[0:00] Good morning, and it's good to be home. Thank you for your prayers for our trip. I don't have time to go into detail because we have communion this morning, but I'll try to get back to you with some more details later.
[0:13] And I think there'll be pictures online if my wife and Jeff have their way. Those two can move the world. There'll be some pictures up, hopefully. But thank you for your prayers. It was a retreat. We did not go on vacation.
[0:30] It was not vacation. It was not a place to go away and get refreshed. It was work. We had fun, but it was work. We did a retreat for a church, and that much I can tell you today without taking too much time and spent time with these young people, and my goodness, and ran around the UK visiting missionaries.
[0:51] So fill you in more later. John chapter 8 is where we are once again, verses 31 to 36. Father, as we come to your word, we come to hear, not just with our ears, but with our hearts.
[1:07] We want to do what is written. We want to live what is written. We want to know Jesus in what is written. For that is why we come to your word, that we might know you. Behold your glory. Be transformed and live as your people.
[1:21] We're not academics. We are the sheep of God, and we've come to be fed, O Lord. So feed us. Feed us. So that, Lord, we might be full. We might be nourished. And we might seek first the kingdom of God and see Jesus glorified in our day, in our time, in our places, in our homes. So, Lord, use your unworthy servant, sheep shepherd that he is.
[1:53] Use him to proclaim the truth in a way that your people can see it and hear it and follow it. May Jesus get all the glory, for he deserves it. Amen.
[2:04] Amen. John 8, beginning at verse 31. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
[2:18] They answered him, We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, anyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
[2:34] The slave does not remain in the house forever. The son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's offspring, yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.
[2:50] I speak of what I have seen with my father, and you do what you have heard from your father. I read a little bit further on, but amen. That is the word of the Lord. You may be seated.
[3:04] And let me again thank those gifted preachers who stood in this pulpit while I was gone. Dr. Carl Ellis, my big brother, and Dr. Irwin Inns, my other big brother.
[3:16] I'm surrounded by doctors. I guess I need help. And so grateful to them. And Carl's message was so apropos for what we experienced.
[3:27] I'll tell you about that some other time. I know I've mentioned quite a few times that I used to work in psychiatry, clinical psych teams in Philadelphia as a recreation therapist.
[3:40] And I'm going back to that in a minute just now as I'm thinking. I remember working with addicts for many years. Not just in the hospitals, in the psych units and places I worked, but certainly in the church.
[3:56] And while I wholeheartedly believe that when it comes to addiction, there are biological, psychological, and even sociological reasons for substance addiction.
[4:14] I believe the Bible, though, shows us the greatest problem is idolatry. For the addict believes she will find life in the substance.
[4:28] It becomes her life. That's always the greatest issue. That's why we need the scriptures. We need the spirit of God.
[4:40] We need the gospel. Because at the root of our addictions is idolatry. Sin is like that in all of us.
[4:54] It enslaves us. Sin meaning rebellion against God. Sin meaning telling God, I don't need you. Or if you're churched, I need Jesus, but I need...
[5:15] It enslaves us. Our hearts are all crying out for freedom. But where are we seeking freedom? I'm so glad God heard our cry.
[5:27] Where like the Israelites, when they were enslaved in Egypt, they cried out to God. And when God sends Moses, the message is, I've heard you.
[5:39] I've heard your cry. Are you crying out? The Son has come that all who trust in him might be free. But are you walking in the freedom that the Son has won for you?
[5:55] I'm seeing more and more today that Christians are not walking in freedom. Remembering that I can't do a full review.
[6:07] So just remember where we are in this passage. We've been seen as a disciple of Jesus abiding in his word. That is living as his follower.
[6:19] We become more and more acquainted with truth, he says. You will know the truth, he says. We have a new identity.
[6:34] We are no longer the same people. We are disciples now. If you are truly my disciple, he says, you abide in my word and you will know the truth.
[6:45] We have a new identity. Disciple. And as we are living, abiding in his word, we become more and more acquainted with the truth.
[6:57] And that truth is found in the light of the world who is Jesus. Truth about everything. Truth about God. Truth about you. Truth about me.
[7:08] Truth about our culture. Truth about creation. We learn, we learn that he exposes the idolatries, the false gods or the God substitutes that in all of our lives that we fight with.
[7:25] Things that we turn to, instead of turning to Christ, we turn to that or them. And thinking they will give us freedom. Thinking they will save us and deliver us. And what they do is they end up enslaving us even more.
[7:37] He shines the light on that. We become more aware of the truth. Because sin is a harsh taskmaster.
[7:49] It promises. It makes so many promises. Don't listen to those Christians. Don't, that Bible isn't, you need more than the Bible to guide your life.
[8:02] Don't listen to those people. If God wants you to be happy. It tells us these things.
[8:13] And we find that we're not as happy as we thought we would be. When we disregard the truth. So he signs light on all of this for us.
[8:27] And so we can, so he, we can live as his adopted children in freedom. Now let me, I want to, I want to camp on, I haven't done this yet. So today we want to do this. I want to camp on what it means to be, to walk in freedom.
[8:40] What does he mean to walk in freedom? Again, follow the statements. It won't be on the screen. So just listen carefully as you have learned to do, I'm sure. As you abide in his word, being a disciple, growing in truth, you experience greater freedom from sin.
[9:01] That's the punchline. That's the punchline that Jesus is communicating. But what is freedom from sin? We know it's not sinlessness.
[9:14] So what does he mean, freedom from sin? It does not mean you no longer struggle with sin, right? Because it actually means you will. It actually means you will.
[9:28] You actually become more aware of your sin as you grow as a disciple of Jesus. Things you didn't know were wrong before God came into your life, you now know they are. That is what is meant to humble you.
[9:44] Causing you to pray. Making you aware of how desperate you are for God's grace every day. You become more aware of how weak you really are.
[9:56] Before I met Jesus, I thought I was strong. I thought I was, I had it together. I was, I was healthy, wealthy wise. You know, I, I, I thought I, I thought I could do it.
[10:07] Like that little kid I told you about. I can do it. It's when I met Jesus that I found out that I'm really weak. And the more I grow in Jesus, the more weak I realize I truly am.
[10:19] Which brings me back to him. How much I need him. I'm desperate for grace. So, freedom from sin is not sinlessness.
[10:33] It's being actually more aware of your sin. But it, but, but freedom from sin means that sin's tyranny is no longer your identity.
[10:46] You hear me? Sin's tyranny is no longer your identity. Sin is no longer your greatest motivating factor. Sin's tyranny. Having it my way, Burger King addicts, is no longer my identity.
[11:07] Christ, freedom from sin means Christ is your identity. For in him, you are a new creation. He and his love becomes our greatest motivating factor for living.
[11:25] Now, the Lord, by his spirit, is going to elaborate on what he's saying here in different parts of the New Testament. So, that's what I'm doing now. I'm not proof texting.
[11:37] I'm moving on to show you how the rest of scripture in the New Testament fleshes out what Jesus means. By, you will be free indeed. Okay?
[11:47] Paul says it so wonderfully in 2 Corinthians 5, 17 and 18. You know this passage. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
[12:03] Right? The old has passed. The old life has passed away. Behold, the new. The new life has come. And then he says, all this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself.
[12:22] See, freedom means you are a new creation. Now, as a new creation, on the inside, you're still the same you on the outside.
[12:36] But on the inside, you want to believe. You want to love. And you want to do what Jesus wants you to do as your creator, Lord, and Savior.
[12:47] You have a new motivating factor. You've been made new. And Christ is that motivating factor.
[12:59] Before Christ set you free, you were a slave to sin. Your identity, alcoholic, gossip, drug addict, sex addict, gay, thief, murderer, ruthless, heartless, lawless, prideful, cowardly, arrogant.
[13:16] Those things were your identity. Your identity was tied up in them because you were spiritually dead.
[13:30] And you did those things. You entered into those things with little struggle. You might have even justified thinking and loving and doing them. It's how the world works. It's just how I am.
[13:41] I'm doing me. I'm doing me. And a society patting you on the back. And a society patting you on the back.
[13:54] Recreational drug use seems like freedom until it becomes addiction. Promiscuity seems like freedom until you want real love. Money seems like freedom until you wake up with bills, debts, and emptiness.
[14:12] Living for the approval of others seems like freedom because you have friends until you fall into self-pity, hurt feelings, envy, and a deep sense of inadequacy. If you're enslaved to success, even as a parent, it may seem good at first until you experience slavery to drivenness, fatigue, worry, fear, and lack of control.
[14:37] Parents, lack of control. Hold on tighter. Paul explains it this way when he's looking at what this freedom does for us with the gospel.
[14:52] 1 Corinthians 6, 9 through 11. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor adulterers, nor idolaters, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor practice, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
[15:19] Now here it is. And such were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified. Set apart for God. You were justified.
[15:30] Declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Woo! Such were some of me.
[15:41] Such were some of you. A new identity. He's come, and he's washed, and he's cleansed. You ever...
[15:53] I cut the grass the other day. Too much disgulf and too... I'm getting older now.
[16:04] Back hurts. Sweat. You know, you're going... And in Chattanooga, you got pollen stuff. And I got allergies. So when you're out there... Y'all know what I'm talking about. When you're out there cutting the grass, I forgot to wear a mask, y'all.
[16:16] Anyway, you get all sweaty. And when it gets warmer now, it's going to get hot, man. And you really get out there. And you're stinking. You're swelling. And you're going in the house.
[16:26] You're covered in grass and dirt flying on you. Grass all over you. You ever get really dirty? Man, there's nothing like getting nice, getting really dirty.
[16:37] And jumping into a beautiful hot shower with my favorite Bath & Body Works men's body wash. Yes, I'm bougie. Thank you very much. I travel with it too.
[16:50] But there's nothing like it. It suds well. I like sudsy stuff. I want suds, man. I'm sudsing. I've got to get the dirt off me. I'm sudsing. It's smelling good. And I'm in that hot shower.
[17:01] There's nothing like being dirty and getting clean. Come on, somebody. If you take a shower, say amen. It's nothing like it.
[17:13] That's what the gospel does. Such were some of us, but we've been washed. Oh, we've been washed. That's what the text says. We've been washed by the blood of Jesus, the only blood.
[17:27] The only blood that can cleanse you. Blood doesn't cleanse. You ever smell blood? Outside of your body, I mean.
[17:39] It don't smell good. When it dries and gets hot, blood stinks and stuff. No, but this blood, this is the only blood that cleanses and washes us clean because it washes our soul.
[17:52] You are set free by this blood, by this bath in Jesus. Set free to obey him. A weight is lifted off your soul.
[18:03] The grime is washed from your soul. He who the Son sets free is free indeed. Here's the kicker.
[18:15] Here's the kicker. Because of slavery to sin, we used to view God's law as bondage and sin as freedom. Ain't that a trip?
[18:28] It's like a man who's been in prison for 30 years since he was a youth. He has learned prison life. He knows how it works. When he gets out, he's confused and scared because he doesn't know how life works on the outside.
[18:43] The language is different. The rules are different. So what does he do? What does he do? He commits a crime so he can go back to the only world that he knows.
[18:54] He goes back to prison. He feels free there because in his heart he is still a prisoner. But he's not free. He's back in prison.
[19:07] Sin lies to us. We've been washed and set free. But if we're not walking in the truth, if we're not walking and listening to Jesus whisper in our ears what life is, what truth is, what reality is, if we're not letting him teach us what it means to be free, what happens is this new life seems like, oh, it gets nervous and sin looks good.
[19:32] And his call is calling. Come back to jail. Come back to jail. We're like the Egyptian, I mean the Israelites wanting to go back to Egypt because it's easier in Egypt.
[19:43] But it's not easier in Egypt. Egypt is slavery. But when you experience the forgiving love of Jesus, you're cleansed from the tyranny of sin.
[20:05] You're giving a new identity. Like the woman caught in adultery earlier in John chapter 8. Remember what Jesus says to her? Neither do I condemn you.
[20:15] Go and from now on sin no more. What was God? Sin no more. He didn't mean you must never sin or else. God's going to get you. Never sin.
[20:26] Never ever think a wrong thought. Do a wrong thing. He wasn't saying that. He had set her free, remember? All this hangs together.
[20:36] He had set us free. Set her free. Sin in her case was the love of a man who is not hers. That's no longer her motivating factor or idol.
[20:47] By setting her free, Jesus gave her a new love. A new love. Love for him.
[20:57] Love for the one who had accepted her and set her free. That's what freedom from sin ultimately is.
[21:10] It's a new love. Jesus becomes the greatest love of all in our lives. His love becomes the power and motivation to deal with sin in our lives and we're still dealing with it, brothers and sisters, and we have to deal with it.
[21:26] But he is the motivating factor. The one who sets you free is the one you love best. The one you love most.
[21:37] So because of this new identity, because of the tyranny being broken, we are not able to resist sin in Jesus' name.
[21:49] We can resist now. If you, I know the screen, so if you've been a screen cripple and you didn't bring a Bible, I'm going to test you now.
[22:01] Open your Bibles to Romans chapter 6. Now, if you don't have your Bible with you, you can start bringing it. If you don't have your Bible, that's not page 943 in the Pew Bible.
[22:12] 943. Now, I want you to turn here because this passage is huge for this discussion. It's huge for what Jesus is saying here. Once again, the New Testament fleshes out what Jesus is saying because Jesus wrote the New Testament through the apostles.
[22:24] Amen? That's what the Word of God is, the Word of Christ. Now, here's the big passage. I can't go through all of it, but here's the big text. That whole chapter is important, by the way, but I want you to start at verse 15.
[22:36] What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means. Grace doesn't give us license to sin.
[22:47] Do you not know that if you present yourself to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
[23:01] Thanks be to God. Hallelujah. Praise him that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.
[23:12] And having been set free from sin have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations.
[23:24] For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to lawlessness, leading to sanctification, Christlikeness, walking with Jesus, walking in the light.
[23:44] For you were once slaves of sin. You were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?
[23:57] Because the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin, have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and is end eternal life.
[24:15] For the wages of sin is death.
[24:45] When we, before we met Jesus, as I described earlier and last time, you were a slave of sin. You were, your will was held captive by sin.
[24:55] Sin was your taskmaster. You danced to its tune. But now in Christ, you are in Christ. You understand there's a difference, right? You're not, if you have put your faith in Jesus, if he has grabbed you for his own, revealed himself to you, and you've humbled yourself before him, crying out for his forgiveness and love.
[25:16] Do you understand? Something has been done to you. Something divine. Something powerful. Something real has been done to you. You've been moved out of the old kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light with the light of the world.
[25:32] And now you, you have, watch this, you have a new slavery. You have a new slavery. You're not slave to doing wrong now.
[25:44] You're slave to righteousness, he says. Read the text. You're slave to doing what God wants you to do. Remember, new motivating factor. Because of this, you are not able to resist sin.
[25:59] And he describes it as presenting the members, your members of your body as instruments of righteousness. Remember, we gave our body. And that includes our mind too, by the way.
[26:11] We gave our body, our mind, even the whole, enter our hearts to sin and disobedience to God and to self-centeredness. And now he says, because you will be a slave to someone.
[26:26] Either sin personified or God. And Jesus says, you're free. But I'm a slave. But you're free.
[26:38] You're free in him. Slavery in God is freedom. Because now you are, now you've been recreated to be the human being you were meant to be.
[26:51] God created us in righteousness. We fell, we rebelled, and now Jesus has come to bring us back. I think back on steroids, spiritually speaking.
[27:04] I think we get the better end of the deal than Adam and Eve. I really do. New heavens and new earth. Oh boy. Upgrade, upgrade. God doesn't, God is always improving.
[27:16] He's always showing us more and more, better and better. He doesn't improve himself because he can't. He's perfect. But he always shows us more and more, better and better. You are now a slave.
[27:28] Sarge, you are a slave to righteousness. You are, that's why Paul will say in Romans 12, present your body as a what? Ah.
[27:41] Yeah. That your body belongs to him. Yeah. Well, we are set free from sin's dominance. now we can make a choice.
[27:56] You see, before Christ came into my life, I didn't make any real choices when it came to sin. Now I make choices what shoe I'm going to wear, what place I'm going to live.
[28:06] I make, there are real choices we make. But listen, morally speaking, spiritually speaking, my choices were dictated by my sinfulness. I always chose away from God.
[28:19] And if that's you today, if you're not in Christ today, you're always choosing away from him. Jesus even, God says, our righteousness is as a filthy rag.
[28:33] So without him, without him, if we're relying on our resume to get us into heaven, if we're relying on being good to really make, making ourselves good, that is making ourselves good, to really change our lives, we're misinformed.
[28:51] The heart is deceitful above all things. Who can know it? We need a new heart. We need a transformation, not improvement.
[29:04] Transformation. And that's what Paul is describing. We present our members. We're slaves to God now.
[29:16] Tim Keller says, thus we see that slavery to God is the result of an active effort on our parts to act out what we know is true of us. Offering our members or parts of our body means we are to act in accordance with what the Bible tells us about reality.
[29:35] What does the Bible tell us about reality? You're no longer a slave to sin. So now, get on with it and present your body to God. Wake up every morning and say, I belong to you.
[29:49] I give myself to your will. I give my mind, my heart, my emotions. I give my actions, my speech, my thinking, everything. Lord, I present myself to you today.
[30:00] Take me and use me. Guide me. Guard me. Deliver us from evil and the evil one. You have a new motivation and an ability from God's spirit at working you, driving you to do God's will.
[30:19] You've been sanctified. You've been cleansed. You've been set apart for God's use by the sacrifice of Jesus for you. You're the good China. Remember, I've heard this many times.
[30:32] You know this. Every woman I know, every mother and wife I know has good China. You better not touch it, kids. Husband, boyfriend, whoever, you better not touch it.
[30:45] That's good China. You don't eat on the good China every week. The good China is sanctified. It's set apart for special use.
[30:55] That's what that means. God has taken his people as his good China. You're not for everyday common use anymore. You're for his use. The world used you.
[31:06] Sin used you up every single day. But now, you are his. You are slaves of righteousness. Now, you're the good China.
[31:16] And you're only for his use. And he wants to use you every single day for his glory. Amen. For his glory. Amen. And you're good. Present your members.
[31:29] You can do it. You can do it now. Not perfectly. Because remember, remember the cave? Remember the prison? We keep looking. And sometimes we take steps the wrong way and we fall.
[31:44] Yes, amen. High, but we get up because we're the good China. And we go on. We say, Lord, forgive us. And we go on presenting our bodies. But once again, Lord, I belong to you.
[31:58] Here's where our thinking goes wrong. We think that because we still desire sin, that sin still controls us. desire is no longer the same as control if you are joined to Jesus.
[32:20] If you're trying to lose weight by watching what you eat, all because you desire sugar does not mean you're less committed to losing weight. Did you follow me?
[32:34] Desire is not the same as control. If you're, let me say it again because some of you look a little bit, you're trying to lose weight. You're saying, okay, I'm on this eating plan the whole 30.
[32:49] I'm putting away sugar. And so you're, and so for 30 days, no sugar in your life. And so, but throughout those 30 days, you might still desire sugar.
[33:02] You may still want some sugar. But you have a new motivating factor in your life. You know, you need to lose 20 pounds. The doctor has said, Oh, Fox is not here.
[33:18] Anyway, the doctor has said you need to lose some weight. And that's your motivating factor because you know you're going to die. You know, it's bad things that are going to keep happening.
[33:28] So you try, so you are committed to losing weight. It will not mean you won't desire a donut. Matter of fact, at times, your desire for the donut might be intense, but because of the new motivating factor, you say no to donuts.
[33:42] Christians, yeah, there'll be times when you will desire sin. You will desire the old life.
[33:54] There'll be times. That doesn't mean you're still a slave because you have desires. It means you're a fallen human being like me. but the direction of your life has changed.
[34:10] And so you may desire it, but by the grace of God, you may find you have strength to not taste it. Oh, yeah, times you will fall, but you'll get up, like I said, and you go on in the same direction you were going with Jesus.
[34:28] Desires are not the same as control because you've been set free now. Before it was the same. Now it's not. You have a new controller in you.
[34:41] He's called the Holy Spirit. All right, quickly, how do we walk in freedom that Christ gives us? I've been saying some things and, well, just a few things to think about. First of all, how do you walk in freedom?
[34:53] Believe what Jesus has done for you. Stop listening to the devil. You are not the same old you. Stop identity identifying yourself by your sins. You are not what you used to be.
[35:08] You've been set free. You've been cleansed. You've been accepted by God forever, no matter what. Christ is your new identity. He is what's most important about you. He is the truth about you.
[35:23] He is your life. Not the old stuff. He is your life. Colossians 3, 3 and 4. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
[35:34] When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. That's Colossians 3, 3 and 4. Christ is your life, not your sin.
[35:44] If someone asks you who you are, what's the first thing that comes to mind? I'm an alcoholic. See, that works in AA.
[35:56] I've been there. I've seen, I've been in those meetings. Their identity is still their sin. That's not true of the believer. Stay with me.
[36:08] Listen, listen, I am a Christian who struggles with alcohol. I got to watch it. But I am not an alcoholic.
[36:19] That is not my identity. Christian people, will y'all please get this? As long as it becomes your identity, it keeps you enslaved. The first thing about you is you are a Christian.
[36:33] You are in Christ. I'm not saying you don't struggle. I just said you struggle. But that, your struggle, is not who you are. Somebody, I know you, I know you'll rock out the door and be mad at me.
[36:45] Okay. What? I'm staying with the scripture. You can be mad at me. I'm going to stay with the scriptures. And I love you. Who are you? Who are you really?
[36:56] Don't just say it. Who are you really? I'm a Christian. Who are you really? What's your motivating factor? What gets you up in the morning?
[37:10] What puts you to bed at night? What do you spend your money most? What motivates how you spend your money? Oh, that's a good, okay.
[37:21] I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Saturate your heart with Christ's word so that your spiritual muscle memory goes to his truth about you right away.
[37:35] There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8, 1 and 2. Second thing, believe and desire that Jesus makes you more into his image in every area of your life and struggle.
[37:56] Believe and desire that Jesus make you more into his image in your areas of struggle and life. Call upon him. He is, he's more, but he is our goal.
[38:12] He is our example. We are, he saved us to conform us. God saved us to conform us to the image of his son. That's Romans 8. That's what he saved you for to make you more like Jesus.
[38:25] So desire it. Want it. Pray for it. Ask him to give you desires for his good more than your desire for what harms you.
[38:38] Stay on your face before God. He is more beautiful and glorious and life-giving than anything else in all creation. And when you see that, you bask in his love and you use creation wisely.
[38:54] Oh, I gotta finish up here. Third, offer your body to God to do what is right. Offer yourself to God. We said that already. Present your body to him every day. Get up.
[39:07] Seek ways before God depending on Christ's love and power to practice, think, and desire what is right. Ask him to help you.
[39:18] Go to his word. Oh, boy. Okay. I gotta say this. Ephesians 4. Here's how Paul shows us how to do it. Present your members.
[39:28] Here's how he shows it. He shows it. The Bible tells us, guys. Ephesians 4, 25-29. Here's what he says. Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak truth of his neighbor.
[39:41] We are members of one another. That's falsehood. Be angry and do not sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. That's anger.
[39:52] Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands so that he may have something to share with those in need. Thievery. Let the correcting tuck come out of your mouths, but only such as good for building up as fistic occasion that it may give grace to those who hear how you talk.
[40:11] Now, notice what he says. If you have a tendency to lie, practice speaking the truth.
[40:26] Don't lie. Okay, I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. No! Practice speaking the truth. Jesus is, this is not rocket science.
[40:36] God is giving you, remember who you are, you have the spirit of God, he's working in you, that means you don't have to be afraid. So you can speak the truth in love. You can speak the, because the reason we lie is because we're afraid.
[40:50] But Jesus drives out fear. He's sovereign and in control of my life. So I can tell, I can speak the truth even about myself. Because I don't have to be afraid of you.
[41:01] my God's bigger than you. And your organization. And your government. Whoever you are, my God's bigger. Why should I fear you?
[41:11] I can speak the truth. Practice. Stop lying. He says, stop lying. Because that's fear. Because Jesus set you free, speak the truth. Practice speaking the truth.
[41:23] Watch this. Then he says, angry, anger. I can't control my anger. Okay. Yeah, yeah, you do it at work, don't you? Because you want to keep your job. Ain't that funny?
[41:37] I can't control my anger, but you keep your job, don't you? Go, go, treat your wife like your boss. Or treat your boss like your wife and see what happens. You know, it's foolishness.
[41:49] Be angry, do not sin. What do we do with our anger? Deal with it before the sun. Stop letting it fester. Don't let it fester because you're giving the devil an opportunity.
[42:02] Deal with your anger. Deal with it quickly. Don't, don't just let it fester. He says, you have the ability now to deal with it quickly by the Spirit of God.
[42:14] If you're a thief, get a job. work hard and give. I mean, I'm not going to steal.
[42:27] I'm not going to steal. No. Get a job. Understand work is a gift from God. Understand he's created you to work in. He's going to bless your work as he sees fit. You know, it's a different, put off, we call those put offs and put ons in counseling.
[42:43] If you have a habit of using your mouth evilly and gossip and slander and profanity, whatever, he says, check your tongue. Before you speak, will this build people up?
[42:56] Will it build them up? Will it give grace to those who hear? How can I give grace? Because I'm being reminded every day that I need grace. I'm walking in grace. I'm living in grace. I'm growing.
[43:06] Grace is my life. I'm accepted and loved by God every day. So now I can give you grace because I'm receiving the grace. I'm being reminded of this. I'm being reminded of this. Man. So, you can resist.
[43:27] But do you love Jesus? John Owen said, the great period in theologian, be killing sin or sin be killing you. What a thought.
[43:46] Stop trying to make friends with sin in your life. It's like you're living in a house and that house is a person who wants to kill you. That person is invisible.
[43:59] You don't see this person, but you know they're in your house. They have access to every single room in your house. You see things have been moved from time to time. You know the person is there.
[44:11] You can't see them and you know they want you dead and they're going to kill you. And they're just waiting for the right moment to take you out. What are you going to do? Try to make peace with someone who's committed to your death?
[44:27] Are you going to try to tolerate them? Are you going to try to ignore them, pretend they're not there? Or are you going to put on the black that the blackout and go hunting?
[44:46] Hmm? And you'll get him before he gets you. You're going warrior because you know it's no other way. Your back's against the wall.
[44:58] You got to go commando. No. Sin's in your house. It's all over. And some of us are trying to pet it.
[45:10] Like Icarus, fly as close to the sun as possible and your wings will melt. Stop playing with it. Deal with it.
[45:21] Because Jesus has set you free. He wants you free in your house. He's set you free and that is a good thing. He's come in the house to help you. He's in there with you to help you deal with all of that.
[45:33] He's going commando. He's the divine warrior. He's won the battle and we got to start walking in his victory and calling upon him.
[45:43] Yeah, we're going to fall. Yeah, we're going to fall. But we get up and we're going to deal because we are the people of Jesus and we have been called to be free. I want freedom.
[45:56] I want to walk in him. I want to walk in the light with him. I want to know my Jesus better. I want to know the Savior. I want to walk with him. Don't you? And isn't it wonderful that as you walk with him he helps you?
[46:09] I got you. He said, I got you. Yeah, I know you fell, but get up. Come on. Get back over here. Isn't it beautiful?
[46:20] He who the Son sets free is free indeed. Father, help us to walk in the freedom. Help us to stop playing.
[46:30] The culture keeps telling us who we are, but you told us who we are. Help us to believe it. Help us to present our bodies to you. Not to social media.
[46:42] Not to magazines. Not to what the culture says we should have and what. No, help us to present our bodies to you. Not to be used by anyone else or anything else, but be at your disposal.
[46:54] Help us to give ourselves to you every day to walk in the freedom that you've won. Help us. Help us, Father.
[47:05] In Jesus' name. Amen.