WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.880 I would like you to turn your Bibles this morning to Ephesians chapter 3. We are going to study verse 16. 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:18.679 ! Give me a little more room. I tend to wander a little bit here. 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:29.980 I wonder, are there any of you besides me that occasionally kiss your Bible? 00:00:30.100 --> 00:00:37.039 Do you do that? Bible kissers. I kiss things I really love. You understand that? 00:00:37.460 --> 00:00:47.280 I kiss my wife. I kiss my grandchildren. I kiss my dad and my mom. I kiss my Bible. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:59.260 Let me read the passage. 00:00:59.259 --> 00:01:13.640 For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth is named, 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:26.219 that according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being. 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:29.039 Let's pray. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:38.180 Father, prayer is not a habit, but it's our life. 00:01:38.180 --> 00:01:48.980 For we who were once far from you have been given the privilege of calling you Father and Abba. 00:01:48.980 --> 00:02:02.659 prayer is the expression of our heart that communes with you, first of all, with thanksgiving and satisfaction in the fullness of your character and person. 00:02:02.659 --> 00:02:11.759 Our prayer should always begin with thanks because of who you are. 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:22.859 Our prayer should always include a desire for your glory and an interest in your supremacy in our life first and in the lives of others. 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:34.360 And prayer, Lord, also, as we understand from the scriptures, should include expressions of our need and dependence. 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:40.020 Because we who are your children need you to work in us. 00:02:41.420 --> 00:02:50.500 And we want to be faithful to ask for those things that the scriptures instruct us to ask for. 00:02:50.500 --> 00:02:58.000 And so we pray, Lord, that these truths would be burned into our memories and into our conscience. 00:02:58.340 --> 00:03:05.060 And that as a result of understanding in our heart the truth that is in this book, 00:03:05.300 --> 00:03:10.199 that our lives would be enriched and we grow to be more like Christ. 00:03:11.259 --> 00:03:13.920 We ask this in your precious name. Amen. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:14.039 Amen. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:24.000 I am probably at that passage that is closest to my favorite currently. 00:03:26.399 --> 00:03:28.060 And if I... 00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:32.279 How many of you have appreciated hearing all the different people memorize different passages of scripture? 00:03:32.379 --> 00:03:33.659 It's been a blessing, hasn't it? 00:03:34.359 --> 00:03:38.139 Now, I'm going to ask this question, and I do want you to know I have a backup. 00:03:38.139 --> 00:03:47.459 But Ephesians chapter 4 is temporarily available if there's anybody out here that thinks they would be willing to tackle it 00:03:47.459 --> 00:03:52.019 and be ready to recite it in three or so weeks. 00:03:52.259 --> 00:03:54.459 No less than three weeks. 00:03:54.519 --> 00:03:55.679 So you're sitting there and you're thinking, 00:03:56.079 --> 00:03:58.639 Okay, I'll try. 00:03:59.519 --> 00:04:00.560 You've got to let me know. 00:04:00.899 --> 00:04:02.399 Remember, I have a backup, okay? 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:06.400 But I want to encourage someone to be willing to tackle... 00:04:07.060 --> 00:04:07.879 Tish, where are you? 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:09.180 You're doing five? 00:04:10.200 --> 00:04:10.460 Right. 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:10.819 Okay. 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:11.659 I just... 00:04:11.659 --> 00:04:11.840 Okay. 00:04:12.099 --> 00:04:13.379 So there's an opening. 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:14.140 There's a window. 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:15.840 There's an opportunity for four. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:18.620 Did anybody say there was a $1,000 bonus for this? 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:20.980 Nobody said that. 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:21.420 Okay. 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:22.699 Just wanted to clear that off. 00:04:22.780 --> 00:04:25.819 It's just because you're willing to do it for Christ's glory. 00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:31.639 Now, that's chapter 4, but I'm going to make an appeal. 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:35.300 And Linda, if you would put this in the bulletin next week. 00:04:37.159 --> 00:04:45.740 I would love for us to work together as a family of believers to memorize Ephesians chapter 4 or 3, verse 14 through 19. 00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:48.939 Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14 through 19. 00:04:48.939 --> 00:04:54.879 And I'm going to ask you, I'm going to ask you, please memorize this passage. 00:04:56.500 --> 00:04:58.420 It is huge. 00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:01.399 It is a blessing. 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:03.740 It is full. 00:05:04.779 --> 00:05:12.939 And there is a reason why, as I've been preaching through the book of Ephesians at a clip that is... 00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:19.180 I remember when I thought that preaching one, you know, three weeks on one verse was the way to do it. 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:21.939 I'm preaching more verses than ever at this point. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:23.920 But I've got to tell you, we're slowing down. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:27.259 Because this is such an important passage. 00:05:27.620 --> 00:05:35.420 It is so rich, so full, so precious that I want to take the time to have you understand the fullness of what's being said. 00:05:35.500 --> 00:05:38.180 And along with that, I'm going to ask that you memorize it. 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:40.279 You memorize it. 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.059 And we're going to take time to work at that. 00:05:43.719 --> 00:05:45.459 So you kind of keep that in mind. 00:05:45.559 --> 00:05:51.899 Well, let's look this morning, if you would, at Ephesians chapter 4, picking up in verse 16, where it says that... 00:05:51.899 --> 00:06:00.319 ...according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being. 00:06:02.119 --> 00:06:08.259 Paul is now coming to the substance that he is praying for. 00:06:08.259 --> 00:06:11.680 So someone says, let's pray. 00:06:12.839 --> 00:06:16.740 What they're doing is they're announcing that they're going to be engaged in talking to God. 00:06:18.259 --> 00:06:22.139 Immediately after they say, let's pray, they usually start into their prayer. 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:25.779 And they speak to the fact that they are addressing the Father. 00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:27.980 That's what we had earlier on. 00:06:27.980 --> 00:06:34.680 Now we are moving our way actually into the matter or the concerns that the apostle has. 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:37.060 And let me play them out for you. 00:06:37.140 --> 00:06:41.819 Some of you are going to say, well, if you could make it so simple, why preach more than one week on the subject? 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:42.879 There's a lot there. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:49.420 But I want to give you an outline, just a little terse form, so you can kind of keep it in front of you. 00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:58.199 What is going to be the prayer focus in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14 through 19 are these five things. 00:06:58.420 --> 00:07:00.379 One is that we are strengthened. 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:03.420 Two, that we are controlled. 00:07:04.200 --> 00:07:05.900 Three, that we're stabilized. 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:09.939 Four, that we grasp and comprehend. 00:07:09.939 --> 00:07:13.540 And five, that we fully enjoy. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:22.819 So that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. 00:07:23.579 --> 00:07:24.639 We want fullness. 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:26.480 We want it all. 00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:29.819 In fact, I want you to understand this, that the apostle wants all. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:33.459 He wants us to enjoy the fullness of God. 00:07:33.579 --> 00:07:39.519 That means that there's nothing kind of, well, I wish I really had that, or it would be nice if I understood this. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:43.620 He says, listen, my prayer is that you would be filled with all the fullness of God. 00:07:44.039 --> 00:07:57.180 And so that that might take place, he prays, as he does in these verses, that we would be strengthened, that we would be controlled, that we'd be stabilized, that we would comprehend, and that we would fully enjoy. 00:07:57.419 --> 00:08:06.139 Those things are part of the process of getting to the point of being fully engaged and blessed in our relationship with the Father. 00:08:06.139 --> 00:08:12.839 Now, I want you to recognize that what we pray for is important. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:17.019 I want you to think with me just for a moment to James chapter 4, verse 2. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:18.819 And here's what it says in James 4. 00:08:18.899 --> 00:08:21.459 It says, you have not because you, what? 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:23.079 You ask not. 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:24.939 You don't have it because you don't ask. 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:34.879 And there is a sense in which God is at work in the believer's life, and we are reminded of that in Philippians chapter 3 or 2 where it says, 00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:38.179 for He works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:39.240 He works. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:40.139 He is at work. 00:08:40.779 --> 00:08:52.399 But on the other hand, and this is one of those things of keeping that tension, that difficult balance between God who does it and we who are to appeal for it. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:54.519 We are to pray, and God does it. 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:55.299 God does it. 00:08:55.439 --> 00:08:56.120 We are to pray. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:00.259 Hard to keep them balanced, but there they are in the Scriptures. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:06.379 And so I want you to look this morning at, first of all, the subject of what we pray for as being instructive. 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:16.179 The things that occupy our prayer life always announce what we care about and what we believe is really important to us. 00:09:16.179 --> 00:09:31.679 And so what you can do as you sit here this morning and think about it, you recognize that your prayer list this morning or the things that you prayed for yesterday or the things that you pray for on a regular basis do nothing other than really announce the things that you think are most important. 00:09:32.719 --> 00:09:36.539 Prayer also reveals what we think is important and what we really think about God. 00:09:36.539 --> 00:09:39.179 I want you to take just a moment. 00:09:39.299 --> 00:09:43.759 We touched on this several weeks ago, but it fits well with what we are looking at this morning. 00:09:44.419 --> 00:09:47.279 So turn back in your Bible, if you would, to Matthew chapter 6. 00:09:49.319 --> 00:09:59.740 I referenced the fact several weeks ago that what is commonly, and I think inaccurately, I'm not going to throw stones to people that do that, but we talk about the Lord's Prayer. 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:02.379 How many of you know that the Lord prayed all kinds of prayers? 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:04.620 He prayed all the time. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:19.200 And actually, the prayer that we find in Matthew chapter 6 and we find in Luke chapter 11, we could probably better call the Lord's Example Prayer because it's kind of a Cliff's Notes of how to pray. 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:20.580 How many of you know Cliff's Notes? 00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:27.539 The scholars among us know that it's an abbreviated form to figure out how to get a book report on the short. 00:10:27.539 --> 00:10:35.360 Cliff's Notes are greatly helpful because it tells you all the salient points and you can pretend to be intelligent as a result of that. 00:10:36.839 --> 00:10:45.679 Matthew chapter 6 is kind of an abbreviated form or an outline of here are the broad things to pray for. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:50.539 And you look there in Matthew chapter 6 and pick up there, if you will, in verse 9. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:50.759 It says, 00:10:50.859 --> 00:10:51.779 Pray then like this, 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:59.099 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:10:59.899 --> 00:11:05.519 And the reminder that I want you to see here is that when Jesus teaches us to pray, 00:11:05.859 --> 00:11:10.099 He says, listen, the starting point of your prayer life should be about God. 00:11:10.100 --> 00:11:17.460 I mean, after all, if He is the most important person, He should be the one that you reference first. 00:11:18.340 --> 00:11:27.779 And if His interest and His kingdom and His glory is your primary interest, that is appropriate to put at the first of the list. 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:30.620 And that's what we find in this example here. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:35.580 We find Jesus, as He teaches on prayer, He says, hey, start with the right view of God. 00:11:35.580 --> 00:11:40.920 I want you to recognize as we think about this subject of prayer, going back to what I said earlier, 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:44.820 prayer reveals what we think is important and what we think about God. 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:52.440 Another illustration of what prayer teaches us about what's inside of a man is over in Luke chapter 18. 00:11:53.800 --> 00:11:58.740 Luke chapter 18, verse 10 through 14, we have two different men praying, 00:11:59.460 --> 00:12:03.460 and the way they pray tells us a lot about their heart. 00:12:03.460 --> 00:12:11.920 Luke chapter 18, verse 10, two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 00:12:12.040 --> 00:12:13.580 Now, let me have you understand this. 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:21.060 The Pharisee was the high end of the food chain, spiritually speaking, in the Jewish community. 00:12:21.680 --> 00:12:25.300 They were the ones who were really, really orthodox. 00:12:25.400 --> 00:12:27.460 They were all about the law. 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:35.980 They were very, very religious, at least on the outside, and the tax collector was basically just an absolute scoundrel. 00:12:36.900 --> 00:12:46.560 The way taxes were collected in that day is that an individual would buy the right to tax a certain amount of the city. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:56.379 It's like I paid $20,000 for the privilege of taxing everybody in Treview Woods, 400 and some homes. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:03.379 Now, the government would really not have anything to say about how much tax I got out of that area. 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:09.679 All that they were concerned with is that I at least got the amount that they expected. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:14.719 So I paid $20,000 for that privilege, and guess why I paid that money? 00:13:16.259 --> 00:13:20.519 Because I just wanted the sweet privilege of helping the government collect their taxes, 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:26.959 and so I'd go knock on doors and say, hey, 400 homes divided by 20 and blah, blah, blah, 20,000, 00:13:27.079 --> 00:13:28.019 so here's how much you owe. 00:13:28.079 --> 00:13:29.019 That's not how it worked. 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:32.519 The tax collector figured out how he was going to gouge people 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:36.319 and get everything he conceivably could out of the people. 00:13:36.959 --> 00:13:37.740 They were hated. 00:13:37.740 --> 00:13:39.379 They were detested. 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:45.740 And so here is Jesus saying, two people went up to pray, and one was a Pharisee. 00:13:45.899 --> 00:13:47.759 Ooh, boy, I'd like to hear his prayer. 00:13:49.299 --> 00:13:56.700 Ooh, thou ubiquitous God, holy in the heavens, glorious above all things. 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:59.060 You know, and how many of you have ever listened to people pray, 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:02.159 and their voice takes on that kind of stentorian tone, 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:06.620 and it sounds as if they're blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know, 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:10.360 and they use the King James to the nth degree. 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:11.879 And there's nothing wrong with King James. 00:14:11.939 --> 00:14:13.259 Don't send me an email on that. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:20.279 But, you know, it's like the Pharisee was really into professional praying. 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:23.679 And listen to what he prays. 00:14:24.899 --> 00:14:27.980 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus, 00:14:28.539 --> 00:14:32.399 God, I thank you that I am not like other men. 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:37.240 Extortioners, unjust, adulterers. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:40.519 Ooh, thank you for the illustration. 00:14:40.860 --> 00:14:42.019 There's a tax collector. 00:14:42.179 --> 00:14:43.199 I didn't know he was here. 00:14:43.419 --> 00:14:45.199 I'm glad I'm not one of those. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:45.320 Yes. 00:14:47.540 --> 00:14:51.320 You ever find yourself comparing yourself with other people and feeling superior? 00:14:53.420 --> 00:14:55.220 That's downright stupidity. 00:14:57.420 --> 00:14:59.360 Here's the Pharisee, full of himself. 00:14:59.820 --> 00:15:01.500 And what was his view of himself? 00:15:01.700 --> 00:15:03.020 It was pretty favorable, wasn't it? 00:15:04.140 --> 00:15:06.360 I feel pretty good about myself today, God. 00:15:06.520 --> 00:15:07.800 I'm happy with me. 00:15:08.420 --> 00:15:11.840 And you must be too, because I'm not like, whew, over there. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:17.620 And then here's the tax collector, standing far off, 00:15:18.420 --> 00:15:20.860 would not even lift up his eyes to heaven. 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:25.780 Do you realize what that's saying? 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:33.460 This man was so broken because of the bankruptcy of his soul. 00:15:35.040 --> 00:15:39.560 His heart was burdened with his wickedness and his iniquity. 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:41.919 He knew what he was like inside. 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:49.979 And all that he says, look here, he beats his breast. 00:15:53.959 --> 00:15:55.799 God, be merciful to me, a sinner. 00:15:57.019 --> 00:15:57.500 That's all. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:15:59.419 That's all. 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:07.839 Well, I want you to recognize as you look at these two models that one is spiritually bankrupt and doesn't know it, 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:09.879 and the other is spiritually bankrupt and knows it. 00:16:09.920 --> 00:16:11.780 And guess who is the one who's justified? 00:16:13.500 --> 00:16:15.060 It's the one who... 00:16:15.060 --> 00:16:17.519 Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount? 00:16:17.620 --> 00:16:18.139 What did he say? 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:22.740 Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:25.280 Those who are poor in spirit. 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:28.120 Those who mourn. 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:36.200 And what we find here is the illustration perfectly played out because the Pharisees' prayer announced that he was all about himself, 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:43.740 and the poor broken sinner announced that he was all about broken heart with the reality of his sin. 00:16:43.740 --> 00:16:53.100 In Ephesians, what we see in this prayer is a very interesting example of the apostle doing what he often did, 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.120 and we learn something from it. 00:16:55.180 --> 00:17:01.019 Usually when we pray, I don't want to say this, but most of the time when some of us pray, 00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:03.480 we pray about things that are important to us. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:05.120 Am I right? 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:08.099 You pray for your kids. 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:09.200 You pray for your job. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:13.900 You pray for really important things like, I hope the traffic's okay because I left seven minutes late. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:18.360 You know how I stayed up to watch the ball game, and I didn't actually. 00:17:18.460 --> 00:17:19.340 I went to bed at 10. 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:22.500 10 is the magic hour, and Sunday is coming. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:24.080 But I was... 00:17:24.080 --> 00:17:24.880 I won't go there. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:33.840 You know, we decide we need a little extra grace because of our own carelessness. 00:17:34.019 --> 00:17:34.620 Do you follow that? 00:17:34.700 --> 00:17:35.920 And we pray about us. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:36.900 We pray about our things. 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:38.940 We pray about me, myself, and I. 00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:41.759 And here we find Paul not doing any of those. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:45.660 He could have been praying about his condition in prison. 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:46.880 Oh, Lord, let me out. 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:48.880 These people are being abusive. 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:49.779 It's not nice. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:55.759 What they're doing to me, I am your servant, and here I am suffering for you, and it's just not fair. 00:17:57.080 --> 00:17:58.860 Can you imagine how that prayer could have gone? 00:17:59.100 --> 00:18:04.160 Lord, your gospel is going to be compromised if I'm not out of jail. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:15.980 Well, I, not too long ago, got an email from one of these Christian fundraising groups that were letting me know that if I did not donate to them, that the cause of Christ was going to be handicapped. 00:18:15.980 --> 00:18:19.900 And I thought to myself, delete, you know, gone. 00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:22.740 Inaccurate theologically. 00:18:23.700 --> 00:18:24.759 An offense to God. 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:31.279 Can I tell you that God's ministry and God's testimony is not hampered by me or you or anybody else? 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:35.240 It's important for us to remember that. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:35.799 Here's Paul. 00:18:36.180 --> 00:18:47.500 He's not the least bit concerned for himself, and what he's interested in is those who he's ministered to getting a better handle on the richness of their salvation and the power that they have available to them. 00:18:48.879 --> 00:18:49.920 So let me ask you a question. 00:18:50.019 --> 00:18:53.160 What marks your prayer life? 00:18:53.259 --> 00:18:55.319 What are the things that you actually pray for? 00:18:55.899 --> 00:18:56.579 Take a minute. 00:18:57.220 --> 00:18:57.920 Think about it. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:03.860 Well, what has taken up the energy and the focus of your prayer life? 00:19:05.500 --> 00:19:08.140 Lord, I'd like my job to be easier. 00:19:09.380 --> 00:19:11.920 Or I would like people to like me more. 00:19:13.080 --> 00:19:19.720 Now, most of us are just not that crass and honest, but in an oblique fashion, that's what we're a lot of times concerned with. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:21.000 We want things to go our way. 00:19:22.300 --> 00:19:23.740 That's not what Paul's praying about. 00:19:24.840 --> 00:19:27.240 So let's recognize what he actually does pray for. 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:30.079 Here he prays for spiritual power in the inner man. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:43.900 And I've got to admit that as I was studying, it kind of dawned on me from my own life and talking with many other individuals to recognize that we do not tend to think about the inner man as much as the Bible does. 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:51.279 Now, recognize that the Bible makes a distinction between what we are like on the outside and what we are like on the inside. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:59.299 Remember when God was dealing with Samuel, the prophet who had gone to anoint the second king? 00:19:59.399 --> 00:20:00.099 That was David. 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:06.920 And remember that tall, strong, handsome first of Jesse's sons walked by? 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:10.120 And Samuel said, ooh, this has got to be him. 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:11.480 And God said, what? 00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:12.640 Do you remember? 00:20:13.840 --> 00:20:18.380 Man looks on, say it with me, the outward appearance. 00:20:18.840 --> 00:20:21.220 Man looks on the heart. 00:20:21.220 --> 00:20:24.180 The inner man. 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:32.940 And I want you to recognize this morning as you think about the inner man that what a man is like inside is profoundly important. 00:20:33.860 --> 00:20:37.120 What a man is like inside is profoundly important. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:44.679 Let me recite several different passages to you on this and turn back in your Bible, if you will, to Proverbs 23, verse 7. 00:20:47.879 --> 00:20:50.000 Proverbs 23, verse 7. 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:04.979 It's talking about the situation where an individual is making one statement, but inside he's thinking something else. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:08.799 Look at verse 6 first. 00:21:08.939 --> 00:21:10.939 It says, do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy. 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:12.839 Do not desire his delicacies. 00:21:12.919 --> 00:21:18.879 How many of you realize that when you get gifts at Christmas from the salesmen who sell you product, 00:21:19.139 --> 00:21:21.979 they're really not giving you a gift because they love you. 00:21:23.159 --> 00:21:27.759 They're giving you a gift because they hope you'll continue buying their product. 00:21:29.179 --> 00:21:32.099 It says, for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. 00:21:32.739 --> 00:21:34.479 So how much is this lunch costing me? 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:39.960 Well, so I'm buying this stuff at Panarin that's costing me $8.50 per person, 00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:47.460 but I am sure hoping that the doctor's office really likes me and in the future recommends the drugs that I'm here to sell. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:51.660 Eat and drink, he says to you, but his heart is not with you. 00:21:51.819 --> 00:21:54.559 On the outside it's one way, on the inside it's another. 00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:57.039 Proverbs 4, verse 23. 00:21:57.160 --> 00:21:58.099 I want you to look at that one. 00:21:58.660 --> 00:22:03.220 It's one worth memorizing in your own life because it speaks of a critical discipline. 00:22:03.220 --> 00:22:06.299 Proverbs 4, verse 23. 00:22:06.299 --> 00:22:14.680 Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. 00:22:14.779 --> 00:22:16.599 Keep your heart with all diligence. 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:18.440 Keep your heart with all diligence. 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:19.619 Guard your heart. 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:20.519 Protect your heart. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:22.460 Be careful what comes into your heart. 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:25.740 Deal with those things that grow up in your heart that don't belong there. 00:22:26.139 --> 00:22:32.379 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. 00:22:33.259 --> 00:22:34.940 Listen to what Jesus said about this. 00:22:34.940 --> 00:22:37.559 Turn over in your Bible, if you will, to Mark. 00:22:37.600 --> 00:22:39.500 Let's go to Mark chapter 7, verse 20. 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:44.660 Mark chapter 7, verse 20. 00:22:44.660 --> 00:23:03.800 There was some bickering going on with the spiritual leaders of the day, and Jesus cut to the chase. 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:07.460 He said there in verse 20, he said to them, 00:23:07.539 --> 00:23:10.279 What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 00:23:10.779 --> 00:23:23.059 From within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:27.519 All these evil things come from within, and they defile the person. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:30.400 I'm reminded of the little saying. 00:23:32.180 --> 00:23:33.700 Thoughts create actions. 00:23:34.539 --> 00:23:35.819 Can anybody finish it? 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:38.740 And actions create consequences. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:41.559 Thoughts create actions. 00:23:41.619 --> 00:23:44.779 You might want to write it down because it actually plays out in your life all the time. 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:48.839 Thoughts create actions, and actions create consequences. 00:23:48.839 --> 00:23:51.879 Thoughts create actions. 00:23:52.019 --> 00:23:54.939 Actions follow up and create consequences. 00:23:55.859 --> 00:23:56.919 And here's Jesus saying, 00:23:57.019 --> 00:23:59.279 Hey, listen, it's not what inside is causing the problem. 00:23:59.699 --> 00:24:01.839 It's not what outside is causing the problem. 00:24:01.899 --> 00:24:03.119 It's what's inside that comes out. 00:24:03.379 --> 00:24:04.839 How do you manage what's inside? 00:24:06.619 --> 00:24:10.619 You see, we may not always act on our inner thoughts, 00:24:10.659 --> 00:24:12.839 and the truth of the matter is that we seldom do. 00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:15.259 Aren't you glad for that? 00:24:18.839 --> 00:24:21.119 But the truth of the matter is, listen to me carefully, 00:24:21.259 --> 00:24:24.179 if you let that inner thought fester, 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:27.579 that is an open rebellion against God's Word, 00:24:27.699 --> 00:24:31.399 eventually it will lead you to behave in such a fashion 00:24:31.399 --> 00:24:33.839 that the Spirit of God and the hand of God 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.959 begins to deal with that attitude and the outcome. 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:40.659 It's what we think about inside. 00:24:41.819 --> 00:24:44.519 And if you're here struggling this morning incessantly with pride, 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:50.440 or you're overwhelmed privately with covetousness or suspicion or lust or jealousy, 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:52.720 hate, or any other sin, 00:24:52.740 --> 00:24:55.379 I can tell you that that thing festering in your life 00:24:55.379 --> 00:24:59.680 eventually is going to produce the unintended consequences that sin creates. 00:25:00.619 --> 00:25:01.799 Let me have you look at another passage 00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:05.059 that really helps us understand this matter of our thought life 00:25:05.059 --> 00:25:08.460 and turn back, if you will, to Matthew 6, verse 33. 00:25:19.059 --> 00:25:20.980 How many of you know Matthew 6, verse 33? 00:25:21.139 --> 00:25:22.500 More or less, just by heart. 00:25:22.919 --> 00:25:23.879 Everybody look up and smile. 00:25:24.139 --> 00:25:25.579 Do the bobblehead thing just for a second. 00:25:25.579 --> 00:25:27.839 You know Matthew 6, verse 33, which is, 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:31.839 Seek ye first the kingdom of God. 00:25:31.939 --> 00:25:32.599 Start too low. 00:25:33.379 --> 00:25:35.500 And his righteousness. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:37.419 You got it? 00:25:37.699 --> 00:25:37.879 Okay. 00:25:38.539 --> 00:25:40.699 And all these things shall be added unto you, right? 00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:44.099 Allelu, alleluia. 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:47.819 I think that's the first special I've sung in 26 years. 00:25:49.639 --> 00:25:52.939 Now, you probably wonder why I don't sing more often, right? 00:25:53.339 --> 00:25:53.779 Okay. 00:25:54.539 --> 00:25:55.240 But here, here. 00:25:56.279 --> 00:25:58.399 By the way, this is at the end of the lesson. 00:25:58.500 --> 00:25:59.200 Do you follow that? 00:26:00.859 --> 00:26:04.480 This is where he says, okay, guys, get this. 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:07.740 But we really need to back up to understand the lesson, 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:10.379 and he begins earlier in the chapter, 00:26:10.759 --> 00:26:12.839 and he says this in verse 25. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:15.819 He says, therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:17.480 Huh? 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:20.539 I've got so many things to worry about. 00:26:20.539 --> 00:26:23.859 I've got to worry about my job. 00:26:24.859 --> 00:26:27.319 I've got to worry about whether or not I'm going to have money to make the car payment. 00:26:28.299 --> 00:26:31.139 I've got to worry about whether or not I'm going to be able to meet the taxes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:26:31.339 --> 00:26:34.259 You know, having a meltdown. 00:26:34.339 --> 00:26:36.579 He says, that's the way the pagan acts. 00:26:36.579 --> 00:26:44.500 Now, does it mean that we should not give attention to what we eat or what we drink? 00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:47.099 The answer is that's not what he's saying. 00:26:47.099 --> 00:26:51.379 He's saying, you guys have the order reversed. 00:26:52.859 --> 00:26:58.159 You're putting all your energy and your anxiety is focused on things that have no eternal consequence. 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:00.740 Does that make sense? 00:27:02.419 --> 00:27:07.419 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and these things will be... 00:27:07.419 --> 00:27:09.859 He knows you need those things. 00:27:09.859 --> 00:27:14.559 I'm getting older. 00:27:14.659 --> 00:27:15.939 It's one of the things that's actually happening. 00:27:16.479 --> 00:27:18.259 And I'm getting to the point. 00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:22.859 I don't know what the actual Bible boundary is, but I'm thinking about that passage in Scripture. 00:27:23.059 --> 00:27:30.240 It says, once I was young, and now I am old, and I've not seen the righteous forsaken or a seed begging bread. 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:30.880 But... 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:37.839 And Jesus is saying, hey, listen, what's going on in the inside is pretty critical. 00:27:39.620 --> 00:27:40.700 You're caught up. 00:27:41.220 --> 00:27:42.900 Can I tell you a little secret about anxiety? 00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:43.859 Everybody listen, smile. 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:45.140 I'm not talking about you. 00:27:47.299 --> 00:27:56.779 Anxiety is a self-consuming affliction that always grows as you entertain it. 00:27:56.779 --> 00:27:59.539 Can I say that slowly so you understand it? 00:28:00.900 --> 00:28:04.079 Anxiety is a little bit like a virus. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:08.960 Left unchecked, it will always get worse on its own. 00:28:09.019 --> 00:28:09.900 How many of you understand that? 00:28:11.220 --> 00:28:20.700 Anxiety is a self-consuming affliction that will just keep on becoming more dominating as you allow it to fester in your life. 00:28:22.279 --> 00:28:23.519 I saw a cartoon. 00:28:23.880 --> 00:28:26.579 I'm not real sure if it was Gary Larson and Farsight. 00:28:26.660 --> 00:28:28.039 It should have been because he's my favorite. 00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:30.879 But there was this woman who had... 00:28:31.539 --> 00:28:32.139 What's it called? 00:28:33.500 --> 00:28:35.680 She had anorexia. 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:38.259 She was afraid to be outside, and she was afraid to be inside. 00:28:38.259 --> 00:28:41.559 What is it? 00:28:43.980 --> 00:28:45.519 Claustrophobia and agoraphobia. 00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:48.740 I mean, I really appreciate the psychologists that have identified these two problems. 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:57.400 Because here was this woman who, in this little video clip, would run out of the house because her claustrophobia was getting the best of her. 00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:01.300 And she'd sprinkle out the door, down the sidewalk a little bit. 00:29:01.360 --> 00:29:01.640 Ah! 00:29:02.700 --> 00:29:04.240 Then the agoraphobia would get... 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:05.019 And back she'd go. 00:29:06.060 --> 00:29:06.220 Whoosh! 00:29:06.620 --> 00:29:06.820 Whoosh! 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:06.820 Whoosh! 00:29:06.820 --> 00:29:07.000 Whoosh! 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:07.240 You know? 00:29:12.060 --> 00:29:14.240 I've said many times, being me is very difficult. 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:15.000 You can see that. 00:29:18.540 --> 00:29:20.460 Here's what Jesus is telling us. 00:29:20.460 --> 00:29:24.160 You got to think about the right things. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:33.500 So, we can understand, as we look at this, why Paul would pray about us being interested in our inner man. 00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:45.019 His warning to his disciples to not be consumed with the things that the unbelievers are consumed with was for their benefit. 00:29:45.019 --> 00:29:52.259 Their lives were caught up with concerns about food and drink, clothing and comforts. 00:29:52.700 --> 00:29:58.599 And if you have any doubt about that, all you have to do is think back to after he initiated the Lord's Supper. 00:29:58.720 --> 00:29:59.339 Remember that? 00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:06.279 And he talked to them about, this bread is my body which is broken for you, and this cup is the cup of the New Testament. 00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:14.859 Guess what they started arguing about immediately after that profoundly theological statement about their redemption in his blood. 00:30:15.019 --> 00:30:15.700 What did they argue about? 00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:21.059 I'm concerned that somebody else has a better car than I do. 00:30:22.579 --> 00:30:28.660 Or, hey, they're always bragging about their kids being on the honor roll, and mine aren't. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:32.359 Or, you know, the kind of things we all get worked up about, you know. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:35.400 So, Jesus dealing with this guys. 00:30:36.220 --> 00:30:41.359 Okay, so we should, I want you to recognize this, we should be praying about our inner man as well. 00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:44.480 If Paul thought it was important to pray about, we ought to be praying about that. 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:46.500 So, we ought to do that. 00:30:48.059 --> 00:30:52.099 Honestly, your prayer life should include prayer for your inner man. 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:56.900 2 Corinthians 4, verse 16. 00:30:58.180 --> 00:31:01.200 2 Corinthians 4, verse 16. 00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:05.019 Just touch on this just for a moment. 00:31:05.140 --> 00:31:05.980 Here's what it says. 00:31:05.980 --> 00:31:11.000 So, we do not lose heart, though our outer man is wasting away. 00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:13.620 Our inner man is being renewed day by day. 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:17.240 Hey, face it. 00:31:17.819 --> 00:31:18.519 You're dying. 00:31:20.059 --> 00:31:21.279 That's what's being said here. 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:28.900 There is an interesting chart that would describe your life. 00:31:28.900 --> 00:31:36.519 If you are a spiritual person, your physiology, your physical body is going this way. 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:37.800 You got that? 00:31:38.560 --> 00:31:41.400 Now, some of you are sitting here, you know, you're 18, you're 20, and you're thinking, 00:31:41.600 --> 00:31:44.460 yeah, I can't believe a word he says. 00:31:44.460 --> 00:31:47.079 But trust me. 00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:55.500 Your spiritual body should be going uphill. 00:31:59.079 --> 00:32:06.059 One of the things that burdens me as a pastor is I see people who, they have 50 years of Bible knowledge, 00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:09.160 and they're still wearing pampers. 00:32:09.160 --> 00:32:12.279 We ought to be growing spiritually. 00:32:12.380 --> 00:32:13.120 Do you understand that? 00:32:15.500 --> 00:32:19.560 So, our inner man should be growing to be more like Christ, and we see that in this passage. 00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:21.320 Well, why do we need the Spirit's power? 00:32:21.420 --> 00:32:23.259 Because that's what's being prayed about here, right? 00:32:24.759 --> 00:32:31.920 Growing to be spiritually mature is just not a matter of developing a good set of behavioral patterns. 00:32:33.400 --> 00:32:34.700 I'm going to grow to be spiritual. 00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:38.740 What I'm going to do is I'm going to begin having devotions five days a week. 00:32:38.740 --> 00:32:43.000 I'm going to journal nine sentences because, well, who knows? 00:32:43.140 --> 00:32:43.940 But that's what I'm going to do. 00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:51.380 And there are some of you all, I'm an exception because I can't, but some of you will, yep, I decided that. 00:32:51.500 --> 00:32:52.160 It's settled. 00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:55.660 And 39 years later, you're still doing exactly that. 00:32:56.859 --> 00:32:58.759 Inside, you're a stinking mess. 00:33:01.380 --> 00:33:02.359 I'll never forget. 00:33:02.620 --> 00:33:06.160 I've referred to this before, but I'll never forget the pastor that I counseled who'd come in to me. 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:08.759 And he couldn't understand what was going on in his marriage. 00:33:08.860 --> 00:33:10.519 He couldn't understand what was going on in his church. 00:33:10.700 --> 00:33:14.140 And he came in to me, and I said, so tell me where you are. 00:33:14.560 --> 00:33:16.019 Help me understand what's going on. 00:33:16.860 --> 00:33:18.100 He said, I read one proverb. 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:19.759 I read one psalm. 00:33:20.600 --> 00:33:21.860 And I pray my prayer list. 00:33:21.960 --> 00:33:23.580 I mean, this guy was just dead earnest. 00:33:23.579 --> 00:33:26.299 And he says, I journal one page. 00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:28.819 One proverb, one psalm, one page. 00:33:29.220 --> 00:33:30.839 One proverb, one psalm, one page. 00:33:31.399 --> 00:33:33.740 And I said, so what makes you happy? 00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:35.839 Now, that's a real telling answer. 00:33:36.159 --> 00:33:36.419 Question. 00:33:37.699 --> 00:33:39.799 Oh, not really anything. 00:33:41.259 --> 00:33:45.259 What has really encouraged your spirit lately as you're reading one proverb, one psalm? 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:47.659 You know, well, not really much. 00:33:47.660 --> 00:33:56.100 And my point is that growing to be the man God wants you to be or the woman God wants you to be 00:33:56.100 --> 00:34:03.759 is not just a matter of kind of picking up some spiritual disciplines and deciding that that's going to be the key to it. 00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:09.619 So what we find here in Paul's prayer is that he recognizes we need help. 00:34:09.780 --> 00:34:10.740 That's what he's praying about. 00:34:10.739 --> 00:34:17.479 And he recognizes that what we need is the power of the Spirit of God working in our inner man. 00:34:18.379 --> 00:34:19.759 Why do we need the Spirit's help? 00:34:20.019 --> 00:34:20.959 Let me just run through these. 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:24.579 One, because of our natural weakness in spiritual things. 00:34:24.819 --> 00:34:28.219 We don't have it all together spiritually. 00:34:29.399 --> 00:34:30.299 Our thought life. 00:34:31.099 --> 00:34:35.179 Our thought life over in Romans chapter 8, verse 5 and 6. 00:34:35.179 --> 00:34:40.299 And I want you to recognize that every single one of us battle every day with our thought life, 00:34:40.300 --> 00:34:43.120 whether it's a man or a woman, whether it's a boy or a girl. 00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:44.880 We battle with our thought life. 00:34:45.120 --> 00:34:52.640 Whether you're in fourth grade or whether you're 80, your thought life is an issue that you need the Spirit's power to deal with every day. 00:34:54.580 --> 00:34:57.600 And you ought to have the humility to cry out to the Spirit of God and say, 00:34:57.680 --> 00:35:00.740 Listen, I need your help today the way I think. 00:35:02.500 --> 00:35:02.900 Prayer. 00:35:04.900 --> 00:35:07.800 In Romans chapter 8, verse 26 and 27, it says, 00:35:07.940 --> 00:35:09.280 For we do not know how to pray. 00:35:10.300 --> 00:35:12.720 I think back. 00:35:14.660 --> 00:35:19.300 Some of the things that I just, I was on my knees crying out to God and asking that He would do. 00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:21.720 And in retrospect, He didn't do them. 00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:24.780 And later, I got to thinking, Man, I'm really glad He didn't do that. 00:35:24.780 --> 00:35:33.519 Third, understanding and applying the Word of God. 00:35:35.240 --> 00:35:40.820 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 12 says that spiritual things are not just understood by intellectual apprehension. 00:35:40.940 --> 00:35:43.540 It's not like, well, I can study this a little while longer and I'm going to get it. 00:35:43.539 --> 00:35:49.079 The carnal, natural mind will not grasp spiritual truth. 00:35:49.079 --> 00:35:51.920 And even the mind of the believer. 00:35:52.619 --> 00:35:53.659 Let me say this carefully. 00:35:54.059 --> 00:35:56.539 I was reading this morning where it says we have the mind of Christ. 00:35:56.699 --> 00:36:01.799 I said, now, everybody put your head down just for a second so I can say this safely. 00:36:02.340 --> 00:36:03.340 I said, I wish. 00:36:03.340 --> 00:36:08.160 And then I understood what the passage was saying. 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:11.519 I have the indwelling Spirit of God, but guess what? 00:36:11.640 --> 00:36:16.880 I need the Spirit's help all the time thinking the way I ought to think because that's what it means to have the mind of Christ, 00:36:16.980 --> 00:36:18.260 to think the way He would have us think. 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:21.340 And so we need the Spirit's help. 00:36:21.340 --> 00:36:24.220 There's another reason why we need the Spirit's help. 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:25.559 Because we have an enemy. 00:36:27.260 --> 00:36:29.300 Now, we can't blame the enemy for everything. 00:36:30.579 --> 00:36:32.100 I create a lot of my own baggage. 00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:36.740 But over in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 11 and 12, it says, 00:36:36.740 --> 00:36:39.720 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. 00:36:43.200 --> 00:36:46.180 There is an enemy who is bent on our destruction. 00:36:46.380 --> 00:36:47.940 I will never forget. 00:36:47.940 --> 00:36:53.099 During some of the hardest times in my life, 00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:59.920 in each of those occasions, the Lord brought in someone who said to me, 00:37:01.139 --> 00:37:04.360 Satan wants to destroy you. 00:37:05.639 --> 00:37:06.900 And that's what he's after. 00:37:07.740 --> 00:37:12.599 Because, see, I thought it was all about the way I was being treated or things that were happening to me, etc. 00:37:12.599 --> 00:37:16.119 And this dear friend got his arm around me and said, 00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:19.779 Hey, Satan's trying to destroy you. 00:37:23.759 --> 00:37:29.779 Furthermore, we need the Spirit's help to put to death the inclinations and affections of our flesh. 00:37:31.480 --> 00:37:32.380 Romans chapter 8. 00:37:32.420 --> 00:37:33.500 I do want you to look at this. 00:37:33.980 --> 00:37:36.860 Romans chapter 8, verse 13. 00:37:36.860 --> 00:37:36.920 Verse 13. 00:37:36.920 --> 00:37:36.920 00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:45.199 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. 00:37:47.619 --> 00:37:51.360 But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 00:37:52.679 --> 00:37:57.139 Let me say that or read that passage slowly, and I want you to grab onto that and understand it. 00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:05.079 If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live. 00:38:05.079 --> 00:38:13.840 I'm saddened when I realize, and by the way, I want you to know that next week, you can pray for me. 00:38:13.860 --> 00:38:14.659 You can pray for me extra. 00:38:15.179 --> 00:38:20.679 You can pray for me extra, extra, because next week I'm going to preach about the issue of homosexuality in our culture. 00:38:24.299 --> 00:38:30.619 But my greater concern is not for homosexuality and what the Supreme Court may be doing in relationship to that. 00:38:30.619 --> 00:38:41.619 My greater concern is for the impurity in the lives of many, many, many men and women who know Christ as their personal Savior 00:38:41.619 --> 00:38:49.199 that have lives that are consumed with pornography and sexual immorality that's practiced privately. 00:38:50.239 --> 00:38:57.659 There is no surprise that culture is rotting around us because the salt is no longer salty. 00:39:00.619 --> 00:39:05.880 I come back to that passage in Romans 8, verse 13. 00:39:06.019 --> 00:39:11.000 It says, if you, by the Spirit you want to put to death that struggle that you are having, 00:39:11.380 --> 00:39:18.719 then you cry out to God and you say, I need the help of the Spirit of God to break this bondage in my life. 00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:25.519 It may be your self-obsession, which our world thinks is quite okay. 00:39:25.679 --> 00:39:26.599 Do you understand that? 00:39:26.599 --> 00:39:34.960 It may be your battle with purity, and the world today is saying, yes, it's okay. 00:39:36.460 --> 00:39:37.819 I want to tell you something. 00:39:38.599 --> 00:39:47.039 The vocabulary that was used, was used about 20 years ago to begin to soften our culture's attitude towards homosexuality 00:39:47.039 --> 00:39:52.019 is being used today in relationship to pedophilia. 00:39:52.659 --> 00:39:53.759 That's a fact. 00:39:53.759 --> 00:39:53.799 That's a fact. 00:39:56.599 --> 00:40:00.059 You cry out to God and say, I need your help. 00:40:00.319 --> 00:40:01.000 I need your help. 00:40:02.839 --> 00:40:09.139 I want you to understand also we need the Spirit's help because all the fullness of God comes through the Holy Spirit's work and ministry. 00:40:10.079 --> 00:40:11.819 You see the end there in verse 19? 00:40:13.119 --> 00:40:15.659 For this cause is how it begins in verse 14. 00:40:16.039 --> 00:40:18.500 For this cause I bow my knee to the Father. 00:40:18.500 --> 00:40:32.500 For this cause is how it begins to be filled with all the fullness of God. 00:40:32.500 --> 00:40:43.099 God, please, do not sit there this morning with an indifferent heart to where you are spiritually. 00:40:43.099 --> 00:40:46.099 God's Spirit wants you to enjoy the fullness of God. 00:40:46.099 --> 00:40:47.099 God, please, do not sit there this morning with an indifferent heart to where you are spiritually. 00:40:47.099 --> 00:40:56.319 God's Spirit wants you to enjoy the fullness that has been given to us by virtue of Christ dying on the cross and raising again 00:40:56.319 --> 00:41:06.339 and giving to us the ministry of the indwelling Spirit and being consumed with things that in the scope of eternity do not amount to a thing. 00:41:06.340 --> 00:41:36.320 God's Spirit wants you to enjoy the fullness of God. 00:41:36.900 --> 00:41:41.760 and plead with Him that the Spirit of God would go to work in your life. 00:41:42.079 --> 00:41:43.240 And here's the gutsy prayer. 00:41:43.320 --> 00:41:44.280 I'm all about gutsy. 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:46.260 You go ahead and say to God, 00:41:47.260 --> 00:41:50.620 You do whatever you think is necessary. 00:41:51.059 --> 00:41:54.600 Just help me grow to have your fullness. 00:41:57.039 --> 00:41:58.100 Let's close in prayer. 00:42:02.840 --> 00:42:05.280 Beloved, the purpose of preaching is not to entertain, 00:42:05.280 --> 00:42:08.360 but just to bring you to the point of saying yes or no to God. 00:42:13.220 --> 00:42:14.740 And my request is this, 00:42:14.840 --> 00:42:15.820 Do you have the fullness? 00:42:17.260 --> 00:42:19.080 Are you filled with the fullness of God? 00:42:19.079 --> 00:42:21.319 Or is there this spiritual emptiness, 00:42:21.599 --> 00:42:25.000 this shallow, self-consumed, 00:42:25.219 --> 00:42:27.039 and discontent spirit? 00:42:27.299 --> 00:42:30.079 And what I would do is plead with you that you would cry out and say, 00:42:30.139 --> 00:42:31.539 God, do whatever is necessary. 00:42:31.539 --> 00:42:34.199 I don't want to stay here. 00:42:39.480 --> 00:42:40.619 And if that's your prayer, 00:42:41.099 --> 00:42:44.019 you settle it. 00:42:44.019 --> 00:42:47.019 And then you share it. 00:42:51.239 --> 00:42:51.960 And beloved, 00:42:51.960 --> 00:42:54.000 I would ask that if that's your prayer this morning, 00:42:54.119 --> 00:42:56.639 that you quietly slip up your hand where you are and say, 00:42:56.780 --> 00:43:01.300 I need God to work in me that I don't stay at this point. 00:43:01.420 --> 00:43:01.780 Yes. 00:43:01.780 --> 00:43:02.080 Yes. 00:43:02.860 --> 00:43:03.300 Yes. 00:43:03.460 --> 00:43:03.840 Yes. 00:43:03.900 --> 00:43:04.820 I need the spirit. 00:43:04.940 --> 00:43:05.200 Yes. 00:43:05.580 --> 00:43:09.780 To work in me that I do not live in this discontent, 00:43:10.019 --> 00:43:13.360 dissatisfied, unhappy predicament that I'm in. 00:43:13.560 --> 00:43:16.560 I'm willing to let God do whatever is necessary. 00:43:18.320 --> 00:43:18.760 Listen. 00:43:19.920 --> 00:43:21.780 Some of you know where you're at this morning, 00:43:21.880 --> 00:43:26.040 and your pride stands between you and deliverance. 00:43:26.039 --> 00:43:29.179 That's a sorry place to be. 00:43:31.579 --> 00:43:32.019 Father, 00:43:32.860 --> 00:43:33.820 work in us 00:43:33.820 --> 00:43:36.119 that Christ Jesus, 00:43:36.619 --> 00:43:38.279 who enjoys the praises of heaven, 00:43:39.599 --> 00:43:41.519 will be praised and adored here on earth 00:43:41.519 --> 00:43:43.980 among believers 00:43:43.980 --> 00:43:45.800 and those who don't know Christ. 00:43:45.900 --> 00:43:47.300 And I ask this in your precious name. 00:43:47.400 --> 00:43:47.599 Amen.