 I thought it was going to be amazing after all it was my honeymoon. My wife and I, we saw the travel agents brochure. It promised romantic getaway in the island of Kauai. And including in this trip was a convertible car. So we booked it, we got married, and off to Kauai on our honeymoon. We landed and there at the airport when we went to get the convertible car, there was a Chrysler Seabring there that we had rented. Now if you don't know what a Chrysler Seabring is, don't worry, you're not missing anything. It's a car that you normally would see in the front of a retirement home, or somewhere that doesn't need to go anywhere fast. It goes about zero to 16, about six and a half hours. And that's a Chrysler Seabring. How many of you drive a Chrysler Seabring? Don't raise your hand, please, don't do it. And so we got in our Chrysler Seabring, we began to cruise around the island. And we had our snorkel gear with us. And so we decided just to hop in these different bays around the island as we were driving around the island, making our way to the hotel. And so we would jump in the water and jump back in the convertible car. And when I got back in the car a couple of times, I didn't put my shirt back on because I'm on my honeymoon. And after all, I want to impress my new wife with my body. And so we buckle up and we drive. And what I didn't know at the time though, there was a bacteria, a fungus on the seatbelt called ringworm. And I didn't know that until the next morning when I woke up, I had this giant Tony Stark Ironman circle on my chest. And there I am with a big ringworm circle. And I'm like, what is this? And my wife's like, I think that's ringworm. So we go to the pharmacy. And we asked the pharmacist what to do. And she gives us some cream to put on it. And really, I just wanted to get some sun because I'm of a color that's a little bit lighter than white. My peeps on the streets call me Uedo. And so I wanted to get some sun. So I asked the pharmacist, can I get sun on this? And she said, oh, yeah, the sun is great for it. The sun will actually help kill it faster. And so you totally, totally get some sun on it. She said the only thing that's not good for it is like lotions and all the sunscreen stuff. No, that's really good for it because that will help it grow. So don't put any of that. Perfect, okay? So we go to the beach that day. We spend all day on the sand, soaking in the rays. But when it came to putting sunscreen on, I didn't want to get any of that lotion on that because that would definitely keep that alive. And I wanted that to die. And so I put a big circle around, you know, just the sunscreen, a big circle, making sure that no lotion would get on that. And so by the next morning, that little ring had completely gone away, it was dead. But in lieu of that little ring, I had this giant red target on my chest of burning, horrible, bubbling skin. And so we go back to the pharmacy once again and I said, look what happened to me. And so she gave us some burn cream and we went on our way. And so, you know, applied that to it and just dealt with it. And then so we go on this moped tour around the island to see all the different waterfalls. Really cool thing on the island require all the natural waterfalls and Swiss family Robinson scenes. And so we go on this moped tour but because Kauai, there's a lot of farmland, as I'm mopedting through the farmland, there's times where you would hit a swarm of bugs, whether it's mosquitoes or wasps or gnats and you just start pelting you as you're flying through it. One time this big beetle landed on my chest and then it was like flapping its one wing and I'm looking down, trying not to crash. And then it like kind of crawls and goes into my armpit. And I'm like, ah, and I almost killed myself in that moment, but I didn't, thank God. And so I ended up getting a few bug bites on me from that day. And because of the sun and the bug bites, I ended up breaking out in a full on allergic reaction. I had bumps and lumps going up my legs and up my arms. And so we go back to the pharmacist once again. Now they know me by name. And Brandon, what can we do for you today? I'm like, look at me, I'm having an allergic reaction. And she's like, oh, yes you are. And so I got some, I got some medicine to help with the allergic reaction. And so my wife and I say, you know what? Let's just, let's just relax the next day. Let's just lay out by the pool. And so we spent the next day at the hotel. We got a couples massage and went and laid out by the pool. And we're laying out there and all of a sudden I'm smelling this horrible mildew smell. It's like, have you ever left your jeans in the washer for like three weeks? And you know that smell, you know. Some of you are like, no, me neither. I've never done that either. But there's this mildew smell. You know that mildew smell that's super strong. We're smelling that. And I'm smelling my shorts. I'm smelling the towel. I'm smelling everything. I can't figure out where the smell do, the smell do. The smell of the mildew is coming from. And so finally I asked my wife, smell the back of my head. Maybe it's coming from here and she smells it. And she almost throws up right there. She's like, oh, that's it. And so I, she's like, when'd you wash your hair? I said this morning, I don't get it. So I go wash my hair. I come back, I lay back down and I can smell it all over again. So I'm sniffing all around like a bassinet how I'm trying to figure out where the mildew smells coming from now. I smell the back of her head and I almost throw up and it dawn on us in the couple's massage. They use rancid oil. And when we went in the sun, our skin and especially our hair was stained with mildew rancid oil smell. And so we had that going for us. Then the next day, listen, you can't make this stuff up. The next day, this alarm goes off and we come running out of our rooms wondering what's going on, is there a fire and people are screaming and there's a guy pounding on the door saying, get out, get out. We're like, what's going on? He's like, there's flash floods coming and we have to evacuate the hotel. We got to go up the mountain to the top and that's where we're headed to a big tent. I'm like, like I have a big tent and you have a big tent and everybody else has their own big tent. I'm like, no, we're all going to be in a big tent together. That's just where I want to go on my honeymoon with a big tent with everybody else, perfect. And so we go up there and we ended up not having to stay there very long. We could come back to the hotel but because of the torrential downpour we were in the hotel for the next three days. We couldn't leave because of the flooding. It was like Noah's arc all over again. We're just stuck there. And so we're there in the hotel for three days and finally we get to the last day of our honeymoon and we're going to redeem it. We're going to go out with a bang. And so we decided to go on this catamaran cruise that takes you across the Nepali coast, 4,000 foot cliffs and then they take you out to Forbidden Island and then you can snorkel. It has the greatest depth of any snorkeling place in all of the world, over 200 feet depth perception. And so we're there snorkeling for a little while but then the captain gets on the loudspeaker and announces that we have to cut the trip short that we paid for because high seas are coming in. And so we all start doing what people do when we hear news that we don't like, boo, you know, boo. And he says, no, listen, high seas to you mainlanders are five to seven foot swells. High seas to us Islanders is 12 to 15 foot swells. That's 30 foot faces. We need to go and we're like, okay, let's go. Let's go. So the whole way back two and a half hours of a boat ride on this catamaran we're going, so they start passing out blue buckets. I'm like, sweet, sand toys. That's not what they were. And so we're sitting there and people next to us and behind us, they start losing it and the wind is blowing. It was the worst situation you could ever be in. And so now because of all the situations not only do I get motion sickness but everything else going around me. I'm like, I'm not going to throw up. I'm not going to vomit. I'm with my brand new wife. I'm going to be a man. I'm going to be strong. But before I knew it, I knew I was going to lose it. I had the urge to regurg. But I didn't want to throw up in a blue bucket next to her. That's disgusting. So I'm going to be a man. I'm going to go to the edge of the boat and I'm going to lose it off the edge of the boat. And so I get up and knowing that I have seconds. So I go, I run. I sprint to the edge of the boat. Da na na na na na, do do do do, da na na na. You know, and then we hit this giant wake. It throws me towards the edge of the boat. My hands miss the railing. But don't worry, my face catches the railing. Bam! Smack the entire, my entire face smashed into the handrail. But you can't, like when you hurt yourself, you want to go like, oh, that hurts so bad, but I was going to throw up. So I was, bam, oh, oh, over the edge of the boat. And for the next two and a half hours, I'm sitting at the back of the boat, losing my stomach over and over and over again. And then we finally get back to the hotel. We go to sleep and the next morning we wake up and we say, you know what? Why don't we try to go home early? Who tries to leave their honeymoon early? We did. And so we get to the airport. We go to the rental car place. It was weird. There was no one there. So we just dropped the keys in the drop box and parked the car, took the shuttle to the airport where we found out that the airport in Hawaii is closed during the day. We were trying to get an earlier flight and just be on standby. There's no planes in the earlier in the day in Hawaii. So we sat there for seven hours in the airport until our plane got there and then we left and went home. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be like. I saw the travel agents brochure saying, romantic get away and rental car, but it's not what I had imagined. Now why do I share that entire story with you so that you would feel sorry for me? No, I share that entire story with you because it's a lot like something in life that we have perceived notions of what it's going to be like and how it's going to be. Let me put it to you this way. Satan has his own travel brochure. It's called sin and he paints the picture in the world about how amazing it will be if you just indulge, if you just do this, if you partake in that, it's going to be so amazing. But what we will always find is it's not what we thought it would be like. You see, James chapter one verse 14 and 15 puts it this way. Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Now Satan will say, hey, this is amazing and it looks alluring. It looks like it would be satisfying and fulfilling but when we get there, we realize it's not what I thought it was going to be like and ultimately sin brings about death. And so pictures are painted, commercials are given, advertisements about how great it's going to be and we have preconceived ideas but the end result is always far different than the advertisement in Satan's travel brochure. And so there's a warning in our text before us today. A warning, a heads up given, a warning sign. Just like when you see advisory signs on the side of an on ramp or off ramp, a caution sign that says slow down or an advisory speed that you should go so that you don't lose control and end up in a ditch in the same way the spirit inspires the author of the book of Hebrews to give his brothers, his family, the church a warning sign so that we wouldn't lose control and end up in a ditch more importantly in the pit. And so there's a warning given in Hebrews chapter three, let's pick up in verse 12. It says, beware, brethren. Lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God but exhort one another daily while it is still called today. Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. There's three points from our text today that we can draw out of just these two verses. I wanna look at these two verses in depth and look at three specific points of things that we can learn about and learn from about sin. Number one, sin is a deceiver of the heart. Sin is a deceiver of the heart. I brought with me the number one fishing lure in the world and any fishermen or fish or women in the church tonight. This is the number one fishing lure. The reason why it's the number one fishing lure is because well, it looks like a real fish. It has the texture of its gills and scales and fins and even eyes. Not only does it look like a real fish but when it's pulled through the water its weighted tail actually makes it move like a real fish. And not only that but there's some spray that comes with it, you can spray on the fish that makes it smell and taste like a real fish. Now you and I know this isn't a real fish but the other little fishies that look for little or fishies to eat think it's a real fish. And so these fish will bite on this fish believing it's gonna satisfy, believing it's gonna fulfill, believing it's the real thing and it's going to be all that they want because it looks like the real thing. It moves like the real thing. It smells like the real thing. So it must be the real thing. Another way to put sin as a deceiver is this. Satan has a lure and now Satan will come before us and say, hey, here little little little person, here little little fishy, look how good this is and what do we do? Oh yeah, yeah baby, that will satisfy. That's gonna fulfill, that's what I need. Ah, it's not that bad. I'm a mature adult. I can handle just a little thing. It's not that big of a deal. And Satan's over here saying, here little fishy fishy fishy fishy, here little fishy fishy dangling the lure in front of our face. So what do we do? As that fish is being dangled, we will, I'll just take a little bite and so we, we chomp on the fish, but then we find ourselves being hooked, hooked, hooked on whatever it is that Satan wants to get us hooked on. But what is the purpose of being hooked? So that it can reel us away from where God wants us to be in a close and intimate relationship with him. Pulling us away from where we ought to be to pull us further away from God and where God desires for us to be. And so we find ourselves hooked. You ever hear someone say, man, I just got hooked on that. I got hooked on alcohol. I got hooked on drugs. I got hooked on porn. I got hooked on phonics. That's a whole different set of hooks. But you find yourself getting hooked so Satan can get us hooked. He will show us things that look like they're going to fulfill, look like they're going to satisfy. But what did James say? That the person that's tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. When that desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And then when it's full grown, brings about death. Satan has a lure. And you might say, but Pastor Brennan, that analogy doesn't work for me. You see, I don't like fish. You might say, you know what, sushi's not my thing. I won't even eat salmon if it's made for me. Fish doesn't do it for me. Well, listen, it might not always be a lure because lures come in all different shapes and sizes. So it might not be a lure. It might be a lure. And there she is. It says the world's sexiest hair and makeup. And now you see her, the world's sexiest hair and makeup. She just walked in the room and she looks at you and you're a man and you've seen her and wow, and she walks up to you and she says, do you believe in love at first sight? Or do I need to walk by again? And you said, oh, that's good, but you know, she's not a Christian and you know, you are and you know, it's probably not a wise thing. And so you say, you know what, I appreciate it, flattered really, but I'm a Christian and you know what, my eyes are on the Lord. So she says, oh, okay. So she walks back up to you a moment later and she says, do you believe that God speaks to people? Because I didn't, until he told me to come up and talk to you and you say, oh, you're a match made in heaven. Hi, my name is Will, God's Will. Nice to meet you. And so you're there and though those things are happening and you know it's not right, you know it's a lure, you know it's Satan, you know it's Satan. She's a 10, you're a four, you know it's Satan. But then there's that enticement, that desire and it's just a little bit, a little bit, a little bit. The false perceptions of pleasure, what that will be like. Listen, the Bible says it this way, sin, it's fun for a season. It is, sin is fun for a season, but in the end it brings about complete destruction. And so Satan will say, look how much fun you'll have knowing that it's always within the intention to destroy your life. So God gives us warnings from time to time. Judgment calls, discernment of the Holy Spirit to you men and women, to us, to give us a word of warning say, hey, watch out for the deceitfulness of sin that you would not be deceived, your heart would not be deceived by the sin that so easily ensnares us, the sin that so easily entices us. Beware of it, watch out for it. And now some of us might have the reaction even now. Well, like kind of like as a child you view your parents when your parents say no, they don't want you to go there do that. Oh, they just wanna keep me from having fun. And God, you know, he just says, oh, don't do this and don't do that. You know, he wants to keep me from having fun and living life. Listen, Jesus put it this way, talking about Christ, that He came, that you may have a life and have it that much more abundantly. Listen, people say, you know, I wanna live life a little bit before I give my life to Christ. I wanna live, I wanna, you know, I wanna be able to have the college experience. And then, you know, I'll get around to getting serious and right with Jesus. And then you go through college and then you end up getting married and having a couple of kids. And you know, I'll get right with Jesus, you know, when my kids are old enough, you know, I'll start taking them to church, but that never happens. And so now after my kids move out of the house and we're empty nesters, then I'll have the opportunity and have the time to really get serious with the Lord or maybe people even say, you know what, before I die, you know, on my deathbed, I'll get right with Jesus then. Because I wanna live life a little bit. Listen, the life that's truly lived to the most fulfilling, satisfying, abundant lifestyle is a life lived for Jesus Christ and Him only. That's how you live an abundant life. People say I wanna live life and you live it for Jesus. And a life lived for Jesus is a life that truly satisfies, truly fulfills. Sin is a deceiver. Think back to the beginning of time with Adam and Eve in the garden there in Genesis chapter three. When Satan came to Eve, he came with a lure. Do you remember the story in Genesis chapter three? He came to tempt Eve. And in the way that he tempted Eve is the same way that Satan always tempts humanity. First, Satan questioned the word of God. Satan always will try to get us to question the word of God because if Satan can get you to write a question mark and question God's word, then he can get you to begin to doubt God's word. And if he can get you to doubt God's word, then he can get you to stop depending upon God's word. And if you no longer are depending upon God's word, then you have no foundation to stand upon. You become like the man who builds his house on the sinking sand. And so when storms come or when trials come or when temptations come, you have no basis, no solid foundation. And so he always comes with the question. Satan came and he said to Eve, hath God really said? I know God's given you promises from his word. God's spoken to you as you spend time in the word. God's given you a promise that you've been holding on to. But Satan will come and say, did God really say that? Was that really God? And he'll try to get you to begin to question God's word. So not only to say and question the word of God, but then he'll move and question the motive of God. He then goes to Eve, why aren't you allowed to eat from the tree? Don't you know that if you eat from this tree, you will be like God? Why doesn't God want me to do this? Does God have ulterior motives in his commands? And now Satan begins to try to get us to question his word and his motive. And Satan's trying to convince Eve that God's motive is to keep her from experiencing life. Then the temptation comes as it did for Eve. He appealed to three areas of the human life. And all temptations come in one of these three forms. One, the lust of the flesh. It says in Genesis three that she saw that it was good for food. Oh, that will satisfy, that will fulfill. It's good for food. The lust of the flesh. Then it was the lust of the eyes. It says that she saw it was pleasant to look at. It would be fulfilled and satisfying as it's good for food. And it was also pleasing to look at, but not only that, the pride of life. Satan said you can be like God. And the three temptations or the three forms of any temptation that Satan comes our way with is always in one of those three forms. That's gonna satisfy me if I'm in that relationship or if I'm being promiscuous in that relationship or if I have that fixed or if I'm at that party, that will fulfill this emptiness. That will fulfill this void, Satan will say. Or the lust of the flesh. Hey, you can't do that, but it doesn't hurt anybody to look. I've heard too many people say, oh, I'm just looking. Can't hurt anybody by looking. Actually, yes, you are, you're destroying yourself. You see the lust of the eyes and how Satan has gotten so many strongholds in both men and women's lives through the lust of the flesh, through the eyes. And then the pride of life, the pride of life where we begin to think that we can handle whatever it is that we want to have in that encounter. And Satan makes sin out to be what it's not. And that's why John wrote in 1 John chapter two, verse 15. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, there it is, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. John says, you cannot love both the world and God. The more that you love God, the less love that you're gonna have for the world and the things of it. But the more that you love the world, the less that you're gonna love the Lord. And so John says, you have to choose whom you will serve this day. What will you live for? Will you live for the Lord or will you live for the world? Because sin is a deceiver of the heart. Number two, sin is a desensitizer of the heart. Once you've been deceived and you begin in that sin, the very next process takes place of hardening or desensitizing your heart. It goes on to say in verse 13, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. You see, once you're deceived in that sin, then the next thing that Satan wants to do is harden you in that sin. Listen, if you embrace anything long enough, you're gonna begin to accept it. And once you become deceived, then you will become desensitized. Your heart becomes hardened. And I would put it to you this way, sin, it's like cement. Now I know sin isn't the most popular topic and I could come and talk to you about something that might make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. But the fact of the matter is too many people in the church are being robbed from God's best in their lives because they're allowing sin to come in and break and bring strongholds into their lives. God wants to break those strongholds. Because I care about you. Like God cares about you, not even nearly close, but I do care about you in that same way. And just as the author of Hebrews would be inspired by the spirit to write the same warning to the church in that day, so too, it's the same warning to the church in this day because sin is like cement. When it's first poured into our hearts, well, it's gonna be messy to clean up. Have you ever dealt with cement when it's still wet? It's messy, it gets everywhere. But if you don't deal with that cement when it's messy and there's gonna be messes, if you don't deal with it, then it begins to harden and solidify. And that's what sin does within our hearts if you can picture that in your mind's eye. But if we, and if we ignore sin long enough in our lives and we allow it to sit in our hearts, at the only way to deal with it at that point is for a breaking of the heart. And the heart so many times is then broken because of it. The first time you participated in something, for example, you knew it was wrong, you knew you shouldn't do it and afterwards you felt guilty, you felt dirty, you felt ashamed and you had that over you and you just felt like kind of like a cloud over you because of the guilt and the shame from that. Because what Satan does is he dangles the lure and says, hey, do this, do this. And then he trips you up, you fall down and when you're down, Satan kicks you while you're down to try to keep you down, try to beat you while you're down and says things like, how could you ever do something like that? You call yourself a Christian, you should just forget being a Christian and then condemnation of the enemy comes in. And so you feel guilty and ashamed but then the next opportunity for that same sin comes along and it's a little bit easier the next time as it does once that road is paved, it's easier and easier each time and now it's easier and easier to go there and to do that and so now you're involved in that again and again and again until it comes to a point in your life where you're just now not even feeling that bad about it and you just accept it as part of your life once that something made you so sorrowful and shameful now it's not even that big of a deal, why? Because sin is a desensitizer of the heart. When you find yourself doing the things that you would have never done before because now you've been hardened and desensitized. You see, our society renames what sin is called. What sin is called. You see, God says it's sin and society says, no, that's not sin. That's something different and once the rename it, you see society took the word infidelity and labeled it open-mindedness. Society took the word sexual perversion and labeled it tolerance and society takes compromise and even in the church labels it liberty and once you've been deceived in sin, you become desensitized in sin and then it says in verse 12, beware brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Number three and final point, sin is a departure of the heart from God. Sin is a departure of the heart because once your heart is hardened, Satan reels you away. Now you wonder if you can ever come back to God after what you've done because of the guilt and shame through the desensitization of your heart but it's been said that sin, it will keep you from this book but this book will keep you from sin but I wanna take that saying one step further tonight because John chapter one verse one says that Jesus was with the word, the word was with God, the word was God. The word was made flesh. It's called the incarnation of the word, the word becoming flesh. So whenever you wanna know how something works out in the word, you can look to the life of Jesus who is the living word, the word being made flesh. And so I would put it to you this way, sin will keep you from a relationship with Jesus but a relationship with Jesus will keep you from sin. You see, Satan wants to reel you away and so there's a warning given because God cares about you. It's not that he wants to keep you from something, it's because what God has for you is far better. And so God says, hey, don't get consumed with these things because I wanna give you something so much better. I wanna give you something so much greater and if you're so caught up with this, you won't be able to receive the very thing that I have for you in your life. And so if you find yourself in that position, you need to know this. Number four, here's the bonus point. Sin needs to be dealt with in the heart. Sin needs to be dealt with. You see, the matter of the heart is the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is always a matter of the heart. Where our hearts are at because you can't both love the world and love God. And you might say, but pastor, I've tried. Well, I don't know. And this admonition is given in verse 13. It says, deal with it today, today, this day, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not when I'm ready to get right or when I get everything figured out or know what I'm getting into then. No, the word from God to the church is deal with it today. Why? Because every day that goes by, we become more desensitized and our hearts become more hardened to the things of the Lord. The Bible says that talking about the spirit, the spirit will not always strive with man. That is if we resist the spirit over and over and over again, the knocking on the door of our hearts from the Lord wanting to have a relationship, wanting us to come into a relationship with him and to know him personally. If we continue to say no, no, no, no, there will come a time in each of our lives where God will say, okay, then have it your way. And then our hearts no longer being hardened by ourselves but then God will solidify that decision that we've made. We see that in the story of Pharaoh. Over and over and over again it says that Pharaoh hardened his heart, Pharaoh hardened his heart, Pharaoh hardened his heart. But then it comes to a point where it says then God hardened his heart. He solidified the decision that Pharaoh had made. Listen, God won't force anyone to have a relationship with him. That's why he stands at the door and knocks. Listen, he's a gentleman. He won't kick the door down but if you open it to him, he promises that he will come in and he will sup with you, he will dine with you. He'll share a meal with you. Why is that important? Because in the Jewish culture, sharing a meal was the most intimate thing that you could do on a social basis. Sharing a meal was personal. And what Jesus is saying is if you open the door of your heart, I will come in and I will be personal with you. I'll be close to you. We'll have that connection and that relationship with each other. But you might say, Brennan, I've tried. I've tried to deal with it. And I know you're saying to deal with it today but I found that it was impossible. I know I've tried to stop. I've tried but I can't. It's impossible. Listen, you're right. You can't stop. It is impossible for you but it's not impossible for God. What's impossible for you is probable for God. So when you think there's no way, you need to think your way because God can do it. You need to look to the Lord as you open the door of your heart to the Lord because no matter how far you go from God, God is only one step away from you. You might say, I've wandered so far pastor, I don't even know where I'm at now. I've been so deep into the sin. It's been just a downward spiral. I'm not anywhere close to where I used to be. And you might think I'm so far from the Lord but listen, the Lord is pursuing you. As you're walking away from the Lord, as the Lord is walking after you. So for that moment that you turn around, you realize Jesus is right there waiting with open arms. How do I know he has open arms? Because he opened his arms that day on the cross when he said, day to less die, it is finished. His arms were open for you then and his arms are gonna be open for you now. All you have to do is turn to the open arms of Jesus Christ. Deal with it today because nothing with God is greater than everything without God. And I think so many times we're afraid of what we might lose. Let me tell you this. What you gain when you give your life to the Lord and I'm speaking from personal experience is far greater than anything that you could ever have apart from the Lord. And so many people in this room right now are saying amen because they know what that's like when you give your life to Jesus Christ. Maybe you've given your life to Jesus Christ at one time but you've allowed the lures that so easily and snare us to get caught back up in those things and you realize that you're on that path to destruction. And now God out of his grace and mercy has just stuck a little warning sign to hey, son, daughter, watch out, beware, brethren. Listen, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And this exhortation, I'll close with this. He says, beware, brethren. It's because he cared about his family. He didn't wanna see another brother, another sister fall by the wayside, another brother, another sister destroyed by the sin that brings about death. And God doesn't wanna see another one of his children be trapped and enslaved and ensnared by the enemy. And so when you realize how much Jesus cares, then you can care about how much he knows. And when you realize God says, hey, watch out, it's not to keep you from something. It's because you want something greater for you and your life. And so God, you might say, I have shame, I have condemnation, I'm embarrassed. What do I do, pastor? What do I do? Back to our story. Adam and Eve, they both sinned. They realized they were naked and so they clothed themselves in fig leaves, which is the stupidest thing to do. Listen, fig leaves weren't designer of the day. It was just Adam and Eve. Fig leaves, they're incredibly itchy. It's like making underwear out of burlap. It's just foolish. But that's what we do when we sin. We often follow with dumb decisions over and over and over again. So that's what Adam and Eve do. They clothe themselves with incredibly itchy fabric and then they hear that God is walking through the garden so they go and hide in the cave. You know what God said in that moment? Adam and Eve had sinned. Now they're separated from the Lord. Adam and Eve once were walking with God. Now they're hiding from God to hide their sin. It's not that God didn't know their sin. It's not that God didn't know that they would sin. God before the foundations of the world were ever made already had the plan to redeem humanity. God went into it knowing that humanity would fail him but he still loved us enough to create us to have a relationship with us and still knowing that he would have to give his life for us. Talk about blowing your mind right now. God knew that Adam and Eve had sinned but now they're hiding. And you know what question, the one question that God asked? Let me tell you what God didn't ask. He didn't say to Adam and Eve, why did you? That's often what we hear from spouses or from parents. Why did you do that? Why did you? That wasn't God's question. Nor did God say, how could you? The forbidden fruit, the forbidden apple martini, how could you? Nor did God say, where were you? I know where you were. You were hanging out by the tree again, weren't you? I told you not to hang out at that spot and there you are hanging around that spot. It was only a matter of time if you keep going there and hanging out there. He didn't say, where were you? He didn't say, how could you? He didn't say, why did you? The one question that Jesus posed to Adam and Eve, he said, where are you? It's not that God didn't know that Adam and Eve were hiding in the cave. The question God was asking to Adam and Eve in that moment was one of self-realization. Where am I? Where am I with God right now? I'm separated from God because of my disobedience and because of the sin. Where are you? And the same question that God is asking to you today, to the church today, isn't how could you? Isn't why did you? It isn't where were you for the last 20 years when you weren't in church? No, none of those questions. The one question that God is asking you tonight is where are you today? Are you in a right relationship with me? Or are you in a cave? Are you somewhere separated from me? Where are you? God knew the answer to this question already, but he wanted Adam and Eve to realize the answer to the question. And God wants us to realize the answer to that question today as well. God knew their sin had separated them from him, but God wants to know where are you right now with me? Perhaps today you've been in a cave hiding. Hiding your sin, maybe in the cave of depression, the cave of bondage, the cave of addiction. Perhaps it was just a little cave, maybe just of anger or lust. It wasn't that big of a deal. It was just a little thing. Yeah, I have outbursts of wrath. Yeah, I have that, but that's not that big of a sin. These ones are the big ones, and this is just a little one. And God says, no, any of that is gonna separate you from me. They're all footholds for the enemy to get strongholds. That's why we're told to give no place to the enemy, to give no room to him in our hearts while it is called today. Now that word today doesn't only talk about today as in this day, but in that text, it was in reference to a specific day. If you notice that word today is capitalized in your Bibles. It's in reference to the day in which the nation of Israel had an opportunity to go into the promised land, but did not because of their unbelief. Why didn't they believe because there were giants in the land and they didn't believe that God could or that God would? And the very thing that will keep you from entering the spirit-filled life that the promised land is a symbolic picture of is unbelief that God will, that God could and that God would deliver you from the giants. The giant problem that you think impossible to get over, the giant bondage that you find yourself in, or just the little one, the unbelief that God wanted or that God couldn't. You see, unbelief will keep you, will be the only thing that will keep you from the life that God has promised to you and stepping into all that God wants for you, the abundant, satisfied, fulfilled life. And how I'm here to tell you today that this is the day that you can step into all that God has for you because God has promised the land to you, the spirit-filled life. He's giving it to you already. All you have to do is believe that God can. When you place your heart in His hands, He will do what you never could. Would you bow your heads with me?