Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/cornerstonebville/sermons/49368/the-radiant-life-part-1/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Seananhae Director Nellie And and have people pulling together and got some things and it's just it's fun are you having fun yet okay i'm having fun um i want to just get started just to remind you like this wednesday night and we gave out the uh our battles of the best of faith and so there's a copies cracked there actually they're in a box back on the floor somebody might throw them on the table back there if your family didn't get one yet be sure to grab one of those uh just as we review and think through what we believe is baptists and what that means what it looks like uh very important we're not just about t-shirts and logos right we're about substance substance and so what we are as a church matters what we believe really matters and so uh be sure to grab that we're going to be going through these things uh even on wednesday nights coming up we're starting to combine on wednesday nights just for the sake of time um so we're going to come and uh we'll get together on wednesday night and we're going to be working toward the moment we come in together together the plan is in january exactly when we don't know we're out we're still working for it i'm here uh consultant and chief i remember what we call it a consultant church planter that's great and uh so it's been a great month of consultant church planter appreciation you guys it's just been really sweet and kind and um it's been a long time uh and i know this morning as i'm looking around i know there's there's a couple of birthdays here uh some of your people are more mature um so i'm looking back and saw the back road and yeah you haven't worked that way uh uh i also want to introduce you this morning uh to a very special not guests she'll be with us from from here on and that is my mother my mother jesus comes but it's good and it's all it's all going on i just want to give you a disclaimer at this point any stories that she tells about me are untrue okay so let's just get that no don't listen to any stories until you verify the facts okay i want you to turn your bibles this morning to where and

[4:04] in Ephesians chapter 5.

[4:20] We'll just, uh, we'll reverse taking a system. I'm trying to continue to do this. We'll reverse taking a system. We'll carefree then how you are.

[4:34] Not as unwise, but as wise. Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

[4:49] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand who the will of the Lord is. He goes on to say, And do not get drunk with the blind, for the heavens are involved for.

[5:01] But be filled with the Spirit. Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.

[5:13] Giving thanks always for everything to God the Father. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting to one another. I would reference for us.

[5:26] Father, we come before you this morning. And we just praise you. We thank you for all that we have in Christ.

[5:38] We thank you for all that's made possible in Christ. We thank you for the transformation that comes through knowing Christ. We thank you for the strength. The ongoing strength that enables us to make you through this life because of Christ.

[5:52] We thank you for the kingdom of this world being under the rule and dominion of Christ. That one day you're going to pull them all together in obedience.

[6:07] And Lord, we just pray in the meantime, from now until then, that you would help us to walk a walk that shines in life like Christ everywhere we go.

[6:20] In everything we do. May your Holy Spirit so be at work in us and through us that people will see your life.

[6:31] And that they will glorify our Father in heaven. May you just be at work in such a way, Lord, that the transformation we have experienced in Jesus will be experienced by those around us.

[6:47] May we be a light in a dark place. May we shine brightly in these dark days. We pray this all, Jesus precious, our Lord.

[6:58] Amen. Amen. I love hearing our babies cry. It is okay. So if you're with us, just know that is a feature of our journey.

[7:10] We get to hear the babies call them out to the Lord. We're going to cry now because it just means amen. And that's what it's going on. Okay.

[7:22] The features of chapter five. Today is just talking about better behavior. And that's what God has called us to. As a church, if you want to be a church that follows a better way.

[7:37] As followers of Jesus, we want to move a better way. Because we have the life of Christ. I can't think of the phrase.

[7:49] It was the best of times and the worst of times. It's coming from Charles Lee. It's not the tale of two cities. If you've ever read that book.

[7:59] It was in this book where he said very opening lines. It wasn't the best of times. It wasn't the worst of times.

[8:10] It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epic of relief. It was the epic of Ian Cripp Juppertier.

[8:21] Or Stelny Hunt. And as he lays this out, he's just suggesting some very radical opposites. On one side of the English Channel, in France, you're experiencing a revolution that is the worst of times.

[8:39] And he went at the time and some places experiencing revival, which is the best of times. And just showing the disparity between the two and just how there is such a contrast for family and loneliness and hatred and oppression, good and evil, light and darkness, wisdom and following.

[9:03] How are you going to live out the best of times when it could be the worst of times? How are you going to make it the best of times? I'm not sure.

[9:14] I'm not really sure that we're prepared for the worst of times. Are we? I mean, I think if you look around, we see some things happening. It just could be signs of what's to come.

[9:26] It's really not good. We're on different fronts with the conflict of Israel and all the terrible things that have happened there.

[9:37] There's a possible conflict with Iran, Ukraine, Russia. We've got China threatening to invade Taiwan.

[9:49] While in the meantime, our country is so dopey up on feeding alcohol emotionally unstable. We, as a nation, really aren't in a position to do much about the world's problems.

[10:05] Right? I remember talking about this at home. I said, part of the sharing of this statistic with me in the Sabbath, and that this sounds true. And she brought up, you know, I've been reading about this generation.

[10:19] She said, a third of, or I think it was only a third of this generation was qualified for military service. A third.

[10:30] And so because of that, she looked back and she was like, no, it's actually not a third. I was questioning how I was questioning her, the facts that she's thrown out. And so she was like, no, she came back to the dogs.

[10:41] It's actually wrong. It's only a quarter. And so I looked it up. And the nonprofit group that does the study on things market has.

[10:54] 77% of age 17 to 24 at this moment are ineligible for any branch of military service because of drug use, obesity, emotional, and school.

[11:09] 77%. You consider the issues going on in the world. You look at the immigration problem right now on top of all this other stuff.

[11:20] You look at the 8 million new immigrants in our country this year. And you're just, you're kind of stunned by that. You think that that is equal to the number of babies born in the U.S.

[11:37] Just this year. It was the worst of times. And you think about all of these things and just exactly how bad it would be in all of these.

[11:50] And you just kind of start to start putting it all together. It's like, what, the world? It couldn't get any worse. Well, yes, it actually could get worse. It could get a lot worse.

[12:03] Unfortunately, I don't think we're ready for the apocalypse. Because we look at the church and we stay with the churches generally. If you look at the Southern Baptist Convention, you see the best of this right before.

[12:15] You just need to run away from the apocalypse. It's more like a week in the furnace. You've got to convince church along. You know?

[12:27] There's no life. You're not going to fight badly. You're not going to stand up against the anti-Christ. You're not going to stand up against the anti-Christ. You're not going to stand up against all of these ideas. You see, you look at the weakness of the absolute, uneven state of the church.

[12:42] In light of all these world situations, you have to go, man, this could be a big one. What you can tell us. Are you going to stop?

[12:52] I'm on toilet paper. It needs to be prepared. That's not what God's called us to do. In fact, I believe that in this passage of Scripture, God gives us the encouragement as believers in Christ.

[13:08] Those of you in this room that are believers in Christ, you get the encouragement in this. You can call to something greater. You can call to something more noble, something more respectable than this.

[13:23] And I really believe that the encouragement of God's Word and through the Holy Spirit, we can live out of that kind of strength so that we can live in the best of times in the face of the worst of times.

[13:34] And that in the face of the worst of times, people can see in God's people such a radical contrast to the work of the Holy Spirit in our life. That they'll want to know the reason why.

[13:47] They'll want to hear the message that's transformed us and given us confidence in the face of such terrible things. And make the best of times out of the worst of times.

[13:59] You see, in Ephesians chapter 5, it's in flood. And this is the Apostle Paul, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is giving us a Word that's not just for the Church of Ephesus, but it's for you.

[14:13] It's for you. It's for your life. And so that you'll hear this. And that the Holy Spirit will take the Word of God and plant it into our hearts and transform us through it.

[14:25] Paul is writing the city of Ephesus. The people of Ephesus might say this is the worst of times. The Roman city's state, constant conquest of the world, there's wars and rumors of war all the time.

[14:42] I can only imagine that in the city of Ephesus, it's like every other Roman city, and in this city, there are families who experience the death of their own loved ones who have had to go off to the war.

[14:53] Because it's true of everything from the Roman city. It's a pagan city. It's in its heart, it's the temple of Artemis.

[15:06] In Acts chapter 19, the Apostle Paul is preaching the gospel there, and his teaching is a threat to the establishment. It's the heart of Artemis and the city is really the heart of education and business and commerce and everything.

[15:23] This false religion is the heart of it. And when you start preaching the gospel against the establishment, look out. Because you're disrupting their income.

[15:36] And you're disrupting stability. Whether it's in the public education or businesses around you or local city government. If they're there, there's no different than ours.

[15:48] And probably the perfect fact shows all kinds of stuff. I mean, it's probably very much like us in the believers in this context. You might have been tempted to say, or at least the worst of them.

[16:02] How can you make your life in such a context? How can I raise my kids in this context? And you look to Acts chapter 19, and in Ephesus, the silversmith by the name of Demetrius.

[16:18] There is a craftsman gathered, and the other craftsmen together. And Paul is causing trouble. And he brings a riot that involves the city officials now.

[16:28] And they're all coming down on Paul. And the crowd gathers, and they shout, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. They're gathered around this rally crowd.

[16:41] And it's a contrast to the proclamation of the gospel.

[16:52] What does Paul say to the church? What does the Holy Spirit mean to you all to say to encourage them in that context? You look back to the few verses of Ephesians 5.

[17:04] Do not become partakers with them. For at one time you were in darkness. But now you are light in the Lord. Therefore, walk as children of light.

[17:17] This is your moment to shine. This is your moment to shine the light of Christ in a world that is dark and dismal and evil and we win in everything that you see that is so contrary to all that's good.

[17:33] This is your moment to preach Christ and Him crucified as the coming again. This is your moment to walk out of your life and raise your family in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

[17:44] So that they see a contrast in your family that's different. Because Jesus makes a difference and He makes it all better. I can have confidence with all the world running around like your hair is on fire.

[18:00] Because my feet are on the solid rock of Jesus Christ and I will not be moved. I have an anchor for my soul in Christ and so I have to walk as a child of light in darkness so that they can see the light and glorify my Father Jesus in heaven.

[18:18] That's the call. So in this the apostles are defining what's going to be essential if you're going to shine. If you're going to shine in these moments. And I say for us as a church as we're coming together, this is the encouragement for us to be radically different from what we see around us.

[18:35] Amen. To shine the light of Christ brightly by being a contrast. Be different.

[18:48] Essentials. Essentials. Shiny. Perspectives that are going to come to us in this. So you come down to verse 15 and this is where it gives us the essentials.

[19:01] I'll probably get through two of the four of them. I'll probably get through one. I'll be part of the first one. I don't know what our faith has to bring through this.

[19:12] And as we look at this I think it's going to be urgent. Four things, four essentials that are shining. One, urgency.

[19:24] Urgency. Christ calls us to walk with urgency. Christ calls us to live with more urgency than the world around us.

[19:37] There's something urgent about the message and you see it here. As verse 15 is unpacked as we read, looking at the word for China. Just like Ezra did.

[19:49] If you read through Ezra, this was a few weeks ago or behind the list. If you read through Ezra. But as you read through that, Ezra was man of God, took a book of the law and opened it up.

[20:00] And stood on a platform and he made sense of it for the people. The prototype of preaching for us. You open the word.

[20:12] And when you open this word and you start unpacking it, you start seeing God's encouragement for us. It's the challenge for us so that we can shine. What is it?

[20:23] First of all, you're going to shine with urgency. You're going to walk with urgency. You're going to live a life. They call it urgency that Christ brings to your life. Notice what he said.

[20:34] Look carefully in how you walk. Carefully. Carefully. This word means to walk in strict conformity to a standard or norm.

[20:47] Strict conformity. Focus on careful attention. To walk accurately and carefully. To be conscious of some things.

[20:59] You are called to live in a state of urgency because of what Christ has done in your life. If you're going to be a witness. If you're going to shine the light of Christ. Then you're going to do that because of this perspective of your walk.

[21:14] Your walk in Christ is no passing endeavor. It is going to be a walk of urgency. It's a walk of intensity. It is a walk of you actually paying careful attention to what you're doing.

[21:30] It's the contrast of our life. I think of being on the swim team when I was a kid. I was a teenager. Somebody invited me to be on the swim team.

[21:41] There were girls there. I said yes. And one of the problems. I don't really know how to swim. I mean I can swim.

[21:52] But you've got to swim in particular ways. And I'm exactly glad to do this. It didn't bother me. I'm going to go because there was girls.

[22:03] And so I go and a lot of people go. I was looking at this particular event. It wasn't there. They looked around. Everybody else was already in things. And so they reluctantly said, Well, let's let James do this butterfly.

[22:19] You guys remember how precise that is. What a learning curve there is in learning to do the butterfly.

[22:32] I don't know how to do it. I look like a little drunk frog. I was kind of trying to do it in the water. But I go and whistle blows and I get in the water. And I'm going along.

[22:44] I mean these people are long gone. And I'm trying to do the best I can. I don't know how to do this thing. And so I'm drifting off to the side. And I look up. And the coach is standing there and he said, It's okay.

[22:57] You can do it. Racism. I don't know how to take close attention. I don't know the precision of the movements and all of that.

[23:11] And how to get your body to a place of momentum. And how you're thrusting yourself out of the water in such a way that your body is just gliding away.

[23:23] And lots of these other people do it. It looks amazing. But I didn't know how to do it. And unfortunately that's how we live our Christian life. We're going through a Christian life.

[23:35] Such imprecision and such carelessness and such weakness that we're jumping in the water like a drunk frog. Swimming around and we're expecting that somehow someone's going to be inspired to walk with Jesus.

[23:49] Because of what I'm doing. I'm walking with Jesus. And they're gone. I don't want to pardon. It's a little awkward. A little embarrassing.

[24:00] How are you going to do this carefully and cautiously? And he goes on to say, redeeming the time. Cautiously and carefully paying such close attention.

[24:12] You're making the best use of time. This awkwardness and carelessness in your walk is actually wasting time.

[24:25] This is not what you're going to call me. I'm not drifting into retirement in my last years. Wasting time. I am not going to live my life that way.

[24:38] I don't want to be a part of a church that's like that. Where we're just about fun and games. And just about get together so that we can just build new friendships. Those are great. That's good.

[24:49] We need encouragement in relationships. That's not the heart of what we are. We've been called to way more than that. We're made way more than just a get together.

[25:00] We're people that have been transformed by Jesus. We've been called to call them in our life. An intense call. A sense of urgency. Time. Urgency.

[25:11] I don't have a lot of time. People ask me, are you going to make this? And sometimes my response would be a little sarcastic.

[25:22] I'd say, yeah, I don't have long to live. And I really, well, I'm going to die. But I don't have long to live. I'm not going to waste my time doing that.

[25:33] I don't want to waste my time doing things that don't matter. Paul said, this life that you've been called to, the light that you're shining to the world around you is really seen when it's urgent.

[25:52] This is how you shine in Christ. The urgency of the message is part of that. That word, urgent is, or the word, the word, the best use of the time and the meaning is really talking about securing the deliverance of something.

[26:08] Or gaining something, seizing something. The Latin phrase of car diem comes from this idea of seize the bone.

[26:22] No love for consequences. Not recklessly in the sense that I'm doing things that don't matter. I'm jumping on the river, jumping into the river, getting my kids to come back, run off, jump off.

[26:36] You know, you only do it once. Now, there's a recklessness to that, you know. But that's not the idea. It's not that kind of recklessness.

[26:47] It's actually a consciousness. It's that I'm intentionally thinking about things ahead. And so I'm going to seize those things so that this time is not wasted.

[27:03] Capturing the urgency. Psalm 90 verse 12. This is what Moses said in his song.

[27:17] Moses wrote Psalm 90. It says the song of Moses is coming from that account. Where he says, So teach me, or teach us, to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

[27:32] Teach us how short our life is. Teach us how short our time is. Help us to seize the moment. Seize the day.

[27:43] Seize the day. Help us to have the sense of urgency in our walk so that people see in our life and the work of our church and our collective relationships together that there is something important about what we're doing.

[27:58] That's why I don't miss church. Because time is important. And I've made it a priority in my life even before I became a pastor or a preacher to be at church as a convention of my heart.

[28:12] I don't just treat it lightly. There's an urgency in my life. I've decided that these things are important. It's important for me. It's important for my family.

[28:23] Urgency. Even looking back to their history, I think there are original examples of how she reminds us of urgency. So it was nearly a kid of C.T. Studd, a professional athlete in England 1800s.

[28:40] And he is known as one of the Cambridge Seven. It was a seven significant man that went out and mission were a pastor and did all these things. He was responsible for setting up the heart of Africa mission.

[28:53] 1800s. It was not a comfortable time to be in Africa. But he did this when he was a young man in his twenties. And he did this in the face of the fact that he was one of the most prominent professional athletes in England.

[29:11] Now I don't play cricket. I don't understand cricket. I don't get it. But it's like baseball to them. Plus their hearts, whatever. But he was a professional athlete.

[29:23] And he would know all across the country. And as the number one prospect, he threw it away and went to Africa to be a missionary.

[29:35] And he made the headlines of all the papers in England. What a waste! And in response to that, he wrote the poem where he said, It's only one life will soon be passed.

[29:54] It's only one's done for Christ to last. Instead of a sense of urgency in his life, he prioritizes things for him. That is the life that shines.

[30:06] Right? That's a radiant kind of life that demonstrates transformation and change that only the Holy Spirit can bring out. That is what Moses was talking about. That's what Paul was telling the church in 1 Corinthians 7.

[30:19] He said, This is what I mean, brothers. Things you're struggling with. That he was dealing with. He dealt with singleness in marriage. Mind you. And he said, This is what I mean, brothers.

[30:32] The appointed times has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they have none. And those who mourn as though they were not mourning.

[30:44] And those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing. And those who buy as though they have no goods. And those who deal with the world as though they have no means with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

[30:58] Urgent. And that's not saying ignore your life. I can tell you what, but I've got to keep you focused on it.

[31:11] You've got responsibility. You've got to say, find the word in your heart, the direction of your life should be here.

[31:22] Thankfully, Jesus has his urgency for John and I. For Jesus said, I must work the works of him to send me out of his day.

[31:34] For the night comes, but no man will work. The night is coming. And even Jesus himself has this sense of urgency and reminds us of Luke.

[31:45] He said that the signs of the times, the signs that should be grabbing your attention from moment to moment. When you see these world things happening. He said this is just a reminder that your redemption is drawing near.

[32:00] Your time is short. How much time am I spending on the things that don't matter? The deed of time. How many of us are making excuses about not growing spiritually, not being or not knowing more?

[32:21] Stop with the excuses. Redeem the time. Shine. This is your moment to radiate the presence of Christ in your life. Stop procrastinating.

[32:32] Stop putting it off. Shine your way to Christ. Let the Holy Spirit take hold of you. You've taken hold of him. So if you're putting off the sharing of your faith.

[32:46] Redeem the time. You don't know how much time you have left. The person that you're a burden to share with. You don't know how many moments of this world they have left.

[32:58] Redeem the time and live in urgency. The best of the times. In the face of the worst of the times. Number two. Not just a sense of urgency.

[33:11] It is urgency. The need of that. Our walk is to shine and radiate discernment. More than the world around us.

[33:22] Discernment. Christ calls us to live and discerned more than the world around us. Verse 17. Therefore, don't be foolish.

[33:35] Understand what the will of the Lord is. Contracts. Foolishness. The will of God.

[33:46] Understand what the will of the Lord is. You see the contrast. Not as unwise but as wise. Not as in verse 15. Verse 17. Not as foolish of the will of God.

[33:58] Not foolish of the will of God. Not foolish of the will of God. This is your context. I mentioned this argument from the beginning of the letter. Wisdom.

[34:09] My quote at this point is not just knowledge. Wisdom is the application of knowledge for the right time, for the right measure, and the right way.

[34:20] You can have all knowledge and have no wisdom. None. I am a carbon. Not a carbon.

[34:34] It's a hobby. It's a side thing. Not a carbon. I can do some things, but I can't do it. It's skill and precision. That's wisdom. Somebody that is a carpenter, I'm afraid, has learned to do things. And has learned to do it over and over again. Learning from mistakes until you know a lot of things and you can practice it with some precision.

[34:46] Doing things in the right measure, in the right time, and in the right way. And so, I don't know the order of things to do all the time. So, I'll fix the floor and then I'll do the wall and then I'll do the ceiling. Wrong. I'll do the ceiling. Wrong. Wrong. My partner isn't going to do it that way.

[34:58] He's going to do the ceiling because there's a lot of things, but I don't know the ceiling. I'm going to do it that way. I'm going to do it over and over again. I'm going to do it over and over again. Learning from mistakes until you know a lot of things and you can practice it with some precision. Doing things in the right measure, in the right time, in the right way. And so, I don't know the order of things to do all the time.

[35:11] So, I'll fix the floor and then I'll do the wall and then I'll do the ceiling. Wrong. My partner isn't going to do it that way.

[35:23] He's going to do the ceiling because everything's going to fall on the floor. He's going to fix the wall because stuff is going to be on the floor and everything's going to be spilled so you don't put good carpet down.

[35:34] First, you do these other things first in order to have learned this. It takes knowledge at the right time and with the right measure. And so, I experience this over and over again as I've cut wood and I make a cut.

[35:50] I've got a limited amount of wood. It's expensive. You've got to sell your children for it. And, you know, I might spare one of your kids for it. Okay, but, you know, I'm wrong.

[36:03] I'm going to cut it. But, when I cut, it's been measured twice. Cut once. And, in my case, it's measured ten times and still cut three times.

[36:15] I don't know why. I put the microwave up. I measured it and I looked at the specs. I did everything. And, it's a heavy microwave. Only one person can get in this area to lift it up.

[36:26] And, I get this microwave up. I've got the mounting rack on the wall. I heat it up there. And, I'm holding it up because the counter there is rigid and I can't get around it. Nobody can help.

[36:37] So, I'm holding it up and I'm trying to screw the screws up and talk and hold it. And, they will not go in. They won't. But, I'm like this. I'm sweating.

[36:48] My muscles are starting to tremble as I'm holding it. You know? And, I'm like, this has got to go in. I measured it. It's got to be in the right spot. And, it's not. It is not. And, I hold it. I'm chugging flashlight up in there.

[37:00] I've got to hold it. I'm like, how am I off again? Five times. I am not chugging. Five times. Until that day, I said, that's all I can do today.

[37:15] I'm afraid I'm not going to have this day on the stove. It is going to have this day on the stove. So, Paul's talking about not as unwise but as wise.

[37:31] I'm not being foolish but knowing and understanding that you are the Lord God for your heart. We're going to be in Ephesians 1a. Ephesians 1a, come on.

[37:42] This is what God has done in the beginning of your spiritual life. You may have come to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose which he set over Christ. Do you get me a spirit of wisdom in Christ living in me?

[37:56] I don't think it pertains to the life of God. It doesn't make a good part of you. It does give me what I need to practice the spiritual life and exercise our obedience to God and the Holy Spirit's labor of the children.

[38:15] It started in the plan of salvation in my life. And grace was lavished on me in order to what he said, in all wisdom and insight.

[38:27] And then in the intercessory prayer that he offers after, in Ephesians 1a 17, he prayed, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, I'm praying that he may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart in light, so that you may know it as the hope to which he has called.

[38:48] Well, this is the intensity that he's talking about. The urgency in your walk and now the discernment in your walk. The walking of knowledge and wisdom.

[39:01] I'm getting that through my relationship with Christ that was established at my salvation, and that it is being worked out in my sanctification as the Holy Spirit is now molding me into the image of Christ.

[39:14] Having the eyes of your heart in light, that you may know what is the hope to which he's called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great knowledge?

[39:39] Certainly. It's an issue of comparison contrast. It's the wisdom and foolishness. Light of darkness.

[39:51] Even if now Charles Dickens, when he was writing about that contrast, he said, there are certainly dark shadows on the earth, but the lights become stronger in contrast.

[40:06] The lights become stronger in contrast. As dark as it gets, the darker it gets, the brighter the light shines. Do not be foolish, but understand the will of the Lord.

[40:24] Proverbs 14 said, Proverbs 14, 8, He has to be the proof to discern his way, but the folly of fools deceives them. Proverbs 10, the one who conceals hatred is a lion and is with the will of utter slander is a fool.

[40:40] Contrast. Proverbs 14, 26, the fearful Lord and has strong confidence in his children will have refuge. Contrast. Your life is to be a life of contrast against the foolishness of the world.

[41:02] The gospel has shined in your life. Christ is alive. He's living.

[41:21] He's given us his word. He's living and powerful and sharp. He's two-edged sword piercing to the division of soul, the spirit, the joints and the marrow.

[41:32] It's the discerner of the thoughts and intents of my heart. Discerning. Your thought is the servant that only the Holy Spirit brings as you apply God's word rightly in right times and in right measures and in right ways to your life.

[41:50] And when you do, raise it. Christ shines in you. It shines in your life.

[42:03] People see it in this picture that the gospel brings. So no, it is not that we merely live the life before people and preach and let that be the gospel.

[42:17] No, we preach the gospel, but we also live a life that demonstrates the gospel. So it brings validity to the message that we preach. Has Christ made my life better or not?

[42:31] Has he made me stronger in the world around me? Is my family able to endure the assailing work of the enemy?

[42:43] Are they able to stand in an age like we live in? Is he said, make it most of your time? This is a very interesting word.

[42:54] Make it most of your time. Make it most of your time. Make it most of your time. Make it most of your time. Because the days are evil. And when he talks about this, he talks about it in terms of not chronos, which is just the unfolding of time.

[43:08] I was going to get a chronograph at the stopwatch. You see something chronological, chronological order. You know, the Bible gets a chronological order. They take the books, put it in their chronological order, so you see some of the common news.

[43:24] Well, that's chronics. That's not the word he used to. Where he used this year is where hyros, which basically means an epic atomic moment. An age.

[43:36] Making the most of this age. You're walking a walk in such a way in obedience to the word of God, demonstrating the word of the Holy Spirit in your life, so that you can make the most of your time in this age.

[43:51] So that the effectiveness of your witness, the effectiveness of your life, the transforming word of Jesus, can radiate to the world around you. And everybody can see a demonstration of what happens when you come to Jesus and turn for your sin.

[44:10] And you surrender that sin to Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes in your life and He changes you. A light and shine in our place.

[44:23] A light and shine in your life. It's a new life. A light and shine in your life. And you're like, oh, you're a light and shine in your life. But now, wherever I go, I walk as a child of my life.

[44:36] Everywhere. A family. A marriage. A work. As a citizen. A citizen. There we go. So this is your contemplation.

[44:56] Comment. 1 Thessalonians 4, 3, all said, this is the will of God for sanctification. He was named for sexual immorality. Here we have a very specific example of the will of God for your life. There are certain times when you speak with greater clarity about what God's will for your life is.

[45:16] When you find that you cannot violate the fact about consequences. There are always consequences. Because God is free. Anytime God speaks, this is how it's going to be. He doesn't need your permission.

[45:29] He didn't ask for your opinion. He said, this is how it's going to be. And there are certain decrees that God has made that cannot change. Don't change the decree of God.

[45:40] He spoke. It's happening. It's going to be completed. He commands God what he has spoken to you in such a way that you can't do.

[45:51] in such a way that you are called to obey him. You can obey and not obey. When you don't obey, you can't do that without consequence because it's a commandment. And as disciples of Jesus Christ, what are we making disciples to do?

[46:05] To obey whatsoever Christ has commanded you. To learn obedience so that we can shine the light of Christ through our life.

[46:16] That's the kind of church I want to be a part of. That's the kind of church I want to be in. I want that encouragement so that's the kind of person I can be.

[46:29] That's how God's designed this new word. We've gone through two. That's progress, guys.

[46:40] I'm just thinking through our church and just thinking what God is that?

[46:55] It's something that we have heard. A year ago, if you would have said two years ago, three years ago, if you would have said in any moment that I was going to get part of church.

[47:08] If you said it probably two years ago, I would have to move the world away. It's so far out of the realm of possibility. That ain't never going to happen.

[47:19] And God, in His sovereignty, has worked as great as peace in such a way in my life and the world that has drawn us together in this moment.

[47:32] And we have opportunity. Here. Here. So when you said over and over, the first you said, you need to shift the dust off my heart in so many ways.

[47:46] It's challenging. I want to be a part of this. I want to be, you know, I don't want to do what I did before. I want to do church so I can do this.

[47:58] I want to be different. I want this to be a moment. But what a Holy Spirit moment, right? The Holy Spirit can give us all just a sense of urgency for this moment in time that we're living in right now.

[48:11] So that we together can do something different. Bring glory to God. Amen. What an opportunity for us to shake the dust off. And say, you know what?

[48:22] I've done things in a way that, Lord, I haven't brought glory to your name. I've been lazy. I've been slothful. I've been skating along through my spiritual life. I have not been serious about my growth.

[48:34] I haven't been serious about sharing the gospel. I haven't been serious about being an influence. I've been disciples, which you've called me to do as a believer. But Lord, I'm not doing that anymore.

[48:46] Lord, in this age of darkness, in this age of night, in this epoch of time, Holy Spirit of God, follow us.

[48:59] Amen. Change us. Let us walk as children of the Lord in a sense of urgency, a sense of discernment that comes from walking through Jesus.

[49:15] How him respond this today? Hunt, norma, S judges. Fuck, God.

[49:27] Some of you will be перед by today, not as good, not tomorrow, but just in today. Don't that, don't that, don't that.