Saying "No" to Sin, Part 2

Lord, we thank you today that we can look once again at the life of Joseph, a great man of God, who honored you and glorified your name and served you with his whole heart. He provides for us a great example, a man, Lord, whose life we'll study from now to the end of Genesis, a man, Lord, that had a supreme priority to glorify his God. Today, as we look once again at his life and how he said no to sin and yes to his God, may we learn from his example. For all of us are faced day by day with temptation to turn away from you, to serve our own fleshly desires.

We have to learn to say no to sin and yes to God. As we look at the principles in Genesis 39 and study your word, may we see what Joseph saw.

May we do what Joseph did. May we be as Joseph was in order that we might glorify our God as Joseph glorified his God. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Genesis chapter 39 is where we are. As we look once again at the life of Joseph and what it means to say no to sin, as a precursor to Genesis 39, I want to read to you just a couple of verses in Psalm 119. A couple of verses that are very familiar to any of you who have been through any kind of Bible memory program because they are very familiar verses to those who memorize them.

Psalm 119, verse number 9 says this, how can a young man keep his way pure? How can a young man keep his way clean? How can a young man be undefiled? How can a young man be pure before God? Answer, by keeping it according to thy word. By doing what God says in his word.

You will note that at the base of everything in Christianity is obedience to God. And the way a man or a woman keeps his way pure and clean and holy is by doing what God says in his word.

There comes a time in our life when we are tempted that we will decide yes God I will do what your word says or no God I will not do what your word says. And the bottom line is always yes to God, no to sin, or no to God and yes to sin. Psalm 119 says this, with all my heart I have sought thee, do not let me wander from thy commandments.

If I can be kept clean and pure and holy by doing what your word says then I don't want to wander from that which is true and holy. I want to keep what your word says. And then it says this, thy word I have treasured in my heart that I might not sin against thee. I am so concerned about my life with God that I don't sin against him. I'm going to treasure, I'm going to hold as the most valued possession the word of God in my heart. And treat it as the greatest of all treasures. So I don't have to sin against God.

Now for most of us, if push comes to shove, we don't really treasure God. We don't treasure God's word as we should. We treasure lots of things. We treasure other people. But we don't necessarily treasure God's word as we should. To do that we need to delight ourselves in the word of God. The psalmist will go on to say this, same chapter 14th verse, I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches. I will meditate on thy precepts and regard thy ways. I shall delight in thy statutes, I shall not forget thy word.

Those are some deep commitments by a man who says listen, I want to treasure your word. I want to delight myself in your word. I want to keep your word Lord. Because I know that that will keep me from sin. The psalmist goes on to say in verse number 97 of that same chapter, oh how I love thy law, it is my meditation all the day. I have restrained verse number 101, my feet from every evil way that I may keep thy word. I have not turned aside from thine ordinances. For thou thyself has taught me how sweet are thy words to my taste, yes sweeter than honey to my mouth.

From thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. The psalmist said basically this, because I treasure God's word, because I delight in God's word, I hate every false way. I have kept my feet from running after evil because I have treasured the word of God in my heart. That was Joseph. That's how Joseph lived his life. His God was more important to him than anything in the world. And Joseph was a man who, for all practical purposes, didn't have any friends. His family wasn't his friends.

I mean they wanted to kill him. They ended up selling him to the Israelites and they sold him to Potiphar, the captain of the bodyguard there. But I mean for all practical purposes Joseph had no friends. And for many years Joseph had no good relationships. How did he do it? How did he stand strong for God without an accountability partner? Or an accountability group? He was accountable to God. You will note that every great man of God in the Bible realized his accountability was to God primarily.

Daniel wasn't a part of an accountability group. He stood strong for God, right? Paul was a man who stood strong for God but had no accountability partner. And Joseph was a man who never compromised the Word of God, had no accountability partner because they realized that they were directly accountable to God Almighty. That's why Joseph said, how can I do this evil thing and sin against my God? See that's the highest accountability any man could have, right? He realizes that God is his supreme authority.

And that's where Joseph was. And he didn't have a family that loved him. He basically had no friends. The ones he thought he had in prison forgot about him. And so he was basically on his own for 13 years just all by himself. And for the first 17 years of his life nobody really liked him except his dad.

So how does a man stand strong against temptation? How does a man say no to sin and yes to God? Genesis chapter 39 tells us. That's why we're spending some time here. I thought that we'd finish this chapter today but we didn't in the first service so we won't in the second service.

But we realized that as we looked at Joseph's situation his background was not much to look at. Oh yes God spoke to him through dreams and he shared those dreams with his family and they despised him because of it. They wanted to sell him, they wanted to kill him first then they started to sell him to the Israelites.

They sold him to Potiphar. And that's where you pick up the story in Genesis chapter 39 verse number 1. And then we went from the background to the blessing because in spite of all the bad things that were happening to Joseph God was blessing him. Why? Because the Bible says that the Lord was with him.

In fact three times in Genesis 39 it says the Lord was with Joseph. And that was important for Joseph to realize. Why? Because the blessing came in Joseph's life not because of Joseph but because of God. God was blessing Joseph's life. And as you read through Genesis 39 the first six verses we realized some things about Joseph that were happening that were incredible.

I mean Potiphar fell in love with this guy. I mean he found favor in the sight of Potiphar because Potiphar was able to observe how his God, Joseph's God, was with him. And everything Joseph's touched became successful. And Potiphar thought man this is fantastic. I've got to have this guy as my own personal slave here because this guy is tremendous. And the Bible says that everything he touched achieved great things.

I mean God was doing a great work in Joseph's life in spite of all the negative things that had happened to him. And then we said because of that you need to beware. At the time that things are the best you seem to be right in the high that's when temptation seems to be its strongest. That's where Joseph was. Things were going well in spite of all that had happened to him. Things were on for all practical purposes an upswing. Right? He was given authority over everything in Potiphar's house. He was the guy in charge.

He was second in command. And God was blessing him. And that's when the temptation came his way. This had to be a severe temptation for Joseph. Because the Bible says in verse number six that Joseph was a man who was handsome in appearance.

Joseph was no dud. Joseph was a stud. You like that? Joseph was a stud man. He was probably buff. He was probably a good looking guy. The Bible says he was handsome in appearance.

He was well to look upon. He was a lady's man. He was a good looking guy. And the Bible tells us that when we are tempted it comes in the area that we are prone to fall into sin. So Joseph's temptation came in an area that dealt with him particularly strong. And that's Joseph's situation. And we reminded you last time that we need to beware. Right? When things are going well, when things are on the upswing, when it looks like everything is going our way, beware of Satan's tactics. Beware of the desire to destroy you and bring you down.

And for the most part, most of us are unaware of Satan's devices. That's why Genesis 39 is in the Bible. Beware. Know the situation. And then we looked at Joseph's solicitation. And we began by looking at point number one that God's presence is reliable.

The Bible says in verse number two that the Lord was with Joseph. You see the most important thing that you need to understand when facing temptation in order that you might say no to sin and yes to God is that God's presence is reliable. God is with you. As God was with Joseph, so God is with you. That's why a psalmist said, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? For thou art with me. God is with me. And because God is with me, I have nothing to fear.

That's why we can learn contentment. Why? Because God is with us. That's why we don't have to be anxious about anything because the Lord is near, Philippians 4 verse number 5. And Joseph realized the presence of Almighty God in his life. We need to realize that. And we looked last time about what it means to walk in the Spirit so you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galatians chapter 5. Romans chapter 13. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ so you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. Helping us to realize that the important thing is that we need to take each and every step, every moment of our lives dependent upon God, saturated with God, realizing that He is present with us.

And that because of His presence with us, we have nothing to fear. And we can trust Him. We can believe in Him. We can depend upon Him to take us through difficult times, to take us through temptation, to take us through hardship because without Him, there's nothing. And that's all Joseph had. Joseph couldn't go back to his family and say, hey guys, pray for me. I got this woman at work and she's really coming after me. She's tempting me. I need you to pray for me that God will give me the strength to say no.

Didn't have any family to go to. They sold him. He couldn't go to a good friend of his and say, hey, you know what? Let's go to the Lord together and pray about this because Potiphar's wife is hot on my trail, man. And I got to, I got to make sure that she doesn't come my way and I'm able to withstand temptation. So please let's pray together. There wasn't anybody. It was Joseph and God. And you know what? You need to realize that there's you and there's God and that's all you need. That's all you should desire to depend upon your God.

His presence is reliable. He's always there. We'll talk more about that in, in, uh, in, in days to come because you'll notice this in all of Joseph's life that God was with him and he understood that.

The second point, God's presence is reliable number one. Number two, if you're going to say no to sin and yes to God, sin's penalty is inescapable.

Sin's penalty is inescapable. Now today, I'm going to be honest with you. This is not one of those messages you're going to leave feeling really good about yourself. All right. In fact, the one lady said a couple of weeks ago, she says, Oh, every time I come to church, it hurts so good. I think she's still with us. I hope she's still in our church, but uh, you know, this is one of these messages that we need to face reality because I'm going to share some things with you that you're not going to hear in most evangelical churches today.

They don't want to talk about these things. Sin's penalty is inescapable. First number seven, this is where we left off last time.

Genesis chapter 39. And it came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph and she said, lie with me. But he refused and said to his master's wife, behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in the house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God? That phrase is so important.

How could I do this evil and sin against God? Joseph knew that if he violated the law of God, if he violated his, his God by sinning against his God, it would cost him. Most people don't realize that. Remember David in Psalm 51, when he repented of a sin with Bathsheba, he said these words in verse number four against you, you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight. Now, if David, when he went up into his tower and was overlooking his city and saw Bathsheba would have realized Psalm 51 verse four at that time, maybe he would not have committed adultery with Bathsheba.

But upon repentance, he realized he had sinned against his God. Listen, when you sin against your God, there is a price to pay. You see, we don't want to talk about that today. We want to say, well, you know, we're a born again believer. We've given our life to Christ and he's forgiven us of all of our sins and there's no more penalty. That's not true. That's not true. It is true that you don't face the penalty of eternal separation from God. You don't face life without God. That is true because Christ paid for that on the cross and we'll talk more about that as we partake of the Lord's table this morning.

But to say that I can go through life because God's forgiven me and not have any consequences to my sin goes against what the Bible says, Galatians six and be not deceived.

God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. The law of the harvest applies to the righteous as well as the unrighteous. It doesn't say that if you're an unbeliever, you're going to reap the consequences of your sin. And if you're a believer, you're not going to reap the consequences of your sin. It doesn't say that. In fact, the Bible says it very clearly over in Proverbs chapter six, these words, verse number 27, can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?

Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? Now those are pretty easy verses to understand, right? You can't put a bunch of hot coals out there on the floor, walk across and let the soles of your feet being burned. It's inevitable. It's going to happen. And then he says this, so is the one who goes into his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not go unpunished. Will not. You can't get around it. Goes on to say this, the one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense.

He who would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find and his reproach will not be blotted out. A man who seeks to violate the law of God is looking to have wounds and disgrace to come upon his life. Because that's the natural consequences of sinning against your God, of breaking the law of God. But you see, we have been sold the bill of good in most of our evangelical churches today because people are saying God is love, God is mercy, God is kind, God is patient, God is good, God is forgiving, and he's all that.

He is all that. And I want to say amen to all of that. But God is just. And God is true to his word. And God says listen, if you violate the law of God, this is what's going to happen to you.

You can't get around it. Over in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, listen to what it says. Paul says, verse number 8, nor let us act immorally as some of them did and 23,000 fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord as some of them did and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example and they were written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Paul says listen, I want to give you an example.

Some of you people in Corinth are living in sin. And if you want to continue to do that, realize what happened to the Israelites who committed immorality and 23,000 of them died in one day. These things are written for your instruction. These things are written so you might wake up, take note of realizing the severity of sinning against almighty God. And there are some people who say, well you know, wait a minute, God's not going to kill me if I sin. That's why Paul says this in verse number 12, therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

For those of you who are so arrogant to think that God's not going to kill me because of my sin, I want to let you know something, take heed, take heed lest you fall. Because there are people today who say, well you know, God's not that way. God's not going to kill me if I sin. God's not going to cause heartache to come my way if I sin. Really? That's not what the word of God says at all.

Ask Hophany and Phinehas, two weird names for two rebellious boys, Levi's boys, who committed orgy on the stairway to the temple and God killed them in 1 Samuel 4, 11. There was a consequence for their sin. They violated the law of God. Sin's penalty is inescapable. The Bible says the wages of sin is what?

Is death. You can't get around it. How about this one? There is a way, Proverbs 14, there is a way what seemeth right unto a man and the ends thereof are not life, but what? Death. Listen, you're going to get out of here this morning. You're not going to go to work tomorrow because tomorrow's Labor Day. I don't know why they named it Labor Day. That's a work day, but that's your vacation day tomorrow. So tomorrow you're going to have off. It's been the day with the family. Tuesday you're going to go to work.

And on Tuesday there's going to be a way that seems right to you and the end thereof is not going to lead you to a better life. It's going to lead you to death. You say, wait a minute. You mean I'm actually going to die? You see, we have to understand what death is, right? Death is defined by separation. There's spiritual death, physical death, eternal death. Spiritual death is when you are separated from God. Your sins have separated you between you and your God. Physical death is when the body is separated from the soul.

That's physical death. Eternal death is when the soul and the body are eternally separated from God forever and ever and ever. So when God said to Adam, the day you eat of the tree, you shall surely die when he ate. Did he die? You bet he died. He didn't keel over and lose his life, but he was what? Separated. From who? His God. And so when the Bible says there is a way that was seen as right unto a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death.

Listen, folks, we've got to realize that there are many ways that we think are the right way, but the end thereof is not going to lead to life. It's not going to lead to a better life. It's not going to lead to a well life. It's going to lead to death. It's going to lead to separation. If I'm a believer, it's going to lead to me separating myself from my God. You say, wait a minute. God says, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

That's right. He says, your sin is going to separate you from your God. And that fellowship that you have with him, that communion that you have with him is going to be marred in such a way that you are going to live a death-like existence. Let me explain it to you.

Turn with me to James chapter one. James chapter one, verse number 13. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil. And he himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, he gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth what? Death. Listen, James isn't talking to people who are necessarily unbelievers. He's talking to anybody who's listening, believer or unbeliever.

He says, let me tell you about sin. Let me tell you what happens here. And this is the way it is for everybody across the board. Each man is tempted when he is carried away, when he is drawn away and enticed by his own lust, by his own desire. There's something inside of each of us. It might be different for you than it is for me or for the ones sitting next to you, but there's something inside of us that causes us to go away from God. There's something, there's that inner struggle in us that says, this is what I need for satisfaction.

This is what I need to have hope. This is what I need to have love. And whatever that is for you, each man is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own lust. Every sin begins with a desire. A desire. A desire to satisfy the longings of my soul. A desire to fill up what's empty inside of me. And Satan knows what that is in you. And so Satan's going to bring certain things your way. He's going to dangle the bait out there in front of you and say, ah, this is what you need. At that point of desire comes the deception.

The deception. That is, Satan's going to deceive you into thinking, you know what? This is really the best way. There is a way which seems right unto a man. This is the right way. You need this. This is good for you. You say, yeah, this is good for me. I feel better. I look better. I am better. This is the right way to go. And Satan says, see, this is a better offering than what you have over here. You've got to go this direction. And so you begin to rationalize in the midst of the deception. Well, my wife will understand.

My children will understand. My church surely will understand. And my God, of course, understands because he's a forgiving God. He'll understand. And people in the church are so judgmental anyway, so what difference does it make? And so we begin to rationalize our sin away, thinking, it's all right. It's not that bad. After all, it's only going to affect me, nobody else. This is my sin and my sin alone. And so we begin to rationalize away what it is that we want to do. And when that desire and that deception mate is when disobedience occurs.

I disobey. I got a longing in my heart, a desire that needs to be fulfilled. And Satan tempts me and deceives me into thinking, this is what I really need. It's really good for me. And then I say, okay, let's do it. And then the disobedience occurs. And when sin is conceived, it brings forth what? Death. Death. It brings forth, by our definition of death, separation, right? If you are a believer, what does it do? It separates you from your God. Your sins separate you from your God. It doesn't mean that you lose your salvation.

It doesn't mean you lose that relationship with God. No, it means you have violated God's standard. And when you violate God's standard, you don't have fellowship with him. And so you have separated yourself, as Adam separated himself from his God, the one he walked with in the cool of the day, the one he had communion with, he separated himself from his God because of his sin. See? And that's what happens when we sin. And we live that death-like existence. In other words, we live as if we're not in a relationship with the living God.

Because sin's penalty is inescapable. There are consequences for my sin. The greatest of all consequences is that I dishonor my God. I am separated from my God. I am not living in fellowship and in harmony with my God. That should grieve all of us, shouldn't it? That should make us have a hard time. I mean, I didn't use this illustration in the first service, but I will today.

I'm a great, I'm a die-hard Michigan fan. Okay? I love the Michigan Wolverines. And yesterday we turned the TV on. Of course, it's the first game of the season for Michigan.

They're playing a Pac-10 team, that weaker division team. And they're playing Washington on TV. And of course, you know, they're running back. Second play for scrimmage runs, 57 yards for a touchdown.

And then I'm just jumping on top of the table saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is great. And my kids are singing the Michigan fight song. We're yelling around the house, man, this is great. And then they scored again and it was up 14, nothing. I mean, we were going bonkers in the house. We were excited. But Anna, Anna, my youngest daughter, she said, hey daddy, you can't jump on the furniture. Because the day before she was jumping on the furniture. And I said, hey Anna, come over here. You can't jump on the furniture.

How many times have we said that? You got to get a spanking. And of course, when my Anna cries, I mean, it's like big oceans come flowing out of her eyes. I said, honey, you can't do that. I got to spank you. I'm sorry. And she was crying and I had to spank her and I gave her love after that. I said, honey, no more jumping on the furniture. So the very next day, man, I'm jumping on the furniture. She said, dad, you can't do that. I said, wait, if Michigan's playing and they're winning, you can jump on the furniture.

But the point is my children are not allowed to jump on the furniture. There's a consequence for that. I love my children. I love them. But if they violate the standard of the home, there's a consequence of that. I don't enjoy spanking my children, but it happens when they violate the standards of the home. God says, if you violate my standards, there's a consequence to pay.

There's a consequence. When David, King David violated the standard of scripture, there was a consequence to pay in his family for the rest of his life. And he was a man after God's own heart, right? He was a man that sought after his God. And God said, he's the man after my heart. Why? Because he was a repentant man. And a repentant man is defined by one who seeks after God. Not a man who doesn't sin. And yet the effects of that sin, even though he was a king, even though he was a great king, the effects of his sin upon his family lasted the rest of his life.

Consequences. Sin's penalty? Inescapable. It doesn't mean you're not forgiven, because God will forgive anyone who confesses and repents of a sin. But there is a way which seems right unto a man. But the end thereof is always separation. Always. Can't get around it. And the Bible says in Ephesians 4, 30, that when you, when you sin against God, you grieve the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of God who's taken up residence in you, who lives in you, and who's there for you, you grieve the Spirit of God. The Bible says over in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse number 7, that if a husband doesn't honor his wife as the most precious possession in his life, his prayers are hindered.

God doesn't answer his prayers. That is one of the most crucial elements to understanding your walk with the Lord. There is in the Bible. When you're having trouble trying to figure out God's will for your life and understanding what God is doing, always go back and check and see what your relationship was like to your wife. Because God says in 1 Peter 3, 7, that if you don't honor your wife as the most precious possession that you have, your prayer life is hindered.

That's a consequence of your sin. It's inescapable. The Bible also says that, Psalm 33, verse number 1, praise is fitting for the upright. But if you're not upright, praise is not fitting. There are people who come to church and sing as loud as they can and offer praises to God, but are living in sin and their praise means nothing to God. Nothing whatsoever. Because they're living in sin. Praise is fitting for the upright, not those who rebel against the law of God. The Bible says in Jeremiah 5, 25, your sins have withheld good things from you.

Now how much clearer can that be? Your sins have withheld good things from you. God wants to bless you. But because of your sin, He's not going to bless you. Your sins keep God from blessing your life. That's a penalty that's inescapable. That's why I need to confess our sins and get right with our God. Psalm 51 tells us that David, when he prayed, restore unto me the joy of my salvation, O Lord, for nine months during Bathsheba's pregnancy. He had no joy. Read Psalm 32 and the difficulties that he went through for those nine months.

He was in inner turmoil. And so much so that when he finally repented of his sin, he said, O God, restore to me the joy of my salvation.

I have no joy. Let me tell you something. When you're out of fellowship with the Lord, you have no joy. None. When you're in fellowship with the Lord, guess what? You have all kinds of joy. All kinds of joy. But there are people who go through life having no joy whatsoever. It's because of their unwillingness to deal with the sin in their lives. Confess it before God. Repent of it. And honor their God. The Bible also says in 2 Timothy 2.21 that our service to God becomes limited if we are an unclean vessel.

God wants to use a pure vessel, a holy vessel. But if we live in sin and refuse to repent of that sin, we become an unclean vessel. And God can't use us as He wants to use us. See, that's why Joseph was used as well as he was. It's because he lived an honorable life. He lived a clean life. He sought after his God. He wasn't perfect. He wasn't sinless. He sinned. But he was a man who wanted to honor his God above anything, before anything, because God was his priority. The Bible tells us that, are you ready for this?

Even your life is endangered when you sin. 1 Corinthians 11.30 talks about the Lord's table. And those who partake of the Lord's table in an unworthy manner. Paul says, some of you are sick, some of you are weak, and some of you are even dead, because you have decided to partake of the Lord's supper in an unworthy manner. Think about that. You see, we come to church on the first Sunday of the month and partake of the Lord's table.

And we do it in a ritualistic fashion. And we just take it for granted. And we come in and having sin in our lives, in our hearts, unconfessed sin, and partake of the Lord's table. Yeah, God's going to forgive me of my sin. It's okay. I'll partake of the Lord's table. Yet we violate 1 Corinthians 11.30. And there are people, literally, who have died because of it. The Bible says, 1 John 5.16, about the sin unto death.

That there is a sin unto death. And that is for the believer who refuses to repent of a sin, get right with God, and honor his God. God says, I'm taking you home because you're such a bad testimony to my name.

I'm going to take you home to be with me. But see, people don't want to talk about those kind of things. And I'm concerned that we as a church live and honor and glorify the name of God. That whatever it takes, our sole ambition in life is to put God on display and not dishonor His name. And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, you have been bought with a price. Christ has paid the price to ransom you from your sin. Therefore, glorify God in your body. You see, the worst thing we can do when we sin is dishonor God, bring a reproach upon the name of God, the church of God.

Paul says, glorify God in your body. Honor Him. See, that's what Joseph was. Joseph wanted to honor God in his body. Every other sin is done outside the body. Sex sin, though, happens inside the body. There's a difference between sex sin and all the other sins. One affects the inner part of man more so than all the other sins together. 1 Corinthians 6 verses 18 to 20 talk about that. And so, Joseph was a man who realized sin's penalty is inescapable. Inescapable. Now, we as children of the living God need to realize that the ultimate penalty of our sin is separation from God for eternity.

And when Christ came to earth and died on the cross, He paid the price. He took the wrath of God upon Himself. He took the wrath that was supposed to be poured out on you, took it upon Himself. He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He bore in His body on the tree your sin and mine so that we wouldn't have to pay the penalty for our sin eternally. And that's the greatness of the Lord's table as we come and remember what Jesus Christ did on the cross. But that does not mean that when you go through life and you face temptation and you succumb to it and you sin against God that you won't pay a penalty because of that.

We need to understand that. We need to grasp that clearly. Because I'm afraid that a lot of people in the churches of Jesus Christ have been sold a bill of goods concerning Christianity. Hebrews 13 says, that the marriage bed is honorable and undefiled. But fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. God will judge them. How? They'll pay the price. Hebrews 12 speaks of the chasing of the Lord. That's a penalty for our sin. That's the consequences of our sin. If we live and sin against God and do what we want to do, what happens?

God has to chase His children. That's why you know you're a child of God when you're being chastened by Him. Because if you're not a child of God, He's going to let you go on and do what you want to do anyway. But a true child of God is chastened by Him according to Hebrews 12 verses 5 to 11. So important. This past week when my wife and I were in the hospital, she was recovering from her surgery and we began to talk about the goodness of God. God is so good. So good. And for the most part, we just miss that.

And Romans 2.4 says that it's the goodness of God that leads us to what? To repentance, right? It's the goodness of God. Now Romans 2.4 defines for us what that goodness is. It's His patience. It's His longsuffering. It's His kindness. You see, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, right? So God, when you sin, doesn't zap you and kill you right away, although that's what you deserve, right? Because of His longsuffering nature, because of His loving nature, because of His patience, He bears with us to bring us to Himself.

Some of you have sinned against your God and you haven't paid the consequences for your sin yet. But you will. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. He's not. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. Therefore, we understand that the goodness of God is that which leads us to repentance. It's God's goodness that says, you know what? I have been longsuffering with you. And we say, yes, Lord, you have. Thank you so much. Thank you, Lord. You see, the person who recognizes he deserves nothing but death and realizes that God paid a price for him at Calvary, says, God, thank you for being so good to me when I deserve no goodness, no kindness.

And says, I want to live, Lord, in the light of your glorious presence. For us to say no to sin and yes to God, we must realize God's presence is reliable and sin's penalty is inescapable. Inescapable. And for some people, that penalty might not come for months or years down the road because of the goodness and kindness of God. But it will come. And therefore, we need to live in light of that and turn from our sin and repent and give our lives to God and say, yes, God, I confess my sin to you. Forgive me of my sin.

This morning, as we partake at the Lord's table, I want you to realize something. This is the most important thing that we do as a church. Why? Because we are coming to remember a significant event, a one-time event that took place over 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ died on the cross. It says, I came to give my life for you because the giving of your life will not satisfy the wrath of God. So I will give my life because I was in all points tempted as you, yet without sin, Christ was that sinless, spotless, priceless sacrifice.

And so he gave his life for us that we might live for him. He shed his blood that we might understand the forgiveness of sins. So when we come together, we are saying, yes, God, thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you so much for saving me from the ultimate penalty of sin, and that is eternal separation from God, which then causes me to realize the goodness of God and say, God, I want to live in fellowship with you. I want to live in communion with you. I want to live hand in hand with you. I want to be able to walk in the spirit.

I want to put on the Lord Jesus Christ so that I don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. Lord, I want to honor and glorify your name. And that's where all of us need to be, right? Sure it is. This morning, as our ushers come down to distribute the elements, realize the significance of Christ's death for you and what that means for you and live in the light of that. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today and all that you have done. God, you are so good, so good. We realize, Lord, that when we sin, we sin against our God.

We sin against you. We violate your standard, and your standard is representative of your character, holy, righteous, and true. And this morning, Father, as we partake once again of the Lord's table, we are reminded of your great sacrifice on our behalf. Thank you, Lord, for all that you have done. In Jesus' name, amen.