait several years, I would think, I don't even know, I'm going to guess what it is from what the Bible says here. I bet you this matches almost exactly what the actual real thing that happens even today is. But I've often thought, you know, you have to go several years without having any production on that land. And land's expensive and you're still paying for the land. But look at what the Bible says here. The Bible says that at least for the first three years you're not to take any fruit off of that land. So you're like, man, three whole years I had to have this land empty, and not empty, but just, it's not saying there's no fruit there, it's saying you can't touch the fruit. Look at verse number 24, like in the fourth year. In the fourth year we're going to get some fruit, and here we go, all right? In the fourth year all the fruit there shall be holy to praise the Lord withal. So it's saying once that tree grows up and starts producing fruit in that fourth year, you can't have any of that, that all goes to the Lord. So it's literally the first fruit of that tree the Lord gets. And then you don't get any fruit off that tree or out of that orchard until the fifth year. Look at the next verse. It says in the fifth year shall ye eat the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof, I am the Lord your God. Five years you have to go before you can get fruit out of these trees. You're like, what in the world? But the point is, just like the flocks and just like the herds, God gets the first. God demands the first. Turn to Proverbs chapter 3. It's like this with everything. It doesn't matter how many things we go and look at, God demands the first. And that's what we're going to look at this morning. Look at Proverbs chapter 3, look at verse number 9. Proverbs chapter 3 and look at verse number 9. The Bible says in Proverbs 3, 9, it says, honor the Lord with thy substance. You're like, all right, I get that. And look, this isn't a tithing sermon. This is about the first. Why the first? But look what he says. Honor the Lord with thy substance. Yeah, I get that. I know what the Bible teaches about that. But it says this, it says, and with the first fruits of all thine increase, so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. So we get kind of an additional piece of information there in verse number 10. It's saying, again, it's saying, all of your increase is to, you know, we understand that, you know, we're to tithe and that's an actual 10% of your increase. But it's saying, no, the first fruits, that's an additional characteristic on top of that increase. But then it says, if you do this, your barns will just be bursting. Your barns, because God demands it and he's saying, if you do this, look, it seems kind of, you know, counterintuitive to us that we have to give God all the first things that we have in our increase, our flocks, our orchards, our fruits, and just anything that we increase in but he wants the first and then he's saying, then you're not going to have any troubles. You're going to have any problems. Your barns will just be bursting. Look at Numbers chapter 3, Numbers chapter 3. The Levitical priesthood was also taking first fruits if you would. And it's talking about the actual sons of the nation of Israel. Look at Numbers chapter 3 and look at verse number 12. So even the children of the nation of Israel were to, you know, be part of the first fruits given to the Lord. Look at Numbers chapter 3 and look at verse number 12. So you just see this methodology that God is using that I want the first. I want the first. I want the first. Look at verse number 12 of Numbers chapter 3. The Bible says, And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that opened the matrix amongst the children of Israel, therefore the Levites shall be mine, because all the firstborn of mine, instead of all the firstborn that opened the matrix from among the children, because all the firstborn are mine. For on the day that I smote the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. Mine shall they be. I am the Lord. So this is where the Levitical priesthood came from. This is where the priests, the men, again, men, this is where the priests came from. They were the firstborn sons of the children of Israel. Again, just showing us that the first goes to God. God demands it. Turn to 2 Chronicles chapter number 31, 2 Chronicles chapter number 31. I mean, just in general, this comes up all over the Bible, both in the Old Testament and also you're going to see in the New Testament this morning as well. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 31 and look at verse number 5. 2 Chronicles chapter 31 and verse number 5, just in general. The Bible says this in 2 Chronicles 31 verse number 5, it says, And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of corn, wine, oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field, and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. So, again, they tithed of all these things. I mean, what things? Everything that they increased with. It could be honey, oil, whatever their business was, whatever their farm was producing, whatever their vocation was, they tithed. That's a 10% part of it, but, again, it was the first fruits. It was the first of it. Look at Exodus chapter 22. Go to Exodus chapter 22 and notice, look, you say, Why not just a simple percentage? That's kind of the point of the sermon this morning. Why not just a simple percentage, just like 10% and done? But that's what we're going to look at this morning. Look at Exodus chapter 22 and verse number 29. We'll look at one more verse. I could just keep going to verse and verse and verse about this, by the way. Exodus 22, 29, the Bible says, Thou shalt not delay to offer of the first of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me. So have I convinced you that the first is important? The first is important. We could go to many, many more verses about this. The first of what? The first of everything. God took, he made the Levitical priesthood out of the firstborn of the children of the nation of Israel, and then the first fruits of any increase went to the Lord, up to 10%. So the question is this morning, Why not just a simple percentage? Why not just 10%? Whatever. Because, look, isn't it true that if I give the Lord the first lamb that I have for the year or the first of my livestock, that might not necessarily be the best one. It's just the first one. So the best one, look, I've had many, many lambs, and there's lambs that are better than others. I'm sorry. There's some that are just stronger and just have better genetics and look better and are healthier than others, and it may not be the first one. So why does it have to be the first is the question. And to understand this, you kind of have to think about economics for just a second. So in economics, you have these laws. You have this economic law of supply and demand, and then you have a law called, there's a law in economics called the law of diminishing returns, and if you take these two things together, what you'll see is this, and I'm going to show you this from the Bible as well. As a matter of fact, turn to James chapter 2 as I'm explaining this, but when you look at economics and you think about, you know, supply and demand, and you think about the law of diminishing returns, supply and demand works like this. Supply and demand works like this. When there is no supply, the demand is very high. So something that has very little supply is very valuable, very expensive. And as the supply gets to be more and more and more, that item or whatever it is becomes less and less valuable. And this is why God is demanding the first from us, because just think about it, we're going to have some pizza tonight, right? We're going to have some pizza tonight, and you know, if you're just like, I'm not going to eat lunch today, I'm not going to eat lunch today, and I'm really going to look forward to me and Ed's pizza tonight, and it's going to be great, guess what the most valuable piece of pizza is going to be for you? That first piece. And then that second piece is probably still pretty valuable, but not quite as valuable as the first one, right? And then for some of you guys, it's going to be like the fourth and fifth piece, and then maybe the sixth piece, but then like that sixth piece is going to be like, this isn't really that valuable to me. Why am I even eating this? Whereas that first piece was the most valuable piece. This is why God demands the first. Look at James chapter 2. James chapter 2, one of the most misunderstood chapters in the entire Bible. There's an interesting part of James chapter 2 where there's somebody that is in need, and I want to kind of apply this theory of economics to this part in James chapter 2, but James chapter 2, the whole chapter is all about, you know, you being profitable to as a Christian. It's talking about what good is your faith if you just say stuff and you don't do anything? There's James chapter 2 right there in a phrase, okay? What good are you? What good is your faith? It's dead faith. Look, you're saved, but it's not doing anything for anybody if you're like, hey, I really hope that gets better for you. You know, have a nice day, and you don't do anything. Look at verse number 14 of James chapter 2, verse number 14. The Bible says, what doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he had faith and have not works? Can faith save him? Now look at verse 15. It says, now gives us an example here. If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food. So here's somebody that's really in trouble, like for real. This person doesn't have any clothes. They're probably cold. They don't have any food. They're starving, and they are your brother and sister. They are your brother or sister. I mean, just think of a, it's ill, we can't even wrap our heads around that in the United States today, you know, because, you know, even the poorest of us are, you know, have all the food that they could possibly want, but look at verse 16. It says, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace and be warmed and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Notwithstanding means, but you don't do anything. It's saying you see a brother and sister who's starving and has no clothes, they're freezing, they're out in the cold, they're out in North Dakota in the cold, and you're just like, you open your door and you're like, man, that's rough, brother. That's rough. I really hope you feel better. It's saying you're no good to them. So applying that to our theory and what God is telling us this morning, let me just apply that on top of the story and say, look, if you had a brother or sister that was in that type of situation and you had a coat in your closet, but you paid 100 bucks for that coat and it was a nice coat and you're just like, you see your brother out there and he's freezing in the snow and you have that nice coat, you know, that you paid $100 for and you're just like, ugh, I hope you get some clothes, man, and you shut the door on him, that person has very little value to you. That person, that brother or sister, even though you may say, oh, I love brother Joe. I love brother Joe so much, you know, I just, I mean, I just, my heart just swells when I even think about my brothers and sisters in Christ, but it's not worth a $100 coat to you. That person actually has very little actual value to you. And say you had, you know, you only had one coat, that coat was probably even more valuable to you. But what it is showing is that if you are unwilling to give something that is valuable to someone, they have less than whatever that value is to you. You weigh those two things and you say, coat more valuable than my brother. That's what James chapter 2 is explaining. Think about if you, I mean, this isn't a, you know, kind of a stretch, but think about if a husband would sit down at the dinner table with his family and he would put all the food on his plate and he would say, you know what, family, I love you and kids, I love you guys and I love you to his wife. And then he would say to his family, he would say, you can have whatever I don't eat. I'm gonna eat everything I possibly can and then whatever's left over, if there's anything, you can have the rest. You know what, what you're saying is those other people in your family have very little value to you. But if somebody was to say, oh no, wife and children eat first and if there's not enough and you have, you know what, that person is saying, look, when we eat pizza tonight, we're gonna do what we always do, the ladies and the children are gonna go first. You know what we're saying though? You know what we're saying, we're not saying that they're better than us or that they're, you know, anything like that, we're saying that we value them. We're saying that we put a lot of value on the ladies and on the children. That's what we are saying. If we don't give them the first things, somebody that you wouldn't give the first things to, you value that first thing more than you value them. This is what God is trying to do for us when he puts this extra characteristic on the things that we give to him. He's trying to keep him in the proper place in our lives. I mean, we can't go and just, you know, give the Lord the sixth or seventh piece and say, oh, yeah, Lord, but I value you. Ultimately, if we did that, and this is, God is such a great manager over us, all we have to do is listen. If we did that and we gave God the sixth or the seventh, God's just like, I just want 10% but I want one of the good ones, you know what we'd do? We'd have 10 lambs, 20 lambs and then we'd like, we'd go and we'd do all our business and then, you know, we'd have some sickly thing, oh, Lord, you could have that one. That's what we would do. And that's what God is trying to prevent when he demands the first. Ultimately, God is trying to stop us from devaluing him is what he is trying to do. Now apply this to the things that God wants because what are we talking about here? We're talking about, we're talking about blessings, really. All these things, we're talking about productivity, whether it come from your flock, your family, or even money he's talking about, the first fruits, look, God wants the good things. We're talking about the blessings in our lives here. I mean, he's talking about, but here's the thing, does he really need it? Does he really need it? And look, I get that there's a practical reason for all these things in the Bible, that the Levitical priests, they needed to eat, you know, the church needs to function, I get that, but that is not the main reason God is demanding the first. The main reason that he's demanding the first is because he knows, God knows that the first is always going to be the one that you want the most, always. And he knows that if you are willing to give him the most valuable thing, that you will keep him in the proper place in your life. I mean, it's really a great piece of management from the Lord, even though we may look at him and be like, oh, he wants the first of everything, but he's trying to keep himself in the right place. Look, it's about God's position in your life. That's what it's about. It's protection for you. Turn to Matthew chapter 6. Turn to Matthew chapter number 6. You know, the funny thing about Christians and, you know, even the funny thing about like mature Christians, because I mean, I bring up alcohol and drugs a lot, but in a church like this, I would doubt, look, and it's not that it can't happen, but I would doubt that there's a lot of people in this church struggling with alcohol and drugs. But the funny thing about mature Christians, one of the things that can really sneak up on mature Christians is the good things. It's the good things in your life, and God is trying to protect us from the good things actually hurting us, and you're like, what are you talking about? What are you talking about? Look, think about the good things in your life. Think about, I mean, think about a new child. These are things that, you know, that a mature Christian, even a mature Christian needs to be aware of. These things can, they can be a danger. You say, in what way? It can be a danger in knocking God off that first pedestal. You have to make sure that, look, I mean, you have transitions in life. You have a mom that has a new baby, and she's just never seen again. You know what I mean? You have to keep the Lord first in your life. It's the good things. A man gets a new job, a huge blessing, some great new job, and all of a sudden, the Lord's no longer first in his life. Look, these are things that are real dangers to Christians. Good things. Good things. Don't be a Christian. It's a sad thing when you see a Christian that can't take a blessing. That is a truly sad thing. I mean, see Solomon. See the book of Ecclesiastes. He wrote it so you can take a blessing, because there was a man who was blessed almost infinitely in his life, and he used every single one of those blessings to basically knock the Lord off the pedestal, that number one pedestal, in his life. God demands the first. It keeps him where he should be. So here's a good methodology for you. Look, look at the church. Look at the church. Look, we are thriving. I mean, amen, that is a huge blessing, but no matter how many activities, no matter how many blessings that we have, the gospel of Jesus Christ always has to be first here. Always. No matter what. A good methodology in your life is this, to make sure that you don't slip up and take the good things and let them knock the Lord out of the first position in your life. A good methodology is no matter what's going on in your life, if you're confused about something changing for the good or for the bad, by the way, just double down on putting the Lord first in your life. Let me give you an example. We're thriving right now. We're doing great right now. I just constantly remind myself in situations like that when things get more busy, things get more hectic, we need to just double down on what's going on. We just need to double down on the gospel. We need to double down on, you know, getting people saved. We need to double down on building up soul winners. We need to double down on making more connections with people. Look, the first year of this ministry we were not doing great. It was, I mean, things were chaotic and things were confusing and I remember sitting down with my family and just being like, you know, what's going on here and what should we do, you know, going forward? And we were just discussing this and the whole family and myself together, you know, we decided we should do? Let's start a new soul winning time. Why? Because we just double down. That's why. We just double down. Let's just make sure, let's just make sure that God knows that the gospel is first here no matter what is going on. So when something is changing in your life, you know, whether it's going up or going down, just double down on making the Lord first. I don't know why this is happening. I don't know what's going on. Double down. Make the Lord first and everything will be fine. Turn to Psalm chapter 5, or actually you're in Matthew chapter 6. I'm sorry. I mean, the Bible tells us this. It says, seek ye first. It's talking about don't worry about all these other things. Don't worry about, you know, clothing and food and all these things. It says, seek ye first. There's that word again. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and what? All these things shall be added unto you. It's saying, the Lord is always first. Seek the kingdom of God first. Seek what God wants from you first and all these other things will take care of themselves. Look whether bad things are happening or good things are happening. This works. Always keep God first. Look at Psalm chapter 5. Look at the front of your bulletin. I said to my wife yesterday, we went out soul winning yesterday and I ran into this guy out soul winning yesterday and, you know, he just, he didn't make any sense. He didn't make any sense. He was an older man and he was just, it was very clear that he no longer had the ability to and he was all wrapped up in weird doctrines and things like that but that aside, that aside, it was very clear that he no longer had the capacity to hear and listen to and believe the gospel. He just, it just, I said to my wife yesterday, I mean here's another one for you. Here's another one to appreciate and double down on but and think about the first in your life but I said to my wife yesterday and I meant it literally. I said to her, I was like, I'm glad that I have a functioning brain and that it works and I mean, I didn't mean like, oh, I'm glad I'm so smart. I just meant like I'm glad my brain works. I'm glad, you know, my, I'm glad I can think about things. Look at Psalm 5, 3. Look at Psalm 5, 3. My voice shall hear, shall vow here in the morning. You know, the psalmist David is saying here, God, you're going to hear my voice when? Right away in the morning. Oh Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer into thee and I will look up. You know, this is something that is super valuable. You know, the Lord, God, here's a really good way to keep the Lord first in your life by doing something daily. You should get in your Bible and you should do praying early in the morning. You say, why? Because look, I know we've got some seriously productive people in this church and here's what happens to you. Here's what's going to happen to you. You're going to get up in the morning and be like, yeah, I'm going to read my Bible and maybe you've even got a time set at six o'clock or whatever to do your Bible reading and all those different things. But here's what's going to happen. You're just going to like, you're going to grind through the day and things are going to pop up like they always pop up every single day and you're going to be attacking this problem and tackling this problem and fixing this for these people and handling this for these people over here. And guess what? Even if you do get to that six o'clock Bible reading time, your mind is gone. Your mind, if it's, if it's like mine, it's somewhere else at that point. You ever read like three chapters in the Bible and you were thinking about something else the whole time? That's not how you want to read your Bible. This is why you read your Bible early in the morning. Here's what I do on Monday mornings. So Sunday is my big day, you know, I've got to preach two sermons, I've got to, you know, come to church and it's just a, it's a huge long day, you know, as a, as a pastor and I'm wiped out by the end of, by the end of Sunday night. I'm wiped out, in a good way, but I'm wiped out. I do not write anything on Mondays, but you know what I do? On Monday morning, I read whatever chapter we are going to be studying, I don't care if I've read it a hundred times, I read whatever chapter we're going to study on Wednesday night, I read it through, sometimes I read it through twice. Why do I do that? I read it through first thing Monday morning, before I go anywhere, I read through it once, sometimes two times. Why? So I can get it bouncing around up here. That's why. So I can direct, so I can direct, and I've told many of you, I can't write a sermon, I can't sit down and write a sermon in one day. I've got to read it and I've got to bounce it around a little bit. But the point is this, it's Psalm 5-3. Get those thoughts bouncing in the right direction every single morning. Get that, that'll keep the Lord first in your life during that day. Read yourself some Bible and start pondering on the Word of God as you go to work, as you're doing your things during the day. Give your first thoughts to the Lord. That's what the psalmist is saying in Psalm 5. Otherwise the day just takes over and the busy life just takes over. We have to give our first. Matthew 20-16 talks about us becoming the first. It says, so the last shall be first and the first last, for many be called but few chosen. Look, if you don't give the Lord your first, you will become the first. This is the problem in our lives. So look, you say like, I don't know pastor, turn to Colossians chapter 1, you're like, God first seems pretty demanding, you know, I mean, doesn't, you know, why can't I just give him my tithes for the increase? But here's the irony of the whole thing. Everything God does is for our benefit. Everything that God does is for our benefit. Turn to Colossians chapter number 1. God is doing us a favor by making sure that we keep him first with all these rules in the Bible. Now here's the irony. Just think about your children for a minute. I mean, this is a big one, right? People have kids and like it's their kids and forget everything else. Their kids are the first in line, their kids are the first this, anything happens with their kids involved and it's everybody else's fault, everybody else's kids fault. What they're doing is they're putting their children first. You say, but shouldn't you put your children first? Here's the irony of this whole thing. If you don't put God first and instead you put your children first, it's bad for your children. You ever met a kid who was raised to think that he was the only one that existed on the planet? This is people that just spoil their kids. I've seen kids spoiled up until the time they're 18 years old and then they hit the world and guess what? The world gives them a big boot in the face. It's like, hey, you're not first, buddy. Who taught you that? Because they're not. They're going to get to work and they're going to get out in the world and they're going to have a family. They're going to realize that if they are first, it spells disaster. So teaching your kids, putting your kids on these pedestals that they're the first, it's a disaster for your kids. It's bad for them. Look, even family first. You hear the people like family, country, all the different orders of different things that people come up with, everyone's like family first, no, God first. If you say family first, it's literally bad for your family. I'm talking all of your family. I'm talking about if I say, oh, my family first, no matter what, look, I'm going to have family that's saved, family that's not, I'm going to have saved members of my family that probably aren't doing the right things. If I put family first, I'm going to abandon the Lord is what's going to happen. Family first is bad for your family. This is where male leadership really comes in in the family right here. Because guess what? It is God first in your family. It is God first when it comes to raising your children. It is God first, not emotion first. It is God first, not other people's feelings first. I'm going to tell you right now that I know for a fact that your wife is more sensitive than you are, and that's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good balance. But when it comes to leadership of the family, look, folks, God first is going to ruffle some feathers. God first is going to straight up make people angry with you. God first is going to mean you're going to have to have some uncomfortable situations, uncomfortable conversations with people in your life, people that you may love in your life. But God first is going to upset people. That just takes somebody that's just going to be like, you know what? God is first, and this is an uncomfortable conversation, but God is first, and this has to happen, done. This is where men need to put some pants on, and they need to lead their families and keep God on top in their families. Look, it's a real battle. Look, I've been there. I get it. I get it. It's a real struggle, and it's not make everybody happy first. It's God first. It's God first, and that means your children will be taken care of. That means your children will be safe. There's a lot of danger out there if you don't keep God first. There's a lot of people that want to physically and mentally and spiritually damage and destroy your family. It's as serious as a heart attack for the Christian today. But as long as you are just willing to just put God first, and look, I'll be as nice as I possibly can, but God is first in my family, and nothing gets in front of that, and if I've got to have some conversation with people face to face, I've got to have some conversation with people over the phone that are just uncomfortable. Look, if you're a man and you can't handle confrontation, you're going to have a difficult time leading a family. You know, things are so easy in our lives. Things are so easy in our lives, and I talked about it last Sunday, there's just no struggle anymore. There's no struggle. If I struggle with anything, I've got to get some gadget that makes the struggle stop. If I get upset over anything, someone will give me a pill that makes me not upset anymore. Look, confrontation is going to be part of leading a family in this Christian life, in this circus that we're living in. Don't go out there and be some confrontational jerk, that's not what I'm saying. But when it comes to the point where, and look, you need to be a mature Christian to realize like, you know, I'm going to be as nice as I possibly can, I want to be as loving as I possibly can, I want to show people a strong Christian testimony, but there's a line where they're trying to push God off the pedestal for my family, for my wife, for my children, and that is the line that you must hold at all costs. That's what it comes down to. Are you in Colossians chapter one, did I have you turn there? I don't know. It seems pretty demanding that we give God the first, but look at Colossians chapter one and verse number 12. Colossians chapter one and verse number 12, the Bible says, giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness. So I mean, God's kind of explaining our salvation here. He's saying, you inherited this thing. Did you work for something you inherit? No, like somebody else did the work for it and they just gave it to you, right? When we got saved, we were made like receivers of this free gift of the saints in light who deliver us from the power of darkness has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, look at this, the firstborn of every creature. For by him were all things created. Jesus created the universe. Jesus created everything. Jesus is the literal creator that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him. He created the principalities and the powers. Think about that. I mean, all these, you know, the tools that are being used by Satan to just drive the darkness of this world, Jesus created everybody, no matter what they turn out to be. And he is before all things and by him all things consist. Jesus was before all things. So what I'm trying to get you to see here, turn to Romans chapter 8, is that God gave us his first fruits. In Romans chapter 8 verse 23 the Bible says, and not only they but ourselves also, which have, God gave us Jesus who is the first fruits of all creation. God gave us his first fruits and then when we get saved, we get more first fruits. Verse number 23 of Romans 8, and not only they but ourselves also which have the what? The first fruits of the spirit. Then we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. My body is not redeemed right now. My body is not glorified right now, but God has given me the first fruits of the Holy Spirit. Does that mean I can't get more of the Holy Spirit? No, no. I could follow. I could walk in the spirit and I could be filled with the Holy Spirit. But God, when I trusted on the first fruits of his son, gave you and me, he sealed us with this down payment of the Holy Spirit, which he's saying is the first fruits of your spirit. You're never going to be unsaved and even if you just never walk at all in the spirit, you don't do a thing that God wants you to do in your life. You take that salvation, you keep it to yourself, you show no profit to anyone else. You still have that first fruits of the spirit. He still gave it to you. He's not going to take it away. So God gave you the first fruits. He gave you the first fruits of Jesus that allows you to be saved and allows you to do to inherit that and he gave you the first fruits of the spirit to keep you saved, to seal you. You're like, oh, but I don't want to give him the first fruits of my corn or whatever. I mean, seems pretty silly right now. We have the first fruits of the spirit, but if we want more, we can have more. You get that? I mean, does it get any better than this? Seriously. I mean, happy Sunday. I mean, not only are you saved, but if you decide to actually walk in the spirit, God will give you more of the spirit. God will allow you to turn, you know, your life that you feel like is meaningless into this great thing as the spirit fills you and works through you. You're like, I'm weak, I'm slow. Every single great person in the Bible said that. Moses is like, I can't talk. He's the greatest man that ever is recorded in the Bible. Why? Because God filled him with the spirit and God used him to do great things, but we all have, whether you choose to do anything with your Christian wife or do something wonderful with your Christian wife, you still have the first fruits. You still have that. It just makes no sense. God gives us all these things and then we give God what's left over with our time, with our efforts, with our thoughts. We should be giving God the first every single day in our lives. God demands the first because he first gave us the first. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.