1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:02,720 Hey, man, it's good to be in the House of the Lord. 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,520 See each of you today in the House of the Lord. 3 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:07,440 Amen. My wife has already went through 4 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,320 all the list of names, but we are so, so glad to have each one 5 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,480 of you. Years ago, we used to preach for 6 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,760 a elderly couple and whenever they talked about their family, 7 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:20,160 they didn't call them their tribes. 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,880 She always says, well, my people, she said my people, she 9 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,160 would say. And so we're glad to have the 10 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,440 Nos people. We're glad to have the Nos 11 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:32,880 people this morning, Amen. Amen. 12 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,760 In the House of the Lord. So good, so good to see each of 13 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,560 you, some that have been gone that are back, Amen. 14 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,080 We're glad to have you back. I don't know if you noticed this 15 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,880 morning, but our world's greatest grandmother, Sister 16 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:46,960 Cox, had four of her grandchildren with her this 17 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:48,680 morning. Amen. 18 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:50,600 That that's how she gets the title. 19 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,320 I'm just saying that's just how it works, Amen. 20 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:55,480 So we're glad to have them with us today as well. 21 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,360 I'm going to turn to the book of Job this morning. 22 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,720 Job chapter #20 and we'll look at the word of the Lord. 23 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:07,280 We had celebration around here yesterday for Bishop and Sister 24 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,920 McGee celebrating 60 years of marriage. 25 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:17,360 And so we honor them today for 60 years of marriage. 26 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,480 Amen. Going to start reading verse #12 27 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,040 today, Book of Job. I know there are some that are 28 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,800 familiar with all the tragedy and the suffering that Job went 29 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,640 through in his life. And that's not really my focus 30 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,440 today. My focus is Job. 31 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,360 Had three friends and each one took a turn. 32 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,200 They would say stuff to Job and sometimes what they had to say 33 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,560 was true. It was just not applicable to 34 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:46,840 Job. All right. 35 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,720 And So what we're picking up here in verse #12 is something 36 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,280 that is true. It just wasn't necessarily what 37 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,920 Job was contended with or the purpose of him. 38 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,520 But it doesn't retract or detract from the fact that it 39 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:02,960 was true. And so I wanted to see here. 40 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:08,479 This is what his friends so far had to say in verse #12 He says 41 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:13,840 the wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under 42 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:19,000 his tongue, though he spirit forsake it not, but keep it 43 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,920 still within his mouth, yet his meat and his bowels is turned. 44 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:28,720 It is the gall of ass, which was a serpent within him. 45 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,240 He has swallowed down riches, and he had vomited them up 46 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,320 again. God shall cast them out of his 47 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,920 belly. He shall suck the poison of ass. 48 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:41,760 The viper's tongue shall slay him. 49 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:46,200 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and 50 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,680 butter. So he's describing something 51 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:55,200 that a person would take and want to savor, but whenever it 52 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:57,680 got to their stomach, it was like bitter. 53 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,080 And by virtue of savoring what they were savoring, they were 54 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:07,720 missing some other things that were there tasted good to them 55 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,880 to begin with. But it didn't end that way. 56 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,560 For that matter, nothing that we taste is forever. 57 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:20,640 It seems it's fleeting. So a little while this morning I 58 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:25,160 want to speak to you on this. The flavor of forever. 59 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:31,280 The flavor of for in a world of where it where it's always 60 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:36,040 temporary for a taste, I want to talk about the flavor of 61 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:37,600 forever. Amen. 62 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:41,160 Can we go to the Lord right now? Father, I thank you Jesus, God, 63 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:43,680 for the songs that have been sung here for the people that 64 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:45,600 have gathered here on this Sunday morning. 65 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:48,760 I pray, O God, that you're able to touch our hearts and touch 66 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,960 our minds anew and afresh by your word. 67 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:52,880 God. We know, Lord, the things of the 68 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,800 Scripture, Lord, that Lord, can, Lord, apply to each of us. 69 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,040 We can learn of them. God help us today to learn. 70 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,680 I pray God of your word and of you in the name of Jesus Christ 71 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,960 that I pray and the church say Amen, Amen. 72 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,560 You may be seated this morning in Jesus name, the flavor of 73 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,800 forever. Have you ever noticed in today's 74 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,839 world, particularly today, it doesn't matter whether it is ice 75 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:24,600 cream, chips, coffee, whatever it may be, there are so many 76 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:26,640 different flavors out there today. 77 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,680 Coffee shops right now are rolling out the old pumpkin 78 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:33,840 spice, you know, for the fall. And there's peppermint mocha 79 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:37,760 that's showing up now, you know, winners already, you know, just 80 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,360 right around the corner. Salted caramel drinks 81 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,240 practically now all year long take place. 82 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,400 Ice cream parlors. They have some of their favorite 83 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,360 flavors they like to present. And sometimes you got to take a 84 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,880 date, a double take on some of these flavors. 85 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,560 Like they have things out there like birthday cake, you know, 86 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,000 cotton candy. Birthday cake used to be 87 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:00,800 something you could only have once a year and that's when it 88 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,360 was your birthday. But now you can have it whenever 89 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:04,480 you want it. You can go get birthday cake or 90 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,680 you can get cotton candy and get bubble gum, bubble gum, ice 91 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:09,160 cream. They even got some out there 92 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,960 That's garlic. Any garlic lovers out there? 93 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,200 I guess not. OK, garlic or even sometimes 94 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:16,320 bacon. Now there we go. 95 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,440 We everybody likes bacon. Give me a good old bacon 96 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:20,800 flavored ice cream. What's good with that soda 97 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:22,920 companies, right? They have their their cherry 98 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:26,040 vanilla, they have their mango urbanero. 99 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,680 I'm just saying all these different flavors, pickle 100 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:33,160 flavor, soft drinks, they're there folks. 101 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:35,080 Amen. And don't even get me started 102 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:37,000 with all the seasonal candy, right? 103 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,760 Peppermint bark, pumpkin truffles, right? 104 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:41,880 Someone's getting hungry right now. 105 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:46,120 You now and not only that flavor and color right Easter peeps. 106 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:48,320 You can get them almost in any color and they shouldn't even 107 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,480 exist some of those colors. And so we live in a world of 108 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,120 endless flavor. You can taste almost anything 109 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,600 you want for a moment and it's exciting to do so your your 110 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:01,800 taste buds light up, you savor it. 111 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:06,760 But the catch is this is that none of those flavors last, that 112 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,600 the pumpkin spice will disappear with, with November, maybe 113 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,640 December coming. And the minty mocha is gone, of 114 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:17,480 course, by February. And then that weird bacon ice 115 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:21,600 cream, if you ever dare to have it, it melts away and it's no 116 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,160 longer there. Every sweet, every spicy, every 117 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:30,160 strange delight, all of them are just temporary for a temporary 118 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,160 moment, for a temporary pleasure. 119 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,640 And it's eventually gone. And life, in many regards, is a 120 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,880 lot like that. We chase in our everyday lives. 121 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:43,800 We chase experiences and indulgences and pleasures that 122 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,600 seem to be sweet, but they fade with time. 123 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,480 The thrill of them, the excitement of them, the flavor 124 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,320 of them, if you will, they just do not last you. 125 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,320 You try to savor it, but it just slips away, leaving you wanting 126 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:00,720 more. But I'm asking today, what if 127 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,080 there was a flavor that never faded? 128 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,480 What if there was a taste that did not change with the season, 129 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,800 that that did not disappoint, that never ran out? 130 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,720 What if there was a satisfaction so deep, so complete, that 131 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,600 nothing in this world could compare to it? 132 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:22,040 So far, so far, the friend of Job, he's right in here in our 133 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:26,000 text, and he's using imagery about eating and about taste, 134 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,160 along with things like the process of digestion. 135 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:31,880 And if you look at the few verses that I read, you start 136 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:36,200 seeing words like sweet and mouth and tongue and meat and 137 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:42,520 bowels and suck and swallow and I know vomit and belly and honey 138 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:46,320 and butter, all these things relating to like taste and to, 139 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,160 to the digestive system and to, to eating. 140 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,560 And so, so far as using this image, because what he's trying 141 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:57,600 to relay is this is that people sometimes enjoy wickedness and 142 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:00,760 ungodly things and even sinful things because we're born into a 143 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,320 world of sin. Just like they enjoy their food. 144 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:08,040 They, they put it in their mouth and they taste it and they roll 145 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,640 it under their tongue and they spare it. 146 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,000 They don't forsake it. They're wanting to keep that 147 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,160 savory taste upon their mouth and in their tongue as long as 148 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,480 they can. And that's that's the reason why 149 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,520 even in the book of Psalms, we see this over and over again. 150 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,840 The psalmist said that a man's mouth was full of cursing and 151 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:31,040 deceit and fraud, and that he liked to hold under his tongue 152 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:35,559 mischief and vanity because he wanted to savor it. 153 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,799 The Bible says Solomon said concerning the one he loved, He 154 00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:44,200 said Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb. 155 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:49,080 Honey and milk are under thy tongue. 156 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,920 It's, it's a little provocative, but he's really describing a 157 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,600 very passionate kiss to his love that not only was it upon her 158 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,960 lips, but he wanted to savor it. It was honey under her tongue. 159 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:02,880 He wanted that to last a little while. 160 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,360 It's fascinating when you talk about something under the 161 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,280 tongue, and it brought back a childhood memory for me. 162 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,800 Whenever we were growing up, we we were poor. 163 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:14,160 At least that's what mom and Dad told us, that we were even too 164 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,160 poor to pay attention. And so we were poor growing up 165 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:21,000 and we didn't have like all these board games or card games 166 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,480 or stuff like that. Those were limited in a family 167 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,320 of seven. All right, So we came up with 168 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,720 our own games. Dad would be very creative and 169 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:30,280 come up with some games in the house. 170 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,320 And so one of the games that we played around the McGee house 171 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:38,400 was all about hard butterscotch candies, the little disc with 172 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:40,520 flat ones, hard butterscotch candy. 173 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:42,440 And this was Dad's game for all the kids. 174 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,280 Everybody got a butterscotch candy at the same time. 175 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,120 You put it in your mouth. And the one that can make the 176 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,080 butterscotch last in their mouth the longest, they won. 177 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,920 Now looking back on that, I think sometimes that was one way 178 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:57,520 for him to try to keep his quiet. 179 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:03,240 And but he, he would give us these and we would put them in 180 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,400 our mouth. And so your saliva is doing its 181 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:06,280 thing. It's going. 182 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,520 But I learned after playing this game so many times that if I 183 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,840 push it under my tongue, a lot of times it would last longer 184 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,480 than than what it it would typically last. 185 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,120 And not only that, the longer something is your mouth, the 186 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:23,400 longer you can savor it, but the longer I can make it last. 187 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,320 I think that's what so far was Speaking of a little 188 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,800 metaphorically here in the Scripture, how humanity likes to 189 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:32,720 try to take all the things of the world and just place it in 190 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,200 their mouth and they put it strategically in place. 191 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,640 It's just so they can savor it a little longer because they know 192 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,160 it's never going to last. Try to taste it just a little 193 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,520 longer. It's the same thing we see from 194 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:46,720 Scripture, from Genesis to Revelations. 195 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,880 It's the savoring that Eve tried to do with the tree that was in 196 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,200 the garden. She studies it, she admires it, 197 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:57,400 she desires it. The Bible says she even savors 198 00:10:57,400 --> 00:10:59,840 the thought of what it could offer her. 199 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:04,400 It was pleasant to the eyes and it was desired to make one wise. 200 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:07,520 It's the savoring impact. Wouldn't you hold on to it just 201 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:11,120 a little longer? It's Lot's wife leaving Sodom 202 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:15,960 and looking back, not for a glimpse, but gazing back up on 203 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,400 that city that she had lived in, wanting to savor it. 204 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,480 It's David on the roof rooftop, right? 205 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:26,640 He's there and he's lingering on the rooftop as Bathsheba base 206 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,800 below him in eyesight. He's just wondering, if you 207 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:33,360 will, to take that sight and roll it under his tongue. 208 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,600 Just just make it last and savor a little bit longer. 209 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:42,280 It's the flirting indulgence, a man of Samson whose head is on 210 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,840 Delilah's lap, and he's prolonging that moment by 211 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:48,960 telling her everything else where his strength is and not 212 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,320 not really giving it away because he's savor. 213 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,960 He's wanting to taste it just a little bit longer. 214 00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:00,560 It's the sweetness that even the nation of Israel had in their 215 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:05,440 tongue around their golden calf. As the Bible says, they ate and 216 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:09,480 they drank and they dance. They're wanting to delight in 217 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:13,280 what should have made them sick and will later. 218 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:16,280 It's played out in the story of the New Testament. 219 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,640 There's a man by the name of Herod who took off the head of 220 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:23,560 John the Baptist, but there's a girl there, Herodias daughter, 221 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:26,840 that's dancing. And the Bible says that this 222 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,880 man, Amen, found pleasure in that dance. 223 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,800 He's wanting it to last, but it doesn't always last. 224 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:39,560 Even Judas, the betrayer of the Lord Jesus Christ, he wants to 225 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:43,400 row the possibility of the prophet that he got from selling 226 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:48,440 out the Lord under his tongue. But that savor, that taste just 227 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:53,600 will not last. And so far emphasizes, he says 228 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,360 that sweetness, that pleasantness, he says it's only 229 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,560 there for a moment. And he says, here's the danger. 230 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:05,280 In order to keep it, in order to savor it, he says you must not 231 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:12,480 swallow it. The Bible says there's sometimes 232 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,080 there's sweetness to to wrongs in our life. 233 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:21,040 Proverbs says that stolen waters are sweet, bread eaten in secret 234 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:25,040 are pleasant, but so far makes a distinction here. 235 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,600 He says what's in the mouth? There's a distinction between 236 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:33,200 what happens in the mouth and what happens in the bowels, He 237 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:34,760 said. There's a sweetness in the 238 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,720 mouth, but he says the meat in the bowels is turned. 239 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,760 It's not as sweet as it was when it was in the mouth. 240 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:47,520 It's turned bitter. He says it's turned into the the 241 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:50,320 poison, if you will, of a serpent. 242 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:52,120 Amen. And he says, so if you want to 243 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:54,720 keep savoring it, you got to keep it in your mouth. 244 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,920 But if you swallow it, it will turn what was sweet to the 245 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,720 mouth, what was sweet to the mouth will become bitter to the 246 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,440 stomach. And so the advice that he gives 247 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:08,440 them concerning consuming wickedness or even sin is don't 248 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,120 swallow, don't, don't internalize it. 249 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:12,480 Don't. Don't embrace it. 250 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:15,600 Don't make it a part of your body in your life because 251 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,800 temporarily it's already have an impact, but if you fully accept 252 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:24,360 it inside, that which was sweet is going to turn sour. 253 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,000 Ladies and gentlemen, I think we've all had experiences where 254 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,480 we thought there was something sweet to something that we have 255 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:35,800 tasted in our world and our society, only to find out days 256 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,800 from there, months from there, that we wish we never put it in 257 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:42,280 our mouth, wish we never wrote it under our tongue, wish we 258 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,720 never had any introduction to it, to our lips because it 259 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:49,760 doesn't always stay sweet. It can't always continue. 260 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:52,920 It's not a perpetual sweet taste up on our lips. 261 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,720 They say if you play something under your tongue, this is 262 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,400 science, that there's more blood vessels and stuff underneath 263 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,960 your tongue in order to allow that thing to absorb into your 264 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:07,120 bloodstream, and it allows it then to bypass your digestive 265 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,120 system. I thought so far knew what he 266 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,200 was talking about. He was telling people, hey, if 267 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:15,760 you can bypass the bitterness of what happens in the belly if you 268 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:17,880 put it under your tongue, maybe you'll get by. 269 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,360 But if you swallow it, you can't bypass it. 270 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,680 And folks, there's not anything I've ever put in my mouth that I 271 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,360 haven't had some saliva that go down my throat. 272 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:31,480 It's going to get to my belly. I cannot bypass, if you will, 273 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:36,120 that thing that will turn bitter from sweet from my mouth to my 274 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:41,760 belly. So far said, he said one. 275 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:46,520 And he was speaking about riches gained unjustly, but it really 276 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,080 could be any wickedness or sin. He says he'll get in your belly. 277 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:53,200 It'll turn so much. And I know this is graphic, he 278 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:55,880 says, But you'll vomit it back out. 279 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:02,680 And with that, you'll regret the results of having put it in your 280 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:05,320 mouth. But here's here's the scary 281 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:07,880 part. You don't like the consequence, 282 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:16,240 but you still crave the flavor. And so as the Old New Testament 283 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:20,320 and Old Testament Proverbs says, then we are like washed pigs 284 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,200 going back to wallow in the mire. 285 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:27,280 We are like dogs going back to our own vomit because although 286 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,040 we don't like the consequences, there's just something about the 287 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:35,200 initial flavor that draws us back and draws us in, and we 288 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:37,440 want to savor it just one more time. 289 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:40,760 We're willing to deal with the consequence just to get a little 290 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:44,160 bit more flavor. Another little savory moment, if 291 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,040 you will. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 292 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,760 and verse 17, bread of deceit is sweet to a man. 293 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:55,320 But afterwards, and his mouth shall be filled with gravel. 294 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:58,560 It was sweet in the mouth. But afterwards, it was like 295 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,640 having a mouth full of gravel. I, I remember doing that as a 296 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:03,120 kid. If you never sucked on a rock, 297 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:04,480 you just haven't lived growing up. 298 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,640 Hey, man. But nonetheless, it's gritty, 299 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,119 it's metallic, it's bitter. It scrapes your teeth and your 300 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:13,920 tongue and it grinds the teeth. It has an unpleasant taste. 301 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,359 He says it starts sweet, but it'll end like gravel that's in 302 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,960 your mouth, folks. It is the story I know. 303 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:25,359 We see the savory thing that Eve seen in the garden, but when she 304 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,200 and her husband realized they were naked and that they would 305 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:34,240 be disbarred from paradise, that which was sweet had turned 306 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,680 bitter. I know Lot 1 Lots Wife went to 307 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:42,000 look back one more time. But we have the forever memorial 308 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,560 of lots Wife turning to a pillar salt. 309 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:50,600 The sweet had turned bitter. We had Bathsheba. 310 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:53,160 Hey man, David had in her company. 311 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:58,560 It would play out in havoc and lost in David's family, four of 312 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,440 his sons. Where did the Bible the parables 313 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:03,880 made? He would lose four of his sons 314 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:08,560 as a result of that. It started sweet, but it ended 315 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,160 up bitter. The sweetness of Delilah's lap 316 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,560 where Sampson's head was had. It was the poison of gold 317 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,800 because Sampson's going to be led by a boy because his eyes 318 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,800 sight has been taken, his head has been shaved. 319 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:29,280 He's being made a sport of that which was sweet turned sour. 320 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:33,920 They're going around the golden calf. 321 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:37,080 This is the best thing ever. But the Bible says in one day, 322 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:42,000 3000, men of the Israelites lost their life around that 323 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,520 pleasurable thing, around that golden calf. 324 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,400 It was sweet, but it turned sour. 325 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,400 And the same thing in the New Testament where the Bible says 326 00:18:53,400 --> 00:19:02,040 it pleased Herod, it says later it made him sorry the profits 327 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:08,200 from selling Jesus. He ends up Judas throws him back 328 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,680 to the high priest. Those very pieces of silver 329 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:17,040 become the purchase price for a burial ground that Judas will 330 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:21,040 find himself in after he's taken his own life on the gallows. 331 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:28,520 Oh, it's sweet, but it doesn't stay sweet. 332 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,040 And so we're like, man, we'd just be better off. 333 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:39,840 Just keep it in our mouth where I can savor it as long as I can 334 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,720 because I understand it. It really can't promise much, 335 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,800 but Moses in the Old Testament caught a glimpse of this concept 336 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,960 of something being sweet and changing to bitter. 337 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,560 And in the New Testament we hear his thoughts and the opinions of 338 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:58,680 Moses on what took place in that day. 339 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:03,560 Because he was made, if you will, in line to the throne of 340 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:07,120 Pharaoh by Pharaoh's daughter, taking him and rearing him and 341 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:09,960 raising him and being taught by the Egyptians. 342 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:14,200 The Bible says though somewhere in Moses is alive, he refused to 343 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,120 be called. The son of Pharaoh's daughter 344 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,920 choosing rather to suffer the affliction with the people of 345 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:26,520 God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season. 346 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,400 What are you saying? I'm saying the Bible never says 347 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:34,280 there's no pleasure in sin. Never says that. 348 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:43,200 But it does deny the duration, the duration of that pleasure. 349 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:45,720 I'm born into sin. I'm a human being. 350 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:51,120 I was born into sin as a Sinner, and I strive as a Sinner when I 351 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:55,320 was born into this world, to prolong the pleasurable side of 352 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,720 my humanity, the pleasurable side of sin. 353 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,360 But I got to understand it won't last. 354 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:04,680 I'll have pleasure, yes, but it won't last. 355 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:05,880 That's right. Why? 356 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:11,040 The psalmist said something else in contrast to the seasonable of 357 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:17,040 sin, the fleeting pleasure of sin, he said of God, oh, taste 358 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:23,840 and see that the Lord is good and he said at his right hand 359 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:28,200 are pleasures forevermore. Folks, do you realize what's 360 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,560 going on? You can either have the pleasure 361 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:34,560 of sin for a season or you can have the pleasure of the divide 362 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,200 forevermore. It's all about temporary and 363 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:44,480 eternal. It's So what? 364 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,760 Say yes, you can taste it, You can savor it, but the thing with 365 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,800 the Lord Jesus Christ is one that's touched your lips, one 366 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,440 that's touched your life. It does not lose its flavor. 367 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,920 It does not lose its intensity. It does not lose its impact it 368 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,440 and that's how as humanity we get caught in the trap. 369 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:13,560 We got to go from one thing to one thing to one thing to one 370 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,520 thing. It happens to see it all the 371 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,200 time. Try this that don't work. 372 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:22,840 Only bring satisfaction in life for a little while. 373 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,240 It's the new car, new car man. I got to get a better car new 374 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:28,440 house. That's all right. 375 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,640 Got to get a bigger house, better job, car, incorporate. 376 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:35,000 No, I got to get more money. New relationship. 377 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,920 Come on. Yes, what is it? 378 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:43,920 All these things are just trying to savor something that won't 379 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,800 last. But the old timers used to tell 380 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,600 me it gets sweeter. Speaking of the Lord, he gets 381 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:56,400 sweeter and sweeter as the days go on. 382 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,800 It's not fleeting. It's not losing intensity. 383 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:03,640 It's becoming more intense. That's the difference between 384 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,560 the world and your God. That's the difference between 385 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,480 being born in a life of sin and being redeemed. 386 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,760 It's the difference between temporary and eternal. 387 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:28,920 That's the flavor of forever. So while I'm attempting, I mean 388 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:35,120 think from what would you prefer, a season of pleasure or 389 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:42,600 a forever pleasure? I know the answer to that, but 390 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,040 we're trying to derive pleasure, some lasting pleasure from 391 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:51,920 something that's seasonal. Sister Ray, Sin will never be 392 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,600 able to produce the forever pleasure. 393 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:00,720 Can I tell you today? And I'm a little aggravated 394 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:06,560 because we've been duped by sin. All right, come on. 395 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:10,000 This whole imagery of being sweet in the mouth but poisonous 396 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,120 in the belly. It's strange. 397 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:15,560 And I'll tell you why it's strange because naturally. 398 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:23,760 Naturally, poison taste off, it tastes bad. 399 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:30,680 They said sin will taste good in the mouth, they'll turn in the 400 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,560 belly and they'll be poisoned to you, I tell you what, it's what 401 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:38,800 the writer of Hebrews calls it. It speaks of sin as the 402 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:44,240 deceitfulness. Hebrews 3313 calls it the 403 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:48,640 deceitfulness of sin. Tell you we've been duped. 404 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,520 We've been duped. It's so deceitful that so far 405 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:56,840 says that a man who favors wickedness and sin, you look at 406 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:01,000 it in verse 16, that eventually he'll suck the poison of ASPs. 407 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:06,440 He'll suck the poison of a serpent, the savoring the the 408 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,400 unavoidable swallowing. It's going to happen. 409 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,120 But it would deceive us to the place that we would even suck 410 00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:14,600 the poison of a serpent straight. 411 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:18,160 It would undermine us and and be our demise. 412 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,760 He said they'll be slain by the viper's tongue, that they'll be 413 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,760 so deceived that they'll be slain by the sin. 414 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,040 Is defeat deceitful, ladies and gentlemen? 415 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:33,680 Because what we enjoy in our mouth, we're doing that, that 416 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:39,280 we're unaware many times that the venomous saliva is going 417 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:44,680 down the back of our throat, running down to our bellies, and 418 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,040 we don't even realize that we've been bitten, so to speak, if you 419 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:51,720 will, having the bite of death, of the poison of what we seem to 420 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:55,120 be enjoying in our mouth. We're preoccupied with the 421 00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:58,440 enjoyment part. We're preoccupied, Amen, with 422 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:01,080 what we're savor in our mouth. And it didn't even allow us to 423 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:06,800 register the threat of what's inadvertently been swallowed in 424 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,280 our life. Sin is deceitful. 425 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:16,000 It'll make a mockery of you. So far says, while we're 426 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:21,840 savoring sin, you look at it in verse #17 He says, while we're 427 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:26,360 doing this, he says what we're missing, we are missing the 428 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:31,400 blessings of every day. Let me explain, he says while 429 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,240 we're savoring that, he said we missed the rivers and the brooks 430 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:39,400 and the streams and and the floods of honey and butter. 431 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:42,320 That's basically mean this. Of course, we know the butter is 432 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:45,160 made from milk. It's really an illusion to milk 433 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:46,960 and honey. We see this terminology 434 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,440 throughout the word of God. The promised land was even 435 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,640 described as a land that flows with milk and honey. 436 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,000 It wasn't so much that milk and honey were luxuries, but milk 437 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,760 and honey were just the staples of life, the staple blessings of 438 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,440 life, and it was used to describe the promised land. 439 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,680 So far, it's so far saying you'll get so caught up and 440 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,560 savoring what's in your mouth from wickedness and sin that 441 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,800 you'll miss just the the the standard fundamental blessings 442 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,400 of life. As a result of this, you'll be 443 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,040 blind to it. Amen. 444 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,240 Your taste and your appetite, Amen, will be ruined to a 445 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:24,760 certain degree by the simple pleasures of sin. 446 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:29,120 Go back to the garden real quick now. 447 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:36,400 So brother trout, because Eve savored one tree she wasn't 448 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:42,600 supposed to partake of and missed all the other trees that 449 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:46,560 were present in the garden by savoring 1. 450 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,280 There is only one thou shouldn't and thou shalt not. 451 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:55,920 And there's all these other trees in the midst of the 452 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,560 garden. See, that's how deceitful sin 453 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:00,960 is. It'll get you captivated by the 454 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,040 one, and you'll miss everything else that's there for you. 455 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,280 So sin robs us. So we're born into sin. 456 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,680 I got a real dilemma on my hand. I'm born into sin with an 457 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:21,400 appetite for then. And here's the fact of the 458 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,400 matter. And I read the verse #12 in 459 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:25,800 different versions here this week. 460 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:30,360 But the fact of the matter is this, there isn't anything 461 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:35,280 repulsive about sins. Taste to the Sinner. 462 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:39,440 The contemporary English version states verse 12 like this. 463 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,680 Sinners love the taste, the sin. They relish every bite and 464 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:46,280 swallow it slowly as worn the sin. 465 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:50,720 I have an appetite for sin. My story really ambered in a 466 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:52,360 certain degree as I'm a sin addict. 467 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,960 The more I indulge, the more I crave. 468 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:02,440 And the psalmist even said there comes a spot then sometimes in 469 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:07,160 people's lives that their table, he said in Psalm 6922, their 470 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,120 table becomes a snare before them. 471 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,000 Because if I put on the table what your appetite is leaning 472 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:18,520 toward, then you're going to want to sit at the table and 473 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:22,640 protect what's on the table. The table can become a snare. 474 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,600 It can lure you. It can draw you in. 475 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:29,120 And I was born a Sinner, Brother Reese. 476 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,040 I understand New Testament Scripture, James one and verse 477 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:37,880 14 tells me, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of 478 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:43,120 his own lust or his own desires and enticed. 479 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:46,000 What's that tell me, Bishop? It tells me that man doesn't 480 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,360 just sometimes do wrong, but man even actually sometimes likes 481 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:55,240 doing wrong and my taste reflects my desire. 482 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:57,400 Sister, she was talking the other day. 483 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,360 I've been trying to get her on some bag tuna. 484 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:04,760 I eat bag tuna a lot for lunch. You know, it's in a bag, little 485 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:06,560 pouch. Some of you may see it, maybe 486 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,760 avoid it, I don't know. She grabbed a ranch one, sent me 487 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:13,320 a picture with this green face emoji, said this is gross. 488 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:16,720 I tried it. I said I won't necessarily like 489 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,480 the ranch one either, but there's other ones besides that. 490 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:25,280 So I guess what I'm trying to tell you is taste reflects 491 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:28,520 desire. I'm not going to be in Tyson 492 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:36,360 sister Sheila with ranch flavored tuna because she just 493 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:40,480 don't have a taste for it. But sin is sweet when the 494 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:46,120 appetite desires. Sin is sweet whenever you have 495 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:47,960 an appetite for it. Let me say it like this. 496 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:53,840 Sin is sweet when you don't have a a renewed changed appetite. 497 00:30:55,960 --> 00:31:00,600 Sin will not become repulsive because sin changes because sin 498 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:04,320 don't change. Sin only becomes repulsive 499 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:08,680 whenever there's a change on this side of the equation. 500 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:13,880 So the the, the the answer to sin. 501 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:15,480 And I know something to say. Well, just deny it. 502 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:18,560 Well, yeah, we should. But it's not that alone. 503 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,120 You got to have a replacement for the old pleasure. 504 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:29,120 You can't just break a sinful cycle with starvation. 505 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,360 There's got to be pleasure substitution. 506 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:40,960 Sin can only become repulsive when we change and our appetites 507 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:46,040 and desires get rewired. And so the question that we OFT 508 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,560 times entertain, Sister Sheila, I'm preaching to you right now, 509 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:54,240 is how can we acquire a taste for something new? 510 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:57,640 I've heard people tell me I've just not acquired a taste for 511 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,080 that. How you know I don't like 512 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:01,600 spinach? I'm not acquired a taste. 513 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,120 Forget about the colored greens. I'm not acquired a taste for it. 514 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,080 You know, I used to. People would ask me if I drink 515 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:08,720 coffee, and I said I'm too young to drink coffee. 516 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:11,720 Someone said the other day, I think it was one of my sisters. 517 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:12,920 You drink. I drink coffee now. 518 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:14,720 I said, yeah. I said I guess I'm old enough to 519 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,880 do it. But you acquire a taste for 520 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:19,840 things. Listen to me. 521 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:22,800 This is very simple today. This isn't just something that 522 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:30,080 happens. You got to try something new in 523 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,400 order to develop a taste for the new. 524 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,440 Just just, is everybody OK? Just just a few literal steps. 525 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:41,600 In our world today, they say if you're going to acquire a taste 526 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,520 for something new, number one, you need to have repeated 527 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:48,080 exposure #2 I'm going to explain this. 528 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:50,720 You learned. You have learned association 529 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:52,520 with what you're eating. There's an association that 530 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:57,040 comes #3 there's cognitive reframing of how you look at 531 00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:01,680 what it is you're eating, how you think about that #4 there's 532 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:06,200 a physiological adaptation that takes place in order to acquire 533 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,040 a taste for something new. When we talk about repeated 534 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:12,720 exposure, when we taste something for new for the first 535 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:17,720 time, our brain and our body don't know what to do with it. 536 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,160 Just being honest, the flavor can feel and seem a little 537 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:27,120 unpleasant #1 it's unfamiliar to us and our brain. 538 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:29,600 Though overtime, this is what happens in your bodies. 539 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:34,880 Your brain starts to associate flavor with safe experiences 540 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:38,560 where they be emotional and social experiences, and then 541 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:41,800 they start to reward that to yourself as enjoyable. 542 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:44,800 When you go out with friends and having a good time, that is a 543 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,480 good time to try something new because when you try that new 544 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,520 thing that your body is unfamiliar with, it's taken in 545 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:58,080 the whole experience around you and and saying, when I tasted 546 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:02,440 that man, I felt pretty good. So you have to have repeated 547 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:05,480 exposure of those type of things in order for you to develop a 548 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:07,920 taste for something you never tasted before. 549 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:12,320 Again, the psalmist said, O taste and see that the Lord is 550 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,360 good. Part of our spiritual 551 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:18,320 transformation, part of our spiritual maturity involves 552 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:20,920 acquiring a new taste. What are you saying this 553 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:22,920 morning, preacher? I'm saying this, you might be 554 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:25,719 here today and say, brother McGee, I've never tried God 555 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:27,679 before. There might be others that say I 556 00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:29,800 I even don't know much about God. 557 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:31,920 There may be others that say you talk about prayer. 558 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:35,360 I've never even tried that or, or worship or praise or any of 559 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:36,679 that. I've never tried any of those 560 00:34:36,679 --> 00:34:38,600 things before. I understand that. 561 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:44,080 But the more you attempt Amen, prayer and God and praise and 562 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,520 taste that in the atmosphere where you're getting pleasure, 563 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:52,360 you're going to begin to associate pleasure with God and 564 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:55,120 pleasure with worship and pleasure with prayer. 565 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:59,960 And it's going to start. But it just doesn't happen once. 566 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,440 You got to keep exposing yourself to the House of God, 567 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:08,200 keep exposing yourself to the presence of God, because what 568 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,880 might begin as foreign to you, you're going to adapt a taste 569 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:14,720 for and you're going to want it more and more and more. 570 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:23,920 And brother child, it's the flavor that's forever you got. 571 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:28,160 Hallelujah. So hepatite follows exposure. 572 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,400 The more sister Sheila go and get you a few more packs. 573 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,160 Expose, expose, go somewhere, have a good time with your 574 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:38,280 sister and eat your tuna. Expose and expose. 575 00:35:46,110 --> 00:35:51,990 It happened. You just you got to retrain the 576 00:35:51,990 --> 00:35:55,520 brain. It's learned association, so we 577 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:57,600 acquire the taste through through conditioning. 578 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:00,680 Again, the it's the positive company that's around you. 579 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:03,320 It's pleasant memories that happened whenever you were 580 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:06,640 eating that thing or that food. It's the emotional satisfaction 581 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:09,920 that you get Your brain again learns to connect that flavor 582 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,680 and that pleasure. I love what the writer said in 583 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,560 the gospels of Matthew 5 and 6. This is what Jesus said. 584 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:21,560 He said blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 585 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,280 righteousness, for they shall be filled. 586 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:28,200 Or if I may, they shall be satisfied. 587 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:31,800 Folks, there's some type of association that happens when 588 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:36,400 you partake of God and His service and His presence and you 589 00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:40,280 leave and you say I've never felt so satisfied in my life. 590 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:44,080 I don't feel like I got to look for anything else or try 591 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:47,360 anything else. I still have the taste of it on 592 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,920 my lips and it's not turn bitter in my belly. 593 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:57,120 Yes. What happens? 594 00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,520 There's a sense of satisfaction that comes associated with 595 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:05,720 hunger and thirst and after righteousness, there's a I got 596 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:08,120 to run. There's a cognitive reframing. 597 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:13,120 We learn to like things again because we we reframe their 598 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:15,760 meaning. When you're young, there's 599 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:17,440 certain things that may seem gross to you. 600 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:21,280 Yes. As a young man, you know, coffee 601 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:24,160 wasn't all that to me, but I've reframed it. 602 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:32,600 It's a mature drink and I've just reached a certain level in 603 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,600 life now. Took me 47 years to do it. 604 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:42,320 I'm mature enough that I think I can go to Starbucks, you know, 605 00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:48,360 have my wife go get me a drink. You got to reframe the way that 606 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:56,920 you think about things. Listen, when I come to church on 607 00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:00,920 Sunday, I'm not thinking, oh, I'm going to go to church. 608 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:05,040 This is just taking, this is taking time out of my weekend. 609 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:13,080 No, I've reframed it. I get to go to church. 610 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:16,920 I have no idea what God might do today. 611 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:19,720 I couldn't be spending my weekend in any. 612 00:38:19,720 --> 00:38:24,120 But there's a reframing that used to a foreign you might look 613 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:25,760 at and brother, he said, I don't know what's wrong with those 614 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:27,800 folks. Three times a week, man, that 615 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,240 seems just a little crazy. But now he shows up every 616 00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:33,240 service for some reason. Why he's reframed how he's 617 00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:35,320 looked about it. There's been an experience, 618 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:39,400 there's been a feeling, there's been, and it's forever. 619 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,960 OK, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. 620 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:54,280 The physiological adaptation, body chemistry changes. 621 00:38:56,200 --> 00:39:01,720 I like this because transformation doesn't just 622 00:39:01,720 --> 00:39:05,960 change behaviors. You know your your taste buds do 623 00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:12,640 renew periodically. On the spiritual side, the Paul 624 00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:15,440 right into the Corinthians. In 2nd Corinthians 517 he said 625 00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:22,040 if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. 626 00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:30,040 Old things are passed away. Paul even talked to Titus about 627 00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:37,200 a washing of regeneration, A regiming, the washing of a 628 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:41,520 regeneration and a renewing of the Holy Ghost. 629 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:46,320 Folks, when you become a new creature in Christ, there 630 00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:53,320 becomes a new hunger for Christ. There's a physiological, if you 631 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:55,200 will, adaptation. Hey, man. 632 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:58,040 And so when we look at all these things, please understand me 633 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:01,440 this morning that that acquiring the new taste, Sister Sheila, 634 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:05,720 that's not something that is forced, but it is about trying 635 00:40:05,720 --> 00:40:08,680 something new. And over time, the more you're 636 00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:12,240 exposed to, the more you have associations with it, trying 637 00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:14,720 something new. Something begins to unfold over 638 00:40:14,720 --> 00:40:18,760 time, and the new food and the new flavor it becomes. 639 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:24,160 Pleasurable because they become a part of your story that that 640 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:27,360 it's one of the reasons why you've heard me say it a lot 641 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,080 around here. I'll say it again Nelson y'all 642 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:32,880 listen I know in in apps and stuff on our phone a lot of 643 00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:35,240 times they give a seven day trial then you start paying. 644 00:40:35,240 --> 00:40:37,880 I tell the church, I've said it a lot often here lately. 645 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:40,560 Here at the first after the church, we want to give you a 646 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:44,840 seven week trial and there's no cost even after seven weeks if 647 00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:48,160 you continue. But this, what are you doing? 648 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:56,480 Repeated exposure, the reframing, the learned 649 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:59,360 association. I want you to come here once and 650 00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:02,640 get a taste on your tongue And after you say, you know, I'm 651 00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:05,360 going to go back. That tasted kind of good and you 652 00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:08,200 go back again and again. And before long, Amber, you just 653 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:12,640 drive a long ways to get here because you just like how it 654 00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:15,880 feels and you like the pleasure and you like what God is doing 655 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,440 in your life. Stay with me. 656 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:23,160 He's in too close. So, so far was right. 657 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:29,240 And we can't deny this. Sin is sweet in the mouth, but 658 00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:34,400 it doesn't stay there. Soon what was sweet will become 659 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:37,240 a toxin. What was sweet to the tongue 660 00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:41,160 will turn sour. That's why God's invitation to 661 00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:46,000 the Scriptures basically stop tasting sin, but taste and see 662 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:50,600 that the Lord is good. Because the only way you can 663 00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:54,480 stop a craving that is killing you is to taste something better 664 00:41:54,480 --> 00:42:00,760 that can satisfy you. The problem isn't that sin 665 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:05,080 tastes good, it's that I'm a broken man with broken taste 666 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:08,440 buds and I'm savoring poison. I'm savoring the world. 667 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,840 I'm savoring sin. But when Christ walks in my 668 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:14,440 life, brother Fred, as it did yours many years ago now, 669 00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:22,560 appetites change. The Lord doesn't just forgive 670 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:25,200 what you've done. Here's the awesome thing about 671 00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:26,360 God. He doesn't just forgive what 672 00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:30,640 you've done. He'll change your desire 673 00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:36,000 compared to what your desire was before. 674 00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:40,000 The things that once appealed to you, they'll lose their 675 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:42,920 sweetness. And the things that used to seem 676 00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:47,040 porn and indifferent and plain to you, they'll become precious. 677 00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:51,800 So the question this morning is, this is somewhere between the 678 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:55,560 sweetness of sin and the bitterness of its consequence. 679 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:58,680 Every one of us has a choice to make. 680 00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:02,360 Will I keep savoring what will sicken me? 681 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:07,400 Or will I finally taste and savor and hold on to the 682 00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:11,880 goodness of God? And it's the difference between 683 00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:19,320 temporal and eternal looks. I've said all so many times, I 684 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:21,800 I've stood and sat and been in the hospital at too many 685 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:25,160 bedsides. The people that were serving the 686 00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:28,320 Lord, I've never heard a single one of them ever come across 687 00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:29,400 their lips. You know what? 688 00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:31,000 I wish I'd never lived this life. 689 00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:37,560 I have never experienced that. Never experienced a single one 690 00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:39,360 of them say, you know what? I've just wasted a lot of years 691 00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:44,280 living forgotten never. But I have heard the inverse of 692 00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:46,640 that, of people that hadn't lived for God. 693 00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:51,320 Hey, what have I done with my life? 694 00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:54,200 Why? Because everything's fleeting. 695 00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:58,280 It's a finish line you're always approaching and never reach. 696 00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:07,080 But every good and every perfect gift coming from above, from the 697 00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:09,000 Father of lights. Can we bow our heads in this 698 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:12,520 place this morning so far as trying to give us some wisdom 699 00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:18,160 here that we do not have to continue in the path that we 700 00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:22,040 were born into, of being a Sinner and having the desires of 701 00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:29,560 just all of the elementary and carnal and playing things of 702 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:34,720 world riches, career, houses, homes, so on and so forth. 703 00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:38,320 But there is something beyond the temporal. 704 00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:45,040 There's a pleasure forevermore and the pleasure that the Lord 705 00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:46,840 gives. Listen, it just bowed. 706 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:50,480 What I mean by that is this. It's not deceitful like sin. 707 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:55,200 It's not going to be a bait and switch and it's going to turn on 708 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:57,000 you. No, no, no, no. 709 00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:00,560 It's sweet in the mouth. It's sweet in the belly. 710 00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:04,320 It's sweet on Monday, it's sweet on Friday. 711 00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:08,320 It's sweet in the valley. It's sweet on the mountain top. 712 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:12,320 It's sweet when when disease is riveting my body and it's sweet 713 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:14,640 when I'm healthy. It's sweet when I have money in 714 00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:17,400 my pocket, and it's sweet whenever there is no money in my 715 00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:19,600 pocket. And again, as the old timers 716 00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:24,200 used to say, it just gets sweeter and sweeter as the days 717 00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:28,320 go on. We're going to open these altars 718 00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:30,640 today. Whether your altar is your Pew 719 00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:33,520 or whether your altars up here at front or standing or 720 00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:36,920 kneeling, it matters not. But I challenge you today, just 721 00:45:36,920 --> 00:45:40,520 do an inventory on your life and ask yourself, how many things 722 00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:43,000 have you chased? How many things have you put in 723 00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:46,400 your mouth and savored for them just to dissipate and be 724 00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:49,960 fleeting and fade? I'm asking you today, if you've 725 00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:54,880 never tried the Lord, if you've never tried Him, the only way to 726 00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:59,360 acquire the taste for something new is you got to try something 727 00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,400 new. You got to try something new. 728 00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:07,600 Taste and see that the Lord is good. 729 00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:10,840 I'm telling you today, the Lord wants you to find pleasure in 730 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:13,320 Him. He wants you to find pleasure in 731 00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:15,560 him. Hey, man, He's done all these 732 00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:18,240 things, the Book of Revelation says, even the creation of the 733 00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:20,800 world, He's done some of these things for his pleasure. 734 00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:24,240 He's made you and He wants to be your God. 735 00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:27,360 Not just that he gets pleasure from you, but that you can 736 00:46:27,360 --> 00:46:29,600 derive pleasure from knowing him. 737 00:46:29,720 --> 00:46:33,320 Can somebody today just be honest with God and say, God, 738 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:36,640 I'm willing this morning to give you a chance. 739 00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:41,360 I'm willing this morning, God, to try to acquire a taste for 740 00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:43,840 some nothing different than what I have chased you through my 741 00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:46,480 whole life. Lord, here am I. 742 00:46:46,760 --> 00:46:49,360 I need you. I want you. 743 00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:52,160 Hallelujah. Church family, can we lift up 744 00:46:52,160 --> 00:46:54,280 our voices all across here right now? 745 00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:58,200 Can we begin to pray? Can we begin to pray? 746 00:46:58,560 --> 00:47:01,680 Hallelujah. I don't want to be duped and 747 00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:06,120 deceived by sin. I want to be accepted by heaven 748 00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:10,480 and I want to enjoy what Heaven has taught for me.