WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.379 Our reading this morning is from Ephesians chapter 4, verse 17. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:40.280 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. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:46.640 To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:49.219 And to be renewed in the spirit of your minds. 00:00:49.539 --> 00:00:54.920 And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 00:00:54.920 --> 00:01:01.300 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.840 For we are members one of another. 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:06.840 Be angry and do not sin. 00:01:07.299 --> 00:01:11.500 Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. 00:01:11.500 --> 00:01:19.700 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 00:01:19.700 --> 00:01:28.620 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 00:01:29.340 --> 00:01:33.900 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 00:01:34.340 --> 00:01:40.600 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 00:01:41.100 --> 00:01:47.159 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:49.119 And this is God's word. 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:51.879 We are in a series on Ephesians. 00:01:52.259 --> 00:01:59.500 And in the first half of the book of Ephesians, the author, Paul, he's answering the question, who is the church? 00:01:59.659 --> 00:02:00.620 Who are we together? 00:02:01.939 --> 00:02:03.000 Lots of different answers. 00:02:03.199 --> 00:02:04.859 One word today, redeemed. 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:07.280 He says we're redeemed, we're forgiven. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:18.039 And then in the back half of Ephesians, the letter 4 to 6, he then turns to say, now what does the church do in the light of that? 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:24.219 So therefore, now go and be who God has made you in Christ Jesus. 00:02:24.379 --> 00:02:27.180 Put on the clothing that God has given you in Jesus. 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:32.460 So we've seen already, when you become a Christian, you have the life of God in you, the Holy Spirit. 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:37.140 And Paul turns and says, now go and live like it. 00:02:38.460 --> 00:02:46.400 The main, if there's one main thing we've said so far in the series, in this back half, we've said that Paul's teaching us, seek spiritual maturity. 00:02:46.780 --> 00:02:51.219 So when you become a Christian, you start off as a spiritual baby. 00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:52.480 You're an infant. 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:53.840 And that's good. 00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:56.159 It's good to be an infant when it's time to be an infant. 00:02:56.599 --> 00:02:58.960 But this letter is saying, don't stay there. 00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:02.439 There's a call to grow in the back half of this letter. 00:03:03.099 --> 00:03:09.340 And another way to say that, and this is really just the center of what our text today is all about, is we're thinking about change. 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:11.140 How to change. 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:13.099 How to have real change in your life. 00:03:13.259 --> 00:03:14.120 Lasting change. 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:15.520 Enduring change. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:27.660 And no matter where you come from today, no matter what religious background, philosophical background, cultural background, anything like that, every single one of us wants to change. 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:31.240 We all know we want to be better than we are. 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:36.540 We all know that there's a gap in our lives between the people we want to be and the people we actually are. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:41.219 Paul, he brings up here bitterness as an example in verse 31. 00:03:42.219 --> 00:03:48.400 And we can all think today, no matter what you believe in, I want to be better when it comes to bitterness. 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:54.599 I want to be a person who encourages people, not discourages people. 00:03:55.300 --> 00:04:01.540 I want, if you're a Christian, you can say, I know I want to pray without ceasing and want to want to pray without ceasing. 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:04.040 We know that we want to change. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:07.280 And we can say it like this. 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:10.400 We want to be changed. 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:14.219 We want to arrive at what change would look like in our lives. 00:04:14.219 --> 00:04:25.399 But we really, really, really do not want the process of change, the conflict, and the pain that has to be there to actually get to the changed person that we're reading about here. 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:29.519 We want to finish the race and be at the finish line. 00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:34.519 We do not want the huffing and puffing that comes with running the 800 meter, you know. 00:04:35.259 --> 00:04:37.000 We want to arrive at St. Columbus. 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:38.800 We don't want the hill, right? 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:44.199 We want to already be there, but the difficulty is that it's not automatic. 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:49.980 So when you become a Christian, it's very possible to stay a spiritual infant. 00:04:51.660 --> 00:04:53.660 And it's not automatic to grow. 00:04:53.860 --> 00:05:00.620 Growth requires conflict, pursuit, pain, work, a race that you have to endure. 00:05:00.620 --> 00:05:05.620 And so here in this chapter, back in chapter 4, verse 1, he said, 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:08.759 Walk in a manner worthy of the calling of redemption. 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:10.280 You've got everything in Christ. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:11.680 Now walk like it. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:12.379 Live like it. 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:16.939 And if you look at our passage, chapter 4, verse 17, he says, 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:20.500 Now you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. 00:05:20.579 --> 00:05:24.840 So he started the chapter by saying, walk, live a certain way like you're redeemed. 00:05:25.060 --> 00:05:27.220 Now he's giving you the negative side. 00:05:27.899 --> 00:05:30.480 That means don't walk like the Gentiles do. 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:33.500 And I'll get into what that means in just a moment. 00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:37.920 But here the word walk in the Hebrew mind, the Old Testament, 00:05:38.100 --> 00:05:39.480 and then now in the New Testament mind, 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:45.360 walk means that your outer life is putting on display the reality of what's going on inside. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:48.579 So walk in a manner worthy of the calling, 00:05:48.780 --> 00:05:54.199 meaning let your outer life actually look like the truth of your spiritual life, your inner life. 00:05:54.259 --> 00:05:59.160 So if you've been redeemed, your outer life needs to match the reality of what God has said about you, 00:05:59.300 --> 00:05:59.959 your inner life. 00:06:00.620 --> 00:06:01.500 It's a call to change. 00:06:01.500 --> 00:06:08.240 I heard somebody this week say something very cliche, but I think probably pretty true, 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:13.280 and that's life is 90% attitude, 10% circumstance. 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:14.240 All right? 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:21.579 In Pauline theology terms, life is 90% inner life, your spiritual life on the inside, 00:06:22.019 --> 00:06:24.740 10% what's actually going on in your life on the outside. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:30.579 And so we can look and say, I want to put away bitterness because bitterness is zapping my joy. 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:33.460 90% what's going on in the heart, right? 00:06:33.459 --> 00:06:35.599 How can we do it? 00:06:36.799 --> 00:06:38.319 How can we live the redeemed life? 00:06:38.359 --> 00:06:39.219 How can we change? 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:41.139 Let me give you three principles here. 00:06:41.620 --> 00:06:45.699 How do I get the attitude of Jesus himself into my heart? 00:06:46.339 --> 00:06:48.459 Three things Paul tells you to do, three principles. 00:06:48.459 --> 00:06:53.739 Number one, real change begins with deciding to become a Christian. 00:06:55.019 --> 00:07:02.339 Real change begins by conversion, deciding to follow Jesus, deciding to actually become a Christian. 00:07:02.339 --> 00:07:13.060 And so in our passage, Paul, from verse 17 to 19, he is showing us how deep the problem really runs in us, 00:07:13.119 --> 00:07:15.839 how deep the disease goes into our souls here. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:17.099 It's hard. 00:07:17.399 --> 00:07:18.579 This is not an easy text. 00:07:18.739 --> 00:07:22.099 It's hard to admit the truth of what he writes about here. 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:25.719 And he's talking here about how big our need to change really is. 00:07:26.239 --> 00:07:28.219 And so in verse 17, you can see that he says, 00:07:28.220 --> 00:07:33.540 don't walk any longer as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds. 00:07:33.940 --> 00:07:37.260 So when he says, don't walk, don't live like a Gentile, 00:07:38.140 --> 00:07:41.100 he's not primarily here talking about ethnicity. 00:07:41.960 --> 00:07:44.800 We know that because he's talking to Gentiles. 00:07:45.540 --> 00:07:47.940 So he's not saying, Gentile, don't be Gentile. 00:07:48.540 --> 00:07:50.360 He's not talking about ethnicity. 00:07:50.520 --> 00:07:51.080 What's he saying? 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:58.200 His word for Gentile is a word for allowing the normal patterns of the culture around you 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:02.959 to dictate your world and life view, to dictate your worldview and the way you live. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:07.939 So Gentile here means for him pagan, which is not a pejorative term. 00:08:08.599 --> 00:08:12.459 It's just a term that describes anyone in the ancient world and even today 00:08:12.459 --> 00:08:15.879 who's not willing yet to follow the true God 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:18.180 and is chasing after all the other little gods in life. 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:19.439 That's what Gentile means. 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:22.800 So it's to be wrapped up in something like idolatry. 00:08:22.919 --> 00:08:24.860 We call idolatry in the Bible. 00:08:24.860 --> 00:08:29.480 And here in verse 17 and 18, just notice how he describes it. 00:08:29.840 --> 00:08:33.860 He uses the term, mind is darkened. 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:36.379 Your understanding is clouded. 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:42.259 He says the Gentile mind, worshiping anything else but the true God is ignorance. 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:43.659 That's the word he used. 00:08:43.700 --> 00:08:48.740 Now, you see, he uses all these cognition terms, these mental terms. 00:08:48.740 --> 00:08:53.879 And then right after that, he says it all happens because of a hard heart. 00:08:54.100 --> 00:08:55.980 Now, this is what Paul is saying. 00:08:56.460 --> 00:09:02.519 In our modern world, we think of people as bifurcated between heads and hearts. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:05.460 There are thinkers and there are feelers. 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:10.759 And Paul is picking up on what the Old Testament says about the human being. 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:16.679 And he says, look, it is your heart that thinks and it is your mind that feels. 00:09:17.799 --> 00:09:20.840 In other words, there is no gap in the way God made us. 00:09:21.639 --> 00:09:22.500 There can't be a gap. 00:09:22.580 --> 00:09:23.460 There shouldn't be a gap. 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:29.120 Your affections, what you love determines your logic. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:34.580 What you love affects your mind and how you think about the world around you. 00:09:34.700 --> 00:09:35.179 That's what he's talking about. 00:09:35.179 --> 00:09:41.699 And so he's saying to us that when we refuse, when we're born into this world as sinners, we refuse to believe in God. 00:09:41.899 --> 00:09:43.219 And that's a heart posture. 00:09:44.479 --> 00:09:49.719 And that heart posture produces thoughts, logic that says, well, God doesn't exist. 00:09:50.659 --> 00:09:54.559 He's saying the condition of your heart is what produces the way you think about God. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:56.659 He's saying the heart is far more important. 00:09:56.659 --> 00:10:00.240 Your loves are far more important than the way you think. 00:10:00.299 --> 00:10:02.399 It's not an issue of the mind but of the heart. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:05.319 And so in verse 17, here's the so what. 00:10:05.419 --> 00:10:13.699 He says, that means that the way we're all born into this world, our hearts are angry at God. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:15.419 We're conditioned against God. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:17.399 We don't want to be saved by God. 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:18.620 We don't want God at all. 00:10:18.899 --> 00:10:21.500 And so we go and create religion of all kinds. 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:23.039 We worship all sorts of stuff. 00:10:23.340 --> 00:10:25.220 He talks about greed, love of money. 00:10:25.980 --> 00:10:27.779 He talks about the love of sex. 00:10:27.779 --> 00:10:33.699 He talks about the love of even in that ancient day, the temple of Artemis going and worshiping gods of all kinds. 00:10:34.179 --> 00:10:34.279 Right? 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:35.579 This is our natural condition. 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:39.500 And he says that means futility, verse 17. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:41.839 So what is this word futility? 00:10:42.059 --> 00:10:49.679 It's like if you've read the Old Testament at all, the book of Ecclesiastes, this word for vapor or emptiness in the book of Ecclesiastes. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:11:01.179 And he's saying life apart from the true God, a hard heart against the true God, which is our natural condition as human beings, is a life apart from God and therefore futile. 00:11:02.099 --> 00:11:12.459 So to put it in more modern terminology, he's saying that when you don't yet see the reality of the true God who made you and who loves you and who wants to save you, 00:11:12.599 --> 00:11:16.479 you're living a life that ultimately is going to end in emptiness or is temporary. 00:11:17.459 --> 00:11:18.199 So think about it. 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:19.800 I know it's a big claim. 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:20.420 It's a hard claim. 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:21.080 It's a heavy claim. 00:11:21.140 --> 00:11:21.759 But think about it. 00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:32.540 He's saying if you live a life and trying to pump your life with meaning and you look to relationships for that, love, you could have the absolute best marriage. 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:34.240 But it's going to end. 00:11:35.259 --> 00:11:37.580 And one of you is going to have to bury the other. 00:11:39.060 --> 00:11:42.140 And we know that breakups happen all the time and they're miserable. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:43.540 Right? 00:11:43.539 --> 00:11:53.939 And you could make your life primarily about not relationship but your career and your successes and becoming the best possible achiever you could be. 00:11:54.179 --> 00:11:55.799 But you know that that's going to end. 00:11:56.360 --> 00:11:57.019 It's not going to last. 00:11:57.099 --> 00:12:00.939 And he's saying the life apart from the true God is futility. 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:02.719 It ends up empty, meaningless. 00:12:03.199 --> 00:12:04.039 It doesn't last. 00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:11.480 In other words, he's saying that you need to see the reality of the true God in order to have lasting hope beyond the mere temporary in this life. 00:12:12.500 --> 00:12:17.719 And so that means, thirdly, in this first point, he's telling us first. 00:12:17.779 --> 00:12:18.339 First principle. 00:12:18.459 --> 00:12:18.879 Here it is. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:22.919 Real change begins with a decision. 00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:25.220 It begins with a decision. 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:27.740 It begins with the decision, I want to follow Christ. 00:12:27.860 --> 00:12:29.919 I want to believe in the true God. 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:33.600 I want to have my mind changed, my heart changed from the inside out. 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:37.200 So let me show you just one little thing in verse 21 and 22. 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:40.559 He uses some really specific language. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:45.000 He says in verse 21, assuming that you've heard about him. 00:12:45.860 --> 00:12:49.159 Now, there are lots of good translations. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:51.039 And this is a very good translation. 00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:56.220 But one thing the translators have done is they've added some words all throughout this passage. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:00.019 And one of the words they added was, you've heard about him. 00:13:00.220 --> 00:13:04.679 But the original Greek text actually says, you heard him. 00:13:05.860 --> 00:13:10.000 And then if you move on from there, it says in verse 22, put off your old self. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:10.899 Now it's time. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:11.720 Put off your old self. 00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:12.440 Be changed. 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:17.080 But the original Greek text actually says, having put off your old self. 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:20.020 And then having put on the new self. 00:13:20.420 --> 00:13:21.840 And then be renewed. 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:23.060 All right? 00:13:23.140 --> 00:13:24.320 So why does that matter? 00:13:24.420 --> 00:13:25.480 Why does that grammar matter? 00:13:25.900 --> 00:13:32.920 And the reason it matters is because it's saying that to become a Christian is about something that happens to you. 00:13:34.300 --> 00:13:37.000 Having had your old self put off. 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:45.580 He's saying that becoming a Christian is like taking off, having somebody take dirty, nasty clothes off of you and putting brand new clothing on you. 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:51.860 He's saying in the first instance, it's about not just hearing about Christ, but hearing Christ. 00:13:51.860 --> 00:14:02.500 He's saying that you know that you're becoming a Christian or you have become a Christian when you can say, I heard the voice of Jesus say, come unto me and rest. 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:11.279 And all the time in a city like ours, in a church like ours, where we have lots of people, maybe even today coming, exploring Christianity. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:12.679 I'll talk. 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:14.399 I've been able to have coffee with some of you. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:18.579 And we talk about saying, you know, I didn't used to believe in God at all. 00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:21.740 Now I'm starting to believe in God. 00:14:21.959 --> 00:14:24.480 But I just don't know what to do next. 00:14:25.980 --> 00:14:31.559 And one of the things Paul says is, look, what's happening to you is the Holy Spirit's working in your life. 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:34.620 You are having these things done to you. 00:14:34.620 --> 00:14:40.779 And at the same time, Paul says here, so be renewed, meaning make a decision. 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:44.379 Say, I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:45.220 Take a step. 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:47.840 Say, I don't understand all the questions. 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:53.139 There's so much I don't know, but I will take a step and say, I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. 00:14:53.700 --> 00:15:00.399 So Paul is telling us here, the first step, the first principle in real change means become a Christian. 00:15:01.139 --> 00:15:02.060 Make a decision. 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:06.039 And you know that in that, the Holy Spirit is at work in your life. 00:15:06.119 --> 00:15:10.579 And at the same time, in the horizontal, you are taking a step of faith towards Christ. 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:12.379 You are taking a step to follow Jesus. 00:15:13.319 --> 00:15:14.339 What does that look like? 00:15:15.019 --> 00:15:16.179 It looks like resting. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:22.139 Resting in Jesus' substitutionary sacrifice for you on the cross. 00:15:22.859 --> 00:15:24.659 Martin Lloyd-Jones put it really well. 00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:25.879 I can't improve upon this. 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:34.939 Martin Lloyd-Jones used to say that when he would meet with somebody, he would talk to them about Jesus, about the gospel, about becoming a Christian. 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.360 And this is what he writes in his book on spiritual depression. 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:42.059 He said, to make it quite practical, I have a very simple test. 00:15:42.059 --> 00:15:49.599 After I've explained the way of Christ to somebody, I say, now, are you ready to say you're a Christian? 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:51.759 And they hesitate. 00:15:52.119 --> 00:15:55.239 And they say, and then I say, what's the matter? 00:15:55.500 --> 00:15:56.559 Why are you hesitating? 00:15:57.099 --> 00:16:01.379 And so often people say, I just don't feel like I'm good enough yet. 00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:05.559 I don't think I'm ready to say I'm a Christian. 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:07.620 I'm just not good enough. 00:16:08.779 --> 00:16:10.700 And he says, he writes, here's the problem. 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:14.519 They are still thinking, maybe you're today still thinking in terms of yourself. 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:20.360 And it's a thought process, he writes, where you think, I have to do it. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:23.460 And it sounds very modest to say, well, I just don't think I'm good enough. 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:26.580 But it's a very denial of the Christian faith. 00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:31.820 The very essence of the Christian faith is to say, he is good enough. 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:33.280 He is good enough. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:36.879 And I rest in him. 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:42.480 As long as you go on thinking about yourself like that and you say, I'm not good enough. 00:16:42.520 --> 00:16:43.460 Oh, I'm not good enough. 00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:44.900 You're denying God. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:46.020 You're denying the gospel. 00:16:47.220 --> 00:16:49.180 You're denying the very essence of the faith. 00:16:49.259 --> 00:16:50.980 And you will never ultimately be happy. 00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:52.640 You have not yet changed. 00:16:53.060 --> 00:16:54.259 Not from the inside out. 00:16:54.259 --> 00:16:57.220 But you think you're better at times. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:58.519 Look, you'll be, this is what will happen. 00:16:58.580 --> 00:16:59.000 You'll waffle. 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:00.139 You'll be better at times. 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:01.259 You'll be worse at times. 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:03.620 Your faith will be okay on Sundays. 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:06.279 But on Mondays, your faith will go back down to 40%. 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:07.019 Right? 00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:13.299 And if you're resting in yourself and not in him, you've not yet seen what it means to decide to follow Jesus. 00:17:14.180 --> 00:17:15.119 How can I put it plainly? 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:23.479 He writes, it doesn't matter if you have, he says, it does not matter if you have almost entered into the depths of hell itself. 00:17:23.659 --> 00:17:28.519 It does not matter if you are guilty of murder as well as every other vile sin. 00:17:28.639 --> 00:17:31.919 It does not matter from the standpoint of being justified before God. 00:17:31.979 --> 00:17:32.479 Not at all. 00:17:32.899 --> 00:17:35.919 You are more hopeless than you can ever imagine. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:39.160 And you are more loved than you can ever know. 00:17:40.539 --> 00:17:44.080 And real change starts with saying, I have decided to follow Jesus. 00:17:45.100 --> 00:17:45.840 No turning back. 00:17:46.779 --> 00:17:47.340 Second principle. 00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:48.259 That was our longest one. 00:17:48.340 --> 00:17:48.860 Second principle. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:55.759 When you become a Christian, then, when you've become a Christian, when you've decided to follow Jesus, 00:17:55.759 --> 00:18:05.680 change requires being honest about the struggle with your sin, the struggle with who you still are, how deep the disease goes. 00:18:05.819 --> 00:18:08.039 Now, that's really the heartbeat of what Paul's talking about here. 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:16.819 So, in verse 20, he's been talking about the Gentile lifestyle, chasing after every little god in this life. 00:18:16.859 --> 00:18:20.099 And he says, but that is not how you learned Christ. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.420 And why does he say something like that? 00:18:23.420 --> 00:18:27.580 If you jump down to verses 25 to 32, we won't look at this in any detail. 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:34.240 But he has this long list of sins and then how to live a redeemed life positively. 00:18:34.660 --> 00:18:36.720 And you can just scan your eyes across it and see. 00:18:36.820 --> 00:18:41.580 He talks about the life that you lived before, the life that the Ephesians lived before. 00:18:41.800 --> 00:18:53.220 He says it's full of telling lies, stealing, raging anger, discouraging people, discouraging words, slander, bitterness, and violence. 00:18:53.420 --> 00:18:57.440 And he said, that was your life, but that is not how you learned Christ. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:00.640 Now, why is he saying this to them? 00:19:01.100 --> 00:19:08.120 If they are Christians, and if he said, that was you before, but that's not you today, why is he saying it? 00:19:08.140 --> 00:19:09.259 Why is he repeating the list? 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:10.259 Why? 00:19:10.900 --> 00:19:11.620 It's scary. 00:19:12.539 --> 00:19:13.320 It's comforting. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:20.079 He's repeating the list because he's acknowledging the fact that these Ephesian Christians are still doing all this stuff. 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:22.980 They're still walking through this list. 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:26.480 And some of them were thieves. 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:29.119 That was their day job before they came to Jesus. 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:31.559 And they're still stealing. 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:37.720 And he's saying, look, what he's acknowledging is what we call the justification-sanctification gap. 00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:45.599 And the justification-sanctification gap says that you can, it is very true, Christian friends in the room, 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:53.679 God can look at you and say, redeemed, forgiven, loved from before the foundation of the earth, mercy upon mercy, 00:19:53.679 --> 00:20:05.399 and you can stay a baby Christian still stuck in the same sin patterns for a long, long time that you had before you became a Christian. 00:20:06.099 --> 00:20:09.299 So justification, God's pronouncement over you that you're forgiven forever. 00:20:09.299 --> 00:20:14.460 Remember, sanctification is calling to change and to grow in the light of that, to be redeemed. 00:20:14.899 --> 00:20:24.599 And he's calling us and saying, let's be honest about the gap and the reality of our struggle between the two to actually become who we really are in Christ. 00:20:25.460 --> 00:20:26.399 Think about marriage. 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:29.980 You can come here and you can get married. 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:36.180 And on the day of your wedding, somebody, the minister, officiates your wedding and they say, 00:20:36.180 --> 00:20:38.139 I now pronounce you husband and wife. 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:40.380 And in that moment, you are married. 00:20:40.840 --> 00:20:43.660 Legally, you have a status, a standing before God. 00:20:43.820 --> 00:20:45.880 And men, you're legally married. 00:20:47.259 --> 00:20:53.040 And that does not necessarily mean that you go and grow into a great, great marriage, right? 00:20:53.820 --> 00:20:56.980 You can be justified and yet not growing in sanctification. 00:20:57.220 --> 00:21:02.020 You can be married and not having a wonderful marriage because you're not growing into that relationship. 00:21:02.560 --> 00:21:06.540 And in the same way, he's talking here about that reality, that gap. 00:21:06.539 --> 00:21:15.299 And he uses this word in verse 19 to talk about life before Christ and even life after Christ, the word callous. 00:21:15.299 --> 00:21:27.659 And in the Greek text, it's this word poros, which means a bony, a formation of a bone that isn't supposed to be there. 00:21:28.159 --> 00:21:31.159 So I think medical people in the room, we call these bone spurs. 00:21:31.819 --> 00:21:32.859 Yeah, I think. 00:21:32.859 --> 00:21:36.619 I'm getting no heads, so I assume that's probably wrong. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:40.639 But bone spurs, that's the word he uses for callous. 00:21:41.259 --> 00:21:48.619 And he's saying even as a Christian, you can get a bone spur on your heart, a callousness, 00:21:48.619 --> 00:21:55.979 where when you decide to give in to temptation over and over again, instead of resist it, 00:21:56.059 --> 00:22:01.419 over time, the spurs start to grow and you can stop feeling guilt. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:04.519 You can stop feeling shame in your life. 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:07.519 You can stop feeling affection for Jesus. 00:22:08.619 --> 00:22:09.379 Have you ever been there? 00:22:10.219 --> 00:22:11.159 You don't have affection. 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:16.740 And he's saying even as a Christian, there's a callousness that can grow in our lives over and over again. 00:22:17.540 --> 00:22:23.060 And that is why Martin Luther called it being a justified sinner. 00:22:23.840 --> 00:22:25.160 He put those two in the Reformation. 00:22:25.340 --> 00:22:26.759 We're justified yet struggling. 00:22:27.460 --> 00:22:28.779 Sinners moving forward. 00:22:28.860 --> 00:22:30.620 Let me just give you one example, one other example. 00:22:31.600 --> 00:22:36.940 Paul lists bitterness at the end of the passage as one way that the Ephesians were struggling. 00:22:36.940 --> 00:22:42.259 Bitter before they came to faith, bitter with somebody in their lives after they came to faith. 00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:42.799 What is bitterness? 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:48.299 Bitter, bitterness is the lie, the lie in the bottom of our hearts that says, 00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:50.539 I have the right to be perpetually offended. 00:22:52.299 --> 00:22:56.140 And we can get there over time through callousness. 00:22:56.299 --> 00:23:02.759 So sometimes in life we have somebody do something terrible to us and we don't forgive them. 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:08.680 And that becomes a harder and harder and harder heart over time. 00:23:09.180 --> 00:23:14.740 And then we become embittered people where we live in a situation where we have the right to always be offended 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:18.359 and angry and upset with everything that goes wrong in life. 00:23:19.319 --> 00:23:25.660 And you can be a Christian and be bitter and have a neighbor who's not a Christian, who's not bitter, 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:28.640 and they seem to have more outward joy than you do. 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:34.000 And it's because bitterness is zapping your soul and sucking away your joy from life, right? 00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:39.380 And he's saying you've got to look at the justification-sanctification gap in your life and be honest about it. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.759 Just give you, finish this point and say at the very end of this passage, verses 31 and 32, 00:23:45.020 --> 00:23:52.740 you can see he just gives you a little snapshot on the difference between the dark life and the life that's full of light. 00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:57.339 Here's the life that's struggling and still walking in a bit of darkness. 00:23:58.180 --> 00:23:59.960 Bitterness, wrath, verse 31. 00:24:00.120 --> 00:24:02.720 Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor. 00:24:03.220 --> 00:24:05.660 Clamor is shouting. 00:24:06.519 --> 00:24:10.059 So clamor is when you are in a fight with somebody and you come to a place of screaming. 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:11.279 That's the word clamor. 00:24:12.519 --> 00:24:13.120 Slander. 00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:14.980 And then put all that away. 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:15.980 Verse 32. 00:24:16.120 --> 00:24:18.079 Here's the life that's being changed. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:25.480 Kindness, soft, tender heart, forgiving one another as you've been forgiven in Christ. 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:26.839 He says there's the difference. 00:24:28.460 --> 00:24:29.399 Here's the good news. 00:24:30.399 --> 00:24:32.259 The good news in the midst of all this. 00:24:34.179 --> 00:24:39.519 Your forgiveness is not conditioned by your growth. 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:48.940 Your growth, your ability to beat malice and slander and clamor is not the condition and the ground upon which you could be forgiven. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:55.299 Christ comes into your life and redeems you and forgives you as far as the east is from the west and says, 00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:56.639 now go and be changed. 00:24:57.559 --> 00:24:59.660 Religion says be changed. 00:25:00.519 --> 00:25:01.819 Get past all this mess. 00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:02.559 Stop stealing. 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:04.599 And maybe God will love you. 00:25:04.599 --> 00:25:10.139 The gospel says God loves you more than you can ever know. 00:25:10.539 --> 00:25:12.099 So now go and be changed. 00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:15.199 It's good news. 00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:16.159 It's beautiful news. 00:25:16.399 --> 00:25:17.740 And go and be changed. 00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:19.459 Go and live the redeemed life. 00:25:20.299 --> 00:25:23.859 Look at the justification, sanctification gap in your life and assess it and ask, 00:25:24.439 --> 00:25:26.779 where have I not grown in my life? 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:27.879 How do you get started on that? 00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:30.719 C.S. Lewis puts it like this. 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:38.100 He says in Mere Christianity, we fallen humans are not simply imperfect creatures who need improvement. 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:42.779 We are rebels who must lay down our arms. 00:25:44.259 --> 00:25:47.339 The process of surrender is what Christians call repentance. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:50.319 So how can you get started on this today? 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:51.259 Repentance. 00:25:52.120 --> 00:25:53.440 And this is how he describes it. 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:56.240 Now repentance is not fun at all. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:00.980 It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:10.839 It means unlearning all the self-conceit, all the pride, all the self-will that we have been training ourselves up in for years. 00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:13.660 It means killing a part of yourself. 00:26:14.740 --> 00:26:19.140 Undergoing a kind of death in order to come out the other side resurrected. 00:26:19.140 --> 00:26:21.920 So let me finish with this. 00:26:22.080 --> 00:26:32.900 Let me give you four very quick practical things that Paul, I think, at least implies of how change can really happen for you today, this week, how you can take a step. 00:26:33.060 --> 00:26:37.440 Number one, in verse 20 and 21, he says, 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:39.660 You've learned Christ. 00:26:39.820 --> 00:26:41.000 You've heard Christ. 00:26:41.100 --> 00:26:42.160 You were taught Christ. 00:26:42.620 --> 00:26:45.600 You'll hear in that all three school verbs. 00:26:46.520 --> 00:26:47.259 Going to school. 00:26:47.840 --> 00:26:48.780 School terminology. 00:26:49.379 --> 00:26:50.680 You heard him from the teacher. 00:26:50.899 --> 00:26:52.660 You learned him in the classroom. 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:54.299 You were taught him. 00:26:54.420 --> 00:26:55.399 It was modeled for you. 00:26:55.960 --> 00:27:01.740 He's saying, he's giving us these school metaphors and saying you've got to live the Christian life if you want to grow. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:03.379 You've got to go to the school of Jesus. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:07.000 You've got to go to the school of Christ and be a student. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.259 There's a, let me say it like this. 00:27:12.099 --> 00:27:14.759 He says, this is not the way you were taught Christ. 00:27:15.240 --> 00:27:18.539 There's a difference in being taught something and told something. 00:27:18.779 --> 00:27:19.000 Right? 00:27:19.859 --> 00:27:20.900 So you can be told. 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:21.839 You might become a Christian. 00:27:21.960 --> 00:27:22.779 You might be a new Christian. 00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:24.940 And you're told, go and pray. 00:27:25.140 --> 00:27:26.119 Go and read your Bible. 00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:33.680 But there's a big difference between being told to go do it from here every week and then being taught to do it. 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:35.960 And you know the difference. 00:27:36.019 --> 00:27:37.140 The difference is modeling. 00:27:37.460 --> 00:27:38.960 The difference is apprenticeship. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:42.740 The difference is walking closely with somebody hand in hand. 00:27:42.740 --> 00:27:51.960 And in first order here, he's saying you've got to come to the school of Christ and let Christ, your Savior, Redeemer, be your model and teacher. 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:57.100 But he's also saying, remember, this is not the way you were taught Christ. 00:27:57.180 --> 00:28:05.220 Meaning remember how I, Paul, modeled Christianity for you and how to live, how to grow, how to get past and beat some of these sins we've been looking at. 00:28:05.220 --> 00:28:06.519 And so here's the first thing. 00:28:07.059 --> 00:28:20.259 We all need somebody in our lives that is a little further along in the faith that will walk alongside us very closely and disciple us into how to walk the Christian life. 00:28:20.259 --> 00:28:39.140 So no matter how mature you are in the room, no matter if you're ordained in the room, me, all of us, we need somebody that's more mature in the faith in our lives, walking alongside us and modeling for us and helping us and praying with us and showing us, learning Christ as we imitate them. 00:28:39.879 --> 00:28:40.879 Do you have that person? 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:50.780 It's nearly impossible for a church, we're not a huge church, but even a church our size, to practically make that happen for everybody. 00:28:51.540 --> 00:28:56.660 And instead, it's got to be something that every Christian in the room pursues and seeks after. 00:28:56.760 --> 00:29:10.580 Number two, very quickly, lasting formation also, secondly, requires then pursuit, effort, but most importantly, sitting at the feet of the Master, abiding in Christ. 00:29:10.579 --> 00:29:11.819 So let me say it like this. 00:29:13.500 --> 00:29:16.539 Paul says, this is not the way you learn Christ. 00:29:16.639 --> 00:29:18.559 You heard him, you were taught him. 00:29:18.980 --> 00:29:26.519 And I think one of the things he's telling us here is to really, really grow, you've got to abide in his presence. 00:29:27.419 --> 00:29:34.579 What I mean by that is some other writers have called it practicing the presence of God, which is a strange way to put it. 00:29:34.579 --> 00:29:44.019 But it's saying that you've got to sit, take a minute, take 10 minutes, take five minutes every day, and meditate in prayer on Jesus. 00:29:45.179 --> 00:29:46.299 And sit with him. 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:48.720 And read a bit about him. 00:29:48.879 --> 00:29:49.899 And then go to him. 00:29:50.059 --> 00:29:53.819 And just rest in who he is and how much he loves you. 00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:57.679 Abiding in his presence every single day. 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:04.279 You've got to sit with him in prayer is what Paul, I think, is telling us to do here. 00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:08.820 And doing that, that abiding presence is pulling up the weeds of the heart all the time. 00:30:09.840 --> 00:30:12.080 Thirdly, enduring formation. 00:30:12.259 --> 00:30:15.799 Real change in your life requires denying your broken desires. 00:30:16.060 --> 00:30:18.620 Okay, so we've got this list in verses 25 to 32. 00:30:18.619 --> 00:30:23.719 He says, before you were a Christian, Ephesians, you were stealing. 00:30:24.299 --> 00:30:28.079 You were constantly lying, slandering, gossip, discouraging people. 00:30:28.659 --> 00:30:29.819 People would get angry at you. 00:30:29.899 --> 00:30:32.419 You would respond even in violence, wrath sometimes. 00:30:32.719 --> 00:30:33.659 You would clamor. 00:30:33.779 --> 00:30:35.019 You would scream at people. 00:30:36.179 --> 00:30:42.559 And there's a world of theology here about who we are and what God can do in your life. 00:30:42.619 --> 00:30:45.939 And all the ways Paul talks about how the Spirit can change you. 00:30:45.940 --> 00:30:53.580 But every child in kids' church today could come up with us and read that list 00:30:53.580 --> 00:30:59.400 and know that sometimes you've just got to run away from your sin. 00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:00.940 You've just got to run away from temptation. 00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:03.000 You know, what does Paul do? 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:07.779 He says, look, some of you in the congregation, you were thieves, professional thieves in Ephesus before. 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:09.680 Don't steal anymore. 00:31:10.740 --> 00:31:11.460 That's what he says. 00:31:12.100 --> 00:31:14.539 You were constantly lying. 00:31:14.539 --> 00:31:18.039 And he says, just fight, fight, fight to put it away. 00:31:18.180 --> 00:31:23.819 Sometimes you've just got to run from the temptation, the sins that are coming back up and over and over again. 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:28.200 And when you do, you find new levels of victory all the time. 00:31:28.619 --> 00:31:31.539 And when you don't, you find new levels of callousness. 00:31:32.700 --> 00:31:34.440 So you can never stay where you are. 00:31:34.519 --> 00:31:36.059 You have to go in one of the two directions. 00:31:37.220 --> 00:31:42.139 He's saying sometimes you've just got to run away from the temptation that keeps coming up in your life. 00:31:42.140 --> 00:31:47.000 And then lastly, much more importantly than that, this all depends at the end of the day. 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:52.640 Spiritual formation, real change, lasting change in your life depends on a change of motivation. 00:31:53.580 --> 00:31:56.280 I heard this, saw this in another writer this week. 00:31:56.279 --> 00:32:00.680 But they were writing about this in the light of Christian spiritual change. 00:32:01.180 --> 00:32:09.779 They talked about the way that if you're a parent in the room or if you've spent a lot of time helping in kids' church or anywhere else in your life, camp, 00:32:10.039 --> 00:32:13.220 you know that when you're around kids, when you're around children, 00:32:13.220 --> 00:32:18.180 a lot of times you are, you're concerned about their formation. 00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:19.660 You want them to change, right? 00:32:20.460 --> 00:32:26.339 And maybe the ways that we talk about change to our kids so often is really down to a couple things. 00:32:27.059 --> 00:32:29.480 One is we say, stop stealing. 00:32:30.299 --> 00:32:31.720 Stop lying all the time. 00:32:31.900 --> 00:32:32.980 Stop doing this or that. 00:32:33.299 --> 00:32:33.600 Why? 00:32:33.779 --> 00:32:34.500 And they say, why? 00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:38.440 And you say, because one day you're going to go to jail, right? 00:32:39.220 --> 00:32:44.580 In other words, consequences is one of the reasons we say is the motivation to change. 00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:46.039 There will be consequences. 00:32:47.160 --> 00:32:52.920 The other reason we often give our kids is because we say, we are not a family that does that. 00:32:53.960 --> 00:32:58.559 We are not, you are not going to be an adult, a person one day that lives this kind of a life. 00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:00.360 And so we've got to put an end to this right now. 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:03.559 Now, those are not totally wrong yet. 00:33:03.559 --> 00:33:11.319 But when we do it like that, what we're saying is it's all about your reputation management. 00:33:12.259 --> 00:33:14.220 It's all about you at the end of the day. 00:33:14.339 --> 00:33:16.159 What is everybody going to think about you one day? 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:20.379 What if you end up in the worst possible circumstance one day? 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:25.859 And the reason that that often doesn't work is because it can't last. 00:33:25.859 --> 00:33:34.699 You see, motivation, reputation management as a motivation or consequence management as a motivation will never last for us. 00:33:35.379 --> 00:33:46.119 Because what happens when nobody is around to see, when there are going to be no consequences, on the one hand, there's going to be no bad circumstances coming from this action. 00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:52.219 When you're all by yourself and there's nobody else around, that motivation does not work, right? 00:33:52.220 --> 00:33:55.319 You still go back to the things you desire and the things that you want over and over again. 00:33:55.900 --> 00:34:02.279 The same thing can happen in the Christian life when we say the motivation is all about me and what everybody else thinks about me. 00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:03.839 And I've become a Christian. 00:34:04.039 --> 00:34:05.579 Now I've got to be a good Christian. 00:34:06.279 --> 00:34:07.920 I want everybody to know I'm a good Christian. 00:34:08.119 --> 00:34:11.800 And if you're thinking like that, you're turning it all back to yourself. 00:34:12.280 --> 00:34:13.760 And it will never last. 00:34:13.820 --> 00:34:14.880 It will never work. 00:34:15.300 --> 00:34:16.240 It will never last. 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:25.219 And instead what will happen is you'll look at the justification, sanctification gap in your life and you will get upset, angry, maybe even self-hatred. 00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:30.659 Because you'll say, I am not, why am I still fighting with this? 00:34:31.319 --> 00:34:32.239 I should be better. 00:34:32.419 --> 00:34:33.239 I should be different. 00:34:33.559 --> 00:34:35.179 I shouldn't still struggle with this. 00:34:35.379 --> 00:34:37.079 And you'll start to hate yourself for it. 00:34:38.099 --> 00:34:39.279 And then what will you do? 00:34:39.339 --> 00:34:42.339 You'll start to say, I must not be a Christian. 00:34:42.340 --> 00:34:44.420 And you'll lose all assurance. 00:34:46.340 --> 00:35:01.660 Paul's telling us here, the only motivation that really works for deep change is to say, when I'm facing the temptation to steal, lie, clamor, slander, discourage, gossip, the glory of God is at stake in this moment. 00:35:01.659 --> 00:35:04.920 That's the motivation that actually can work. 00:35:05.579 --> 00:35:09.039 Is to say, Jesus Christ, honor and glory. 00:35:09.339 --> 00:35:11.960 Me upholding him as savior, redeemer. 00:35:12.839 --> 00:35:13.940 That's what's at stake here. 00:35:14.480 --> 00:35:16.379 It's not about my reputation. 00:35:16.599 --> 00:35:17.559 It's not about my glory. 00:35:17.699 --> 00:35:19.480 It's not about me getting out of bad consequences. 00:35:19.839 --> 00:35:26.099 The only thing that can last for you, real motivation, is when you say the glory of God is what I care about. 00:35:26.099 --> 00:35:37.179 Our prayer as we pray now is, Lord, make your glory the food that we want to eat, the drink that we want to drink. 00:35:37.940 --> 00:35:39.059 Make it our great motivation. 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:40.019 Let us pray. 00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:51.819 Father, we pray now that we would care far more about your glory when we face temptation than what people think about us and what we think about ourselves even. 00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:54.900 And that we would rest in the redeemer's love. 00:35:54.900 --> 00:35:59.960 Lord, I pray for weak and weary Christians today that are struggling to grow. 00:36:00.559 --> 00:36:05.380 And I pray that you would set your love upon them right now in this hymn, He Will Hold Me Fast. 00:36:05.840 --> 00:36:07.280 Tell them that promise, Lord. 00:36:07.400 --> 00:36:08.800 Tell me that promise, all of us. 00:36:09.240 --> 00:36:14.000 I pray, Holy Spirit, in this song, you would come and meet with folks who are wrestling with Christianity. 00:36:14.780 --> 00:36:20.200 And that you would show them that the gospel is that you've loved them way before. 00:36:20.199 --> 00:36:22.460 And not at all, not at all in any way. 00:36:22.739 --> 00:36:25.639 It is improve yourself if you're going to get your love, O God. 00:36:25.699 --> 00:36:28.619 So we pray that the Holy Spirit will work in these ways now. 00:36:29.019 --> 00:36:30.019 We pray it in Christ's name. 00:36:30.339 --> 00:36:30.559 Amen.