Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Wake Up and Get Dressed! │ Msg 3444

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Wake Up and Get Dressed! │ Msg 3444 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Let's just sit quietly in the Lord's presence for a
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Speaker 1: few minutes. The prince of the prophets wrote in quietness
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Speaker 1: and confidence will be your strength. I have learned over
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Speaker 1: the years that there is a wonderful link between quietness
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Speaker 1: and confidence. At the same time, With constancy of movement
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Speaker 1: and noise and activity and sound, there can be a
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Speaker 1: loss of confidence. With a group of people the other
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Speaker 1: evening after enjoying Beethoven's Ninth, the symphony, and one of
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Speaker 1: the individuals at our table said, I think one of
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Speaker 1: the reasons we do not enjoy absolute silence is we're afraid.
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Speaker 1: Because in silence, you self-examine. And we're uneasy with what
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Speaker 1: we discover. My hope is that through the season, you'll
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Speaker 1: not only know the Lord better, you'll come to know
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Speaker 1: yourself better. And there will be a growing awareness of
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Speaker 1: strengths that you can begin to really cultivate and weaknesses
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Speaker 1: you can address. And we all have both. Paul writes
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Speaker 1: of this in the 13th of Romans as he very
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Speaker 1: practically addresses the subject of waking up and getting dressed.
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Speaker 1: What is involved in both, and we shall address both
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Speaker 1: together as we hear from these last four verses of
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Speaker 1: Romans 13, beginning at verse 11. Please stand as we,
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Speaker 1: out of respect for God's word, stand for the reading
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Speaker 1: of it. Romans 13, 11, do this knowing the time
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Speaker 1: that it is already the hour for you to awaken
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Speaker 1: from sleep. For now, salvation is nearer to us than
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Speaker 1: when we believed. The night is almost gone and the
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Speaker 1: day is near. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds
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Speaker 1: of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let
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Speaker 1: us behave properly. as in the day, not in carousing
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Speaker 1: and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in
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Speaker 1: strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ
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Speaker 1: and make no provision for the flesh in regard to
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Speaker 1: its lusts. May God honor the reading of his word,
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Speaker 1: the preaching of it, and the living out of these truths.
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Speaker 1: You may be seated. This is the season of giving.
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Speaker 1: It's appropriate that we come to a time of giving.
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Speaker 1: It is also a season of receiving, isn't it? I
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Speaker 1: think the greater joy is in the giving, except when
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Speaker 1: it comes to salvation. The greatest of all joys is
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Speaker 1: the receiving of the gift of eternal life, and that
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Speaker 1: is found in a person. Not a church, not a book,
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Speaker 1: not a relationship with others you admire, not in giving
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Speaker 1: up your sins or trying to be pure and holy.
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Speaker 1: You can do neither. It's in receiving Jesus as your Savior.
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Speaker 1: So this is a time set aside for God's people
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Speaker 1: to enjoy one of the many benefits and blessings of
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Speaker 1: the Christian life. The giving of our goods, of our substance,
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Speaker 1: of our provision, of our money to God. May we bow. Father,
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Speaker 1: you are many things to us. Your son has been
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Speaker 1: in many roles in our lives. Savior, yes. Savior from sin.
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Speaker 1: If we live to be 200, we would never tire
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Speaker 1: of thanking you that the Savior has invaded our lives. Intercessor,
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Speaker 1: having come in, your son intercedes for us in ways
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Speaker 1: that we could never put into words. Thank you for
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Speaker 1: his role as our intercessor. Coming King, what hope we
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Speaker 1: have That the Lord himself. Your son. Our savior. Our intercessor.
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Speaker 1: Will descend with a shout. With the voice of the archangel.
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Speaker 1: And we shall rise. And we shall be with him forever.
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Speaker 1: But today especially. We thank you. That he is our shepherd.
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Speaker 1: As we in this season acknowledge. Mary's little lamb. Who
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Speaker 1: came white as snow. We pause to worship him. At
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Speaker 1: this time. For feeding us. The good word. Like a flock.
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Speaker 1: Would be fed by the shepherd. And that's why we
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Speaker 1: give as we do. In the name of Jesus. We pray.
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Speaker 1: Everyone said. Amen. With all the noise and activity and
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Speaker 1: movement of our times, it is easy to sort of
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Speaker 1: tune everything out and become, well, I may as well
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Speaker 1: say it, dead in the head. Just sort of sleepily
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Speaker 1: move through life, taking care of only the urgent things
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Speaker 1: and missing the important ones. Help preoccupied we can become.
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Speaker 1: Jim Dobson years ago wrote a book called Straight Talk
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Speaker 1: to Men and Their Wives. And in it, he addresses
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Speaker 1: this very issue of how men can just check out,
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Speaker 1: just be in another world. Try to restrain yourself, ladies,
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Speaker 1: as I explain this. In fact, he says that story
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Speaker 1: typifies many marriages, the wife screaming and clawing the air
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Speaker 1: and writhing in pain, the husband oblivious to her panic
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Speaker 1: and her needs. He's preoccupied with his own thoughts, not
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Speaker 1: realizing that a single step to the right or left
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Speaker 1: could alleviate the crisis. I never cease to be amazed,
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Speaker 1: he writes, at just how deft A man can become
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Speaker 1: under these circumstances. Then he tells this unbelievable story. I
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Speaker 1: know of a gynecologist who is not only deaf but
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Speaker 1: blind as well. He telephoned a friend of mine who
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Speaker 1: is also a physician in the practice of obstetrics and gynecology.
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Speaker 1: He asked for a favor. My wife has been having
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Speaker 1: some abdominal problems and she's in particular discomfort this afternoon,
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Speaker 1: he said. I don't want to treat her, my own wife,
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Speaker 1: and wonder if you'd be willing to see her for me.
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Speaker 1: My friend invited the doctor to bring his wife for
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Speaker 1: an examination, whereupon he discovered, are you ready for this,
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Speaker 1: that she was five months pregnant. Her obstetrician husband, was
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Speaker 1: so busy caring for other patients that he hadn't even
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Speaker 1: noticed his wife's burgeoning pregnancy. I must admit wondering how
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Speaker 1: in the world this woman ever got his attention long
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Speaker 1: enough to conceive. We are never too preoccupied for that,
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Speaker 1: are we? Several years ago, the president of Columbia University
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Speaker 1: sort of stunned his audience when he in a simple
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Speaker 1: way said, I divide the world into three categories. The
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Speaker 1: many who watch things happen, the few who make things happen,
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Speaker 1: and the vast majority of those who have no idea
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Speaker 1: in the world what is happening. Put another way, I
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Speaker 1: think he divided the world into observers, shakers and movers,
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Speaker 1: And those who just don't bother to wake up. That
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Speaker 1: describes some of you. That's some of you. Oh, you
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Speaker 1: live in the world. You know that things are happening,
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Speaker 1: but just keep it at a cool distance. No reason
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Speaker 1: to risk. No reason to get involved. That's how trouble starts.
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Speaker 1: No reason to make waves. Billy Graham, in an outstanding book,
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Speaker 1: World Aflame, says it better than most. Mr. Average Man
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Speaker 1: is comfortable in his complacency and as unconcerned as a
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Speaker 1: silverfish ensconced on a carton of discarded magazines on world affairs.
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Speaker 1: Man is not asking any questions because his social benefits
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Speaker 1: from the government give him a false security. This is
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Speaker 1: his trouble and his tragedy. Modern man has become a
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Speaker 1: spectator of world events, observing on his television screen without
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Speaker 1: becoming involved. He watches the ominous events of our times
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Speaker 1: pass before his eyes. While he sips his beer in
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Speaker 1: a comfortable chair, he does not seem to realize what
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Speaker 1: is happening to him. He does not understand that his
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Speaker 1: world is on fire and that he is about to
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Speaker 1: be burned with it. That's some of you. You do
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Speaker 1: not realize that you have fallen asleep at the switch.
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Speaker 1: You fail to realize the valuable role you're to fill
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Speaker 1: in your family. Married or unmarried, in your family. With
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Speaker 1: your relatives, with your children, with your parents. It's just...
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Speaker 1: Business as usual, stay out of the way, and someday
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Speaker 1: we'll just die and leave a good-looking corpse. Not a
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Speaker 1: good plan. I love the words of Edmund Burke, all
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Speaker 1: that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for
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Speaker 1: good men and women to do nothing. If I had
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Speaker 1: the time, I would turn you back to 1 Chronicles 12.
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Speaker 1: The ancient Old Testament book that is a chronicle of events.
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Speaker 1: And I would point out a small band of men
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Speaker 1: called the sons of Issachar. Verse 32. The sons of Issachar,
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Speaker 1: we read, understood their times and knew what Israel ought
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Speaker 1: to do. That's the kind of men I want around me.
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Speaker 1: Give me a band of men who have discernment and
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Speaker 1: understand our times and they have direction and discipline in
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Speaker 1: knowing what we ought to do about it. Our world
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Speaker 1: is on fire. We must awaken to that. I'm not
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Speaker 1: asking that we become disconnected fanatics. You know me better
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Speaker 1: than that. I'm just saying there's a place for passion.
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Speaker 1: There is a need for waking up. Paul saw this
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Speaker 1: even in the ancient world of Rome back in that
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Speaker 1: mid-first century era. And so as he came to the
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Speaker 1: end of a very practical section where he has addressed
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Speaker 1: the importance of loving one another, loving those that are alike,
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Speaker 1: those that are different, those who are a part of
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Speaker 1: our lives, those whom we hardly know, loving one another,
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Speaker 1: loving one another. That was the message last time. He
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Speaker 1: says to us at the end of the same context,
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Speaker 1: do this. Why? Because love. The hour is soon to
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Speaker 1: come when you will answer to the one who is
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Speaker 1: your Savior. In fact, the day of opportunity is upon us.
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Speaker 1: Don't delay in waking up. We often think of the
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Speaker 1: Apostle Paul as a great mind, and he was that.
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Speaker 1: A great theologian, for sure, aside from Jesus. There was
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Speaker 1: none brighter in the first century. the one who literarily
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Speaker 1: contributed more to the New Testament than any other individual,
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Speaker 1: the one who formed and shaped world missions as the
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Speaker 1: beginning point of that, here is Paul very practical writing
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Speaker 1: word pictures that hold our attention right to the end
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Speaker 1: of the chapter. This word picture is a very practical one.
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Speaker 1: It's a word picture designed to encourage purity of life.
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Speaker 1: in light of Jesus' soon coming and the condition and
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Speaker 1: times in which we live. It's a strong appeal for purity.
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Speaker 1: The hour is upon us. So I decided I would
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Speaker 1: just stay with the word picture and help you get
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Speaker 1: up in the morning. We're going to hear the alarm.
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Speaker 1: We're going to awaken from sleep. We're going to check
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Speaker 1: the time. We're going to then stand in front of
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Speaker 1: our closet and look at the clothing available. We're going
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Speaker 1: to see which garments to set aside, which ones to
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Speaker 1: put on, and then we're going to talk about at
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Speaker 1: the end how to finish well. It's all a part
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Speaker 1: of the word picture in this section of Scripture, and
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Speaker 1: I get it from verse 11, awaken from sleep. So
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Speaker 1: let's start with the alarm. I have to tell you,
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Speaker 1: out in my pickup truck, I have a little alarm clock.
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Speaker 1: I was tempted to bring with me, but I thought,
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Speaker 1: how tacky can you be in an illustration? I was
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Speaker 1: going to, you know what I was going to do,
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Speaker 1: pull out the stimulant and go, and some of you
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Speaker 1: would literally wake up, but we don't have enough glycerin
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Speaker 1: tablets to go around today to take care of you
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Speaker 1: who might drop over if you woke up. But let's
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Speaker 1: imagine an alarm going off. It's sounding in verse 11.
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Speaker 1: Do this. Do what? Love your fellow man and woman.
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Speaker 1: Do this. Knowing the time is already the hour. See,
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Speaker 1: the word time, two words Paul could have used when
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Speaker 1: he came to that term. One is chronos, from which
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Speaker 1: we get our word chronology. It's the time you see
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Speaker 1: on your wristwatch. This is the time that the old
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Speaker 1: clock rings in your hallway. That's the chronos time, chronology,
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Speaker 1: calendar time. The other is the word kairos. Sounds like
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Speaker 1: the first one, but it's nothing like it. This is
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Speaker 1: kind of time, quality of time. That's the word Paul uses.
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Speaker 1: Do this, knowing the kind of time in which we
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Speaker 1: live today. Daniel writes of God knowing the times and
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Speaker 1: the seasons. Every generation has its time, has its kind
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Speaker 1: of time. The early part of the 20th century was
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Speaker 1: a kind of time. The latter part of the 20th
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Speaker 1: was a kind of time. This early part of the
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Speaker 1: 21st is a kind of time. First century was a
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Speaker 1: kind of time. To Paul, Christ's return was imminent at
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Speaker 1: any moment. In light of that, in light of the
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Speaker 1: kind of time in which we live, listen to the alarm.
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Speaker 1: By the way, it's an internal alarm. It has no
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Speaker 1: snooze button. The guy that invented the snooze button didn't understand,
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Speaker 1: did he? It isn't supposed to go off. It's supposed
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Speaker 1: to keep ringing. Why? So you'll wake up. When I
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Speaker 1: was in high school, I was a drum major in
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Speaker 1: my senior year of our high school band. I loved
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Speaker 1: that role. I loved the instruments, and I loved the
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Speaker 1: sound of the band, and I admittedly loved leading the band.
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Speaker 1: You wear the funny hat out front. You throw that
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Speaker 1: baton around, which I dropped more than I threw around,
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Speaker 1: and We had a ball game at another city. We
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Speaker 1: went there on the train. And knowing that we had
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Speaker 1: a parade on Saturday morning when we got back to Houston,
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Speaker 1: our conductor said to us, that is the conductor of
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Speaker 1: the band, said to us on the way back, you guys,
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Speaker 1: listen to me, don't go to bed tonight. We're going
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Speaker 1: to get back really, really late, like early in the morning.
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Speaker 1: I want you downtown Houston at 630. So don't even
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Speaker 1: risk going to bed because you won't wake up. I
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Speaker 1: want the full band there. He looked right at me
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Speaker 1: when he said, I want the full band there. I thought,
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Speaker 1: I'll wake up. What's the problem, you know? Remember, he
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Speaker 1: said 6.30. So I go home. My folks are gone
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Speaker 1: for the weekend. My sister's away at college. My brother's
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Speaker 1: moved away. So I'm all alone. I set the alarm.
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Speaker 1: At 11.30 that morning, I woke up to.
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Speaker 1: The ringing of a telephone was my buddies after the
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Speaker 1: parade who informed me I used to be the drum
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Speaker 1: major of the high school band. The following Monday, the
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Speaker 1: conductor had a few words to share with me I'll
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Speaker 1: not share with you today. What was the problem? I
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Speaker 1: slept through the alarm. Didn't even allow the alarm to
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Speaker 1: do what it was supposed to do. It ran down.
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Speaker 1: They had pounded on my windows and doors that rung
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Speaker 1: the doorbell till their finger got numb and they got
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Speaker 1: tired to try. They could see me in the bedroom
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Speaker 1: through the window. Wake up! And I was out of it,
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Speaker 1: dead in the head. The whole purpose of the first
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Speaker 1: part of verse 11 is that point. Knowing the time,
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Speaker 1: already the hour to awaken from sleep. So we carry
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Speaker 1: on the same word picture and we awaken from sleep.
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Speaker 1: It's already an hour for you to be awake. The
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Speaker 1: purpose of an alarm is to arouse us from slumber.
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Speaker 1: It has one design. As the old comedian says here
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Speaker 1: in the South, get up and get her done. That's
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Speaker 1: the reason that alarm goes off like that. Get her done.
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Speaker 1: It's not time to lay there. You don't lay there
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Speaker 1: and sing with the alarm. You get up. That's why
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Speaker 1: it's so irritating. Alarms are never soft little chimes. Somebody
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Speaker 1: designed them to hit that discordant thing in our brain
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Speaker 1: that makes us uncomfortable. Why? To wake us up. Look
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Speaker 1: at it. It's already the hour for you to awaken
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Speaker 1: from sleep for now. Salvation is nearer to us than
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Speaker 1: when we believe. What does that mean? I thought when
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Speaker 1: I was born again, salvation was forever. It is. That's conversion.
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Speaker 1: I call it coming to the cross. We trust in
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Speaker 1: Jesus' death and resurrection. We take it personally. He did
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Speaker 1: this on our behalf. We believe in him. We have
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Speaker 1: been converted. But salvation runs its course like the crescendo
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Speaker 1: mark on a musical score. As life gets longer and
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Speaker 1: louder and larger, we are involved in either being filled
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Speaker 1: with the spirit or operating in the flesh. And it's
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Speaker 1: kind of a yo-yo. This is called sanctification, which is
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Speaker 1: the unfolding of the whole salvation package. There will ultimately
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Speaker 1: be a day when the Savior will return from the
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Speaker 1: sky and call us up to meet him in the air.
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Speaker 1: And then we will stand before him individually and independently
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Speaker 1: and give an account of our bodies, of our lives.
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Speaker 1: You giving your account and my giving my account and
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Speaker 1: rewards will be given for being good and faithful servants.
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Speaker 1: It's nearer than ever. The unfolding of salvation is upon us.
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Speaker 1: At any moment, he could come. I read this past
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Speaker 1: week of several old men that had spent years together,
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Speaker 1: one day a week, enjoying one another's presence. Played table games,
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Speaker 1: went to things together, sometimes traveled together. And this one evening,
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Speaker 1: it got a little late, and the old grandfather clock
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Speaker 1: that had been you know, running all of these years,
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Speaker 1: didn't just chime 11 or 12, chime 13 and 14
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Speaker 1: and 15. One of the old men grabbed his coat
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Speaker 1: and says, I'm out of here. It's later now than
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Speaker 1: it's ever been in my life. That's Paul's point at
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Speaker 1: the end of verse 11. It's later than it's ever
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Speaker 1: been in our lives. Wake up. Look around. Look around.
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Speaker 1: Read through the news. See beyond the evening broadcasts. See
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Speaker 1: what isn't tangible. Check the time. That's what the alarm does.
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Speaker 1: Helps you check the time. It's the first place you
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Speaker 1: look when the alarm goes off. You check the time.
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Speaker 1: Now that's in verse 12. The night is almost gone
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Speaker 1: and the day is near. Isn't that the truth? We're
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Speaker 1: living in the time of night. Day is near. Night
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Speaker 1: is almost gone. Another word picture, the world as we
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Speaker 1: know it, the opportunities, the events of today, all of
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Speaker 1: this is seen as night. May I remind you of
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Speaker 1: how it passes? Every new wrinkle on your face. Every
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Speaker 1: new pain in your body is a reminder that the
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Speaker 1: night is passing. Each gray hair. I thought this morning, oh,
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Speaker 1: for the days of gray hair. Some of you are
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Speaker 1: busy covering them up. You're a different color than you
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Speaker 1: were this time last year. Truth be told, your color
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Speaker 1: is gray. May I be serious and say every funeral service,
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Speaker 1: every disease is a reminder that the night is almost gone.
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Speaker 1: Cynthia and I have wonderful friends at a former church.
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Speaker 1: He was on the pulpit committee that took the risk
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Speaker 1: and hired this young guy to come and pastor the
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Speaker 1: church for a number of years. His name is Hant.
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Speaker 1: Hamp and Sue were friends of ours for now almost
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Speaker 1: 37 years. I got a letter from Hamp this past week.
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Speaker 1: And I cried. Here was this wonderful, vivacious couple. This great, strong, stout-hearted,
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Speaker 1: fun-loving guy. Hamp and his wife Sue, who now has Alzheimer's.
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Speaker 1: And she has become combative. And a psychiatrist was brought in.
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Speaker 1: They had fixed her a lovely room at an assisted
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Speaker 1: living place. And she resisted medication. And finally, they've had
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Speaker 1: to place her in a psychiatric hospital. So he's writing
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Speaker 1: me about this. And he's having an angiogram because he
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Speaker 1: has heart problems. His family of four are all grown
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Speaker 1: and gone. And he's alone. At home. Last night. Cynthia
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Speaker 1: and I are together on our side porch. And I
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Speaker 1: said to her. Thinking about ham right now. How different
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Speaker 1: it is now. Life is like that. Age is no friend.
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Speaker 1: So opportunity for living is upon us. Take advantage of it. Tragically,
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Speaker 1: some people die at age 30 and don't find out
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Speaker 1: about it until they're 75. And they just kind of
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Speaker 1: drift along. Unburied, but dead in the head. Don't go there. Therefore,
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Speaker 1: look at the therefore in the middle of verse 12.
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Speaker 1: This is another second alarm. Therefore, It's time to change clothes.
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Speaker 1: Look at it. Therefore, let us lay aside deeds of
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Speaker 1: darkness and let us put on. Look at the next word.
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Speaker 1: Does that surprise you? You expect clothing of light. You
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Speaker 1: expect garments of light. Armor. Why? Because this world is
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Speaker 1: no playground. This world is a battleground. If you could
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Speaker 1: see the unseen forces of principalities and powers, it would
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Speaker 1: take your breath away. You'd stand with your mouth open.
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Speaker 1: The combative forces in the unseen world, which I personally
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Speaker 1: think explains a number of the suicides. Demonic forces against
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Speaker 1: angelic powers. God's plan against the enemy's plan. All of
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Speaker 1: it at work, and when you're When you're half asleep,
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Speaker 1: you don't even think about it. When you're awake, you
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Speaker 1: can hardly put it out of your mind. That's why
28:28
Speaker 1: you choose an armor of light. So obviously, these are
28:36
Speaker 1: word pictures, and the spiritual message is that you can't
28:39
Speaker 1: do battle aggressively with the enemy while you're wearing your pajamas.
28:44
Speaker 1: I know one thing about every one of you without
28:46
Speaker 1: even asking. You are not wearing right now what you
28:49
Speaker 1: wore last night. I know. I know you aren't. I
28:55
Speaker 1: look at you Sunday after Sunday. I don't think I've
28:59
Speaker 1: ever seen any adult in his PJs coming to church
29:04
Speaker 1: or whatever you sleep in. You're dressed for what? For
29:09
Speaker 1: what's appropriate. And the styles may vary and your choice
29:13
Speaker 1: of clothing will vary. It's fine. The point is you're
29:16
Speaker 1: not wearing your night garments. That's his point here. Steve Amerson,
29:22
Speaker 1: tenor soloist, has a wonderful signature song he usually adds
29:26
Speaker 1: to his repertoire. It's called This Could Be the Day.
29:30
Speaker 1: I always ask him to sing it when he's doing
29:33
Speaker 1: a concert for us. This could be the day. He
29:39
Speaker 1: could come before Christmas. How good would that be? He
29:47
Speaker 1: could come before nightfall. Or you could go. I'm so
29:58
Speaker 1: grateful that the apostle is a realist. And he's not
30:01
Speaker 1: so brainy that he stays in these theological ethereal realms,
30:06
Speaker 1: but he comes right down to where we live. And
30:09
Speaker 1: he remembers he's writing to people in Rome in the
30:12
Speaker 1: first century whose lifestyle was very near our lifestyle. As
30:19
Speaker 1: history cyclically repeats itself. Which is why he describes the
30:26
Speaker 1: changing of clothing. as we talk about it here, coming
30:33
Speaker 1: to our closet and looking in, we now must make
30:38
Speaker 1: some decisions. What is appropriate to wear? What is necessary
30:47
Speaker 1: to put aside? He tells us what's necessary to put
30:52
Speaker 1: aside in verse 13 and what's necessary to wear in
30:56
Speaker 1: verse 14. But Before we get there, let me tell you,
31:00
Speaker 1: the other day Cynthia said to me, I think we
31:02
Speaker 1: need to get rid of a lot of the clothes
31:04
Speaker 1: that are just choking our closet. I said, I think
31:07
Speaker 1: that's a great idea. And we both started the process.
31:13
Speaker 1: It's amazing as clothes hang in closets, how they shrink.
31:18
Speaker 1: It's amazing. Just remarkable. No water damage. Just hanging there.
31:28
Speaker 1: Dust and shrinkage, they go together. So we start hauling
31:32
Speaker 1: out things that, unfortunately, we bought when they were too
31:36
Speaker 1: small for us. And we give some to Dallas Seminary,
31:40
Speaker 1: Luke's closet, and we give some to Goodwill, and we
31:43
Speaker 1: dump some that are pretty terrible, and nobody ought to
31:48
Speaker 1: have them. And we get rid of those things that
31:52
Speaker 1: have no business taking up the room in our closet.
31:54
Speaker 1: Verse 13. Verse 13 is full of that kind of stuff.
31:57
Speaker 1: There are three pairs of garments. Think of them as
32:01
Speaker 1: a blouse and skirt. Think of them as a shirt
32:03
Speaker 1: and pair of pants. Think of them in three pairs.
32:09
Speaker 1: The first we're to get rid of are, well, look
32:12
Speaker 1: at verse 13. Those things that reveal a lack of
32:17
Speaker 1: personal discipline. Carousing and drunkenness. And then those things that
32:25
Speaker 1: have to do with the lack of moral integrity, sexual
32:31
Speaker 1: promiscuity and sensuality. And then the third set of garments,
32:35
Speaker 1: the lack of relational harmony, strife and jealousy. It's all
32:42
Speaker 1: right there. The thing I love about expositing the scriptures
32:45
Speaker 1: is you don't have to be cute and clever. All
32:48
Speaker 1: you got to do is read and the text speaks
32:51
Speaker 1: for itself. Let me encourage you who are teachers, stay
32:55
Speaker 1: in the text. Illustrate it, keep it interesting, but stay
33:00
Speaker 1: riveted to the text. You cannot beat Holy Scripture. Here
33:05
Speaker 1: is an example. To start with, let us behave properly.
33:09
Speaker 1: Now we're standing at the closet, we're ready to take
33:12
Speaker 1: on the day, and we're told to behave properly. The
33:16
Speaker 1: word behave literally is the word for walk. Walk. So
33:21
Speaker 1: we're going to walk this day in the everyday world
33:25
Speaker 1: of ours and yours is different from mine hers is
33:28
Speaker 1: different from hers and his from her and his from
33:31
Speaker 1: his we're all different worlds but we all are to
33:34
Speaker 1: walk properly appropriately so we're to lay aside the things
33:40
Speaker 1: that we have no business wearing the first set of
33:44
Speaker 1: garments have to do with the lack of personal discipline
33:48
Speaker 1: i'm going to Be a little pedantic here as we
33:51
Speaker 1: work our way through these six items. Just like you
33:54
Speaker 1: would carefully choose clothes that match and go together. The first,
33:59
Speaker 1: we're to set aside carousing. Interesting word, isn't it? I
34:05
Speaker 1: doubt you've used the word unless you're my age or older.
34:09
Speaker 1: In the last few weeks, carousing is a word that
34:12
Speaker 1: has to do with actions that are inappropriate and improper.
34:18
Speaker 1: Revelries would be an older word as well. Some refer
34:23
Speaker 1: to it as origins. If you're in England and England
34:27
Speaker 1: has lost a soccer match, there's a group of people
34:31
Speaker 1: that have come to be known as hooligans. Remember reading
34:34
Speaker 1: of the hooligans? They go to the street and they
34:37
Speaker 1: set cars on fire. I never figured out how losing
34:40
Speaker 1: a soccer game results in setting cars on fire. The
34:45
Speaker 1: logic of that breaks down. Of course, if you are
34:47
Speaker 1: involved in carousings, logic has no place there. You do
34:52
Speaker 1: what's illogical. You do what's improper and often unlawful. So
34:58
Speaker 1: you have to ask yourself when you come to this garment,
35:02
Speaker 1: am I spending my time with people that are worth
35:04
Speaker 1: my time? Do they help me or do they weaken me?
35:11
Speaker 1: Do they go places I have no business going In
35:14
Speaker 1: their carousings, my dad used to say, son, get home
35:18
Speaker 1: before midnight. Nothing good happens on the street after midnight.
35:23
Speaker 1: He's right. He being dead still speaks. Only the good
35:31
Speaker 1: work of the police department and those that assist in
35:34
Speaker 1: areas of mercy and health. The rest is not good.
35:40
Speaker 1: Stay off the street. when it's not appropriate to be
35:44
Speaker 1: out there or you'll get into trouble. Carousings. That leads
35:50
Speaker 1: to drunkenness. Now, I know some of you are thinking,
35:58
Speaker 1: he's going to unload the truck now. This is a
36:02
Speaker 1: preacher's moment. So that I don't disappoint you, I plan
36:07
Speaker 1: to do that right now. This has nothing to do
36:13
Speaker 1: with taking a sip of wine for an evening meal.
36:16
Speaker 1: This is drunkenness. This is too much alcohol. This is
36:22
Speaker 1: the use of illicit drugs. This is becoming addicted to
36:26
Speaker 1: prescribed drugs. This is anything that is the result of
36:31
Speaker 1: the breakdown of personal discipline. This is excessive drinking, which
36:35
Speaker 1: is always viewed in Scripture as wrong. Now, before I
36:42
Speaker 1: go any further, may I remind you that God's desire
36:44
Speaker 1: for us is a wholesome, happy, fulfilling life. He's not
36:48
Speaker 1: wandering around heaven with a big club and a nail
36:51
Speaker 1: in it, hoping to take away your joy in life.
36:56
Speaker 1: So he tells you the truth. If you live a
37:00
Speaker 1: life of drunkenness, you will live a life of misery
37:06
Speaker 1: and ultimately shame. Ask anybody child of an alcoholic, and
37:13
Speaker 1: they'll tell you their story. I've never known it in
37:17
Speaker 1: my home, so I can't speak from experience, but I
37:20
Speaker 1: found out about it during a hitch in the Marine Corps,
37:24
Speaker 1: where by the time many of the guys in our
37:26
Speaker 1: outfit went back home from Okinawa, they were alcoholics. I
37:30
Speaker 1: witnessed it. I wasn't approved. As a matter of fact,
37:34
Speaker 1: in our outfit, you couldn't be approved and survive. But
37:37
Speaker 1: in that Marine Corps barracks, over 90% had venereal disease,
37:42
Speaker 1: which they picked up in the village. And they carried
37:44
Speaker 1: their disease back home with them. So my world was
37:49
Speaker 1: a world of awakening. This is long before seminary. Thank God.
37:55
Speaker 1: So I understood depravity. I understood what happens when a
38:00
Speaker 1: person loses his or her way. And let me say
38:04
Speaker 1: to you, Who are alcoholics. There's a place here for you.
38:12
Speaker 1: I know it's the best kept secret. Among your friends.
38:15
Speaker 1: And maybe even in your family. It's what nobody talks about.
38:19
Speaker 1: But here you can talk about it. Meetings are held.
38:23
Speaker 1: And gatherings. Led by those who know what it is.
38:28
Speaker 1: To be where you are. There will be no shame.
38:33
Speaker 1: There will be no condemnation. But our hope is to
38:37
Speaker 1: help you survive a life of drunkenness. And for you
38:42
Speaker 1: who have gone through this and had your marriage collapse,
38:45
Speaker 1: our hearts go out to you. I want you to
38:48
Speaker 1: know that. Because you know horror stories that many of
38:52
Speaker 1: us still know. Thank God you survived. So when you're
38:59
Speaker 1: choosing garments and you're looking for those things to push aside,
39:04
Speaker 1: Stay away from anything that could lead you to that
39:06
Speaker 1: kind of lifestyle. You're an adult. You can make that decision.
39:11
Speaker 1: That's why I call this a lack of personal discipline.
39:13
Speaker 1: It just takes discipline. While I'm on the subject, please
39:16
Speaker 1: teach your children how to handle it when they grow
39:19
Speaker 1: up and are on the road and everybody in the
39:21
Speaker 1: company goes out for a drinking party. How do they
39:24
Speaker 1: survive that? How do they handle that? Tell them how
39:28
Speaker 1: you learned to handle that. Ranting and raving about Drake
39:32
Speaker 1: is not going to help because the most common drug
39:35
Speaker 1: in a high school is alcohol. Fast becoming in junior
39:39
Speaker 1: high or middle school. Help them know how to say no.
39:45
Speaker 1: Help them know how you did. They'll thank you the
39:49
Speaker 1: rest of their lives. Not in carousing and drunkenness. Now
39:55
Speaker 1: we get to even more specific, not in sexual promiscuity
40:00
Speaker 1: and sensuality. You'll be interested to know the Greek word
40:04
Speaker 1: that is rendered sexual promiscuity. It is the term for bed, B-E-D.
40:14
Speaker 1: We're adults, we know what that's saying. Stay out of
40:17
Speaker 1: bed with someone else's wife or husband. Stay out of bed,
40:23
Speaker 1: married or unmarried, with someone who isn't your married partner.
40:28
Speaker 1: Stop it. That's a garment that will hurt you. Not
40:33
Speaker 1: only you, it will hurt those who love you. Had
40:37
Speaker 1: a broken-hearted woman stop me after the second service in
40:40
Speaker 1: tears and say, do you have a book on forgiveness?
40:45
Speaker 1: I talked about various things she could read. When she finished,
40:49
Speaker 1: she said, I've been deceived for 21 years. I've just
40:53
Speaker 1: found out the truth. I didn't ask her anymore. The
41:00
Speaker 1: message that she had just heard on the subject I'm
41:04
Speaker 1: addressing had caused her to realize that if she stays
41:09
Speaker 1: in this disillusionment and The sadness and bitterness of where
41:15
Speaker 1: she is, she'll be poisoned. Just to go on. By
41:23
Speaker 1: guarding against sexual promiscuity, you will not leave your mate
41:29
Speaker 1: in the backwash of disillusionment. The next word, William Barclay says,
41:39
Speaker 1: is one of the ugliest words in the Greek language, asylgaiia.
41:45
Speaker 1: It even sounds ugly. It's a word that describes not
41:49
Speaker 1: only immorality, it describes the one who has lost to shame.
41:54
Speaker 1: Shameless immorality. Shameless immorality. May I just spend a few
42:06
Speaker 1: moments and we'll go on. Isn't it just like the
42:11
Speaker 1: world system and the enemy of our souls to take
42:14
Speaker 1: the single most intimate, lovely expression of affection, sexual desire
42:21
Speaker 1: between a husband and wife, and to twist it and
42:26
Speaker 1: to lead it into avenues of pornography and all sorts
42:33
Speaker 1: of promiscuity related to this once intimate, innocent act between
42:41
Speaker 1: married partners. If the world has its way, it will
42:46
Speaker 1: ruin everything beautiful. And it's pretty much ruined sex. So
42:54
Speaker 1: much so that even husbands and wives struggle with intimacy
42:58
Speaker 1: because of the bombardment. Sex sells. I hope you still
43:05
Speaker 1: are alert to the commercials and how often it weaves
43:09
Speaker 1: its way into them. Stay alert. Jeremiah writes of the
43:18
Speaker 1: people who no longer even blush. Good question. When's the
43:24
Speaker 1: last time you blushed? I was watching a ball game
43:30
Speaker 1: the other evening with Austin, our grandson, and the Cowboys
43:36
Speaker 1: were playing the Green Bay Packers. Except the cameraman felt
43:42
Speaker 1: that the cheerleaders were more important than the game. And
43:48
Speaker 1: I'm sitting over here in my chair, and Austin's sitting
43:50
Speaker 1: here on the sofa, and he says, good night. Shorts
43:59
Speaker 1: need to be shorter. I mean, it's about down to
44:04
Speaker 1: a yard of saran wrap and a string of pearls, huh?
44:09
Speaker 1: It's just, I mean.
44:12
Speaker 1: Here I'm sitting with my 13-year-old grandson, and it's a
44:16
Speaker 1: classic moment for me to make a contribution to his
44:20
Speaker 1: life that hopefully will help him understand how to view
44:25
Speaker 1: such things. Teach your children. I can't teach them. I
44:33
Speaker 1: have my own family and my own grandchildren. That's my limit.
44:38
Speaker 1: You got yours. They got to know how to pick
44:41
Speaker 1: their clothing. Literally. Not in sexual promiscuity, not in sensuality,
44:51
Speaker 1: not in strife and jealousy. This is a lack of
44:54
Speaker 1: personal relationships, a lack of harmony. See the word strife.
44:59
Speaker 1: It's the spirit that is born of unbridled competition. It's
45:04
Speaker 1: the drive for place and notoriety and power and control. Essentially,
45:11
Speaker 1: it's the sin of having to be prominent. And let
45:15
Speaker 1: me tell you something, the ministry is shot through with it.
45:18
Speaker 1: I mean, where else did this many people listen when
45:22
Speaker 1: I talk? Amazing. And you're kind enough not to yell back.
45:29
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a role of authority. I had a
45:35
Speaker 1: young man say to me, I said, Lord's calling me
45:37
Speaker 1: into ministry. And I heard enough today to know that
45:40
Speaker 1: I've got some homework to take care of before I
45:43
Speaker 1: follow through on that call. I said, good for you.
45:48
Speaker 1: Guard against having to be in control. Hold it loosely.
45:56
Speaker 1: I'll be honest with you. I pay no attention to
45:59
Speaker 1: the size of crowds. I couldn't care less. I'm the
46:05
Speaker 1: guy that held down the numbers for how large the
46:07
Speaker 1: new worship center ought to be. Had one of the
46:11
Speaker 1: committee members say, you're the first preacher I've ever seen
46:14
Speaker 1: that wanted it smaller than the rest of us wanted it. Yeah.
46:19
Speaker 1: Let's do our best to control that. This role isn't
46:25
Speaker 1: about authority. This role is about servanthood. This is a
46:30
Speaker 1: role of appealing to you, leading you as a shepherd,
46:35
Speaker 1: not acting like I'm the big model of all of this. Furthermore,
46:41
Speaker 1: When I'm gone, I'm gone. You'll still be there choosing
46:48
Speaker 1: your clothing. Watch out for strife. Guard against jealousy. This
46:56
Speaker 1: is a discontentment, a lack of satisfaction. This is having
47:01
Speaker 1: an envious eye on what others have. This is keeping
47:04
Speaker 1: what you have to yourself. I got to tell you,
47:08
Speaker 1: I'm time for full confession. I struggled for years early
47:12
Speaker 1: on with jealousy in my relationship with Cynthia. It almost
47:16
Speaker 1: broke us up. I mean, I was driving her crazy.
47:21
Speaker 1: And I was on my way to being one of
47:22
Speaker 1: these husbands that, you know, checks the odometer in her
47:26
Speaker 1: car in the morning. And then at night, ask where
47:31
Speaker 1: she went, who she talked to, who talked to you.
47:36
Speaker 1: I mean, I know guys so jealous they don't even
47:38
Speaker 1: want their wife to look nice. Man, I don't want
47:42
Speaker 1: any woman that other guys wouldn't look at. I mean,
47:46
Speaker 1: I want other guys to go, whoa, how'd that old
47:48
Speaker 1: guy get her? Whoa. You know, it's like dating a
47:54
Speaker 1: girl that's never been kissed. Oh, man, I don't know
47:57
Speaker 1: I want to do that. You don't want one that's
48:01
Speaker 1: kissed everybody, but one that's never been kissed. Give me
48:04
Speaker 1: a break. Come on. That's a bad situation, I got
48:13
Speaker 1: to tell you. May I apply this a little further
48:18
Speaker 1: and I'm through? Stay away from anything that weakens your
48:21
Speaker 1: moral fiber. Anything. If you can't handle the TV in
48:27
Speaker 1: the hotel room, stay with somebody else in the hotel room.
48:30
Speaker 1: Same sex, a buddy of yours, a lady friend of yours,
48:34
Speaker 1: gals who travel everywhere. Stay with someone else if you
48:36
Speaker 1: can't stay away from the dirty channels. I just heard
48:40
Speaker 1: about a chain of hotels where the owner, I haven't
48:43
Speaker 1: checked it out so I won't give the name, but
48:45
Speaker 1: I was told by this person last service, the owner
48:48
Speaker 1: has taken out all of the televisions that play the
48:52
Speaker 1: pornography channels. How good is that? But he's making a
48:55
Speaker 1: decision for you. Stay away from TV programs that weaken you.
48:58
Speaker 1: Stay away from books and literature that weaken you. Stay
49:02
Speaker 1: away from video games that we can use. Stay away
49:04
Speaker 1: from people who lead you in the wrong direction. Stay
49:06
Speaker 1: away from experimentation with things that could lead to an addiction.
49:10
Speaker 1: It's very simple. Stay away from them. Just say no.
49:14
Speaker 1: Just say no. Just say no. You can do it.
49:21
Speaker 1: That's what's involved in this. Second part of this is
49:24
Speaker 1: stay involved with everything that strengthens your walk. Become a
49:31
Speaker 1: serious student of the scriptures. My meal is prepared and
49:35
Speaker 1: I serve it as best I can, but I cook
49:37
Speaker 1: this meal. Learn to cook your own meal. Learn to
49:43
Speaker 1: stand on your own when the bottom drops out of
49:45
Speaker 1: your life. You can draw from that reservoir you've been
49:47
Speaker 1: building up as you have made a study of the scriptures.
49:50
Speaker 1: Become a person of prayer and meditation. Read books and
49:53
Speaker 1: magazines that are healthy and wholesome. I'm going to go
49:57
Speaker 1: even farther. Get involved in a good exercise program. It's great.
50:04
Speaker 1: Before you put down all the drunks, look in the mirror.
50:08
Speaker 1: If you're fat, don't say anything. I got this weird
50:13
Speaker 1: idea as I think about this. Someday we get to heaven,
50:16
Speaker 1: Jesus may be fat. You know, have you ever thought
50:18
Speaker 1: about that? I mean, that's just a thought. I mean,
50:23
Speaker 1: one of the first things he may say was, pie
50:25
Speaker 1: was good for you. How come I never heard that?
50:40
Speaker 1: May I tell you a little more? Run with those
50:42
Speaker 1: you respect and admire, the people you want to be like.
50:46
Speaker 1: Those are the people to hang out with. Keep the
50:50
Speaker 1: long view in life. In the long run, ask yourself,
50:54
Speaker 1: will this be good for me? Ultimately, is this healthy
50:58
Speaker 1: and beneficial? Will I be glad looking back that I
51:03
Speaker 1: did this? Can I tell my grandkids about it? Will
51:10
Speaker 1: I be humiliated if my family finds out about this?
51:14
Speaker 1: Those are all searching questions. Ask them. The help. Essential
51:25
Speaker 1: reminder for victory. Verse 14. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
51:30
Speaker 1: Put him on in the morning. Wear him all day.
51:33
Speaker 1: Wear him to wherever you go. Wear him to whatever
51:35
Speaker 1: you say. Wear him to whatever you're listening to. Wear
51:39
Speaker 1: him to whatever you're watching. Right there, put him on.
51:45
Speaker 1: And by the way, make no provision for the flesh.
51:48
Speaker 1: Leave the flesh hanging in the closet. Each morning, say, Lord,
51:53
Speaker 1: I know you're in me. I take you with me, Lord, today.
51:58
Speaker 1: I want your eyes. I want your ears. I want
52:03
Speaker 1: your discernment. I want your discipline. I want you to
52:08
Speaker 1: help me when I come to that hard moment when
52:10
Speaker 1: I would normally weaken because I know you never are weak.
52:13
Speaker 1: And now that you're with me and in me, I
52:16
Speaker 1: lean on you because I want to finish this day
52:21
Speaker 1: feeling great about the day because it was lived in
52:25
Speaker 1: honor of you. And I want to do that 24-7.
52:31
Speaker 1: Let's bow our heads together. I don't know where this
52:41
Speaker 1: finds you, but I have a feeling that something that
52:43
Speaker 1: was said today strikes home. And that's called the convicting
52:48
Speaker 1: work of the Holy Spirit. Who now will begin to
52:55
Speaker 1: do the work that only he can do. when a
53:00
Speaker 1: sermon ends. These are things worth thinking on. These will
53:08
Speaker 1: help you choose the books you're going to read, the
53:11
Speaker 1: channels you're going to watch, the discipline you're going to
53:16
Speaker 1: apply when you're on the internet, where your eyes go
53:21
Speaker 1: when you're in public. Practical, everyday things. Wake up and
53:33
Speaker 1: get dressed for the glory of God. The only thing
53:41
Speaker 1: I can imagine that would lead to anything but conviction
53:45
Speaker 1: would be you who've never met the Savior and you'd
53:49
Speaker 1: be confused because you maybe have tried a lot of
53:52
Speaker 1: this and it doesn't work for you. It's because you
53:55
Speaker 1: don't have an inner restraint, an inner set of brakes
54:00
Speaker 1: that only Jesus can bring you. To help you in life.
54:05
Speaker 1: And he's waiting for you to invite him to come in.
54:10
Speaker 1: Just say the word. He's yours. It's like pulling that
54:14
Speaker 1: hanger off the. Off the rack in the closet. Put
54:20
Speaker 1: on Christ. This is your moment. Father thank you for
54:26
Speaker 1: help along the way. Thank you for speaking to us.
54:30
Speaker 1: In terms and tones that get through. Thank you that
54:34
Speaker 1: some are awake now that began half asleep. Some are
54:39
Speaker 1: aware that began pretty apathetic, pretty disconnected. I pray that
54:49
Speaker 1: you will speak through us and more importantly live through
54:54
Speaker 1: us a life that becomes contagiously winsome. For the glory
55:03
Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Everyone said. Amen.
55:13
Speaker 2: The preceding message. Wake up and get dressed. Was copyrighted
55:17
Speaker 2: in 2007, 2010 and 2025. And the sound recording was
55:19
Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2025.
55:20
Speaker 1: By Charles R. Swindoll Incorporated.
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Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
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Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.