Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the deceitfulness of sin, illustrating how small, unaddressed issues can grow into significant problems within families and communities. He stresses the importance of maintaining transparency, humility, and accountability in relationships to prevent the hardening of hearts and the development of an evil heart of unbelief. By using the example of David and Bathsheba, he highlights how sin often begins subtly and can lead to devastating consequences if not confronted early. The sermon calls for believers to encourage one another daily and to remain vigilant against the small leaven of sin that can corrupt the whole. Ultimately, Beach urges the congregation to seek God's grace and to foster a culture of openness and support within their families and church.

Philip, is this on? Is that the right switch for this? That's on? Okay. Alright, let's bow our hearts and pray, please. Okay, if we could. Father, thank you so much for your presence. Thank you for the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord, for the multiplied grace and mercy that you are so freely and so abundantly pouring out to us through your Son, Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that today, as this word from your word, from your Holy Spirit, from your heart, comes forth, that it will find good ground in each of our lives. I pray, God, it would be a word in season, and that, O God, it would bring life, it would bring the impartation of the very heart of God Himself, and that it would result in the building up of the body of Christ in Christ so that more of who He is and what He is and His moral beauty and His moral perfections would be etched into our inner spirits that would be evidenced through our actions and through our words and through our behavior one with another. And so, Father, we thank You and praise You, Lord. Just take a moment, Lord, to acknowledge Your presence, to acknowledge Your purity, to acknowledge Your holiness, to acknowledge, Lord, that it's all about You. The eyes of our heart, Lord, seeing You and loving You, and it's all about You establishing Your place of absolute, sovereign Lordship and headship in our lives. And, Lord, we pray that today this would be further accomplished in us as we just ponder Your presence and give heed to Your Word today, Father. And we look to You to accomplish this. In the name of Jesus, amen and amen. Okay. If we'll turn our Bibles to Hebrews 3. As you know, we have been discussing God's Word and we've been looking at the various different admonitions that God has been asking us to engage in, not only in our private, personal prayer life, but as a body together. Those that you are joined together with. Those that you feel God has knit your heart together with. Then it is appropriate and acceptable in the eyes of God that these spiritual principles and spiritual realities would be more and more functional in your lives. To begin with, we learned that they must begin in the family. The family. Every one of these admonitions that God is giving us in the book of Hebrews have to begin in the family. They have to be spiritual realities that are functioning in an ever-increasing manner among the relationships that are established in a family. Husband and wives must learn how to interact one with another on this level so as to fulfill the admonitions to encourage one another and to engage in the things that God's Word says. This is imperative. Children and parents need to have this kind of a relationship. Parents, we need to speak into our children's lives daily, every day, the Word of God. It doesn't have to necessarily be a religious setting. The greatest opportunity, the greatest setting to disciple and teach your children is life itself. It's in the car. It's at a restaurant eating. It's while working in the backyard. Whatever the setting is, we always need to be sensitive and prepared and ready to begin to speak into their life the Word of God because that will fashion them and mold them and nurture them and become the seeds that will eventually mature and grow in their lives. So, therefore, we must begin with the family. There has to be openness and honesty and transparency and humility and brokenness within the family. The moment it is recognized that the absence of brokenness, the absence of humility, the absence of honesty, the absence of transparency, the moment that these qualities begin to fade or we sense that they're somehow being clouded by something else, that is when we have to take action. I'll never forget years and years ago, I was at my mom and dad's house when they lived on Lewis Lane. And I had made a comment to my mother. They were sitting on the porch and they had steps that led up to the porch. And I had made a comment as I looked down at the steps. I said, Mom, Dad, these steps are a mess. The pieces of concrete that the steps were made of were falling apart and there were chips out of them. And actually, it was quite dangerous. It was quite dangerous. Some of it was unstable to the point where if you stepped in the wrong spot, part of the step could fall off. And so I wasn't being critical. I chuckled. And the comment that my mother made was profound. She said, Well, it didn't happen overnight. And she looked at my dad and smiled. And my dad sort of smirked. And she went on to say, I've been telling your dad for a long time when it first started, little bit, that it needed to be fixed. And he would say, Oh, I'm going to get to it. I'm going to get to it. And then over time, the problem went from a little teeny problem into a big, huge problem. And as my mom is saying that, and I'm chuckling and they're chuckling and there was no guile or no critical heart involved, I was hearing the Lord speak to me. And I was getting a lesson from the Holy Spirit on what happens when there's little things in our life that we begin to recognize. Little attitudes of being critical. Little attitudes of being judgmental. Little attitudes of being callous. Little attitudes of not wanting to quickly confess our faults and our sins. And we recognize it just a little bit. Husband might recognize it in his wife. Wife might recognize it in the husband. Maybe even one of the kids might recognize it. And we, instead of dealing with it, we ignore it. We ignore it. And what happens if we ignore the little bit of problem that needs to be dealt with is eventually that problem will turn into something huge. And when it turns into something huge, it becomes more and more difficult to deal with. And this is the basis upon which the Word of God this morning is coming. As we read in the book of Hebrews, we're going to recognize an admonition. We're going to recognize a call from the Spirit of God to do something together. And the failure to do this, the failure to pray that this becomes a functional, operational principle in your lives will inevitably, without any question at all, result in the little problem, the little sin, the little leaven, the little inconsistency, the little attitude, the little change of heart from tenderness to not so tender, from gentle to not so gentle, from hungry for the Lord to, well, there's other things now. It will turn from a little bit of leaven into a big, huge mountain. So, this is a principle that has to begin in the family, and then from the family it has to carry over into our church family, which is basically those that you're joined together with in the Holy Spirit. You know it. They know it. You sense the fellowship. You sense the unity. You sense the witness. You sense the life. The purpose of that union, the purpose of that fellowship is that God is bringing you together so that together you may encourage one another so that the goal, the goal that God has in mind may stay in the view of our eyes and not get lost. The goal. God has a goal. He has a goal. He calls us as a family. He calls us as a church family. And He has a goal in view. And we have to keep that goal before us. And so let's read from the Word of God now in Hebrews 3. Hebrews 3. And we're going to begin reading in verse number 7. Verse number 7 to verse number 13. Okay? Now remember, we're reading the Word of God in a setting where we're going to hear God speak to us about the need to engage in this spirit, this admonition that we are to be doing on a daily basis. Do not neglect the Word of God. One of the evidences that we are being filled with the Spirit, that we are being filled with life, that we are being filled with the new wine is not mystical experiences. It's not living in a realm of impressions and feelings, although God can give impressions and God can give visions. We don't make much of that. One of the essential and most important qualities of Christians whose lives are filled with the Holy Spirit is they love the Word of God and they have come to realize that the Holy Spirit is working in them to empower them, to energize them, to strengthen them to live in accord with the Word of God. That's what the Holy Spirit is all about. Jesus said, if you love Me, you will what? Keep My commandments. Jesus said, the greatest commandment is thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, strength, and soul and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. So the greatest commandment is to love God selflessly, unconditionally, and sacrificially, offering our lives to Him, and equally that love then is manifested in laying our lives down for one another. And we know that when we're being moved by love, there is no law against love. We can't break the law of God when our lives are being moved and motivated by love to lay our lives down for the Lord and for one another. And that's what Paul said in Romans. So, as we read this, and as we come to God's Word, let us remember this morning the imperativeness and the necessity of praying, Oh God, give me a heart that is so filled with Your heart, so filled with Your Spirit, so filled with Your love that this can become functional in my life with my family and the brothers and sisters that I'm united together with. Hebrews chapter 3, beginning in verse number 7. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost says, Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness. When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years, wherefore, I was grieved with them, with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart. They have not known my ways. And I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Now here it is, verse 12. Therefore, let us take heed, brethren. And now here's one of these let us. Let us take heed. Take heed to what? Take heed to the voice of God. The voice of God as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Take heed to Jesus Christ. Take heed to who He is. Take heed to what He has done at Calvary. Take heed to all that He has recorded in the Word of God. Take heed to the Word of God. That's what it's saying right here. Take heed, lest there be any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Now, brothers and sisters, an evil heart of unbelief does not happen overnight. It's the principle of the little, little, little bit of sin. Little bit of leaven. Little bit of inconsistency. Little bit of dishonesty. Little bit of deceit. Little bit of absence of brokenness. Little bit of confession of sin. Just a little bit of the absence of that. These things happen in very small amounts. Very, very, very unlikely that someone wakes up one day and decides they're going to turn from God or decides to do something that's blatantly wrong in the eyes of God. That action is usually the result of a process where there's a little bit of leaven and there was an inability within a family setting and an inability within a church setting to bring that inconsistency to accountability. To bring it to accountability. And this is what we're going to see here. So, therefore, let us take heed lest there be any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Now watch. But exhort one another. That word exhort means to encourage. It implies to speak into each other's life. To encourage. To edify. Now, take heed. Let us take heed. Let us be guarded. Let us be aware. Let us be careful. Let us walk in the light of God. Let us walk in the light of the Word of God. God is light and in Him is no darkness. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. 1 John 1. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the precious blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all of our sins. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So let us take heed, brethren. The warning is there's the potential, there's the ever-present danger of this leaven, this little thing. Don't worry about this big, huge mountain. It starts here. It starts here. It starts in the heart. God is concerned about the heart. When the heart is not walking in the light of God, and the heart is not subject to the light and encouragement and admonitions and loving warnings and loving exhortations from family members and from one another, when the heart is no longer subject to that, that's where the danger is. That's the danger sign. And that's when this turns into this big, huge mountain of problems. Okay? So here we are, taking heed, but exhort one another daily while it is called today. Lest any of you be hardened. That means to become hard. The etymology of that word is dry. So hardness that comes through dryness. A dry heart is a heart that is not actively pursuing the living water, Christ Himself. A dry heart. A dry heart is a heart that has begun to look for its satisfaction. It has begun to look for its deepest needs and longings to be met somewhere other than God Himself. Happiness, satisfaction, peace, rest, contentment are not possible apart from God. God created us in a way where He Himself is the source of those deepest needs that we have. When someone prays, Oh God, make me happy, and then they equate that happiness with getting something. A new job, a new car, a new home, a different physical location. I recently spoke with someone who has gone through tremendous trials and this person indicated, Oh that I could just live, move and start, move away and go far away and start my life all over again. This person, though God is very compassionate and very gentle, yet this person is misguided. They're misguided because they're wounded, they're hurt, they've gone through horrendous and terrible trials and tests, but they're equating the happiness that they long for for a physical change. If only I can go somewhere. That will not bring the happiness that this person is looking for. Only God can give us this happiness that we look for. It's God Himself. It's God Himself. And so this hardness of heart begins. And brothers and sisters, don't think that a hard heart is some open, blatant, defiant attitude toward God. Don't say, well, I won't have a hard heart until the day, if this ever happens, until the day I look at God and say, I don't want anything to do with you, God. No, that's a hard heart. But brothers and sisters, that's what it turns into. But the leaven. Listen carefully to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. The leaven. The seeds. You know seeds? Someone might have an acorn in their hand and I might ask Timmy, what's in my hand? And Timmy says, an acorn. But someone else might look at it and say, what? An oak tree. Because that seed, though it's an acorn, within it is all the potentiality for a what? An oak tree. And so when someone who has spiritual sight looks and sees this leaven and asks, what is this? What is this? You might say, well, it's, you know, I've gotten a little bit insensitive, but I have it under control. But someone with sight, someone who has spiritual vision might say, no, I don't see just a little insensitive. I see a person who has turned from God. I see a person who has destroyed their children and their family. I see a person. I see a person who has corrupted their testimony. I see a person who is no longer useful to God in the kingdom. Oh, that's really extreme, brother. I think you're reading into things. I think you're being overcritical. I think you're being judgmental. What do you see when God shows you a little bit of inconsistency in your heart? Do you minimize it? Do you make little of it? Or do you see what the potential that that little seed has and does it terrify you and bring you down to your knees where you cry out, oh, God, have mercy on me. Oh, God. Oh, God, thank You for Your grace and mercy. But, Lord, I've got to part with this thing. I can't go on. I can't go on week after week and month after month and year after year. You've got to purge me from this, Lord. Where did Jesus say that sin begins? In the act? Or in the heart? In the heart. Where does a young man begin to fall prey to problems with the opposite sex? I'll use discretion. But where does a young man begin to fall prey with problems with the opposite sex and looking at the opposite sex in an improper way? Does it happen one day when he wakes up and starts following someone around? No. Where does it happen? In the heart. In the heart. No one knows. No one knows. Someone does. But it's not evident. Because this young man can be very, very, very deceitful. It can appear like he's very respectful. But all along, inside, there's a problem. It's 11. And instead of going to God and, oh, God, I confess this to You. Or, in some instances, it might be appropriate to go to someone that You know loves You and trusts You. Children with parents. I want to confess this problem I have, Mom or Dad. Oh, but how our pride fights up against that. That's why we need to pray, Lord, take that pride out of my life. God resists the proud. He resists the proud in heart. The Scripture says God's face is turned against the proud. But He is close to the humble and the broken in heart. He's close to the humble and broken. And God knows our weaknesses. God knows that we have a fallen nature in us that is prone toward these things. And therefore, He asks us to run to Him. And His grace and His Holy Spirit and His presence is more than able to rescue us from the tyranny and slavery of sin in any shape or form. But the requirement that He makes is that we come to Him with honest hearts and confess our struggles. Confess our struggles. Okay. So this hardness of heart, as we were talking about a little earlier, does not begin with a big, blatant sin. But the hardness of heart begins when these little seeds begin to live in our heart and they're not dealt with. Hence why the Bible says, verse 13, but exhort one another daily. Exhort one another. See, the purpose of exhorting one another is not just a religious thing. It's not just we do it because we're supposed to do it. It's intended to keep in check this leaven, this potential leaven, this inbred, indwelling sin needs to be kept accountable. It cannot be unaccountable. The light of God's Word, the light of the Holy Spirit, the light of truth, the light of walking in the light as He is in the light has to be the way of our life. It has to be a way of life. As we all know, it can't be just a one-day thing. It can't be a Sunday morning thing. Not that we minimize a gathering on Sunday where we worship the Lord and exhort one another and minister the Word of God. That's essential, but believe me, many Christians fall prey to horrible sin that are faithful churchgoers. That's why we have to pray, God, make me true through and through, starting from within. Make me true. Let us exhort one another as it is called today, lest any of you be hardened, dry, stubborn, resistant, unwilling to acknowledge an area in the heart that is embracing darkness, not willing to do it, making light of it. Lest any of you be hardened. Now watch this. Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Now, this whole process of leaven, of sin, is, the Bible calls it a process that results in being hardened, and it's a process of deceitfulness. That's an L and an N combined. Oh, it looks like an H though. Alright? Now, please, please, let us ask the Holy Spirit to open up the eyes of our heart now. Paul calls it the mystery of iniquity, the law of sin. The law of sin, the mystery of iniquity, has many elements to it, many features to it. We're only going to focus on two this morning. If we have time, I want to give an illustration of how this worked itself out in a man of God in the Old Testament. I'm not sure if we're going to go there. We're just going to wait and see. But now, these are the two qualities, two of many qualities of the principle of sin that works within. It's a hardening quality, which implies dryness. Dryness. And we know dryness is the direct result of placing ourselves outside of the light and life and love and presence of Jesus Christ in His Word. And as we encourage one another in the Spirit, as we place ourselves outside of that, hardness begins. But then not only does hardness begin, but deceitfulness begins. Deceit means delusion. Delusion is deception. One of the chief characteristics of sin and Satan is deception. Deception is that which comes to us misrepresenting the truth. That which seduces with the intent to lead astray. That which seduces with the intent to lead astray. Desires that are working in us that if we follow those desires will lead us astray, will lead us away from truth, will lead us away from the walking in the light and fellowshipping in the light and having a tender heart and having a broken heart and having a hungry heart and having a guarded heart. Any desires that we follow that have that net effect on us are deceitful desires. Any desires that are leading us astray. Now, this word deceitfulness is used seven different times in the New Testament. And in each instant, the context is a delusion, a seduction intended to lead a person away from the truth of God's Word. Matthew 13.22 You don't have to turn here. Mark 4.19 Ephesians 4.22 Colossians 2.8 These are all the places that this word is used. 2 Thessalonians 2.10 Hebrews 3.13 is where we're at now. And 2 Peter 2.13 This particular word deceitfulness is used in all these instances. And it's in context. It's a setting where we're being seduced. We're being lied to. And it's a subtle thing. And we're following this. We're following it. And it's leading us astray. And it's causing us to fall away from God's thought. And it's not always something that happens outwardly. It begins in the heart. It begins in the heart. And that's why this is so dangerous. Alright, let's turn our Bibles to 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel. And I want to give an illustration of this process of sin that starts out like 11 and turns into a horrible mess. Alright? So let's just begin to look at this now. It's 2 Samuel. And let's just look at this and just see the nature of sin and its deceit. Alright? The nature of sin and its deceit. 2 Samuel. I believe it's 2 Samuel chapter 11. 2 Samuel chapter 11. This is the story about David and Bathsheba. Now David was a king chosen of God. He was anointed of God. And at this time in his life, he had a history of many spiritual victories with God. So this dispels, this dismisses the illusion which some Christians fall into. Well, these struggles of sin only have to do when I'm a young Christian. But once I become advanced in the Lord and get some mileage under my belt, then I become sort of invulnerable. I'm not vulnerable to these struggles with sin anymore because I'm so involved in the work of God. I'm so involved in the things of God. I'm so involved in walking with the Lord and busy with God's work. This is one of Satan's most delightful lies to make a person believe this. So don't ever fall into this trap, beloved. We're never above the temptation and struggle of sin. Never. So David had many victories under his belt. And he was a king and he was honored by God and many people esteemed him as a person that was walking with God. But now let's begin to see how he was seduced. And it's quite evident here in the story. And it came to pass after the year was expired at the time when kings go forth to battle. Now who was David? He was a king. So where should David be? He should be in battle, right? Okay. Let's see what David was doing. David sent forth Joab and his servants with him and all Israel. And they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. Okay. The first beginning signs of the nature and deceitfulness of sin, listen, is right here, is being in the wrong place. Wrong place. Listen. Inside. Then outside. Before any man or woman decides to go somewhere outwardly that he knows he shouldn't be, where does it begin? Inside. I can't decide to leave here after this gathering and go somewhere that I shouldn't be unless it happens inside first. Unless I'm there inside. Where I am inside is going to affect where my feet take me, right? Where I am inside is going to affect what my hands do, right? Where I am inside is going to affect where my eyes look. Where I am on the inside is going to affect how I calculate things. How I decide things. David was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Brothers and sisters, always pray that God will keep you in check as to where you are on the inside. What was the first thing that God did when Adam sinned? Do you remember? He asked him a question. Where are you? Now, tell me, how many of you really think that God lost sight of Adam and didn't know where he was? It's absurd. God is all-knowing. God knows everything. God never has to ask a question in order to get informed about something. You and I do. Right? We do. We're always asking questions. We're always scratching our heads saying things don't make sense. I need to ask questions. And that's a good thing because we're supposed to ask questions but God doesn't need to. So why did God ask Adam, where are you? What was he trying to do? What was he trying to do? When God asked Adam, where are you? He wasn't trying to find Adam's physical location. Now, it's true, Adam was what? Hiding himself where? He was hiding himself in bushes. But God knew he was hiding himself in bushes. But now let me ask, let me point this out. Remember here? He was in the wrong place but outwardly he was in the wrong place because he was where in the wrong place? Inwardly he was in the wrong place and that moved him to be in the wrong place outwardly. So what God was trying to do was He was trying to get Adam to acknowledge what happened. That's all that God wants to do. He doesn't want to hurt us and kill us and destroy us and chasten us and throw us into hell because we stumble and sin. He wants us to acknowledge it. Adam, where are you? This is what God was saying. Adam, what happened? Adam, what's going on inside? I know you're hiding behind the bushes but why are you hiding behind the bushes? What happened, Adam? All God was looking for was this. Lord, I sinned. I did what you told me not to do. I failed my wife because instead of taking the lead and recognizing what she was doing was wrong she shouldn't even have been talking to the devil. He should have stepped up to the plate, pushed her aside. Hon, you don't need to be talking to him. Devil, get away from us. We don't want to talk to you. Let's go, Eve. No, what does he do? He sits there and lets her do it and then she goes, hey, try this. He goes, okay. So he failed. He failed. And should have acknowledged it. He should have said, I was wrong. What was on the inside? What happened to Adam? A little bit of sin on the inside. And so that's what David's problem was. And so we know that you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, watch this. Here's what happens. When you're in the wrong place at the wrong time and it's a sign of being in the wrong place inside that you make a transition. You go from inwardly being wrong to, watch this now. Wrong desire and wrong action. In other words, what happens as we read this story is we go from being wrong on the inside to wrong desires on the inside to what? Acting on those desires. We start acting on them. This is how sin works. This is how sin deceives. Watch what David does. And it came to pass in the evening that David rose up off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman and she was beautiful. And again, I'm being discreet, alright? And so, was David married at the time? Did he have a wife? What's the principle? Did he have any business doing this? Of course not. He had no business doing this. But see what happens when we're in the wrong place at the wrong time? Sin begins to what? Harden, dry, and deceive us. It begins to beguile us. It deceives. And so David inquired. Uh-oh, what's happening? We're going from wrong desire to what? We're making a transition here. We're going from wrong desire to wrong action. David began to inquire. Is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite? Now, who was Uriah? One of David's army guys. A very devoted man. This guy, Uriah, was willing to what? Lay his life down for David. He had integrity. And so David found out that he was looking at the wife of one of his very faithful, devoted soldiers. Wow, what a setting, huh? So, what should have David done right around this point here? Big warning is going off now. Warning signs. David should have said, oh, this is not a good scenario. I better get off the roof, go down in my house, find the altar, get on my knees and start praying to God, Lord, deliver me from this thought that came to my mind. Because it's not good. But did he do that? Verse 4, and David sent messengers and took her. So see, we went from wrong place on the inside, causes wrong desires, deceitful desires, remember? Desires that seduce us in order to lead us astray. David had desires. They were seducing him and they led him right astray. Wrong desire, the wrong action, he ignored the warning signs because I have to believe that right around this time, the Holy Spirit was with David and he must have known something wasn't right, but he ignored them and he went right into the act of sin. And as the story goes on, David commits sin with another man's wife and the consequences of that sin were horrendous and when he found out that he had done wrong, instead of then confessing, he starts covering the sin. See, as long as we are in the wrong place on the inside and we're not crying out and renouncing, this is how it's going to happen. This is how sin will seduce us. It will seduce us. We can't control sin. Sin is never our master. You know how sometimes we think that if we play with something that we know is wrong, we can control it? That's nothing but a lie. You can't control it. Sin is never... You can never master sin. Sin is never your slave where you say, alright, you're going to do what I say. You're going to only work the way I want you to work. Now, sin is your master if you give place to it and it will destroy, kill, and rob and defile everything that God's lovely heart has for us. It will always ruin. So, David covered his sin. I'm not going to read the whole story. I'll just give you a brief overview of what happened. David covered his sin when he found out that when Bathsheba was married to Uriah, instead of confessing his sin, he took Uriah and put him on the front of the battle in the heat of the war because he wanted Uriah to be killed so that it might appear like the baby that Bathsheba was going to have was from Uriah and not from David. And so, he covered his sin, but not only did he cover his sin, he calculated. He thought of ways. And he shed innocent blood and he became a murderer. So you see now? Now, let me ask a question. Do you think David saw the wrong place? Right here, this little leaven here. Do you think David saw that little leaven? As murder? Do you think he recognized right at the very beginning that that was the seed of what? Murder. Remember the acorn and the oak tree? If he had gone to someone who had spiritual sight and said, look at what's going on inside. What do you think it is? It's the beginnings of being a murderer, David. Take this man and take his head off. I don't like the way he spoke to the king. He's being critical. That's ridiculous. I'm no murderer. And so, he became a murderer and he killed Uriah and he eventually ended up taking Bathsheba. And then it wasn't until Nathan the prophet was sent by God and confronted David and told David a story, a little story about two men. One about a man who was a humble man and he only had a little lamb. And he was a happy married man and someone came and took his lamb from him. And this is the story that Nathan was telling David. And the man who came was a rich man and wealthy and had everything he could ever dream. And he came and he stole this little lamb from this nice little couple. And what do you think, David, should be done? And David said, whoever that man is, what did David say? He should be killed. And then Nathan looked at him and said, David, you're the man. That's what you did. That's what you did. You were this big, huge, strong king and you went to a nice little couple and you took the thing that was dearest to him, his wife, and then God chastened and corrected David. And we know God was merciful because it was through Bathsheba that the seed of Christ came. Bathsheba gave birth to who? Solomon. So God was merciful. And we thank God for His mercy as He is with all of us. But these are the stages right here and that's basically the end of that story. The nature of sin. Now, all of this, all of this, as we bring this to a closing, all of this to reinforce the Scripture. Verse number 7, Hebrews 3. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, today if you will hear His voice... How important. What new meaning that takes on, huh? If you hear His voice, even if you're at the beginning stages right here. Right here. A little bit 11. If you hear His voice, what are you supposed to do? Harden not your heart. Don't harden. Don't resist. Don't allow the deceitful desires. Remember? Wrong desires. Don't allow the deceitful desires to fester. Don't allow the deceitful desires to be there. Go to God. Say no. The grace of God has appeared to all men. Teaching us to say what? Teaching us to say no to ungodliness and worldly lusts. That's in Titus chapter 2. No. No. I deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Harden not your heart as in the time of temptation in the wilderness when your fathers tempted Me and proved Me and saw My works forty years and I was grieved with them and I said they could not enter My rest. Take heed, brethren. Now we know what the taking heed is. Take heed to the voice of God and don't allow our hearts to fall prey to the nature and deceitfulness of the indwelling sin. Take heed. Lest there be any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort one another. So why are we exhorting one another and bringing each other into account? Beginning with family, husband, wife, children, and then into brothers and sisters in the Lord. Why? Because there's this horrible, horrible potential that any of us can fall prey to. And God says the only way that it can be kept in check is that we exhort one another daily while it is called today. And the consequence of failing to do that is we become hardened to the deceitfulness of sin. Okay? And so this is God's heart from His Word this morning. And why don't we just pray and ask the Lord to speak to us in His presence. He is present here to love us, to encourage us, but also there's an aspect of the Lord's heart present this morning to lovingly warn us. To warn us because He loves us so much and He doesn't want us to be deceived into believing that anything that Satan and sin has to offer is good for us. It's all corrupt and it can do nothing but hurt us and destroy us, alright? So let's just bow our hearts and pray before the Lord and perhaps... What time is that saved? One? Oh, wow. Okay. Well, it's nice and early. So why don't we just spend time before the Lord and we could pray and maybe some want to pray or some maybe want to share as well. Okay?