WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:20.359 I would like you to turn your Bibles this morning to Ephesians chapter 4, verse 20 through 24. 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:29.080 ! Let me read the passage to you, and then we will pray together and study the Scriptures together. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.500 But that is not the way you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard about Him and 00:00:38.500 --> 00:00:44.079 were taught in Him as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:50.120 your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed 00:00:50.120 --> 00:00:55.400 in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self created after the likeness of 00:00:55.399 --> 00:01:01.899 God in true righteousness and holiness. 00:01:01.899 --> 00:01:11.700 Our gracious Father, we are thankful this morning for the blessing of your grace, and 00:01:11.700 --> 00:01:18.400 for the distinct privilege we have, those of us who know Christ as our personal Savior, 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:24.900 to have not only the assurance and encouragement of our salvation and the confidence in our 00:01:24.900 --> 00:01:33.140 eternal destiny, but also to know the ministry of the abiding and indwelling Spirit. 00:01:33.140 --> 00:01:43.180 And this morning, we ask that your Spirit would enable us to understand the Word, to delight 00:01:43.180 --> 00:01:53.180 in the Word, to be drawn to live out the Word, and in doing so, to exalt the Savior who is 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:59.840 our blessed Lord and the one that we are growing to love. 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:05.719 We pray, Father, also this morning for those that may be among us that do not know Christ, 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:12.340 that even this morning as we study the Scriptures together, as they have listened to us sing with 00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:19.240 the power of the Spirit of God, that their hearts would be struck by an emptiness and a 00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:24.219 fearfulness of the eternal condemnation of sin, and that they would be drawn to the cross 00:02:24.219 --> 00:02:28.120 and to the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom alone is salvation. 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:40.360 We're thankful that the Scriptures make it clear that we are absolutely dependent upon you, 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:44.280 and that you are absolutely trustworthy. 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:53.500 And so we look to you and give you glory in advance for what you will do in our lives 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:56.300 through the power of the Spirit and the Word. 00:02:56.300 --> 00:02:59.219 Now help us in our studies. 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:03.140 For Jesus' sake, amen. 00:03:06.100 --> 00:03:12.720 I want you to understand that this is not the first time in history where the church has found 00:03:12.720 --> 00:03:15.420 itself faced with a mixed multitude. 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:21.120 And when I speak about the matter of a mixed multitude, I remind you that actually, if you 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:25.780 were to go back into the book of Exodus, you'll remember that when the nation of Israel finally 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:30.099 came out of the land of Egypt, it speaks of them as a mixed multitude. 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:39.099 Not all of them who left Egypt and were interested in moving away from that horrible circumstance 00:03:39.099 --> 00:03:41.439 and situation really had any faith at all. 00:03:41.500 --> 00:03:43.159 They were just kind of traveling with the crowd. 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:48.099 And ultimately, over a period of time, it became quite evident that not all of them were really 00:03:48.099 --> 00:03:50.539 believers in any way, shape, or form. 00:03:50.539 --> 00:03:55.759 Furthermore, Jesus, when He was speaking to His disciples, He talked about the fact that 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:01.899 Satan, the enemy of our souls, actively is engaged in sowing tares among the wheat. 00:04:03.539 --> 00:04:08.439 And while the church is obligated to work at keeping a clear testimony, nevertheless, 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:15.919 we recognize that there will be those in every fellowship whose lips and lives do not really reflect 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:16.919 their supposed faith. 00:04:16.919 --> 00:04:22.219 And it was evident, as it has been evident, as we've been working our way through the book 00:04:22.219 --> 00:04:28.740 of Ephesians, that Paul was concerned about the fact that there were those who were there 00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:35.039 in the congregation who were involved in the body life of that people, nevertheless, that 00:04:35.039 --> 00:04:40.379 really were not living according to the profession that they had. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:44.259 Look back, if you will, just for a moment to verse 17 of chapter 4. 00:04:44.259 --> 00:04:47.599 I read verse 20 through 24, but look at 17. 00:04:48.379 --> 00:04:53.259 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, and I reminded you last week that that's a very 00:04:53.259 --> 00:04:55.180 sober kind of a bang. 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:57.839 Hey, listen, guys, get this. 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:04.519 He says, I testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility 00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:05.259 of their mind. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:06.980 He's saying, listen, don't be doing that. 00:05:08.099 --> 00:05:12.060 Your believers don't live like the unbeliever does. 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:18.360 And so we find there in verse 17 kind of a little punch with a statement that follows, 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:20.480 you're not to be like unbelievers. 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:26.840 Then he takes a number of verses to explain clearly and carefully what does the unbeliever's 00:05:26.840 --> 00:05:28.220 life really look like. 00:05:28.899 --> 00:05:33.699 And as we studied last week, we saw that the unbeliever's life is not a happy predicament. 00:05:33.699 --> 00:05:36.719 It's complicated by sin. 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:38.240 It's messy. 00:05:38.659 --> 00:05:39.860 It's in turmoil. 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:47.399 It is in disarray because when a person refuses the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the unintended 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:51.399 consequences of that are that life kind of devolves around that. 00:05:53.139 --> 00:05:58.919 Now we look here in this passage and we understand that Paul is following up his teaching about 00:05:58.920 --> 00:06:02.000 the fact that believers are not to be like the unbeliever. 00:06:02.780 --> 00:06:09.480 And he explains to us there in verse 20 through 24 that while we understand the past that we 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:11.520 came from, we need to take a look at our future. 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:17.160 And I want you to understand this morning that every believer, every single believer here this 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:18.500 morning has a past. 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:24.020 All of us have things in our past that are indicators of where we used to be. 00:06:24.019 --> 00:06:29.479 But I want you to understand while all of us have a past that reflects our pre-conversion 00:06:29.479 --> 00:06:34.659 state, every believer is also different from that past. 00:06:35.599 --> 00:06:42.079 And that's one of the reasons why when Paul reminds the Corinthian church in chapter 6 that 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:47.240 fornicators and adulterers and homosexuals and thieves and drunkards and all of those kind 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:49.479 of individuals are really not going to inhabit eternity. 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:54.100 He then goes on to say a profoundly encouraging little statement. 00:06:54.300 --> 00:07:00.160 He says, but such were, were, past tense, such were some of you. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:09.800 And our lesson today is going to make it clear that genuine conversion is union with Christ 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.460 and an upward journey of faith. 00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:13.900 I want you to have that stuck in your mind. 00:07:13.899 --> 00:07:21.219 Genuine conversion is union with Christ and an upward journey of faith. 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:26.060 And not having that fixed in our mind, I want us to kind of begin as we work our way through 00:07:26.060 --> 00:07:31.879 this by understanding, first of all, in verses 20 and 21, that we are radically different in 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:32.279 Christ. 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:33.239 That's a fact. 00:07:33.719 --> 00:07:37.579 The believer is radically different in Christ. 00:07:37.579 --> 00:07:43.919 Verse 20, it says, but this is not the way you learned Christ. 00:07:44.740 --> 00:07:50.379 By the way, when you see that but, it follows that you need to stop and consider just a little 00:07:50.379 --> 00:07:52.579 bit about what Paul was saying previously. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:59.279 And that little word connects the thought that will follow, namely, what is a believer like, 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:05.619 with that horrible description that Paul gave of our past, that the unregenerate state that 00:08:05.619 --> 00:08:10.959 we were in, and the messiness, the unhappiness, the profound bleakness that is characterized 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:12.899 by an unbeliever's existence. 00:08:14.919 --> 00:08:21.119 And as we recognize, one of the things that Paul does is he gives us this contrast as a 00:08:21.119 --> 00:08:22.039 good teacher does. 00:08:22.119 --> 00:08:24.739 Often, we learn things by comparison, don't we? 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:27.459 We really learn by, no, I don't want to be like that. 00:08:27.459 --> 00:08:28.239 I want to do this. 00:08:28.359 --> 00:08:30.120 I don't want that to happen. 00:08:30.299 --> 00:08:31.680 I want this to happen. 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:37.439 And so, gives us the picture of what the unbeliever's like, and then steps over here, and verse 20 00:08:37.439 --> 00:08:41.679 through 24 explains what genuine conversion looks like. 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:48.059 As we look at the statement, Paul says this in verse 20, it is not the way you learned Christ, 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.600 assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him as the truth is in Jesus. 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:58.759 Now, let me break that down for you by explaining, first of all, that the believer has a different 00:08:58.759 --> 00:08:59.639 understanding. 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:02.399 The believer has a different understanding. 00:09:02.540 --> 00:09:08.180 There in verse 20, it says, this is not the way you learned Christ. 00:09:10.180 --> 00:09:13.779 Our culture puts a great deal of emphasis on feeling. 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:21.300 In fact, when you ask a person a philosophical or a question of eternal significance, most of 00:09:21.299 --> 00:09:25.299 the time, there's a natural inclination to say, well, I feel this way. 00:09:26.299 --> 00:09:31.459 And the truth of the matter is, is that feelings, if we're thinking about it factually, have to 00:09:31.459 --> 00:09:32.059 do with what? 00:09:33.339 --> 00:09:36.679 They have to do with emotion, and they have to do with tactile sense. 00:09:37.959 --> 00:09:43.519 But underneath the matter of feelings is a more significant and more important issue, 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:46.579 and that is namely, what's our thinking like? 00:09:47.100 --> 00:09:52.139 And Paul explains the fact that conversion is a matter of thinking. 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:58.500 Now, when I say that conversion is a matter of thinking, I don't mean to suggest that conversion 00:09:58.500 --> 00:10:04.879 is simply a matter of kind of, well, arbitrarily figuring it out and coming to a reason. 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:12.019 The truth of the matter is, the unregenerate can't think properly apart from the power of the 00:10:12.019 --> 00:10:16.000 Spirit of God, and we have looked at that on a number of different occasions, but Paul 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.939 here is speaking of the fact that the believer has a different way of thinking. 00:10:22.079 --> 00:10:27.899 He speaks of conversion as something that you've learned about Christ, and he's talking about 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:34.000 the fact that at the heart of our conversion is discernible or understandable truth. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:42.940 Genuine conversion takes place when our mind is rescued from the deceitful lies of Satan, 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:49.659 and we are given light and life through the power of the Spirit, and we are able to understand 00:10:49.659 --> 00:10:50.259 the truth. 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:54.860 I want you to recognize in simple terms that every one of you, whether you're here this 00:10:54.860 --> 00:11:01.200 morning, converted or not, have had moments where what you did at one time that really was 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:07.560 incredibly boneheaded and foolish or wicked, either by circumstances or the power of the 00:11:07.560 --> 00:11:10.379 Spirit of God, you came to realize, man, that was really dumb. 00:11:11.540 --> 00:11:15.100 And you kind of, huh, I can't believe I did that. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:22.800 For the believer, it's not merely the working of consequence that leads us to that position, 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:24.520 but it is the work of the Spirit of God. 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:28.460 And He is the one that opens up our understanding and helps us see that. 00:11:28.460 --> 00:11:34.700 Now, it's true that we are called to love Christ, but I want you to understand that that love 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:38.780 for Christ does not rise on hollow emotions. 00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:45.160 True faith and the love for Christ that follows really comes out of what we have been given 00:11:45.160 --> 00:11:48.540 by grace to know about our sinfulness in Christ. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:52.280 I want you to look at another passage that helps us understand this. 00:11:52.400 --> 00:11:55.660 Go, if you would, to 1 Timothy 2, verse 4. 00:11:55.659 --> 00:11:59.139 1 Timothy 2, verse 4. 00:11:59.199 --> 00:12:01.679 Very interesting statement about conversion. 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:12.620 Paul is encouraging the church to recognize the importance of prayer and praying for people 00:12:12.620 --> 00:12:13.579 coming to Christ. 00:12:14.259 --> 00:12:21.799 One of the joys that I had this previous week was to share the gospel with clear opportunity 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:23.419 in two different situations. 00:12:23.419 --> 00:12:28.979 I'm sad to say that in neither situation did the individual come to faith in the Lord 00:12:28.979 --> 00:12:29.699 Jesus Christ. 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:30.879 But what a blessing. 00:12:31.459 --> 00:12:33.559 First, to be able to have the opportunity. 00:12:34.219 --> 00:12:38.159 Secondly, to be able to ask other people to pray for my doing that. 00:12:38.500 --> 00:12:40.599 And then third, people coming up to me and saying, 00:12:40.740 --> 00:12:41.779 Pastor, how did it go? 00:12:42.019 --> 00:12:43.219 I was getting texts. 00:12:43.319 --> 00:12:44.979 I was getting emails. 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:48.259 How did it go when you were talking with such and such a person? 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:53.679 And I trust that one of the things that we grow in is that all of us are engaged in those 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:56.759 prayer requests and we're engaged in that activity. 00:12:56.819 --> 00:12:57.319 Isn't that right? 00:12:57.620 --> 00:13:00.139 I mean, after all, why are you here and not up there? 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:09.879 I am here to bring glory to Christ and to draw attention to a wounded and broken world that 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:17.939 there is hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and there's nothing that is more enjoyable and more significant 00:13:17.939 --> 00:13:24.879 than lifting up the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ who can save sinners and transform them 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:26.000 by the power of His gospel. 00:13:26.779 --> 00:13:33.500 And I want you to understand that that is part of why we gather together is to lift up the Lord 00:13:33.500 --> 00:13:36.700 Jesus Christ and then walk out of here doing what? 00:13:37.100 --> 00:13:37.320 Hope. 00:13:37.580 --> 00:13:38.460 Give me opportunity. 00:13:38.620 --> 00:13:39.620 I want to talk about it. 00:13:40.419 --> 00:13:44.919 Well, we look here in 1 Timothy 2, verse 4, and listen to what it says. 00:13:45.379 --> 00:13:47.960 Who desires all people to be saved. 00:13:48.620 --> 00:13:49.379 Oh, yeah, that's good. 00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:53.039 And to come to the knowledge of the truth. 00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:58.740 Conversion is not just an emotional surge. 00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:06.500 It is an understanding of biblical fact that is reality against the scope and backdrop of 00:14:06.500 --> 00:14:07.039 eternity. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:13.519 And I want you to understand as you think about the issue of the way you think as a believer 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:19.019 that it's fair to say, and one of the things that you ought to ponder as you look at this 00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:25.840 passage in Ephesians, if you really don't think differently about Christ and sin, you have 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:31.100 a good reason to do a little bit of research and check your own birth certificate. 00:14:31.259 --> 00:14:32.560 How many of you understood what I just said? 00:14:32.980 --> 00:14:34.460 Let me say it again slowly. 00:14:35.340 --> 00:14:43.740 If you really don't think differently about Christ and sin, there's a good reason to kind of double 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:49.800 check your birth certificate and say, hey, maybe my profession really doesn't amount to anything. 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:55.219 So, one, the believer thinks differently, has a different understanding. 00:14:55.599 --> 00:14:59.139 Number two, the believer is in a different relationship. 00:15:00.859 --> 00:15:06.399 Both the King James Version and the English Standard Version translate this little passage 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:08.279 here with a little note of uncertainty. 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:10.939 The King James says, if indeed. 00:15:10.940 --> 00:15:16.040 And the ESV, which I happen to be using, says assuming. 00:15:17.340 --> 00:15:24.860 The underlying idea in the Greek is that of seeing something to be a fact or sense would 00:15:24.860 --> 00:15:26.240 be another way of translating it. 00:15:26.540 --> 00:15:32.400 And it points to the fact that the teaching that Paul was referring to here, remember he 00:15:32.400 --> 00:15:37.700 says, you learn Christ, is not really talking just about a list of rules. 00:15:37.700 --> 00:15:44.620 There are several clear indications of what that actually is that he is referencing. 00:15:45.140 --> 00:15:48.240 And we see it in the sequence of words that he uses. 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:49.800 And I want you to mark them, if you will. 00:15:50.180 --> 00:15:55.080 One is that there in Ephesians chapter 4, it speaks about the fact that you heard him. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.980 It also refers to the fact that you were taught in him. 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:02.340 And then it says that the truth is in Jesus. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.680 Let me summarize those three different phrases together and bring them together so you can 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:10.819 understand the overarching statement that is being made. 00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:18.379 For one, behind every lesson and the words that you hear from the pulpit or that you read 00:16:18.379 --> 00:16:25.039 in the Scriptures or you hear in a class should be the work and the words of Christ. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:25.859 Do you understand that? 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:32.959 At the heart of what all teaching that brings you to the cross and brings you in your journey 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:34.700 should be the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:42.560 Gospel preaching and Christ honoring, sin converting teaching flows from the Scriptures themselves. 00:16:43.560 --> 00:16:50.600 And it is not that which is the recipe of a current guru who in six months or so is going 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:56.580 to have his hot book sitting out on the discount bin because it only had a very short shelf life. 00:16:56.580 --> 00:17:05.140 That which honors Christ comes from this book that we value and that we look at and has the mark 00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:09.579 and the power of the Spirit of God actively involved in bringing it into your heart. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:20.660 For another, the teaching that is of the Spirit and is faithful to the Word draws sinners into relationship 00:17:20.660 --> 00:17:25.300 with Christ and sweetens the believer's relationship to Christ. 00:17:25.800 --> 00:17:28.200 Let me say that again so you understand what I'm pointing out. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:34.440 Paul, as he's teaching, he's saying, listen, you guys, you're not to be like you used to be. 00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:38.759 And I want you to understand that the reason you're not to be like you used to be 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:41.000 is because you've learned Christ. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:51.079 I cannot imagine going to a place where the sum and the focus of the teaching and the singing 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:57.660 and all that is actively involved in ministry does not keep on coming back to the Lord Jesus Christ 00:17:57.660 --> 00:18:05.420 and to Him who when we get to heaven will occupy all of our affection. 00:18:05.420 --> 00:18:11.640 It is Christ. 00:18:12.860 --> 00:18:17.600 And Paul, when he says those words, you heard Him, you're taught in Him. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:19.460 The truth is in Jesus. 00:18:20.620 --> 00:18:29.480 He is referencing the fact that at the center of our understanding is really the person of Christ. 00:18:29.600 --> 00:18:30.560 I want you to understand this. 00:18:30.560 --> 00:18:34.640 The construction is a little kludgy for our modern mind perhaps, 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:39.480 but I do want you to understand that what Paul is pointing out is that behind all Bible teaching 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:44.400 is the person of Christ and relationship with Christ. 00:18:44.840 --> 00:18:48.120 I love what Jesus said over in John chapter 39. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:49.860 John chapter 39. 00:18:50.100 --> 00:18:51.000 Try that one. 00:18:51.080 --> 00:18:53.940 Let's try a 5 in front of it and I want you to go there. 00:18:54.980 --> 00:18:57.800 John chapter 5 verse 39. 00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:06.079 John chapter 5 verse 39. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:11.619 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life 00:19:11.619 --> 00:19:16.980 and it is they that bear witness about me. 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:18.980 Do you know what Jesus is saying? 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:23.319 That He is the center of the Scriptures. 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:29.099 If He is the center of the Scriptures, then whenever someone teaches the Scriptures, 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:32.339 guess what you should see and be drawn to? 00:19:32.419 --> 00:19:33.119 What should it be? 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:34.859 It should be the Lord Jesus. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:40.319 One of our Sunday school teachers came to me earlier this morning and asked me a question 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:41.700 about the tabernacle. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:44.720 I get cold chills when I think. 00:19:45.059 --> 00:19:46.179 I get cold chills a lot. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:46.859 Just bear with it. 00:19:46.859 --> 00:19:50.299 But I get cold chills as I'm thinking about that question this morning. 00:19:50.379 --> 00:19:51.959 I'm walking across the parking lot. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:53.740 Oh, pastor, let me ask you. 00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:55.439 And I love that. 00:19:56.319 --> 00:19:58.179 But you know what the tabernacle is all about? 00:19:59.819 --> 00:20:03.079 It's an Old Testament illustration of the coming of the Savior. 00:20:03.939 --> 00:20:09.799 It reminds us that there is no hope of salvation apart from the shedding of blood. 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:12.079 And Jesus died in my place. 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:21.339 And beloved, He alone is the one who is both the preacher of righteousness and the priest 00:20:21.339 --> 00:20:22.480 of righteousness. 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:31.679 The veil of the temple was torn apart when He died on the cross and He paid the penalty 00:20:31.679 --> 00:20:38.939 for my sin and I have access into the presence of the Almighty because of the finished work 00:20:38.939 --> 00:20:39.379 of Christ. 00:20:39.460 --> 00:20:40.019 Isn't that good? 00:20:40.019 --> 00:20:42.200 That's the tabernacle. 00:20:43.420 --> 00:20:45.139 There's a whole lot more in the Bible. 00:20:45.259 --> 00:20:46.059 Do you understand that? 00:20:46.379 --> 00:20:51.539 And so every time you teach the Bible, every time you open that Scriptures, one of the things 00:20:51.539 --> 00:20:56.259 that you ought to plead with the Spirit of God is say, I want to see Jesus in this. 00:20:56.259 --> 00:21:09.180 Well, as we look at the passage, please understand, going back there to Ephesians chapter 4, that 00:21:09.180 --> 00:21:21.019 if verse 20 and 21 are true in your life, that you're converted, that verse 22 through 24 will 00:21:21.019 --> 00:21:22.180 also be true. 00:21:22.180 --> 00:21:25.100 Do you like things that are logical? 00:21:27.299 --> 00:21:33.200 I have to confess that I am limited in that range, but I'm very thankful that careful study 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:39.480 of the Scriptures brings about a discovery of the fact that God communicates logically. 00:21:39.480 --> 00:21:45.039 If this is true, then you can follow this and see it. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:52.059 And so Paul says, going back to verse 17, hey guys, don't be like the past. 00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:54.559 All right? 00:21:54.940 --> 00:22:00.059 Then in verse 20 he says, listen, the reason not to act that way is because conversion brought 00:22:00.059 --> 00:22:04.740 you into this understanding of Christ and this relationship with Christ. 00:22:04.740 --> 00:22:12.819 And then he explains in verse 22 through 24 that being in Christ means that we become progressively 00:22:12.819 --> 00:22:15.019 different in Christ. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:18.700 I may be a little bit like a broken record. 00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:24.079 And then there are some of you here that are thinking, what does a record mean? 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:27.359 I understand that. 00:22:28.679 --> 00:22:39.379 I don't know enough about technology to see if iPods or iPads or MP5 players, if they skip 00:22:39.379 --> 00:22:40.199 back and forth. 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:48.379 But in a previous generation, for you who are younger, when you put a scratch on a record, 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:50.879 it meant that it kept on repeating the same thing, right? 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:51.160 Okay? 00:22:51.780 --> 00:22:54.680 It was pretty irritating. 00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:58.480 So I said, maybe I sound a little bit like a broken record. 00:22:58.560 --> 00:22:59.120 What is that? 00:22:59.200 --> 00:22:59.980 Ask your dad. 00:23:00.120 --> 00:23:00.340 Okay? 00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:04.580 But Paul is all about hammering his point home. 00:23:05.380 --> 00:23:11.820 And so we need to understand and remember, because Paul is reminding us of something, and 00:23:11.820 --> 00:23:17.860 it's written here to remind that the genuine believer is someone that has conversion, and that 00:23:17.860 --> 00:23:18.900 brings change. 00:23:18.900 --> 00:23:26.160 In fact, if you're sitting here today, and you cannot see, and I want to say this carefully 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:27.759 because I think it's important. 00:23:28.120 --> 00:23:32.400 If you're sitting here today, and you cannot see the upward path that he is taking you on, 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:39.120 I would say again, hey, listen, you don't want to get to the end of life and then begin 00:23:39.120 --> 00:23:41.700 to question whether or not you know Christ for real. 00:23:42.380 --> 00:23:43.259 Do you understand that? 00:23:43.259 --> 00:23:49.519 I want you to know, it says in Scripture over in Matthew, it says, not everyone that sayeth 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.200 to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom. 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:53.900 Hey, I was a member of a good church. 00:23:54.619 --> 00:23:55.819 I was even baptized. 00:23:56.879 --> 00:23:59.059 I read my Bible four times a week. 00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:01.240 I even participated. 00:24:01.500 --> 00:24:02.359 I was in the choir. 00:24:02.619 --> 00:24:04.420 We're supposed to be doing that, aren't we, Jeff, in the choir? 00:24:04.420 --> 00:24:09.680 Okay, I was in the choir, and I even was in the praise team, and I get to the end of life, 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:11.019 and God says, what are you doing here? 00:24:11.019 --> 00:24:22.879 I want you to understand that these verses challenge us to think carefully about the authenticity 00:24:22.879 --> 00:24:23.879 of our conversion. 00:24:24.859 --> 00:24:29.539 They're also a classic illustration of why we need the Spirit's help to be a good student 00:24:29.539 --> 00:24:30.160 of the Word. 00:24:31.579 --> 00:24:37.139 These verses are commonly used to teach how a believer goes about changing, and I think 00:24:37.139 --> 00:24:39.500 the verses can appropriately be applied to that truth. 00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:44.539 But they also say something else that I think is important, and the two pieces go together. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:48.160 One is that conversion is transforming power. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:52.519 Two, that we can see the transformation taking place. 00:24:54.160 --> 00:25:01.059 And we look at three little statements that Paul makes here in Ephesians chapter 4, 22 through 00:25:01.059 --> 00:25:03.559 24, and just let me mark these off for you. 00:25:03.900 --> 00:25:05.519 He gives us a set of infinitives. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:11.920 He says that we are to put off, we are to be renewed, and we are to put on. 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:17.079 And these are not actually commands, but they are indicators of what Christ is doing in our 00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:17.379 life. 00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:21.139 And another way, it refers to things that we'd be working on. 00:25:21.339 --> 00:25:29.859 An abbreviation would be, to put it this way, being in Christ leads to putting off, to renewing 00:25:29.859 --> 00:25:31.619 our mind, and to putting on. 00:25:31.619 --> 00:25:33.559 So how do you know if you are in Christ? 00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:35.359 Is that an important question? 00:25:35.859 --> 00:25:37.339 It will be someday. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:42.179 I visited an individual earlier this week that is dying of cancer. 00:25:42.279 --> 00:25:45.139 I don't know how many days the individual has to live. 00:25:45.479 --> 00:25:51.439 And a very practical question in an individual's life, when they are towards the end of life, 00:25:51.479 --> 00:25:55.259 is, hey, do I know for certain that I have a relationship with Christ? 00:25:55.259 --> 00:25:56.119 Well, how do I know? 00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:03.920 Being in Christ leads you to putting off, to renewing your mind, and to putting on. 00:26:04.379 --> 00:26:06.700 Let's think about these three words in broad terms. 00:26:07.259 --> 00:26:10.559 The believer puts off the past, the old man. 00:26:11.420 --> 00:26:15.000 The believer puts off the past, the old man. 00:26:15.559 --> 00:26:20.200 Your old vocabulary, your old attitudes, your old prejudices. 00:26:20.200 --> 00:26:24.799 I watched, Judith and I watched, how many times have you heard me recommend a movie? 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:25.319 Anybody here? 00:26:25.580 --> 00:26:26.980 Can you remember the last time I recommended? 00:26:27.559 --> 00:26:28.740 I watched it on Redbox. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:33.080 But here, I watched 42, Jackie Robinson. 00:26:34.100 --> 00:26:35.240 Anybody else seen that one yet? 00:26:36.220 --> 00:26:38.700 I tell you, old prejudices. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:39.799 You put off. 00:26:40.100 --> 00:26:43.240 When you come to Christ, your attitudes better change. 00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:51.000 Because of Christ, we put off old prejudices. 00:26:52.039 --> 00:26:56.180 The things that we used to think were entertaining began to change. 00:26:56.620 --> 00:26:59.880 The things we laugh about should change. 00:27:00.940 --> 00:27:05.620 And the things that once you found profoundly important in your life, 00:27:05.620 --> 00:27:08.359 you began to recognize have the aroma of death, 00:27:08.700 --> 00:27:12.960 and they have nothing to do with the journey that you're on and the place that you're going to. 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:20.839 Paul calls the old nature and its fruit something that is corrupt and deceitful. 00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:23.559 Look at what we find there in verse 22. 00:27:23.700 --> 00:27:26.400 Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life, 00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:29.519 and is corrupt through deceitful desires. 00:27:29.620 --> 00:27:31.039 Now, what does deceitful mean? 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:34.160 What does deceitful mean in verse 22? 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:37.440 It means it's not honest. 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:38.319 It's deceitful. 00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:39.620 It misleads you, right? 00:27:39.619 --> 00:27:39.699 Right? 00:27:42.419 --> 00:27:46.359 Satan offers something to us and promises some kind of gratification, 00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:49.199 some kind of satisfaction, and the truth of the matter is, 00:27:49.399 --> 00:27:50.699 is he can't produce that. 00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:52.099 He can't bring it into your life. 00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:55.000 You hope it would be, but he only deceives. 00:27:55.000 --> 00:28:02.079 And so it tells us there that we are to put these things off. 00:28:02.859 --> 00:28:03.660 And how do you do that? 00:28:04.579 --> 00:28:07.519 For one thing, and I think this is important to follow the track of it, 00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:10.559 for one thing, you begin to remind yourself of your new position in Christ. 00:28:10.779 --> 00:28:11.940 Are you in Christ Jesus? 00:28:12.039 --> 00:28:13.039 I'm in Christ Jesus. 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:14.960 I am in Christ Jesus. 00:28:15.059 --> 00:28:16.579 I'm different than I used to be. 00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:18.700 You're no longer who you were. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:20.259 You are new. 00:28:20.579 --> 00:28:21.680 You're a different person. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:24.960 For another, you set your affections on Christ. 00:28:25.299 --> 00:28:27.740 And when we set our affections on Christ, 00:28:28.100 --> 00:28:31.720 guess what happens to the other things that we used to be attracted to? 00:28:31.779 --> 00:28:32.400 What happens? 00:28:33.500 --> 00:28:34.779 They begin to fall away. 00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:36.759 They begin to fall away. 00:28:37.900 --> 00:28:40.880 And so if you are here this morning and you are a believer, 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:44.100 I want you to understand that for one thing, positionally, 00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:46.840 because of conversion and the power of God, 00:28:47.060 --> 00:28:48.400 you're not who you used to be. 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:51.759 Your past is gone. 00:28:53.360 --> 00:28:57.060 Also, we are in the process of putting off that past and saying, 00:28:57.180 --> 00:28:58.880 man, that's not where I want to go. 00:28:59.180 --> 00:29:03.340 That has nothing to do with the future that I have ambition towards. 00:29:04.860 --> 00:29:07.140 Secondly, we find there in that Ephesians passage 00:29:07.140 --> 00:29:10.000 that the believer is to be renewed in his thinking. 00:29:11.860 --> 00:29:18.000 I'm struck by the fact that the Scriptures make so much out of thought and thinking. 00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:23.860 It says here that we are to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 00:29:24.100 --> 00:29:26.600 in the spirit of your mind. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:33.519 He is reminding us that salvation doesn't give us just another set of rules that we're to practice. 00:29:34.100 --> 00:29:36.140 Salvation changes our heart, 00:29:36.360 --> 00:29:41.740 and it begins the process of transforming the thoughts that we have associated with life. 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:48.859 The ministry of the indwelling spirit works in us to understand the word, 00:29:49.339 --> 00:29:53.799 and as we grow in understanding the word, our thinking is transformed. 00:29:54.500 --> 00:29:56.720 Paul says, listen, look at the passage again. 00:29:57.140 --> 00:30:00.980 Be renewed in the thinking of your mind. 00:30:00.980 --> 00:30:12.039 The idea that our faith is principally an emotional status or state is untrue. 00:30:12.980 --> 00:30:21.200 The foundation and the bedrock of Christian living is the thoughts that come in our life 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:23.980 as a result of our relationship with Christ, 00:30:23.980 --> 00:30:30.079 and the power of the word of God that changes the way we think. 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:36.539 How do I stir that up and grow as a result? 00:30:37.539 --> 00:30:40.240 Over in 1 Peter 2, verse 2, it says, 00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:45.200 As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word. 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:56.059 Judith and I were babysitting Friday night while my son and daughter-in-law were helping our youth bowling. 00:30:57.160 --> 00:31:01.180 I understand that he threw the fastest ball there. 00:31:01.500 --> 00:31:05.140 You know, it's an important little detail for the sermon, but, you know. 00:31:06.259 --> 00:31:09.080 And they have four children. 00:31:09.620 --> 00:31:12.140 The youngest one is a little bit of a challenge 00:31:12.140 --> 00:31:16.660 because when she wakes up, there's only a couple things going on. 00:31:16.740 --> 00:31:17.520 Guess what they are? 00:31:19.140 --> 00:31:24.100 I'm dirty, or I'm hungry, or I'm both. 00:31:26.180 --> 00:31:30.880 And my wife had been taking care of Annalise quite a bit, 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:34.360 and at one point she thought it would be appropriate that I participate. 00:31:36.680 --> 00:31:38.840 She handed Annalise off to me, 00:31:38.839 --> 00:31:43.799 and Annalise decided that snuggling was appropriate, 00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:47.319 but I wasn't equipped to respond. 00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:50.459 That's code. 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:55.559 So I said to my wife, 00:31:55.659 --> 00:31:55.859 Honey, 00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:59.199 I'm not asking you to take over, 00:31:59.899 --> 00:32:02.199 but I am asking you to go out in the kitchen 00:32:02.199 --> 00:32:05.159 and do something to help with the situation. 00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:09.920 Because, you see, that little baby only had one basic thing on its mind. 00:32:10.019 --> 00:32:10.860 It's just, feed me. 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:12.060 Feed me. 00:32:12.900 --> 00:32:17.320 And one of the things that characterizes the new believer is what? 00:32:18.279 --> 00:32:19.420 Wants the Word. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:20.440 And by the way, 00:32:20.840 --> 00:32:23.660 it also characterizes the growing believer, right? 00:32:24.420 --> 00:32:25.600 And it characterizes, 00:32:25.660 --> 00:32:26.600 are you listening to this one? 00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:27.039 Huh? 00:32:28.159 --> 00:32:30.419 It characterizes the more mature believer. 00:32:32.219 --> 00:32:34.439 Oh, how I love your law. 00:32:34.619 --> 00:32:37.480 It is my meditation all the day. 00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:42.980 I want to encourage you this morning, 00:32:43.039 --> 00:32:45.139 as you think about how you renew the mind, 00:32:45.199 --> 00:32:47.219 I want you to understand that happens through the Word. 00:32:49.159 --> 00:32:51.159 The transforming power of the Word 00:32:51.159 --> 00:32:53.819 is what changes the way we think and act 00:32:53.819 --> 00:32:55.659 and affects us from the inside out. 00:32:55.660 --> 00:32:59.200 Go back just a little bit to Romans 12, verse 1 and 2, 00:32:59.779 --> 00:33:01.680 and mark what Paul says 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:04.660 after he's spent basically nine chapters 00:33:04.660 --> 00:33:07.519 talking about salvation, what it is, 00:33:07.980 --> 00:33:11.060 and three chapters talking about the sovereignty of God. 00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:13.420 And then he comes there in chapter 12 00:33:13.420 --> 00:33:15.880 to how we put it all together in practical daily living, 00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:17.600 and he says this, 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:45.359 The world is constantly trying to force us to think the way it thinks. 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:46.240 Do you understand that? 00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:53.379 The world is constantly forcing us to think the way it thinks. 00:33:54.839 --> 00:33:57.679 When you listen to music that is of the world, 00:33:57.899 --> 00:34:01.539 it is trying to get you to think the way they think. 00:34:02.339 --> 00:34:04.159 When you turn on the television, 00:34:04.959 --> 00:34:08.579 it's challenging you to think the way they think. 00:34:08.579 --> 00:34:10.980 And Paul says, 00:34:11.059 --> 00:34:13.639 Listen, it's the Word that helps us do that. 00:34:14.699 --> 00:34:17.299 Over in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18, 00:34:17.420 --> 00:34:20.779 it talks about the fact that we with unveiled face, 00:34:21.179 --> 00:34:22.860 seeing the Lord Jesus in essence, 00:34:23.259 --> 00:34:25.099 are changed from glory into glory. 00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:26.039 And so here's the deal. 00:34:27.480 --> 00:34:30.779 If you are a believer, 00:34:30.780 --> 00:34:38.019 you understand that His interest is that you grow to look more like Him, right? 00:34:39.019 --> 00:34:40.840 And how does that come about? 00:34:42.060 --> 00:34:48.340 It comes about when the Word of God affects the way you think, 00:34:49.240 --> 00:34:51.340 which then affects the way you act. 00:34:54.240 --> 00:34:58.100 Finally, we come to that statement that is made there in verse 24, 00:34:58.100 --> 00:34:59.860 to put on the new self. 00:35:00.780 --> 00:35:01.480 The new man. 00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:06.460 The idea is not suggesting that we just pick up some new habits 00:35:06.460 --> 00:35:09.519 or we get a little neater in the way we take care of our room. 00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:14.060 The Word is really talking about something that involves the whole person. 00:35:15.040 --> 00:35:16.180 Talking about who we are. 00:35:17.140 --> 00:35:20.820 The concept here in Ephesians connects with what we read over there 00:35:20.820 --> 00:35:23.540 in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, where it says, 00:35:23.900 --> 00:35:25.780 If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is what? 00:35:25.780 --> 00:35:27.000 He's a new creation. 00:35:27.120 --> 00:35:27.880 We're something different. 00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:33.640 And we see in the remainder of this verse that this new man is created 00:35:33.640 --> 00:35:35.019 according to what God is. 00:35:35.099 --> 00:35:37.180 That's what the actual rendition is. 00:35:37.300 --> 00:35:39.340 Look at chapter 4, verse 24. 00:35:40.019 --> 00:35:43.420 And put on the new self, created after the likeness of God, 00:35:43.500 --> 00:35:45.480 or according to what God is. 00:35:46.420 --> 00:35:47.180 Isn't that amazing? 00:35:47.179 --> 00:35:56.579 Your conversion has made you after the character and nature of Christ. 00:35:57.019 --> 00:36:00.179 And he is interested in seeing that all play out in very real time. 00:36:00.179 --> 00:36:08.519 As I was studying this week, I came to an illustration that John MacArthur used about this passage, 00:36:08.519 --> 00:36:19.480 and he actually pointed out that there are places where there are homes for men who have been destroyed by sin and rescue missions. 00:36:19.480 --> 00:36:21.000 And he says, 00:36:21.059 --> 00:36:24.519 When a man comes in off the street and he really wants to change, 00:36:25.240 --> 00:36:33.240 one of the things that will happen in the rescue mission is that they will ask him to go into a room that is attached to a shower, 00:36:33.480 --> 00:36:40.280 and when he's in that room, they ask that he take all his old clothes off and set them over on the side, 00:36:40.539 --> 00:36:43.900 and that he delouse himself, and then that he take a shower. 00:36:43.900 --> 00:36:51.240 They also put a package, after that's all taken care of, they give him a package of brand new clothes. 00:36:52.240 --> 00:36:53.440 And he puts those on. 00:36:54.700 --> 00:37:00.760 And it would be entirely inappropriate then for that man who has been deloused and bathed and cleaned up 00:37:00.760 --> 00:37:07.660 to turn around and go rooting through that old pile of stinky clothes that are infected with lice. 00:37:07.740 --> 00:37:08.440 Do you understand that? 00:37:10.260 --> 00:37:11.579 Why would we do that? 00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:18.480 Conversion takes and changes our past. 00:37:19.900 --> 00:37:24.759 It takes out of our life the old way of thinking, 00:37:25.299 --> 00:37:30.299 and it brings into our life a new way of thinking. 00:37:31.619 --> 00:37:35.039 So here's what I want to leave you with as you walk away today. 00:37:36.059 --> 00:37:38.000 I want you to ask yourself the question, 00:37:39.319 --> 00:37:40.900 Honestly, am I a believer? 00:37:41.579 --> 00:37:43.039 Am I a believer? 00:37:43.380 --> 00:37:44.900 Here's how you can know. 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:47.920 It's not, hey, I said the prayer. 00:37:48.659 --> 00:37:49.739 I was baptized. 00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:51.500 I'm a member. 00:37:51.880 --> 00:37:56.259 All those things can be true, and you not be a genuine convert. 00:37:56.619 --> 00:38:00.119 A genuine convert is someone who has come to faith in Christ 00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:03.360 and is on an upward journey of growing to be more like Him. 00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:09.820 Is it fair for you to do that evaluation in your heart whether or not you're of Christ? 00:38:10.059 --> 00:38:10.539 Absolutely. 00:38:11.700 --> 00:38:13.880 That's what Paul is encouraging us to do. 00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:16.599 Don't be like you used to be, he says. 00:38:17.039 --> 00:38:18.039 Get it clear. 00:38:18.039 --> 00:38:23.480 You are to put off the old man and to put on the new man. 00:38:23.480 --> 00:38:26.740 As it says there in verse 24, 00:38:27.400 --> 00:38:30.900 Created after the likeness of God. 00:38:33.679 --> 00:38:34.880 Let's close in prayer. 00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:41.860 Father God, this morning as we study the Scriptures together, 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:48.660 we are reminded of the fact that salvation takes that which has been destroyed 00:38:48.660 --> 00:38:51.880 and broken and ruined by sin. 00:38:51.880 --> 00:39:05.260 And by grace we are brought to the cross where we confess the absolute darkness and blackness of our heart 00:39:05.260 --> 00:39:07.880 and we cry out to Jesus admitting, 00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:12.099 Yes, I am a sinner that justly deserves the wrath of God, 00:39:12.220 --> 00:39:17.860 but I understand Jesus died for me and I claim what He has done 00:39:17.860 --> 00:39:21.220 and I call out for salvation. 00:39:21.880 --> 00:39:27.220 And we're thankful that with salvation comes transforming power 00:39:27.220 --> 00:39:32.539 that allows us as believers to look back across the road and say, 00:39:33.140 --> 00:39:34.980 I am not who I used to be 00:39:34.980 --> 00:39:39.460 and I'm not what I will be, 00:39:40.320 --> 00:39:43.280 but I am by God's grace what I am. 00:39:44.700 --> 00:39:48.019 So Father, this morning as we come to this moment 00:39:48.019 --> 00:39:51.940 and we consider the call of the Scriptures, 00:39:51.940 --> 00:39:58.400 we recognize that the Scriptures call those who are here that do not know Christ to the cross. 00:39:58.860 --> 00:40:01.480 And I would plead with you that you would work in their heart 00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:05.539 that they would be humble enough to declare their need 00:40:05.539 --> 00:40:11.139 and to call upon the Lord Jesus Christ who is their hope and salvation. 00:40:11.139 --> 00:40:17.319 And Father, I would plead with you that you would work in the lives of those who are believers 00:40:17.319 --> 00:40:22.420 who have become indifferent to their high and holy upward calling 00:40:22.420 --> 00:40:27.259 that today would be a day of rededication and renewal. 00:40:28.199 --> 00:40:31.799 We ask this in your precious holy name. 00:40:31.800 --> 00:40:32.820 Amen. 00:40:32.820 --> 00:40:32.940 Amen.