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[0:00] Give me a reason why you should praise Him. You just sang it, so I mean, you don't have to right now. The song kind of was written that way, but you should be able to... Something should have come to your mind right there.

[0:11] And it's easy to say, because He saved me, and that's good enough. That's good enough. You don't have to go beyond that. Boy, when we see His face, that other song, everything's, I forget the wording now, just the idea that it's all going to fall away, all the cares of this life.

[0:27] It's going to seem like nothing when we see Him. And it's going to be reality. And He's going to be in front of you, in all of His majesty and glory and holiness.

[0:38] And you're going to be like, yeah, that's my Savior, and I'm on the right side, and I made the right choice to trust in Him and believe on Him. And then life begins.

[0:49] That'll be good. Alright, would you open your Bible to Psalm 7? Psalm 7. And we're going to flip just a verse or two here to begin.

[1:02] Psalm 7. And I just want to read one verse. And it's referring to a wicked man.

[1:12] In verse number 15, David's talking about just kind of a situation in his life. And he says, He made a pit and digged it, and has fallen into the ditch which he made.

[1:33] Somebody did that. Made a pit, digged it, and then fell into that ditch. What an embarrassing thought. And foolish thought.

[1:44] Now look over at Psalm 9. Psalm 9 and the same verse, verse 15. Where the Bible says, The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made.

[1:59] In the net which they hid is their own foot taken. So here's two references close together about a pit, and about somebody making it, or digging it, and then they themselves being trapped in it.

[2:14] Now, pits are often dug. In this Bible, they were dug in hopes of finding water. I remember that Joseph's brothers, they wanted to kill him. They cast him into a pit.

[2:25] Reuben talked him into saying, No, just do that for the temporary. And then he tried to come back and get him. But meantime, they had already sold him into slavery. But he was put in a pit, and it says there was no water in that pit. It was a dried up well.

[2:38] Sometimes pits are dug, and they're made to trap prey in hunting. And I'm reminded of Jeremiah. He says this multiple times. David says it too, that speaking of their enemies, that they dig a pit for me.

[2:52] They're trying to catch me. They're trying to catch me in their snare. And so it's a reference to trying to capture somebody unawares, and then not understand or know. And some of those men have felt that way.

[3:06] And there's some occasions where pits in the Bible are used as hiding places from the enemy. And we're not really going to get into that one. It's not really part of our study here. But from these two passages, Psalm 7, Psalm 59, the wicked have a habit of digging themselves into pits that hold them, that control them, that keep them.

[3:30] And they're not the only ones that do this. Look over one more verse at Proverbs 28. Just put another verse in here before we go too far. Proverbs 28.

[3:46] And let's read together verse number 10. Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit.

[4:01] There's the third case of it. Falling into his own pit. Causing the righteous to go astray in an evil way. The Bible describes, did I tell you the right reference?

[4:15] Proverbs 28.10? Did I tell you all the right reference? Just didn't tell him? Just didn't tell Mark the right one. Okay. That's why you're talking. So the Bible describes something in 2 Timothy 2.

[4:31] It describes how sinners, they need to recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

[4:41] And it's fair to say that the devil is active, and he's our enemy, and he's as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. It's fair to say that the devil is using devices and snares to trap and to kill and to destroy.

[4:56] But I want to charge you tonight, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, as born-again Christians, I want to charge you that there are many traps that the devil isn't digging at all.

[5:10] You are. They're your own pits that you're digging. And just following the routines of the wicked as they dig their pits and are falling in them and stuck in them, Bible-believing, born-again Christians are busy digging their own pits and getting stuck in them and losing time and energy and life that God has given them.

[5:35] Look back at Proverbs 26, and you're close by. Look at 26, 27. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein.

[5:50] He says it again in Ecclesiastes, very similar wording about digging a pit and falling in that same pit. And I firmly believe that there are many born-again Christians busy digging pits that end up capturing them and stealing years of their life away from serving the Lord Jesus Christ and being right with God.

[6:12] And Christians form habits that do not help them spiritually. They hurt them spiritually and they don't know it or they're just... they turn a deaf ear to it or they're blind to it by choice.

[6:26] And they get habits that have power over them and control them and trap them and they struggle to escape and they pray for victory and they just can't get it. And the result is they spend much of their Christian life miserable.

[6:40] And feeling guilty and ashamed. And they don't want to come to church and be around Christians because they're ashamed of what they did the night before or during the week before. They feel like a hypocrite to show up to church with their Bible and sit amongst the people of God and they feel like if they knew what I was up to, if they knew what I've been doing, they wouldn't even shake my hand.

[7:02] And Christians do this. They guilt themselves because of their actions outside of church. church. They get into... Let me just say this before we go any further. If you're in a pit or if you're finding this like resonate with you already, don't keep yourself from here.

[7:17] Get here. This place is like a hospital for people that have trouble with sin in their life. You'll get help here. You'll get around good people that love you and they'll pray for you. They'll get the word of God here.

[7:28] You won't get it by staying home. So remember that when you're tempted to not come because you're ashamed. Come all the more when you are ashamed and when you are failing in your sin.

[7:43] And Christians feel miserable and it's easy to skip church because they're stuck in a pit. And the pit's restraining them from living for Jesus Christ freely and openly and content and happy.

[7:56] The pit steals your joy and it steals what your relationship with Christ and what it ought to be. And then you're guilty and then you missed your calling and then you never get back.

[8:07] And how many Christians aren't here tonight or aren't where they should be tonight because they dug a pit and then they fell in that pit and they're stuck. And tonight I want to identify with you a couple of pits that I think are valid pits and then I don't know if we'll have time maybe next Wednesday.

[8:25] We'll see how this plays out. Discuss some means or some methods of how you can get out of that pit. But tonight at least let's identify some pits and see if these aren't ones that maybe you yourself has been digging for some time.

[8:41] The first one is so common. It's every day of everybody's life in this land. I'm going to call this one the pit of stimulation. That one's about stimulating your mind.

[8:54] The pit is most commonly dug with technology. With that device that's probably in your pocket or in your hand right now. That little box. Or the one that's at home or the one that's in your car.

[9:07] The big one that's you know sitting on the desk. The pit of stimulation. Abusing meaningless and time wasting websites and apps.

[9:19] Giving much attention to entertaining your mind. Just stimulating your mind with no real reason to it. No rhyme or reason. You're just bored.

[9:31] Or you just want to escape reality. Video games that demand you get to the next level and stay put. Videos on YouTube that demand you watch the next YouTube video and then watch more videos and they'll give you more and it's an endless stream of wasteful meaningless content that you allow to just stimulate your mind.

[9:56] Stimulate your mind. Stare at. Stare at. Stare at. Stare at. Stare at. Endless scrolling and scrolling with just the same hollow content.

[10:08] You're digging a pit. Because the more you engage in these activities the more you crave them. These guys that developed it are no stupid fools.

[10:19] They're some of the smartest people on the planet. And they know how to get you and they know how to get your money. And they're not just getting you they'll get the teenagers they'll get the children they'll get the adults.

[10:31] I was in Home Depot yesterday and I overheard a man that had to be every bit of 80 years old talking to a woman that was pushing 80 herself and he was trying to show her and he's like well I saw on Facebook the other day and he started telling her some just nonsense video that he watched and I just walked by them and I thought really?

[10:52] Okay. Whatever. These things may feel harmless to you. You may say they're simple. You may say no it's not a gross sin that I'm involved in.

[11:05] I'm not doing anything horrible. But it becomes an addiction. And there are hundreds of books and studies that don't just suggest this that prove that this is true.

[11:17] That the human mind is powerless against such visual stimulation and such stuff. The videos and the apps and all of it.

[11:28] You cannot overpower it. It's too stimulating to this neurological network up in between your ears and it just goes crazy for it. It's like drugs for your eyes.

[11:43] It affects your moods. It affects your behaviors. I'm not against technology and you should know that. You text me I'll text you back. You send me a dumb video I'll send you one back.

[11:54] I just I can do it too. So I'm not against this stuff. I'm not against watching a video. Last night I watched a video about how plants can communicate to each other with scientific evidence and study and research and I was blown away.

[12:09] I thought it was awesome. I want to watch it again. I want to learn more about this stuff because I see God in it. And it intrigues me and excites me to know the power and hand of God.

[12:21] But I'm not not everything I watch turns me to God. I'm guilty of the same stuff you are. And yet it's digging a pit. You have to remember something the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6 that all things are lawful for me but I will not be brought under the power of any.

[12:44] All things are lawful. It may not be bad and it may not be a gross sin but be careful that you're not being brought under its power. The pit of stimulation.

[12:55] Much of the world is daily digging pits entertaining their minds minds absorbing just absolute and utter nonsense. God didn't create the mind to absorb non-stop nonsense.

[13:10] Things that don't help you. You're just wasting valuable time. Sometimes you're just wasting company time. Sitting there staring and entertaining and stimulating yourself.

[13:21] You're wasting time that should be spent with your family but you can't put it down because you're in a pit. You can't go a day without it. Some can't go an hour without it.

[13:32] I see students at the school where Robert goes sometimes the teacher's lecturing and they're just getting out their phones. And they're on their phones and they're scrolling, scrolling, scrolling until he says something that catches their attention or he asks a question and then they put it down and they'll listen and they'll listen and they'll listen and within moments they're back to scrolling during class time lectures because they're addicted and they're not the only ones trapped in a pit of stimulation, stimulation, stimulation.

[14:03] I'm bored for ten seconds, where's my phone? I need to stimulate my mind. Now, don't pretend that you're not guilty of it or at least that it's not real what I'm telling you.

[14:19] If you abstain and you have discipline and you stay off your devices and you have a good routine that's great and good on you and help the rest of us.

[14:32] I'm not against the stuff, you know that and I'm not trying to make that point either but you have to admit, you have to admit the more you're on that the less you're in your Bible, the more you're in front of those things, the less you're thinking on spiritual things or walking with God or doing anything for the Lord and being a pleasure.

[14:50] To God be the glory, great things he hath done. that was fun for a little moment while we were in church singing it but I'm going to go back to my pit as soon as I leave here and forget about to God be the glory.

[15:03] It's the pit of stimulation and it's a big one. I want to take you to another one, I'll call this one the pit of sensation. The pit of sensation where you've got to gratify your senses.

[15:17] Not just this, I need to see color and video and hear music but this is where alcohol comes in because it makes me feel good. And I like to down a few once in a while because I worked hard today and it just makes me mellow out and feel good.

[15:33] And so I gratify my senses, nicotine, illegal drugs, pills, sex, pornography, even food. Food. Any sensation that makes your flesh feel a certain feeling and satisfy the lusts and the cravings of your flesh.

[15:54] Mentioning sex and pornography, in Proverbs Solomon said that a whore is a deep ditch and the strange woman a narrow pit.

[16:07] How about that? And every time you give in to that craving to gratify your senses with something with whatever it would be, a smoke or a pill or a beer or anything that's out there, you're just digging.

[16:25] You're just digging it deeper. Just one more. This will be the last time and I want to stop. I know that feeling. I want to stop but I can't. And so I stop for today but tomorrow there I am digging deeper.

[16:42] You might even notice this. You might even know you're getting deeper into a pit of some kind of sensation that your flesh craves but the pleasure as you notice it as you're warned of it the pleasure calls out just another drink.

[16:57] Let's just do it one more time. Let's look one more time. Let's go back to where that's at one more time. We'll work on it tomorrow. We'll get the victory next week.

[17:09] The new year is coming we'll focus on it then. it's a pit and the devil's not digging it and the world's not digging it and they're not tricking you into digging it because you're a Christian.

[17:28] You have knowledge. You have spiritual knowledge. Knowledge of the holy is understanding. You have understanding and you know these things aren't good for you to get addicted to or to be participating.

[17:43] You know in your heart I should not do that. It's not glorifying to the Lord Jesus Christ who loved me, who bought me with a horrible, awful price.

[17:54] And you know that it's not right and yet the pleasure inside you says just let's go. you're the one doing the digging.

[18:09] Satan didn't trick you. God gave you light. But when you go back you're just digging again, digging yourself deeper, knowing the whole time this is wrong, I shouldn't do this, I should put it down, I should walk away.

[18:26] And you're allowing yourself to give in to the flesh and to the lust thereof. And so there's the pit of sensation. I don't think I need to say anything more about it, it's pretty plain, it's pretty obvious what that is.

[18:40] I'll give you a third one, the pit of self. The pit of self. And I think I could spend some time here, but I'll just be brief with these, but there's such a range here, there's self-absorbent, everything's about you, where everything in your world, the entire universe revolves around you, so thank God for all of us that you're here.

[19:04] And you go through your day with that attitude. As you wake up, it's about you, get out of my way. As you go to work, it's about you, don't park in my spot, or don't get near me, or just, it's you, you can't see the world except through your own eyes.

[19:19] You're completely self-absorbed. It's a pit that you've dug. There's the pit of self, that's self-pity, where you just, everything that goes wrong, you need somebody to tell you, I'm sorry for you.

[19:35] You need somebody to pity you. You need somebody to just, because the whole world's against you. The last time I checked, hardly anybody even knows who you are.

[19:46] But if I lived in your shoes and walked in your shoes, people try to avoid you because all you want to do is whine to them about how bad it is, how bad your life is, and what happened to you, and what your neighbor's doing, and what they're doing, and this self-pity, just it's all, you don't see it, it stinks.

[20:05] There's another self of self-promotion, where every conversation is about what you did, and how good you are at it.

[20:16] And when somebody else is talking about a story, you're not even listening, you're bored with that because it's not about you right now. I'll come back in when I can talk about me. The pit of self.

[20:29] There's being consumed with how you look, with what people think about you, how can you get a conversation to steer to me. Self.

[20:42] Self-promotion, self-absorbance, or self-pity. The world has a word for this called narcissism. Being in love with oneself in such a way that you just don't really feel pity for other people because you are just the only thing in your universe.

[20:59] And I was talking to a man when we were in Pennsylvania. Went out to breakfast with a brother that is a good man and he's been around a long time and faithful to the Lord a long time.

[21:09] And he has a brother that pastors a church or he's been making a go at it for probably 15 years or better. man and this man was describing that his wife, he finally, they finally have come to figure this out completely that she's just an utter complete narcissist.

[21:28] And he would have never known it because she just has this friendly nature and spiritual demeanor about her and she's always talking about spiritual things or putting on that vibe at least. But he said it's been years and years until we finally see through it all.

[21:41] She has destroyed her husband, she's destroyed the church, everything is a manipulative thing with her and it's got to be all about her. And I only know him kind of indirectly anymore, I've only been around him for a little portion of my life, but I can relate, I can understand when he tells me these things and the stories and the life and how it's bad, how destructive it is.

[22:05] And I look at it now and think, yeah, she's just stuck in the pit of self. She's dug herself so deep that that's the only thing that matters. But in this Bible, God calls for something different than that.

[22:17] He calls for self-denial. Let him deny himself. You ever read that? It's in there a couple times. Self-denial. Another thing that God calls for is for self-abasing.

[22:30] To abase yourself, to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Flip over to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2, you don't need to keep your place in Proverbs.

[22:43] But look at Philippians 2. God gets nothing out of somebody that is completely consumed with themselves.

[22:55] It might remind him of a certain beautiful and wise and bright cherub that he once created and anointed and placed in a glorious position.

[23:08] And to see that person turn to say, I, I, I, I. It might be what he is reminded of when he sees it in his people. Philippians chapter 2, look at verse number 3 and 4.

[23:21] Paul says, Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. That's a real good word there, vain glory. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves.

[23:34] When's the last time that ever looked like you fulfilled that verse in your life? Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

[23:50] Look a little further in the chapter. Paul's looking for somebody to work with him and he finds a Timothy and he sends Timothy to do a job and he wishes there was more Timothys in the ministry, but there aren't.

[24:02] And so in verse 19 he says, I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state, for I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state, for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.

[24:23] I have no man, Timotheus will do it, he'll care for your state, but I have nobody else that I could send to you. Why?

[24:33] Because they all care about themselves. They're all trying to get themselves a church, to get people to follow them, listen to them, hear them, and love them, and worship them.

[24:45] I got Timotheus though, I'll send him because I know he will care for your state. The pit of self, it's in the ministry. In 1 Corinthians 10, in verse 24, Paul said, let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.

[25:05] That reminds me of charity. Charity is not vaunted up, charity seeketh not her own. So there's the pit of self. I think you can see how that's an ugly one, and how that one stinks horribly.

[25:20] I want to take you to another one, and consider this other one. This is the fourth pit, there's another pit, and this one's the pit of stubbornness. You ever heard the phrase, he's digging his heels in?

[25:31] That seems to be a little bit fitting for this thought of a pit and digging. Somebody who won't bend, somebody who won't give in ever. Humility is good for other people to have, but not for you.

[25:47] Stuck in the pit of stubbornness. You know it's not glorifying to God to be stiff-necked, to be bull-headed, but you can't stand the thought of somebody looking down on you, or stand the thought of somebody thinking something about you, and you care so much about your reputation and your image, than you do for what Jesus Christ wants to make of you, and so you won't give.

[26:11] You won't give in. You won't bend a knee. The pit of stubbornness, it keeps people from getting things right with God, God.

[26:24] It keeps people from getting things right with each other, because they're stubborn, and they're full of pride, and they think, well, I haven't done anything wrong, so I'm not giving in. And here's a thought.

[26:34] This is just, I think this, and I keep it to myself, but whenever there's contention, whenever there's strife, whenever I'm involved in some kind of contention, I want to be innocent.

[26:46] I do, as a man, as a child of God, I want to be the innocent party. But whether I'm innocent or not, I have to say, there's still something that falls on me. Whether I was innocent, like completely innocent, there's still something that falls on me, and you know what that is?

[27:01] I have to respond correctly, even when I'm innocent, especially when I'm not. Then I have to humble myself and ask for forgiveness and seek restoration.

[27:13] But when I'm innocent, I still have a response. I said it on Sunday, I quoted you from the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6 saying, why don't you rather suffer wrong or suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

[27:25] Why do you have to always be right? Why do you always have to get it your way? Why are you the right way all the time? Well, it's because I've been digging this pit of stubbornness for so long that I decide.

[27:43] People in the pit of stubbornness refuse to apologize, refuse to seek restoration, relationships suffer, they'll walk with God suffers, the church suffers, because they're too stubborn to show contrition and to be vulnerable.

[28:02] I know of a church, I want to say about three years ago, there was a church and a man in the church who was a very gifted man, a very smart guy, a very capable man, and knew his Bible and could teach the Bible.

[28:24] He rose up against the pastor of the church, the man that had started the church and been there for about 10, 12 years. And the man rose up against him and said, you're not this, this, and this.

[28:37] And so he decided, I'm leaving. And I'm taking whoever wants to go with me. And so I wouldn't say he split the church because he only got one family to follow him.

[28:48] But he did, he left and went 10 minutes down the road, literally, and decided to start his own church. Had its name, had a website, had videos of him in the living room with the whiteboard preaching to his church.

[29:01] If he would have backed it out, you would have saw just three people on the couch. But that was his church and he's called himself pastor such and such. Well, that didn't last very long, as you can imagine.

[29:12] And the man that was the pastor, supposed pastor, he took off and he moved on. And so what do you think happened to that family that left the church? Now they don't have a church to go to.

[29:25] It's a husband, a wife, and a couple children. You know what they should do? They should swallow their pride. They should go back to 10 minutes down the road to a solid Bible-believing, gospel-preaching church and say, hey, we're sorry.

[29:42] We never should have gotten involved in that. Is it okay if we come back? We'll do whatever you want us to do. They should have just come back humbly. But you know what? They were in the pit of stubbornness.

[29:55] And they said, we're not going back there. We're not talking to them. We're not bending our knees and groveling to see if they'll let us come back. And so where do you think they are today?

[30:07] I can tell you where they're not. They're not attending church. They're not serving God. They just blew it because their stubborn pride would just humble themselves and get things right.

[30:19] Look back at 1 Samuel chapter 15. If there's a definitive verse on stubbornness, this is the one you ought to know. 1 Samuel chapter 15.

[30:37] 1 Samuel chapter 15. 2 Samuel chapter 15. 2 Samuel chapter 15. 2 Samuel chapter 15. 3 Samuel chapter 15. When Saul refused to obey the voice of the Lord, he obeyed partly. Samuel showed up and rebuked him for his sin.

[30:52] Paul would not give in. Saul would not give in and admit his wrongdoing. And so in verse 22, Samuel said, That's some heavy stuff.

[31:24] Stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. It's not saying that they're equal and that they're the same sin.

[31:35] He's saying that they're as bad as. You remember what idolatry is. And when we studied covetousness, that was connected to that. And idolatry, the second command about graven images and bowing down, God's not forgiving that.

[31:50] He's putting that to the third and fourth generation. That's a terrible, terrible thing. A very serious thing called an abomination with God. And now he's telling you that the stubbornness in your heart is just like that stuff with me.

[32:06] It's as bad as idolatry. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, it was commonly reported of a certain ugly sin in that church at Corinth.

[32:19] It was commonly reported. And the apostle Paul said, what are you guys doing? You're allowing this thing? This thing is something that the Gentiles don't even do. And you're allowing this guy in your church?

[32:32] You wouldn't think that's that big sin, that horrible sin. No, we would do it. That's got to go. And yet, stubbornness. You could be digging the pit of stubbornness. And God says that's on the level of idolatry with me, which is an abomination.

[32:47] You going to deal with it now? Should we be dealing with that one? Or is that one just get a pass? You can be mad at your brother. You can be not talk to your parents or to your children or to people in your life.

[33:02] And because you're at odds with them and you just don't have the humility in you, you don't have enough Jesus Christ in you to get it right. And so you'll just bite your tongue and stiffen your neck.

[33:14] You'll never bow. You're in a pit. You're in a pit and you're the one that's hurting. You need to get out of that pit. That's the pit of stubbornness.

[33:27] I'll give you two more and then we'll finish for the night. The pit of spending. The pit of spending. That's a similar situation we mentioned with habits and addictions and many, actually they call that a condition.

[33:41] They lump that with some of the other neurological conditions is that same thing, the same trend of digging deeper and deeper. And let me just say this, the devil's not digging it.

[33:54] You are. You are. There's a last one is the pit of secrecy. The pit of secrecy where you can isolate from the brethren, you can hide from your parents, you can not be seen from all others and participate in things that you don't want anybody to know about.

[34:15] You can hide your activity on your phone or computer by doing it in secret browsers. You can wait till there's nobody home or nobody around to turn on the things you want to turn on.

[34:25] You can keep up your Christian image until your testimony isn't on public display and then dive right back into who you really want to be when nobody's around. Look at Psalm 90.

[34:36] I'll give you a verse here, Psalm 90. And we're just about finished for this evening looking at some of these pits, just identifying some pits that born again Christians can be digging themselves into.

[34:56] Just like the wicked dig a ditch and fall in it. Psalm 90 and I want you to see verse number 8. Speaking of secrecy, thou has set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

[35:14] So you know that you can hide things from your parents or from your boss. You can hide things in certain, you know, nobody needs to know.

[35:25] Hide them from your spouse. Hide them from your brethren. But they're secret sins that are always in the light of God's countenance. They're always before him as the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

[35:41] It's a pit with us, but not with God. I'll take you to one more place. This is where we'll stop. Look at Ezekiel chapter 8. One more reference.

[35:53] Ezekiel and chapter number 8, speaking of the secrecy, the pit of secrecy. And the Lord sends his prophet to go view what these individuals, what these priests, these holy men, what they're doing when nobody can see them.

[36:20] In Ezekiel 8, and I'll start in verse number 8.

[36:33] Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall. And when I had digged in the wall, behold, a door. And he said unto me, Go in and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

[36:45] So I went in and saw, and behold, every form of creeping things and abominable beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel portrayed upon the wall round about.

[36:56] It's not just that they have idols of this thing or this thing, but it's idols of abominable beasts. Of things that were unclean to the Jew, they're going to worship them in secret.

[37:12] Can't do that in public. Because everybody knows that's unclean. I mean, an open abomination. But in secret. Not just having idols, but then making idols of abominable things that were unclean and off limits.

[37:25] Then verse, we'll look at the verse 11. There stood before them 70 men of the ancients of the house of Israel. Of the ancients.

[37:37] These are the old men, the wise men, the leaders. And in the midst of them stood Jehazaniah, the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand and a thick cloud of incense went up.

[37:50] He says, they're having a worship ceremony. And then he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark? Every man in the chambers of his imagery?

[38:02] What are they doing? And they're in secret. They're not out in public, but behind closed doors where no one else is around, where the folks that come to worship God, that offer their sacrifices to the Lord Jesus, to the Lord God and Jehovah, they don't know any of this.

[38:24] But God sees it. And these priests are down there worshiping their idols and having their filthy, wicked ceremonies and worship services.

[38:36] It's the pit of secrecy. They keep up their holy image out in public the next morning and then go back to their debauchery and their filth.

[38:49] Now, you need to understand that every time you participate in something that's ungodly or something that falls in lines of these pits you're digging. And nobody sees you and nobody knows, but you're getting deeper and you're trapping yourself.

[39:03] In this case, trapping yourself in a pit of secrecy. And just like the wicked dig those pits, so do Christians.

[39:16] We can point at the world and say how wicked they are, but what does that do for you? It just makes you feel righteous. But you need to be reminded tonight, you're not righteous. Jesus Christ is righteous.

[39:28] And your connection to Him gives you His righteousness. But the life that you live where your feet touch this dirt, it's not clean. And I'm not beating you up tonight, I just want to help you.

[39:42] I want to help you get out of it. I want to see that you get victory. And so, Lord willing, next week we're going to take a look at some things that I believe can help us to get out of that pit.

[39:52] I'll just leave it with that. I hate to give you the problem without the remedy in one time, but we're going to have to let it go that way. So let's just be dismissed with prayer and then we'll work on our songs.

[40:05] Father, tonight as we dismiss, I pray that the words tonight and the imagery tonight was helpful and that God, that if anything it would be a warning to us.

[40:17] But Lord, even more importantly for those that are struggling with certain things or giving themselves over to things that they don't see to be a problem, let them see that it's a pit.

[40:28] Let them believe it and understand that it's going to hurt them. And you don't want us to be hurt. You want us to be healthy and strong and soldiers of Jesus Christ. So Lord, may we not be entangled in the affairs of this life, that we may please him that have chosen us to be a good soldier.

[40:48] Thank you for this evening. Thank you for my brothers and sisters and the time to spend with them in fellowship. Please bless the remainder of the evening and help us to edify one another, we pray in Jesus' name.

[40:58]  Amen. Amen.