The Sickness of Sinfulness Part 1 - 9/23/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

today. If you enjoy today's message, be

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with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

I had some folk ask me before, preacher,

why is it when you preach from the book

of Psalms that you never say chapter?

You always say division. And to be real

quite honest with you, it was something

uh that I was taught in Bible college.

And sometimes when I'm taught something,

my OCD causes me never to be able to let

loose of that. But uh it's still a

chapter. Amen. Um but you'll notice in

the book that there's no chapter

mentioned here in Psalms. you look at

every one of them uh in your Bible. Your

Bible may have chapter in it, but mine

doesn't. Uh you'll look at the heading

there and it'll say Psalm number six.

And there was a reason for that, but

right off top of my head, I don't

remember. Amen. And uh so anyway, it's

just my OCD for tonight. I can't tell

you if it's right or not. Amen. But uh I

do appreciate uh the Lord. Appreciate

each one of you being here tonight.

Psalm number six. I want to read the

whole chapter if we could tonight. the

whole psalm and look at a thought here

the Lord put on my heart late this

evening. I studied all day uh to preach

on Abraham tonight and I think it was

about 4:00 the Lord started turning my

thoughts and uh so this is about just a

few hours of my meditations this

evening. So this is a whole lot of

outline. I hope there's some substance

to it. Amen. And I tell you this, I

don't ever want to come here with an

outline without any help from God. Amen.

and we need his help. So you pray for me

tonight. Let's look at Psalm number six

here in verse number one. The Bible

says, David speaking here, "Oh Lord,

rebuke me not in thine anger, neither

chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have

mercy upon me, oh Lord, for I am weak.

Oh Lord, heal me, for my bones are

vexed. My soul is also sore vexed, but

thou, oh Lord, how long? Return, O Lord,

deliver my soul. Oh, save me for thy

mercy's sake. For in death there's no

remembrance of thee. In the grave, who

shall give thee thanks? I am weary with

my groaning. All the night make eye my

bed to swim. I water my couch with my

tears. Mine eyes consumed because of

grief. It waxeth old because of all mine

enemies. Depart from me all ye workers

of iniquity, for the Lord hath heard the

voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard

my supplication. The Lord will receive

my prayer. Let all mine enemies be

ashamed and so vexed. Let them return

and be ashamed suddenly. Father, I come

before you once more tonight, Lord, to

ask again for your help. Lord, I cannot

uh rightly divide the word of God

without the Holy Spirit. And so, Lord, I

ask you to fill me and I can I yield

myself to you the best that I know how.

Please speak through me tonight. clothe

me in my call and get glory to yourself

for what you do. Well, thank you because

we ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Psalm

number six. I want to point out if I

could just a few phrases that are

mentioned in this psalm here and then I

will go back and deal with the text

entirely this evening. Give you the

title and then we'll deal with it in its

entirety. I want you to notice verse

number two. David says in the middle of

verse number two, he says, "For I am

weak." Then he says at the end of the

verse, for my bones are vexed. Verse

three, he said, my soul is sore vexed.

And then again he mentions in verse six,

I am weary with my groaning all the

night. Make I my bed to swim. I water my

couch with my tears. Mine eyes consumed

because of grief. It waxeth old because

of all mine enemies. And I was reading

this psalm. I was honestly I was

studying this afternoon and looking at

the life of Abraham and put some things

together on that and I just I sort of

stopped. Sometimes you're in your study

you you're just not getting anywhere.

And so the Lord may be trying to

redirect you. And I was just flipping

through my Bible reading some different

passages of scripture and the Lord spoke

to me out of this text. And you say,

"What was it that caught your

attention?" Well, it was these phrases

that I just read to you. And and I was

thinking in this text that really this

is a psalm of sickness. You say, 'What

do you mean?' Well, notice it again.

Verse number two. Have mercy upon me, oh

Lord, for I'm what? Weak. Look what Look

what's weak about him. Verse number two.

For my bones are vexed. You know what

that word vex means? It means to be

troubled or to tremble. He literally

says, "My bones are shaken." You know,

you get them sicknesses and those fevers

and you begin to tremble. This is where

David's at in this text. And and he says

not only that, he said in verse six,

"I'm weary with my groaning." That

groaning is a sigh. And so David is in

pain in this text. But when I begin to

study this chapter, I begin to see not

just David's sickness, but I began to

see the source of David's sickness. And

really what you'll see in this chapter,

I want to give you four things and some

some things after those four things

tonight out of this text on the thought

the sickness of sinfulness.

The sickness of sinfulness. You say,

'What do you mean?' Well, I I think

tonight if we could if we could look at

this chapter and see what David is

dealing with, this chapter tonight is

one is the first in in the order of the

Psalms as it's given in our King James

Bible. The first of seven that are

called the penitent psalms or or

penitential psalms. And then would

proceed after this Psalm 732, 3851,

102, 130, and 143. And all of those

psalms are are psalms of David that

express an attitude of repentance. And

when I think about the sickness of

sinfulness, I think about two things.

Number one, I think that sinfulness

could be number one described as a

sickness.

>> Say, what do you mean? Well, it's

infected all of humanity more than any

disease that's ever been, more than any

virus that's ever spread. Sin has almost

a 100% infection rate. Aren't you

thankful that Jesus was not infected

with it? Amen. But I will tell you this

tonight, he who knew no sin became sin

for us. And so, the truth is tonight,

really, if you want to call it that way,

it hasn't 100% infection rate this

evening. And so, sin has infected the

human race. And so I think sin as a a

sickness is a description. But I also

think sin as a sickness has to do with

its uh its deriving where it comes from.

You say, "What do you mean?" Well, a

sickness is something that starts within

that begins to cause problems on the

outside. You think about uh a sickness

in the body. You say, "Well, preacher,

that comes with without." Well, you

don't realize the effects of it until it

gets on the inside. Ain't that right?

Cancer is not hurting you until it's on

the inside. And so that that si that

sinfulness, the sickness as it's within,

that sinfulness is within. I guess you

would say not that it deres within, but

that it dwells within. Let's put it that

way this evening. You say, "What do you

mean?" Well, Jesus said it this way in

Mark's gospel. He said, "For out of the

mouth are the things that defile the

man." He said, "It's the fornications

and the adulteries, the wickedness that

proceedth out of the man." He said,

"It's not what goes into the man, but

what proceedth out that defileth him."

them. And so you say, "Preacher, how

does that fit in this text?" Well, let's

note David's condition in this text

number one this evening. In verse number

one, we'll see we'll see David's

condition is described number one

tonight as fearful. You say, "What do

you mean?" Well, notice the text in

verse one. David says, "Oh Lord, rebuke

me not in thine anger, neither chastise

me, chasten me in thy hot displeasure."

And so immediately we find David here is

crying out to the Lord. And this this uh

fearfulness that we see here, he's in

sin. Say, "What do you mean?" Well, he's

asking the Lord not to rebuke him. Why

is he doing that? Because he knows he's

done something worthy of rebuke.

>> Truth is, tonight, if you're his child,

when you come to him, you're not going

to get any help until you realize you've

done something.

>> And so, David is crying unto the Lord in

this text, he's fearful because of his

sin. Now, we don't have a direct uh

implication in this text as to what sin

is being dealt with. Some writers say

that it it's the sin with Ba Sheba. We

know Psalm 51 is directly derived from

that the the instance of the sin that he

commits with Ba Sheba. And so, this

psalm could be that. It could be uh that

sin. It could be other sins. It could be

in that period. Some say it's in the

period between David's sin with Ba Sheba

and and David's issue uh with Abselum

that would arise years down the road,

some many years down the road in David's

life. But what is told to us in this

text is not only David is fearful

because of sin because he's asking the

Lord here to uh to slow down his rebuke.

I'll say more about that in a minute.

But in verse number two, not only he's

fearful because of his sin, but number

two, David is frail because of his

sickness. Notice this. Have mercy upon

me, oh Lord. Why is he asking for mercy?

Look what he says again. For I'm weak.

David says, "My body's failing." And so

evidently what I've what I've studied on

this, we discover that David's sickness

in his body is causing him the feeling

of his flesh. He is relating this to the

sinfulness in his heart. He's saying

that this sickness has come upon me

because of the sin that's in my life.

Now, I want to say this, all right? We

know that not all sickness is comes upon

men because of their sin.

>> But we can agree tonight and I hope you

would agree with me that all sickness is

because of sin.

>> Say, how is that? Well, it's the effects

of sin on the human race that have

brought about sickness into the world.

But let's let's bring this back to a

scriptural point of view tonight. When

we think about sickness is not

necessarily caused directly by sin. We

think about what Jesus said when the

disciples asked him that man that was

born blind. You remember they asked

Jesus, they said, "Uh, master, who did

sin, this man or his parents that he was

born blind?" Now, think about the

foolishness of that question.

Who did sin this man or his parents?

Well, they're saying that this man was

born blind because of his sin. Well, let

me ask you something. Is that sin

imputed before the age of

accountability?

And so really their their question is

futile. All right, I know this is just

just stay with me, okay? And so when we

look at this sickness, David is

describing a unique form of punishment

from the Lord. You say, "What do you

mean?" Well, David is the highest

authority in the land. Wouldn't you

agree with that? He's king and under him

there's the rest of all of Israel and

Judah's society is under him. And so

really when David is to be punished the

Lord does two things. He uses his family

but he also uses his flesh. And when D

when you look at the lives of men when

when you see the picture now we we can

think this over into Job's life. We know

it was not Job's sinfulness that brought

about his sickness. But what what were

the two things that that really really

pushed Job the farthest? It was not his

fortune, but it was when his family was

lost, number one. But you know what

happened after that? What did the devil

do? He touched his flesh. And so there's

two things that in that judgment in in

in in condemnation, the worst feeling

that you can experience in the flesh,

number one, is the pain of the family,

but then after that, the pain of your

own physical body, that judgment. And so

David has experienced this. He tells us

about this in other psalms when he talks

about Abselum's rebellion. He says, "If

it was somebody else, I could have borne

it." He said, "But it was a man mine

equal." What is he referring to? He's

referring to his son. He's referring to

somebody who was close to him. And David

in this text, he is fearful because of

his sin. Because he is now frail in his

sickness. He feels like death is near.

I want to say this. You get deep enough

in sin, you'll get to a place of

sickness. Say, 'What do you mean? Well,

let's just be real. There's been a lot

of men and women alike, and to give a

simple example, they get addicted to the

bottle far enough along. What happens to

them? It ends up taking their life. My

grandpa was one of those men. He drunk

himself to death. He was as brown as the

top of that communion table right there

when he died. And so, we can agree

tonight that sinfulness has a sickness

that comes along with it. And you think

about the sexual sins of society in this

day and time. All of the the diseases

that are transmitted sexually in the

world today. When men and women decide

to walk away from what God has commanded

in the scriptures, that sinfulness

brings about a sickness. But let me say

this, the real sickness is the sin.

>> Because you know what? That sickness may

not kill them. We can treat sexually

transmitted diseases. You shouldn't

Amen. shouldn't have to.

You can treat an alcoholic.

You can make him quit drinking. But you

know what? The sin problem is something

you have to deal with yourself.

>> And I noticed this in this text. Out of

this, you see, David is fearful because

of his sin. He's frail because of

sickness. But thirdly, I see David is

flustered. You say, "What do you mean?"

Well, notice verse three or verse two.

He says, "For I am weak, oh Lord, heal

me for my bones are vexed." He's

trembling. Just picture David. David,

his sin has become so great to him. He

is sick in body. He is sick in mind. But

in verse three, look what he says. My

soul, listen to this now. My soul is

also sore vexed.

This sin has got David to a point where

he's literally going insane. You say,

why is that? Well, notice the text.

David is fearful because of his sin.

He's frail because of his sickness, but

he's flustered because of silence. Say,

what do you mean? And notice verse three

again. My soul is also sorvex. What's

that last phrase in verse three?

But thou, oh Lord, what's them last two

words? How long? One writer said this

that this is an incomplete statement.

Well, I don't believe that this is an

incomplete statement. I tell you what I

believe tonight. I believe David is

crying out because it's been a while.

Said, "What do you mean?" Well, he's the

sweet psalmist.

You see, when Saul got that evil spirit

from the Lord, who' they send for? They

sent for David, didn't they?

>> Because what was on him, the same spirit

that Saul had on him was on David. And

David went and played his heart. The

Bible says he played skillfully. And

that comforted Saul. But I want to tell

you this in this text, the sweet

psalmist is now flustered.

You say, "How is that?" Well, I'm saying

the greatest the probably the greatest

rider in all the Bible because of his

sin is now at a point where he cannot

hear the voice of God.

And so he's afraid. Notice it again.

With all of this in mind, rebuke me not

in thine anger, neither chasen me in thy

hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me.

He's fearful. He's frail, BUT HE'S

FLUSTERED. HE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND where

God is. And let me say this, child of

God. This is where you will be

if you find yourself in a place where

spiritually you're low. Physically

you're low, but in your heart there's no

communication between you and God.

>> Amen.

>> You know, I've been in some low places

spiritually in my life, but I know God

was still there. But you know what

David's trouble is?

God's not there. You say, "Preacher, but

God is there." And you're right. He is.

But David can't find it.

So, we see David's condition. I think we

could all agree the worst part of his

condition is not his fear and his

frailty, but it's that he's flustered

because where's God?

You say, "Preacher, I don't see that

that's him asking for the Lord." Well,

look, look at verse three again. But

thou, oh Lord, how long? Then notice the

first three words of verse four. Return,

O Lord. This begins. We see David's

condition, but this begins David's cry.

David begins crying out to God all

through this chapter. This chapter is a

cry. And I read one writer said this, Le

Moine Sharp, he was quoting another

writer and he said this, the psalm many

times he says we describe the psalms as

psalms of praise. He said they're psalms

of praise because they're so full of

prayer. You really want to praise God.

It ain't so much your testimony in

church and I'm for testifying. It ain't

so much raising your hand or saying amen

in church, but I want to tell you this.

It's what you do in that private place

before God.

>> And let's be real, we're all failing in

our praise department.

>> And so, we see David's cry in this text.

What is he crying for? Well, number one,

he's crying out for the Lord to calm

down. Say, how is that? Well, notice

verse one. Oh Lord, rebuke me not in

thine anger, neither chasten me in thy

hot displeasure. Now, if you look at

that, you would say David is asking for

the Lord not to correct him. But what do

we know the Bible teaches? It says,

"Despise not the chastening of the

Lord." We're not to stand against the

rebuking hand of God. When God sticks

his hand of judgment on you, if you're a

child of God, you're not supposed to

rear up to that. You know why? Because

the same hand that saved you is the same

hand that'll correct you and keep you.

And you're not supposed to back up

against that.

>> Amen. Notice this. He says, "Rebuke me

not in thine anger, neither chasen me in

thy hot displeasure." What David is

asking for, not that God would remove

the remove the rebuke, but he's saying,

"Lord, while you're

still hot in me, o hot at me over my

sin, would you just hold off with your

judgment?" You say, "Preacher, how could

David say that?" Well, this ain't the

first time that's been said. Turn with

me to the book of Exodus. Write it in

your margin. Exodus, chapter number 32.

Listen to the plea of Moses in Exodus

32. Moses has heard the voice. Joshua

has heard the voice of the children of

Israel crying out. Verse number 17 of

Exodus 32. When Joshua heard the noise

of the people as they shout, he said

unto Moses, there is noise of war in the

camp. What have they done? You know the

story. They Aaron had they had cried

out, you know, where's Moses? Where's

our God? We need something else to

worship. So Aaron says, y'all bring me

all your earrings of Egypt. They melt

him down and they build the calf. Ain't

that how the story goes? Look what

happens in the text. Verse number verse

number eight. Verse number seven. Let's

read the whole thing. And the Lord said

unto Moses, "Go get thee down. For thy

people which thou broughtest out of the

land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.

They have turned aside quickly out of

the way which I commanded them. They've

made them a molten calf and have

worshiped it and have sacrificed there

unto, and said, These be thy gods, O

Israel, which have brought thee up out

of the land of Egypt." And the Lord said

unto Moses, I have seen this people and

behold it is a stick ne stick neck stiff

necked people. Notice verse 10. Now

therefore, listen to this. Let me alone

that my wrath may wax hot. Notice that.

That my wrath may wax hot against them

and that I may consume them and I will

make of thee a great nation. Listen to

what Moses says in verse 11. And Moses

besought the Lord his God, and said,

Lord, why do thy wrath wax hot against

thy people, which thouast brought forth

out of the land of Egypt with great

power, with a mighty hand? Wherefore

should the Egyptians speak, and say, for

mischief did he bring them out to slay

them in the mountains, and to consume

them from the face thereof, turn from

thy fierce wrath, and repent of this

evil against thy people. Now, there's so

many people that stumble over those

verses. I had one gentleman, and matter

of fact, probably one of the greatest

conflicts that I ever got in in church

was over those very verses. Had a

gentleman say that the Lord that God,

the God of heaven, now you read those

verses, that's Elohim. That's Jehovah,

the self-existent one. And this is what

he said. He said, "God had to repent. So

that means God sinned in that text."

I said, "You've lost your mind."

>> He said, "Well, what does it mean then?"

I said, "It means God turned his mind."

That's right.

>> I said, "I don't mean God was wrong."

>> God can't do wrong.

>> You know what? You listening to me? If

God had killed him right there, he'd

have been perfectly just in doing so.

>> That's right.

>> So, you know what happened? It was not

that God was unjust or that God was

unfair. He ought to have wiped him out.

He ought to have wiped us out. Amen.

>> It's It's pride that says that God would

ever be wrong.

Bible said Paul said, "Yeah, let God be

true and every man a liar."

>> And so what this text is, Moses here,

his great intercession, he doesn't get

God to repent of evil. This is what he

gets God to do. You say, "Preacher,

well, it says the Lord repented of the

evil." That word evil in that text is

not talking about God doing wrong.

>> That's right. It's talking about God

bringing judgment on an ungodly evil pe

people who deserve judgment.

>> And so he prays. God said, "Let my wrath

wax hot." Moses said, "No, Lord, don't

let your wrath wax hot." You say, "So,

preacher, what was David asking for?"

He's asking for God to calm.

You say, "Preacher, does God need to

calm certain aspects of our life?"

I don't know about you, but I got saved

at seven years old. And all of my

mistakes in my Christian life have been

pretty much since I got saved. In my

life, they've been in my Christian life,

I should say. And I remember at one

point as a young man, I was probably 14

years old, and my mind was utterly

depraved. And I thank God that I didn't

wasn't able to go after the thoughts of

my heart because what Jesus had done on

the inside of me and the parents he had

give me kept me from those things. But I

remember in the bitterness that I had at

one point in my life some things some

plans that I have and let's before you

look down at me you just think about the

plans that you had

>> to do wickedness. Amen. Because that's

way that's the way we are.

But I remember one night some plans that

I had got found out.

And for a long time, Brother Shane, I

wrestled with this. I I wrestled with

did I get brokenhearted because I got

found out. But what I realized was that

night that I got found out, it was a

mercy of God.

Because just like Egypt or just like the

Israelites when Moses come down off that

mountain, God had found out about it.

>> And so what had happened was God knew

what I done. He went to mom and daddy

and mom and daddy come to me.

And I can take you to a spot in my yard.

I can take you to the place where I got

saved, but I can take you to the spot in

my yard. And as far as I know, I've

never told this story anywhere, but I

can take you to the spot in my yard

where a little concrete whalehouse, a

3x3 round whalehouse. I bowed over that

thing and I cried and begged God

>> to have mercy on my soul. You say,

"Preacher, you saved." I know I was, but

I felt like GOD WAS GOING TO TAKE ME

OUT.

>> You know why? Because his anger had rat

waxed hot.

>> You say, "Preacher, how did you know

that?" Because I could feel it. Amen.

>> I remember that.

You say, "Preacher, oh, that was that

was guilt as a child from your mom and

daddy." No, mom and daddy, it broke my

heart. But I tell you this, long after

they got they got done with me, God

wasn't done with me.

>> I remember that whooping.

And not the one the parent my parents

gave me. I'm talking about the one the

Lord gave me for months.

I'm saying his wa his wrath waxed hot.

And I remember praying to God. I said,

"Lord, I don't know if you could ever

use me." And I remember daddy telling me

that night, he he told me, he said, he

looked at me in the eyes and he said,

"Son, there ain't much hope for you if

you can't get past these thoughts."

You say, "Preacher, that's awful." No.

He told me the truth, and it was

straight from heaven.

them thoughts would have sent me to jail

and to prison and I'd have been there

for a long time. Are you listening? You

say, "Preacher, I ain't never had no

thoughts like that." Well, you better do

some self inventory.

>> But I remember God's wrath waxing hot in

my life. And I remember praying, Lord,

would you please, IF YOU CAN, I know you

CAN, BUT LORD, IF YOU WILL, PLEASE

FORGIVE ME AND RESTORE ME.

>> I remember that. Matter of fact, I can I

can see it now.

You say, "Preacher, I don't know what

that's like." Well,

you just better thank God most of your

failures was on the other side of

Calvary.

cuz he don't deal softly with his

children.

>> Say, "Preacher, well, it was awful that

night that I got saved. God hung me out

over hell. He did me the same way." I'm

telling you, I felt like I was going to

bel melt alive.

>> You say, "Why?" Because the combination

of that wrath of the sovereign on his

child. You say, "Preacher, you were

saved by the grace of God. Jesus took

your wrath. His displeasure with me was

just the same. because I had sinned and

removed myself from fellowship.

And so, you know what had happened in my

life? Here's what happened. Here's

what's different for when a saved person

gets out in sin versus a lost person. A

saved person has a two-fold punishment.

You have a part on the inside of you

that's grieved. And so, within you're

just burning,

>> right?

>> But then on the other side of that, you

also have the God of heaven.

>> Yes.

You see, when a lost person sins, they

don't experience that

outward

condemnation.

When a saved person does

different say, how is that? Well,

David's experiencing it. He's crying out

for calming. You see that from the text,

verse one, rebuke me not in thine anger,

neither chasten me in thy hot

displeasure. I believe it's Psalm 38,

David says the same words.

calming. He's asking for the Lord to not

chasing him. You remember, I don't feel

like I can get past this tonight. One of

the writers gave this illustration on

this verse. He said a a younger brother

had done something at school one day and

his dad, you know, as the way it used to

be, the way it used to be when dad got

home. If the kid done something at

school, they got punished for it at

school, then they got punished for it

when they get home. Y'all live through

that. Amen.

And so I did too. Amen. Oh man. Anyway,

I'm going to try not to try to forget

those memories.

But uh this older brother tells his

younger brother he'd done something at

school and he knew dad was going to

punish him when he got home. Older

brother said this, "Hey bud, if you'll

go to sleep before daddy gets home,

it'll be laid over till tomorrow."

And uh illustration is that he went

home, went to sleep, and his dad didn't

bother him that night. Because the truth

is any individual with time, they do

cool off, don't they?

You say, "Preacher, but God's outside of

time." Let me ask you something. We're

made like he is.

And so if God thought he was going to

destroy Israel, but Moses said, 'Lord,

please don't destroy him. Please don't

destroy him. And God, what did it say?

He repented. He changed his path. Just

like your earthly father, you give them

time. And I'm thankful that my dad, I

remember this as a young man. I remember

my dad in the heat of his anger, he

wouldn't take out his punishment on me

cuz I I mean he could have, you know,

done some damage. You know what I'm

saying? But he would wait till he was

back in his

he had a right to be angry. I want to

say this. He didn't take out that

punishment on me when he was at the

height of his anger.

Let me just give you some food for

thought here. Do you realize that

there's coming a day when God at the

height of his anger

>> because the sin of all generations is

piling up and piling up and piling up

and one of these days God's going to

unleash his wrath.

The height of God's anger.

You say, "Preacher, I just don't believe

it's really that bad." I won't say this.

David was the man after God's own heart.

Right?

>> He's crying out, "Lord, please."

>> Verse two, look what he says. Have mercy

upon me. What's he asking? He's asking

for the Lord, please don't give me what

I deserve. He's not asking for justice.

He's asking, "Lord, please, would you

have mercy?"

But notice this. What does he ask for

next? Verse two. For I am weak, oh Lord,

have mercy upon me, oh Lord, for I am

weak, oh Lord. What's the next two

words? Heal me. Not only does he ask for

the Lord to calm, but he asked for the

Lord to cure him. Why is that? Because

his sickness was because of his sin.

Now, y'all remember when we preached the

message on communion here at the church.

Had a lot of response out of that. I

need to preach it again just just

because it needs to be preached. But I

want you to listen to what Paul says

here in the book of Corinthians.

The book of Corinthians, Paul is

speaking of

communion and he's talking about if a

man take of it unworthily.

I'll find it here in just a minute.

Somebody tell me what chapter that's in.

The Lord just give brought that to my

mind. Here it is. 1 Corinthians 11. I

was thinking it was 2 Corinthians 11

verse number 29.

1 Corinthians 11 verse 28. But let a man

1 Corinthians 11:28

examine himself, so let him eat of that

bread and drinkketh that cup. For he

that eateth and drinkketh unworthily,

listen to this, eateth and drinkkeeth

damnation to himself, not discerning the

Lord's body. Now, let me give you this.

All right, those of you that think that

we have no judgment as a child of God,

notice verse 30. For this cause, many

are weak and sickly among you, and many

sleep.

All right. Now, let's let's draw this

back in here for just a minute.

Paul is talking to people who are saved

in this text. He that whosoever shall

eat this bread and drink this cup of the

Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the

body and the blood of the Lord. Now, you

can take this two ways. All right? You

can take this two ways. You can say he's

talking about lost people. But if you

look at the context, he's not. Notice

verse 30. For this cause many are weak

and sickly among you and many sleep.

Verse 31. For if we would judge

ourselves, we should not be judged.

Verse 32, but when we are judged, notice

this, we are chasened of the Lord that

we should not be condemned with the

world.

You see all them pronouns there? We,

he's describing the body, including

himself.

So when you got sin in your life, he

says, and you take of the Lord's supper,

he says you drink damnation.

>> Let me give you another verse.

Hebrews.

You may you may not believe it tonight,

but that's all right. Listen to what

Hebrews says.

Hebrews chapter number 10

verse 20 verse 38. Hebrews 10:38. Now

Hebrews 10:38

the just shall live by faith, but if any

man draw back, my soul shall have no

pleasure in him. Verse 39. But we are

not of them who draw back unto what?

predition. You know what predition is?

That's that damnation he was talking

about. You say, "Preacher, do I lose my

salvation?" No, you get destroyed in the

body.

Notice chapter 10 and verse number 26 of

Hebrews. For if we sin willfully after

that we have received the knowledge of

truth, there remainth no more sacrifice

for sins, but a certain fearful looking

for of judgment and fire fiery

indignation which shall devour the

adversaries. Notice what he says. That

judgment that's going to devour the

adversaries is going to be the judgment

that you face if you sin willfully.

>> Notice that

I'm saying this thing of sin in the life

of believers a little more than you know

just a well Lord knows my heart. I'll

get forgiveness and it'll be okay.

>> Come on preach. You see, people don't

preach this stuff because they say,

"Well, I don't want them to risk

thinking that they're going to lose

their salvation." We know we don't lose

our salvation,

>> right?

>> Jesus, that covenant was made with

Christ, the new covenant. It's

established. God made a covenant with

Abraham. We're going to learn about that

in the next study of Abraham. Been

studying it all day. No, I'm trying not

to preach it here. But he made an

unconditional covenant with Abraham that

they will get that land. That covenant

is representation of our salvation.

We're not promised a earthly land. We're

promised a heavenly land. We are

promised spiritual blessings in heavenly

places. Jesus took our condemnation. Let

me ask you something. You say,

"Preacher, well, the Bible says there is

therefore now no condemnation to them to

him who is in Christ Jesus." But do you

know what it says after that? To those

that walk after the spirit

>> and not after the flesh. Let's turn and

look at it. Romans 8. I'm not going to

get through the rest of the message

tonight. We're going to hang out right

here. Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Listen to what he says. Verse number

one. There is therefore now no

condemnation to them which are in Christ

Jesus who walk not after the flesh.

Notice that. But after the spirit.

So simply put tonight, David is crying

out. You say, "Preacher, that's Old

Testament." Still grace,

>> still faith. Right?

>> It's always been faith.

>> Abraham was the father of the faith. All

of the everybody that's in heaven, Old

Testament, New Testament, OR EVER WILL

BE, it will be by grace.

>> Nobody's ever done the works of the law

completely.

>> Nobody's ever completed that completely.

Nobody's ever done that. Jesus fulfilled

the law past, present, and future so

that you could be saved. So David the

same way.

>> What did he fear?

He feared the judgment of God. And you

know what? He was right to

remember what he told Nathan. He told

him the story. David, Nathan said, uh,

David, you know, there was a man that

all he had was one little U lamp.

>> There was a traveler. You know how the

story goes. He comes and that king takes

that one little ulam from that man and

he dresses it and gives it to the

traveler. It was the only little u lamb

that he had. And Nathan, you know, asked

David, in other words, you know, what

what's what should be done? David said,

"He shall restore him four-fold."

David pronounced his own judgment.

>> David lost four of his sons.

You say, "How is that?" Well, the baby

born in the relationship died. Amnan,

his firstborn, died. Abselum, his third

born, died. And then Adinijah would die

later because he would try to take the

throne from Solomon. You say, "What is

that?" That is the judgment of God on

the man after God's own heart.

You know what we have lost in this day

and time as the church? I'm talking

about those who are saved by the grace

of God. We have lost the fear of God.

>> Right?

I I don't understand. All right? And I'm

going to bear my heart to you right

here. I don't understand how people can

hop from church to church to church and

blow burn every bridge they cross

with every preacher with every church.

And I understand not every church is of

God. And look, we all make mistakes. I

get every bit of that. But this is the

only explanation I have cuz God wears me

out when I get out of line. Any I mean,

y'all with me?

>> Yeah.

>> I'm telling you. I remember I can take

you to the spot. I remember that night

his wrath waxed taught

and I don't understand people just seem

like they the only explanation I have is

they not really saved

and here's what I believe and I I

believe this and you say preacher but

some in their family probably is well

most time it's those ones that are older

that are leading and so what those ones

that are younger have to do they have to

follow behind those that are older what

I'm seeing is is a generation of

millennials that are lost

that know the ins and outs. My parents'

generation. They know the ins and outs

of the word of God. They know the ins

and outs of church, but they're not

saved. They know how it works, but they

have no desire to really be a part of

it. They will as long as it benefits

them. But here's what I'm saying. I'm

seeing my generation sick of it because

they see how mom and daddy act at

church, but then they go home and

daddy's a hothead.

yells and cusses and kicks at mom all

the time. And mama is a mouthy,

got a tongue from here to Dodgetown

Road.

And you know what? They're tired of it.

Come to church and smile. Act like

everything's all right. You know what

that is? No fear of God.

>> I tell you, and David got out of line.

He's upset.

When's the last time you got upset about

your sin?

What if your sin's what's got you sick?

Say, "Preacher, how dare you say that?"

That's between you and the Lord. Look,

I'm the messenger. I told somebody

today, "This is what the joy of my job

is. I have to do what God tells me, and

I and sometimes it's hard to deliver

it." But you know what? The same mailman

that brings the bills brings the checks.

>> He's got to bring it all.

>> It's food for thought tonight. You say,

"Preacher, this is Wednesday night." I

know it is. That's why that's what I

know. If anybody's going to experience

that, it's going to be you.

Every head bowed, every eye closed. Just

a moment of time. I'll give an altar

call tonight if I can. We're in no hurry

this evening. I just want to ask you.

David said, "Rebuke me not in thine

anger.

Chasen me not in thy hot displeasure."

If I was to be real honest with you to

church tonight, the Lord has already

convicted me over some things since I've

even been in this service.

Say, "Preacher, how is that?" Well, you

know what? We just we're we're human,

aren't we? No, it ain't gross sin. No,

I'm not, you know, doing anything that's

just repribate. I'm just telling you

just the little things that happen in

our everyday life. Cuz what? We fail him

daily, don't we? That's right.

>> But I wonder tonight, just for the

curiosity of my mind and the honesty

before you and the Lord, how many of

you's been in that place where you felt

his wrath wax hot?

You know what it's like, don't you?

Hands all over the building.

I got to ask you this.

Say, "Preacher, what do you mean?" Well,

did you just let that pass by?

Cuz you know what? Sometimes,

like her dad, when they would punish us,

you know, after a while, their wrath

would be gone.

We'd tell them that we were sorry. We'd

tell them that we were going to be

different, you know, and after a while

their wrath would pass and it would sort

of seem like things kind of returned to

normal.

Well, let me ask you,

did you get over it?

You say, "What do you mean, preacher?"

I'm saying, "Well, did you really have a

change of heart or did you just want a

clear conscience?"

I couldn't leave here tonight and do the

will of God without telling you the

truth. There's been a lot of people

that's made a public show of repentance,

a public expression of of penitence

before people. Matter of fact, I

remember a specific in instance here at

the church. Some of y'all wasn't here

for this, but

I don't know, probably a year and a half

ago, we had a gentleman, him and his

wife was at odds.

They different things. Believe he'd been

running around on her. And he came to

church. They came to church one Sunday

morning. And he come to me and they were

both smiling,

happy like everything was all right. And

this is what he told me. He said,

"Preacher, I want to get up and

apologize to the church. Some of you

were here that day, son of you

remember." Then he grabbed the mic and

he said, "I just want to apologize to

the church for my sinfulness and we

going to try to do right and do better."

And it was literally the week after

he was back with another woman.

You say, "Preacher, how could he do

that?" Well, he never really meant it.

Let me ask you, did you mean it?

Say, "Preacher, how can I know that? I I

don't know my own heart." You say that

yourself, and you're right. You don't

know your own heart. But let me ask you,

when's the last time you done some

self-examination?

Paul said it this way. 1 Corinthians 11,

he said, "But let a man examine

himself."

You know how you do that? You look in

that mirror.

James said, he said, "That man that's a

hearer, not a doer, said he beholdeth

himself, and he goeth his way and

straightway forggetth what manner of man

he was." This mirror will show you. But

if you don't stop and say, 'Lord, would

you please fix the problem? You can go

your way and there'd never be any

change.

These altars are open tonight. I'm not

going to hold off much longer. Lord sent

this for a reason. You say, "Preacher,

well, I'd be admitting guilt if I come."

Truth is, every one of us could be up

here.

I myself is

preacher, how is that? I'm telling you

the truth tonight.

It's where we live.

But you better not let his wrath wax hot

too long.

Father, Lord, I thank you for these

that's come tonight. Others need to

come. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to

be obedient to the word of God. Lord,

I'm not trying to get an emotional stir

tonight, but Lord, I just felt in my

soul tonight, just through the

leadership of the spirit, God, that you

really want to drive this point home.

Lord, I believe you're grieved with the

church in this day and time.

Lord, I believe that God, I myself,

Father, have failed you, Lord. I I've

been guilty of checking boxes.

Lord, saying that I'm doing enough.

Well, you know, I look around doing more

than everybody else is.

God, would you please forgive me of

that?

Oh God, would you cleanse me of that

attitude? Lord, what a devilish mindset

that is. Lord, forgive me.

Father, there's a world that's dying,

going to hell.

How dare could I ever say that I've done

enough.

I hope God, would you help us?

Give us urgency, Lord.

God, as I prayed on yesterday and on

today, Lord, my heart's desire is just

to make a difference, Lord.

God, you have done so much for our

church, God. And I just give you praise

for that.

But Lord, if we're going to have

anything done from you, Lord, in these

days, God, we're going to have to get

sick of sin

because Lord, it is a sickness.

And God, I don't want to know, Lord, the

people that's bound in this room.

But God, I know that you know.

And Lord, I pray they wouldn't leave

this place tonight without dealing with

it.

Oh God, I thank you for getting real

with us tonight.

Lord, I thank you, God, for manifesting

your presence. And Lord, I know it's a

convicting, correcting presence, but

Lord, I just thank you that I know it's

your presence

because Lord, there's plenty of places

that your presence is not there.

Lord, may we heed the word of God

tonight. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.

>> Thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988

Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more

information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.