 Amen. So keep your place there in Exodus chapter number 13. So this morning we're going to look at one of the words that keeps coming up over and over in Exodus chapter 13. The title of the sermon this morning, we're going to look at this word and we're going to kind of find out why this word is so important, what God means by this word. And of course we'll apply that to what it means for us today. But the title of the sermon this morning is the first. So you see this word first keep coming up again and again in Exodus chapter number 13. If you're there look down at verse number 12. We're going to look at this idea of the first, why this word keeps coming up. We're going to look at many other places in the Bible where the Bible talks about the first and see why God wants the first. What is this about? What does it matter? And we're going to study this this morning and then we're going to apply it to what it means for us today. Look down at Exodus chapter 13 and verse number 12. So Moses is talking to the children of Israel here. He's explaining to them things that now they've been brought out of Egypt. He's explaining to them things that they need to be doing. And he goes into a very specific set of commandments here in verse number 12 where he says that thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast, the males shall be the lords. So he's talking about every firstborn male livestock of whatever they have is to be the lords. Look at verse number 13. And again we see again it says in every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb and if that will not redeem it then thou shalt break its neck and all the firstborn of man among thy children shall thou redeem. Look at verse number 14. And it shall be when thy son asked thee in time come saying what is this that thou shalt say unto them by strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt from the house of bondage. So what he's saying here is that giving the firstling to the Lord is picturing what the Lord did for them coming out of Egypt and it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let us go that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix being males but all the firstborn of my children I redeem and we're going to get to the children part here in just a couple of minutes. But what he's saying is that this pictures what God did getting them out of Egypt saying why when the children asked you why are we giving all the firstborn of the livestock to the Lord you're to tell them the story about how God you know at the very last plank he killed all the firstborn of the land other than the children of the nation of Israel of course but it wasn't just the firstborn sons it was the firstborn of all the livestock of the land as well. And that was a very important picture but right away Moses is saying just on the surface we're going to go below the surface this morning but he's saying just on the surface when your children ask you why we're doing this you're going to tell them the story about how the God brought us out of Egypt through these great plagues and these great miracles. But go back to Genesis chapter 4 if you would and look at verse number 4. So the firstborn this firstling giving to the Lord this is not something new. This was like this from the beginning if you look at Genesis chapter 4 in verse number 4 and you remember the sacrifices brought by Cain and by Abel of course not to get into that story but Abel brought a favorable sacrifice to the Lord but there's something that's interesting about that sacrifice not only was it a blood sacrifice was it from his flock but look at what it says in verse number 4 it says and Abel he also brought of the what of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof and the Lord had respect under Abel and to his offering so he didn't just bring a lamb to the Lord it was a firstling meaning it was a firstborn lamb turned to Leviticus chapter number 19 so there's definitely something look that was before that was before Egypt so in Exodus chapter 13 the children are to be when they ask about the first the firstlings and why we're giving the firstlings that children were there to use that as a reminder to the children which is look it's it's a great reminder you know to always remember what the Lord did for you you know if you ever have in your family if you ever have blessings in your family you ever have the Lord really do something for your family this is a good model right here that you should you should make sure that the children remember this you should tell your children when they're older you know we were blessed this way when you were younger and the Lord really did some great things for us when we were younger you should find ways you should find milestones in your family to remind the children of those blessings that God has brought upon you and look God's going to bring blessings upon you in your life and that's kind of a sub point of the sermon this morning but the point is there's a deeper meaning because even before the exodus before they were brought out of Egypt Abel was giving the firstlings to the Lord so that's what we're studying this morning why is that why is that look at Leviticus chapter 19 look at verse number 23 now I mean it's not just animals either it's not just the firstlings of the flock and the cattle and all these things look at verse 19 or verse number 23 I'm sorry of Leviticus chapter number 19 the Bible says when you should come into the land you should have planted all manner of trees for food you shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised three years shall it be uncircumcised unto you it shall not be eaten of uncircumcised that's a picture of it's not to be touched it's not to be taken now what it's talking about is going in and planting going in and planting fruit trees and I've often wondered this and I've asked some of our agricultural church members how this works because you see new orchards and you see them put in trees in the orchards and I just think to myself as kind of an agricultural reminded person like how long is it take those trees to produce you know how long I mean after you you tear out trees and then you have to plant new trees and then you just have to wait several years I would think I don't even know I'm gonna guess what it is from what the Bible says here I bet you this matches almost exactly what the actual real thing that happens even today is but I've often thought you know you have to go several years without having any production on that land and land's expensive and you're still paying for the land and but look at what the Bible says here the Bible says that for the at least for the first three years you're not to take any fruit off of that land you're like man three whole years I had to have this land empty and not empty but just it's not saying there's no fruit there and say you can't touch the fruit look at verse number verse number 24 again the fourth year in the fourth year we're gonna get some fruit and here we go all right in the fourth year all the fruit there shall be holy to praise the Lord with all so saying once that tree grows up and starts producing fruit in that fourth year you can't have any of that that all goes to the Lord so that first it's literally the first fruit of that tree the Lord gets and then you don't get any fruit off that tree or out of that orchard until the fifth year look at the next verse it says in the fifth year shall you eat the fruit thereof that it may yield unto you the increase thereof I am the Lord your God five years you have to go before you can get fruit out of these trees you're like what in the world but the point is just like the flocks and just like the herds God gets the first God demands the first turn to Proverbs chapter 3 it's like this with everything it doesn't matter how many things we go and look at God demands the first and that's what we're gonna look at this morning look at Proverbs chapter 3 look at verse number 9 Proverbs chapter 3 and look at verse number 9 the Bible says in Proverbs 3 9 it says honor the Lord with thy substance you're like all right that I get that and what this isn't a tithing sermon this is about the first why the first but look what he says honor the Lord with thy substance yeah I get that I know what the Bible teaches about that but it says this it says and with the first fruits of all thine increase so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine so we get a kind of an additional piece of information there in verse number 10 it's saying again it's saying all of your increase is is to you know you know we understand that you know we're to tithe and that's an actual 10% of your increase but it's saying no the first fruits that's an additional characteristic on top of that increase but then it says if you do this your barns will just be bursting your barns because God demands it and he's saying if you do this look it seems kind of anti you know counterintuitive to us that we have to give God all the first things that we have in our increase our flocks our orchards our fruits and just anything that we increase in but he wants the first and these things then you're not going to have any troubles you're going to have any problems your barns would just be bursting look at numbers chapter 3 numbers chapter 3 the Levitical priesthood was also taking first fruits if if you would and it's it's talking about the actual sons of the nation of Israel look at numbers chapter 3 and look at verse number 12 so even your the children of the nation of Israel were to you know be part of the first fruits given to the Lord look at numbers chapter 3 and look at verse number 12 so you just see this this this this methodology that God is using that I want the first I want the first I want the first look at verse number 12 of numbers chapter 3 the Bible says and I behold I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that opened the matrix amongst the children of Israel therefore the Levites shall be mine because all the firstborn of mine instead of instead of all the firstborn that opened the matrix from among the children because all the firstborn are mine for on the day that I smote the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel both man and beast mine shall they be I am the Lord so this is where the Levitical priesthood came from this is where the priest the men again men this is where the priest came from they were the firstborn sons of the children of Israel again just showing us that the first goes to God God demands it turn to 2nd Chronicles chapter number 31 2nd Chronicles chapter number 31 I mean just in general this comes up all over the Bible both in the Old Testament and also you're going to see in the New Testament this morning as well look at 2nd Chronicles chapter 31 and look at verse number 5 2nd Chronicles chapter 31 and verse number 5 just in general the Bible says this in 2nd Chronicles 31 verse number 5 it says and as soon as the commandment came abroad the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of corn wine oil and honey and of all the increase of the field and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly so again they tithed of all these things I mean what things everything that they increased with it could be honey oil whatever their business was whatever their whatever their farm was producing whatever their vocation was they tied that that's a 10% part of it but again it was the first fruits it was the first of it look at Exodus chapter 22 go to Exodus chapter 22 and notice look you say why not just a simple percentage that's kind of the point of the sermon this morning why not just why not just a simple percentage just like 10% and done but that's what we're going to look at this morning look at Exodus chapter 22 in verse number 21 29 we'll look at one more verse I could just keep going to verse and verse and verse about this by the way Exodus 22 29 the Bible says thou shalt not delay to offer of the of the first of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me so have I convinced you that the first is important the first is important we could go to many many more verses about this the first of what the first of everything God took that he made the Levitical priesthood out of the firstborn of the children of the nation of Israel and then the first born the first fruits of any increase went to the Lord up to up to 10% so the question is this morning why not just a simple percentage why not just 10% whatever because look isn't it true that if I give the Lord the first lamb that I have for the year or the first of my livestock that might not necessarily be the best one it's just the first one you know so the the best one look I've had many many lambs and and you know there's there's lambs that are better than others I'm sorry there's some that are just stronger and just have better genetics and and look better and are healthier than others and it may not be the first one so why does it have to be the first is the question and to understand this you kind of have to think about economics for just a second all right so in economics you have these laws right you have this economic law of like supply and demand right and then you have a law called there's a law in economics called the law of diminishing returns and you take these two things together what you'll see is this and I'm going to show you this from the Bible as well as a matter of fact turn to James chapter 2 as I'm explaining this but when you look at economics and you think about you know supply and demand and you think about the law of diminishing returns supply and demand works like this supply and demand works like this when there is no supply the demand is very high so something that has very little supply is very valuable very expensive and as the supply gets to be more and more and more that item or whatever it is becomes less and less valuable and this is why God is demanding the first from us because just think about it we're gonna have some pizza tonight right we're not some pizza tonight and you know if you're just like I'm not gonna eat lunch today I'm not gonna eat lunch today and I'm really gonna look forward to me and Ed's pizza tonight and it's gonna be great guess what the most valuable piece of pizza is gonna be for you that first piece and then that second piece is probably still pretty valuable but not quite as valuable as the first one right and then for some of you guys it's gonna be like the fourth and fifth piece and then maybe the sixth piece but then like that sixth piece is gonna be like this isn't really that valuable to me why am I even eating this whereas that first piece was the most valuable piece this is why God demands the first look at James chapter 2 James chapter 2 one of the most misunderstood chapters in the entire Bible there's an interesting part of James chapter 2 where there's somebody that is in need and I want to kind of apply this theory of economics to this part in James chapter 2 but James chapter 2 the whole chapter is all about you know you being profitable to as a Christian it's talking about what good is your faith if you just say stuff and you don't do anything there's James chapter 2 right there in a phrase okay what good are you what good is your faith it's it's dead faith look you're saved but it's just it's not doing anything for anybody if you're like hey I just I really hope that gets better for you you know have a nice day you don't do anything look at verse number of verse number 14 of James chapter 2 verse number 14 the Bible says what does it profit my brethren though a man say he had faith and have not works can save him now look at verse 15 it says now gives us an example here if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food so here's somebody that's really in trouble like for real this person doesn't have any clothes they're probably cold they don't have any food they're starving and they are your brother and sister they are your brother or sister and we just think of a it's ill we can't even wrap our heads around that in the United States today you know because you know even even the poorest of us are you know have all the food that they could possibly want but look at verse 16 it says and one of you say to them depart in peace and be warmed and filled not withstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body what does it profit not withstanding means but you don't do anything it's saying you see a brother and sister who starving and has no clothes they're freezing they're out in the cold they're out in North Dakota in the cold and you just like you open your door and you're like man that's rough brother that's rough I really hope you feel better slam the door in their face it's saying you're no good to them so applying that to our our theory and what God is telling us this morning let me just apply that on top of the story and say look if you had a brother and sister or sister that it was in that type of situation and even a coat in your closet but you paid a hundred bucks for that coat and it was a nice coat and you're just like you see your brother out there and freezing in the snow and you have that nice coat you know that you paid a hundred dollars for you're just like I hope you get some clothes man and you shut the door on them that person has very little value to you that person that brother sister even though you may say oh I love brother Joe I love brother Joe so much you know I just I mean I just my heart just swells when I even think about my brothers and sisters in Christ but it's not worth a hundred dollar coat to you that person that person actually has very little actual value to you and say you had you know you only had one coat that coat was probably even more valuable to you but what it is showing is that if you are unwilling to give something that is valuable to someone they have less than whatever that value is to you you weigh those two things you say coat more valuable than my brother that's what James chapter 2 is explaining think about a few I mean this isn't a you know kind of a stretch but think about if a husband would sit down at the dinner table with his family and he would he would put all the food on his plate and he would say you know what family I love you and and kids I love you guys and I love love you to his wife and then he would say to his family he would say you can have whatever I don't eat I'm gonna eat everything I possibly can and then whatever's left over if there's anything you can have the rest you know what what you're saying is those other people in your family have very little value to you but if somebody was to say oh no wife and children eat first and if there's not enough and you have you know what that that person is saying look we when we eat pizza tonight we're gonna do we always do the ladies and the children are gonna go first you know what we're saying though you know we're saying we're not saying that they're they're better than us or that they're you know anything like that we're saying that we value them we're saying that we put a lot of value on the ladies and on the children that's what we are saying if we don't give them the first things somebody that you wouldn't give the first things to you value that first thing more than you value them this is what God is trying to do for us when he puts this extra characteristic on the things that we give to him he's trying to keep him in the proper place in our lives I mean we can't go and just you know give the Lord the sixth or seventh piece and say oh yeah Lord but I value you ultimately if we did that and this is God is such a great manager over us all we have to do is listen if we did that and we gave God the sixth or the seventh you're God's just like I just want 10% but I want I want one of the good ones you know we do we'd have 10 lambs 20 lambs and then we'd like we go when we do all our business and then you know we'd have some sickly thing oh Lord you could have that one that's what we would do and that's what God is trying to prevent when he demands the first ultimately God is trying to stop us from devaluing him is what he is trying to do now apply this to the things that God wants because what are we talking about here we're talking about we're talking about blessings really all these things we're talking about productivity whether it come from your flock your family your even even money he's talking about the first fruits look God wants the good things we're talking about the blessings in our lives here I mean he's talking about but here's the thing does he really need it does he really need it look I get that there's a practical reason for all these things in the Bible that the Levitical priests they needed to eat you know the church needs to function I get that but that is not the main reason God is demanding the first the main reason that he's demanding the first is because he knows God knows that the first is always going to be the one that you want the most always and he knows that if you are willing to give him the most valuable thing that you will keep him in the proper place in your life I mean it's really a great piece of management from the Lord even though we may look at like all he wants the first of everything but he's trying to keep himself in the right place it look it's about God's position in your life that's what it's about it's protection for you turn to Matthew chapter 6 turn to Matthew chapter number 6 you know the funny thing about Christians and you know even the funny thing about like mature Christians because I mean I bring up alcohol and drugs a lot but in a church like this I would doubt look and it's not that it can't happen but I would doubt that there's a lot of people in this church struggling with alcohol and drugs but the funny thing about mature Christians one of the things that can really sneak up on mature Christians is the good things it's the good things in your life and God is trying to protect us from the good things actually hurting us and you're like what are you talking about what are you talking about look think about the good things in your life think about it I mean think about a new child these are things that you know that that a mature Christian even a mature Christian needs to be aware of these things can they can be a danger you say in what way they can be a danger in knocking God off that first pedestal you have to make sure that look I mean you have transitions in life you have a mom that has a new baby and she's just never seen again you know me you have to keep the Lord first in your life it's the good things a man gets a new job a huge blessing some great new job and all of a sudden the Lord's no longer first in his life look these are things that are real dangers to Christians good things good things don't be a Christian it's a sad thing when you see a Christian that can't take a blessing that is a truly sad thing I mean see Solomon see the book of Ecclesiastes he wrote it so you can take a blessing because here was a man who was blessed almost infinitely in his life and he used every single one of those blessings to basically knock the Lord off the pedestal that number one pedestal in his life God demands the first it keeps him where he should be so here's a here's a good methodology for you look here look at the church look at the church look we are thriving I mean amen that is a huge blessing but that no matter how many activities no matter how many blessings that we have the the gospel of Jesus Christ always has to be first here always no matter what a good methodology in your life is this to make sure that you don't slip up and and take the good things and let them knock the Lord out of the first position in your life a good methodology is no matter what's going on in your life if you're confused about something changing for the good or for the bad by the way just double down on putting the Lord first in your life let me give you an example we're thriving right now we're doing great right now I just constantly remind myself in situations like that when things get more busy things get more hectic we need to just double down on what's going on we just need to double down on the gospel we need to double down on you know getting people saved we need to double down on building up soul winners we need to double down on making more connections with people look the first year of this ministry we were not doing great it was I mean things were chaotic and things were confusing and I remember sitting down with my family and just being like you know what's going on here and what should we do you know going forward and we're just discussing this and the whole family and myself together you know we decided we should do let's start a new soul winning time why because we just double down that's why we just double down let's just make sure let's just make sure that God knows that the gospel is first here no matter what is going on so it's something is changing in your lives you know whether it's going up or going down just double down on making the Lord first I don't know why this is happening I don't know what's going on double down make the Lord first and everything will be fine turn to Psalm chapter 5 or actually you're in Matthew chapter 6 I'm sorry I mean the Bible tells us this it says seek ye first it's talking about don't worry about all these other things don't worry about you know clothing and food and all these things it says seek ye first there's that word again seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and what all these things shall be added unto you saying the Lord is always first seek the kingdom of God first seek what God wants from you first and all these other things will take care of themselves look whether bad things are happening or good things are happening this works always keep God first look at Psalm chapter 5 look at the front of your bulletin I said to my wife yesterday we went out soul winning yesterday and I and I ran into this guy out soul winning yesterday and you know he just he didn't make any sense he didn't make any sense it was he was an older man and he was just it was very clear that he no longer had the ability to and he was all wrapped up in weird doctrines and things like that and but that aside that aside it was very clear that he no longer had the capacity to hear and and listen to and and believe the gospel he just it just I said to my wife yesterday I mean here's another one for you here's another one to appreciate and double down on but and think about the first in your life but I said to my wife yesterday and I meant it literally I said to her I was like I'm glad that I have a functioning brain and and that it works I mean I didn't mean like oh I'm glad I'm so smart I just meant like I'm I'm glad my brain works I'm glad you know my my I'm glad I can think about things look at Psalm 5 3 look at Psalm 5 3 my voice shall hear shall thou hear in the morning you know the Psalmist David is saying here God you're gonna hear my voice when right away in the morning oh Lord in the morning will I direct my prayer into the and I will look up you know this is something that is super valuable you know the Lord God here's a really good way to keep the Lord first in your life by doing something daily you should get in your Bible and you should do praying early in the morning you say why because look I know we've got some seriously productive people in this church and here's what happens to you here's what's gonna happen you're gonna get up in the morning and be like yeah I'm gonna read my Bible and maybe you've even got a time set at six o'clock or whatever to do your Bible reading and all those different things but here's gonna happen you're just gonna like you're gonna grind through the day and things are gonna pop up like they always pop up every single day and you're gonna be attacking this problem and tackling this problem and fixing this for these people and handling this for these people over here and guess what even if you do get to that six o'clock Bible reading time your mind is gone your mind if it's if it's like mine it's somewhere else at that point you ever read like three chapters in the Bible and you were thinking about something else the whole time that's what not how you want to read your Bible this is why you read your Bible early in the morning here's what I do on Monday mornings so Sunday my big day you know I've got a preach two sermons I've got a you know come to church and it's just a it's a huge long day you know as a pastor and I'm wiped out by the end of by the end of Sunday night I'm wiped out in a good way but I'm wiped out I do not write anything on Mondays but you know what I do on Monday morning I read whatever chapter we are gonna be studying I don't care if I've read it a hundred times I read whatever chapter we're gonna study on Wednesday night I read it through sometimes I read it through twice why do I do that I read it through first thing Monday morning before I go anywhere I read through it once sometimes two times why so I can get it bouncing around up here that's why so I can direct so I can direct and I told many of you I can't write a sermon I can't sit down and write a sermon in one day I gotta read it and I gotta bounce it around a little bit but the point is this it's so five three get those thoughts bouncing in the right direction every single morning get that that'll keep the Lord first in your life during that day get read yourself some Bible and start pondering on the Word of God as you go to work as you're doing your things during the day start look give your first thoughts to the Lord that's what the psalmist is saying in Psalm chapter 5 otherwise that look the day just takes over and the busy life just takes over we have to give our first Matthew 2016 talks about us becoming the first it says so the last show the first and the first last for many be called but few chosen look if you don't give the Lord your first you will become the first this is the problem in our lives so look you say like I don't know pastor turn to Colossians chapter 1 you're like God first seems pretty demanding you know I mean doesn't you know why can't I just give him the my ties for the increase but here's the irony the whole thing everything God does is for our benefit everything that God does is for our benefit turn to Colossians chapter number one God is doing us a favor by making sure that we keep him first with all these rules in the Bible now here's the irony and I just think about your children for a minute I mean this is a big one right people have kids and like it's their kids and forget everything else their kids are the first in line their kids are the first this anything happens with their kids involved and it's everybody else's fault everybody else's kids fault that what they're doing is they're putting their children first you see what you shouldn't you put your children first here's the irony of this whole thing if you don't put God first and instead you put your children first it's bad for your children you ever met a kid who was raised to think that he was the only one that existed on the planet this is people that just spoil their kids I've seen kids spoiled up until the time they're 18 years old and then they hit the world and guess what the world gives them a big boot in the face it's like hey you're not first buddy who taught you that because they're not they're gonna get to work and they're gonna get out in the world and they're gonna have a family they're gonna realize that if they are first it's spells disaster so teaching your kids putting your kids on these pedestals that that they're the first it's a disaster for your kids it's bad for them I mean look even family first I mean you hear the people like you know family country I mean all the different orders of different things that people come up with you know everyone's like family first no God first if you say family first it's literally bad for your bad for your family I'm talking all of your family I'm talking about if I say all my family first no matter what look I'm gonna have family that saved family that's not I'm gonna have saved members of my family that probably aren't doing the right things all that if I put family first I'm gonna abandon the Lord is what's gonna happen family first is bad for your family look this is where this is where male leadership really comes in in the family right here because guess what it is God first in your family it is God first when it comes to raising your children it is God first not emotion first it is God first not other people's feelings first I'm gonna tell you right now that I know for a fact that your wife is more sensitive than you are and that's a good thing that's a good thing that's a good balance but when it comes to leadership of the family look folks God first is gonna ruffle some feathers God first is gonna straight up make people angry with you God first is gonna mean you're gonna have to have some uncomfortable situations uncomfortable conversations with people in your life people that you may love in your life but God first is gonna upset people and look that just takes somebody that's just gonna be like you know what God is first and this is an uncomfortable conversation but God is first and this has to happen done this is where men need to put some pants on and they delete their families keep God on top in their families look it's it's a real battle look I've been there I get it I get it it's a real struggle and just it's not make everybody happy first it's God first it's God first and that means your children will be taken care of that means your children will be safe there's a lot of danger out there if you don't keep God first there's a lot of people that want to physically and mentally and spiritually damage and destroy your family it's as serious as a heart attack for the Christian today but as long as you are just willing to just put God first and look I'll be as nice as I possibly can but God is first in my family and nothing gets in front of that and if I got to have some conversation with people face-to-face I got to have some conversation with people over the phone that are just uncomfortable look if you're a man and you can't handle confrontation you're gonna have a difficult time leading a family you know so easy in our lives things are so easy in our lives last night there's just no struggle anymore there's no struggle if I struggle with anything I got to get some gadget that makes the struggle stop if I get upset over anything I got a you know I mean someone will give me a pill makes me not upset anymore look confrontation is going to be part of leading a family in this Christian life in this circus that we're living in you better just I mean look don't go out there and be some confrontational jerk that's not what I'm saying but when it comes to the point where and look you need to be a mature Christian to realize like you know I'm gonna be as nice as I possibly can I want to be as loving as I possibly can I want to show people a strong Christian testimony but there's a line where they're trying to push God off the pedestal for my family for my wife for my children and that is the line that you must hold at all costs that's what it comes down to are you in Colossians chapter 1 did I have you turn there I don't know there seems pretty demanding that we give God the first but look at Colossians chapter 1 in verse number 12 Colossians chapter 1 in verse number 12 the Bible says giving thanks unto the Father which had made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance in the saints of the saints in light who had delivered us from the power of darkness so I mean God's kind of explaining our salvation here he's saying you inherited this thing did you work for something you inherit now like somebody else did the work for it and they just gave it to you right we were made we were when we got saved we were made in we were made like receivers of this free gift of the saints in light who deliver us from the power of darkness has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins who is the image of the invisible God look at this the firstborn of every creature for by him or all things created Jesus created the universe Jesus created everything Jesus is the literal creator that are in heaven that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him he created the principalities and the powers think about that I mean all these you know the the tools that are being used by Satan to just you know drive the darkness of this world Jesus created everybody no matter what they turn out to be and he is before all things and by him all things consist Jesus was before all things so what I'm trying to get you to see here turn to Romans chapter 8 is that God gave us his first fruits in Romans chapter 8 verse 23 the Bible says and not only they but ourselves also which have God gave us Jesus who is the first fruits of all creation God gave us his fruits and then when we get saved we get more first fruits look at verse number 23 of Romans 8 and not only they but ourselves also which have the what the first fruits of the Spirit even we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body my body is not redeemed right now my body is not glorified right now but God has given me the first fruits of the Holy Spirit does that mean I can't get more of the Holy Spirit no no I could follow I can walk in the Spirit and I can be filled with the Holy Spirit but God when I trusted on the first fruits of his son gave you and me he sealed us with this down payment of the Holy Spirit which he saying is the first fruits of your spirit you're never going to be unsaved and even if you just never walk at all in the Spirit you don't do a thing that God wants you to do in your life you take that salvation you keep it to yourself you show no profit to anyone else you still have that first fruits of the Spirit he still gave it to you he's not going to take it away so God gave you the first fruits he gave you the first fruits of Jesus that allows you to be saved it allows you to inherit that and he gave you the first fruits of the Spirit to keep you saved to seal you like all but I don't want to give them the first fruits of of my corn or whatever I mean seems pretty silly right now we have the first fruits of the Spirit but if we want more we can have more you get that I mean doesn't get any better than this seriously I mean happy Sunday I mean not only are you saved but if you decide to actually walk in the Spirit God will give you more of the Spirit God will allow you to turn you know your life that you feel like is meaningless into into this great thing as the Spirit fills you and works through you you're like I'm weak I'm slow every single great person in the Bible said that Moses is like I can't talk he's the greatest man that ever is recorded in the Bible why because God filled him with the Spirit and God used him to do great things but we all have whether you choose to do anything with Christian life or do something wonderful with your Christian life you still have the first fruits you still have that it just makes no sense God gives us all these things and then we give God what's left over with our time with our efforts with our thoughts we should be giving God the first every single day in our lives God demands the first because he first gave us the first what's power heads and have a word