1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:00,640 For us? 2 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:02,320 Well, we're in Romans chapter 13. 3 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,560 If you have your Bibles here this morning, I encourage you to 4 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:08,400 turn along with me and read along with me. 5 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,760 We're in Romans chapter 13, and we're going to be looking at 6 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,920 verse number 11 and going down to the end of the chapter, Lord willing, 7 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:16,960 here this morning. 8 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:19,920 Romans 13, verse 11. 9 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,240 The title of the sermon this morning is wake up. 10 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:24,160 What wakes us up? 11 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,120 Well, for some of us, we're really literal and we say, you know, 12 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:27,680 what wakes me up? 13 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:28,480 An alarm clock. 14 00:00:28,670 --> 00:00:28,950 All right. 15 00:00:28,950 --> 00:00:29,790 Or my phone. 16 00:00:30,190 --> 00:00:33,510 For some of you, you say it's alarm clock plus coffee and maybe 17 00:00:33,510 --> 00:00:34,510 another cup of coffee. 18 00:00:34,590 --> 00:00:38,190 Whatever it is that wakes us up in the mornings, you know, gets 19 00:00:38,190 --> 00:00:39,550 us up to do what we need to do. 20 00:00:40,030 --> 00:00:45,030 Some of us know that we can be awake, like physically awake, but 21 00:00:45,030 --> 00:00:46,270 mentally we're not awake. 22 00:00:46,350 --> 00:00:49,710 I remember there were some days when I was teaching at the Christian 23 00:00:49,710 --> 00:00:53,790 school early on that I was staying up late doing college work. 24 00:00:53,870 --> 00:00:56,280 I was at out at ball games really late at night. 25 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,360 So I was getting only like three or four hours of sleep on a 26 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:01,200 regular basis, which is not good, by the way. 27 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:01,720 Don't try that. 28 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:03,160 That does not work very well. 29 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,720 But I remember mornings when I was driving to work and I would get 30 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,200 to work and I would say, okay, and I probably shouldn't tell you 31 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,480 this, but I remember getting there, but I don't remember how I 32 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:12,800 got there. 33 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:14,280 I'm like, okay, I was turning the corner. 34 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,240 I know I didn't hit anything, but I was so tired. 35 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,160 It was basically like sleep walking. 36 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,720 And sometimes in our life we can be awake, but we're not aware 37 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:24,520 of the surroundings around us. 38 00:01:25,180 --> 00:01:28,940 And so the Bible tells us here in Romans, chapter 13, verse 11, 39 00:01:29,340 --> 00:01:31,980 to wake up to the things around us. 40 00:01:32,460 --> 00:01:34,580 So the question here this morning is what wakes you up? 41 00:01:34,580 --> 00:01:36,060 Well, for some it's an alarm clock. 42 00:01:36,060 --> 00:01:37,180 For others, it's coffee. 43 00:01:37,500 --> 00:01:41,059 Well, I would challenge us here this morning to allow the word 44 00:01:41,059 --> 00:01:45,380 of God, the power of God, to wake us up from our slumber, to wake 45 00:01:45,380 --> 00:01:49,900 us up to what we are called to do in our lives and the time that 46 00:01:49,900 --> 00:01:50,380 we have. 47 00:01:50,740 --> 00:01:52,300 Well, let's go ahead and open up with a word of prayer. 48 00:01:52,300 --> 00:01:54,660 And then after that, we're going to jump right into our text 49 00:01:54,660 --> 00:01:55,140 this morning. 50 00:01:55,460 --> 00:01:59,140 Lord, we do thank you again for through this service today, reminding 51 00:01:59,140 --> 00:02:02,540 us of the fact that you are our cornerstone, that you are our 52 00:02:02,540 --> 00:02:04,340 hope, our salvation. 53 00:02:04,900 --> 00:02:07,860 We're thankful for the sacrifice that you demonstrated for 54 00:02:07,860 --> 00:02:12,220 us so long ago, but yet remind us daily of your love, Lord, and 55 00:02:12,220 --> 00:02:15,100 I pray that through this service today, through the preaching 56 00:02:15,100 --> 00:02:18,890 of your Word today, that we can be awaken from the things in 57 00:02:18,890 --> 00:02:22,490 our life that cause us to slumber, that cause us to be lazy, 58 00:02:22,490 --> 00:02:26,410 that cause us to lose sight of the priorities in our life according 59 00:02:26,410 --> 00:02:27,330 to your word. 60 00:02:27,410 --> 00:02:32,770 Lord, I pray that we can be encouraged, equipped and empowered 61 00:02:32,770 --> 00:02:34,650 to do the things that you have called us to do. 62 00:02:34,650 --> 00:02:36,930 Lord, I pray that there's someone here today who does not know 63 00:02:36,930 --> 00:02:40,450 you as Savior, that today can be the day of salvation. 64 00:02:40,770 --> 00:02:43,690 But I also pray for those believers here today to be renewed 65 00:02:43,690 --> 00:02:46,480 and revived in the truth of your word. 66 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:48,480 Pray that you can remove me out of the way. 67 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,960 And Lord, I pray that your word shines brightly here this morning. 68 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:53,680 We ask all those things in Jesus name. 69 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:54,720 Amen. 70 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,880 Romans, chapter 13, verse 11 says, and that knowing the time, 71 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:04,440 Knowing the time, the Bible says there's only an allotted amount 72 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:06,400 of time for us here on this earth. 73 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:10,400 For some of us we might think that we have more time than others, 74 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:10,750 but. 75 00:03:10,820 --> 00:03:13,420 But the reality is, is that we don't know how much time that we 76 00:03:13,420 --> 00:03:15,940 have, but we do know the time that we are in right now. 77 00:03:16,340 --> 00:03:19,860 So what Paul says here in verse 11 is, look around you and 78 00:03:19,860 --> 00:03:21,620 know the time that you are in. 79 00:03:21,780 --> 00:03:23,380 Witness the evil. 80 00:03:23,460 --> 00:03:25,100 Witness what is at stake. 81 00:03:25,100 --> 00:03:27,860 Witness what has been done for you by the Lord. 82 00:03:27,860 --> 00:03:34,740 And he says, knowing the time that now is, it is high time to awake 83 00:03:34,740 --> 00:03:35,500 out of sleep. 84 00:03:35,500 --> 00:03:38,960 So he says, look around you know the time and realize that, that 85 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:40,280 it's time to wake up. 86 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,400 It's time to come out of our sleep and do the things that he has 87 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:45,640 called us to do. 88 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,480 There's another passage of scripture that says to redeem the 89 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:53,080 time because the days are evil, to buy back the time, to use 90 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:55,159 the time that we have. 91 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,680 Like I said, we don't know how much time we really do have. 92 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,240 We just dismiss the children out to kids church and we look at 93 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,880 those children and we see all that potential, potential, all of 94 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:10,840 that, you know, hope for them to go through school, get a career. 95 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:12,520 And of course that's the norm. 96 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:14,680 But sometimes we're not sure how long we have. 97 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:17,600 But when we look at this passage of scripture, what Paul is 98 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:19,160 telling us is that now is. 99 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,720 Now is the time to be ready to do the thing, to redeem the time, 100 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:23,960 to buy back the time. 101 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:24,480 Why? 102 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:25,600 Because the days are evil. 103 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,240 And I think all of us would admit to some degree that if we look 104 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:30,920 around us, the days are evil. 105 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,520 Things are going in such a way that we can evidently see that there 106 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:36,840 is Evil around us. 107 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:40,240 And there's a lot of questions that we have when it comes to that 108 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:40,960 evil around us. 109 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:42,280 How do we fix that evil? 110 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:43,800 How do we deal with that evil? 111 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,560 How do I fit into a world that is characterized by evil? 112 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,240 Well, the word of God tells us how we're supposed to respond. 113 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,160 We're supposed to respond not with more evil. 114 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:54,680 We saw that in Romans chapter 12. 115 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,680 Some people think, well, if there's going to be people evil around 116 00:04:57,680 --> 00:04:59,960 me, well, I'm just going to equal it back with more evil. 117 00:05:00,170 --> 00:05:02,450 If people are going to lie about me, I'm going to lie about 118 00:05:02,450 --> 00:05:02,810 them. 119 00:05:02,970 --> 00:05:05,250 If people are going to steal from me, I'm going to steal from 120 00:05:05,250 --> 00:05:05,530 them. 121 00:05:05,610 --> 00:05:07,850 If people are going to hate me, I'm going to hate them. 122 00:05:08,410 --> 00:05:12,650 But Romans chapter 12 says to not recompense evil for evil, right? 123 00:05:12,650 --> 00:05:14,250 We can't overcome evil with evil. 124 00:05:14,250 --> 00:05:16,009 We overcome evil with good. 125 00:05:16,009 --> 00:05:17,450 But where do we find that good? 126 00:05:18,010 --> 00:05:21,170 Well, I'm trying, Pastor, maybe that's something that you've 127 00:05:21,170 --> 00:05:21,730 said before. 128 00:05:21,730 --> 00:05:22,970 I'm trying to be good. 129 00:05:23,530 --> 00:05:25,930 You know, you get on the road, you're like, I'm going to try to 130 00:05:25,930 --> 00:05:26,650 have a good day today. 131 00:05:27,410 --> 00:05:32,690 And maybe you avoided all the conflict on the Middletown, Newark, 132 00:05:33,170 --> 00:05:36,770 whatever roads you're driving, Wilmington roads, and you get to 133 00:05:36,770 --> 00:05:39,530 your workplace and you say, I tried really hard and I didn't lose 134 00:05:39,530 --> 00:05:40,650 my temper on the roads. 135 00:05:40,650 --> 00:05:43,129 And then you get into the workplace, you clock in, and then 136 00:05:43,129 --> 00:05:47,770 your co worker tests you on the first hour and you say, I'm trying. 137 00:05:47,770 --> 00:05:48,090 Right? 138 00:05:48,090 --> 00:05:50,810 There's a lot of trying involved with the human condition. 139 00:05:50,810 --> 00:05:54,970 We try to be good, but the Bible says that, that good does not 140 00:05:54,970 --> 00:05:55,690 come from us. 141 00:05:55,690 --> 00:05:59,130 We're seeing here in the book of Romans that there is none good. 142 00:05:59,210 --> 00:06:00,010 No, not one. 143 00:06:00,010 --> 00:06:03,770 The goodness comes from our relationship with God and our identity 144 00:06:03,770 --> 00:06:05,610 now found in Christ. 145 00:06:06,410 --> 00:06:08,330 So he says here, know the time. 146 00:06:09,130 --> 00:06:12,970 It's high time to wake up out of our sleep. 147 00:06:12,970 --> 00:06:14,650 The first point here this morning is this. 148 00:06:14,730 --> 00:06:16,010 It's time to wake up. 149 00:06:16,810 --> 00:06:19,210 For some of us, you might say, well, I'm awake. 150 00:06:19,210 --> 00:06:20,330 Obviously I'm at church. 151 00:06:20,900 --> 00:06:22,100 Obviously, I read my Bible. 152 00:06:22,740 --> 00:06:25,900 We know, like we said before, there's things that we can do that 153 00:06:25,900 --> 00:06:29,060 technically we're doing, but we're asleep while we're doing it. 154 00:06:29,140 --> 00:06:32,260 I don't know if you've ever watched somebody sleepwalk. 155 00:06:32,580 --> 00:06:35,300 It's a very interesting experience. 156 00:06:35,460 --> 00:06:37,340 You know, you're sitting there and you're seeing them walk around, 157 00:06:37,340 --> 00:06:39,460 but they're, they're, they're awake, they're doing things. 158 00:06:39,460 --> 00:06:41,420 I've Even heard of people getting up and making sandwiches 159 00:06:41,420 --> 00:06:44,780 and cleaning the house and maybe cleaning it in such a way that 160 00:06:44,780 --> 00:06:46,660 it doesn't make sense to them when they wake up in the morning. 161 00:06:47,510 --> 00:06:48,470 And there's other people. 162 00:06:48,710 --> 00:06:52,550 I had a friend in the past when we would have, like camp outs 163 00:06:52,550 --> 00:06:55,910 and sleepovers, he would like yell in his sleep. 164 00:06:55,910 --> 00:06:56,710 He would talk in his sleep. 165 00:06:56,710 --> 00:06:59,430 And I would think he was talking about something, like warning 166 00:06:59,430 --> 00:07:00,030 me about something. 167 00:07:00,030 --> 00:07:02,870 I'd wake up and he'd be asleep, but he'd be talking. 168 00:07:03,430 --> 00:07:05,950 So there's things that we can do as Christians that we say, well, 169 00:07:05,950 --> 00:07:09,590 I'm in church, I'm reading my Bible, I'm serving. 170 00:07:10,390 --> 00:07:11,590 But he's not asking that. 171 00:07:11,590 --> 00:07:13,350 He's not saying, hey, are you doing things? 172 00:07:13,350 --> 00:07:16,350 Because we can do things in such a manner that we're not aware 173 00:07:16,350 --> 00:07:19,810 of the why behind what we're doing and, and the impact that it 174 00:07:19,810 --> 00:07:20,290 is having. 175 00:07:20,290 --> 00:07:23,330 And so he says here, not only are you doing things, but are you 176 00:07:23,330 --> 00:07:23,730 awake? 177 00:07:23,730 --> 00:07:25,730 Are you aware when you are doing them? 178 00:07:26,370 --> 00:07:32,850 For now, is our salvation nearer than when we believed? 179 00:07:32,930 --> 00:07:36,130 He says something that's basically stating the obvious. 180 00:07:36,450 --> 00:07:39,930 We're closer now to being reunited with the Lord than we were 181 00:07:39,930 --> 00:07:40,290 before. 182 00:07:40,850 --> 00:07:43,650 He says, there's this moment in which we trust in God. 183 00:07:43,650 --> 00:07:46,690 We believe that this is the new path that we are on. 184 00:07:46,690 --> 00:07:48,330 We become new creations in Christ. 185 00:07:48,330 --> 00:07:50,100 He trusts transforms our hearts. 186 00:07:50,100 --> 00:07:51,340 He transforms our lives. 187 00:07:51,420 --> 00:07:54,460 And now sometimes we think that it's a matter of just waiting. 188 00:07:54,860 --> 00:07:56,420 And sometimes to some degree, it is. 189 00:07:56,420 --> 00:07:59,700 It's patiently waiting for the Lord to return, or it's patiently 190 00:07:59,700 --> 00:08:03,580 waiting in time in which we will be reunited with the Lord through 191 00:08:03,580 --> 00:08:05,460 taking our last breath here on this earth. 192 00:08:05,460 --> 00:08:08,060 But he says, hey, we're closer now than ever. 193 00:08:08,140 --> 00:08:08,940 So what? 194 00:08:09,100 --> 00:08:10,060 Be ready. 195 00:08:10,620 --> 00:08:11,420 Verse 12. 196 00:08:11,500 --> 00:08:15,700 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. 197 00:08:15,700 --> 00:08:18,740 He's using all of this language, language that we understand. 198 00:08:18,740 --> 00:08:20,620 He says, hey, you spent enough of your time. 199 00:08:20,620 --> 00:08:22,260 You've wasted enough of your time. 200 00:08:22,260 --> 00:08:25,420 I can tell you there's so many times in my life that I'll sit down 201 00:08:25,420 --> 00:08:29,060 and I'll just kind of quantify how much time I have wasted. 202 00:08:29,060 --> 00:08:30,620 And that's a very dangerous thing to do. 203 00:08:31,820 --> 00:08:35,340 And I would be careful if you've wasted a lot of time in your 204 00:08:35,340 --> 00:08:37,260 life to actually think about that, because that can bring you 205 00:08:37,260 --> 00:08:38,780 to a place of really being sad. 206 00:08:38,780 --> 00:08:43,140 Okay, I've wasted hours, days, weeks maybe for some of us, months 207 00:08:43,140 --> 00:08:46,350 and years of our life for doing things that we think matter 208 00:08:46,350 --> 00:08:48,230 but really don't matter at the end of the day. 209 00:08:48,790 --> 00:08:52,230 I'm not saying that having hobbies or doing things that are 210 00:08:52,230 --> 00:08:55,790 fun or just having relaxation time is a bad thing. 211 00:08:55,790 --> 00:08:59,830 But the Bible does tell us that we have wasted time in our life. 212 00:08:59,830 --> 00:09:02,470 And he says, you've gone through enough of the night. 213 00:09:02,710 --> 00:09:03,910 The night is far spent. 214 00:09:03,910 --> 00:09:05,110 The day is at hand. 215 00:09:06,150 --> 00:09:08,630 So now there's a call to action here. 216 00:09:09,110 --> 00:09:10,470 He says, wake up. 217 00:09:10,820 --> 00:09:13,380 But then when you wake up, this is what you're supposed to do. 218 00:09:14,020 --> 00:09:18,340 He says, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness. 219 00:09:19,700 --> 00:09:23,220 There's this idea of casting off these things that characterized 220 00:09:23,220 --> 00:09:24,900 us before we came to Christ. 221 00:09:25,780 --> 00:09:28,500 There's this analogy that we see in Scripture over and over again, 222 00:09:28,500 --> 00:09:29,460 darkness and light. 223 00:09:29,780 --> 00:09:32,500 Darkness is who we were before we came to Christ. 224 00:09:32,820 --> 00:09:35,380 Light is who we are now that we are in Christ. 225 00:09:35,860 --> 00:09:38,420 The Bible even puts it this way, that when we trusted in the 226 00:09:38,420 --> 00:09:42,580 Lord and salvation, he took us from darkness into marvelous light. 227 00:09:42,980 --> 00:09:46,500 So here he says, cast off the old way of thinking. 228 00:09:46,820 --> 00:09:49,860 Get rid of the old way of acting. 229 00:09:50,180 --> 00:09:51,340 That's the old man. 230 00:09:51,340 --> 00:09:52,500 That's the old way. 231 00:09:52,580 --> 00:09:54,340 Cast off the works of darkness. 232 00:09:54,340 --> 00:09:59,180 The idea here is wearing this robe that characterized us, this 233 00:09:59,180 --> 00:10:02,740 robe of darkness, this robe of sin, the old way of thinking. 234 00:10:02,740 --> 00:10:04,540 And he says, basically, cast it off. 235 00:10:04,540 --> 00:10:05,220 Throw it away. 236 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:06,880 Get rid of it. 237 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:08,640 But he doesn't stop there. 238 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:10,040 He says more. 239 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,160 He says, cast off the ways of darkness, the works of darkness, 240 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:17,640 and let us put on the armor of light. 241 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:18,320 What is that? 242 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:20,400 What's the armor of God? 243 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:21,600 The armor of light. 244 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:23,920 We talked about the contrast between darkness and light. 245 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:25,080 Darkness is evil. 246 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:26,040 Darkness is sin. 247 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:27,920 Darkness is hopelessness. 248 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:33,110 Light is that life in Christ, that newness of life, that new creation. 249 00:10:33,510 --> 00:10:37,190 So he says, now, instead of just throwing away the old ways, 250 00:10:37,270 --> 00:10:40,390 we are to throw away the old ways and put on the new. 251 00:10:40,790 --> 00:10:42,390 Put on the armor of God. 252 00:10:42,950 --> 00:10:45,870 Some of you are very familiar with that study of the armor of God 253 00:10:45,870 --> 00:10:47,190 in Ephesians, chapter 6. 254 00:10:47,430 --> 00:10:49,150 Now, for the sake of time, we won't go there. 255 00:10:49,150 --> 00:10:51,870 But I would encourage you to study that out, to see what that 256 00:10:51,870 --> 00:10:55,270 means, to arm ourselves with the things of God that he has given 257 00:10:55,510 --> 00:10:58,150 us to fight in the battle that we call life. 258 00:10:59,060 --> 00:11:00,660 Of course, there's the helmet of salvation. 259 00:11:01,060 --> 00:11:02,740 There's the breastplate of righteousness. 260 00:11:02,740 --> 00:11:05,260 There's the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 261 00:11:05,260 --> 00:11:08,660 He says, put on these things that the Lord has given us. 262 00:11:08,820 --> 00:11:12,260 And the armor of light has the context of the armor of Jesus Christ. 263 00:11:12,420 --> 00:11:14,300 This is not done in our own strength. 264 00:11:14,300 --> 00:11:17,940 This is done through putting on the identity that God has given 265 00:11:17,940 --> 00:11:18,260 us. 266 00:11:18,260 --> 00:11:21,580 Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, putting on the armor 267 00:11:21,580 --> 00:11:21,900 of light. 268 00:11:21,900 --> 00:11:26,790 So putting off and putting on this is another theme that we see 269 00:11:26,790 --> 00:11:27,750 in the New Testament. 270 00:11:27,750 --> 00:11:30,990 In Ephesians, chapter four, he says, put it off. 271 00:11:31,310 --> 00:11:35,550 Put off the old man, put on the new part of the Christian life 272 00:11:35,550 --> 00:11:37,550 is to be dressed up. 273 00:11:37,550 --> 00:11:40,030 Now we're not talking about dressing up physically, even though 274 00:11:40,030 --> 00:11:42,350 there's nothing wrong with dressing up nicely. 275 00:11:42,350 --> 00:11:44,870 He's talking about putting on new clothes, the. 276 00:11:44,870 --> 00:11:46,270 The robes of the Lord. 277 00:11:46,510 --> 00:11:47,990 There's a song that I really love. 278 00:11:47,990 --> 00:11:49,510 It has a great message in it. 279 00:11:49,510 --> 00:11:51,070 It's called His Robes for Mine. 280 00:11:51,580 --> 00:11:55,220 And it talks about how we can wear these robes of our own good 281 00:11:55,220 --> 00:11:55,580 works. 282 00:11:55,580 --> 00:11:58,060 And what does the Bible say about the robes of our good works? 283 00:11:58,140 --> 00:11:59,580 They're like filthy rags. 284 00:12:00,300 --> 00:12:03,820 But then we know that those robes are taken off in the concept 285 00:12:03,820 --> 00:12:06,460 of our sin being removed in our salvation. 286 00:12:06,460 --> 00:12:10,580 And then God's robes, his robes for mine, his robes that are 287 00:12:10,580 --> 00:12:11,900 perfect are put upon us. 288 00:12:12,460 --> 00:12:16,780 So here it's this idea of walking in Christ, relying in the 289 00:12:16,780 --> 00:12:19,920 Lord, relying on our relationship with him, we relying 290 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,000 on the Holy Spirit to guide our lives. 291 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,880 So what he's describing here in verse 12 is not about effort, 292 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:29,920 even though there is effort in the Christian life. 293 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:37,440 He's describing a humility and a relinquishing of our control and 294 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:42,320 our desires and submitting ourselves to God to say, lord, I 295 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:43,680 want you to clothe me. 296 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:45,440 I want you to characterize me. 297 00:12:45,730 --> 00:12:47,650 I want to live a life that reflects you. 298 00:12:47,970 --> 00:12:51,010 The Bible tells us in Matthew, chapter 5, verse 16, to let our light 299 00:12:51,010 --> 00:12:54,770 so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify 300 00:12:54,930 --> 00:12:58,370 not me, but my Father, which is in heaven. 301 00:12:58,850 --> 00:13:00,050 Now, how do we get that light? 302 00:13:00,850 --> 00:13:02,690 How does the light of God change us? 303 00:13:02,690 --> 00:13:05,610 Well, maybe I go to church and see other people's light and try 304 00:13:05,610 --> 00:13:07,010 to grab that from them. 305 00:13:07,330 --> 00:13:08,930 Well, that's not what the Bible tells us. 306 00:13:08,930 --> 00:13:12,510 The Bible tells us in John chapter one that that light comes 307 00:13:12,510 --> 00:13:13,430 from Jesus Christ. 308 00:13:13,430 --> 00:13:16,630 And when we trust in him, that light now shines out of us. 309 00:13:16,630 --> 00:13:20,670 It's not our righteousness in and of ourselves, it's God's righteousness 310 00:13:20,750 --> 00:13:22,190 being shown through us. 311 00:13:22,190 --> 00:13:24,510 And that's what he's talking about here in verse 12. 312 00:13:24,910 --> 00:13:28,750 It's not about trying harder, but it's about relinquishing control 313 00:13:28,830 --> 00:13:30,990 of our own lives over to the Lord. 314 00:13:31,070 --> 00:13:33,790 Then he says, here, this is what this looks like. 315 00:13:33,950 --> 00:13:37,510 This is what putting on the armor of light looks like. 316 00:13:37,510 --> 00:13:40,320 And now he's going to characterize the how a Christian 317 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:43,760 should be living as he is awake as she is awake. 318 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,440 This is what a Christian should look like to those that are 319 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,800 in the world, to those that are in unbelief, to those that are 320 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,000 walking in unrighteousness. 321 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,040 He says, let us walk honestly. 322 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,040 Obviously we know what that means, to walk honestly. 323 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:04,000 It means to walk without any hypocrisy. 324 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:06,560 It means to walk without hiding something. 325 00:14:07,180 --> 00:14:08,620 It means to walk in the light. 326 00:14:08,620 --> 00:14:09,700 That's actually what it says here. 327 00:14:09,700 --> 00:14:13,140 To walk honestly, as in the day, meaning there's nothing to hide 328 00:14:13,140 --> 00:14:13,900 in my life. 329 00:14:15,020 --> 00:14:18,300 To walk honestly before the Lord and honestly before others. 330 00:14:18,300 --> 00:14:20,940 By the way that we speak, by the way that we respond, by the way 331 00:14:20,940 --> 00:14:21,820 that we deal with people. 332 00:14:22,460 --> 00:14:25,980 Folks, there is a call for us as Christians to walk honestly. 333 00:14:25,980 --> 00:14:28,580 Our life should be characterized by the truth. 334 00:14:28,580 --> 00:14:28,940 Why? 335 00:14:29,100 --> 00:14:31,420 Because it is the one who is called the truth. 336 00:14:31,420 --> 00:14:34,890 Jesus, the way, the truth and the life who, who saved us and changed 337 00:14:34,890 --> 00:14:35,170 us. 338 00:14:35,730 --> 00:14:39,050 So as a Christian, we should never be walking in such a way that 339 00:14:39,050 --> 00:14:44,090 people can characterize us as liars or as deceitful or as anything 340 00:14:44,090 --> 00:14:46,130 that might not be characterized by honesty. 341 00:14:46,210 --> 00:14:49,170 So he says, let us walk honestly as in the day. 342 00:14:49,330 --> 00:14:52,090 And then he describes some things that we're not supposed to 343 00:14:52,090 --> 00:14:52,370 do. 344 00:14:52,690 --> 00:14:53,650 Not rioting. 345 00:14:54,610 --> 00:14:57,130 Now, this idea of rioting doesn't just mean like going out 346 00:14:57,130 --> 00:14:59,650 into the streets and, you know, holding up a sign. 347 00:15:00,050 --> 00:15:02,450 This whole idea of rioting is just being out of control. 348 00:15:03,650 --> 00:15:07,650 The whole idea of going out of what God has called us to do. 349 00:15:07,650 --> 00:15:12,370 When it comes to being temperate, having self control, having 350 00:15:12,370 --> 00:15:15,929 that idea of being under submission to God, this rioting means 351 00:15:15,929 --> 00:15:18,930 I'm coming out fleshly and just going for whatever I want. 352 00:15:19,330 --> 00:15:21,970 And then he says, we're not supposed to be in that righteous 353 00:15:22,050 --> 00:15:22,650 lifestyle. 354 00:15:22,650 --> 00:15:25,330 And then obviously drunkenness, I don't need to spend 355 00:15:25,330 --> 00:15:26,090 a lot of time on that. 356 00:15:26,090 --> 00:15:26,620 He says we're. 357 00:15:26,690 --> 00:15:28,330 We shouldn't be characterized by drunkenness. 358 00:15:28,330 --> 00:15:31,730 We shouldn't be allowing any substance to control us outside of 359 00:15:31,730 --> 00:15:32,610 the Holy Spirit. 360 00:15:32,930 --> 00:15:35,730 Be not drunk with wine, whereas in excess, but be filled 361 00:15:35,730 --> 00:15:36,610 with the Spirit. 362 00:15:36,770 --> 00:15:40,290 There's this contrast of something guiding us in our life 363 00:15:40,690 --> 00:15:43,890 as a Christian, we should be guided by the Holy Spirit. 364 00:15:44,690 --> 00:15:47,010 Then he goes on to say, not in chambering. 365 00:15:47,330 --> 00:15:48,290 What is chambering? 366 00:15:48,290 --> 00:15:49,450 That's an old King James word. 367 00:15:49,450 --> 00:15:52,770 Chambering is essentially sexual immorality. 368 00:15:53,430 --> 00:15:56,470 Any sexual activity outside the bounds of marriage. 369 00:15:56,710 --> 00:15:58,310 That could look like many different things. 370 00:15:58,310 --> 00:16:02,790 But he says we should not have that sexual sin in our life, characterizing 371 00:16:02,790 --> 00:16:03,270 our life. 372 00:16:03,590 --> 00:16:07,190 That idea of chambering could be anything that is in that realm. 373 00:16:07,190 --> 00:16:08,949 And then he goes on to say, and wantonness. 374 00:16:08,949 --> 00:16:10,870 Wantonness is just sensuality. 375 00:16:10,870 --> 00:16:13,310 It goes further than just sexual immorality. 376 00:16:13,310 --> 00:16:17,190 It goes to the place of just wanting things for our flesh, feeding 377 00:16:17,190 --> 00:16:17,750 our flesh. 378 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,320 Now, before we go any further in this study, we need to define 379 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:23,600 the flesh and the Spirit. 380 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:26,120 Because I'm going to mention things about the flesh and you might 381 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:27,360 say, what is he talking about? 382 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:32,080 Well, the flesh is essentially those things that appeal to our feelings, 383 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:36,720 appeal to our hunger, appeal to our lust, appeal to our urges 384 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:37,680 as humans. 385 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,120 And I think we all can understand those things that appeal 386 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:40,960 to our flesh. 387 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:44,480 So he says we should not be living guided by our flesh. 388 00:16:45,030 --> 00:16:47,590 But we know, biblically speaking, we should be guided by 389 00:16:47,590 --> 00:16:48,150 the Spirit. 390 00:16:48,150 --> 00:16:51,870 The Spirit is always going to lead us to do things and to respond 391 00:16:51,870 --> 00:16:55,110 in a way that which God has called us to respond in his word. 392 00:16:55,430 --> 00:16:56,510 Then he goes on to say more. 393 00:16:56,510 --> 00:16:57,830 He says, not in strife. 394 00:16:57,990 --> 00:16:58,710 What is strife? 395 00:16:58,710 --> 00:16:59,390 That's fighting. 396 00:16:59,390 --> 00:17:00,150 That's division. 397 00:17:00,790 --> 00:17:02,950 That's always being at odds with somebody else. 398 00:17:04,470 --> 00:17:07,910 Having anger and having malice and having bitterness towards someone. 399 00:17:08,070 --> 00:17:10,070 Always being in conflict with one another. 400 00:17:10,479 --> 00:17:11,559 He says, and strife. 401 00:17:11,559 --> 00:17:12,559 And then envying. 402 00:17:12,559 --> 00:17:15,519 We all know what envying is, desiring what someone else has and 403 00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:17,439 allowing that to take control of our life. 404 00:17:17,439 --> 00:17:20,799 He says that should not be characterized by someone who is walking 405 00:17:20,799 --> 00:17:21,439 in the light. 406 00:17:21,919 --> 00:17:26,159 That should not be the characterization of someone who is 407 00:17:26,238 --> 00:17:27,679 a Christ like believer. 408 00:17:27,679 --> 00:17:30,319 No, that is someone who is walking in darkness. 409 00:17:30,319 --> 00:17:32,559 That is someone who is feeding the flesh. 410 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:34,919 So he says we should be walking differently. 411 00:17:34,919 --> 00:17:38,879 The problem is, is that we have too many people that are walking 412 00:17:38,959 --> 00:17:43,320 in rioting, drunkenness, chambering, wantonness, strife, envy, 413 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,520 that they're not able to see what God has actually called us to 414 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:46,640 do. 415 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:48,680 Because those are what we call distractions. 416 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,880 These fleshly actions are distracting us from doing what we 417 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:53,400 are called to do. 418 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:54,360 What are we called to do? 419 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,960 Very clearly in Scripture we have basic things that God has called 420 00:17:58,960 --> 00:17:59,600 us to do. 421 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:01,680 When we're believing, number one, it's to obey him. 422 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:02,960 If we love God, we obey him. 423 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:04,280 We talked about that last week. 424 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,540 True love means that we will obey. 425 00:18:07,540 --> 00:18:09,780 If we love God, we will keep his commandments. 426 00:18:09,780 --> 00:18:11,620 And then what is that tied to? 427 00:18:11,620 --> 00:18:12,980 That's tied to loving others. 428 00:18:13,460 --> 00:18:16,460 It's gonna be really hard for me to love others properly if I'm 429 00:18:16,460 --> 00:18:19,900 characterized by rioting, drunkenness, chambering, wantonness, 430 00:18:19,900 --> 00:18:20,620 strife, envy. 431 00:18:20,620 --> 00:18:24,780 That's not a characterization of somebody who is walking, loving 432 00:18:24,780 --> 00:18:26,100 God and loving others. 433 00:18:26,660 --> 00:18:28,020 It's someone who's selfish. 434 00:18:28,340 --> 00:18:29,700 It's someone who's prideful. 435 00:18:30,020 --> 00:18:32,500 It's someone who's saying, you know what I want, what I want when 436 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:34,500 I want it, and I don't want anything else. 437 00:18:34,950 --> 00:18:35,350 Okay? 438 00:18:35,350 --> 00:18:37,750 If someone is helped in that process, great. 439 00:18:37,750 --> 00:18:39,350 But this is what I'm desiring. 440 00:18:39,350 --> 00:18:41,750 He says, these are all distractions, and they're making 441 00:18:41,750 --> 00:18:44,590 us fall asleep and not focus on the things that God has called 442 00:18:44,590 --> 00:18:44,990 us to do. 443 00:18:44,990 --> 00:18:46,070 So it's obedience. 444 00:18:46,070 --> 00:18:48,150 It's loving God, it's loving others. 445 00:18:48,950 --> 00:18:51,990 Then we see a further challenge later on in the gospels. 446 00:18:51,990 --> 00:18:54,950 Matthew, chapter 28, we see something called the Great Commission 447 00:18:55,030 --> 00:18:58,150 to go into the world and make disciples. 448 00:18:58,710 --> 00:19:02,680 Folks, we cannot be going and making Christ like disciples if this 449 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:04,400 is the way that our life is characterized. 450 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:08,120 Like if someone looks at our life and says, well, man, that Christian 451 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:11,360 is just characterized by their flesh, characterized by their desires. 452 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,520 Well, if I'm all about myself, I'm never going to be looking to 453 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,000 build disciples for Jesus Christ, because I'm going to want 454 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:17,920 people following me. 455 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:19,680 I'm going to want people do things for me. 456 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,640 And so verse 13 tells us all of these distractions, along with 457 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,760 many other distractions that take us away from the great commission 458 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:28,020 that we are all called to follow in our life. 459 00:19:28,020 --> 00:19:28,740 The Great Job. 460 00:19:28,820 --> 00:19:30,900 As long as we say commission and we don't know what that means, 461 00:19:30,900 --> 00:19:34,060 it basically means the great job that we have as a Christian to 462 00:19:34,060 --> 00:19:34,820 make disciples. 463 00:19:35,140 --> 00:19:37,380 Sometimes we read that and we think, well, that's the church's 464 00:19:37,380 --> 00:19:37,700 job. 465 00:19:38,260 --> 00:19:39,220 And you would be right. 466 00:19:39,220 --> 00:19:40,260 But who is the church? 467 00:19:40,740 --> 00:19:41,860 Well, that's the pastor. 468 00:19:42,820 --> 00:19:46,100 Well, he's part of the church, but the church is you. 469 00:19:46,500 --> 00:19:49,380 All right, so if we were to go and say, are you the church? 470 00:19:49,380 --> 00:19:50,500 Well, no, I'm not the building. 471 00:19:50,740 --> 00:19:52,420 Well, no, no, this building is not the church. 472 00:19:52,420 --> 00:19:55,810 Even though I'm thankful for this building, I thank the Lord all 473 00:19:55,810 --> 00:19:58,010 the time for the wonderful facilities God has given us here 474 00:19:58,010 --> 00:19:59,170 at Middletown Baptist Church. 475 00:19:59,170 --> 00:20:00,090 It's a blessing. 476 00:20:00,570 --> 00:20:03,330 But at the same time, we have to understand the church is not the 477 00:20:03,330 --> 00:20:03,690 pew. 478 00:20:03,850 --> 00:20:05,090 The church is not the building. 479 00:20:05,090 --> 00:20:06,730 The church is not the parking lot. 480 00:20:06,810 --> 00:20:13,250 The church is the people that make up the body that is called to 481 00:20:13,250 --> 00:20:15,370 glorify God by making disciples. 482 00:20:15,690 --> 00:20:16,810 That's the whole idea. 483 00:20:17,370 --> 00:20:20,490 Now, that doesn't mean that the building isn't important because 484 00:20:20,490 --> 00:20:22,010 that's a reflection of our testimony. 485 00:20:22,010 --> 00:20:25,870 It doesn't mean that the facilities are irrelevant. 486 00:20:25,950 --> 00:20:29,750 No, but what it does mean is that as a church, we have to realize 487 00:20:29,750 --> 00:20:33,310 that if the command for the church to do something is there, 488 00:20:33,470 --> 00:20:35,710 that means that that command is for all of us. 489 00:20:36,590 --> 00:20:41,110 As a pastor, My desire is not just for me to disciple people, even 490 00:20:41,110 --> 00:20:45,990 though I love that process, but it is my desire to disciple people 491 00:20:45,990 --> 00:20:48,670 so that they can disciple people so that we can see the. 492 00:20:48,740 --> 00:20:51,740 That wonderful body of Christ growing in a healthy manner. 493 00:20:51,740 --> 00:20:52,940 And that's what he's saying here. 494 00:20:52,940 --> 00:20:58,140 He says that is all distractions away from what God has 495 00:20:58,140 --> 00:20:59,060 called us to do. 496 00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:00,980 What's distracting you? 497 00:21:01,940 --> 00:21:05,940 What's lulling you into a sense of false security? 498 00:21:06,980 --> 00:21:07,860 Well, I've done enough. 499 00:21:08,660 --> 00:21:09,780 Well, let me tell you something. 500 00:21:11,140 --> 00:21:13,780 Maybe that is surprising, maybe it's not. 501 00:21:14,510 --> 00:21:15,550 You can never do enough. 502 00:21:16,030 --> 00:21:16,430 Right? 503 00:21:16,830 --> 00:21:21,990 I can never say this morning, or any morning for that matter, I've 504 00:21:21,990 --> 00:21:22,830 served God enough. 505 00:21:23,070 --> 00:21:24,510 I've reached my quota. 506 00:21:24,830 --> 00:21:25,990 We talked about that last week. 507 00:21:25,990 --> 00:21:27,790 I can never say I've reached my quota for love. 508 00:21:28,190 --> 00:21:29,830 I've reached my quota for obedience. 509 00:21:29,830 --> 00:21:31,150 I've reached my quota for service. 510 00:21:31,230 --> 00:21:32,310 You can never do enough. 511 00:21:32,310 --> 00:21:34,550 And then sometimes people, when they hear that, they go, oh, 512 00:21:34,550 --> 00:21:36,550 that's stressful, Pastor, because now does that mean I have 513 00:21:36,550 --> 00:21:37,310 to work forever? 514 00:21:37,790 --> 00:21:41,070 Well, it's not the motivation of I have to. 515 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,160 The motivation should be that I want to serve my Lord and every 516 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,760 opportunity that I have in the time that I have, I want to serve 517 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,600 him to the best of my ability and what he has equipped me with. 518 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:53,080 So you can't do enough. 519 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:54,360 So then why do I serve? 520 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,359 Well, I don't serve because I'm trying to stay in God's good 521 00:21:57,359 --> 00:21:57,680 graces. 522 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,600 I don't serve because I'm trying to keep my salvation. 523 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,440 I don't serve because what other people think about me. 524 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:07,150 I serve because Jesus changed me and renewed me and. 525 00:22:07,220 --> 00:22:08,100 And gave me a new life. 526 00:22:08,100 --> 00:22:11,180 And that's my only reasonable thing to do, is to give it all over 527 00:22:11,180 --> 00:22:11,500 to him. 528 00:22:11,500 --> 00:22:13,700 That's what Romans chapter 12 is all about. 529 00:22:13,860 --> 00:22:16,500 It's a reasonable service to give everything to him, a living 530 00:22:16,500 --> 00:22:17,700 sacrifice to God. 531 00:22:18,980 --> 00:22:22,100 So what's distracting us from doing what God has called us to do? 532 00:22:22,100 --> 00:22:26,020 What's lulling us to that sense of apathy in our lives? 533 00:22:26,020 --> 00:22:29,060 And if you say, well, hey, talk about yourself. 534 00:22:29,060 --> 00:22:32,780 Okay, well, I'm not saying you yourself are apathetic. 535 00:22:32,780 --> 00:22:37,960 What I'm saying is that there is a level of apathy within the church 536 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:39,920 in America today, within the world today. 537 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:40,640 Right. 538 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:47,000 We've gotten to a place where we believe that setting foot in a 539 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:52,120 building and not getting in a fight that day and going home is 540 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:55,280 enough to say that we're acting like good godly Christians. 541 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,600 But it's not just about what we're avoiding, even though there 542 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,800 Are some things that we're supposed to do and not do, right. 543 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,160 We obviously see in verse 13 we're to put off darkness. 544 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:09,600 We're not to live in these lifestyles of sin with rioting, drunkenness 545 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,600 and all those sins that we see listed there in verse 13 and in other 546 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:13,080 places. 547 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:14,880 But it's more than that. 548 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:16,440 It's also putting on something. 549 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,880 Remember that Put on analogy, put off and put on. 550 00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:22,560 So we're not supposed to just avoid something, but we're to put 551 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:23,160 on something. 552 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,000 Well, what does verse 14 say? 553 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:27,160 It's not about trying harder. 554 00:23:27,970 --> 00:23:30,970 Cause it would be very, at least for me, the very depressing. 555 00:23:30,970 --> 00:23:34,850 If I read verse 13, it says don't live this way and you're on 556 00:23:34,850 --> 00:23:35,730 your own doing it. 557 00:23:35,970 --> 00:23:41,850 But he says no verse 14, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. 558 00:23:41,850 --> 00:23:46,410 He gives us the remedy to what we would see as a difficult thing 559 00:23:46,410 --> 00:23:47,170 to live a life. 560 00:23:47,250 --> 00:23:50,370 Christ, like he says here, is the remedy put on Jesus. 561 00:23:50,530 --> 00:23:55,260 Allow Jesus to take control of your life, submit to him, honor him, 562 00:23:55,980 --> 00:23:57,020 call out to him. 563 00:23:57,660 --> 00:24:02,300 And he says that's the remedy to the fleshliness in our life. 564 00:24:02,300 --> 00:24:03,580 It's not about trying harder. 565 00:24:03,580 --> 00:24:06,700 It's not about having more rules, it's not about performing. 566 00:24:06,700 --> 00:24:08,060 It's not about people's opinions. 567 00:24:08,220 --> 00:24:10,220 What it's about is being more Christ. 568 00:24:10,220 --> 00:24:14,700 Like to rely on God in every element of our life to go to him 569 00:24:14,700 --> 00:24:17,700 when we're fearful, to go to him when we're concerned, to go to 570 00:24:17,700 --> 00:24:20,760 him when we feel the flesh coming back again. 571 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,720 And then that's the message that we see in Ephesians chapter 572 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:24,040 four. 573 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:26,520 That's the message that we see in the book of all of the book of 574 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:27,480 Galatians for that matter. 575 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,960 It's this idea of dying to our flesh and yielding to the Spirit 576 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:36,200 and allowing the Holy Spirit to dictate our actions, our desires. 577 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:37,680 And if you say, well, you know what? 578 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:39,640 I don't know if I'm walking in the flesh. 579 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,240 Well, there is a very good test in the book of Galatians that 580 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:46,210 talks about what are the fruit of the Spirit, what's the fruit of 581 00:24:46,210 --> 00:24:46,690 the Spirit? 582 00:24:47,650 --> 00:24:51,610 Love, joy, peace, long suffering, all these things that 583 00:24:51,610 --> 00:24:54,050 are the opposite of what we see in this sinful life. 584 00:24:54,370 --> 00:24:56,610 So if you want to have a test on whether or not you're responding 585 00:24:56,610 --> 00:25:00,250 in the Spirit today or tomorrow or next week, you look to 586 00:25:00,250 --> 00:25:04,370 that guide and say, is my life characterized by this type of love? 587 00:25:04,530 --> 00:25:07,090 Is my life characterized by this type of patience? 588 00:25:07,330 --> 00:25:10,570 Is my life characterized by this type of self control, by this 589 00:25:10,570 --> 00:25:11,730 type of Meekness by this. 590 00:25:11,900 --> 00:25:15,180 By this type of genuine concern and compassion for others? 591 00:25:15,340 --> 00:25:16,500 Or is it all about me? 592 00:25:16,500 --> 00:25:18,140 Is it all about that selfishness? 593 00:25:18,620 --> 00:25:21,100 Well, if we're putting on Christ, our life is not about us. 594 00:25:21,100 --> 00:25:21,820 It's about Him. 595 00:25:21,820 --> 00:25:24,140 And if our life is about him, then it's about others. 596 00:25:24,700 --> 00:25:27,180 And then he says something very interesting at the end of verse 597 00:25:27,180 --> 00:25:27,500 14. 598 00:25:27,580 --> 00:25:36,420 Here I tend to look at this verse and really be puzzled by what 599 00:25:36,420 --> 00:25:37,140 this is all about. 600 00:25:37,140 --> 00:25:41,320 But I. I believe that here he's telling us something amazing. 601 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:46,120 He says, make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust 602 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:46,520 thereof. 603 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:47,080 What is he saying? 604 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:52,280 He says, don't allow for anything to cause a temptation in 605 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:52,560 your life. 606 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,960 Now, temptations are gonna come from various directions, and 607 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,520 we can never necessarily understand where they're all gonna 608 00:25:58,520 --> 00:25:59,720 come from and when they're gonna come. 609 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,600 But what he's telling us here is to not make a provision for the 610 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,160 flesh, to not allow ourselves to have a foothold, to not allow 611 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,240 ourselves to have this sin stronghold in our life that's gonna 612 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:09,840 hold us back. 613 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:11,360 So it would be like this, okay? 614 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:15,400 If I know that I struggle with something, I don't want to allow 615 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,680 that to have any place in my life so that I would be tempted to 616 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:22,240 go back and have a provision for the flesh, an open door, so to 617 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:22,560 speak. 618 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:24,680 There's things in our life that we need to get rid of. 619 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,840 We need to get as far away from sin as we possibly can. 620 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,840 And that's what he's talking about here at the end of Romans chapter 621 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:31,080 13. 622 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,160 It's a very clear understanding that we should not 623 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:38,280 even allow any element of that flesh to come back in our life to 624 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:39,920 try to kill it, to try to cut it out. 625 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:45,839 The flesh is active, but the flesh is only as active as we allow 626 00:26:45,839 --> 00:26:46,400 it to be. 627 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:50,480 So if I'm struggling or if someone's struggling with something, 628 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,200 maybe it's with what I'm looking at, okay? 629 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,080 I probably shouldn't put the things that I know are gonna make 630 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:57,520 me struggle right in front of my face. 631 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,440 I should do everything that I possibly can to remove that from 632 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:00,880 my life. 633 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:07,120 We have to allow God's power to allow us to walk properly. 634 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,120 Not to say that God's gonna remove every temptation from our 635 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:12,240 life, but we have to take steps in our life. 636 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:14,880 Guardrails sometimes is how I put it. 637 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,760 We have to put guardrails in our life to know that, hey, you know 638 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:17,880 what? 639 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,720 If I go down that route, I know that this is where I'm gonna 640 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:21,240 be tempted. 641 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:22,800 So I don't even want to go down that route. 642 00:27:23,610 --> 00:27:28,130 You know, if I know that this person is a point of contention in 643 00:27:28,130 --> 00:27:31,410 my life, and I know that this person is this way, and I know that 644 00:27:31,410 --> 00:27:34,210 this is the conversation that's gonna happen, I need to be 645 00:27:34,210 --> 00:27:36,330 very careful in how I deal with that person. 646 00:27:36,650 --> 00:27:39,050 I need to be very careful in how I deal with the situation. 647 00:27:40,010 --> 00:27:43,490 You know, if there's a substance that is causing me to sin, 648 00:27:43,490 --> 00:27:46,210 I don't need to set up all those substances up on my table and 649 00:27:46,210 --> 00:27:49,090 say, okay, these are all things that I'm gonna try to avoid, 650 00:27:49,090 --> 00:27:49,330 but. 651 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:50,840 But I'm gonna put em up right in front of my face. 652 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,000 That's not a smart thing to do as a Christian. 653 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:54,760 It's not a wise thing to do as a Christian. 654 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,080 We have to avoid those things in our life that are causing us to 655 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:00,080 go back to those elements of the flesh. 656 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:01,720 The flesh is always going to be there. 657 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,200 But there's ways in which we can feed our flesh. 658 00:28:05,239 --> 00:28:07,160 There's things that we can look at on our phones. 659 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,680 There's things that we can say, there's places that we can go, 660 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,160 there's substances that we can be around. 661 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,560 There's things that we can be associated with in our life that 662 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:17,530 can eventually cause. 663 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:21,040 Cause that flesh to be fed and lead us to a place where we don't 664 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:22,880 want to be as a believer. 665 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,760 So God is telling us in this passage to do everything that we 666 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,480 possibly can not to feed the flesh, not to give a provision for 667 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:32,000 the flesh. 668 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,680 Now, I want to take you to another passage of scripture that 669 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,320 I believe summarizes this concept very well. 670 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,240 And that's found in Titus, chapter two. 671 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:42,840 So keep your finger here in Romans, chapter 13. 672 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:44,560 And we're going to go to Titus chapter two. 673 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:48,840 So I know we've said a lot this morning. 674 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:50,520 We've talked about how we're supposed to live. 675 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:56,880 We're supposed to put on the new man, the spirit, and we're supposed 676 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,440 to throw away, cast away, the works of darkness, the works of the 677 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:00,719 flesh. 678 00:29:00,719 --> 00:29:02,040 But how can we do that? 679 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:04,400 What happens when I don't do that? 680 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:08,280 What happens when I wake up in the morning and I get right into 681 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:08,760 my day? 682 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,870 I make a provision for the flesh, I turn into it over to my 683 00:29:12,870 --> 00:29:13,190 flesh. 684 00:29:13,190 --> 00:29:14,790 And I don't obey God today. 685 00:29:14,790 --> 00:29:15,310 What do I do? 686 00:29:15,310 --> 00:29:15,750 Am I. 687 00:29:15,750 --> 00:29:16,790 Am I failure? 688 00:29:17,030 --> 00:29:18,070 Am I done for? 689 00:29:18,870 --> 00:29:20,910 Do I lose his good grace? 690 00:29:20,910 --> 00:29:23,110 Well, look at Titus, chapter 2, verse 11. 691 00:29:23,750 --> 00:29:26,430 Because here we see that everything that we have in our life, 692 00:29:26,430 --> 00:29:31,030 whether it be our salvation, our sanctification, our purity, everything, 693 00:29:31,590 --> 00:29:34,070 everything is because of the grace of God. 694 00:29:34,390 --> 00:29:38,160 He says in verse 11, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation 695 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:39,440 hath appeared to all men. 696 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:44,400 So the grace of God, the gift of God, is what brings us the hope 697 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:45,120 of salvation. 698 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,080 I think we all can understand that here this morning. 699 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:49,920 It's not something that we do, it's not something that we earn. 700 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:53,480 It's by the grace of God we are saved because of the sacrifice 701 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:54,320 of Jesus Christ. 702 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:56,640 We are not saved because of our sacrifice. 703 00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:01,440 But then oftentimes we think, yes, we're saved by Jesus sacrifice. 704 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:06,470 But I growing through my own work, my own efforts, or maybe who 705 00:30:06,470 --> 00:30:08,150 I'm following here on this earth. 706 00:30:08,150 --> 00:30:13,030 No, he says in verse 12, the very same grace that saves us, verse 707 00:30:13,030 --> 00:30:19,190 12, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we 708 00:30:19,190 --> 00:30:23,110 should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present 709 00:30:23,190 --> 00:30:23,590 world. 710 00:30:24,230 --> 00:30:27,870 It's the grace of God that saves us, that also teaches us how 711 00:30:27,870 --> 00:30:33,430 to live in this way that denies ungodliness or darkness, denies 712 00:30:33,430 --> 00:30:34,510 the worldly lust. 713 00:30:34,510 --> 00:30:38,550 And it teaches us how to live soberly, that seriously thinking 714 00:30:38,550 --> 00:30:42,110 right about the right things, thinking properly, thinking properly, 715 00:30:42,110 --> 00:30:44,750 righteously and godly in this present world. 716 00:30:44,910 --> 00:30:48,550 The way that we do this is by trusting in the grace of God. 717 00:30:48,550 --> 00:30:51,830 And when we stumble, we realize that we're in a process of 718 00:30:51,830 --> 00:30:53,470 learning and God is teaching us. 719 00:30:54,190 --> 00:30:55,470 So God saves us. 720 00:30:56,110 --> 00:30:58,990 He shapes us, and then we know that he sends us. 721 00:30:58,990 --> 00:31:00,470 He sends us out into the world. 722 00:31:00,470 --> 00:31:03,590 He sends us to a place of service for Him. 723 00:31:04,310 --> 00:31:08,590 But until we understand that it's God's grace that saves us, it's 724 00:31:08,590 --> 00:31:11,910 God's grace that shapes us, and it's God's grace that sends us, 725 00:31:11,910 --> 00:31:15,870 we're gonna think that we are something to be important in this 726 00:31:15,870 --> 00:31:16,350 scenario. 727 00:31:16,350 --> 00:31:18,670 Let me tell you, we're important in the scenario, in the 728 00:31:18,670 --> 00:31:19,110 equation. 729 00:31:19,190 --> 00:31:23,750 But if I think it's this, it's God plus my good works, then you 730 00:31:23,750 --> 00:31:24,070 know what? 731 00:31:24,070 --> 00:31:25,750 That's adding something to salvation. 732 00:31:25,750 --> 00:31:29,470 If it's God plus my good works to my sanctification, I. I'm adding 733 00:31:29,470 --> 00:31:31,270 something to the work of sanctification. 734 00:31:31,350 --> 00:31:33,830 But what we see here is that it's all the work of God. 735 00:31:33,910 --> 00:31:38,150 It's just us submitting to him and saying, lord, I want you to take 736 00:31:38,150 --> 00:31:38,950 over in my life. 737 00:31:38,950 --> 00:31:42,390 And that's what putting on Christ really means, submitting to 738 00:31:42,390 --> 00:31:45,790 him, giving it all over to him, trusting in what he is going 739 00:31:45,790 --> 00:31:46,710 to do in our life. 740 00:31:47,030 --> 00:31:51,110 So Titus chapter 2, verses 11 and 12 tell us this beautiful thing. 741 00:31:51,110 --> 00:31:54,710 And then he goes on to say in verse 14, who gave himself for us 742 00:31:55,180 --> 00:32:01,140 that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself. 743 00:32:01,140 --> 00:32:04,860 But peculiar, different people, zealous of good works. 744 00:32:05,180 --> 00:32:06,700 That's where the zeal comes from. 745 00:32:06,700 --> 00:32:08,220 That's when the passion comes in. 746 00:32:08,300 --> 00:32:10,940 The passion comes in by understanding what God has done for 747 00:32:10,940 --> 00:32:11,259 us. 748 00:32:11,340 --> 00:32:12,620 And he separated us. 749 00:32:12,620 --> 00:32:13,580 He's made us different. 750 00:32:14,060 --> 00:32:17,940 How can we live differently in this world if we're copying everything 751 00:32:17,940 --> 00:32:20,940 that the world does and loving the things that the world loves? 752 00:32:21,170 --> 00:32:22,410 He says, no, we have to be different. 753 00:32:22,410 --> 00:32:25,570 We have to desire him more than the things of this world. 754 00:32:26,610 --> 00:32:28,850 So we go to other passages of Scripture. 755 00:32:28,850 --> 00:32:30,050 Colossians, chapter three. 756 00:32:30,050 --> 00:32:33,170 We started our service out this morning with this verse. 757 00:32:33,810 --> 00:32:38,370 Colossians 3 says, if ye then be risen with Christ, if you're identified 758 00:32:38,370 --> 00:32:44,050 with Christ in salvation, seek those things which are above where 759 00:32:44,050 --> 00:32:46,130 Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 760 00:32:46,940 --> 00:32:49,060 The Bible tells us where our desires should be. 761 00:32:49,060 --> 00:32:52,540 On the things that honors Christ, on the things that glorify 762 00:32:52,540 --> 00:32:52,860 Him. 763 00:32:53,500 --> 00:32:58,060 Then he says, set your affection, set your heart on things 764 00:32:58,060 --> 00:33:00,700 above, on the eternal things, not on the things of this earth. 765 00:33:00,700 --> 00:33:05,260 For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. 766 00:33:05,260 --> 00:33:09,580 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also 767 00:33:09,580 --> 00:33:10,700 appear with him in glory. 768 00:33:10,860 --> 00:33:14,150 So the hope of all of this is that we have a bigger picture. 769 00:33:14,150 --> 00:33:15,550 We have a bigger purpose. 770 00:33:15,710 --> 00:33:17,670 We're going to be with our Savior one day. 771 00:33:17,670 --> 00:33:20,670 There's going to be rewards for all of these things that we do 772 00:33:20,670 --> 00:33:21,190 for him now. 773 00:33:21,190 --> 00:33:23,870 But at the end of the day, he's telling us to set our hearts 774 00:33:23,870 --> 00:33:26,110 on the things that he has his heart set on. 775 00:33:26,830 --> 00:33:28,550 And I'm going to tell you that's sometimes a difficult thing 776 00:33:28,550 --> 00:33:30,110 because I have my heart set on a lot of things. 777 00:33:30,430 --> 00:33:31,910 I have places that I want to go. 778 00:33:31,910 --> 00:33:33,550 I have things that I want to experience. 779 00:33:33,710 --> 00:33:35,310 I have foods that I want to eat. 780 00:33:35,310 --> 00:33:35,750 I have. 781 00:33:35,750 --> 00:33:36,670 I have places. 782 00:33:36,670 --> 00:33:38,670 And it doesn't mean that we're not going to get those things. 783 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:39,640 Hey, guess what? 784 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,120 You might surrender to the Lord and still take an awesome vacation 785 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:44,400 and have an awesome meal and do amazing things. 786 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,200 It's not that God wants to deny us from any pleasure in this 787 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:47,400 world. 788 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:48,280 That's not what he's saying. 789 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:52,240 He says to obtain the type of pleasure that he has created in the 790 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:56,760 right way, in the right time, in his will. 791 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:00,400 Folks, I'm going to tell you, there are times in our life where 792 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,800 we want the things that God wants for us, but we want it our 793 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:08,080 way on in our terms and, and in our timing and that's what wantonness 794 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:08,280 is. 795 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:09,880 That's what fleshly living is. 796 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:10,920 Fleshly living is. 797 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:13,160 I want this pleasure and I want it now. 798 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:15,720 And I don't want it with what God has called me to have it in. 799 00:34:15,720 --> 00:34:19,160 I want to do it outside of the bonds of marriage, or I want to do 800 00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:22,840 it outside of the way that God has called me to do this, or I want 801 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,200 to do it outside of this will and in this way. 802 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:27,720 And at the end of the day, what we see is that there's so many 803 00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:31,160 people who don't understand that God wants us to have beautiful, 804 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:35,240 wonderful, grace filled lives, but at the same time he wants us 805 00:34:35,240 --> 00:34:37,120 to follow him and do it in his way. 806 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:38,880 And that's what Romans 13 is all about. 807 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,040 It's about living a Christlike life around people who aren't living 808 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:42,280 Christ. 809 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,800 Like we live in a world today that for the most part is not Christ. 810 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:49,480 Like we live in a nation that still has Christian values. 811 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,040 But honestly, if you go out and many of you know this, you're 812 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:55,280 not going to see a lot of people living for Christ boldly. 813 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,440 Maybe they go to church, maybe they'll wear a cross around their 814 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:00,590 neck, maybe, maybe they won't do bad things. 815 00:35:00,590 --> 00:35:03,430 But the Bible says that there's more to the Christian life 816 00:35:03,430 --> 00:35:05,430 than just avoiding the bad. 817 00:35:05,590 --> 00:35:06,830 It's putting on Christ. 818 00:35:06,830 --> 00:35:09,910 It's allowing Christ to ooze out of every element of our life, 819 00:35:10,070 --> 00:35:12,710 to shine through every crack in our life. 820 00:35:12,870 --> 00:35:14,310 And that's what we're seeing here. 821 00:35:14,310 --> 00:35:16,950 In Romans chapter 13, he ends with saying this. 822 00:35:17,110 --> 00:35:20,790 Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh 823 00:35:20,870 --> 00:35:22,110 to fulfill the lust thereof. 824 00:35:22,110 --> 00:35:27,260 This doesn't mean that we're living outside of the world, okay? 825 00:35:27,260 --> 00:35:28,900 I can't live outside of the world. 826 00:35:28,900 --> 00:35:31,460 I'm in this world whether I like it or not, okay? 827 00:35:31,460 --> 00:35:35,100 I have to deal with people, I have to deal with circumstances, 828 00:35:35,100 --> 00:35:36,820 I have to deal with problems. 829 00:35:37,140 --> 00:35:41,180 You know, as, as my kids get older, I used to be able to like, 830 00:35:41,180 --> 00:35:41,860 shelter them. 831 00:35:42,260 --> 00:35:45,100 Like, they didn't hear anything, they didn't know anything 832 00:35:45,100 --> 00:35:45,700 that was bad. 833 00:35:46,020 --> 00:35:49,660 But you know, now they're more aware and we're walking out in public 834 00:35:49,660 --> 00:35:53,180 and they see things that are not Christlike, they hear things 835 00:35:53,180 --> 00:35:54,300 that are not Christlike. 836 00:35:54,780 --> 00:35:57,580 And what I'm tempted to do is just try to like plug their ears 837 00:35:57,580 --> 00:36:00,140 everywhere I go and cover their eyes and go, all right, we're 838 00:36:00,140 --> 00:36:00,860 walking in here. 839 00:36:01,100 --> 00:36:02,540 But you can't do that, right? 840 00:36:02,540 --> 00:36:04,780 You know, obviously you want to avoid as much sin as you can, 841 00:36:04,860 --> 00:36:06,780 but there are places that you can avoid. 842 00:36:07,260 --> 00:36:09,340 So as a Christian, what does that mean for us? 843 00:36:09,740 --> 00:36:12,140 Well, it doesn't mean that we try to live outside of the world. 844 00:36:12,140 --> 00:36:14,300 We're in the world, but we're not of the world. 845 00:36:14,460 --> 00:36:19,080 And so that's an opportunity for us as a husband and wife to teach 846 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,640 our children that, yes, there are going to be people who do certain 847 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:26,360 things, but there's a way that we need to see that through the lens 848 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:27,480 of being a Christian. 849 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:29,560 Like that person is not doing the right thing. 850 00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:30,440 But we don't hate them. 851 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,680 We teach them that they need the gospel, that that's something 852 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:36,320 that they're doing because they're away from God or they don't 853 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:36,840 know God. 854 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:38,520 And that's the same thing with us in our life. 855 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:40,120 How do we deal with evil around us? 856 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:43,680 Well, we don't try to live with blinders on and plug our ears 857 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,610 everywhere we go, because if we do that, then we're not able to 858 00:36:46,610 --> 00:36:48,130 influence those people that need Jesus. 859 00:36:48,450 --> 00:36:51,170 But at the same time, we don't go join all those people in their 860 00:36:51,170 --> 00:36:53,930 evil and say, well, I'm doing this evil to try to make them good. 861 00:36:53,930 --> 00:36:58,570 No, we live boldly for Christ in front of them, not avoiding them, 862 00:36:58,570 --> 00:37:00,610 but we live boldly for Christ in that manner. 863 00:37:00,610 --> 00:37:03,090 So that's how we don't give provision to the flesh. 864 00:37:03,090 --> 00:37:04,410 Provision of the flesh as well. 865 00:37:04,410 --> 00:37:05,730 I used to struggle with that. 866 00:37:07,170 --> 00:37:10,530 I know that if I do this, it's going to cause me to do this, but 867 00:37:10,530 --> 00:37:12,750 I'm just going to, like, maybe I won't do it fully, but I'm just 868 00:37:12,750 --> 00:37:13,870 gonna put my toe in the water. 869 00:37:14,750 --> 00:37:16,310 It's the classic analogy of this. 870 00:37:16,310 --> 00:37:18,670 And none of you have asked me this, but let's say hypothetically, 871 00:37:18,670 --> 00:37:19,310 some of you did. 872 00:37:19,310 --> 00:37:23,030 You came up to me and you said, pastor, as a Christian, how 873 00:37:23,030 --> 00:37:24,590 much can I do without sinning? 874 00:37:25,230 --> 00:37:27,150 How close to the line can I get? 875 00:37:28,030 --> 00:37:31,150 You know, like, how much can I watch on tv? 876 00:37:31,870 --> 00:37:33,950 How much can I take in my body? 877 00:37:33,950 --> 00:37:37,110 How much can I say that's not a sin? 878 00:37:37,110 --> 00:37:37,670 You know, that's. 879 00:37:37,670 --> 00:37:40,650 That's a lot of people ask that question because they want to 880 00:37:40,650 --> 00:37:43,050 know how much they can do without sinning. 881 00:37:43,450 --> 00:37:46,370 And I think the right question should be, as a Christian, according 882 00:37:46,370 --> 00:37:50,650 to Romans 13, is how much can I not do? 883 00:37:50,890 --> 00:37:55,130 Like, how far away can I get from that sin so that I'm not even 884 00:37:55,130 --> 00:37:56,330 close to that anymore? 885 00:37:56,410 --> 00:37:58,970 Now we have Christian liberty, which we're going to talk about in 886 00:37:58,970 --> 00:38:02,170 Romans chapter 14, which is a difficult conversation to have, especially 887 00:38:02,170 --> 00:38:04,250 if we're not in Full understanding of what that's even 888 00:38:04,250 --> 00:38:05,850 all about, which we're going to get to next week. 889 00:38:06,390 --> 00:38:07,430 But what I'm saying is this. 890 00:38:07,430 --> 00:38:09,590 Let's say there's this line of sin, right? 891 00:38:10,070 --> 00:38:11,590 There's this line of sin right here. 892 00:38:11,670 --> 00:38:14,950 I don't know what sin it is in your mind, create it in your own 893 00:38:14,950 --> 00:38:15,350 mind, okay? 894 00:38:15,350 --> 00:38:16,310 There's this line of sin. 895 00:38:16,950 --> 00:38:20,230 And as a human being, I am going to stumble in my life. 896 00:38:20,310 --> 00:38:21,750 All of us are going to stumble. 897 00:38:21,829 --> 00:38:24,630 All of us are gonna have moments of weakness in our flesh. 898 00:38:24,710 --> 00:38:28,470 And so if I'm toeing the line and I'm like, look, I'm not sinning. 899 00:38:28,550 --> 00:38:29,830 I'm really close to it. 900 00:38:30,230 --> 00:38:33,030 Everyone look at how close to sin that I can get without sinning. 901 00:38:33,030 --> 00:38:36,910 I've got my Christian liberty and I stumble in the flesh, what 902 00:38:36,910 --> 00:38:37,350 happens? 903 00:38:37,350 --> 00:38:38,350 I'm over that line. 904 00:38:38,590 --> 00:38:39,630 Oh, I never thought. 905 00:38:39,710 --> 00:38:43,550 I never thought I would get here, but I'm only one step away 906 00:38:43,550 --> 00:38:44,030 from it. 907 00:38:44,750 --> 00:38:46,510 Instead of saying, you know what? 908 00:38:46,510 --> 00:38:48,190 I have the freedom to get right here. 909 00:38:48,590 --> 00:38:50,590 I probably do, and I'm not sinning. 910 00:38:50,830 --> 00:38:54,190 But as a Christian who is discerning and not giving a provision 911 00:38:54,190 --> 00:38:58,070 of the flesh, I probably should in a wise way, take multiple 912 00:38:58,070 --> 00:39:00,130 steps away from that so that when my flesh is. 913 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,160 Is weak, I'm not at a place where I'm crossing over the line 914 00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:06,840 and falling into a place that is going to be a condemnation to 915 00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:09,480 my own self, but also to the name of God. 916 00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:12,760 Now, I know that we don't live in condemnation in Jesus Christ, 917 00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:15,520 but at the same time, there's things that we can do to bring shame 918 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:16,119 upon the Lord. 919 00:39:16,119 --> 00:39:18,280 The Bible talks about grieving the Holy Spirit. 920 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:21,480 So at the same time, as a Christian, I think all of us should 921 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:24,440 realize that it's about not giving ourselves that provision of 922 00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:27,650 the flesh so that we can avoid those things in our life that cause 923 00:39:27,650 --> 00:39:32,810 us shame, that cause us what we would consider to be a place of 924 00:39:33,450 --> 00:39:35,210 dishonor before the Lord. 925 00:39:35,530 --> 00:39:36,530 And so that's the call. 926 00:39:36,530 --> 00:39:39,650 The call is not to live a good life so that people will think we're 927 00:39:39,650 --> 00:39:39,930 good. 928 00:39:40,010 --> 00:39:43,770 The call is not to be a good citizen so that people will say, 929 00:39:43,770 --> 00:39:45,450 look how great so and so is. 930 00:39:45,530 --> 00:39:49,850 The call is to live that Christ like life so that we can have 931 00:39:49,850 --> 00:39:51,790 a testimony to reach people and. 932 00:39:51,860 --> 00:39:54,540 And do what God has called us to do in the Great Commission to 933 00:39:54,540 --> 00:39:55,460 reach people for Christ. 934 00:39:56,740 --> 00:39:58,420 That's the idea of Romans 13. 935 00:39:58,900 --> 00:40:00,780 That's the idea of the whole book of Romans. 936 00:40:00,780 --> 00:40:04,660 Know what God has done for you in his salvation. 937 00:40:04,740 --> 00:40:08,420 And then Romans 12:on is all about how we're supposed to live. 938 00:40:09,540 --> 00:40:12,620 So we're going to talk next time about Christian liberty. 939 00:40:12,620 --> 00:40:14,660 We're going to go through Romans 14, and it's going to be difficult 940 00:40:14,660 --> 00:40:17,460 because with Christian liberty means that there's going to be two 941 00:40:17,460 --> 00:40:20,550 people that are not sinning, but they're going to have some conflict 942 00:40:20,550 --> 00:40:21,030 maybe. 943 00:40:21,350 --> 00:40:22,670 Well, I think you shouldn't do this. 944 00:40:22,670 --> 00:40:23,830 Well, I think you should do this. 945 00:40:23,830 --> 00:40:26,910 We're going to talk about how, biblically speaking, we're to deal 946 00:40:26,910 --> 00:40:28,630 with that matter of Christian liberty. 947 00:40:29,190 --> 00:40:32,550 Again, I think that it's a difficult topic to talk about, so 948 00:40:32,550 --> 00:40:34,630 I encourage you to come back next week and look at that. 949 00:40:34,630 --> 00:40:37,230 But what we're going to look at here this morning, and this is 950 00:40:37,230 --> 00:40:39,830 what we're going to conclude with, is that idea of waking up. 951 00:40:40,790 --> 00:40:43,960 Waking up to what God has called us to do what? 952 00:40:44,110 --> 00:40:46,830 Waking up to the fact that we are in an evil world. 953 00:40:46,910 --> 00:40:51,150 Waking up to the fact that we can possibly be wasting our time. 954 00:40:51,230 --> 00:40:53,830 Waking up to the fact that there is a purpose and that there 955 00:40:53,830 --> 00:40:57,710 is hope and that there is a call for us to live differently in 956 00:40:57,710 --> 00:40:59,790 this present world and that God can teach us. 957 00:41:00,110 --> 00:41:03,590 God can teach us what we can do in our lives to be more and more 958 00:41:03,590 --> 00:41:04,070 like him. 959 00:41:04,070 --> 00:41:05,150 So you could put it this way. 960 00:41:05,230 --> 00:41:09,670 God calls us to walk honestly, to put on Christ and to make no provision 961 00:41:09,670 --> 00:41:10,270 of the flesh. 962 00:41:11,270 --> 00:41:13,590 That's a characteristic of Romans chapter 13. 963 00:41:14,390 --> 00:41:15,310 You could put it this way. 964 00:41:15,310 --> 00:41:17,990 It's wake up, clean up and dress up, okay? 965 00:41:17,990 --> 00:41:20,870 Wake up to what God has for you in your life. 966 00:41:21,110 --> 00:41:25,270 Clean up according to the Spirit of God, and then put on that 967 00:41:25,270 --> 00:41:27,350 newness of life, put on that new walk. 968 00:41:28,070 --> 00:41:30,550 And so for some of us, we're at that new stage of our Christian 969 00:41:30,550 --> 00:41:30,870 walk. 970 00:41:31,110 --> 00:41:32,950 We're just trying to figure out what's going on. 971 00:41:32,950 --> 00:41:35,110 I'm going to tell you that there is. 972 00:41:36,240 --> 00:41:38,400 There is hope in that because God's going to teach you. 973 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,080 That's what we saw in Titus Chapter two. 974 00:41:40,240 --> 00:41:43,280 He saves us by his grace, and he teaches us by his grace what it 975 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:44,560 means to live boldly for Christ. 976 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:45,760 The travesty. 977 00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:48,280 The problem is, is that we have people that have been living 978 00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:52,440 for 50 years as a Christian, or 70 years as a Christian or whatever 979 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:55,560 it is that necessarily haven't grown at the rate that they should 980 00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:58,840 grow, or maybe 10 years or 20 years, whatever it is, the idea would 981 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:04,010 be for us is that sometimes our sleep, our slumbering, our laziness, 982 00:42:04,170 --> 00:42:08,610 our apathy has caused us not to properly grow to a place in Our 983 00:42:08,610 --> 00:42:11,690 life where we're maturing to the place where God has intended 984 00:42:11,690 --> 00:42:12,330 us to be. 985 00:42:12,410 --> 00:42:14,610 And there's passages of scripture that we'll talk about next 986 00:42:14,610 --> 00:42:15,210 time about that. 987 00:42:15,210 --> 00:42:15,610 It's. 988 00:42:15,770 --> 00:42:18,890 Some people should have been on the meat, or they couldn't get 989 00:42:18,890 --> 00:42:21,130 on the meat because they were still needing the milk. 990 00:42:21,210 --> 00:42:25,250 And there is a really, really important distinction that we need 991 00:42:25,250 --> 00:42:26,650 to make as a believer. 992 00:42:27,140 --> 00:42:29,940 Okay, yes, I'm saved, but that doesn't mean that I'm done working. 993 00:42:30,420 --> 00:42:32,900 Yes, I'm saved, but that doesn't mean that I'm done growing. 994 00:42:33,300 --> 00:42:36,100 So we have to make a distinction between, yes, God has 995 00:42:36,100 --> 00:42:38,940 saved me, but now the challenge is to take that next step 996 00:42:38,940 --> 00:42:39,860 in my Christian walk. 997 00:42:39,940 --> 00:42:42,300 And then after I take that next step, it's the next step, and 998 00:42:42,300 --> 00:42:43,060 it's the next step. 999 00:42:43,139 --> 00:42:47,460 And then hopefully there is a time in our life that we say, okay, 1000 00:42:47,460 --> 00:42:50,980 the Christian life is not all just about me growing, but it's about 1001 00:42:50,980 --> 00:42:54,470 how many other people I can reach, how many other people I can. 1002 00:42:54,630 --> 00:42:57,550 I can disciple, how many other people I can teach, how many other 1003 00:42:57,550 --> 00:42:58,630 people I can encourage. 1004 00:42:58,790 --> 00:43:00,710 And that's what the Christian life is all about. 1005 00:43:01,110 --> 00:43:03,510 And I think all of us understand that this world is evil. 1006 00:43:03,510 --> 00:43:09,349 And if we're not careful, we're going to leave the church worse 1007 00:43:09,350 --> 00:43:10,390 than we found it. 1008 00:43:10,790 --> 00:43:11,910 We don't want to do that. 1009 00:43:11,990 --> 00:43:15,030 We don't want to leave our next generation in a worse place. 1010 00:43:15,110 --> 00:43:17,430 We actually should leave them in a better place. 1011 00:43:17,670 --> 00:43:20,380 We should leave them in a place where more biblically literate. 1012 00:43:20,380 --> 00:43:22,740 We should leave them in a place more biblically encouraged. 1013 00:43:22,740 --> 00:43:25,020 We should leave them in a place where they're understanding 1014 00:43:25,020 --> 00:43:27,820 the grace of God even better than we understood it, so that they 1015 00:43:27,820 --> 00:43:30,940 can pass that on, and they can pass that on until the Lord returns. 1016 00:43:30,940 --> 00:43:33,980 And so that's the understanding that this whole passage 1017 00:43:33,980 --> 00:43:34,420 is about. 1018 00:43:34,500 --> 00:43:37,700 It's about taking what we have in our life and living a certain 1019 00:43:37,700 --> 00:43:40,420 way so that other people's lives are effective for Jesus Christ. 1020 00:43:41,300 --> 00:43:43,620 So the question might be for you this morning, are you awake? 1021 00:43:43,940 --> 00:43:46,440 Some of you physically might not be awake right now. 1022 00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:48,840 And I heard a preacher preaching this one time. 1023 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,240 He, like, came up and he was, like, talking really monotone for 1024 00:43:52,240 --> 00:43:54,680 like, five minutes and very quiet all of a sudden. 1025 00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:56,880 Then he started yelling and smacking the pulpit and saying, wake 1026 00:43:56,880 --> 00:43:57,160 up. 1027 00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:58,280 I won't do that this morning. 1028 00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:00,840 But what I will say is that sometimes we do need to wake up. 1029 00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:03,200 And I'm not talking about physically waking up. 1030 00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:04,560 I'm talking about spiritually waking up. 1031 00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:08,080 And we're in this world today and the world around us is happening. 1032 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:09,720 Evil is unfolding. 1033 00:44:09,720 --> 00:44:11,440 And we're sitting here going, wow, man. 1034 00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:12,870 We're just going to complain about it. 1035 00:44:13,510 --> 00:44:16,150 Complaining about, you know, I can sit, I look at. 1036 00:44:16,710 --> 00:44:18,670 Okay, I'll give you an analogy of this. 1037 00:44:18,670 --> 00:44:22,310 I stand in front of the mirror and complain about, man, you know, 1038 00:44:22,310 --> 00:44:23,150 I need to lose some weight. 1039 00:44:23,150 --> 00:44:24,790 I need to be in shape, I need to do this. 1040 00:44:24,870 --> 00:44:27,230 And I can sit there all day and look at that mirror and complain 1041 00:44:27,230 --> 00:44:27,590 about it. 1042 00:44:27,590 --> 00:44:29,510 But that complaining is not going to change anything. 1043 00:44:29,510 --> 00:44:32,710 It's going to take a decision of action to say, I need to start 1044 00:44:33,590 --> 00:44:34,710 eating healthy. 1045 00:44:34,710 --> 00:44:36,550 I need to stop eating junk food. 1046 00:44:36,550 --> 00:44:38,310 I need to stop doing all this stuff. 1047 00:44:38,310 --> 00:44:39,790 I need to stop sitting on my couch all day. 1048 00:44:39,790 --> 00:44:42,420 Like, there's things that I must do to get to the place where 1049 00:44:42,420 --> 00:44:43,420 I desire to be. 1050 00:44:43,500 --> 00:44:44,860 It's the same thing as a Christian. 1051 00:44:44,860 --> 00:44:47,140 I can't look at the world and say, this world is so evil, I'm just 1052 00:44:47,140 --> 00:44:49,020 gonna complain about it, man. 1053 00:44:49,180 --> 00:44:51,140 Let's get together as Christians and complain more about 1054 00:44:51,140 --> 00:44:52,220 how evil the world is. 1055 00:44:52,460 --> 00:44:55,220 Well, we could do that, or we could come together as Christians 1056 00:44:55,220 --> 00:44:59,020 and say, how can we affect the world around us for the cause of 1057 00:44:59,020 --> 00:44:59,660 the gospel? 1058 00:44:59,980 --> 00:45:04,540 Overcome evil with good instead of evil with evil. 1059 00:45:04,620 --> 00:45:08,020 And I think that's something for us to apply to our lives as believers 1060 00:45:08,020 --> 00:45:08,780 here today. 1061 00:45:08,780 --> 00:45:12,820 Let's go ahead and have a time of reflection, time of introspection, 1062 00:45:12,820 --> 00:45:14,940 a time of invitation. 1063 00:45:14,940 --> 00:45:17,740 If you're able to stand with me, every head bowed, every eye closed, 1064 00:45:17,740 --> 00:45:20,660 we're going to have a time of invitation here. 1065 00:45:20,660 --> 00:45:24,580 Now, during this time of invitation, the challenge really 1066 00:45:24,580 --> 00:45:25,100 is this. 1067 00:45:25,420 --> 00:45:26,940 Are you awake? 1068 00:45:28,860 --> 00:45:30,140 Are you ready? 1069 00:45:31,580 --> 00:45:33,420 Have you allowed distractions? 1070 00:45:35,330 --> 00:45:41,290 The things of this world, the flesh of this world, the desires 1071 00:45:41,290 --> 00:45:44,930 of this world, pull you away from what God has called you to do? 1072 00:45:45,010 --> 00:45:47,170 You might say, I don't even know what God's called me to do. 1073 00:45:47,330 --> 00:45:49,330 Well, the first step that God's called you to do is believe 1074 00:45:49,330 --> 00:45:50,290 and trust in him. 1075 00:45:50,850 --> 00:45:52,810 He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should 1076 00:45:52,810 --> 00:45:53,650 come to repentance. 1077 00:45:54,050 --> 00:45:58,650 So the first step of taking a step in the will of God is to take 1078 00:45:58,650 --> 00:46:01,980 a step of salvation, to take a step of faith to start your relationship 1079 00:46:01,980 --> 00:46:02,380 with God. 1080 00:46:02,380 --> 00:46:05,540 But if you've done that already, the next step is what? 1081 00:46:05,860 --> 00:46:07,220 What's taking a step of growth? 1082 00:46:07,860 --> 00:46:12,140 It's taking a step of whatever it might be for you to say, I'm trusting 1083 00:46:12,140 --> 00:46:12,700 in God today. 1084 00:46:12,700 --> 00:46:14,980 I'm not going to allow this thing to control my life. 1085 00:46:14,980 --> 00:46:18,100 I'm not going to be defined by this thing that I failed in in my 1086 00:46:18,100 --> 00:46:18,220 life. 1087 00:46:18,220 --> 00:46:21,980 I'm gonna be defined by what Jesus says, and that is that I am 1088 00:46:21,980 --> 00:46:25,540 a child of the King, that I have hope in him, that I have confidence 1089 00:46:25,540 --> 00:46:27,870 in him, and that I have salvation in him. 1090 00:46:28,350 --> 00:46:30,430 Folks, sometimes we just need to be reminded of that. 1091 00:46:31,070 --> 00:46:33,950 How many of us would say that we're wasting our time? 1092 00:46:34,750 --> 00:46:36,910 I think all of us to some degree, waste our time. 1093 00:46:37,230 --> 00:46:40,510 I know for me what's speaking to my heart today is that sometimes 1094 00:46:40,510 --> 00:46:43,550 I replace something that isn't bad. 1095 00:46:45,310 --> 00:46:46,670 It might even be a good thing. 1096 00:46:46,670 --> 00:46:48,190 But I put it before the Lord. 1097 00:46:49,070 --> 00:46:52,470 And a good thing, if it becomes the first thing above Christ, 1098 00:46:52,470 --> 00:46:53,550 becomes a bad thing. 1099 00:46:55,370 --> 00:46:58,330 And maybe it's something in your life that's not an open rebellion 1100 00:46:59,050 --> 00:47:02,810 to God, maybe it's not an open sin, but it's become the first thing 1101 00:47:02,970 --> 00:47:06,170 and it's taken priority, it's taken precedent over what God has 1102 00:47:06,170 --> 00:47:07,450 called you to do in your life. 1103 00:47:08,170 --> 00:47:10,610 Maybe that's something today that you can get right with him. 1104 00:47:10,610 --> 00:47:12,570 Lord, I pray that you'd be in this time of invitation, working 1105 00:47:12,570 --> 00:47:13,090 hearts and life. 1106 00:47:13,090 --> 00:47:16,890 So there's someone here today who doesn't know you as Savior, maybe 1107 00:47:16,890 --> 00:47:20,800 walking in their own flesh, walking in their own way, their own 1108 00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:21,960 desires. 1109 00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:23,840 I pray that today can be the day of salvation. 1110 00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:26,240 But Lord, if there's Christians here today who need to 1111 00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:29,520 be reminded to wake up to what's around them, to wake up to 1112 00:47:29,520 --> 00:47:32,800 the evil, to wake up to the temptation, to wake up to the distractions. 1113 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:36,120 Lord, I pray that today can be the day of renewal and revival in 1114 00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:37,440 the hearts of the church. 1115 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:40,200 I pray that we can see the importance of what you've called 1116 00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:43,880 us to do and see the dangers of what this world brings. 1117 00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:47,850 And may we cast that off and put on the armor of light. 1118 00:47:47,850 --> 00:47:50,890 May we cast off the darkness and put on the truth. 1119 00:47:51,130 --> 00:47:54,370 Lord, may we rest in you and submit ourselves to you in every 1120 00:47:54,370 --> 00:47:55,850 element of our life. 1121 00:47:56,330 --> 00:48:00,730 Lord, I pray that we can see your work and see the fruit of your 1122 00:48:00,730 --> 00:48:03,210 work through us here at Middletown Baptist Church. 1123 00:48:03,370 --> 00:48:05,650 Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation, working 1124 00:48:05,650 --> 00:48:06,330 hearts and lives. 1125 00:48:06,490 --> 00:48:08,010 We ask all those things in Jesus name. 1126 00:48:08,010 --> 00:48:08,370 Amen. 1127 00:48:08,370 --> 00:48:10,490 As the music plays follows the Lord leads here this morning.