Transcript for:
Galatians 5:19,25 -Tree Of Life- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2025-11-09

Galatians chapter five verse 19 through 25. Would you please stand with me as we read God's holy word together? Galatians chapter five verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and the such alike of which I tell you before as I've also told you in times past that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. And they that are they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Father, thank you for your holy word, and Lord, now we ask that you'd be our teacher, that you would edify and build us up, strengthen us, that we'd not be walking in the dark, but Lord, we we'd be walking in the light as children of light, that that day wouldn't overtake us like a thief, Lord, unaware because Lord, we see the signs. We know the times in which we're living. We know that we're at the brink. We're at the end of the age, and Lord, we wanna be found ready. And so Lord, we pray that as we as we study this morning, Lord, we'd see that it's the internals, it's the abiding in Christ, and as we abide in you, Lord, your life flows in and through us, and we're able to bear fruit for your kingdom and your glory. And Lord, we're able to stand fast. We're able to withstand a lot of stress, a lot of difficulty that the world is is without peace, Lord. They they're so stressed out, so losing it, Lord, melting down, and threats of civil war, and soldiers in the streets and all sorts of things to call the frustration of people as society breaks down. So Lord, we just pray that we as Christians, that Lord, we have that that presence of mind and heart that people could see there's something different about us, that we have the fruit of the spirit, which is love. So blessed now we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. Would you please be seated? Jesus said in Matthew seven verse 15, beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them. So twice in this passage, Jesus indicates that we will be known by the fruit of our lives. He likens us to a tree capable bearing good fruit or bad fruit. The false prophet in sheep's clothing cannot escape who he really is. The fruit of his life is he's he'll be exposed so to speak. And so the good tree, the genuine believer will manifest good fruit revealing the heart of the matter. And so what is the fruit of your life? When I was growing up, my mom had this, plastic fruit on the coffee table, you know? Everyone had these grapes and these whole it was pretty in vogue back then. And and that's you know, is your fruit real or is it kind of a plastic fruit, you know? The tree, what kind of fruits is bearing on that tree? What kind of tree are you? Is what is what Jesus is getting at. You're either a good tree or a bad tree. If you're a good tree, then we're gonna see the fruit of the spirit is love. The the main characteristic of your life is gonna be that of love. If you're a bad tree, Paul's gonna go through a whole list of things that represent the flesh, represent a tree that's bad. And then he's also gonna show you a tree, a good tree with the fruit of the spirit, and then eight adjectives describing that which is the fruit of the spirit, which is love. So what is the fruit of your life? What kind of tree are you? The image you portray, the press releases, the public role you're playing will fail to hide the real you in the day of harvest, the day of judgment. So a lot of us, we can hide it for a while. We can fake it. Jesus called the religious leaders hypocrites, which were actors. But ultimately, when God, judges all the blinders, all the stuff's gonna come off. So there's only one escape from who you really are, and that's crucifixion. The only escape from who you and I are is crucifixion, the way of the cross being nailed to the tree of Calvary. So what kind of tree are you? Jesus said, by their fruits, you shall know them. Three types of trees. Number one, the tree of loss. Verse 19, now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness. So the fleshly tree bears corrupt fruit. The word flesh means the old, ademic nature. When Adam and Eve sinned within the garden, you know, God told them the day you eat of the tree acknowledging good and evil, you shall surely die. And they were doing pretty good. They were enjoying a perfect environment and walking with God in the cool of the day and all. And the serpent came along and beguiled Eve, and then Adam knew what he was doing. He transgressed. That's called the fall of man. Jesus is the last Adam. Jesus came as the son of man, the seed of the woman. He lived a perfect life because our first federal head, Adam, blew it. And when he blew it, when he fell, he he was separated. Death is separation. He is separated spiritually from God. And, he's body, soul, body, soul, and spirit, so we look at our our human our humanness as a trichotomy, and others as a dichotomy, body and soul without the spirit. So Nicodemus, you must be born again, your spirit must be born again, and that's where you you and I as Christians have access to God once again and fellowship with God. What stands in the way is our sin. So the second Adam, or we'd call him the last Adam, Jesus, our representative, the son of man. He didn't come as an angel. He came as a man. He lived a perfect life. He went to the cross of Calvary. The father poured out his wrath upon Jesus instead of upon you. You're not subject under his wrath. You're not appointed to wrath, and so there's no fearful looking to of judgment for you because your sins were already paid for upon the cross of Calvary. And so Jesus took that that beating. He took that that punishment, if you will. He drank the cup. Father, if you're willing, remove this cup from me, but nevertheless, not as I will, but thy will be done. And so he he went to the cross, and he endured the cross, and he despised the shame, and, you know, he's seated down at the right hand of the father now, crucified, buried, raised from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the father. And so Adam, he blew it, and so the tree acknowledged in good and evil in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve partook. So in Genesis chapter three verse six, it says that the tree acknowledging good and evil that it was good for food. So he was enticed, as I said, by the devil, the tempter, by the lust of the flesh. So our three enemies of the world, the flesh and the devil, a lot of times, we blame our sin on the devil when in actuality, the weakness here is the flesh, the lust of the flesh. And so, that's the battle here, the battle between the flesh and the spirit, the old ademic nature. So that it was good for food, so that's the lust of the flesh, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, the lust of the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, and that's the pride of life. So the serpent lied. He says in Genesis six verse four, ye shall not surely die. Now that's the lie that's gonna be that has been gaining circulation. Jared Kushner and many of these tech giants, tech people, Noah Yuval Harari, he's a big one. And they're basically telling people that eventually, pretty soon here, that technology is gonna be so advanced with chips in your head and neurological whatever things they wanna do that you're never gonna die. Well, that's a lie from the pit of hell. So if I wanna be a student of prophecy, I go to second Thessalonians chapter two, and I see where the antichrist, we're restraining the revealing of the antichrist. But people during that time, when they believe the antichrist, they're gonna suppress the truth. They're gonna push the truth down. And when they press the truth down, then it says that God gives them over to a strong delusion that they would believe the lie. Here's the lie, you'll never die. People will actually believe in the tribulation period because of technology, because of all the advancements in pharma, Kia, the pharmaceuticals and all, that you're never going to die. Well, I wanna let you know that 100% certainty, every single one of those boasters are gonna die. It's appointed unto all men once to die and then the judgment. That I can be sure of. So why would I why would I want to freeze my body or freeze my head or chyrogenics or all the different means of which people are trying to reach immortality when all I need to do is believe in Jesus? Just believe in Jesus. Why are you resisting the holy spirit? Why would you believe a lie? Why would you follow a bunch of liars, but it's satanically charged? And the the serpent, the dragon, the devil, Satan, Lucifer, He says, you shall surely not die for God does know that the day that you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. So think of the quest of the technocrats today of the occult and the people. They wanna be as god. They they want to delve into the occult to get advantages technologically and spiritually and such to gain as much knowledge as they can, and that's what the devil's saying. If you if you partake of the tree of knowledge and good and evil, you're gonna be as gods, little g gods here, knowing good and evil. And Adam and Eve ate of the tree to gain. They ate of the tree to gain. And how often the devil presents sin in such a way it's something you're missing, it's something you're missing out on, and it's something that if you'll partake of this, you're gonna gain. It's gonna be profitable. It's gonna be good. It's gonna be pleasurable maybe. And yet there's pleasure in sin for a season. Right? And so Moses, when we think of Moses in in Egypt, he esteemed the approach of he esteemed the reproach of Christ as greater riches than all the splendor of Egypt. So what's that mean? It means that had he played along, he could have been the next pharaoh, but his heart was stirred within him, in that he wanted to get to know God and be with God and be a deliverer of the children of Israel. And as he struck an Egyptian and killed that Egyptian there, people realized, uh-oh, Mo isn't, you know, for the pharaoh and all. And so he has to flee and he flees for forty years, about 40 years of age. He flees for forty years in the deserts of Midian, being emptied of Egypt, being emptied of all the the the college and all the stuff that he'd learned, the things of the world, Egypt being a type of the world. And then at 80 years old, God appears to him in a burning bush and says, I want you to go tell Pharaoh to let my people go. So the next forty years is Moses' ministry with his brother Aaron and and Miriam, his brother and sister-in-law. But it says in Hebrews 11 that he esteemed the reproach of Christ as greater riches than all the splendor of Egypt. For there's there's a pleasure in sin for a season, just a season. And how long does that season last? You know? And so, the devil tries to make make you think that you're eternal, it'll never go away, and he's promising that you you're missing out on something, and, that's what he does to a lot of our kids that are raised in Christian homes. They go into college and they go into high school and premarital sex is presented as something you're missing out on. Drugs is presented as something you're missing out on. And, you know, you if you delved if you delved in, if you jumped in, boy, you'd you'd really be able to enjoy yourself far more, you know? And so they make fun. They mock a person that's a virgin, you know? And they make fun of them. If you're if you're gonna do it God's way and stay as a virgin until the time that you're married, you know, you're made fun of and and laughed at and such. Well, later you find out when you go back to your high school reunion, how many of them are alcoholics now, drug addicts, how the fun and the pleasure of partying and doing these recreational drugs and such has taken a hold of them, and marriages, broken marriages, and kids everywhere and such because they did it their way. They didn't do things God's way, and they were lied to. It was happy for a season. It was fun for a little while. The devil has to package sin like I like to look at it as a chocolate cake. I love a chocolate cake, and I can't resist a German chocolate cake. Did I mention chocolate? And it just looks so good from the outside. But the devil packages that way. It looks good to the eye. It's gonna make it's gonna please me. It's gonna be it's it's gonna be great. I might even get wiser eating this, you know? But on the inside, there's poison. And that poison, it may not be enough to kill me right then, but it's like the rat poison. It's just enough to, over a course of time, to bring into the place of, you know, it might be 90% food and 10% poison. The devil packages it that way. And over over a period of time, God's not mocked. We're gonna see in the next chapter, whatsoever man sows, that shall that shall he also reap. And so if we sow to the flesh, we're gonna reap corruption. If we sow to the spirit, we're gonna reap life. So do you wanna be a part of the tree of loss or the tree of life? It's basic basically what what the Lord's showing us here. And so the tree that promised so much produced only the fruit of corruption and loss. So what they lose? Loss of innocence, they lost fellowship with God, they lost two sons to murder as Cain slew Abel, and then Cain had to flee. They lost their home, they got expelled from the Garden of Eden, and two angels guarding the tree of life with flaming swords to keep them from being eternally demonic, if you will. The Lord the Lord wanted to bring them a place where they'd be born again and have salvation, so he blocked the tree of life. And and loss of provision. There's a curse, and Adam had to work by the sweat of his brow to bring forth food thereafter, and then Eve had pain and childbearing, and and so the curse that came upon the planet, the entire creation came under the curse, not just Adam and Eve. And so the tree that promised so much produced only the fruit of corruption, the curse of loss. Verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these. So we're gonna go through these. And the first one is adultery. What's adultery? It's sex with a married person. So God's the one that designed sex. Satan is a pervert. Satan perverts that which is good. And so he likes to to tear it down, weaken it, and and counterfeit it, and remove it from the place where God has designed. So we look at sex as Christians as a as a passion, as a the two coming together as one, and in the place of marriage, God's the one that designed marriage. Not good for Adam to be alone, and God brought forth all the animals, and none of the animals were suitable helpmate for Adam. And Adam named all the animals and all, and we're so thankful Adam wasn't in a hurry, and then God caused Adam to to go to sleep. He the anesthesiologist came and put him to sleep, and then as he's in a deep sleep, the Lord took from his foot a bone so that he could walk all over Eve. Right? No. He took a bone from the side, from a rib bone, so that his bride of him, the woman, could walk side by side with him. The two coming together as one is a picture of marriage. Now, is marriage? And the sexual union is the oneness that for procreation that the husband and wife, male and female, in the beginning, male and female. That's God's design. The devil comes along, perverts all this, confuses all this, confuses the kids. They don't know if they're coming or going, boy or girl, whatever. And and then they pervert the whole sexual union, the whole thing. But marriage is to be a picture of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Your marriage, a Christian marriage, is to make people thirsty that they wanna know Jesus. They're lonely. They're lacking intimacy. Their marriage may be on the rocks. It may not be as as as that oneness, a division, two people just living together, you know. And truly, a Christian marriage is to depict our relationship with Jesus, in that we're the bride of Christ, and that he's coming for us. And and that's that's the purpose. It's for fellowship. It's for oneness. It's for communion. And adultery slaughters this. Adultery ruins it. When somebody steps outside the bond of marriage and has sex with, somebody that's already married or a married person, that's called adultery. It's not an affair. It's not funny. It's not hooking up. It's adultery. And people may not wanna hear that, but that's what the bible calls it. And and it goes so far as as even to bust us in that if you look upon a woman with lust in your heart, you've already committed adultery. And so the law deals with the inner man, inner person, not just the external. So you may not have committed the act, but within your heart, you're lusting and looking. And remember, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. So it starts with a thought. And so sow a thought, you keep meditating on that thought, that lust. Sow a thought, you're gonna reap an action. Sow an action, you're gonna reap what? A habit. Sow a habit, you're gonna reap a character. Sow a character, you're gonna reap a destiny. And so, you're gonna live it out. If you don't take that thought captive back to the obedience of Christ and allow God to help you to deal with those thoughts, your thought life, then you're setting yourself up for a fall. And and so we don't we don't wanna go there. Then fornication. So adultery, and then he and then he says fornication. Fornication is sexual immorality. It's a Greek word, porneia, where we get pornography today. And and there's a myriad of different different the early church of Corinth, the church of Galatia, all these churches were heavily involved in fornication. It was their way of life, much like today. So when they get saved, now, in Acts 15, there's a debate whether the Gentiles should be circumcised or not, similar debate here in the in the in this book that we're reading here in Galatians. And Peter says, why put a burden upon them that neither we nor our father were able to bear? So they came up with a way for Jews and Gentiles to have fellowship, and one of them was get these Gentiles to quit fornicating. It stumbles the Jews, you know. Although the Jews are just as just as wicked, you know, they just do it in a different way. So stay away from blood and things that are strangled, and stay away from fornication. And so it was sexual immorality was rampant and much like today. And then the word uncleanness. Now this one this one, it's it's the definition is the pus of an unclean wound, a tree that has never been pruned, unfit unfit to come before a just and a holy god. Uncleanness. And that's a work of the flesh. And it goes from there to lasciviousness. Lasciviousness is the Greek word, and it means wanton, you're wanton with no restraints. And so, readiness for any pleasure, shameless disregard for what others think, willing to infect. So you see these pride parades in Portland, Seattle, and LA, and Tel Aviv, and all over the place. And just recently, the people rolling up on their bicycles naked and stuff, and, they don't care what anybody thinks. They don't care if there's children in the streets or whatever. They don't they don't care. And in the libraries, in the schools, pornography being being spread throughout all of society, and people don't care of that uncleanness, the way it can infect other people and pollute and corrupt. And much like Sodom and Gomorrah, you know, Just reach a place where it's just the only thing you can do is put it down. And Jesus warned us. He told us as it was in the days of Noah and also at the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. It'd be characteristics of what it'd like when he comes. And so And then verse 20, idolatry. Idolatry is worship of man made gods, little g gods. So you make little Ferraris and bow down and worship it or whatever it might be. Basically, your God is the master passion of your life. It could be money, it could be mammon. Can't serve God and money, it could be pleasure. And they just they just would identify, alright, this is the idol for pleasure. This is the idol for sex. And so if you were a bow worshiper or asterisk worshiper, you would go to these orgies, these sexual fervent things they would do, typically out in the groves and all, but also in temples. And and people would just go for it, and then there would be unwanted pregnancies, and then they'd take these babies back to the temple of Baal or Astra, and they'd heat the temple, they'd heat the idol up of Baal to be like red, white, hot, and then they would take that little baby and they put on the arms of Baal and allow that baby to be burned up. We do the same thing in the womb with saline in our abortions. Right? Pills, we cut them up, we butcher them. And and it's because people are so promiscuous, the sexual immorality and unwilling to raise these children, unwilling to set them off for adoption, but instead as a as an offering to Molech, an offering to Baal, to Astra, which are which are idols of their fertility goddesses and would captivate the people. And then witchcraft. Witchcraft, I don't know how many witches we have in our community. People tell me from time to time there's covens and witches, and you got Harry Potter and a lot of different entertainment, which has witchcraft and the occult and sorcery mixed in, and it seems to be an increase in the last days. But it's a Greek word pharmakia where we get our word pharmacist, where in the book of Revelation, last days, you're gonna see drugs, you're gonna see sorcery, a lot of occult activity based upon the drugs and stuff that people are getting. President Trump just met with a bunch of pharmaceutical guys again. Pharmaceuticals are huge in our culture, the amount of drugs that we take. And it's not always LSD like Timothy Leary and stuff, you know? Guys tell me that the marijuana that's that's made today is far more far stronger and, you know, more lethal, if you will. Lethal might be too strong a word, but far more mind altering than the stuff that was around back when when I was growing up. And so it can really get ahold of you, And then it leads to the other drugs, the fentanyls and the meth, and that's sorcery. People trying to escape reality and go to a place. And these are windows, so when you open these windows, you're opening yourself to the occult, and then it's demons that come, and then the demons begin to deceive and and thrill you, or whatever it may be, and they give you a false sense of power, people searching for power. And then the next corrupt fruit is hatred, which speaks of hostility. And again, Jesus said, if you're angry with your brother, you're already a murderer, so take those thoughts captive. Don't allow a little bitterness to come in through there, and give it to the Lord. Ask the Lord to help you to pray and to pray for your enemies. It's hard to hate somebody that you're praying for, and so continue to pray for them, pray for their salvation. Then the the next one is variance, which means a rivalry. You're always rivaled. You're competing with somebody all the time. And now take that and put that in the church. Why do you wanna compete with people in the church? You know? Outside the church, at work and stuff, yeah, we understand sports. Yeah, there's competitive spirit and all, but, it can reach a place where it's where it's, where it's sin. And then the next one is emulation, which speaks of, emulations, which speaks of jealousy. Wrath is a burst of a temper. We got anger management courses, people just losing it. Raging raging driving, going crazy, you know, you see it on social media all the time, people pulling over and fighting and all. Bursts of temper. Strife was Greek word, which speaks of a a hireling, speaks of somebody wanting to gain a following. We see that in the church sometimes, where a hireling comes in and just wants to gain a following. I had a worship leader one time tell me, without me, all you got's a boombox. You know? And he knew that he controlled or or had a following about 30 people back then in the day. And so kinda just let me know that I better better watch my p's and q's, man. And next one is seditions, which speaks of a standing apart. And then we got heresy, speaks of a sect, heretical beliefs, and which which this book, the New Testament is filled with heretical beliefs that Paul needs to address that, you know, because the the Judaizers come in, because heretical teachers come in through YouTube. And so I'm constantly having to try and teach you the truth, not you guys, because you're students of the word. But if you're not if you're not careful, like Paul said to the elders in church of Ephesus, he said that men would come from within and from without to try and corrupt the sheep and may and prey upon the sheep. And the way they prey upon the sheep is with lies, with heresy, to get people off track and shipwrecked in their faith. And so it's very, important as disciples of Jesus to be like those in Acts seventeen eleven where it says, and the Bereans were more noble because they searched the scriptures to see whether those things be so. So I expect every one of you to evaluate everything that comes out of my mouth, even that introduction I had, with the word of God. Everything needs to be proven by the word of God. You don't wanna be lied to. You don't wanna be swayed or or twisted or whatever. And so, a guy asked me, about our teaching, came to visit the church and said, well, you know, I don't know that it was expositional teaching. I said, yeah, it's expositional teaching. Well, you went to so many other verses rather than just staying there. And I said, that's because I let the Bible teach the Bible. I take what's here, and then I use other parts. Said, Joshua said this. It says this in Genesis, like we were just in Genesis. We use the Bible to teach the Bible so that there's no doubt about who's in authority here. Jesus is. It's his word. My opinion means nothing. And so you have to you have to be a Berean, and you have to look and make sure that there's no heretical doctrine creeping in. And I'm amazed at how many people today, but this is prophecy. In the last days, it says they will not endure sound doctrine. Sound means healthy doctrine. Speaking of people that go to church, they won't endure sound doctrine, but they will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears so that they can get the pastor to tell them what they wanna hear, which are feel good messages, which are motivational speeches, but it's not the word of God. But it's the people that don't have an appetite to endure, to learn, to pay attention, and to hide God's word away in their heart. And so it goes from there, where it'll be doctrines of demons and fables, little stories. It occurred to me this week that Calvary Chapel of Bremerton, we have refused to water down the teaching of God's word to where we make Sunday morning Sesame Street. I'm not Bert and I'm not Ernie. My wife's not miss Piggy. And we don't run around dancing around and acting like fools like little kindergarteners, you know. We try to we try to treat you with respect, and we try to respect God's word, and we try to teach God's word at a level of your academic ability. And so it may be at a college level, it may be at a junior high level, but it certainly not at a kindergarten nursery school level because I respect you too much. I'm not gonna treat you like a baby and keep you in that infant stage where I can control you because you're ignorant and where all you're consumed with is what babies are consumed with, themselves. We want you to grow up. And so we challenge one another by teaching the word of God, and the word of God helps us to understand the necessity of dying to self, grow up, allow the holy spirit to live in and through you. So heresies are a a very serious thing that creep into the church, and that's why we plant our feet, and we we won't tolerate A little leaven leavens the lump. It can permeate and work its way through the church. Verse 21, enviance, which is angriers of others that are blessed. We should be rejoicing when others are blessed, but you're but you're envious. Oh, why did God bless them, you know? And then we got murder, we know what that is. Drunkenness, yeah. Huge amount of of abuse of drinking in the church. Huge amount. Unbelievable amount of of abuse of of alcohol. And so you say to yourself, well, Jesus turned the water to wine. How many drinks does it take for you of wine or beer, whatever it is, for you to come under the influence? Once you're under the influence, there's the sin. That's the sin. In this time of great struggle, in this time of stress, be careful. Don't turn to alcohol and drugs to calm your nerves. Turn to chocolate. Chocolate. No side effects of chocolate. Right? That's where I go. I binge on chocolate, man. No. We gotta we gotta gotta we gotta get into the word. We gotta pray. We gotta worship. Come to church. Be with others. Talk about Jesus. Remind yourselves of what these truths are. Now we gotta make these truths real in our lives. I mean, we gotta be people that actually exhibit peace in a time of crisis and storm that we're going through. Your coworkers, I was talking to some guys at the gym that haven't been paid in five weeks, him and his wife. He's on the verge of anger. He's angry, you know? And maybe that's why president Trump's getting heads up to talk about putting troops in all, you know, 50 states, you know? If this thing continues to wind down, if it continues, if the stock market goes down, if, the dollar crashes, imagine how insane people are gonna get. And you and I as Christians, we may feel it too, but we're gonna have to catch ourselves before we lose it. Right? And we're gonna have to begin to worship the Lord and praise the Lord like Job did. Naked came out in the world, naked I'm gonna go. The Lord giveth, Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Right? And Job sinned not with his lips because people are watching us. What's your testimony? Anybody can serve the Lord when things are going good. But now all of us are on the sea of life, and there's a storm all over the sea, and there's boats everywhere. But Jesus is in our boat. He's in our boat, you know. And we don't need to fear like, Lord, we're gonna perish and wake him up. He's he's enjoying a nap, you know. And the guys are freaking out. And so we don't need to do the freak out. We may start that way, but we catch ourselves and we say, you know, Lord, it's gotta be real. It's gotta be real today. I need to be a real Christian today. This plastic fruit isn't working, man. Help me go deeper with you. And so we we're gonna be tested. And so the reveling, the unrestrained rioting, and he says, in such a like which I tell you before as I have also told you in times past that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And so tremendous, tremendous loss. The corruption reveals that you don't know God, and there's debates in some Christian circles that when it says, and they that do these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Some would say it's loss of reward. I disagree with that. It's not just loss of reward. It's an indicator you're not a believer. The word do is key there. Do means practice. So go to first John. First John, if we say we have no sin, we're a liar and the truth isn't in us. But look at the word committed or practice. If you have a lifestyle of adultery, a lifestyle of drunkenness, a lifestyle where there's no repentance, you profess that you believe, but in works you deny him, then the indicator is you're really not a Christian. You're not born again. Because the fruit of your life, Jesus said you'll know them by their fruit, doesn't indicate that you're a believer. Well, Rick, what do you mean? Well, I got drunk once. Well, we're talking about practicing. If you practice, if you continue in that, if you're continuing being an adulterer, continuing in these works of the flesh, it's an indicator that you haven't been changed. You haven't been transformed. That you're not a believer because you're practicing, you're continuing. And so they went out from us because they weren't of us. Had they been of us, they just stayed with us. So Peter talks about the nature. The nature hasn't been changed. So the dog that goes back to its vomit, and the Hillary Clinton that goes back to the wallowing in the mire, you know. You can put a lipstick on her face and bows in her hair, but her nature is such that when nobody's watching, she's gonna go back into the pigpen because she hasn't been transformed and changed from the inside. So you can't escape yourself as an unbeliever. There's no escape. Our only escape is Jesus. And so they that do these things, this continuous lifestyle of these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. So how do we know who's a Christian and who's not a Christian? If the churches don't teach sin anymore, and don't teach repentance, and don't call people to the cross and to death to self, how do you know who's saved and who's not when we in the churches are doing just as much adultery, just as much as divorce, just as much drugs and alcohol as the world. So what is it? What what is church then? So I know I'll treat them like they're Catholics now in the Protestant church, I'll get them to write checks and do good deeds. I'll get them to feed the homeless and build bigger buildings and more social justice, you know, contracts, working with government and the private sector, will make the world a better place, and it'll somehow cover my wickedness of adultery, and drunkenness, alcohol, and drugs, and womanizing, lying, cheating, stealing. It won't matter because I did a good thing to counteract the bad. Well, that's a works that's a works relationship. That's a works gospel. It doesn't work like that. Salvation's a free gift. So there has to be the evidence, the fruit of repentance of a person turning from that lifestyle, turning from that sin. And it's not just a profession of faith that saves us. There has to be the actuality within where we can see over time. Sure. We might fall. And somebody we know as a Christian for twenty years, they might fall. They might, commit adultery with somebody at work. They might lose their marriage. And then down the road, they might get back right with Jesus. And they'll admit to you they backslid. They sinned. They didn't lose their salvation, but we're looking for Hebrews 12, whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son. If they don't get chastening when they're sinning like that, then it means that they're not a legitimate son. The Lord only disciplines his own. The unbeliever doesn't get disciplined. They're able to continue in their sin. So it's a dividing, it's a sifting, it's a way to show you those that are saved and those that are unsaved. But we need to be aware because we can become self righteous hypocrites and be playing the role and act like we're so much better and pointing the finger at people. And Lord, she was caught in the very act of adultery, you know. And and the Lord says, you know, he that is without sin cast the first stone. The intention is to save. The intention is to restore. So in Galatians six one, when we come back next week, he says, brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, lest you also be tempted. We all know we can be overtaken in any of these things, but we're not gonna practice them. We're not we can't anymore. We can't live like the world anymore. We've tasted and we've seen that Jesus is good. The world doesn't it it doesn't appeal like it once did. It doesn't satisfy. So when we do things God's way, there's the satisfaction, there's the fulfillment, there's the water that we drink of where we'll never thirst again. But again, we can be idiots. We can be stupid. We can we can be real stupid and blow apart our homes, blow apart our families, blow apart everything. And if that's happened to you, the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. If that's happened to you, remember Samson, his hair grew back. God's gonna give you a second chance. But don't plan on sinning and saying, well, I'll get a second chance. No. There is so much baggage. There's such a David. Look at David. Look at the sword didn't depart from his family. He had a harem of women, all kinds of women. Any woman he wanted, the prophet said. You want another woman? Just ask. But he took Uriah the Hittite's wife, Bathsheba. And that sin that he committed, yeah, he didn't lose his salvation. But man, the Lord chastened him, the Lord disciplined him, and there were consequences with his children and his family that never went away. When his daughter Tamar was raped by Amnon, and the Tamar was a sister of Absalom, and Absalom was angry because David didn't deal with it, and then Absalom concocted a dinner party and and killed, Amnon. The sword was not gonna depart from David's household. Then Absalom wound up getting a dart thrust in his chest as he tried to coup against David. Consequences of sinning, of knowing better, but being sucked in again. And, if you have areas of your flesh that you're playing with, that you're still entertaining, then you're not dead. You've gotta crucify the flesh. It's gotta die. You can't rehab it. You you can't rub it on the head, oh, it's nice. Isn't this a nice habit I have? This makes me feel good. It has corruption. It's gonna it's gonna destroy you. And the devil is so patient. The devil waited for David to be about 50 years old. Man, you did good in the first thirty years of your Christian experience. You worked your job, bought the house, gave security, raised some kids, and now you're at the midlife point of your life, and what? You're gonna do what? After all this? Why don't you finish well? Why don't you finish well? Why don't you focus on finishing well? Why would you throw your testimony out? For the pleasures of sin for a season. So they that do these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Tremendous tremendous loss, eternal damnation. The corruption reveals that you don't know God. Jesus said in John fifteen six, if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. A corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. What kind of tree are you? We see the tree of loss. Secondly, the tree of love. Verse 22. But, so contrast, you love that hinge there grammatically, but you read Paul's list, all those terrible things. And when I look at those terrible things, I'm thinking of you guys, not me. Ain't that how sin is? It always look worse on everybody else. Oh, they're this, they're that, and you're pointing like this, and there's these fingers pointing back, and Nathan had to come up and say, David, you're the man. David was gonna kill the guy that took his neighbor's little ewe lamb. And Nathan was bringing it as a as a parable to David. David was so self righteous, and David was so incredibly miserable. You can see his misery in Psalm 32, Psalm 38, and Psalm 51. He's crying out to God, God, restore to me the joy of my salvation. He lost the joy of his salvation during that time. And the Lord and his love for David said, David, you're not gonna die. You wanted that guy to you're not gonna die. But there'd be consequences. And how how it hurts when we fail our family. When we fail Ahithophel, his adviser, and Uriah, one of his mighty men, and it complicates from adultery to murder. Lying, conniving, cut trying to cover your own sin. If we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Don't come to church to hide your sin because God sees. Moses looked to the left, he looked to the right before he slew the Egyptian. Where did he forget to look? God sees everything. You haven't hidden anything, maybe from me, maybe from people in here. But you in the quietness of your heart, if you're good, if you give a lot of money, I'll let you come up and touch my ring, and then you can confess to me your sin, and I'll say four our fathers for you and some hail Marys, and I'll I'll talk to the big guy upstairs for you. Okay? I'll make a business out of the guilt that you're feeling, and I'll try to alleviate that guilt with false doctrine. No. There's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. You go to him personally in the quietness of your heart right here, don't leave here, and you confess, which means to agree with the holy spirit. You don't have to say it out loud to me or anybody else. In the quietness of your heart, you agree with the holy spirit now, Lord, I've sinned. Please forgive me. Please wash it away right now. Let me leave here, clean, fresh and new. And then, give me the power of the Holy Spirit to not repeat, not continue in these sins. Give me victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Lord, I don't wanna be a slave to the flesh. I don't wanna be a slave. Lord, you came to set the captives free, and the power of the Holy Spirit's working in me. And Lord, I wanna live in the but God portion of the Bible. But God. It's bleak without God. We can't do it. We can't live the Christian life. We're gonna fall into all that junk. But God, when you factor God into the equation, he gives us the power, the strength to live the Christian life he calls us there unto. So he says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, and this love is in the singular. And so the genuine tree bears the fruit of love. There's four types of Greek love. One is eros, the erotic love. The second one is philia, which is the brotherly love, city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. The third type of love is storge, which is a family love, and we appreciate these types of love. Unless they get out of control, the arrows can get out of control. And so we look at the passion in marriage that of sex. It's useful and it's good if it's in a fireplace, if it's in the context of marriage. But if you let that passion of eros, that passion of agape, that passion of love and the two becoming one get outside the fireplace, outside the marriage, it's gonna burn the house down. So Paul says in first Corinthians seven, if you're burning with passion, then get married. Don't allow that burning passion to cause you to sin as a fornicator or an adulterer. In the context of marriage, the two coming together as one, exercise that gift of union, of that oneness, of that sexuality in the in the beauty of marriage. The way God designed. So we've got Eros Phileia, Storge, and then the fourth one is Agape, and that's what is here. It's a spiritual love that the world doesn't have the capacity to know or to live in. When I got saved, one of the things that that really struck me was the Lord was giving me the capacity to love. A capacity I didn't have before. An unconquerable benevolence. True love never fails. We seek for the highest good. And then he uses eight adjectives to describe love. The first is joy, which speaks of a deep down sense of well-being based upon my relationship with God. It's not happenstance, it's not happy, although I like being happy. Happy, happy, happy. But joy, can be in the midst of a huge trial, and I can experience a depth of relationship with God where there's a sense of well-being. I know I'm okay. And then peace, which speaks of tranquility of heart, no anxiety or stress. And so again, the world is the world is feeling the stress. Eventually, it's gonna reach a point where men's hearts are gonna fail them, heart attacks, stress, anxiety. I need more Xanax. I need more drugs. I need more alcohol. I need more means of coping because I can't cope anymore. I don't know what to do. You and I, we walk by faith, not by sight. Our faith kicks in. I don't know what to do either. But I know God does, so I'm gonna trust in him. I'm gonna trust in someone besides the government, besides myself, besides my family. I'm forced to trust God. How about that? What a what a woo. Look at there. I'm gonna trust God. The devil wants people to trust in government from the womb to the tomb. Devil doesn't want people to trust in God, that he would take care of them. So the peace, the tranquility of heart, no anxiety or stress. Jesus said in John fourteen twenty seven, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You think of the fear that people had during COVID. The fear presently that's circulating, the anxiety, the fear, the the and fear is the opposite of faith. And you and I, we were learning to trust the Lord. We were learning to pray and ask the Lord. We're asking questions. We were being lied to. There's the the devil's greatest weapon is deception. The deception level presently is greater than any time in my lifetime with AI and all the different social media stuff. You don't know what the truth is anymore. You're crying out with Pontius Pilate, what is truth? You know? It's hard to discern if a guy's telling you the truth or not. And so we go to the Lord direct. We go to him. We ask him, Lord, what should I do? They're threatening I'm a lose my job if I don't take this job. What do I do, Lord? And you've got to make that decision in your prayer closet. You've got to decide. And it comes down to faith. It comes down to trust. It comes down to controlling that fear and allow not allowing that fear to control you. Gonna meet and like when you take a test, it's just a test. When you take a test, if you fail it, you're gonna have to retake it. And now we're gonna have to retake it in regard to the digital ID. What are we gonna do? How can we circumvent the global banking system that's geared toward digital ID? Can we barter? Can we raise our own food? Can we exchange currency, gold, silver, something other than their digital thing? Is there any way we can do it? Is it possible? Some would say it is. Some get through the tribulation period into the millennium and they didn't take the mark of the beast. So if they can do it in the tribulation period, there might be a whole lot of people that refused the digital ID because without the digital ID, they can't implement their whole system on you. They have to get a digital ID. Then you have the digital vaccine, the digital medical, the digital currency, the digital everything digital. But without that, they they can't get it. And so what are we gonna do? How are we gonna do it? How are we gonna navigate it? Might have to take that digital thing. I don't know. Have to see what we can do. But we're gonna have peace. Right? Be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding shall guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus. That's the Christian life. That's what we have. He will bring you into perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. The battle is in your mind. And if we yield to the Holy Spirit, we'll have peace. God will give us his peace, tranquility of heart. The next one is long suffering, which speaks of patience forbearance. You as parents, you know what this is, patient forbearance. You're patient with your kids. You're forbearing. You never give up on them. The school might give up on them. Society might give up on them. But you as a parent, you're long suffering. You're patient. You're forbearing. You take a lot of abuse. God is long suffering, not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance. Then we come to gentleness, which speaks of kindness. We see in Romans two four that it's the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. I know the bad news, I'll go to hell. The good news is, he sent a son to die for me. It's his kindness demonstrated at the cross that leads me to repentance. A God that loves me this much is a God I wanna know. That's his kindness. Goodness is moral spiritual excellence. Faith, loves believes all things, loyalty, trustworthiness, meekness. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is strength under control. And this definition blessed me. To endure in submission. So think of how powerful a horse is, and that horse is meek to its master. It's enduring in submission. Doesn't mean that horse doesn't have the power to buck them off if he wants to. He could. But he chooses to be in submission to his master. So if God has you in a place of humility, where he's emptying you, where he's causing you to go through the wilderness experience, so to speak, it's important that you have the fruit of meekness. If anyone thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. Pride will take you down. So humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up. Continue to humble yourself. Temperance was just self control. God gives us the power over sin in our lives. Romans chapter six, sin shall not have dominion over you. It's important for you and I to enjoy the freedom, the liberty that we have that's been purchased by Jesus for us. We don't wanna live as Christians being slaves to sin anymore. He came to set the captives free. We don't wanna go back into being drug addicts. I heard a story of a pastor that used to be a drug addict, and he's counseling and these this couple came in and they were brand new believers and they didn't know what to do with their drugs and with their heroin, with their needles, with all their paraphernalia. What do I do with this? And pastor says, oh, bring it in. I'll get rid of it for you. And he hadn't done drugs in many, many years. Well, you know the story. He was tempted and gave into it and lost everything. The devil, he he can bite. He he'll wait. He's patient. You gotta be wiser than that. You gotta be careful. He wants to take you down. And so be temperate. Exercise the the fruit of the spirit, which is self control. Don't give into it. Against such, there is no law. So these attitudes flow from within and need no external law. Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in me and I in him the same brings forth much fruit for without me, you can do nothing. So I like Psalm one. Blessed, oh how happy is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. If you're watching Fox News every night, be careful that you're not being brainwashed walking in the counsel of the ungodly. Nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law does he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers that brings forth its fruit in its season. Its leaf shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. But the ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Spend time in God's word. Meditate upon God's word. Exercise the discipline of meditating upon God's word. Meditation is not having an empty brain. Meditating is thinking through the scriptures. It's the illustration that I was taught was apparently a cow has seven stomachs. If Ray was here, I'd ask him. He's a farmer. But you'll get it. So the cow goes down and begins to chew on the grass, and then takes that grass, and I guess it's the cud, and moves it into another stomach, and another stomach, another stomach. So you're chewing on God's word. You're chewing on it chewing on it. It's it's sometimes you're gonna do an overview and, hey, I'm gonna read a chapter today. Others times, you're gonna take, I'm gonna meditate on God's word. I'm gonna read, I'm gonna ask questions, I'm gonna ask God to teach me, and I'm just gonna chew on it. Think about it. You got a study bible, you look through, it's starting to build on you, it's starting to get it, and then it goes from stomach to stomach stomach, and then that cut comes back up and you chew on it again. You chew on it again. Then you talk to your wife or a friend. Hey, what do you think of this scripture? That's meditating upon God's word. That's taking the phones and get rid of them, the TV, all the things that take your attention span and make it two minutes. And now you have exercised the discipline of meditating upon God's word, of wanting to go deep into all that God has for you. That man's blessed. He's like a tree that's planted by the river. What kind of tree are you? Jesus said, by their fruits you shall know them. The tree of loss, number one. The tree of love, number two. Thirdly, the tree of life, verse 24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Maybe your life is unproductive. It's fruitless, pointless, purposeless. Maybe your life's empty. God has another tree for you. There's a fourth tree. Well, it's the tree of life here. Adam and Eve were kept from partaking of the this tree initially, but later, in faith, they looked to the tree of Calvary. That's the fourth tree. The fig leaves that Adam and Eve were wearing to hide their nakedness, to hide their guilt, were inadequate. So God, gave them coats of skins. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. And so God gave them the the gospel in Genesis three fifteen that the virgin born son of God, the seed of the woman, that is healed would be bruised, but it crushed the serpent's head. So salvation is imputed to Adam and Eve because they're looking future to the cross. Salvation is imputed to you and I. We're looking back to the cross, the finished work of Jesus upon the cross. He said to Talistai, it is finished. And so we we we don't have to work, but salvation's a gift by grace through faith alone. And we see this, and Adam and Eve are leaving, and the the angels guarding the tree of life because they're not ready yet. And so God would show them another tree, he'd show them the cross. And Jesus said, Abraham rejoice to see my day and he saw it and was glad. And Jesus said that that Paul said the gospel is before preached on to Abraham. So Abraham also is looking in the types that he is God the father is bringing the knife down on God the son in Isaac, and that Isaac is that offering there. And so the gospels before preached unto Abraham and his family and all, and righteousness is imputed unto them because they believed. So the coats of skins, the robes of righteousness, God would send the seed of the woman to hang upon the tree of Calvary that we might have life, partaking of the tree of life. Jesus, our life, gave his life that we would have life. The way to the tree of life is still by way of the tree of death, the tree of Calvary. Except a corn of wheat fall to the ground and dies, it abides alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. So the seed has to die. You and I have to die. We have to go to the cross, the tree of Calvary, and we have to die. We have to reckon the old man dead. We have to crucify the flesh. And when we die, then the tree of life springs forth from us. And now we're bearing the fruit of the tree of life. Love emanates from our life because it's Jesus living through us. And so you go in John 15, abide in him and he in us, and his life is flowing through us. He's the vine and we're the branches. His life is flowing through us. So it's not us and the externals trying to keep the law and trying us to be good, it's God within us given the capacity, the power, and even the desire to be good, to do what's right. Paul said to the church of Philippi, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. If we had to work it out with fear and trembling, oh boy. But he didn't stop there. He said, for it is God who is at work in you, putting in you both the will and to do of his good pleasure. He told the church of Ephesus that we're his workmanship, his poema, created in Christ Jesus under good works. God is the potter, and we're the clay. And he's fashioning a vessel that he can fill with himself to fill and use for his kingdom and for his glory. And you don't see the fruit on there sweating. You know, you go over there, they're sweating. No. They're just abiding. They're enjoying their relationship with Jesus, and his life produces the love and produces the fruitfulness that we're after. And so, by way of the tree of death. And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. So the question is, are you Christ? Notice the apostrophe. They that are Christ. Does he own you? Do you belong to Christ? Grammatically, look at that little apostrophe. And they that are Christ. Are you Christ? We love him because he first loved us. Jesus said, you didn't choose me, but I chose you. In ordain that you bring forth fruit, and that your fruit will remain. That whatsoever you ask the father, he may give it you. Right? Are you Christ? Do you belong to him? When did the Lord apprehend you? When did he invade your comfort zone and said, you're mine? You belong to me. I purchased you at the Cross Of Calvary. And then you yielded, you surrendered. You said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. You belong to him. And you belong to him, nobody's gonna pluck you out of his hand. And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and the lust. So the flesh has these desires, but it's crucified. There's no reformation. There's no reforming the old you. There's no school of reform. There's no psychology. There's no pill. There's nothing that can reform you. The prescription is death. God says you have to die. I'm gonna bring a new you. I'm gonna bring a new Christ living through you. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. The old things are passed away and all things become new. So the question is, are you Christ? Does Jesus own your heart? Remember, fruit reveals what is going on on the inside of you. Jesus said, by their fruits, you shall know them, the external proof. Wolves in sheep's clothing, they look like sheep, but they're wolves. Eventually, it comes out. We see their fangs, we see their their evil. So if we live in the spirit, verse 25, let us also walk in the spirit. It's your choice. The tree of loss, the tree of love, the tree of life, three trees determined by a fourth tree, which is the tree of Calvary. What kind of tree are you? Jesus said, by their fruits, you shall know them. In Proverbs eleven thirty, the fruit of righteousness is a tree of life and he that winneth souls is wise. You wanting to win souls? Is your life a tree of righteousness? People are wanting to get right with God. They're seeing that you're right with God. What a phony we are. What what plastic fruit we are. What hypocrites we are. When we say we're Christians, when we profess that we know him, but then our lifestyle, the fruit that we're bearing, spells out to people that we're no different. We're no different than the world. In fact, the church is embracing the world, wanting to be like the world. And the world's saying, why would you wanna be like us? Why would you wanna be like us? We we're tired of us. We want something more, something greater. We want Jesus. Sir, we would see Jesus. But so much of the church growth is trying to get the world into the church rather than getting Jesus into the church. So three trees determined by the fourth. What kind of tree are we? In Revelation chapter 22, John has a vision of the new Jerusalem. And he says in verse one, and he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the lamb. And in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 kinds of fruits and yielded her fruits every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, down in verse 13, but the throne of God and of the lamb shall be in it in the city of the new Jerusalem and his servants shall serve him. Are you his servant? Do you want to serve Jesus? Do you want to be in the city of the new city, a new Jerusalem, new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem, the eternal state, and be serving king Jesus. In verse 14 of chapter 22 says, blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. He says in verse 15, for outside for outside are dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters and whosoever loves and makes a lie, the politicians are on the outside. Jesus said, by their fruits, you shall know them. What tree are you? Jesus hung on the cross. He hung on the tree of Calvary to give you life. And Joshua told his generation, choose you this day who you will serve. But as for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord. And that's what it really comes down to. You're gonna serve the flesh? You're gonna pamper the flesh and give in to the flesh and yield to the flesh? Or you're gonna crucify the flesh and all that it represents, all that corruption? The world, the flesh, the devil. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is a good and acceptable and perfect will of God. As for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord, Joshua said. I can't force you guys to. I don't know what you wanna do, but I know, as for me and my house, choose you this day. What kind of tree do you wanna be? Father, we thank you for your love, Lord. We thank you for your consistent, everlasting love. You never stop loving us. And Lord, we thank you for the humility that you that you give us that we not hurt ourselves in pride. That Lord, we're open before you transparent. We're crying out Lord, change me. God, change me. Change me from within. Lord, help me to get victory over the world, the flesh, the devil that seeks to destroy me. Lord, nip it in the bud. Don't allow that corruption, that leaven, that sin in my life, that sin in my marriage that I brought in. Don't let it permeate and grow and take me out. Take us out. As Lord, I know that my sin doesn't affect just me, it affects so many others around me. The devil would love to take us down. But Lord, we pray that you put a garrison, you keep that hedge of protection about us, and Lord, you help us to nip these things in the bud, to confess these things quick, and to yield to the spirit and sow to the spirit, to meditate upon the word of God, and build ourselves up in this most holy faith. To veil of ourselves, Lord, to to be in church, to be in bible study, to have devotions, to listen to good solid teaching, to worship, to pray, to fellowship, to share the gospel. Help us, Lord, to mature and grow in these last days. Use us for your kingdom and your glory, and let our lives bear much much fruit for your kingdom and your glory, Lord. And while your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed as you continue to pray, if there's anybody here this morning and you don't have a relationship with Jesus, it's your sin that stands in the way. It's your sin that keeps you from him. The day you eat of it, you shall surely die, the devil told Adam and Eve. And they were separated from God. You're separated from God. But you have access now through prayer. And the only prayer that he'll hear from you is God be merciful to me a sinner. That's the prayer he hear he hears. Other than that prayer as an unbeliever, you don't have access. You don't have access, Lord. Help me find a job. None of those things because you're not a child of his. He causes it to rain on the just and the unjust. He's in a general sense, he's gonna be gracious unto you in that in that you're a human being that he created. But to be a son, to be of the family, you gotta be born into the family. You gotta be born again. And so he offers to you eternal life through his son, that Jesus died in your place, that your sins have already been paid for, that you can receive that forgiveness of sin by confessing, by calling upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved. Just call upon Jesus now in the quietness of your heart. As many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Believe on Jesus. Believe in his finished work on the cross of Calvary, and he will come into your heart and life, and he will he will be that source of life within you that causes your life to bear fruit, the fruit of love. Anyone here this morning, just lift your hand up. What kind of tree are you? Tree of love, tree of death, or the tree of life? Who are you? Who will you serve? As Bob Dylan once sang, you gotta serve somebody. You gotta choose. Anyone here this morning? Father, again, we thank you for the peace that we enjoy. No condemnation in knowing our sins are forgiven and knowing that we're in fellowship with you and knowing that, Lord, the blood of Jesus Christ, your son, continually cleanses us of all unrighteousness. Thank you for that peace, that tranquility that we enjoy, Lord, that our minds are at ease, that we know if we died today, we'd be with you, be absent the body, be present with the Lord. So help us to enjoy more and more fellowship with you, Lord. Let us enjoy this time of communion as we desire to partake of the bread and the cup. We desire to seek your face, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.