WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.600 I would ask that you turn your Bibles this morning to Ephesians chapter 5, beginning there 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:15.820 ! in verse 3 and carrying through to verse 7. We have heard it read, but before we take the text 00:00:15.820 --> 00:00:22.320 ! in hand, I want you to join me again and just mark the passage again as it strikes your ear. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:31.140 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:38.879 as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness, no foolish talk or crude joking, 00:00:39.579 --> 00:00:45.219 which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:51.299 that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is an idolater, 00:00:51.299 --> 00:00:58.219 has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, 00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:03.539 for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:10.299 Therefore, do not be partners with them. Let's pray together. 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:17.879 Father, for us this morning, prayer is not just a habit, something that we do at various times in 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:26.280 service, but prayer is really an expression of our confidence in You, our reliance upon You, 00:01:27.759 --> 00:01:35.620 our admission of our own inability and frailty, understanding that You have bidden us to pray 00:01:35.620 --> 00:01:41.699 and to pray always. And so this morning, before I take the Word and before we as a congregation 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:49.159 listen to the preaching that is to flow from the Word, we ask that Your Spirit would work in us 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:59.420 to create good soil in which the Word should fall and the Spirit produce fruit. We pray that we do not 00:01:59.420 --> 00:02:06.120 leave here like we came, but that as a result of the preaching and the authority of Your Word and that 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:12.920 which You intend to say explicitly to our heart, that we grow in our affection for the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:20.200 and we grow in the purity and holiness of our walk, that an unbelieving world that is desperate in hope 00:02:20.200 --> 00:02:28.680 for something of significance and worth would see in our lives and in our testimony 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:35.780 that there indeed is power in the gospel. And we ask this in Your precious name. Amen. 00:02:37.780 --> 00:02:42.700 Our last lesson in the book of Ephesians actually picked up over there in Ephesians chapter 5, 00:02:42.780 --> 00:02:47.700 verse 1 and 2, where Paul makes a very interesting statement. He says, he's speaking to believers, 00:02:47.700 --> 00:02:54.760 and he says, now listen, you are to be imitators or you are to mimic God. That's what his point is. 00:02:54.759 --> 00:03:00.979 And the expectation, he's writing to people who he has taken three chapters to teach that really 00:03:00.979 --> 00:03:07.639 salvation is something that is spectacular, is something that can be explained in no other terms 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:13.659 than the power and the grace of God. And as we have worked our way through the passage, one of the things 00:03:13.659 --> 00:03:19.560 that should stand out in your mind is that God intends for the life of the believer to be as 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:27.699 significantly different as a result of the power of God as a blind man who was healed or a deaf man 00:03:27.699 --> 00:03:34.259 who could hear or a lame man who could walk. Remember over there in John when the man who had been born 00:03:34.259 --> 00:03:38.680 blind was brought to the Pharisees and they said, what happened? What happened? He said, now listen, 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:44.759 I don't have all the details down, but I do know this. I was blind and now I can see. 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:52.280 And we as believers are really to be walking evidence of the power of God. Do you understand 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:59.959 that? Hey, I would rather be in heaven. How about you? I'm going to get my microphone fixed before I 00:03:59.959 --> 00:04:03.879 fire off here. I would rather be, there's nothing wrong with being here, but I'll tell you what, 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:09.739 there's a little song that goes, heaven is a wonderful place. You know, I'm in for it. I don't mind the 00:04:09.740 --> 00:04:18.240 thought of going to heaven, but you know what? The reason I am here is because He intends for me 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:24.259 to be a living, walking example of the power of the gospel to change people's lives. Do you understand 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:32.139 that? That's why you're here. And so over in Ephesians chapter 5, Paul says, hey, you are to mimic 00:04:32.139 --> 00:04:41.240 God. You're to be like your dad. You're to be like dad. Then he goes on, and in verse 3, he says, 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:45.219 now listen, we've been talking about, all right, you're supposed to be this way, but let me clarify. 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:51.779 Let me kind of color this in a little bit firmer and use the pencil to really make the lines clear. 00:04:53.860 --> 00:04:59.539 Sexual immorality and impurity and covetousness must not even be named among you. 00:04:59.540 --> 00:05:07.160 And if I were to give you a one-sentence summary on the next series of verses that we're going to 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:14.480 study, I would put it this way. The believer has no business living as an unbeliever, and apart from 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:21.020 the evidence of the gospel's transforming power, no one should have false assurance. How's that for a 00:05:21.020 --> 00:05:28.640 one-sentence summary? Now, some of you are thinking, I'm in. Okay, here's the truth. This passage makes it 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:37.279 clear that those of us who are his children have no business whatever acting like the unbeliever. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:41.860 And then Paul goes on, and he says, and by the way, let's get this straight. 00:05:42.939 --> 00:05:46.819 If you do not evidence the transforming power of the gospel, 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:51.459 you should not be walking around with false assurance. 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.800 Well, with that in mind, let's take a look at the passage and understand, and we'll break it down 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:01.920 into two different parts. For one, we want to talk this morning about the fact that a believer has 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:08.860 a reminder here about being different. There in verse 3, Paul uses that little word, but, 00:06:09.660 --> 00:06:18.860 to connect what is going to follow to what has already been said. And if you work your way back 00:06:18.860 --> 00:06:27.040 just a little bit, you will remind yourself that repeatedly in the entire book, the issue of the 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:33.139 work of Christ in salvation has been brought forward front and center as the thing that is most 00:06:33.139 --> 00:06:39.199 significant. Why is it that the believer has any hope in eternity? It's because of Christ. Why is it 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:44.819 that the believer has the expectation of being different from his past? It is because of Christ. 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:51.199 We see that over and over again. And not the least, over there in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 2, 00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:57.939 it says, and walk in love as Christ loved us. Now, how did he love us? What was the indication of his 00:06:57.939 --> 00:07:05.699 love? It was the cross, wasn't it? That he was willing to die for your sins on the cross and take away 00:07:05.699 --> 00:07:12.120 the curse that you had burdened with or had been burdened with and take away the judgment of God. 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:20.040 He saved you by his grace and through his blood. And Paul, before he steps into the six negative 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:27.060 behaviors that he wants to be sure we understand have no place, no attraction in our life, he wants 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:33.120 us to understand that we are different not simply because we bought in to a new system of moral 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:39.360 behavior, but we are different because of the grace of God in our lives. It's not that we just happen to 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:43.920 have picked up a little book that says, all right, here are the 21 things to do so you can get to 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:50.699 heaven. That's not the deal. We were saved by the grace of God when he and his mercy found us in our 00:07:50.699 --> 00:07:57.080 despicable and hopeless condition, and he gave to us the complete forgiveness of Christ. And not only did 00:07:57.080 --> 00:08:03.340 he save us from our sins, but he also is committed to change us to be different than we were. 00:08:03.339 --> 00:08:12.299 Do you understand that? I want you to mark this. Perhaps the thing that gives us the greatest 00:08:12.299 --> 00:08:19.399 confidence in the certainty of our eternal destiny is seeing the evidence of change now. 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:28.339 Does that make sense? I mean, hey, if I can't see any evidence of the transforming power of God 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:33.860 playing itself out in my daily life, why in the world should I think that when I die, 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:39.860 bada, bada, boom, it's all done, and I'm going to heaven? If he can't change me now, what would make 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:45.279 me think that at some day he's going to pull it off and he's going to put it all together? It is the 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:52.919 evidence of the transforming power of God in the life of the believer that draws attention to the power 00:08:52.919 --> 00:09:01.240 of the gospel and also gives assurance to the saint. And so I want you to understand at the very 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:07.959 beginning, as we pick up on that little word, but, we recognize that godly Christian behavior is always 00:09:07.959 --> 00:09:15.279 linked to the power of the cross. I think it's important because we are called to be different 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:22.600 and face it. When we think about our own enablement or our own ability, we recognize, I can't pull that 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:28.600 off by myself. Well, the Holy Spirit goes out of his way to make it clear that the Christian life 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:33.480 must not be separated from the grace of God, and that's what that little word but there tells us. 00:09:34.100 --> 00:09:40.079 Behind the commands that we're going to be looking at, we'll note in just a moment that the fact is 00:09:40.079 --> 00:09:44.740 we've been called by his grace, saved by his power, transformed to be his children, 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:50.159 enabled by his spirit. We have the spirit of God within us, and that spirit is actively engaged, 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:56.500 helping us to be different. I want you to recognize Christians are not called to be moralizers, 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:00.779 but they're called to be illustrators of the transforming power of God. 00:10:01.560 --> 00:10:09.560 I want you to imagine that you are sitting in a doctor's office, okay, and you are sitting out there 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:16.639 in just a horrible, miserable, physical condition. And this is a heal-all doctor. I mean, we are highly 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:21.079 specialized today. You know, there's a doctor for the right hand, and there's a doctor for the left 00:10:21.079 --> 00:10:25.939 hand, and yet everything's broken down into micro little parts of, well, I'm sorry, but I'll have to 00:10:25.939 --> 00:10:30.739 send you to so-and-so. How many of you figured that out? Okay. Well, this is a heal-all doctor, 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:38.659 and in the waiting room are just an incredible bunch of really sick people. I mean, some are there, 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:43.899 and their limbs are shriveled up, and others are blind, and you can tell that by a cane, 00:10:44.200 --> 00:10:49.820 and there are others that are just, oh, they're groaning, oh, and they're really hurting. 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:57.899 And the door opens up, and out walks somebody. I am so, you know, you're thinking, well, that's 00:10:57.899 --> 00:11:03.840 that's exciting. I wonder if that person works here. You know, and you're watching, and one after 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:08.000 another, the people walk out of the office, you see them going in groaning, and you see them come 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:23.039 out different. Now, would you want to see the doctor? Yeah! You and I are to be tangible evidence 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:33.419 of the power of grace. That's the way it's supposed to be. And in order to help us be different, guess 00:11:33.419 --> 00:11:44.279 what we have? We have the power of the Spirit of God who works in us to help us grow. Now, Paul, 00:11:44.599 --> 00:11:52.659 writing to the church at Ephesus, understood that this church was having trouble with some of their 00:11:52.659 --> 00:11:58.639 past behaviors. And so, he says, now I want you to understand, you got to be different. 00:11:59.539 --> 00:12:05.240 So, let's mark the things that he talks about. The believer has no reason or no business being 00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:11.959 involved in immorality. Look at that word that is used there, but sexual immorality. And when Paul 00:12:11.959 --> 00:12:18.019 wrote these words to the church at Ephesus, understand that Ephesus was kind of the, I wouldn't say the 00:12:18.019 --> 00:12:24.100 epicenter, but it was one of the cities in the ancient world that was well known for its immoral 00:12:24.100 --> 00:12:31.819 behavior. Everywhere you turn, immorality had its place. And in the past, I've talked about the 00:12:31.819 --> 00:12:37.439 characteristic of the ancient world. And when I hear people tell me that things are worse today than 00:12:37.439 --> 00:12:42.799 they've ever been, my thought is this, is that the heart of man is deceitful above all things and 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:47.199 desperately wicked. And guess what? We're probably about as bad as the people were back then, 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:53.500 probably not much worse, but right there in the circle, right? And Ephesus was a foul, vile, 00:12:53.879 --> 00:13:00.140 despicable, immoral city. And Paul recognized that some of the believers living in that culture 00:13:00.140 --> 00:13:06.820 were being caught up in it. And he says, listen, you who've been saved by the grace of God have no 00:13:06.820 --> 00:13:14.259 business being involved in immorality. Now, I want you to recognize that when Paul wrote that, 00:13:14.259 --> 00:13:21.919 he was writing to people that were no less tempted by immorality than we are today. We have the 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:28.500 internet, we have entertainment, we have Walmart. You can go to Walmart and what happens? You see 00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:32.980 people, well, winter's coming, thankfully, but people dress like they do. I mean, it's like, 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:37.740 what are you going to Walmart looking like that for? Buy that stuff and take it home for your husband. 00:13:37.740 --> 00:13:46.759 Don't come here, okay? And Paul says, listen, you who are the believers and have been blessed by Christ 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:53.440 have no business at all being involved in immorality. In imitating God and living like 00:13:53.440 --> 00:14:01.620 Christ, sexual immorality has no place whatever in the saint's life. And the fact, sadly, that 00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:07.279 immorality is as pervasive as it is in the church today is a testament to several different things 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:13.659 that I want you to consider carefully. For one, too many are carrying the name of Christ but don't 00:14:13.659 --> 00:14:19.159 know Christ. Do you understand that? There are a lot of people who make the profession, pick up the 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:23.320 vocabulary, they grow up in a Christian home, blah, blah, blah. But really, when it comes down to it, 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:29.360 the power of the gospel has never been exacted or demonstrated in their life, and they haven't been 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:34.460 delivered from their past. They're still under bondage to the old habits because they're an old 00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:41.539 person. I think also, sadly, there are those who are living as believers incredibly conflicted 00:14:41.539 --> 00:14:49.000 and miserable lives in the shadow of destructive sin. I want you to recognize that sin can get its 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:53.879 roots into the life of the believer, but let me tell you something. Whereas the unbeliever can just 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:59.019 keep on cranking and doing the things that have always been part of his life, the believer 00:14:59.019 --> 00:15:06.600 cannot persist in unrepentant, stubborn, persistent sin. How many of you understand what I just said? 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:13.799 If they're your kids, they can't get away with it. Am I right? 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:22.960 Yesterday, I had the privilege of babysitting. I said 10 munchkins. And there were a couple instances 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:30.280 where a couple of the munchkins, unnamed, decided that they would test my intent. How's that? 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:36.460 I said, I want you to do this. And they decided that, well, whose pastor to talk to me? 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:47.300 And here's what I did. Soft voice. I said, if you don't behave me, slow voice, 00:15:47.299 --> 00:15:55.000 I will take you to your parent. The child, in fact, both children had epiphanies. You know what an 00:15:55.000 --> 00:16:06.839 epiphany is? It was like, the idea of me walking them into choir practice and saying, here, this little 00:16:06.839 --> 00:16:14.479 one needs your attention. What the child knew was that mommy and daddy are the ones who get it done. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:19.120 Am I right? I mean, a pastor doesn't have to do that kind of thing in the hallway or the lobby. He just 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:25.980 says, I'm going to take you to your parent. And if you are God's child, you can't get away with it. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:31.060 I want you to understand as we think about this issue of immorality, and that's a problem. 00:16:32.139 --> 00:16:37.840 The greatest solution to overcoming this sin is not just moving the computer to a central location 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:44.220 in the house or turning off the TV. Those are not bad steps. The greatest solution to sin is having 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:50.040 a broken humility before God and others and an incessant pleading that he will do whatever it 00:16:50.040 --> 00:16:56.800 is to break sin's hold in your life. Do you understand that? God, I don't want to be this way. 00:16:56.800 --> 00:17:03.600 I am willing to let you do whatever it takes to break this sin's hold in my life. Second, 00:17:04.339 --> 00:17:10.759 there in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 3, it says that the believer has no business being a corrupting 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:18.599 influence in any way or anything. The Greek word that Paul used is a word that talks about something 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:27.000 that is degrading, that's defiling, that's infecting. The word actually was used to refer to the pus 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:34.019 that is in an abscess. That's pretty gross, isn't it? I mean, it's something you know that by virtue of 00:17:34.019 --> 00:17:39.920 that pussiness, it's going to puss you up. You got it? It's going to make a mess. And so, Paul says, 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:47.000 you as believers have no business being a corrupting influence on other people. Now, think with me 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:52.139 back over to Matthew chapter 23, verse 27, and just kind of think about it. Remember, Jesus said, 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:58.720 you Pharisees, you're like whitewashed sepulchers. On the outside, you're pretty good. You look nice. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:06.180 You smile in the lobby, but inside, what's going on? Your heart is an absolute pile of corrupting, 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:10.759 worm, maggot-filled flesh. You are a stinking mess. 00:18:13.259 --> 00:18:19.000 Jesus was making the point that, you know, what's inside sometimes can be pretty corrupting and pretty 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:26.400 harmful. And he wants us to understand that here were the Pharisees, proud. Oh, on the outside, 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:31.160 they were dressed up, and they looked pretty good, but inside, their lives were absolutely trashy. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:35.440 And he pointed out that it was what was inside that was having effect on other people. 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:43.300 Their bitter, unforgiving, judgmental, critical spirit actually ended up infecting all who came 00:18:43.300 --> 00:18:50.380 into contact with them. Now, interestingly, as I was thinking about this, I have to tell you that I 00:18:50.380 --> 00:18:55.900 think about our culture, and when we talk about things that are corrupting, I think some of the things 00:18:55.900 --> 00:19:01.920 that we may not recognize as being corrupting is getting caught up in the political culture of 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:07.320 our day. How many of you understand that Jesus will not come in here on Air Force One? 00:19:10.420 --> 00:19:18.140 Huh? Let me tell you a little story. Years ago, Ronald Reagan was invited to a prayer breakfast that was 00:19:18.140 --> 00:19:24.000 put on by a large group of evangelicals, and what was his name? Chuck Colson. Yeah, he was the one who 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:30.420 choreographed this. No, this happened later. But anyway, he was involved in it, and he noticed, 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:38.019 and here's what Ronald Reagan did. Towards the end of the speech, he recited the gold standard for 00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:45.660 evangelical thinking. He closed off his little speech with John 3, 16. And guess what those 00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:52.160 evangelical pastors did? They erupted into praise. They burst to their feet. They were clapping and hooting, 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:58.560 and they were just, they were ecstatic that Ronald Reagan knew a passage of Scripture and recited it to 00:19:58.560 --> 00:20:10.400 them. Is our country substantially better today? No. And I can tell you this, and listen to me carefully, 00:20:11.940 --> 00:20:19.820 Christians need to be more involved in kingdom work than political work. You will never change 00:20:19.819 --> 00:20:31.539 people's hearts by legislation. And I would encourage you to put much more of your affection 00:20:31.539 --> 00:20:38.619 and interests onto things that are related to the power of the gospel than to any political party. 00:20:38.619 --> 00:20:42.159 I think, frankly, that is a corrupting thing in our day. 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:53.240 Look at another statement that Paul makes. He says, listen, the believer has no business being covetous. 00:20:55.380 --> 00:21:00.620 As I was praying earlier this week and again this morning and thinking through the list of things that 00:21:00.620 --> 00:21:06.900 Paul identifies here, I thought to myself, well, why don't you ask people to put their finger on the 00:21:06.900 --> 00:21:17.340 problem that they have in this list of six things? I remember reading once that Charles Spurgeon, a great 00:21:17.340 --> 00:21:24.060 pastor from a previous generation, he said that in all his years of ministry, he never once had a person come 00:21:24.060 --> 00:21:32.600 into his office and say, pastor, pastor, I am struggling. I am burdened. I am overwhelmed by my sinful 00:21:32.599 --> 00:21:47.099 covetousness. Paul says, listen, covetousness has no place in the life of the believer. And the 00:21:47.099 --> 00:21:53.539 covetous spirit always wants more. Isn't that right? It replaces the sufficiency and the significance of 00:21:53.539 --> 00:21:57.699 God with things that ultimately cannot satisfy. Do we need to buy some things? Yes. 00:21:57.700 --> 00:22:04.900 But how many times have you ever picked up a catalog and after you were finished perusing it, 00:22:04.940 --> 00:22:10.940 you discovered things that you couldn't live without? Or you've watched an advertisement. 00:22:11.420 --> 00:22:18.220 There is no accident that the advertising community spends so much money trying to persuade you of 00:22:18.220 --> 00:22:22.340 things that are desperately important to you. And by the way, I've learned a little something. 00:22:22.339 --> 00:22:31.759 When you Google something that you are interested in, later on, whatever the little browser is that 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:37.119 you happen to use, it will throw up on the right-hand side things exactly related to that. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:43.859 How many of you figured that out? It's called cookies. Do you follow that? And they're tracking what 00:22:43.859 --> 00:22:49.099 your interests are. And so go ahead, look over on the right-hand side and ask yourself, 00:22:49.099 --> 00:22:58.299 so when did MSNBC or Fox News or CNN ever think that Tim Knoyer was interested in Cabela's? 00:23:00.939 --> 00:23:09.599 You follow that? Now listen to me carefully. A covetous person is deceived into believing that having 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:17.539 something more will provide the satisfaction that only God will provide. 00:23:17.539 --> 00:23:24.500 Listen to what Paul has to say about covetousness. Over there in verse 5, at the very end, he says, 00:23:24.579 --> 00:23:29.180 be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or pure or who is covetous, that is an 00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:34.440 idolater. So what we want to recognize is Paul says that covetousness is actually idolatry. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:42.440 Any of you here have a little stone Buddha in your house? Is there anybody here that has an idol, 00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:49.420 Shiva or Ganesh or Kali? I could name a bunch of them from India. None of you have those things, 00:23:49.460 --> 00:23:58.799 am I right? Okay. I heard a person from Eastern Europe saying America is the only place 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:07.559 where $30,000 cars sit outside in the weather while about $15 worth of junk fill the garage. 00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:17.039 When we struggle with covetousness, listen, 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:25.319 we leave behind memories that our children can only solve with roll-off dumpsters. 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:34.839 Go ahead and ask your children. So what would you like me to dispose of before I leave? 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:42.619 And you know what they're going to say? What are they going to say? Most everything that's in there. 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:49.220 Okay. When we live with a persistent dissatisfaction with what we have, we end up 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:53.200 with more toys than we wouldn't know what to do with. And here's a little test to tell whether or not 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:57.360 you're into the toy thing. When you decide to Christmas shop for your children, when you're 00:24:57.360 --> 00:25:02.799 kind of uncertain about what you could conceivably buy that they don't have yet, guess what it's 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:11.539 telling you? Well, you probably have it all already. Or when you decide that it's clothes that you need 00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:17.059 to shop for and you go into the closet and you think, oh, thank God for Kidney Foundation. You know 00:25:17.059 --> 00:25:22.839 what? It may not be that you have outgrown all of those things as you have disciplined yourself 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:27.960 and lost all that weight, but you're just thinking, you know what? That sweater is about three years old. 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:34.619 It's time. You know what? You follow me? I don't want to be too convicting here, right? 00:25:38.399 --> 00:25:44.960 The believer has no business having a mouth that is filthy, foolish, or crude. Look there at verse 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:51.900 four. Let there be no filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking. The ancient world, a lot like ours, 00:25:51.980 --> 00:26:00.100 they prized a dirty joke, crude innuendos, and comic disrespect that was just prevalent back then 00:26:00.100 --> 00:26:05.700 is also prevalent today. The believer who has been saved by the grace of Christ and draws breath for 00:26:05.700 --> 00:26:13.360 the purpose of making God look good has no business watching the filth that's on TV today or snickering 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:19.839 when other people in the office tell those jokes. If you're one of the persons who actually when one of 00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:25.259 those crude jokes gets pulled off, you have to turn away so you don't expose what your heart's really like, 00:26:25.439 --> 00:26:33.899 the problem is really inside. Isn't that true? Because Paul says these things have nothing to do 00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:42.060 with who we are by a grace. Mark what Paul has to say about these things, beloved, and I think it's 00:26:42.060 --> 00:26:49.320 important. Look at what it says there in verse five at the end. It says, has no inheritance in the kingdom 00:26:49.320 --> 00:26:51.259 of Christ and God. 00:26:54.540 --> 00:27:00.000 Does the believer struggle and fall into sin? What's the answer? Yes, yes, the believer does. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:10.519 But when sin becomes the characteristic behavior of your life, it's the recurring and normal pattern 00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:20.400 for where you are. Paul says this, you're deceiving yourself if you think you're really a blood-bought child 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:27.480 and these things actually characterize your walk. He says you have no inheritance. 00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:33.460 One of the things that would be a qualifier and a caution in relationship to that is this, 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:36.400 and I went, I already alluded to it a little bit, but I'll come back to it. 00:27:37.299 --> 00:27:41.240 Can the believer continue in sin for a season? What's the answer? 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:44.819 Everybody here could nod their head and say, sadly enough, that may happen, 00:27:45.059 --> 00:27:48.400 but what will I tell you happens when the believer persists in sin? 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:57.880 Listen, the Father will not let it go. Aren't you glad? How many of you here are glad that the Father 00:27:57.880 --> 00:28:04.600 will not let you go? And by the way, listen to me. Listen, this is important. Once you've messed with 00:28:04.600 --> 00:28:09.200 the Father and you've learned that He won't let you go, guess what the good side of that is? 00:28:09.960 --> 00:28:15.400 As you begin kind of drifting over into that attitude or that behavior, He kind of taps you on the shoulder 00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:21.280 and says, do you want to do this again? How many of you understand that? And what goes through your mind? 00:28:21.820 --> 00:28:30.920 Huh? Oh, no. I've got enough scar tissue at 65 that when my little perverse attitude begins to slip 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:35.980 away, the Spirit of God kind of taps me on the shoulder and says, Tim, you want another round? 00:28:36.259 --> 00:28:41.080 I said, no, no, no. And I humble myself and let God do whatever needs to be done at the moment. 00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:48.159 Now, look. We're told what we ought not to be, but let's talk about reasons for being different. 00:28:49.579 --> 00:28:55.179 You look there in verse 5, the last part, it talks about not having part of the kingdom of God, 00:28:55.240 --> 00:28:59.699 but look at verse 6. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:06.359 the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. That's not us. So back up just a little bit 00:29:06.359 --> 00:29:12.659 and mark what it says over there in verse 3. Why is it that we are to be different? Look at verse 3, 00:29:13.099 --> 00:29:20.339 because you are saints. The reason that we're to have nothing to do with the sins that Paul has 00:29:20.339 --> 00:29:27.019 categorized here is because we're saints. Now, what is a saint? Is a saint someone who has reached a state 00:29:27.019 --> 00:29:33.639 of beatification because the college of cardinals voted him into that position? And the answer is no, 00:29:33.640 --> 00:29:41.320 no. A saint is someone who has been declared righteous because he has received the imputed 00:29:41.320 --> 00:29:46.300 righteousness of Christ attached to his account. And a saint is someone who's been saved. And I would 00:29:46.300 --> 00:29:53.259 assume that every one of you here who are the children of God know that you're saints. And as a 00:29:53.259 --> 00:30:00.960 saint, you have no business acting like that. I want you to understand that since being a saint is the 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:08.500 work of Christ, it follows that a life dominated by sin is a contradiction of spiritual logic. Does that 00:30:08.500 --> 00:30:16.779 make sense? Hey, if you are his child, you got no business doing these things. The saint has no 00:30:16.779 --> 00:30:24.740 business staying in the hog pen. That's where his life used to be. And to keep on wandering back to the 00:30:24.740 --> 00:30:30.400 hog pen and stepping down into the mud and kind of settling into it and say, oh man, that feels good. 00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:38.359 You know, you better be checking what's really going on in your heart. Because the saint and the hog pen 00:30:38.359 --> 00:30:46.240 don't have the old affinity, don't have the old affection. And when mud gets on the saint, 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:56.880 there is a pathological desire to get it off. Right? We have a little dog. 00:30:59.059 --> 00:31:02.640 And I hate to say it, but the dog has to go outside on a regular basis. 00:31:04.980 --> 00:31:11.160 And I had been kind of prizing or priding myself in the fact that now that we've had the dog for 00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:16.200 almost one year, I have brought none of the outside into the outside. Am I doing this 00:31:16.200 --> 00:31:19.259 cryptically enough that most people don't understand what I'm saying? 00:31:20.580 --> 00:31:24.980 I was pretty proud of the fact that I hadn't stepped in anything that would cause a problem. 00:31:28.980 --> 00:31:30.380 But the other day it happened. 00:31:33.100 --> 00:31:36.480 Walking into the house and, you know, it was on my right shoe. And so, 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:40.059 you know, the full pace, every six foot, I'd put down a little marker. 00:31:42.579 --> 00:31:43.940 I'm sitting on the couch, 00:31:44.819 --> 00:31:47.019 threw my right foot up, and suddenly, 00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:53.140 I knew what the problem was. Do you follow that? 00:31:55.660 --> 00:31:57.019 And you know what I did immediately? 00:31:58.180 --> 00:31:59.920 Number one, I took my shoe off. 00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:03.279 I mean, I didn't want to do the six foot business anymore. 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:06.660 You know, it's like walking to the sink or wherever. 00:32:06.920 --> 00:32:09.859 I then threw the shoes outside. I got another pair of shoes. 00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:13.440 And then I began working on the six foot increments across the floor. 00:32:13.720 --> 00:32:16.420 You know, I'm cleaning all that stuff up. 00:32:16.460 --> 00:32:19.359 Why? Because I don't like what that was. 00:32:22.700 --> 00:32:26.420 Hey, do believers sometimes step in it? What's the answer? 00:32:27.420 --> 00:32:27.819 Yes. 00:32:27.819 --> 00:32:27.899 Yes. 00:32:29.299 --> 00:32:31.339 But when the believer steps in it, the believer says, 00:32:31.460 --> 00:32:33.220 Oh, Lord, that's not me anymore. 00:32:33.339 --> 00:32:34.419 I don't want to be that way. 00:32:35.799 --> 00:32:37.539 The believer is broken by that. 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:40.539 The believer hates that sin. 00:32:44.659 --> 00:32:46.559 And if you're sitting here as a believer, 00:32:47.559 --> 00:32:51.539 you must love the sweetness of your deliverance. 00:32:51.539 --> 00:32:56.659 And there has to be a desire in you not to be there where you used to be. 00:33:00.619 --> 00:33:07.559 Can I tell you that for a believer to listen to what their past used to be like 00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:12.599 and not have their soul kind of lifted up to think, 00:33:13.159 --> 00:33:15.200 that's what I've been delivered from, 00:33:16.460 --> 00:33:18.220 there's something wrong. 00:33:18.220 --> 00:33:22.100 Because for you who know Christ, 00:33:22.339 --> 00:33:26.680 at every moment when you are reminded of the power of the gospel 00:33:26.680 --> 00:33:28.640 that has delivered you from sin, 00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:31.420 there has to be within you a desire to say, 00:33:31.860 --> 00:33:32.900 That's my Jesus. 00:33:33.960 --> 00:33:34.940 And he saved me. 00:33:35.860 --> 00:33:37.220 He's working in me. 00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:40.360 I'm not who I will be someday, 00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:42.740 but I'm not who I was. 00:33:42.740 --> 00:33:47.240 So as you're sitting here this morning, 00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:52.240 let me recognize with you that as you listen to the preaching of the word of God, 00:33:53.380 --> 00:33:54.339 he's doing something. 00:33:56.039 --> 00:33:58.200 There are some of you who are sitting here this morning 00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:00.120 and you're reliving the gospel power. 00:34:00.220 --> 00:34:01.079 Do you understand what I'm saying? 00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:04.740 As you think about what God has saved you from 00:34:04.740 --> 00:34:07.500 and what Christ has given you victory over, 00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:09.659 your heart's like saying, 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:11.559 Man, that's good. 00:34:11.559 --> 00:34:17.360 Every time we hear of the power of God to deliver the sinner, 00:34:17.820 --> 00:34:20.820 the saint has a heart that rises up and says, 00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:22.279 That's my Jesus. 00:34:24.340 --> 00:34:27.219 There are some of you sitting here this morning with lukewarm hearts. 00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:31.579 You've lost your first love. 00:34:31.579 --> 00:34:37.860 And that thought of the gospel's power to save and of Christ is not so sweet 00:34:37.860 --> 00:34:45.079 because you've allowed other things to creep in and rob you of that joy. 00:34:45.860 --> 00:34:46.819 I want to tell you something. 00:34:47.860 --> 00:34:48.980 Mark this to be true. 00:34:50.279 --> 00:34:52.500 The lover of your soul is jealous. 00:34:53.360 --> 00:34:54.219 Write that down. 00:34:54.219 --> 00:34:56.519 The lover of your soul is jealous. 00:34:57.139 --> 00:35:02.259 And he will not bide being set aside. 00:35:03.639 --> 00:35:07.619 Now, is it wise to tempt the holy God and our Savior? 00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:08.279 What's the answer? 00:35:09.059 --> 00:35:09.739 Oh, no. 00:35:09.739 --> 00:35:14.199 And so if you're sitting here with a cold and indifferent heart, 00:35:14.419 --> 00:35:16.019 I would plead with you that this morning, 00:35:16.139 --> 00:35:17.099 you who know Christ, 00:35:17.219 --> 00:35:19.000 and I've lost my first love, 00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:20.259 that you cry out to God and say, 00:35:20.379 --> 00:35:22.000 Listen, please deal with me. 00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:23.079 I don't want to stay here. 00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:26.319 There are some of you sitting here this morning 00:35:26.319 --> 00:35:30.379 that are still in the chains and the affliction of your sin. 00:35:30.380 --> 00:35:31.780 You do not know Christ. 00:35:33.220 --> 00:35:34.920 You do not know Christ. 00:35:36.240 --> 00:35:37.280 Do you know what? 00:35:38.720 --> 00:35:39.800 Here's the truth. 00:35:41.559 --> 00:35:47.300 God sent his son into the world to pay the penalty for sin, 00:35:48.019 --> 00:35:50.760 and he died on the cross in your place. 00:35:50.940 --> 00:35:54.420 And what it says in 2 Corinthians 5, 00:35:54.760 --> 00:35:57.740 that God treated him as a sinner in your place 00:35:57.739 --> 00:36:02.439 so you can receive the full forgiveness for all of your sins, 00:36:02.619 --> 00:36:05.519 and you can have complete forgiveness and joy 00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:07.219 and a sweet relationship, 00:36:07.579 --> 00:36:11.039 and there is nothing that can compare with that. 00:36:11.799 --> 00:36:13.179 And how do you get that? 00:36:14.699 --> 00:36:15.639 Do you know what it takes? 00:36:17.099 --> 00:36:18.199 Do you know what it takes? 00:36:19.639 --> 00:36:21.859 It takes having the humility to say, 00:36:22.119 --> 00:36:24.039 That's me, and that's what I need. 00:36:24.039 --> 00:36:29.000 And I am done with the mess that is my life. 00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:32.300 Do you know that more time will only make it messier? 00:36:32.420 --> 00:36:33.480 Can I say that again slowly? 00:36:34.059 --> 00:36:36.759 More time will only make it messier. 00:36:38.139 --> 00:36:40.940 And if the Spirit of God is convicting you this morning 00:36:40.940 --> 00:36:42.679 that you desperately need Christ, 00:36:43.019 --> 00:36:45.920 now is the time to humble yourself 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:48.059 and cry out for the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:36:48.940 --> 00:36:50.059 Let's close in prayer. 00:36:50.059 --> 00:36:54.179 Without anyone looking around, 00:36:54.279 --> 00:36:55.940 I want to ask you a couple questions. 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380