1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,640 Good morning. If you have your Bibles we'll be in Ephesians chapter 4 this 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:22,440 morning. So just to catch you up real quick this when we got to chapter 4 of 3 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:26,280 Ephesians we've been talking about Paul has been talking about the unity as 4 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,640 believers in the church. Paul he's kind of taking us through this journey of 5 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:36,640 what that looks like and and and the reason behind it. The reason behind the 6 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,720 unity of the church and and we're all gifted with certain gifts. We're all 7 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:46,000 have these different things because Jesus gives them to us because he's the 8 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,920 only one able to give them to us because he is the victor. Now as we grow and 9 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:56,000 mature in our faith and we understand what our gifts are and the things that 10 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,520 God has given us we tend to grow up into the head of the church which is Jesus 11 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:06,440 right. It's similar to how a baby has a giant head right when they're born and 12 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:12,920 they have to be they have to grow into it and so we as new believers have to 13 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:18,160 grow to be more like Jesus and that happens best when we are unified as 14 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:25,560 believers in the church. Now today's message is a warning in a sense. Now I 15 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:30,800 receive warnings all the time. Sometimes those warnings work sometimes those 16 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:35,720 warnings don't. For instance I had been warned on numerous occasions that I 17 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:42,840 shouldn't speed. When I was younger those warnings didn't work and then I ended 18 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:49,120 up getting busted. The consequences of me ignoring those warnings, ignoring the 19 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:55,400 police, ignoring my wife, was I ended up having to pay my fair share of 20 00:01:55,400 --> 00:02:02,400 tickets right. I've had my fair share of warrants issued for my arrest but now I 21 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:09,920 try not to speed too badly and I try to pay my tickets on time so that warrants 22 00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:14,240 aren't issued for my arrest. Now the warning from Paul today can be treated 23 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:20,240 like a warning for a speeding ticket right. You don't want to take this warning 24 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,040 like you would a warning for a speeding ticket. If you want to flourish in your 25 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:29,360 walk with the Lord we will see here in just a little bit of the cycle in which 26 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,120 we should try to avoid in our walks with the Lord. Alright so we're gonna read 27 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:39,720 three verses today out of chapter 4 we'll start in verse 17. Paul says now 28 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:45,160 this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles 29 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:50,560 do in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding 30 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:55,960 alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to 31 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,720 the hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to 32 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:06,720 sensuality, greedy to every practice and every kind of impurity. Now as I read 33 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:10,800 this text as you read this text I don't think anybody would say that they hope 34 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,120 to live a life this way. I don't think this is the model for which we want to 35 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,840 base our life around. I don't think this is the goal for anyone who calls 36 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:28,000 themselves a believer but Paul warns us anyway. He warns us because we are all 37 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:33,240 susceptible of falling back into our old way of thinking, falling back into our 38 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:37,840 old way of life and forgetting about everything that Paul has discussed up 39 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:43,400 and to this point. So the first thing we have to do is we have to be aware of how 40 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:50,920 we walked before we came to Christ. What our life was like before Jesus redeemed 41 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:56,640 us. If you are not walking with the Lord, if that is your life, if you have not 42 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:02,480 surrendered your life to Him, my hope is that you will see a better way to live 43 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:07,400 your life by the time that we are done this morning. But the first thing that 44 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:12,080 we need to understand in order to not fall back into our old ways is we need 45 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:18,560 to remember our failure. What Paul is referring to here when he references the 46 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:25,240 Gentiles is not that we have to convert to Judaism in order to be a believer but 47 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,920 when he references the Gentiles he's saying there was a time when the Gentile 48 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:35,840 people were cut off from the promise. We who are Gentiles were weren't foreigners 49 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:42,240 to the covenant of promise. There was a time that we didn't have hope but now 50 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:46,880 because of Jesus we've been grafted into the promise. Now because of what he has 51 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:52,880 done for us we are now coheirs with Christ. And so Paul is reminding them, 52 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:59,720 hey don't go back to a time when you didn't have Jesus. Paul is saying don't go 53 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:05,720 back to living the life you did before you understood the promise, before you 54 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:11,440 were redeemed. Now the word futility is the very same word that we find in the 55 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:16,800 Greek version of the Old Testament particularly in the book of Ecclesiastes 56 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:23,120 where Solomon describes the futility of living a life that's apart from God. 57 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:31,040 There the same word is translated meaningless vanity futility depending 58 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:36,960 on what translation you are reading. Now those are all good words those are all 59 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:42,280 good words to use to describe the emptiness of a life that is a part from 60 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:49,000 God. If at the end of the day you feel like your life lacks meaning, if at the 61 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:54,120 end of the day you feel like your life lacks purpose it is potentially because 62 00:05:54,120 --> 00:06:00,920 you are not walking with the Lord. What was your life like before salvation? 63 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:07,120 Where would you be if he didn't save you when he did? Now thankfully I grew up in 64 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:14,720 the church. I was saved at a young age much like Jensen. My wife Sina has been 65 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:19,880 working on getting her license as a biblical counselor. She has been learning 66 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:25,480 about all the different temperaments that are involved with that make up each 67 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,880 and every one of us. It's just how God wired us to be. Now I highly recommend 68 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:34,160 that you make an appointment you know with Sina Haggadorn different Sina but 69 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:38,760 that's always confusing to me. I don't know if my Sina is the other Sina or Sina 70 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:43,360 Haggadorn. I don't know but there's two Sina's go go make a appointment with Sina 71 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:48,840 Haggadorn and help so she can help you understand what your temperament is. But 72 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:56,200 in her study my Sina has learned that I have a temperament that is similar to 73 00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:06,960 every dictator that you read about in history. Names like Hitler and Stalin 74 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:16,600 are compared to the temperament that I have. She has also said that the people 75 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:22,200 with my temperament have to come to faith at an early age or it's very rare 76 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:28,160 that they will do so unless something drastic happens in their life. For 77 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:33,720 instance the Apostle Paul is used is described with somebody that has my 78 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,920 same temperament as well. But he came to faith later in life how did that happen? 79 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,640 He had to be blinded knocked off a horse and had to see Jesus face to face. 80 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:47,800 Right? And so I may not have a long history of not walking with the Lord but 81 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:52,480 the more that Sina is sharing these things with me the more I'm grateful for 82 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,720 my salvation. Now I don't want to go down in history as a terrible person who 83 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:02,080 uses people to get what they want. So when I think about life with Christ it 84 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:07,720 isn't so much what he what are where I came from it's look at what he saved me 85 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:14,120 from becoming. Look at what he redeemed me from becoming. Paul is reminding us to 86 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:23,800 think about that. If you didn't have your salvation where would you find hope 87 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:31,640 when things go bad? If he didn't step in and protect you where would your what 88 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:36,680 would your life look like now? Maybe some of you have stories of radical life 89 00:08:36,680 --> 00:08:41,880 change. Radical life change like Paul when it comes to the Lord and how he saved 90 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:48,480 you. Others might have a story where you were saved out of a religion and you 91 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:55,280 felt the burden weakened and weak out of never being able to do enough. All of 92 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:59,800 your work to be righteous was never good enough and people made you feel like a 93 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:08,200 failure. If you are able to remember your life before redemption you have a 94 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:12,440 better chance of recognizing the pitfalls that got you there so that you 95 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:17,640 can avoid them. Remember your failure. Next we need to recognize the process of 96 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:23,720 how this works. I say it all the time that you're not gonna wake up one day 97 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:29,960 and be this holy person right that knows all these things about God that has a 98 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:34,240 really close relationship with them and is willing to die for their beliefs. It's 99 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:40,040 a daily process of seeking after him. It's a daily process of understanding his 100 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:44,960 heart. The same thing is true for living a life of futility. You aren't gonna 101 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:51,080 wake up one day with a heart and heart towards God. It's a gradual process. I 102 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:56,560 want us to see the process by looking at another one of Paul's letters. So if you 103 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,760 have your Bibles we're gonna read from Romans chapter 1 here in just a second. 104 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:14,160 I'm gonna start in verse 18. I'll give you a second to turn there. Paul says in 105 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,240 verse 18 in chapter 1, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all 106 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:23,120 ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the 107 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:28,560 truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it 108 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:33,720 to them. For his invisible attributes namely his eternal power and divine 109 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:38,160 nature would have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in 110 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:43,640 the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew 111 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,920 God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him but they became futile 112 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:52,160 in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise 113 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:56,400 they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images 114 00:10:56,400 --> 00:11:01,240 resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God 115 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:05,640 gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity to the dishonoring of 116 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:09,720 their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth of God for a 117 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:14,960 lie and worshiped and served creature rather than the Creator who is blessed 118 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:21,000 forever. Amen. So when you look at this passage of Romans chapter 1 and you put 119 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:25,520 it next to this passage in Ephesians we begin to see the process more clearly. 120 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:33,920 The first step is Revelation. This is where God reveals Himself to us in some 121 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:39,760 way. Maybe it's through creation. Maybe it's here on a Sunday morning or you have 122 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:46,960 some exposure to His Word where you which contains truth. Every single person on 123 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:53,120 the face of this earth has been exposed to God in some way. God has revealed 124 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:58,200 Himself through a sunset, through a mountain range or He has placed people in 125 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:04,080 your life that have spoken the truth of His Word and every single one of us has 126 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:10,760 to deal with it in some way. You either have to accept it or reject it. Now if 127 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:15,520 you don't accept the revelation that leads us to the next step in the process 128 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:22,240 which is rejection. Now as Christians we don't have a hard time recognizing the 129 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:27,920 fact that believers have rejected the truth of God. That's easy to see. But 130 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:32,680 remember that Paul is writing here in Ephesians not to unbelievers but to 131 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:38,560 Christians and he seems to be warning us against doing the very same thing. There 132 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:44,680 are going to be times in your life that you will be tempted to reject a 133 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:48,680 revelation from God. I'll give you an example of how I have been guilty of 134 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:55,840 that. This year has been a tough year for my family. I lost two good friends 135 00:12:55,840 --> 00:13:01,760 earlier this year back to back. I have one teenager and another one not too far 136 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:10,800 behind so there's that. My son was diagnosed with a non-working thyroid 137 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:16,800 and then less than two months later we almost lose him to diabetes. I have 138 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:22,080 been lied to. I've been accused of things that are simply not true plus not 139 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:27,800 very many things this year have gone very easy. It's like we get back on our 140 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:39,560 feet only to get knocked back down again. Anybody else been there? I have rejected 141 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:47,840 the revelation of God at times because I begin to wonder why me? What have I done? 142 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:53,640 When in reality I shouldn't be surprised by any of it because God's word says in 143 00:13:53,640 --> 00:14:01,160 this world you are going to have trouble. James says to count it all joy as you 144 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,880 face various trials and I'll be real honest with you I haven't counted 145 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:12,600 everything as joyful. That is rejection of God's revelation to me because I 146 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,800 shouldn't be surprised by any of it because he promised me it would happen. 147 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:22,520 But if you are surprised by it that leads to the next step which is spiritual 148 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:28,880 ignorance. Spiritual ignorance gets reflected in our actions. Sometimes I 149 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:35,280 think we unwittingly push unbelievers away from the church because we expect 150 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:40,320 them to speak and to act like Christians. We expect them to fit into some mold 151 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:46,600 that we've created but they just are not capable of doing that. But the same 152 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:51,640 thing can certainly happen to us as followers of Jesus too. Once we choose 153 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:56,840 to reject the truth of God we begin to develop spiritual ignorance in our 154 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:02,840 lives as well. We begin to lose hope in the goodness of God. We begin to think 155 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:07,960 that we are being punished. We can even begin to think or be unaware of the 156 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:13,480 good things that God gives us each and every day. If we fail to see the 157 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:19,120 spiritual reality of our lives every single day then that could lead us to 158 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:24,600 the next step which is the hardening of our hearts. Now the word hardening is a 159 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:29,720 word that means to cover with a callus. When I was working as an 160 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:34,920 electrician years ago and I formed this really thick callus on the inside of my 161 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:40,240 fingers. I mean after months and months and months of just turning wire nuts on 162 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,680 to a bunch of wires over and over again it just kind of built up this really 163 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:47,640 thick skin on the inside of my fingers to the point where I just didn't have any 164 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:51,560 feeling there. If you lift weights or work with your hands you know exactly 165 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:56,960 what we're talking about. That's exactly the picture that Paul is using here. The 166 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:03,880 more we reject the truth of God and the more that we become spiritually 167 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:12,800 ignorant the more calloused or hard our hearts get. And the more calloused they 168 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:20,760 get the harder it is for us to even sense just how far away from God we are 169 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:27,480 getting. Think about Pharaoh in the Old Testament in the book of Exodus. Pharaoh 170 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:32,680 saw the revelation of God didn't he? Moses comes tells him who God is. He heard 171 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:39,200 it, rejected it. He saw God's revelation through all these plagues. He rejected it. 172 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:48,480 He didn't accept it. And the Bible says that his heart became hard. He saw it and 173 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:56,200 rejected it. Is your heart hard towards the things of God? Is your heart hard 174 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:02,320 towards people? If the answer is yes to either one of those questions it will 175 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:09,680 disrupt the unity of our church. If you don't begin to soften your heart it can 176 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:16,520 eventually lead to the last step which is separation from God. Again we can we 177 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:21,080 can easily see this in unbelievers who want absolutely nothing to do with God 178 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:25,960 but the same is true the same danger is true for those of us that claim to be 179 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:32,360 followers of Jesus. The more hardened our hearts become the harder it is for us to 180 00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:38,120 even sense the separation that results from us turning away from God. We don't 181 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:43,840 even see it. If we don't break the process somewhere along the way we will 182 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:49,040 inevitably come to a point where God will just turn us over to our sinful 183 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,800 desires. I mean that's what we just read about in Romans chapter 1. We come to the 184 00:17:53,800 --> 00:18:00,240 point that we have completely lost all sensitivity that we no longer even care 185 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:09,280 if others see us live the sinful lifestyle. Are you in the cycle headed 186 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:23,200 towards separation from God? Now keep in mind this is not God leaving you but 187 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:28,840 this is you choosing to live a life that does not honor him. This is you turning 188 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:34,840 your back on him and failing to surrender to his ways. If you are on this 189 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:41,200 cycle if you feel like you are separated from God if you feel like you've 190 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:45,640 disappointed him if you feel like you failed him if you feel like you're 191 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:50,800 spiritually ignorant I want to remind you that there is nothing that you can 192 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:57,200 do or will do or have done that can separate you from the love of God but 193 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:02,040 you have to know where you are in the process in order to get out of it. You 194 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:08,880 have the choice this morning Paul is outlined the process which which is 195 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:15,680 revelation from God and you can choose to accept it or reject it. Those are your 196 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:21,000 only options. Are you going to continue to walk in spiritual ignorance or are 197 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:26,520 you going to get plugged in to see how we can help you? Are you going to continue 198 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:31,160 to live with a hard heart or are you going to begin to pray that God would 199 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:37,600 soften it? The easiest way for you to get stuck in the process that leads to 200 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:44,800 separation from God is to not be attached to his body the church. I'll say it 201 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:49,280 until it sounds like a broken record but you need to be in a discipleship 202 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:55,280 relationship. You need to do life with people in a way that makes you more like 203 00:19:55,280 --> 00:20:00,800 Jesus. This isn't a show up on Sunday and leave and never touch base again that's 204 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:08,760 not how this thing works. You need to do life with people. We have blind spots and 205 00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:14,040 we need other people to point them out to us. Maybe you can relate to 206 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:22,280 this. There's been many times many times that I have been driving 207 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:29,680 somewhere and my sweet wife is sitting next to me and we're just kind of 208 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:39,680 cruising down the road and my wife will have this big gasp and flinch gets my 209 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:44,000 attention immediately right? I'm focused on what I'm doing I'm looking around I 210 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,600 got both hands on the wheel now right? I'm like what's happening what am I 211 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:56,920 missing? I forgot my chapstick. Any of your other wives do that? It's like this 212 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:01,640 big this big source of panic that we forgot chapstick and but it makes me 213 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:12,960 think that somebody's about to hit us. Many times that happens. My point is is 214 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:17,680 that even when she's doing that she's helping me focus all of my attention on 215 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:22,960 our journey so that we are safe. Now not everything is an oncoming car sometimes 216 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:28,920 it's I forgot my chapstick but she helped me focus. We need people in our 217 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:35,600 lives to help us regain our focus as we journey with the Lord. Finally the third 218 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:41,400 step to not walking in our old ways we need to renew our minds. Paul tells us 219 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,400 in Romans 12 that we should not conform to the pattern of this world but be 220 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:51,960 transformed by the renewing of our minds. If we don't want to get back to where we 221 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:57,840 once were and conform to the pattern of this world it has to start with our 222 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:04,200 thoughts. What's going on in your mind? I have to renew my mind daily. Now obviously 223 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,960 that is a topic that we could spend several weeks on. We could we could 224 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,080 break down different characteristics but but let me leave you with just one 225 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:17,720 practical step that you can take this morning. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 226 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,760 that we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge 227 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:29,240 of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ. So how do I do that? How do 228 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:36,480 I take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ? As thoughts come into 229 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:44,200 my mind as thoughts come into your mind we have to evaluate those things and we 230 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:49,160 have to determine is this thought in fact consistent with Jesus is it 231 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,720 consistent with his word is it consistent with what he's telling me? If my 232 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:59,760 thought meets that standard then I allow it to enter through my mind and I allow 233 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:06,880 myself to dwell on it. But if that thought is not consistent with Jesus if it's 234 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:11,120 not consistent with his word then I need to reject it but that's only the first 235 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:15,480 step. Once we reject it we have to replace it with something that's consistent 236 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:22,760 with the truth. The truth is is that even though I hated to see my boy sick in a 237 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:32,840 hospital bed the truth is he doesn't belong to me. Years ago when he was a 238 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,240 baby we stood before our church we stood before the Lord and we dedicated him 239 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:42,360 back to the Lord. I don't know the amount of hair he has on his head but God 240 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:47,640 does. I don't know how many days he's going to live on this earth but God does. 241 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:52,680 I don't get to decide the boundaries in which he lives the rest of his life but 242 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:59,560 God does. I have to trust that the God who knows when every bird falls out of 243 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:05,800 the sky can take better care of my boy than I can. That's the truth I have to 244 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:11,040 hold on to. I had to renew my mind I had to take some thoughts captive because the 245 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:16,320 thoughts I had going through my head a couple weeks ago were not good thoughts. 246 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,760 Too many people and maybe you're in this room too many people live their lives 247 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:27,960 like God makes mistakes. They let Satan take over and they fail to trust the 248 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:32,120 promises of God. I've heard too many people say that the world would be a 249 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:41,840 better place without them. God didn't think so because he created you. He placed 250 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:47,960 you here with purpose. I've heard too many people say that they are worthless. 251 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:56,720 God didn't think so. He sent his son to die in your place. He says through the 252 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:01,800 prophet Isaiah that you are precious and honored in his sight. You need to 253 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:08,200 renew your mind. Again you can't you can't do this on your own. You need others 254 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:12,320 to walk beside you. You need others to speak life into you and speak these 255 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:18,920 truths over your life. There are times when you need an errand and a hur to 256 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:24,960 hold up your hand so that you can be victorious. There are times when we need 257 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:31,040 those people. If you are tired and weary. If you are at the end of your rope 258 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:36,280 maybe you need to sit down and let others carry this load for you for a 259 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:46,440 season. We are not created to handle this life on our own. We need others. You can 260 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:52,560 begin to renew your mind by stop putting yourself as number one. Stop being 261 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:59,920 selfish. Although our culture urges us to look after number one. Paul has 262 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:04,760 consistently emphasized throughout this his letter that the church is a body 263 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:10,840 where every member is a part of the body for the overall good of the body not 264 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:16,000 just for themselves. Obviously now we receive many benefits from being part 265 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:20,360 of the body. We receive many benefits from being plugged in and attached and 266 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:26,320 as you're an integral part of the body that's fantastic but the body does not 267 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:32,440 exist to serve my needs. It doesn't exist to serve your needs. It exists to serve 268 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:39,160 the purposes of the head which is Jesus. Every single thing that we do here. And 269 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,960 as we saw just a few minutes ago the last step in this process that leads to a 270 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:50,280 life of futility is that God eventually will give us over to our own selfish 271 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:57,520 desires when we become separated from God. And while that might seem like a 272 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:03,080 really good time. While that might seem like a lot of fun we soon will discover 273 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:08,280 the emptiness and the vanity and the meaninglessness and the futility of 274 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:16,160 that kind of life. So when I begin to to be overly self-centered we're all 275 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:20,880 guilty of it. When I begin to look at everything only in terms of what's in it 276 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:27,960 for me. How does that benefit me? That ought to be a warning signal to me. Red 277 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:32,120 lights better be going off that I'm on the road to a place that I don't want to 278 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:42,400 go. We can also renew our mind when we pay attention to our conscience. God has 279 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:46,200 given us a conscience to help us understand when we are violating His 280 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:54,840 standards. That's why when people commit acts when they are doing wrong they do 281 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,600 them in a manner that no one else will see that no one else would discover what 282 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:03,920 they are doing. I mean even unbelievers are usually not so brazen as to just 283 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:08,240 commit all these atrocious sins out in public. At least not at first right they 284 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:13,520 hide. When we continually go against what we know to be true and right when 285 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:17,600 we when we fail to go against what the Bible teaches it says our conscience 286 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:23,640 will be seared. Once that occurs it leads to the situation that Paul's 287 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:28,000 writing about here in verse 19 of chapter 4. Now although that word 288 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:34,320 sensuality is primarily used to describe sexual sin it describes an 289 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:42,360 uninhibited indulgence that is committed without shame without concern for 290 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:47,040 what others think and how they're affected. And as Paul points out once a 291 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:54,000 person gets to that point and they live a lifestyle characterized by 292 00:28:54,000 --> 00:29:00,200 sin they have a continuous lust for more. Just because we are followers of 293 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:07,320 Jesus Christ does not mean that we are immune to going that far. In fact we all 294 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:14,240 probably know fellow believers who allowed their consciences to be seared 295 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:19,200 and eventually ended up at a place where they were so ruled by their flesh so 296 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:25,480 ruled by their sin that they no longer tried to hide it. They just needed more 297 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:34,200 of it both in quantity and intensity in order to satisfy their selfish desires. 298 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:47,160 So will you take this passage as a warning? We are in danger of forgetting 299 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:58,320 and going back to our old way of life that had no hope and was pretty meaningless. 300 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:04,560 Remember that Paul was writing to Christians when he wrote this letter. 301 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:09,080 This is not him standing in a public square like in the book of Acts trying 302 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:15,360 to persuade non-believers to understand the truth. This is him talking to a 303 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:22,600 bunch of Christians and warning us that this is that we ourselves are in danger 304 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:31,640 of the same kind of lifestyle. The text is in the Bible. This text is in the Bible 305 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:36,480 because every single one of us is at risk for having our hearts hardened and 306 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:41,760 rejecting the things of God. We got to fight against it. Do you see that in any 307 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:47,680 area of your life where you're rejecting the things of God or your heart, your 308 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:53,960 heart is hardened? Maybe your heart isn't hardened towards God today but maybe 309 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:59,240 it's hardened towards somebody in this church. Maybe it's hardened towards 310 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:06,720 somebody in your family. I mean that's where it starts. That's how the enemy 311 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:11,120 works. We have to take every thought captive and replace it with a truth from 312 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:17,680 God's Word. So I'm going to pray for us. 313 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:23,200 And the worship team is going to lead us and I'm going to ask our prayer team to 314 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:33,880 be available. And I'm going to ask you to examine where you are in the process. 315 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:39,400 Every single one of us is on the process somewhere. It starts at revelation. We 316 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:46,320 either accept it or reject it. I'm going to ask you to remember the times that he 317 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:51,440 has been good to you, that he has been faithful to you and encourage you to give 318 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,200 him praise for that. 319 00:31:54,200 --> 00:32:11,760 In him we have purpose. In him we have hope. In him our life has meaning. If 320 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:16,760 you're going through life, not sure how to make it through the day, if you're 321 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:28,840 going through life miserable, I would encourage you to seek help today. We have 322 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:33,560 many women in this church that would love to walk with you. We have many women in 323 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:37,880 this church that will will join you on this journey that will help point out 324 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:41,080 these blind spots to you. 325 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:49,200 So as I pray, will you pray for yourself? Will you ask God to reveal where you are 326 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:55,600 in the process? Will you ask God to soften your heart towards him? If you've 327 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,920 never surrendered your life to him? 328 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:11,880 And you need all your questions answered? May you pray the prayer of the 329 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:18,240 dad who wanted his son healed? I believe you can do it but help, I'm struggling. I 330 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:23,240 believe, help my unbelief. Maybe that's your prayer today. So I'm going to pray 331 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:27,880 for us. We'll sing another song. I'm going to ask the prayer team to be available. So 332 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:33,200 maybe you respond by just sitting there in your seat asking the Lord to to 333 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:40,760 soften your heart. Maybe you come and you just help us help you. I can 334 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:44,120 pray with you. I'll be right over here. 335 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:54,480 Father God, I pray that as we sing, God, I pray that you will, I pray for soft 336 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:57,920 hearts. I pray that you will soften them. 337 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:08,400 God, help us be aware of where we would be without you. Help us remember where we 338 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:16,280 came from. Help us understand what you saved us from. So Father, I pray that your 339 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:22,240 spirit will just be in this place. I pray that your spirit will speak to our 340 00:34:22,240 --> 00:34:31,800 hearts. I pray that your spirit will convict us. So Father, we ask you to work 341 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:37,400 and we ask you to move and we ask you to change hearts and reveal where we are in 342 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:43,000 this process toward you. And help us remember that there's nothing that we 343 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:49,320 can do or have done that will separate us from you. So Father, I pray that you will 344 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:55,320 wrap us in your arms right now. I pray that you will speak to our hearts. I pray that you will change our lives.