Episode Transcript
This is Easter Sunday.
Thank you, Sugar.
This is Easter Sunday.
We call it Resurrection Day here.
But uh So we're we're grateful for the Lord being raised from the dead.
And uh if if you're and I explained to my Genesis to Jesus group this morning Because there's some in there that aren't as well educated in the scriptures, and they're trying to learn that Almost well a little over 2,000 years ago now, Jesus came.
He lived, he died, he was then put in a grave And he died for us in our place as one of us.
He was buried in the grave as one of us.
And the reason he was put in that grave is because that's where every one of us go.
And then on the third day, he was raised from the dead so he could overcome death and become victorious over death.
Why?
So that we could be victorious over death.
Because he rose from the dead.
That means every person who believes in him as their Savior.
When he comes again, they're going to be raised from the dead as well.
And we'll have victory over death forever.
Forever.
And the reason we meet on Sunday, every Sunday, I saw an interesting article.
It was a satirical article this week That said, scholars have confirmed, because you know some people only come to church for Christmas and Easter and two times a year.
And they said scholars have confirmed that those who come to church twice a year will be allowed to visit heaven twice a year.
Now I'm glad that that's not the way things work.
That is not the way things work.
But uh at the same time, uh it it does uh it does remind us that uh We definitely want to be serving the Lord every Sunday because every Sunday is the reason the church meets.
Sunday is not the Sabbath day That was yesterday.
Yesterday was a Sabbath day.
Sunday is resurrection day.
And we meet.
The church has met From the very beginning on Sunday, because that is the day Jesus rose from the dead.
So every Sunday when we come, we're doing so, or supposed to be doing so. out of commemoration for the fact that we have hope beyond the grave through Jesus Christ.
Ladies, lunch The theme is lovely ladies.
Boy, I tell you, these ladies like to have themes.
They like to decorate and they like to have a good time.
Lovely ladies luncheon, April 25th. 2026 will be from 11 a. m. to 1 p. m. right here in the fellowship hall next door.
That's where we're going to be eating at today Join us for a lovely time, Central Baptist Church Fellowship Hall.
So there's always food, there's always fellowship, and there's always a message from God's word from one of the ladies.
So if you want to have some fellowship, then that is available April 25th.
And I know it's going to be a good time.
If you'll take God's precious word, please And turn to the book of Daniel.
Daniel chapter 5, verse 18 through 22.
Now, if you're new here today, or if you've only been coming for a few months, you're going to realize, oops.
He didn't turn to the New Testament and give an Easter message.
No, we take our teaching very serious here, and it's always verse by verse. throughout the books of the Bible, and uh we never break stride with our teaching uh program. because we want to uh learn God's word every day that we come here and not repeat a message every Easter that that we've heard.
So we're going to go right back to the book of Daniel.
And God willing, this morning we'll be expounding verses 18 through 22.
Daniel chapter 5, verses 18 through 22.
The title of the message this morning is You Knew Better.
You knew better.
I bet you've had a mom or a dad tell you that before, haven't you?
You knew better.
Well, for the past few weeks, we've been listening to Belshazzar.
Now remember the handwriting on the wall, a hand has appeared and written a message that Belshazzar and no one could understand.
It was written by the hand of God.
And they are um or written by God through the agency of a of a human hand that they saw And they can't understand it.
It's a message that God sent Belshazzar, and only God's man can decipher it and explain it And Belshazzar has been asking Daniel to interpret and explain the handwriting that God has written upon the wall of his banquet house.
And in our verses today, the king is finally finished talking Finished pleading with Daniel, and now it's Daniel's time to speak, which means it's God's time to speak back to Belshazzar.
And the king isn't going to like what Daniel has to say Because Daniel is speaking God's word to the king.
Now, we're going to be not able to finish Daniel's words today.
We'll have to carry on with that next Sunday.
But just understand that Daniel is relaying a very heavy message to King Belshazzar from God.
And you need to take note this morning.
How God speaks through Daniel to King Belshazzar.
Notice how Daniel doesn't beat around the bush.
He doesn't hem-haw around.
He doesn't soften things up for the king.
Now he's not rude and he's not unkind.
But at the same time, he cuts to the chase.
He speaks to the king bluntly, and he tells him exactly the way it is.
And that is the way that God speaks to us too.
You never see God him-haw around in the Bible, do you That's not how he does it.
Nowhere in the Bible does God pull a man aside and say, like, Brother Doug, you know, you've been doing a great job and all.
And I don't want you to take this the wrong way now, but God doesn't do that.
Now God deals with an issue in a very straightforward Matter-of-fact, and very easy to understand kind of way.
And that's what God is going to do when He speaks to Belshazzar now through Daniel.
And that's what God does when he speaks to us through his word, the Bible, and through his men who teach the Bible.
Occasionally I'll have someone come to me for counsel who later regrets that they asked me for help.
Have you ever had that, Brother Shepard?
I mean, were they upset at you?
They were they were upset at me too.
I've I've had that before and listen I'm telling you I happen to think I'm one of the nicest people I've ever known.
I know Brother Shepherd is.
But I but I I tell you what, um uh I I don't ever want to hurt someone's feelings.
In fact, I remember when I first come to church here as the pastor I told folks, because I'd had so many people upset with me over the years being a pastor, because folks, I'm going to tell the truth.
I'm going to tell the truth.
And that's what God's called me to do.
And if I don't, well man, you need somebody else.
If I ever quit telling you the truth, just get rid of me.
But I told the folks when I first come here, if I ever hurt your feelings, I don't mean to.
I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings.
But listen, God did not call me to be an emotional support pastor.
You're not going to see me with one of those support pastor vests on like they have on the dogs, you know.
All the dogs are service animals.
Do y'all ever notice that?
They're all service animals now.
But God didn't call me to be an emotional support pastor.
He called me to preach the truth in love.
He called me to tell it like it is and to apply God's word to the situation at hand.
And that's a little too real for some people.
And Daniel is about to get real with King Belshazzar.
In verse 18 he begins, look at the first three words.
Oh thou king, and I can just hear the exasperation. in Daniel's voice, almost like, huh, you know, O thou king.
Now I want you to notice where Daniel starts.
He starts with the king.
He says, oh thou king.
He doesn't start with the king's childhood.
He doesn't start with the king's servants.
He doesn't start with the king's excuses.
He starts with the king himself.
Daniel puts the blame where it rightly lies on King Belshazzar.
People don't like being told they're wrong.
They don't.
People don't like being told it's their fault that they turned out the way they did.
Do you know what people like?
People like blaming others for the trouble that they get themselves into.
And then they like surrounding themselves with people who will affirm them.
And stand by them when they're wrong.
That's what people like.
But God's not going to do that for you.
Daniel won't do that for King Belshazzar, and we shouldn't do that for people today.
We're not helping them when we do.
Now, if if Brother Doug, for example, if he came to me, we're talking about Brother Doug Minnesota.
I love using Brother Doug as an example.
If Brother Doug came to me for counseling about anxiety that he was having due to uh having an injured forehead, chronic Forehead trauma.
And he came to me every Sunday.
This is the way some people are.
Some people are addicted To counseling.
Did you know that?
How do I know that?
I deal with them on the internet all the time.
All the time They'll write me.
They'll call me.
By God's grace, we had one of the internet folks here last week who came into the internet for help years ago.
And she's not one of those addicted ones But some people they just constantly want to be retold the same stuff over and over and over again.
And let's say that Brother Doug came to me, and he had a big purple and blue and black circle on his forehead.
He said, Brother Fulton I tell you what, I am so stressed out over this forehead right here.
And how blue and purple it continues to remain and how tender to the touch, it always is.
My Sheila can't even kiss me on the forehead.
It hurts so bad.
And I I'm just stressed and it's it's just taking over my life.
And Brother Doug says, you know, I just wish God would deliver me. from my addiction to hitting myself on the head with a hammer.
Now y'all are laughing.
I deal with people like that.
It's just as real.
It's spiritual, but it's just as real.
And I said, Brother Doug.
Stop hitting yourself in the head with a hammer.
Is that not what he needs to hear?
Did you know there's a lot of people when you say that they'll get offended?
They'll all bristle up Why you you've never had a a hammer addiction.
And that's what they'll do.
But really the solution's simple.
But don't quit hitting yourself in the head with a hammer.
And if he continues to hit himself in the head with a hammer, But he continues to come back to me for counseling for his anxiety due to his sore head.
Do you know what's going to happen?
I'm going to get worn down.
It's going to wear me out.
And my counsel's not going to help him because counsel, the very best counsel, is no good until it is applied.
And when it's applied, the bruise on the forehead goes away.
And everybody's happy.
And I've had so many people.
Over and over again.
And I and sometimes I've just cut to the chase.
I said, you know the truth.
Apply it, deal with it, get over it.
And that's just too real for some people to handle.
It's too real.
And so they deal with chronic Sore heads.
It's sad.
But Daniel is cutting to the chase He starts with a root cause of Belshazzar's problem, and it's Belshazzar himself And we can learn a lot from that.
And to do that in a way that can be understood, Daniel takes Belshazzar back to where things went wrong in his life He says, Belshazzar, look back in your text, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor.
Nebuchadnezzar, who's been called his father here, means his forefather, his grandfather.
He had a kingdom.
That means Nebuchadnezzar had lots of power.
And we went over this earlier in the book of Daniel.
Nebuchadnezzar had majesty, the Bible says, which means that's his greatness.
Nebuchadnezzar had glory, that was his importance.
Nebuchadnezzar had honor, that was his respect.
So Belshazzar's forefather, King Nebuchadnezzar, had a kingdom just like him.
He had majesty and glory and honor even.
More than him.
But Daniel said, Belshazzar, your father Nebuchadnezzar, only had these things for one reason.
And that's because God gave those things to him.
Take your pen and underscore the words, God gave.
God gave.
Verse 19 says, and for the majesty that, here it is again, underscore, he gave him.
He gave him Like Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar enjoyed exceeding power, greatness, importance, and respect But there's a difference between having these things, having power, greatness, importance, and respect.
There's a difference between having these things and being these things.
He had power, greatness, importance, and respect, but he was not powerful, great, important, and respectable.
You see the difference there?
Belshazzar was just a man, no better than anybody else.
I told someone that the other day.
No better than anybody else.
And God happened to give Nebuchadnezzar those blessings for one reason that he might fulfill his purpose through Nebuchadnezzar.
And he did the same thing for Belshazzar.
He gave Belshazzar these things that he might fulfill his purpose through Belshazzar.
And instead of being thankful, for what he received.
Belshazzar was proudful of what he received.
Now what's the difference between being thankful and proudful?
If I'm prideful, then I'm not thankful.
If I'm thankful, that means I'm recognizing someone gave them to me.
Thank you, God.
If I'm prideful, then I'm like, well, look at me.
This is just the way I am.
I'm respectable.
I'm powerful.
I'm honorable.
I'm all of these wonderful things.
As if you never received them.
Church, you are no better than anybody else.
Any talent, strength, beauty, wisdom, intellect, any wealth that you may happen to have, the respect that you may happen to have, any skill that you may happen to have. does not belong to you.
It was given to you by God for his glory. to achieve his purpose.
And listen, God can take it away from you anytime.
Just like that.
I went to visit a friend of mine in the hospital a few weeks ago.
He loved to lift weights, really big in the gym, and he had a stroke.
And uh he's my age, went to school with him.
And I'm standing there talking to him in the hospital, and and uh I mentioned something about him enjoying the gym, and you know what he said That's all over now.
That's all over now.
That quick it can go.
First Corinthians chapter 4.
Verse 7, 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7.
For who maketh you, or thee, excuse me, to differ from another?
In other words, who makes you different from anybody else?
You think you're special?
Well, who makes you to differ from anybody else?
And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?
What is it about you that makes you special?
You say, Well, I'm smarter than the other guy.
I'm richer than the other guy.
I'm stronger than the other guy.
I'm more handsome than the other guy.
I'm more beautiful than the other lady?
I'm more clever I'm this, I'm that, I'm more popular.
And who gave you that?
God.
And he can take it away that quick.
He says, now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?
In other words, why are you prideful?
instead of being thankful.
We need to be thankful for what we have.
And the and and the the the result of being thankful for what we have is to recognize that God gave it to us for His honor and His glory.
So we need to take what God has given to us, give it back to Him, and serve Him with it.
Here's the kingdom truth for you this morning.
When we understand That everything about us that we enjoy was given to us as a gift from God, our pride should turn to thankfulness.
Nebuchadnezzar had a lot to be thankful for.
Daniel said, look back in your text, all people, nations, language, and languages trembled and feared before him.
All people trembled before him.
All nations trembled before him.
All languages, all different people groups trembled before him, and they feared before him.
Now that's a tremendous gift to have.
Brother Shepard, I'd love to have that gift, brother.
I'd absolutely love to have that gift.
I don't have that gift, though.
God has not given that gift to me.
All people don't tremble in fear before me.
In my lifetime, I've been assaulted, despised, spit on, ridiculed, rejected, slandered.
I've been sued in federal court, and I've been called about every name in the book.
How about that?
When I was a trooper, I received numerous death threats.
Someone threatened to burn my house down one time.
I had family in that house.
I didn't want them to be burned up.
Let me tell you, I would love to be able to do God's will and have all people, nations, and languages to tremble in fear before me.
Man, when you read in the Old Testament and you watch some of those prophets that God gave special gifts to They call down fire from heaven or something like that and curse these people.
And boy, isn't that something?
Now don't you do you ever do you ever just imagine when you're reading, do you ever imagine, boy, what would that be like I would sure like to do that.
I have.
I'd like that.
Let me tell you, if I had that kind of power, America would be a whole lot different right now.
A man with that kind of power could could make the world a much, much better place.
It's an amazing gift that God gave Nebuchadnezzar, verse 20, but But when his heart was lifted up and his mind hardened in pride He was deposed from his kingly throne.
Nebuchadnezzar had that kind of power, and he squandered it.
Absolutely wasted it.
Like Adam in the Garden of Eden, he wasted his God-given opportunity to make the world a better place.
Because instead of being thankful for the opportunity to serve God, he became prideful and he forgot God.
And when he did, God took that gift away.
He was deposed.
Now that word depose means put down.
Next time you need to go to the vet or put a dog down, just say, uh, well, we had to depose him.
There you go, just say we just had to depose him.
But he was put down because of Nebuchadnezzar's pride, the God who had raised him up to such a lofty position had to put him down.
Proverbs chapter 16, verse 18, says, pride goeth before destruction, or that is, it precedes destruction, and a haughty spirit that is a prideful spirit before a fall.
His heart was lifted up in pride.
Being proudful is the opposite of being thankful.
Pride claims God's gifts. as one's own and rejects God's purpose for your life.
Thankfulness recognizes God's gifts as the ability to honor God and do his will.
Now remember, Daniel is not simply Giving us a book of history here.
It's also a book of prophecy.
So there's always a greater lesson involved here than the kingdoms of men at hand.
Lucifer was given far greater gifts than Nebuchadnezzar.
Far greater gifts.
Ezekiel chapter 28, verses 13 through 15.
Says, Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God, every precious stone was thy covering, the Sardius, Topaz, and the diamond.
The barrel, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle and gold, the workmanship of thy tablets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have set thee so, God said.
Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God.
Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created till iniquity was found in thee.
Instead of being thankful in using his gifts to glorify God and fulfill his purpose, Lucifer became prideful and turned against God.
So like Nebuchadnezzar, Lucifer was deposed.
He was deposed.
He was put down.
Speaking of Lucifer in Isaiah chapter 14, verses 12 through 15.
Isaiah 14, 12 through 15, the Bible says, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer?
No is how you were deposed, O Lucifer, son of the morning How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations?
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven.
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
I will be like the Most High, yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit.
Adam was also given much greater gifts than Nebuchadnezzar.
Adam had the whole world.
Adam had the opportunity To allow all of us to be born into everlasting life and bliss and joy representing man.
Far greater gifts.
Genesis 1. 26 says, and God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion.
Man had much greater dominion in the beginning than Nebuchadnezzar ever had.
Dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth.
And over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Nebuchadnezzar was given dominion over a broken world.
Adam was given dominion over God's perfect, sinless world.
But instead of being thankful and using his gifts to glorify God and fulfill his purpose, Adam became prideful and turned against God.
So, like Lucifer And like Nebuchadnezzar, Adam was deposed.
He was put down.
Genesis chapter three, verses seventeen through nineteen.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it.
Cursed is the ground for thy sake, and sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground.
For out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
If you were to scoop up a handful of dirt out of the ground and you were to look at it, that's got potential.
But apart from God, that's all it is, is dust.
That's all we are.
Every single one of us were scooped up, so to speak.
We all came from the same earth.
No one's any better than anybody else.
So whatever God does for you, whatever life God gives you, whatever talents God gives you, whatever pleasures God gives you He gives it to you out of his love for your good and for his glory.
And other than that, we're just dust.
Not dust in the wind.
We're just dust.
That's for the older people.
I know that's probably going through your mind right there, but we're just dust.
That's all we are.
And so Adam was deposed.
We can lose it all if we are not thankful for what we have.
Daniel said, look back in your text, and they took his glory from him.
They took his glory from him.
Nebuchadnezzar thought he was a political genius.
But God was the one who gave him that mind.
And when God took it away from Nebuchadnezzar, his servants didn't leave him in power.
They put him out in a field to graze like a cow.
I love our President Donald Trump, but I'll tell you something.
What scares me is when he becomes braggadocious sometimes when he brags on the power and superior might of America and all that, and when he brags on his own superior might.
That pride can cause God to make him fall.
And we need to pray for him.
We need to pray for our military.
We need to pray for our soldiers. that they will be humble and grateful rather than prideful.
Thankfulness, humility, obedience It leads to blessing.
Pride goes before a fall.
Daniel said, look now in verse 5, I'm sorry, chapter 5, verse 21.
And he that is Nebuchadnezzar was driven from the sons of men.
And his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses, and they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven. uh uh a while back in our study, when when we went over that particular uh passage of Scripture, that part of history, but Daniel is reminding Belshazzar of what took place.
God did this to show Nebuchadnezzar.
And we're going to learn this morning also to show us that everything we have is a gift from God that we should be thankful for.
Don't take anything for granted, for anything can be taken away.
How many of y'all have ever had something that you were very proud of or that you were grateful for even, and God took it away?
Me too.
I used to have a beautiful singing voice.
It's gone.
I can't get it.
It's gone.
It's gone.
Can't get it back.
I didn't give it to myself.
It doesn't belong to me.
And when something like that goes, when your health goes, when something goes, when your loved one goes, whatever, you realize we don't have any control over anything.
So look here, it says that Daniel reminded Belshazzar that God left his grandfather in the field.
Look back in your text till he knew.
That the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of man, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
Underscore the words, till he knew.
Till he knew God left Nebuchadnezzar the king in the field With the with with with with having lost his sense as a man out there in the field, grazing like a cow, until he knew the truth, learned the lesson. that God was trying to teach him.
Now the problem is this, that was Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel's talking to Belshazzar.
Do you know the difference between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar?
They were both kings.
They were both in the same family.
One ruled before the other But the difference in our message this morning is this.
One had to learn by experience.
The other knew by the experience the other person went through.
The Bible says, smite a scoffer and the simple will gain understanding.
You know what that means?
That means.
Back in the old days, if uh Billy Baker stole some cows and put the Rockin' Bee brand on them And they caught Billy Baker stealing those cows.
And they hung Billy Baker for cattle theft.
And I happen to be on the square watching the hanging.
It's not me that got hung.
It's Billy Baker.
Now Billy Baker learned the hard way, didn't he?
But you know what?
If I'm watching that and I know he got hung for stealing cattle, did I not also learn that same lesson?
I learned it the easy way.
I didn't learn it by experience.
I learned it by proxy.
I learned it by watching what he went through.
But the lesson was taught to me as well.
And so the difference is Belshazzar knew.
He was left in the field till Hillyah knew, and Belshazzar knowing what his forefather went through, He knew as well, you see, till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
In other words, that he didn't just happen to be so powerful that he became king, but God is the one who gave him that position.
Belshazzar already knew that truth because he learned it from what happened to his grandfather.
Daniel said, verse 22, and thou his son.
Remember we started off with, O thou king.
He talks about Nebuchadnezzar and how he brings it right home to King Belshazzar.
He says, and you, thou, Belshazzar, his son.
He says, and thou his son, Obeshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this.
Underscore, thou knewest.
So not only did Nebuchadnezzar know, who also knew?
Belshazzar knew.
He knew better.
He already knew that lesson.
The easiest way to learn a hard lesson is by watching someone else learn it the hard way I'll say that again.
The easiest way to learn a hard lesson is to watch somebody else learn it the hard way.
So if God gives you the opportunity to watch someone get deposed, to watch someone get the good old smackdown for something they did wrong, That is God teaching you that lesson by allowing you to be able to watch them.
And once you watch someone else learn that lesson the hard way, God gives you credit for having learned it as well.
And that means that when you have the opportunity to sin like Nebuchadnezzar did, Belshazzar, and you knew what happened to Nebuchadnezzar when he got smacked down.
That means God's going to treat you different than he did your grandfather.
Why?
You knew better You knew better.
And maybe you've had that lesson before too.
When maybe you have a young person and older person You're going to punish both of them for something they did.
You punish the older person more than the younger person, and you say because you knew better.
God does that too.
Nebuchadnezzar got a second chance.
God ended up putting him back on the throne.
Belshazzar was not going to get that chance.
And let me tell you something.
There are Christians. who know better and who have done it anyway and God didn't give them the checking second chance he smacked them down he smacked them down you better be careful Belshazzar didn't get a second chance because he knew the truth and rejected it anyway.
God held Belshazzar responsible for the lesson he taught Nebuchadnezzar because Nebuchadnezzar. did not know until he learned.
Belshazzar knew what happened to Nebuchadnezzar.
And when we watch God teach a lesson, we're getting taught that lesson, here's a kingdom truth.
When we watch God teaching somebody else a hard lesson, It's all the same as God teaching us that lesson.
When we watch somebody else, or God teaching somebody else a hard lesson, it's all the same as God teaching us that lesson.
That's the way God considers it Why was Lucifer's fall so hard?
He knew better.
He knew better.
Adam also knew better Why would Belshazzar not be allowed to return to his throne like his grandfather?
Belshazzar also knew better.
He knew better, but he did it anyway.
In church If you've been raised in a godly home, if you've had exposure to godly teaching, and God has showed you things in His Word, and you went off and you rejected that word. and you transgressed it and you did what you knew was wrong, and now you're paying the consequences for it?
Guess whose fault it is?
It's yours.
Because you knew better.
That's the cold hard truth that God wants us to know.
That's the cold hard truth.
That Daniel is telling Belshazzar as well.
And God willing, next week, we're going to take back up with what The consequence is going to be.
And you know what it is?
Belshazzar is about to be deposed.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
Thank you, Father, for your grace.
Thank you for your mercy.
But also, Lord, thank you for your strong hand.
Thank you, Father God, for being so patient with us.
And at the same time Thank you, Lord, for holding us accountable.
We're glad, Lord, that eventually the judgment of God catches up to the sin of man.
And Father, we're even more grateful that Jesus took that sin on himself, that we might receive mercy through him.
I pray for each and every person here today.
They'll take this lesson to their heart.
Walk in the fear and honor of God and obedience.
In Jesus' precious name we pray.
Amen.
