Acts Church Sermons

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Welcome to Acts Church! Listen to all of our sermons here, they are released each week.

Pastor David:

Kailey brought me a large coffee right before this, and I don't know if it's because I've only been getting through a couple pages and she's wanted me to speak faster, or what. But I wasn't able to drink it all, so I will try it before the second service because we got a lot to get through. And that service on a totally nother topic, which is also some difficult stuff, if you wanna be here for that. It's always it always draws people, and I go, it's difficult stuff. And they go, that sounds like fun.

Pastor David:

Okay. Where we ended last time, we were, we got to verse 4, and so now we're in verse 5. It says, for in this manner in former times, the holy women who trusted God holy women. Remember, this word is about being set apart. Right?

Pastor David:

Being perfect in Christ, of course. And this is, this is a reference to the women. So we have the patriarchs. We talk about the patriarchs. Right?

Pastor David:

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But we also have, the women who were the great women of God, including Sarah, Abraham's wife, which we're gonna talk about here in a second. The holy woman who trusted God also adorned themselves, and we'll come back to that in a second. Being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord, whose daughters you are, if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. Okay.

Pastor David:

There's a lot going on in this verse. And so, first, you know, it talks about adorning themselves. That goes back to last week. It's talking about look. Don't be all about at that time.

Pastor David:

Right? In 1st Peter, you've got this part of Asia and Turkey where they were. The the gold, the the crazy braiding, and the gold, and the pearls, and the whatever. It's like, let's let's make ourselves an object to look at. And last week, we talked about that's not the way.

Pastor David:

That's not the way of a godly woman. A godly woman has a spirit that is beautiful and growing ever more beautiful. Because in this fallen world, our bodies are growing ever more old. Right? And and beauty fades for all of us.

Pastor David:

And so, we talked about that, and that's where he said, hey. Look. This also it's not just what I'm telling you to do here in the New Testament. This also has been going on as long as the Lord has been there. And so the the women, the great women of the Old Testament also did this.

Pastor David:

They also adorned themselves this way. They also were submissive to their own husbands, and we talked about that. If that if you didn't weren't here for that, go back and watch it. It's, you know, it's a difficult topic, for a lot of people, but go back and watch that. But as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord Okay.

Pastor David:

So the word here in the Greek is is kurios, and it does really mean she was calling him, sort of master, master of the house. Right? He's she's referring to him as the one who's in charge of their home, of their household. And that is what she called her husband. Where does she call him that?

Pastor David:

Well, actually, in the part where she's laughing about thinking she's gonna have a kid, she says, am I at my old age? You know, is my lord gonna gonna be able to get me pregnant, essentially? Am I gonna, be able to do that at this age? And so, I think that what the assumption here is is that's what she called him. You know, Sarah called Abraham Lord.

Pastor David:

She she gave it was an honorific. It was a way of showing respect. In fact, at this time in the Roman world, wives often called their husband the the equivalent of this. Right? They called them they called master.

Pastor David:

They called them lord. The idea being to give honor to the one who was in charge of the house. Now the problem as we all know is that men took that, and instead of saying, well, that's very honoring and that's and that's very kind. Now instead of lording over you, I'm going to serve you, give my life for you, and respond with my own submissiveness and love, they did a different thing, which many of you are familiar with from history. So it says that as she did that, it says whose daughters you are, if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

Pastor David:

And I this is a really interesting passage here because speaking to the women, the women Christ followers, and he's saying, listen, your daughters of Sarah, if you do these things. You do good. Right? Good being all these things that we've been talking about in this in in in the verses that come before. If you do these things and are not afraid with any terror.

Pastor David:

Now what is this daughters of Sarah stuff? Well, all of us, Christ followers, are children of Abraham. Let's look at, Galatians. We're gonna go, chapter 3. We're gonna go through the the the first nine verses.

Pastor David:

It says, oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the spirit by the works of law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish having begun in the spirit? Are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

Pastor David:

So we have this whole thing going on in in with the Galatians, where these Judeaists, these folks who come in and try to bring back the Jewish law, the Old Testament law, and that the way, essentially, to to actually be right with God is all the stuff. Right? The eating of the of the right foods, and the and the recognizing of the right festivals, and the snippy snippy, and the whole thing. Right? You're familiar with all those things.

Pastor David:

They said, do those things if you want to be right with God. And he's saying, what are you doing? Is that how you came? No. You came by faith.

Pastor David:

It was faith in Jesus Christ, his his death on the cross, and his resurrection that brought you in. Why would you go back to these old things that never worked? Right? So he's talking about faith, and that's the important part. It says, have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain?

Pastor David:

Therefore, he who supplies a spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of law or by the hearing of faith? Once again, just focusing, hammering. Faith. Now it says, just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. K?

Pastor David:

You you, as a Christ follower, if you are in Christ, are a child of Abraham. Sons and daughters of Abraham. That's that's who we are. Why? Not because all of us come from his actual seed.

Pastor David:

Right? Not everybody comes from the seed of Abraham, physically. But what we're saying here is that the Gentiles are brought in by faith. And when they act in faith, and when they believe God, not when they do the works of the law, not when they do the works, when they believe God, they become children of Abraham. It is that is his legacy.

Pastor David:

Right? Says in the scripture, foreseen that God would justify the Gentiles, that's most of us who are not Jewish by birth, justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand saying, in you all the nations shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. So we have this setup here that Christ followers are children of Abraham. Children through the promises he believed in.

Pastor David:

Children through the faith that he had. We also have that faith. That's how we're children. And then we have this passage here in first Peter where it says that you are daughters of Sarah if you do these things. Just as we're also sons of Abraham, all of us who believe God, you're daughters of Sarah if you do that, if you do these things.

Pastor David:

And we see right there, not only do you do good, but it says not afraid with any terror. Not afraid with any terror. Now that is an act, a huge act of faith. Well, where's where's fear come from? Fear comes from not knowing what's gonna happen, thinking something bad might happen, and being concerned about that thing happening.

Pastor David:

That's what terrifies us. That's where fear begins. But if our faith and trust in God is strong enough, we don't worry about what's gonna happen. Because we believe what the Lord has promised us. Romans 828 for instance.

Pastor David:

Right? For all things work together for good, for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose. Now, that doesn't mean all things work together for good, like nothing bad is going to happen to you. You're in the wrong church if that's what you think that the Bible says. That's not what it says.

Pastor David:

Bad things will happen. You're in a you're in a bad world. A world that's been broken by sin. We've made it bad. So bad things are gonna happen.

Pastor David:

Where's the faith come in? Then I'm not gonna sit here and be afraid of it. That I'm gonna trust God. And he's saying to these to these women, in some cases having to be submissive to unbelieving husbands, which could be a fearful thing. Unfortunately, some women have to be fearful of their believing husbands.

Pastor David:

That better not be the case here, or their husbands better be fearful of me, because we don't we don't do that. But the idea is, hey, there's all these things you could be afraid of. If you want to be a daughter Sarah, then you're not gonna be afraid of with any terror. Do not be afraid. Proverbs 3 21 to 26, says, my son, let them not depart from your eyes.

Pastor David:

Keep sound wisdom and discretion, so there will be life to your soul and grace your neck. Then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes. You will lie down.

Pastor David:

Your sleep will be sweet. Then we have this. It seems to be connected to what we just read. Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes. For why?

Pastor David:

For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. So what what is he what is being said to the godly women of the church as he's read these churches here that he's writing to. He's saying this, don't be afraid of sudden terror. You wanna be daughters of Sarah. You wanna you wanna walk in the footsteps of the great women of God that have come before you.

Pastor David:

One of the things that define them yeah. There was the submission to their husbands. Right? And there was the the the adorning themselves properly, and there was all these things. You can read Proverbs 31 about all these things that that a great woman of God is.

Pastor David:

An honorable and wonderful thing in the sight of God. But one of the things that define them is they're not afraid. They're not afraid. Not with any terror. They walk uprightly because they trust the Lord.

Pastor David:

Not that nothing will happen, but that whatever happens, whatever happens, they're gonna be taken care of by the Lord. A daughter of Sarah does not live in fear, but in trust in her Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the grace and protection of the father and the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what it looks like. If you, if you're a young man out here, and you're looking for someone to marry, this is what you're looking for. This is what you're looking for.

Pastor David:

Someone who is absolutely sold out to God and trusts him completely. Because in the same way, our faith makes us children of Abraham for the women of God. Their faith also makes them daughters of Sarah. In other words, they're walking in the same path that she walked in, a path of faith. And she wasn't perfect, but she was a great woman of God.

Pastor David:

It's our heritage. It's our, it's our place in this world separate from the world is as people of faith and that we need not fear. What kind of fears are there? Well, let's look at Matthew for a second. Chapter 10 verse 27.

Pastor David:

It says, whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. And what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. Now, if we're to take that as Christ has commanded it, and do that, which is to say, to be very outward with the things that we have heard, with the things that we have learned, with the scripture, for it to be very outward. Is there room for fear here for those who are listening to Christ then? For those now, us who are listening to Christ?

Pastor David:

Yes. There's room for fear. There's room for fear because you are not necessarily going to be treated well. If you preach from the rooftops, that which you've heard in the ear in this room, It's gonna be difficult in this broken and fallen world. What does the Lord say?

Pastor David:

Well, he says, and do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But rather, fear him who was able to destroy both soul and body in hell. K. Our fear of the Lord is, hey, we are in awe and in reverence of a holy God. When we walk around and live our lives, Jesus isn't just your friend.

Pastor David:

People have those, like, shirts. Jesus is my homeboy. And I'm like, okay. He's also your king. He's also the great judge.

Pastor David:

He's also the one that is going to bring justice on the earth. And so we have to have an awe and a reverence. Because for the unbeliever who will not just simply accept Christ, The simple act of believing and confessing Jesus Christ, believing that he was rose from rose from the dead, confessing him as Lord. If you do those things, you're sick. If you will not do those things, he is the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Pastor David:

But what are the people of this earth or or the enemy able to do? The body. It's the most they can do. It's the most they can do is kill the body. As for me, it's like, I'm not that, tied to this thing.

Pastor David:

You know, I've messed it up a lot. Right? Taco Bell, just get you. You know? And so if that's the case if that's the case, they could kill the body.

Pastor David:

Now is there pain in that? Yes. Should I fear it? No. Because who is with me?

Pastor David:

Yeah. The Lord is with me. I look to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

Pastor David:

The one who created the entire universe and this body is the one who is my great help. So I don't have to fear those who can kill the body. So we we think about, hey, preach it from the rooftops, and who are we afraid of? The only people you could be afraid of are those who could kill the body. But we we, I think, some of us often fear not just those who can destroy the body, but those who can destroy the reputation or the social standing, the financial standing, or the relationships, or the jobs we hold, or, we're concerned about the awkwardness it's caused, or the difficulties that come from being a true sold out Christ follower.

Pastor David:

But the Lord is saying, fear none of that. Fear none of that. And he goes on to tell us why. Look it. Are not 2 sparrows sold for a copper copper coin, and not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will.

Pastor David:

You know that? Not one sparrow out there flitting about and flying. I don't know if they're back from wherever they go. I don't know how birds work. They're tasty.

Pastor David:

I don't know what sparrows are, but some birds are tasty. Chickens, turkeys. Not one of them dies That the father did not will that that happens. He is in control of everything. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Pastor David:

Now, I don't know. I mean, some of you have lost some of that, but at one point you had it. There's a lot of hairs on my head. A lot. I would not wanna have to be the one number, but but God, he's literally the the point that's being made here is he's so in control He's so in control of his creation that he every single person in this room.

Pastor David:

I think it would be a an amazing thing if you could know, count yourself, and then know how many hairs were on, say, 2 people's heads in this room. He knows how many hairs are on every single person's head in the entire world and everyone that ever has been. The billions, upon billions, upon billions of people. That's how much he cares about them. That's how much he knows about them.

Pastor David:

He's completely in control. And so he as in, don't fear these people who can kill the body. Why? Because, listen, God knows everything. Your father is good.

Pastor David:

There's nothing that can happen that he doesn't know about. Nothing. Do not fear, therefore. What's therefore? Because of this.

Pastor David:

Because there's not a sparrow that falls to the ground that he doesn't know about. That he knows every hair in your head, and he's got a plan for you. The implication here is you can trust your father. He's your father. He's your father, and his will is gonna be done.

Pastor David:

There's no point in fearing him because he's the one who protects the soul. And he says, you are of more value than many sparrows. And let me just tell you, that's the truth. People who, value animals. It's great.

Pastor David:

I value animals. I have 4 of them at home. 2 huskies. You wanna talk about the hares, knowing all the hares? They got a lot of hares.

Pastor David:

You can get, like, a whole another husky every few months. They got a lot of hairs. K? Got a couple cats. Love animals.

Pastor David:

I think they're great great part of God's creation. But anyone who gets that backwards that thinks that animals are just as value as humans, they have completely that is a demonic concept. That is what what a broken worldview. You, human being, man and woman, child, are the crown of God's creation here. You are made in his image and likeness.

Pastor David:

The sparrow was not. The cow was not. Those huskies are not. K? Even my cats.

Pastor David:

I I can tell you who's imaging like this. Sometimes they cats are rough sometimes, particularly Tiffany's cat. My cat's really nice. Anyway, you're made in image and likeness of God. So, you are more valuable, so much more valuable, so much more valuable than many sparrows.

Pastor David:

And And if he cares even about one of those falling, think about what he's thinking about you. Therefore, whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess you for my father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my father who is in heaven. Well, what's he talking about? Well, we just had that here.

Pastor David:

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in light, and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. Preach what? Confessing him before men. Preach Christ. So he says, hey.

Pastor David:

You're gonna preach on the housetops. You're in other words, you don't need to go stand in anyone's roof. Okay? That is not part of this. We do not have insurance for that.

Pastor David:

Don't do that. K? The idea is to make a proclamation for the Lord in your life, in the things you say, in the things you do, and not to be afraid of people when you do so. Right? Christ was killed.

Pastor David:

He was killed for proclaiming truth. And you are his disciples. You think you're going to have it better? Not necessarily. And there are places in the world right now where you'll be killed but for proclaiming Christ.

Pastor David:

And someday, if the Lord tarries long enough, this might be a place where that happens. You I guarantee you nothing on that on that score. Here's what I can tell you. There is definitely persecution that will come into your life from people if you start proclaiming on the rooftops, and I'm telling you because Christ told us, do not be afraid of them. The worst they could do is kill the body.

Pastor David:

Fear God instead as he's told you what to do. Right? He's giving you a command, preacher from the housetops. And then he says, if you're not gonna do it, if you're not gonna confess me before men, then I will deny you before my father who's in heaven. You don't know me?

Pastor David:

What do you expect him to say back? Now we know that there's forgiveness for this. How do we know? This guy, remember this guy? Peter denied him 3 times at a pretty critical juncture, and yet was forgiven.

Pastor David:

Okay? So the point of this isn't, like, if you've ever been asked if you're a Christian, like, oh, you know, that that you could never that he you're gonna be denied before. No. Confess him now. Confess him as you go forward tomorrow.

Pastor David:

Peter learned. He denied him those 3 times, and then spent the rest of his life confessing him and died for it. Tradition is that he was crucified upside down on the cross because he did not feel worthy to be So he did confess him before men because who therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess for my father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my father who is in heaven. So I would say be very careful about this. Now how do we deny the Lord?

Pastor David:

Well, I would say that if you don't tell anyone ever that you are his, you're getting real close to denying him. If things come up where a Christ follower should speak truth into that moment, and you choose not to, you're at least denying them the truth that God has put in you and called you to speak to them on the house tops. In this context, I would say, if you will not speak out and confess the name of Jesus Christ, that he's your Lord, to the people in your life, it is tantamount to deny him. Don't do it. Then he says this, it's where it gets rough.

Pastor David:

Do not think that I came to reign peace on earth. I did not come to reign peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, which that probably was already going on. Just kidding. And a man's enemies will be those of his own household.

Pastor David:

Wow. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. Who can what what did he talk about just just a second ago? That they can kill the body.

Pastor David:

You've got to be willing to lose your life. You're willing to give up your life for Christ's sake. Do not value your physical life or the world or the things of the world more than you value God. Very clear here. Are you holding on to that stuff?

Pastor David:

You got fear in your heart? Because if you do, you're not following what Christ has told you to do. You're going to give all of it up, you know? And some of us, we hold on to stuff like, hey, that bank account, man, if that bank account goes down, my fear goes up. Okay.

Pastor David:

You don't trust God. I'm just gonna tell you. If when the bank account goes down, your fear goes up, you don't trust God on that issue. Work on it, or else what he's gonna do I hate to tell you this. This is this is kind of, news that you may not want to hear, but if that's an issue for you, guess what's gonna happen?

Pastor David:

Gonna let that bank account go down, because he's got to have you trusting him. You cannot look to anything else or he will take it out of your life. In our world, how many people value sons and daughters, mothers, daughters, daughters in law, well, family members. At the end of the day, if the Lord said, hey, you might you might lose that, how many people value that more than God? It's like the whole story of Star Wars and the prequels, which are terrible, don't watch them.

Pastor David:

But the third one, the idea is he wants to save his wife or whatever, and so he goes to the dark side, because he thinks then he can control that. Right? That's really what you are doing when you value even your wife or your husband more than the Lord. My mother-in-law lost her husband suddenly this week. Died of a heart attack on the side of the road as a truck driver, and just just like that.

Pastor David:

No one was expecting it, except the Lord, whom not even a sparrow falls, so he knew the entire time that Rich was gonna pass. Now, Rich was a great man of God. He loved the Lord Jesus. I mean, loved Jesus. Great testimony to people, well done for him.

Pastor David:

Good and faithful servant, I believe that's what he's gonna hear. But she lost her husband. She didn't live in fear of that, and yet it happened, and it's very sad, but she loves the Lord, and you know what she's gonna do? She's gonna keep walking and not walk in fear. That's what she's going to do.

Pastor David:

That's what we're all going to do, because things happen. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. I use that a lot, I've never even walked near buses, but for this reason, because I talk about it a lot. No. Anything could happen to any one of us.

Pastor David:

We ought not to fear that. We ought not to fear that. We ought not to value these other things so that we actually fear the loss of them. You gotta get to the point in your life where you are so you are so tied in in communion with Christ that all of your value as a person comes from him. Because when you're in that place, then you can for the first time actually enjoy your family, your wife, your husband, your friends, because you no longer need them.

Pastor David:

You no longer fear losing those relationships. You no longer fear when you go into public and and the Lord Jesus needs to come up, and you're afraid that if you talk about Jesus, they might reject you. Who cares? Who cares what those who would be enemies of the gospel think about you when God has already told you who you are? Made in his image and likeness, knows every hair in your head, values you more than many sparrows, loves you, will work all things for good for those who are called.

Pastor David:

All of these promises, your your heirs with Christ, joint heirs because of the promises, because of it, because he died for you. And you're concerned about what Harry from accounting thinks about your Christianity. Think about that. It's just not it's just not something that you should be focused on. And so when you find all your value in Christ, the fear goes away.

Pastor David:

Just goes away. You no longer need them. Now all your relationships are things that you want, and you could just have the joyful part of it without the sort of fear and the like, is this person gonna hurt me? I gotta make sure I keep this what if they reject me? What if they reject you?

Pastor David:

I don't I'm not trying to be callous. I'm just telling you that it cannot affect your value, and therefore you do not fear it. James 44 through 6. It's what talking about people who value the world and the things of the world. Right?

Pastor David:

Adulterers and adulteresses. That's what somebody who values the world more is doing, because ultimately, we're gods. We belong to God. We are not gods ourselves. That was an apostrophe.

Pastor David:

We belong to God. We're God, apostrophe, s. God's. We're his. K?

Pastor David:

So and and if you if ladies, if you don't like being called sons of Abraham, because there's a there's a thing that goes along with that, we have to be called the bride of Christ. So it goes it goes around, comes around. K? I'm Christ's bride. Okay?

Pastor David:

And so here's the I heard a pastor say that, and I was like, that's true. And there are a number of places where, the the feminine side is more attached to us because we are the bride of Christ. You know, the Israel is the wife of God. We're the bride of Christ. That's who we are.

Pastor David:

So if we're his bride, and then and he says, this is who I am. This is what I'm about. And he lays it out, and he says, follow me. Do my if you love me, you'll do my commands, and then we go like this and start looking over here. That looks pretty fun.

Pastor David:

Those those guys are doing that. Whatever. We go do these things. We love the things of the world. What we are doing is we are cheating on the Lord.

Pastor David:

We're adulterers. That's what we are. He he doesn't I mean, James does not take it easy on us here. People, like, they don't necessarily like when they come to church and and the pastor is serious about the things that God calls us to, because it sounds kind of rough. And I'm thinking, James is preaching adulterers and adulteresses.

Pastor David:

Well, okay. Glad I came to church today. That's what he says, because that's what you are. That's what I am. Whenever whenever we look to something other than Christ, for our satisfaction, to deal with fears, whatever it is, if you look to your bank account and not to Christ, you are committing adultery with money.

Pastor David:

If you look to your job or your social status and not to Christ, you are committing adultery with all those people who give you social status, with that job that gives you what you want. These are serious things. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? In other words, when you are friends of the world, you say I'm an enemy of God. I don't know about you, but the one thing I do not ever want to be, kill me, please, God, rather than let me become your enemy.

Pastor David:

Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture says in vain, the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously? God has a fiery passionate love for you. If you are in him, if you've come to know Jesus Christ, you are his beloved. You have you don't you can't even conceive of what he knows about you, of the thoughts that he's constantly his thoughts are for you.

Pastor David:

He loves you. And so, yes, he yearns jealously. For what? For what belongs to him. What belongs to him?

Pastor David:

You. Remember, he's he's talking they they asked about paying taxes to Caesar, and he says, oh, give me a denarius. They give me a denarius. A while back, I showed you what one looks like. Fake ones.

Pastor David:

I'm not going to give you the real ones. I don't have the real ones. There are. They can get them. They're just expensive.

Pastor David:

And he says whose inscription and likeness is that? And they go, it's Caesar's. He says render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, but to God what is God's. The idea being that you bear his inscription and likeness. You belong to him.

Pastor David:

Now if you belong to him, he's gonna yearn jealously for you. Meaning that when you commit adultery on him, you are making him your enemy. I can tell you right now that betrayal makes people feel like an enemy to you. It is an enemy. It's it's harsh.

Pastor David:

It's unkind. It's unthoughtful. It's unloving. It's unrepentant. There's all kinds of things that it is to become an enemy of God.

Pastor David:

And here is the thing, we've all done it. We've all done it, and we all do it. So we need to know that the Lord forgives all of that and that's why this is so beautiful and I have it in all in yellow here because this is the verse of all of our lives, but he gives more grace, because who hasn't committed adultery with the world? All of us have. Our flesh yearns for the naughty.

Pastor David:

Right? It lusts after the things that the flesh wants, and the spirit the spirit yearns for the holy. But every time that we in our soul, right, mind, will, and emotions, will to the flesh, every time we do that, we're making ourselves enemies of God. We're adulterers and adulteresses, and so praise God that he gives more grace. Therefore, he says, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Pastor David:

Why do we need to be humble? Because we need to realize that these words, adulterers and adulteresses, that's us. It's not lesser. You know, people talk about, like, lying or, like, well, that's a white lie. Right?

Pastor David:

People talk about, like, they well, what what I did isn't really that bad, and what you're really doing is you're comparing it to how bad it could have been or to how bad Susie over there, well, is. Right? What what does that have to do with anything? You are gonna be before the Lord. Susie ain't gonna be in the room to go, well, she but she did it worse.

Pastor David:

Well, I could have done this. Oh, great. I'm I'm glad your heart was bad enough to be thinking you might do that. No. No.

Pastor David:

Whatever we do that dishonors the Lord, we need to be humble enough to realize that this is a reference to us, adulterers and adulteresses, and that we need this grace that he gives. And if you can live in that, you are much more likely not only to grow yourself, because what does he do? He resists the proud. It's not that big of a deal. I haven't really done anything wrong.

Pastor David:

I'm not that bad of a guy. I'm not that bad of a girl. He resists that. If you will not understand that you are this, then the grace is just not going to be something you experience. He gives grace to the humble, to the humble.

Pastor David:

And that's who we need to be. We need to be the humble. And I will tell you that that is not easy. And we don't have a lot of great examples in our world right now of humility. We don't have a lot of great examples, in some cases even in the church, of humility.

Pastor David:

But I will tell you this, we have great examples in the scripture. As Paul the Apostle, powerful in the Lord, Holy Spirit inspires him to write so much of the New Testament. I mean, just amazing. And what does he call himself? The chief of sinners.

Pastor David:

Not worthy, but saved by grace. And I will tell you that was true, and tell me, now I'm the chief of sinners. God has shown me who I am in my own flesh, and it is a wicked and a horrible thing. And he has shown me who I am in him, and it is a glorious thing by his grace, because he looks to Jesus. Why?

Pastor David:

1st John 1:9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's a beautiful thing. That's he gives more grace. But we have to be fearless, and we have to be willing to preach the word, and we have to be humble about our own sin that we might constantly be in that state of grace. Because we don't preach the word of God as those who are better than others.

Pastor David:

We preach the God we preach the word of God as those who have had to be saved because of our own wickedness, because we are adulterers and adulteresses. And And we're going to other adulterers and adulteresses and telling them to come back to the Lord who made them and created them and loves them. That's what Jesus showed us in his humility and his death on the cross and his resurrection.