You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
We're going to be back in Ephesians chapter 4 this morning.
As Paul applies the truths of the gospel to the lives of the Ephesians,
we come to what can be a fairly complex passage this morning.
So listen closely as I read beginning at verse 17 and then we'll talk about it together.
Ephesians 4 starting at verse 17.
Now this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds.
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of heart.
They've become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
But that is not the way you learned Christ.
Assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him as the truth is in Jesus,
to put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Thus far God's holy, inerrant, and infallible Word.
Let's pray.
Father, we come to your Word and ask that as we look to it,
the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts would be acceptable in your sight.
Oh God, our Rock and our Redeemer.
Our trust is in you.
Our hope is in you.
Help us now by your Spirit.
Amen.
We've talked already a little bit this morning about the reality of sin in the life of a follower of Christ.
It's a perplexing issue, isn't it?
And one that's raised again in these verses when we see things like the old man and the new man,
and the putting off and the putting on, and what is it that's going on?
When does that happen?
How does that happen?
What are the results in my life?
How does it actually play out?
Why is it, in other words, that I can have a new heart given me by God,
my heart of stone replaced with a heart of flesh,
so that I actually desire to, for instance, love people sacrificially?
And of all the people in the world actually would want to love my wife, right?
Why is it that that can be true and then that just this week I sin against her?
I love myself instead of her.
I was insensitive, unthoughtful.
Instead of listening to her, I wanted to propose my own solutions
and have her understand my wonderful plans and great ideas.
And in my own desire to have things my way,
I sinned against someone I really wanted to love sacrificially.
Why?
Why haven't I quit doing that?
Why haven't you quit doing that?
Hang with me for just a minute.
We're going to dive into a little bit of theological investigation.
We're doing this at the beginning while you're still awake.
So I intended to be helpful.
Look a little bit at what the Bible says about ongoing sin
in the life of a follower of Jesus.
Because this can be difficult to wade through.
It says first that victory has been secured and a new life begun.
This is the clear teaching of Scripture.
2 Corinthians 5.17, you probably have heard this one.
If anyone's in Christ, he's what?
A new creation.
Old gone, new has come.
Galatians tells us, or Romans,
we know our old self was crucified with him.
It's been killed, that old self,
so that we're not slaves to sin.
We've been set free from sin, right?
Keep going.
Galatians 5.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh.
It's dead.
And then Colossians 3,
which is a parallel to the passage we're looking at this morning,
says,
you have already,
it's saying,
put off the old self
and put on the new self.
That's already happened.
There's been victory won for you by whom?
By Jesus.
He has crucified
the old self
and brought to life
something where in the past there was death.
The song we sang a minute ago,
my sin,
oh the bliss of this glorious thought,
my sin,
not in part,
but the whole,
all of it was what?
Nailed to the cross.
And I bear it no more.
I don't carry that burden.
Jesus has nailed it to the cross.
And so we might say,
perhaps the Bible's teaching Christians won't sin anymore.
Is that what that means?
Well, no.
The Bible also says,
the same human author Paul, by the way,
all the verses we'll look at this morning,
the Bible also says
that there's an ongoing war
against that new life.
Romans chapter 7,
I do what I don't want to do.
I keep doing the evil that I don't want
and there's a law of sin
that's waging war against the law of God in me.
There's a war going on within me.
Look at the next one.
Next chapter of Romans
says there's maybe an old self
that's been put to death,
but by the Spirit,
you still need to put to death
the deeds of the body.
There's something that still needs
to be put to death,
a battle that still needs to take place.
Galatians 5,
desires of the flesh against the Spirit,
they're opposed to each other,
fighting with each other,
warring inside you.
Colossians 3,
even though your old self is gone
and your new self has come,
there's a putting to death
that still needs to happen.
Always, always a war ongoing.
Even though victory's been secured,
the Bible says,
there's also still a war.
It's what we talked about
with that catechism question earlier.
That even though sin is defeated,
that it's been nailed to the cross
and we bear it no more,
there are remnants of sin
in every part of us, right?
That's what's going on.
That's at least part of what's happening
and why I would not love my wife
as I should.
Why we don't love God
as we ought to.
See, Jesus delivered us once for all
from the penalty of sin
on the cross.
One day He will deliver us forever
from the presence of sin
at all in our lives.
Amen?
But now,
sin still plagues us
even though it doesn't have
authority over us.
We're not slaves to it anymore.
We have new hearts,
new lives.
G.K. Chesterton says,
sin in the life of the believer
is like a rhinoceros in a restaurant.
It's a vivid image, isn't it?
He says,
if there's a rhinoceros in a restaurant,
Chesterton says,
I'd be the first one to rise up
and assure him
he had no authority whatsoever
in the restaurant.
But he would exert a lot of power.
He would make a big difference.
It would certainly disrupt,
wouldn't it?
That's what sin is like.
Even though it has no authority
in the life of a believer,
it still exerts a lot of power.
Isn't that more than just
theological speculation?
Isn't that your personal,
practical experience?
Haven't you lived that?
Can't you relate to what I shared about
with wanting to love my wife
and then this ongoing battle
and disappointment of,
I've failed again?
Where in this battle,
it does feel like I keep doing things
I don't want to do.
Where I think I've got this sin under control
and I've declared victory over it
and then it comes back
or I've got this area of weakness
under control
and two more pop up over here
and I've got to fight against them.
Can't you relate to that?
Haven't you felt that in your own life?
Has it ever made you ask why?
Why, God, didn't you just get rid of sin
once and for all on the cross
and make us perfect immediately?
Have you ever asked that question?
I've asked that question.
Man, that would have been
such a good idea, it feels like.
Just be done with it.
Why do I have to struggle with this
if Jesus came to defeat sin?
Why am I still battling against it?
We won't take that theological rabbit trail.
We've taken enough this morning.
The Bible doesn't always thoroughly explain why
and answer every question we might have,
but at least part of the answer
is that our ongoing struggle with sin
is a constant reminder of our need for Jesus.
that He wants to be in relationship with us,
not just give us a gift.
More on that later.
We turn to our passage in Ephesians 4.
Finally, I know you're glad to get to Ephesians.
We're back.
And look at it and see how it says at the beginning,
you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do.
Verse 17.
You must no longer walk that way.
Don't live like the old man
because that's not who you are anymore.
You learned, Paul says,
when I came to you and told you about Jesus,
you learned that the new life,
that following Jesus was not just a mere tweak,
that it was life-altering.
That old man was gone
and new man was coming to life.
That happens when you first trust Jesus, he says.
That's what it meant to be baptized into Jesus.
That it wasn't just buying eternal life insurance.
Jesus was a wholesale change of identity and life.
So our passage this week
talks about that reality theologically and generally.
While the next several verses,
the rest of the chapter,
we're going to look at next week
and they talk about this specifically and practically.
Don't live like the old man
because that's not who you are anymore.
That's what it's saying.
I want to give us an imperfect,
but I think helpful analogy
for the next couple of weeks.
We'll use this for both of these conversations.
And it's about witness protection.
Imagine, if you will,
that you are Philip Ptolemeo.
Philip Ptolemeo was involved with the mob,
a very sinister group known as the Calabresi Crew
in Chicago in the 1980s.
But Philip had a falling out with the boss.
And so Philip ran off from the mob
and took a lot of money.
And he also took tons of evidence.
All of the illegal stuff that they were up to,
Ptolemeo walked away with enough stuff
to put them all behind bars.
Well, they didn't, as you might imagine,
take real kindly to him going to the FBI.
And so he would have been in grave danger,
facing almost certain death
at the hands of the violent mob
if they found him.
And so what happened?
He became a part of the witness protection program.
His former identity was erased.
An entirely new identity created for him
in a different city with a different occupation
so he could live life free from harm.
The most important part of the program,
they say,
is that you must embrace your new identity,
not reach back into the old life that you had.
And according to the U.S. Marshals Service,
no witness who has embraced his new identity
has ever been killed.
That's what they say.
They do a good job protecting witnesses.
It wouldn't be safe, would it,
to go back to the old life?
Imagine you're Ptolemeo.
It would be absolutely essential, wouldn't it,
to embrace the new life that you've been given,
to say,
this is who I am now.
I'm somebody different.
It wouldn't be safe any longer
to go to dinner with friends
and decide to tell a few interesting stories
from your mob days, you know.
My new friends will like what I used to be.
That wouldn't be safe.
It wouldn't be a good move
to go back to Chicago
just because you're a big Cubs fan
and wanted to catch a game.
It wouldn't be wise
to throw around your old name anymore.
You have to be completely your new identity,
not living like the old Ptolemeo any longer.
That's what Paul's saying here in Ephesians 4.
Walk in a way that is consistent
with your new identity.
Live in a way that's fitting
with your new life in Christ.
Because there's been a drastic change, right?
We've been talking about this
for weeks and weeks now.
What God has done for us in Christ
is that He's taken us
from being enemies to Him
and made us sons.
In the very first chapter of Ephesians,
it's our union with Christ,
our being connected to Him
that's made that change in us.
We're no longer dead,
no longer far off,
no longer by nature objects of wrath,
facing certain judgment and death.
No, rather we've been made alive.
We've become objects not of God's wrath,
but His mercy,
been drawn near to Him
and made into a temple
where God would desire to dwell in us.
An amazing identity change, right?
Incredible what God has done for us
all because we were wonderful.
No.
All because of being in Christ.
There's the Cliffs notes
on the first three chapters of Ephesians
in case you missed it.
You've entered witness protection.
You've been given an entirely new life to live.
And now Paul says embrace that.
Live consistently with this new identity.
That's what He's telling us today.
And He warns us of some things
we have to remember
if we're going to live this new life.
Two things in this particular passage.
The first is that He warns us
not to underestimate
the danger of sin.
He's going to be pretty direct
in His words about sin.
But be assured,
this is not Paul
forgetting what he's taught us about grace
and all of a sudden lapsing back
into something else
and legalism.
No.
This is Paul preaching grace strongly.
Grace allows us to be.
In fact, it demands
that we be serious about sin
and honest about its destructive nature.
That's why we need grace, right?
Grace should never lead us
to treat sin lightly
but rather seriously.
Paul's telling us here
we must not walk in the ways of sin
that characterized our old man.
He's saying don't declare a truce
with an enemy Jesus died to defeat.
Don't make friends.
Don't declare a truce
with an enemy Jesus died to defeat.
We saw a few weeks ago
God's 4D love for us.
It's width and breadth
and height and depth.
Today Paul gives us
a 3D look at sin.
It's dangerous
and destructive nature.
The first D of how sin works
is that sin is deceitful.
That word itself is used
in verse 22
to describe our desires.
The sinful desires
of the old man are deceitful.
And in fact,
this whole section begins
with talking about
our faulty thinking
and our old way of life.
Notice how he starts
in verses 17 and 18.
He talks here
about the futility
of their minds.
Darkened in their understanding.
Ignorance.
He's talking about
the brokenness
in our thinking.
The ways that
we've been deceived.
Sin by its very nature
has always been full
of falsehood
and deception,
hasn't it?
We're led away
by believing the lies
of Satan and sin.
What are some of the ways
that sin deceives believers?
What are some of the lies
that we believe
where we think,
oh yes,
that's true.
How does sin
take us in
and drag us away?
It tells us
to go ahead
and indulge in sin
because what?
Maybe you've
thought this.
Indulge in sin.
No one will get hurt.
It's just harmless.
No one will get hurt.
You can do that.
Maybe sin has told you,
you know,
you can stop
when you want.
It won't really be
something that lasts
very long.
It'll just be a little sin.
You know,
do it and then stop
whenever you feel like it.
A lot of us
have believed
this next one.
You deserve better.
Sin tells you that.
whispers it in your ear.
You deserve better
than that spouse.
Than that kind of salary.
Than that kind of life.
You deserve better
than that.
Then there's the
twisted truth
into a lie
that we hear a lot.
God will forgive you.
Grace is there
for all your sins
so it's okay.
Sin will even make
grace seem bigger
to you
if you just indulge
a little bit.
Right?
And that's true.
Grace is there.
God does forgive.
But the lie
we're buying into
is that
we're seeing
grace is more beautiful.
What's going on
in my heart
is that
it's actually
losing sight
of the beauty
and the wonder
of the grace
of Jesus
even as I allow
sin to become
more attractive
to me.
So we believe
one of these lies
or one of many others.
We're deceived.
We indulge
in just a few clicks
on the computer.
You know
just a few minutes
lingering there.
We allow our lips
to gossip
and it feels good
in the moment
because I just needed
to get that off my chest.
I just needed to say that
about him or her
and it just felt so good
just to say it.
We indulge
in a few minutes
of daydreams
about what life
could be like
or would be like
or yes
if only I had
yes
that would really
fulfill me
then yes
that would be
so wonderful
then I'd be happy.
And we indulge
in sin
except we
we often don't
take into account
verse 19
the second D
about sin
is that it is
deadening.
Here's what happens
when we
believe the lies
of sin
they become
callous
and given
themselves up.
That word
callous
a deadening
of the senses
right?
Sin makes us
calloused.
It deadens
or desensitizes
us to the damage
we're causing
ourselves.
And so what do we do
when our senses
are deadened?
We indulge
more and more.
You know
that wasn't so bad
was it?
No one really
found out it was
true there weren't
any negative
consequences.
That felt good.
And so our senses
get deadened.
Calloused.
And looking for
pleasure and
fulfillment which
we're longing for
we begin to
want more.
It says we're
greedy.
The word there
is covetous.
We're greedy
to indulge
and practice
every kind
of impurity.
Why?
Because our senses
are deadened
and it takes
more to get
the same feeling
and I don't
feel fulfilled
and all of a sudden
this doesn't feel
as wonderful
as I was hoping
I need more
and more.
And we covet
what we think
will satisfy
our longings.
The Bible tells us
we covet our
neighbor's wife,
his house,
his life,
his assets,
his status
and we want
more of it.
Just a little sin
doesn't satisfy
does it?
We become deadened
and we long
greedy, greedy
to indulge
every kind
of impurity.
One of the
respectable
acceptable sins
of the American
middle class
is gluttony.
I struggle
with this.
And when we
describe it
it's so acceptable
to us that we
can actually think
it's light-hearted
or funny
sometimes
but it can
really be serious.
It's a serious
heart issue.
On Wednesday
mornings here
at the church
a group of men
have Bible study.
They come early
and they very
kindly leave
almost every week
a dozen or so
Krispy Kreme
donuts behind.
And so I get
to the office
on Wednesday
mornings
and typically
one of the first
things I do
is locate that
box
and have one
when I get it.
It's so good.
I love Krispy Kreme
and then James
Parker walks up
and says something
like a moment
on the lips
forever on the hips
and so I
slink back
into my office
and wish I
hadn't even
had the one
but they're
really good
and then I get
to working
on my sermon
or something
like that
and things
are coming
slowly.
It's just
really struggling
and really
frustrated with
myself
and so I'll
wander back
out for
another donut
and through
the day
each subsequent
donut
is actually
what we call
in order
again mostly
to make
ourselves feel
okay about it
we call it
what?
Eating my
feelings.
Am I the only
one in here
who eats my
feelings?
I eat my
feelings
and so that's
actually usually
what's going on
and that's funny
and when we say
it that way
we laugh
but what's
actually happening?
In my need
I'm turning
to a donut
instead of
allowing my
need to drive
me to God
and I should
be seeing
danger
this is
spiritually
treacherous
I'm finding
my need
the longing
that I feel
fulfilled
somewhere that's
not God
doesn't seem
so bad
it feels
good
to turn
back to
that box
one more
time
feels especially
good if you
cut it in half
first and come
back and eat
the other half
later because
you save
calories
that's an
extra tip
for free
but as you
go back
it leaves you
wanting more
doesn't it?
You begin to
realize I'm not
fulfilled by
just having a
donut in the
morning
there's something
else I'm not
quite satisfied
now you fill in
the blanks
maybe it is
gluttony
food
for you
maybe it's
drink
maybe it's
body image
maybe it's
bank account
and we
just need a
little more
than we
used to
in order to
feel good
because sin
having deceived
us has
deadened our
senses
and it's like
the proverbial
frog in
boiling water
where eventually
you will realize
the third
D of sin
that it's not
just deceitful
and deadening
but it's actually
deadly
enough donuts
would do that
that's not
usually the way
we experience it
verse 19
they've given
themselves up
like in Romans
1 God
giving us over
the same concept
to our sinful
desires
in other words
taking it to
its fullest
extent
it's the nature
of sin
it brings
death
James chapter
1
desire when it
is conceived
gives birth to
sin and sin
when it's fully
grown brings
forth death
by its very
nature
Proverbs 14
12
there's a way
that seems
right to a
man
it makes
sense
it feels
good
and in the
end
it's the way
to death
it seemed
so good
but it began
to choke
the life
out of me
that's why
Paul warns
us against
underestimating
the destructive
nature of sin
of the old
life
he doesn't
want us
dragged away
to death
just like
Philip
Tolomeo
Brenda
Potts
entered witness
protection
with the
U.S.
Marshals
she was
17
in 2002
when she
began to
turn in
members of
the violent
street gang
she'd been
a part of
she was
relocated
with a new
name
and a new
social security
number
from Virginia
to Kansas
City
Missouri
right where
she'd be
safe
but Brenda
never embraced
her new
life
she repeatedly
called old
friends and
even invited
them out
to visit
her
she was
relocated
time and
again to
try to
keep her
safe
but only
one year
after entering
witness protection
she returned
to Virginia
and was
found dead
within a few
days
there's death
at the end
of your
old way of
life
Paul says
sin is not
as pleasant
as it promises
to be
don't make
friends or
declare a
truce on
an enemy
that Christ
had to die
in order to
defeat
sin is
treacherous
it deceives you
it deadens
your senses
and it's
deadly
and Christ
had to die
to defeat
it
his death
shows you
the seriousness
of sin
you've been
rescued from
sin by his
grace
not rescued
to indulge
in sin
in self
destroying
lusts
he's rescued
you for
something
quite different
so finally
and much
more briefly
there's something
else we
shouldn't
underestimate
besides
the danger
of sin
if we're
going to
live our
new life
this passage
warns us
not to
underestimate
the scope
of God's
work
let me show
you what
Paul says
verse 20
this running
headlong
after sin
that he's
talked about
in these
first few
verses
he says
that's not
the way
you learned
Christ
that's not
what you
were told
when you
met Jesus
rather
as we've
seen
you were
taught
that following
Jesus
was life
altering
trading
old
desires
for
new
old
thinking
for
new
old
living
for
new
Jesus
changes
everything
right
and remember
that old
self put
off
and the
new
self put
on
is what
happened
when the
Ephesians
first met
Jesus
that's what
they're new
but there's
even more
God's up to
in our
lives
and it's
good news
because
the danger
of what
happens
if we
underestimate
the scope
of God's
work
there's a
danger
when we
hear a
sermon
like this
or read
a passage
like this
that talks
about the
dangers
of sin
and the
importance
of a
new life
you know
what the
danger
is
what do
you begin
to feel
it's all
up to me
it's all
on me
now
I gotta
get it
together
sin is
dangerous
I've got
to live
differently
then at the
end of the
day it's
all up
to us
now
yes
Jesus
thank you
for forgiving
my sins
that was
wonderful
but now
it's up
to me
to try
harder
to just
do it
be new
lifey
enough
I don't
even know
what that
would look
like
but I
need to
drum up
enough
willpower
the next
time
to close
my mouth
or the
computer screen
or whatever
it is
I'm gonna
do it
but you
know it
doesn't
work
I know
that doesn't
work
and God's
word tells
us it's not
even what he
designed
you see
sometimes we
underestimate
the scope
of God's
work
even while
we think
we're making
much of the
cross of
Christ
while we
think we're
celebrating it
and the grace
and forgiveness
of Jesus
there
we think of
what God
did in
sending Jesus
for us
was for the
goal of
forgiving our
sins and
getting us
to heaven
that in
between he
was just
gonna leave
us on our
own
between now
and heaven
it's up
to us
and we
think that's
saying a lot
about the
cross
it's actually
selling it
short
this passage
paints a
broader
and a
higher
goal
not just
a gift
of eternal
life insurance
but look at
verse 24
created
after the
likeness
of God
in true
righteousness
and holiness
where does that
take you
back to
Genesis 1
right
created
after the
likeness
of God
he designed
you in
his image
to be in
relationship
with him
to be in
a relationship
where you
trusted him
and followed
him
true
righteousness
and holiness
that's what
God made
you for
and it's
what he's
remaking
you
for
even though
that perfect
image
and true
relationship
has been
broken
he hasn't
given up
on that
and he
hasn't
decided to
leave it
up to
you
either
he who
began
a good
work
in you
will carry
it on
to completion
until the
day of
Jesus
Christ
right
he will
see it
through
he is
recreating
remaking
you
in his
image
yes
he forgives
your sins
yes
he guarantees
your eternity
and he's also
working on us
today
and he won't
stop
he's not
going to
quit
on us
he actually
wants
not just
to give
you the
gift
of a
get out
of jail
free
card
one day
someday
when you
die
he wants
to live
in relationship
with you
now
that's what
he wants
you to
have a
relationship
where you
walk
with him
talk
with him
where you
abide
in him
depend
on him
for everything
that you
need
maybe that's
part of why
you sin
so that you'll
remember how
much you
need him
that's his
heart
that he would
desire not
just to save
you but that
he would
desire to
know you
now
can you
believe
that
do you
really
think
that's
true
does he
feel
that way
about
you
the new
life
he's
designed
for us
is not
one of
minor
improvement
on our
own
but of
true
righteousness
and holiness
in Christ
his grace
may be even
bigger than
you imagined
Christian
God intends
to give us
new life
not just
one that's
slightly improved
but that is
rich and
free and
abundant
exactly as
he always
intended
it's why
he made
you
it's what
he longs
for for
you
so be
clear that
this passage
isn't
hoisting
the burden
of true
righteousness
and holiness
on your
shoulders
it's
God's
desire
promise
and
commitment
it's why
when we're
told to put
to death
the misdeeds
of the
flesh
it's only
by the
spirit
that we
put to
death
the misdeeds
because
you're not
on your
own
right
he dwells
in you
by the
spirit
by the
one who's
there
with you
who hasn't
left you
put them
to death
he lives
in you
sometimes
we think
of avoiding
sin in
terms of
witness
protection
and we
mean
protecting
our
witness
our
testimony
our
good
name
that's
not what
I mean
witness
protection
is about
protecting
whom
the
witness
himself
and no
matter what
struggles
a witness
may have
embracing
his new
identity
no matter
how hard
it is
for him
to live
out the
way that
he should
there's
always
in witness
protection
a safe
house
it's often
protected by
U.S.
marshals
where the
witness can
go
and be
safe
the only
safe
house
for us
is in
Christ
connected
to him
he's the
place of
refuge
where
struggling
witnesses
find
abundant
life
by
pushing
back
into
him
it's
why
the
Bible
tells
us
to do
what
to
abide
in
him
to
dwell
connected
to
the
vine
close
to
Christ
gazing
on
his
beauty
because
in
Christ
here's
why
you're
safe
in
Christ
the
deadly
effects
of
sin
can
never
reach
you
why
can
in
Christ
the deadly
effects
of
sin
never
reach
you
because
he
took
them
all
for
you
right
you're
in
a
safe
house
it's
a
place
where
the
truth
about
sin
is
never
downplayed
the
perfect
son
of
God
died
because
of
the
danger
of
sin
but
it's
a
place
where
the
truth
about
the
scope
of
God's
work
is
never
downplayed
he
died
for
you
to
reestablish
relationship
with
you
and
to
remake
you
after
his
image
so
that
when
you're
confronted
by
the
seemingly
attractive
offer
of
sin
you
will
by
the
spirit
who
lives
in
you
what
does
the
spirit
love
to
do
the
spirit
loves
to
point
you
to
Jesus
but
that's
his
favorite
thing
the
spirit
that
lives
in
you
would
want
to
point
you
to
Jesus
so
that
you
see
him
again
in
the
midst
of
that
temptation
and
struggle
with
sin
and
it
seems
so
attractive
the
spirit
says
what
about
Jesus
look
at
him
again
see
the
beauty
of
Christ
true
righteousness
and
holiness
not
the
counterfeit
version
that
sin
would
offer
abide
in
him
gaze
on
his
cross
again
this
morning
you
know
what
you'll
see
as
you
look
at
the
cross
see
him
become
sin
for
you
so
that
in
him
you
would
become
the
righteousness
of
God
then
in
the
shadow
of
the
cross
seeing
that
you'll
think
rightly
and
see
clearly
the
horror
of
sin
what
it
did
to
Jesus
and
you'll
see
the
beauty
of
your
Savior
at
the
same
time
and
your
heart
will
long
more
and
more
for
the
abundant
new
life
that
he's
created
you
for
pray
with
me
Holy
Spirit
show
us
Jesus
if
we've
never
seen
him
as
more
beautiful
than
our
sin
then
for
the
first
time
let
us
see
him
beautiful
if
we've
lost
sight
of
the
glory
of
his
cross
for
us
and
we've
been
taken
in
by
the
deceptiveness
of
sin
show
us
Jesus
again
today
that
we may
walk
in
newness
of
life
Jesus
guard
this
church
and this
community
from
the
deceitful
and
deadly
attacks
of
Satan
who
even
now
would
want
to
devour
us
show
us
Jesus
we pray
draw
our
hearts
again
and again
to
him
we ask
in
his
name
amen
for
more
information
visit us
online
at
southwood.org
what
us
what
happens
this
is
the
way
a
was
when
get
robbed
and
food
was
Daniel
Keys