As Mr. Sidney has already pointed out this morning,
we're going to go over 14 scriptures, Lord willing,
but it's not going to be as bad as you think.
We are not going to do an in -depth study of
all 14, unless you all want to, and we can spend
a little time and break each one down and look
at the Greek and we can see what it says, but
we won't do that this morning. So we'll try to
get through these pretty quickly. That's one
reason I put all of these scriptures in the bulletin.
It's because we are going to go through them
pretty quickly. And you may not have time to
turn to all of them, but I want you to know where
they are. Because maybe there will be some of
these scriptures that we look at today that may
be a good scripture for you to think about. It
may be something that hits close to home. It
may be something that shakes you up a little
bit. So we're going to pray, and then we'll work
our way through some of these things. God, I
come to you today. I thank you for all these
people that are here. I thank you that you let
us be part of this church and this fellowship.
I thank you for being good to us, for providing
for us, for loving us, dear Lord. And I pray,
God, that you just would pour your spirit out
on us today, that we come into this place with
a lot on our mind of things that we have done
or need to do or want to do. A lot of things,
God, that are constantly competing for our attention.
But I pray, God, that in these few minutes that
your Holy Spirit would speak to us, that you
meet us where we are, dear Lord. Maybe there
are some today that are just struggling. There
are some that are seeking. There are some that
just aren't really sure what's going on in life
or what to make of it, dear Lord, trying to find
their way, dear Lord. This is us. This is who
we are as humans. We struggle. And so, God, I
pray that today that you just bring us comfort
and guidance and encouragement, that you would
help us to draw closer to you and that you would
help us to seek Jesus Christ. God, I pray that
you'd be with me, that you'd help me to preach
and teach in a way that brings glory and honor
to you. Take away any fear or pride that's within
me, and let us all seek you in these next few
minutes. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.
Amen. It is a new year. There's something about
turning that calendar page. It's really January
1st is no different than the last day of December.
But there's something about flipping a page in
a calendar. There's something about going from
a 25 to a 26 that makes us stop for a minute
and think. I want to do some things better. I
want to change some things. And we start out
and we say, I'm going to eat healthier, I'm going
to exercise more, I'm going to read my Bible
more, I'm going to come to church more, or whatever
it is. We have all of these things, and there's
something in our mind that triggers us to say,
there's some areas that I want to do better.
And that's a good thing for us. That's a good
thing for us to recognize those things physically
and spiritually. It's a good time at the start
of a new year for us to examine ourselves. Now,
I'm going to put a picture up on the screen,
and I want you all to tell me, does anybody know
what that is? That's a check engine light. Some
of y 'all are thinking, that's money. That's
what that is. Because that pops up, right? Every
once in a while on your car, you crank it up,
it's been running fine, and all of a sudden,
the check engine light comes on. Service engine
soon. Okay, well, praise the Lord nowadays. Well,
maybe not, praise the Lord. I don't know if it's
better or not. Everything is electronic. And
so back in the day, cars were real simple. They
had to have a spark, some gas, and some air.
And as long as you got that, it was going to
run. And if you didn't have that, you didn't
have much to look at to find a problem. But nowadays,
you've got computers, and you've got sensors,
and you've got all this stuff. But thankfully,
when that pops up on your car or truck, You can
go down to the mechanic shop. You don't even
have to now. You can plug a thing in yourself
and see on your smartphone. But you go down to
the mechanic shop, and they plug something in
under your dash. They plug in a little computer,
and it does a diagnostic test. So it runs, and
it checks all the stuff on your car to see if
it can diagnose what the problem is. Now, sometimes
we know that there's something going on, right?
we feel a vibration or there's a weird smell
or a weird sound. And boy, that's something.
You go to the mechanic trying to explain the
sound and you're like, well, this is squeaking.
And he's like, well, does it sound more like
a cat slimed down a tin roof or like a train
slamming on brakes? And you're trying to figure
out how to describe it to him because your car
will never do what it's doing when you get it
to the mechanic. But we go and they do a diagnostic.
They have to diagnose what the problem is. And
sometimes we have an idea that there is a problem.
We can hear it, we can smell it, we can feel
it. And other times we don't even know that there's
a problem. Sometimes we go in the shop and we
don't even know that there's something going
on and they run that diagnostic test and they
say, hey, you need a new O2 sensor or something,
whatever it may be. And so sometimes in life
when it comes to our vehicles, we have to have
a diagnosis to see what is going on. Well, our
spiritual life is really no different. Because
sometimes there are things in our life that we
know just aren't quite right. They just, they
don't, it don't feel right. There are things
in our life, it just, it doesn't feel right.
It just, we're just not running good, spiritually
speaking. We just, there's something within us
and we... and we feel tension or we feel sorrow
or we feel burden or we feel stress or whatever
it is there, sometimes we feel and we just know
that there's something that's not right. Other
times there are things in our life that aren't
right, and we don't even realize that those things
are there or maybe that we need to change in
those ways. Now, when it comes to our car, when
you start getting those symptoms that something's
going on, you better check it out because it
could. It could be more serious than you think.
And so we have a couple of options when we realize
that our check engine light is on. We can take
our car to the shop because we know something's
going on, and we can get it fixed, or we can
just put a piece of black tape over it. Some
of you have done that before. I'm tired of seeing
the check engine light. How do I make it go off?
Well, you get your little piece of black tape
about one inch by one inch, and you stick it
over it. And you can cover up the check engine
light, but there's still a problem there. And
when you know there's a problem there, you don't
want to cover it up. You need to deal with it
and fix it, or it could lead to a disaster. And
so spiritually speaking, the same is true. Sometimes
there are some things in our hearts, some things
in our souls, some things in our life that aren't
good, that we need to get checked out. And sometimes
we know that those things are in our heart and
in our life. And we just pretend like they're
not there. And that's not good for us. That's
not healthy for us. And so we've got to get it
fixed. We need a diagnostic test run on our heart
to see what's going on in there and what's wrong
and what the problems are and what's needed to
fix it. And maybe, just maybe, it's going to
reveal some things that we didn't even know were
there that need to be addressed. And our diagnostic
test for us to check our heart is the Word of
God. It's our Bible. Now, I want to ask you,
when's the last time that you read your Bible?
You may read it every day. Praise the Lord. You
may read a chapter a day. You may read three
chapters a day. You might read a verse a day.
You might have hadn't picked up your Bible in
a month. You say, well, I come to church. Well,
praise the Lord. That's good. We as individuals,
we need to spend some time in God's word because
that's what we're going to use to check ourselves.
That's the way God's going to speak to us. We're
going to read these words of God and they're
going to begin to reveal things that maybe we
didn't even know were there in our life. It's
going to begin to convict us and kind of show
us, wait a minute, you don't need to be living
this way. You need to change this. And so just
as our cars need to be plugged into that computer,
well, we as Christians need to be plugged into
the Word of God. And what's it going to reveal
to us? Well, it may reveal more than you realize,
more than you know. It may provide the solution
to your problem that you didn't even know existed,
but it's right in the Word of God. We're going
to go through some scriptures real quickly. You
can jot them down. If you want to try to turn,
you can. But I'm going to go through them quickly
just to give you an idea of what I'm talking
about. When I'm talking about the Word of God
is good for us to help repair our problems and
show us our deficiencies and help us perform
up to our full standard that God wants us to.
That's why the Word of God is so important. Here's
something that the Word of God talks about. If
we plug into the Word of God, you may come across
the topic of... Worry. Does anybody in here worry?
You don't have to raise your hand. I know you
do. Every single one of you in here worry. I
suspect that that's probably one of the biggest
things that everybody in the world deals with.
It's probably very few people that don't struggle
with worry. And you might be sitting there saying,
but you don't even understand what I got to worry
about. And some of you, while I've been talking
the last five minutes, are worrying. Some of
you are worrying, I'm going to go through all
these scriptures, it's going to take three hours.
Some of you are worrying about how you're going
to pay your bills. You've got a bill due tomorrow.
You've got your check engine light in your car.
You're worried about how you're going to pay
for that. You're worried about your kids. You're
worried about somebody that's sick. You're worried
about a neighbor. You're worried about a friend.
You're worried about church. You're worried about
something. Well, we plug into the Word of God.
What does it tell us? In Matthew chapter 6, verses
25 and 26, it says, this is Jesus speaking, by
the way, This is why I tell you, don't worry
about your life, what you will eat or what you
will drink, or about your body, what you will
wear. Isn't life more than food and the body
more than clothing? Look at the birds of the
sky. They don't sow or reap or gather into barns.
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you
worth more than they? That's a pretty good verse.
That's a pretty good verse for us to plug into
the Word of God and say, okay, I'm worrying.
What am I going to do? I have a problem. Man,
things just don't feel like it. I just feel this
stress. What's my diagnosis? Well, my diagnosis
is that I'm worried, okay? We've established
that. So what does Jesus say? Jesus says, take
a deep breath. He says, know this. God loves
you. He cares for you. Look at the way God cares
for the smallest things in the world. The birds
of the sky and the grass of the field, the flowers
of the field. They're here today and they're
gone tomorrow. And yet God provides for them.
They don't worry. How much more so will God?
Provide for you. Now Jesus says here, do not
worry. If Jesus says do not do something and
we do it, then that's a sin. Now we might not
think of worry as a sin. And I'm not telling
you that I have mastered not worrying. I get
it. Because man knows sooner than you stop worrying,
it comes right back. You start worrying again.
But maybe we find comfort in the word of God
today. Maybe you are worried today, and maybe
you just need these words of Jesus of reassurance
that you have to trust the Lord, not depend on
yourself, not get overwhelmed by the things of
the world, but know that God is watching out
for you today. And he may not give you everything
that you want, but he's going to take care of
you. And there are plenty of us in this room.
that could testify to that today. That there
have been seasons in our life that God has taken
care of us. That as a church, that there have
been times that have been tough, that God has
provided and taken care of us. So we plug into
the Word of God, and it helps us to see that
we don't need to worry. If worry is your problem,
this is a good scripture to turn to. Here's another
problem that some of you may face. Anxiety, kind
of in the same family as worry. Does anybody
ever get anxious about anything? Probably all
of us. Boy, we get anxious. We get worked up.
And, man, it's just bad when you have an anxiety
attack. Some of you really had some serious anxiety
attacks, I bet. And, man, that anxiety is overwhelming
because in the midst of our anxiety, we're not
sure how we're going to make it out. What am
I going to do? What do I need to do? And we just
get in this panicked state where we can't do
anything. And we just feel the weight of that.
And some of you come into this building today,
perhaps, and you feel the weight of that anxiety.
Some of you listening online feel the weight
of that anxiety. Here's a great scripture. Okay,
we got a problem. We feel it. We feel, we know
there's a problem. We plug into the word of God.
What does it say? In Philippians chapter four,
verses six and seven, it says, do not be anxious
about anything. Well, that's easier said than
done, right? I can stand up here all day and
tell you don't be anxious, but it's not that
easy. But praise the Lord, not only does the
Bible tell us not to be anxious, it doesn't just
stop there. It tells us what to do. Listen to
what the Scripture says. Don't be anxious about
anything, but in every situation, by prayer and
petition with thanksgiving, present your request
to God. and the peace of God, which transcends
all understanding, will guard your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. Man, that's good advice.
Be anxious for nothing, okay? So what am I going
to do, God? You're telling me not to be anxious.
What do you want me to do? Well, the answer is
pretty simple, and we probably know the answer,
but do you do it? Be anxious for nothing but
in everything. Through prayer and supplication,
let your requests be made known to God. Are you
praying to God about your struggles, about your
anxiety, about the things that have you feeling
this way? Well, the scripture, man, this is a
good scripture to plug into. If you got stuff
going on in your heart and your life, man, you
might want to jot this one down. You may want
to memorize it. I don't do good at memorizing
scriptures, but this is one of the first scriptures
I memorized. And maybe it's good for some of
you to think about and bookmark or memorize.
Because that anxiety, man, it comes. It seems
like it just comes more and more often. But the
cure for that anxiety is to take your problems
to God. Say, God, I need you. I just feel the
weight of this situation in my life, whatever
it may be. God, I need you. God, I feel the weight
of my sin. God, I need you to forgive me. God,
I need you to be my strength. I need you to help
me. And what does it say? That if we pour our
heart out to the Lord, if we let our requests
be made known to God, what does it say? That
we'll experience the peace of God which transcends
all understanding. Boy, in the midst of our struggles
and our anxiety, we say, I don't understand how
I can get out of this. I don't understand how
I can get any freedom from this. God can give
you freedom from it. He can give you a peace
that you can't understand until you have received
it from him. You struggle with anxiety today,
plug into the word of God. The scripture may
help you to get through those tough times. Here's
another problem. Maybe some of you in your life,
you got something going on, you plug into the
word of God and you begin to read about fear.
Boy, I bet we've all been afraid before. Sometimes
we are afraid of things that don't really amount
to a whole lot. We're afraid of the monster under
the bed or whatever it may be. But even those
fears are real to us. Sometimes we're fearful
of more serious things. What if I lose my job
and I can't provide for my family? What if something
happens to my loved one who's in the hospital?
I mean, there are real fears that come up in
our life. Okay, God's put something on my heart.
He's kind of put it on my heart that I need to
go talk to a friend or a family member and share
some scripture with them or pray with them. God,
I don't know if I can do that or not. I'm pretty
afraid. I don't know God. And there's a lot of
things in our life that bring about fear. But
we plug into the Word of God. Here's one thing
the Word of God says about fear. Joshua 1, verse
9. God says, Haven't I commanded you be strong
and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you
go. Now that's pretty reassuring. That's pretty
reassuring because the truth is that you and
I are weak. You know you're weak and I know you're
weak. We're strong to a certain extent, but there
is a weakness that is in us. There are things
that we go up against and we say, I don't know
if I can do this. I don't know that I can make
it. with my loved one who has passed. God, I
don't know that I can make it in this marriage.
God, I don't know that I can make it through
this horrible situation. I don't know that I
can do this thing that you're calling me to,
God. I just don't know. I'm too afraid of what
might happen if I do this or of what the future
may hold for me. And there's a fear that just
kind of grips and holds on to us. Boy, those
words that God spoke to Joshua, those are good
words. He spoke these words when Joshua was about
to lead God's people into the promised land.
Moses had got them right up to the doorstep.
And God said, that's going to be Joshua. You're
going to be the one that's going to do it. So
it's your turn now, Joshua. You're going to lead
my people, which probably was a couple of me
and maybe more by this point of God's people.
It probably was a lot of folks. You're going
to lead them into a foreign land. This land ain't
empty, by the way. There's a lot of people living
there, and they're not going to be happy you're
coming. But you're just going to go in, and you're
going to live there. But don't worry. But don't
worry. This was a scary thing for Joshua. I expect
it would have been. And maybe that's why God
tells him multiple times here in this first chapter.
Do not be afraid, because God says, I will be
with you wherever you go. Maybe you need that
reminder today to know that God will be with
you wherever you go. Here's something we struggle
with. We plug into the word of God in our life
and our struggles. And what does it talk about?
It talks about temptation. Is anybody in here
ever tempted? Absolutely. Now, everybody's temptations
are different. We need to realize that. There
are things that other people do and you say,
I don't know how they can do that. They just
need to stop doing that. Well, hold up a second.
There may be some things that you're doing that
you need to stop doing too. But it's a lot easier
for us to tell everybody they need to stop their
sins. Maybe we need to stop our sins. So temptations
are all around us. They're not all the same.
Some of you may be tempted to lie. Some of you
may be tempted to steal. Whatever your temptation
may be. Our temptations are not all the same,
but they are all temptations nonetheless. What's
the Bible say about temptation? In 1 Corinthians
10, verse 13, it says, No temptation has overtaken
you except what is common to humanity. God is
faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you are able. But with the temptation,
he will also provide a way of escape so that
you are able to bear it. Okay, temptations are
going to come. But praise the Lord for the word
of God because you're going to be struggling.
Maybe this afternoon. Maybe later this week.
Maybe next month. There's going to be a point
in your life where you are going to be tempted
to do something you shouldn't do and you know
you shouldn't do it. You're going to be tempted
when somebody says something to you or does something
to you, you are going to be tempted to open your
mouth and just let them have it. You are going
to be tempted to punch them in the nose. You
are going to be tempted to say something, to
do something. You are going to be tempted in
some way. Them temptations are going to come.
But the Word of God says, look. God's going to
be with you. He's going to give you a way out.
And maybe in that temptation, we need to remember
this verse. We need to plug into the word of
God. We need to remember verses like this and
say, God, I need you to show me the way out.
God, I'm tempted to drive to the bar. God, I'm
passing by. God, I need you to give me a road
to turn off the other way. God, I need a way
to avoid my temptation. God, my mouth is about
to open. God, I need you to help me to have the
strength to walk out of the room. God, show me
the way out. Let me see the way out. Convict
me of the way out. God, I don't want to give
in to this temptation. So God, you need to help
me. And God will help us if we'll seek him. We
don't have to give in to our temptations. There
is a way out. And praise the Lord, we plug into
the word of God and it reminds us of that. How
about freedom? Scripture talks about freedom.
That's something that we probably all seek and
desire. We all have those temptations that we've
given in to just a few more times than we want.
And we just keep giving in to them. And they're
addictions and they're things that we crave.
And it may be a chocolate chip cookie or it may
be that next drink or it may be that next whatever
it is. It may be that thing that we're craving
and that we just keep giving in to that temptation
and it's unhealthy for us in some way, spiritually
or physically, and we just keep giving in and
giving in and giving in and we say, God, I'm
tired of giving in. Well, I want to tell you
today that there is freedom from your sin, whatever
it may be, that temptation, that sin that so
easily ensnares you, there is freedom from that
today. God's Word says in John chapter... 8 verse
36. Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you
will be free indeed. Man, that's a good verse.
You want to be set free today? You can be set
free by Jesus Christ. You don't have to let your
sin get the better of you. You might fail again.
I won't say that you won't give in to that temptation,
but I'll tell you, you can stand up to the enemy.
You can stand up to the temptation with the power
of Jesus Christ, but you cannot do it alone.
But if you will seek him, you will find him.
And you will find freedom that brings a peace
that you have never imagined. There are some
things that some of you may have struggled with
your whole life, but I want to tell you today,
there is freedom in Jesus Christ. And I'm not
telling you it's always going to be easy from
this point forward, but I'm telling you, and
I promise you that if you would seek Jesus Christ
with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength,
that he will give you deliverance and you will
experience a freedom that you have never felt
before. And how do we know these things? We know
them by plugging into the Word of God. And it
reveals stuff to us that maybe we already know
is there, and it reveals other things to us as
we continue to read it that maybe we weren't
aware of, that God said were wrong, or that they
were things that we were doing in our life. How
about depression? Does anybody in here ever feel
depressed? Man, depression's a serious thing.
It gets you down. You don't want to be around
people. You don't want to come to church. You
don't want to read the Word of God. You just,
everybody has given up on you. Everybody's your
enemy. Nothing is going to work out. Your life
is the worst that there's ever been in the history
of the world. And you just, you see no hope in
life. There is no glimmer of hope in your life.
Nobody cares for you. Man, when we get in that
place, that's when depression begins to set in.
Nobody cares about me. God doesn't even care
about me. Well, I want to tell you that's a lie
today. God does care about you. God cares about
you more than you could possibly realize. How
do we know that? Well, we know that when we plug
into the Word of God. 1 Peter 5, 7 says, casting
all your care on him because he cares for you.
There's a lot of cares that we have. Man, there's
a lot of burden in this room. There's a lot of
people in here. And if we begin to make a list
of the cares and the worries and the anxieties
and the burdens that we have, we'd be here all
day writing those things out. And you may say,
nobody cares. But I want to tell you that God
cares today. He wants you to put your cares on
Him. God cares today. He loves you today. He
has not forgotten you today. If you would just
seek Him, I'm telling you that I'm not guaranteeing
you that your life is going to just magically
get better. But I'm telling you when you seek
the Lord, you're going to find a strength and
a freedom and a peace that you never knew existed.
Don't let your depression get the best of you
today. Know that God cares about you. What else
does the Bible tell us when we begin to plug
in? Well, it talks a little bit about greed and
the love of money. 1 Timothy 6, verse 9 says,
But those who want to be rich fall into temptation,
a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires
which plunge people into ruin and destruction.
Watch out. Now, Most of us in this room, we would
probably say, oh, we're not rich. Well, hold
up a second. Maybe you're not rich compared to
some of the people you know that have the big
mansions and the fancy cars or the private jets,
but there's a lot of people in this world. And
I would venture to say that most Americans are
probably richer than 95 % of the people in the
world. There's a lot of people in the world that
have not eaten today. They will not eat today.
And I would venture to say that most of you have
something in your pantry and your refrigerator.
It may not be what you want, but you probably
have something in there. And if you don't, just
hit me up after church and we're going to see
that you're took care of. But if we compare ourselves
to the billionaires of the world, then we're
not rich. But when we begin to look in the rest
of the world, perhaps we are richer than we think.
Boy, we begin to accumulate that wealth, and
we begin to accumulate those materialistic things,
and pretty soon we just want more and more and
more, and we become greedy. Boy, people become
greedy. Guess what happens? People start doing
a whole lot of crazy stuff for money. People
do crazy stuff for money. I ain't talking about
just sticking their hand at the cash register
at the grocery store. I mean, people will come
up with plots to kill people for money. I mean,
that's what greed will do. And maybe we don't
realize we have a love of money. But boy, we
plug into the word of God and it begins to kind
of run through our soul. And all of a sudden,
it makes us aware that maybe there's a problem
in our life that we did not know was there. That
error code pops up. Uh -oh, you've got the greed
error going on in your life. You need to fix
this. Why? Because that greed is going to lead
to your destruction. For the love of money is
the root of all kinds of evil. Now, money in
and of itself is not evil. No more than a gun's
evil. But boy, when you begin to use it for evil,
when you begin to use it to do things that are
not what God desires, when you begin to trust
in those things of the world, all of the sudden
we have a problem. So praise God. That if we
would just read the word of God, there is so
much instruction there. Maybe we don't want to
hear it. Maybe we know there's some things in
our life that shouldn't be there, some things
that need to be fixed. And we just take our little
black tape and we just put it right over that
check engine light because we don't want to deal
with it. But the things that we don't want to
deal with will destroy us spiritually. So if
we know things are there, then we need to seek
a solution for those things. And we need to begin
to get into God's word and say, okay, God, these
are the things I know I'm struggling with. Help
me with these things and reveal to me the things
that I'm not aware of. And the moment we plug
into God's word, it begins to diagnose our problems.
And praise the Lord. Here's another one of our
things that we may struggle with. Pride. Anybody
struggle with that? Maybe you do. Maybe you say,
I'm not proud. I'm as humble as anybody in this
world. Well, maybe you need to listen to this
next verse. Maybe you are a little proud. Maybe
pride creeps into our hearts more than we realize.
What does the scripture say? Proverbs chapter
11, verse 2. When pride comes, disgrace follows.
But with humility comes wisdom. Okay, pride may
pop itself up, but be aware what's going to follow
that pride. It's going to be disgrace. Boy, pride
comes before a fall. So the moment we start thinking
that we are all that and a bag of chips, yeah,
I'm so cool, I'm the best there's ever been,
ain't nothing going to happen to me, you better
watch out because we begin to let our guard down.
We begin to make foolish decisions. We begin
to trust in ourself and not God. And the next
thing you know, we have fallen quick. I mean
quick. So, man. If you've not read the book of
Proverbs, I would encourage you to start 2026
off reading the book of Proverbs. It'd be a great
book to start and read through in the month of
January and February and March and April all
the way to 2027. Because you begin to read things
like that in the word of God and it begins to
reveal things about foolishness in there. And
all of a sudden you realize, wait a minute, I
might be the fool. We don't like to think of
ourselves as the fool, but when we plug into
the word of God, it says the fool does X, Y,
and Z. And you say, wait a minute, I do all those
things. And so the word of God humbles us if
we'll read it. But boy, we don't plug into the
word of God. We don't address our pride. Next
thing you know, we're falling quick. A couple
more. Another. that some of us may deal with
is loneliness. Anybody ever here feel lonely?
It kind of goes along with some of the rest of
the things we talked about, depression and fear.
Those things all kind of go together, but sometimes
we feel lonely. Sometimes we feel like we're
walking through this world on our own. But again,
we plug into the Word of God, we realize that
that's not true. Psalm... Verse 4 says, Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with
me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Boy,
you're walking through some dark valleys, some
of you. Maybe you are today. Maybe you have in
the past. Maybe you will in the future. Boy,
we walk through those valleys and it feels like
we're a lone wolf. We're on this journey. This
is dark. This is scary. Death is upon me. All
these fears, all these struggles are upon me.
But what does the Lord say in the Psalm? But
thou art with me. David says, thou art with me.
God, I know that I am not alone. I am walking
through this dark valley in my life, but I know
that I am not alone. Man, the Bible is full of
good verses like this. that remind us that we
are not alone, that God loves us, that God cares
for us. But the only way we can know these things
is to read the Word of God, to be plugged into
the Word of God. Here's one some of us may struggle
with, lust. Anybody ever struggle with lust before?
Don't raise your hand. Here's what Jesus says,
Matthew 5, verse 28. But I tell you, everyone
who looks at a woman to lust for her has already
committed adultery within his heart. Well, that's
pretty serious. Boy, we've all probably looked
at somebody, men, women, had an unpure thought,
thought something we shouldn't have thought,
let our mind go a little too far with that thought.
What does Jesus say? He says, if you've lusted,
you've committed adultery in your heart. Well,
what is he doing here? He's saying your sin's
worse than you think it is. You think, boy, I
could do this little thing. This isn't hurting
anything. I'm just looking. I'm not following
through. I'm not touching. But what Jesus says
is your sin is worse than you think it is. And
these little things you do are having more of
an effect on your heart than you realize that
they're having. Galatians chapter 5 verse 16
says, I say then, walk by the Spirit and you
will not carry out the desire of the flesh. All
right, we have these fleshly lustful desires
and fleshly desires to do plenty of other things.
So what does Scripture say? Okay, here's the
problem. You lust in your heart and guess what?
It's worse than you think. But the Scripture
also says, don't walk in the flesh, walk in the
Spirit. Well, how do we walk in the Spirit? Well,
one, we have to accept Jesus Christ. We have
to have the Holy Spirit in us. We have to know
the Word of God. So we have to plug into the
Word of God. And finally, there's plenty of things
we could go through. This is a short list, but
anger. Does anybody in here ever struggle with
anger? Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. Here's
what the Scripture says, Proverbs 14, verse 29.
A patient person shows great understanding, but
a quick -tempered one promotes foolishness. Are
you quick -tempered? Are you quick to anger?
Are you wise or are you foolish? Proverbs chapter
15 verse 1 says, A gentle answer turns away anger,
but a harsh word stirs up wrath. Do you struggle
with anger in your life? Well, you plug into
the word of God, those proverbs are pretty good
reminder for us that we need to keep our mouth
shut. Now, this is not an exhaustive list of
all of our sins. And maybe you struggle with
some of these things that we've looked at today.
Or maybe you struggle with other things. But
I want to tell you the word of God is good. If
you would plug into it and just say, God, I need
a diagnostic test. God, I want to open my heart.
up to you i want to read your word i want to
let it speak to me and reveal things that i need
to see god i want to see what's going on in my
heart and we begin to read god's word and it
begins to work on our heart and it begins to
reveal things to us here's what it'll reveal
to us romans chapter 3 verse 10 says there was
no one righteous not even one that's the diagnosis
for you and i Is that we are evil and that we
are sinful people. That we have plugged into
the word of God and it has diagnosed that there
is a big problem and that is our sinfulness.
No different than when you go to the mechanic
and they plug in that diagnostic tool and they
come back and they tell you that your spider
valve actuating agitator is broke. You're going
to have to replace it in your car. They come
back to you and they say, we have run this test.
We have diagnosed that there is a big problem
that you have to fix right now. Boy, don't you
love it? You go to the shop. You get your oil
changed or you're getting something done. And
they come in there. Y 'all have probably had
this happen before. They come in there and they've
got your in -cabin air filter. And they're holding
this thing up. Boy, it's covered in dust. And
they're flopping this thing around. And they
say, you're going to have to replace this in
-cabin air filter. You are breathing in this
air. Do you know how dangerous this is? I said,
I wouldn't even put my dog in this car. And you're
probably riding your kids around. You better
change this in -cabin air filter. How much is
it? It's $50. You need to change this thing.
I'm surprised you made it over here today alive,
breathing in this air. Boy, and they come. They
say, you've got a big problem. You've got to
fix this. You've got to fix it right now. And
I say, okay, put it in there. $50 here. Put it
in there. I need it. Thanks for saving my life.
And then they come back and they say. I'm not
making this up. And they say, we've also got
this disinfectant spray that we'll spray on it
for $15 to kill anything that goes through it.
I said, look, here's my card. Take $30. Spray
it twice. Whatever you got to do. Sometimes we
go to the mechanic shop and their diagnosis is
not really too serious. Nothing that we need
to take very serious. But when it comes to the
word of God, And when it comes to our soul, and
God's word begins to speak to us, and we begin
to see the dirtiness and the nastiness there,
it's far worse than our in -cabin air filter.
It's a serious problem that needs to be dealt
with. So the diagnosis is that we are sinners,
that our hearts are evil as they can be. That
we do and we think and we say things that we
shouldn't do. That God does not want us to do.
That God does not approve of. That God says don't
do these things and we do them and we're so full
of evil and sin and it weighs us down. That's
the diagnosis. But here is the fix. Here's the
fix. Ezekiel chapter 36 verses 26 and 27. I will
give you a new heart and put a new spirit within
you. I will remove your heart of stone and give
you a heart of flesh. I will place my spirit
within you and cause you to follow my statutes
and carefully observe my ordinances. What's our
diagnosis? Our diagnosis is our heart is horrible.
But what's the fix? Your heart's horrible, but
here's what it's going to take to fix it. It's
going to take a new heart. And that's exactly
what God told his people. In Ezekiel. He said,
I want to take out your heart of stone. I want
to take out your sinful heart. I want to put
my spirit within you. I want to transform you.
I want to make you into a new man, into a new
woman. I don't want you to live in your sin anymore.
I want to give you freedom. I want to show you
love. I want to give you grace and I want to
give you peace. God says, you got a bad heart,
but I want to change that. I want to change that
into something beautiful and something pure and
something that's been washed as white as snow.
And we'll go to the mechanic shop, and they come
back with their diagnosis and the fix. They tell
us, here's what you need, and what's the first
question we ask? How much is that going to cost?
You may be asking that question today. You said,
I get it. I didn't even need to have a diagnostic.
I know my heart is evil. We know our heart's
evil. We know we need a new heart. What's that
going to cost? It's not going to cost you anything.
But it costs Jesus everything. Jesus Christ gave
his life on a cross so that you could be forgiven.
He shed his blood so that if you would Call out
to him if you would seek him, if you would repent
of your sins, that he would forgive you of those
sins, that he would wash those things away, that
the Holy Spirit would come and indwell in you.
If you would just seek him today, if you would
just seek his word today, if you would just plug
in to the word of God today and let it speak
to you, you may find that there's a lot of fixes
for your soul and for your heart. that God wants
to work in your life if you would just let Him.
You may find that there are some things that
God wants to work on that maybe you didn't even
know were there if you would just plug in to
the Word of God and let Him. All you have to
do is follow Jesus Christ. He's paid it all.
He's paid the price. He's covered the cost so
that your heart can be made new. 1 Peter 2, verse
24 says, He himself bore our sins in his body
on the tree, so that having died to sins, we
might live for righteousness. You have been healed
by his wounds. Have you been healed today? Spiritually,
he wants to heal you. He wants to forgive you.
You don't have to give in to the temptations.
You don't have to be overcome by fear and anxiety.
You don't have to feel alone or afraid. You don't
have to live in depression. You don't have to
live in addiction. Jesus Christ has paid the
price. If you would only ask him for forgiveness
today, he would forgive your sins. Let's pray.
God, we thank you for your good word. We thank
you that we can look at it, that it can encourage
us, that it can correct us, that it can convict
us, dear Lord, that it can guide us. God, we
have to be in your word to be able to experience
these truths. So I pray, dear Lord, that if there
is one here today that does not know Jesus Christ,
that maybe there was a passage we read today.
Maybe there was a truth that was spoken today
that just hit home. Maybe there are some today
that are struggling with their fear and their
depression and their temptations and addictions.
The things that are common to all of us, dear
Lord, we all have these struggles, but maybe
there are some today, God, that are just struggling
so hard they just need some help. And I pray
that they would know that that help comes through
Jesus Christ. I pray that they would seek him
right now. That they would pray to you. That
they would ask for forgiveness today. God, maybe
there are some that have never known Jesus Christ.
They've never trusted him. But maybe today they
realize that their sins need to be forgiven.
Maybe they realize that the peace that they so
desperately seek is found only in Jesus Christ.
God, maybe there's some in here today and maybe
they're yours. But maybe they just hadn't been
in your word. Maybe they've heard it. Now you
know it. But maybe they've been putting a little
piece of black tape over all those warning lights
that's been going off. I pray today, dear Lord,
that they'd rip it off. that they would open
their heart, that they would let your word speak
to them, your spirit would work on them, God,
that they would repent. God, I pray that everyone
in here today will know that you love them, that
you care for them, and that Jesus Christ died
on the cross. So God, I pray that you would help
us to be in your word, and I pray that your word
would do a mighty work in our hearts today and
every day moving forward. And I ask these things
in Jesus' name. Amen.