1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,960 Let's talk about leeches. Yes, I said leeches on this 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:06,680 week's edition of Liberty at Home. 3 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,160 Hello there, everyone. Pastor Adam Rivero here, and I'm 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,600 back with our latest Liberty at Home episode here on Easton 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,800 Community Access Television, a nonprofit community access 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,520 provider with not just one, but count them four channels, public 7 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,080 education, government and essentials. 8 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,960 I bet you didn't know that, but here's something you may know. 9 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:36,440 I'm the pastor of Liberty Baptist Church here in Easton 10 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,680 and we remain Easton's newest congregation where you'll always 11 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,600 be greeted with a smiling face and you'll always hear the word 12 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,120 of God over the opinions of man. As we get to today's passage of 13 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,400 Scripture, we're rapidly coming to the end of the book of 14 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,560 Proverbs with only one more chapter remaining to study after 15 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,200 today's episode. So let's get to it with one of 16 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:58,160 the most intriguing and initially most perplexing verses 17 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,600 in all of the Bible. We'll read Proverbs chapter 30 18 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:05,519 beginning in verse #15 which says the horse Leech hath 2 19 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:07,880 daughters crying. Give, give. 20 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,800 There are three things that are never satisfied. 21 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,960 Yay 4 things say not it is enough. 22 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,320 The grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not filled with 23 00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:21,600 water, and the fire that sayeth not it is enough. 24 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:25,760 The eye that mocketh at his father and despise it to obey 25 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,080 his mother. The Ravens of the valley shall 26 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,320 pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. 27 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,600 When I was in college studying to be a pastor, I had a summer 28 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:38,040 internship in a small town called Holden, MO, about an hour 29 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,840 southeast of Kansas City. I'm not surprised you haven't 30 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,440 heard of it, in fact, I'd be more surprised if you had. 31 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:48,440 For this city dweller, living in a whole summer, a town of 2300 32 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,080 was an eye opening experience, but one I deeply enjoyed. 33 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,320 I love living a different kind of life than I've ever been able 34 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,520 to live in suburbia. One example, the simple pleasure 35 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,320 of getting to go to a church members farm and fish in his 36 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:05,760 stock pond on a lazy summer day. Now look, I'm no angler, but I 37 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,400 enjoyed wading into the water and catching a few fish over the 38 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,560 course of several hours. One problem though, and it was a 39 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:13,480 big one. The first time I got out of the 40 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,840 pond I realized I also caught a few more things than fish. 41 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:21,280 Blood sucking leeches that had grabbed hold of my skin. 42 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,320 Needless to say, that day taught me why people wear waders when 43 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,040 they fish. Now getting back to our text, 44 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,440 I'm intrigued by the very first verse we just read that says the 45 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:33,840 horse Leech hath 2 daughters crying. 46 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:38,160 Give give. Now you may be wondering what on 47 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,680 earth does this mean and why you might think this verse is 48 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,360 obscure. I assure you that not only is it 49 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,640 not obscure, but it's an incredibly relevant verse to us 50 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:48,960 today. You can go online and look up 51 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:50,840 the horse Leech. Go ahead, I'll wait. 52 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,160 Did you find it? If you did, you'll see that this 53 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,840 specific Leech is called the horse Leech because of its 54 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,120 tendency to enter the noses of livestock. 55 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,600 Now, the horse Leech has two suckers on it, which the Bible 56 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,200 calls daughters, and it's these suckers that draw blood from the 57 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:09,400 horse. Now, here's where it gets really 58 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,440 interesting. The horse Leech can gorge itself 59 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:14,960 up to two to three times its typical size. 60 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,640 Once it's attached to the horse, however, the more it drinks, the 61 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:21,200 more it wants. And the more it wants, the more 62 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:22,920 it drinks. The end result? 63 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:27,320 It's suckers can't hold anymore and the Leech falls off the 64 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:28,880 horse. And then it ends up getting 65 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,920 trampled by the horse and dies. In today's passage, we learned 66 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:36,760 that an insatiable sinful appetite will only end up 67 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,560 leading us to destruction. You know, I've counseled many 68 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:42,120 people over the years dealing with sinful desires and habits, 69 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:43,960 and almost all of them say the same thing. 70 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,120 Pastor, I know when to stop. I'm in control. 71 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,040 It's no big deal. Like the horse Leech, they keep 72 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:52,840 wanting more. They cry out, give, give, but 73 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:57,160 yet in the end, the very thing that they desire ends up being 74 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,720 their downfall. These verses stand as a stark 75 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:01,960 warning. Beware of sin. 76 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,680 Don't coddle it, cultivate it, or cherish it. 77 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,920 Be sure that while there is pleasure in sin for a season, as 78 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:12,880 the Bible says, this same book also says be sure your sins will 79 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,600 find you out. By the way, this isn't some kind 80 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,680 of scare tactic from a vengeful God who doesn't want anyone to 81 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,560 have any fun. Rather, it's a loving warning 82 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:23,240 about the deceitful nature of sin. 83 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,480 Just like the Leech can't control itself, and it's that 84 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,120 very lack of self-control that leads to its downfall. 85 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,240 In the exact same way, our fleshly nature will keep 86 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,840 partaking in sin over and over and over again until the 87 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:39,400 consequences are disastrous. So what do we do? 88 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,160 Heed the Lord's warning and confess your sins to Him today. 89 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,440 So leeches, while not great when you're fishing, are good for one 90 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,880 thing, at being a vivid example of how sin can ruin a life. 91 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,360 Well, it's time to close out this week's episode of Liberty 92 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:56,720 at Home. But in the meantime, I want to 93 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,600 remind you to come see us sometime soon at Liberty Baptist 94 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,560 Church, 800 Washington St. in the O2375 part of Easton. 95 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,960 We meet every Sunday morning at 11 AM, Sunday night at 5:00 PM 96 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,160 and Wednesday night at 7:00 PM. Check us out and find all of our 97 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:12,440 digital platforms at my libertybaptist.org. 98 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,560 I'm Pastor Adam Rivera, signing off today from ecat and 99 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,400 reminding you as always that where the Spirit of the Lord is, 100 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,560 there's Liberty. See you next week right here on 101 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:22,200 Liberty at Home.