WEBVTT 00:00:00.010 --> 00:00:02.649 Lord, we ask that as you delight to do as you've 00:00:02.649 --> 00:00:06.169 done for us countless times in our lives for 00:00:06.169 --> 00:00:09.089 our good. Would you please now, by the power 00:00:09.089 --> 00:00:12.429 of your spirit, open our hearts up to receive 00:00:12.429 --> 00:00:15.390 you, to receive what you have to say to us here 00:00:15.390 --> 00:00:18.929 and illumine this word for us, we pray. We need 00:00:18.929 --> 00:00:26.469 that work from you. In Christ's name. Amen. I 00:00:26.469 --> 00:00:28.149 don't know what a parent might find themselves 00:00:28.149 --> 00:00:31.670 saying to a grown up child when the grown up 00:00:31.670 --> 00:00:34.829 child is about to head off and get married. I 00:00:34.829 --> 00:00:38.609 have not been in that position. If it happens, 00:00:38.670 --> 00:00:40.950 I think I could imagine wanting to say something 00:00:40.950 --> 00:00:43.969 like this. And I'll imagine it said to a son 00:00:43.969 --> 00:00:46.189 rather than a daughter, because rather simply, 00:00:46.310 --> 00:00:49.320 I have a son and not a daughter. I can imagine 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:51.340 wanting to say something like, son, we have taught 00:00:51.340 --> 00:00:54.000 you to be a good man. We've taught you to be 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.140 loving and gentle. You've been taught that. And 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:01.740 son, you know, I see you living like that. You're 00:01:01.740 --> 00:01:05.340 not perfect, but you are loving and you are gentle. 00:01:06.819 --> 00:01:10.239 So son, as you head off into your new life, more 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:16.180 and more, just be like that more and more. You've 00:01:16.180 --> 00:01:20.810 been taught. You are doing so more and more. 00:01:23.549 --> 00:01:25.829 There might be all sorts of times in life, mightn't 00:01:25.829 --> 00:01:27.849 there, when we want to say that kind of thing 00:01:27.849 --> 00:01:30.290 to each other. You've been taught you are doing 00:01:30.290 --> 00:01:35.030 more and more. Isn't that pretty encouraging? 00:01:35.829 --> 00:01:38.329 I mean, it seems to me the tone of that is not 00:01:38.329 --> 00:01:40.969 the tone of a telling off, oh, come on, you've 00:01:40.969 --> 00:01:44.430 disappointed me again, pull your socks up. The 00:01:44.430 --> 00:01:48.319 tone is, it's a thumbs up. It's a keep going. 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:52.560 It's an I see you. I see you. I like what I see 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:59.340 more and more. And that is exactly the tone and 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:01.180 actually not just the tone. That is the substance 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:05.540 of what God says through the Apostle Paul to 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:09.300 the Christians in Thessalonica in in chapter 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:12.120 four in this first letter to the Thessalonians. 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:15.699 In fact, what Paul is doing in chapter four is 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:18.919 he picks up what he drops in at the end of chapter 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:22.819 three, and then he just dives into it a bit more 00:02:22.819 --> 00:02:25.319 deeply. At the end of chapter three, he's been 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:27.360 talking about the lives of these Christians, 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.919 about the quality of their lives. Just listen 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:35.520 to the last two verses of chapter three, verses 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:40.379 12 and 13. There he says, may the Lord make your 00:02:40.379 --> 00:02:44.409 love increase. and overflow for each other and 00:02:44.409 --> 00:02:47.909 for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 00:02:48.030 --> 00:02:52.250 May your love increase. Verse 13, may he strengthen 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:55.469 your hearts so that you will be blameless and 00:02:55.469 --> 00:02:59.650 holy in the presence of our God and Father when 00:02:59.650 --> 00:03:03.569 our Lord Jesus comes with his holy ones. He says 00:03:03.569 --> 00:03:05.610 that he wants two things in their lives, two 00:03:05.610 --> 00:03:08.810 things in our lives to increase and abound and 00:03:08.810 --> 00:03:11.370 be established and they are love for each other. 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:18.120 And holiness. And in our passage today, as he 00:03:18.120 --> 00:03:20.659 gets into chapter four, Paul keeps running with 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:22.879 those two topics of love for each other and holiness. 00:03:26.099 --> 00:03:28.219 Towards the end of our passage, he's going to 00:03:28.219 --> 00:03:31.580 talk about their love for each other. Before 00:03:31.580 --> 00:03:33.659 that, earlier in the passage, he talks about 00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:37.439 holiness. And what he particularly homes in on 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:42.090 is sexual holiness. So in our verses, that's 00:03:42.090 --> 00:03:43.330 what we've got. We've got these two sections. 00:03:43.449 --> 00:03:46.590 One to wait on sexual morality, sexual holiness. 00:03:47.810 --> 00:03:51.629 And then verses nine to 12 on love for each other 00:03:51.629 --> 00:03:54.270 in the church. That's how this passage is set 00:03:54.270 --> 00:03:59.490 up. Now, before I get into some of the details 00:03:59.490 --> 00:04:01.650 of that, I want to come back to where I started, 00:04:01.689 --> 00:04:06.300 because Paul. He leads into these two sections, 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:09.319 these two sections on sexual holiness and love 00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:11.840 for each other in the church. He leads into them 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:16.060 in the exact same way in each section. You have 00:04:16.060 --> 00:04:19.360 been taught, you are doing so more and more. 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:26.699 See that in verse one of chapter four. As for 00:04:26.699 --> 00:04:29.100 other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed 00:04:29.100 --> 00:04:33.350 you how to live in order to please God. As in 00:04:33.350 --> 00:04:38.910 fact you are doing. Now we ask you and urge you 00:04:38.910 --> 00:04:44.110 in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. Paul 00:04:44.110 --> 00:04:46.230 had spent time with them, hadn't he? He taught 00:04:46.230 --> 00:04:48.290 them the word of God. He taught them the will 00:04:48.290 --> 00:04:51.910 of God. He says here, we instructed you how to 00:04:51.910 --> 00:04:55.129 live in order to please God. You know what instructions 00:04:55.129 --> 00:04:57.089 we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 00:04:59.589 --> 00:05:03.529 You've been taught. And still in verse one, he 00:05:03.529 --> 00:05:07.910 says, as in fact, you are living. You are doing 00:05:07.910 --> 00:05:12.370 it. I know you are. And then third, the end of 00:05:12.370 --> 00:05:15.189 verse one. Now we ask and urge you in the Lord 00:05:15.189 --> 00:05:18.769 Jesus more and more. You see the pattern being 00:05:18.769 --> 00:05:23.430 taught are doing more and more. That's how we 00:05:23.430 --> 00:05:26.050 lead into the first section on sexual morality. 00:05:27.009 --> 00:05:30.069 And then. The second section on love for each 00:05:30.069 --> 00:05:33.449 other, we get the exact same pattern. Different 00:05:33.449 --> 00:05:39.889 words, same pattern. So verse 9. Now, about your 00:05:39.889 --> 00:05:43.569 love for one another, we do not need to write 00:05:43.569 --> 00:05:47.089 to you, for you yourselves have been taught by 00:05:47.089 --> 00:05:51.050 God to love each other. And in fact, you do love 00:05:51.050 --> 00:05:55.110 all of God's family throughout Macedonia. Yet 00:05:55.110 --> 00:05:58.839 we urge you, brothers and sisters. To do so more 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:02.120 and more. You see the pattern. You yourselves 00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:04.899 have been taught by God, he says, to love each 00:06:04.899 --> 00:06:07.720 other. What does he mean? How would they be taught 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:12.220 by God? Well, two ways. Through their ears. Paul 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:16.620 had been there. Paul had taught them. Through 00:06:16.620 --> 00:06:20.300 their ears and in their hearts. God had also 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:23.259 taught them through the Holy Spirit, whom he'd 00:06:23.259 --> 00:06:25.420 sent into them, prompting them, steering them. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:29.420 making it, as it were, internally in their souls, 00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:31.759 making it as plain as the nose on their face, 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:35.000 that they should love each other. They've been 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:38.920 taught. Then verse 10, he says, and in fact, 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:41.779 you do love all of God's family. They are doing 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:45.540 it. And third, verse 11, we urge you, brothers 00:06:45.540 --> 00:06:48.399 and sisters, to do so. There's the phrase again, 00:06:48.500 --> 00:06:50.180 more and more. Do you see it's the exact same 00:06:50.180 --> 00:06:52.579 pattern at the beginning of each section. Being 00:06:52.579 --> 00:07:02.120 taught, are doing. So more and more. Surely this 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:04.740 resonates with our experience of what it is to 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:07.180 live as Christians. At some point in the past 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:10.759 by someone, you were taught how you should live 00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:14.019 as a Christian. It's simple teaching. You're 00:07:14.019 --> 00:07:17.480 not likely to forget it. And in the areas Paul 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:19.160 is talking about here, of course, the teaching 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:24.459 is at root. Sex is for marriage between a man 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:28.329 and a woman. And other Christians are your brothers 00:07:28.329 --> 00:07:33.069 and sisters, and you've got to love them. Once 00:07:33.069 --> 00:07:35.189 that foundation of simple teaching had been laid 00:07:35.189 --> 00:07:38.889 in you, it kind of stuck, didn't it? You have 00:07:38.889 --> 00:07:41.709 not done the hard work that some people tragically 00:07:41.709 --> 00:07:44.910 do of trying to rip up that foundation and chucking 00:07:44.910 --> 00:07:46.509 it out because they want to live an entirely 00:07:46.509 --> 00:07:49.509 different kind of life now. No, you've been building 00:07:49.509 --> 00:07:51.389 on it. You've been building brick by brick, layer 00:07:51.389 --> 00:07:53.490 by layer. God has been building that in you. 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:58.019 It's not been perfect. Just to take that kind 00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:00.500 of building analogy a stage further. Sometimes 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:02.339 you can look at bits of your building and you 00:08:02.339 --> 00:08:04.899 can see they're starting to crumble. Maybe, frankly, 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:07.660 you've been actively taking a sledgehammer to 00:08:07.660 --> 00:08:11.160 bits of the building yourself. But you put the 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:13.740 sledgehammer down, you sort it out in God's strength, 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:19.560 you build again, you build some more. To the 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:21.779 Christian who resonates with that, God is saying 00:08:21.779 --> 00:08:25.750 to us in these verses, You are a follower of 00:08:25.750 --> 00:08:29.110 Christ. You are not having sex with someone you 00:08:29.110 --> 00:08:33.769 are not married to. You are not planning to have 00:08:33.769 --> 00:08:36.529 sex with someone you are not married to. When 00:08:36.529 --> 00:08:39.389 the temptation to enjoy thinking about sex with 00:08:39.389 --> 00:08:41.570 someone you're not married to jumps into your 00:08:41.570 --> 00:08:44.350 head, what do you do? Well, in the end, with 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:47.450 the Spirit's help, you work to put the danger 00:08:47.450 --> 00:08:54.279 into death. Love for others. You really do love 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:57.360 the Christian brothers and sisters sitting around 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:59.879 you here. You really do love the Christian brothers 00:08:59.879 --> 00:09:03.820 and sisters you sit with on a Sunday. OK, sometimes 00:09:03.820 --> 00:09:08.360 they drive you mad and you drive them mad. But 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:10.220 you are not ashamed out there in the world to 00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:13.940 be associated with them. You share your life 00:09:13.940 --> 00:09:15.940 with them, your time with them, your possessions 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:20.710 with them. If this is us, because we are Christians, 00:09:20.929 --> 00:09:23.110 what is God's message here? Is it not simply 00:09:23.110 --> 00:09:27.110 this? God says to us, you have been taught. I 00:09:27.110 --> 00:09:31.169 have laid good foundations in you. You know the 00:09:31.169 --> 00:09:34.649 teaching. You're not likely to forget it. You've 00:09:34.649 --> 00:09:36.750 got reliable teachers who go on teaching you. 00:09:36.830 --> 00:09:39.149 You've got the spirit in you to go on reminding 00:09:39.149 --> 00:09:47.179 you. Second, God says, I see you. I see. that 00:09:47.179 --> 00:09:52.940 you are walking now in the right way. In a world 00:09:52.940 --> 00:09:54.919 that thinks your sexual ethics are ridiculous, 00:09:55.360 --> 00:10:00.259 thinks they're harmful, I see how you live, says 00:10:00.259 --> 00:10:03.580 God. In a world that too often fosters friendships 00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:08.000 only when they benefit me, I see you giving out 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:09.740 to Christians and brothers and sisters when you 00:10:09.740 --> 00:10:11.779 have nothing to gain and it's only going to cost 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:19.980 you. Third, says God, So more and more. This 00:10:19.980 --> 00:10:22.600 is the right path. I have shown you. You have 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:26.120 found it. You are walking in it. Keep walking 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:32.200 in it. You know, as I was putting this sermon 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:34.919 together, I just had the sense that this first 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:37.220 section of the sermon, which is the longest section, 00:10:37.340 --> 00:10:41.759 that this first section, it just kind of felt 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:45.799 deeply ordinary. I looked at this and went, is 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:48.340 this going to set the world on fire? It just 00:10:48.340 --> 00:10:51.580 felt deeply ordinary and also deeply encouraging. 00:10:53.240 --> 00:10:57.820 I love the thought of someone taking this thought 00:10:57.820 --> 00:11:00.600 with them into the rest of their week. And this 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:03.860 being halfway through week 12, that's kind of 00:11:03.860 --> 00:11:07.200 quite a week for a lot of us. I love the idea 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:08.940 of someone taking this thought with them. God 00:11:08.940 --> 00:11:11.759 has laid down his teaching in me. He just has. 00:11:12.610 --> 00:11:14.429 I'm not in the business of ripping it up and 00:11:14.429 --> 00:11:18.490 chucking it out. He sees how I'm walking and 00:11:18.490 --> 00:11:21.210 he says it's good. It is not perfect. It is not 00:11:21.210 --> 00:11:23.570 the finished article, but he says I see and it 00:11:23.570 --> 00:11:31.470 is good. So now, please, Lord, for another few 00:11:31.470 --> 00:11:36.250 days, more and more of the same. More and more 00:11:36.250 --> 00:11:40.570 does not seem so crushing. But if you may have 00:11:40.570 --> 00:11:43.120 had some. experiences in life some encounters 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.360 some relationships where basically what there's 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:49.659 been is a tone of more and more come on more 00:11:49.659 --> 00:11:54.299 and more more and more and that's how often is 00:11:54.299 --> 00:11:58.279 that just crushing and debilitating but now here 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:02.500 when it's the lord god who says more and more 00:12:02.500 --> 00:12:06.460 but he has said to you first you know i've laid 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:09.980 the teaching down in you I see you living in 00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:15.240 it and it is good. When that Lord who was first 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:17.120 said those things, when he then says more and 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:21.399 more. Is that not encouraging? And not crushing? 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:30.259 So I've shown you here what God says to a church 00:12:30.259 --> 00:12:32.659 that is basically going well in these things, 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:38.529 in sexual morality, in love for each other. But 00:12:38.529 --> 00:12:41.049 now for the rest of my time, I'm just going to 00:12:41.049 --> 00:12:44.230 get into what Paul does as he spells out that 00:12:44.230 --> 00:12:48.129 first section on sexual morality. There isn't 00:12:48.129 --> 00:12:50.809 time for me to get into the details of what he 00:12:50.809 --> 00:12:54.730 says on love for each other. And in that first 00:12:54.730 --> 00:12:58.289 section on sexual morality, I'm going to focus 00:12:58.289 --> 00:13:04.019 on God's message here to a Christian. Who, through 00:13:04.019 --> 00:13:06.899 this sermon so far, has been thinking to themselves, 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:10.840 well, in that first section of the passage, if 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:13.759 I'm honest, I'm not sure I am going so well in 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:17.779 these things. I'm not sure the Lord would look 00:13:17.779 --> 00:13:22.980 at me and say, you are doing. In this first section 00:13:22.980 --> 00:13:29.480 on sexual morality. There can be many scenarios 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:32.259 here, can't there? Maybe this might be one in 00:13:32.259 --> 00:13:34.279 the life of a Christian. And I'm not picking 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:36.720 this scenario at random. This is exactly the 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:39.139 situation that a Christian I know has been in 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:43.419 recently. Out of the blue, an old flame from 00:13:43.419 --> 00:13:47.740 the past got in touch. And it was fairly evident 00:13:47.740 --> 00:13:49.779 to the Christian that if they responded to this, 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:54.179 one thing may well lead to another. Because that's 00:13:54.179 --> 00:13:56.559 what the other wanted. And we know, don't we, 00:13:56.580 --> 00:13:58.879 that phrase, one thing leads to another, what 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:03.179 that can mean sexually. A Christian receives 00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:05.059 that message and frankly, they quite like the 00:14:05.059 --> 00:14:08.519 thought. They get quite a lot of pleasure from 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:11.019 the thought of what a response to this message 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:15.019 might lead to. And so right now, a Christian 00:14:15.019 --> 00:14:19.320 in that situation may well think God is not looking 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:24.889 at me in this area with the thumbs up. Well, 00:14:24.950 --> 00:14:27.809 what the Lord gives us here in these opening 00:14:27.809 --> 00:14:31.250 verses of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, what he 00:14:31.250 --> 00:14:37.990 gives us is five motivations, five spurs, five 00:14:37.990 --> 00:14:44.669 reasons from the Lord not to reply to that out 00:14:44.669 --> 00:14:47.610 -of -the -blue message open to the possibility 00:14:47.610 --> 00:14:52.049 that one thing might lead to another. Anyone 00:14:52.049 --> 00:14:54.610 who needs particular strength from the Lord in 00:14:54.610 --> 00:14:57.690 this area right now? Well, you could pick out 00:14:57.690 --> 00:14:59.190 one of these five. I'm going to set them out 00:14:59.190 --> 00:15:01.190 for you. You could pick out one of these five 00:15:01.190 --> 00:15:04.090 that just kind of hits you. That's what you need 00:15:04.090 --> 00:15:06.950 to cling on to. Or maybe kind of you just let 00:15:06.950 --> 00:15:11.529 the weight of the five wash over you as a kind 00:15:11.529 --> 00:15:14.590 of a summary of the Lord's strength for you in 00:15:14.590 --> 00:15:20.710 this. First, if one thing did lead to another, 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:23.679 Well, that is simply how people live when they 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:30.080 do not know God. Verse 5. Not in passionate lust 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:36.279 like the pagans who do not know God. When we 00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:38.960 know God, we know that he is utterly faithful 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:42.159 to us, know he is utterly holy, know how he utterly 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:45.399 desires and works for us to share his holiness. 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:49.720 How can we live like people who just don't know 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:58.580 him? Second, it harms others. Verse six. And 00:15:58.580 --> 00:16:01.840 that in this matter, no one should wrong or take 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:05.500 advantage of a brother or sister. You may well 00:16:05.500 --> 00:16:08.379 have experienced, as I have done, people in an 00:16:08.379 --> 00:16:12.340 adulterous relationship who are telling themselves 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:15.820 this harms no one. And everyone around them, 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:17.659 especially those caught in the crossfire, know 00:16:17.659 --> 00:16:25.039 that that is a lie. Third, God simply condemns 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:30.000 it. Verse six, the Lord will punish all those 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:36.919 who commit such sins. Fourth, it's just not our 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:40.159 calling from God. It's not what he's called us 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:43.659 into. Verse seven, for God did not call us to 00:16:43.659 --> 00:16:51.279 be impure, but to live a holy life. If this isn't 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.220 too flippant a way of putting it, being holy 00:16:53.220 --> 00:16:57.159 is not a nice to have in our calling from the 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:01.000 Lord. Holiness in these sexual things is not 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.940 an add -on extra to our faith for the super keen, 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:08.440 like heated seats in a new car if you fancy them 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:12.819 and can afford them. It is just the very essence 00:17:12.819 --> 00:17:16.019 of who we are and how we are called, what we 00:17:16.019 --> 00:17:22.619 are called to. And fifth, sex outside its proper 00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:29.619 place disregards God. It ignores, it ignores, 00:17:29.700 --> 00:17:34.160 it works against the reality that God has already 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:38.059 put something into us. He has put into us his 00:17:38.059 --> 00:17:42.099 own holy presence and his own holy power. Verse 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:46.220 eight. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction. 00:17:46.940 --> 00:17:50.799 does not reject a human being, but rejects God, 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:57.980 the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit. I 00:17:57.980 --> 00:18:01.359 know we know this. In us as Christians is who? 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:08.480 The Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Ignoring that message 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:11.559 that pops up on your phone, where one thing might 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:13.960 lead to another, choosing to ignore that and 00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:16.480 walking away. What are you doing when you do 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:19.140 that? From the perspective of verse 8, what you 00:18:19.140 --> 00:18:22.359 are doing is you are just living in line with 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:26.119 the presence and the power of God who is in you. 00:18:28.180 --> 00:18:30.819 You're going with the grain of what God has built 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:33.940 into your life. You're walking within the power 00:18:33.940 --> 00:18:41.059 that God has already poured into your life. So 00:18:41.059 --> 00:18:44.000 five strengthening things here from the Lord 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:48.230 to help us. Maybe one of them jumps out as just 00:18:48.230 --> 00:18:51.910 what we need. Maybe kind of the five work together 00:18:51.910 --> 00:18:56.109 as it were to overwhelm us again. Holding us 00:18:56.109 --> 00:19:03.190 in holiness. Calling us back into holiness. And 00:19:03.190 --> 00:19:04.970 particularly calling us back when the temptation 00:19:04.970 --> 00:19:11.470 is strongest. There's the temptation. But now 00:19:11.470 --> 00:19:13.230 that is how people live when they don't know 00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:18.589 God. But I do know him. If I do this, I will 00:19:18.589 --> 00:19:22.750 harm someone. The God who I trust with everything 00:19:22.750 --> 00:19:29.190 else in my life, he condemns this. How wonderful 00:19:29.190 --> 00:19:33.109 to be called by the God of the universe to be 00:19:33.109 --> 00:19:38.630 something. And this is not his calling. If I 00:19:38.630 --> 00:19:42.289 do this, I will disregard the one I love most 00:19:42.289 --> 00:19:45.839 of all. Whose own spirit of holiness is in me. 00:19:49.059 --> 00:19:51.000 My goodness, there is an awful lot here, isn't 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:53.759 there, with which to feed our own souls and to 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:58.299 feed each other's souls. Let me leave a moment 00:19:58.299 --> 00:20:01.079 for your own private prayer. Then I'll close 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:44.680 with a prayer for all of us. Our loving Lord, 00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:47.339 we know and believe that your words to us are 00:20:47.339 --> 00:20:52.019 truth and life and power. We want to walk in 00:20:52.019 --> 00:20:55.579 them. We praise you for every area of our lives 00:20:55.579 --> 00:20:59.720 where by the teaching you've laid down, by your 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:02.119 constant strengthening of us in the power of 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:06.640 the Spirit, we are walking in them. Keep us in 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:11.240 this. Call us back to this. Day by day, evermore 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:14.309 we pray. In Christ's name. Amen.