Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Here’s How to Get Dressed Msg 1526 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

Here’s How to Get Dressed Msg 1526 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: We live in a world.
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Speaker 2: That is consumed with how things look rather than what
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Speaker 2: they are. Have you noticed that image has become everything,
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Speaker 2: or so the saying goes. And often the same is
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Speaker 2: true of ourselves when we worry so much about our appearance,
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Speaker 2: our appearance before others, our appearance when we go to
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Speaker 2: try out for a job, our appearance before the church,
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Speaker 2: rather than the condition of our hearts, which guide our
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Speaker 2: thoughts and direct our deeds. The apostle Paul was aware
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Speaker 2: of this tendency in people even back when he lived,
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Speaker 2: and so we shouldn't be surprised that he encouraged the
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Speaker 2: believers in Ephesus to.
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Speaker 1: Throw off the old self.
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Speaker 2: By that he meant the one stuck in darkness, impurity,
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Speaker 2: and greed, and to put on the new self like
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Speaker 2: a new garment, the one characterized by holiness and righteousness,
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Speaker 2: because only in this way will we begin to look
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Speaker 2: like Christ's followers, both inside and out. What a great thought,
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Speaker 2: and that's the very subject for today's message. Our passage
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Speaker 2: is found in Ephesians chapter four, verses seventeen to twenty four.
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Speaker 2: If you have a Bible handy, get it and follow
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Speaker 2: along with me as I read For you beginning at
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Speaker 2: Ephesians chapter four, verse seventeen. So this I say and
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Speaker 2: affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer,
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Speaker 2: just as the gentiles also walk in the futility of
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Speaker 2: their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the
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Speaker 2: life of God because of the ignorance that is in them,
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Speaker 2: because of the hardness of their heart, And they, having
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Speaker 2: become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the
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Speaker 2: practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you
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Speaker 2: did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you
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Speaker 2: have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just
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Speaker 2: as truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your
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Speaker 2: former manner of life, you lay aside the old self,
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Speaker 2: which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
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Speaker 2: and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
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Speaker 2: and put on the new self, which, in the likeness
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Speaker 2: of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of
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Speaker 2: the truth. Lest just remained standing before Him our heads
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Speaker 2: bowed in adoration of Him. In the multitude of sounds
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Speaker 2: and noise that surrounds us, our Father, it is wonderful
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Speaker 2: to be silent.
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Speaker 1: Before you.
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Speaker 2: In a world full of people who no longer sing together.
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Speaker 2: How great it is that at least once a week
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Speaker 2: we join our voices in unison and in harmony in
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Speaker 2: praise to you, as the Psalmist commands us to, Hallei
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Speaker 2: lu Yah, praise yahweh Thank you Father, not only for
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Speaker 2: being great, but magnificently great, for always being more interested
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Speaker 2: in quality, never in quantity, for character, never image, for
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Speaker 2: our growing deeper, not larger in number, not busier. And
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Speaker 2: so Father, thank you for your forgiveness, as we have
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Speaker 2: hurried far too much this week, giving attention to the
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Speaker 2: tyranny of the urgent rather than the significance of the important.
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Speaker 2: Thank you for reminding us over and over again that
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Speaker 2: your work is excellent, never mediocre, always in abundance, never
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Speaker 2: just adequate. Deserve our Father, not the good. You deserve
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Speaker 2: the best. And we have, with heartiness and passion and
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Speaker 2: earnestness sung our songs to you. You have become the
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Speaker 2: object of our worship and the subject of our praise.
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Speaker 1: We love you, Father. We love you.
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Speaker 2: Because we have received and received and received from you
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Speaker 2: help for our bodies, strength for our work, the pleasure
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Speaker 2: of an occupation, the joy of earning a good living,
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Speaker 2: and being entrusted with more money than we need. It's
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Speaker 2: only right Lord that we to day, at this one
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Speaker 2: time of the.
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Speaker 3: Week, give.
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Speaker 1: Give to You. We don't do it to earn any favors.
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Speaker 2: We don't do it to impress someone sitting near us
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Speaker 2: or even you. We do it because we can't help
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Speaker 2: but do it.
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Speaker 1: It just comes spontaneously from us.
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Speaker 2: And therefore we do so with joy and generosity. And finally, Lord,
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Speaker 2: I thank you for your nearness you have. You have
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Speaker 2: come not only alongside to help, you have come within
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Speaker 2: us to reside. And thank you for the pleasure of
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Speaker 2: carrying God around with us.
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Speaker 3: We do so with great gratitude.
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Speaker 2: And the quietness of this moment of worship. Thank you
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Speaker 2: for being near nearer you really could not be, For
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Speaker 2: in the person of your son, you are as near
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Speaker 2: as he. It's in his name we worship and we give,
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Speaker 2: and we express these words of praise, and all God's
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Speaker 2: people said Amen. Traveling abroad always includes some special challenges,
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Speaker 2: and among them the whole issue of.
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Speaker 1: Packing.
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Speaker 2: What do you take, how much do you take? How
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Speaker 2: light do you pack? Is it going to be hot weather,
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Speaker 2: is it going to be cool?
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Speaker 1: Weather.
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Speaker 2: You often don't know will it be a dress up
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Speaker 2: occasion that you forget to take something for.
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Speaker 1: Or or is it all casual. You just don't ever
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Speaker 1: know for sure.
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Speaker 2: And of course if you care about things like this,
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Speaker 2: then you give more time and attention to it than
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Speaker 2: if you were a man. Men love to brag about
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Speaker 2: how they could put three weeks of clothing for traveling
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Speaker 2: a carry on bag, and they usually look like it
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Speaker 2: about the second week of the travel. Women are different.
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Speaker 2: It's just something about them. I love to tease Cynthia.
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Speaker 2: I say, it's amazing. We have five suitcases and a
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Speaker 2: half of one is mine, one of yours is shoes,
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Speaker 2: one is cosmetics. And about that time I sort of
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Speaker 2: black out. I don't remember what was said. Next, we
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Speaker 2: were having fun at Ben Yahudah Street. You who have
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Speaker 2: traveled in Jerusalem know the spot we had shopped naturally,
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Speaker 2: and we were sitting together at a coffee shop with
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Speaker 2: a group of friends from Stonebrock Community Church who had
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Speaker 2: gone on the trip with us recently. We're having more fun,
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Speaker 2: laughing as always, and one of our men said the
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Speaker 2: funniest thing that I heard on the trip. He said,
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Speaker 2: I don't know what The big deal is about all
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Speaker 2: the clothes people bring with them on a trip. He said,
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Speaker 2: I've solved the underwear problem. In fact, I now carry
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Speaker 2: one fourth of the underwear I used to carry out.
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Speaker 1: He was telling us things we didn't really need to know.
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Speaker 2: What occurred to me, He said, actually, you can get
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Speaker 2: four times the wear out of every pair of underwear,
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Speaker 2: so simple, And we, of course were hanging on these words,
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Speaker 2: wondering what he had in mind. He said, look, it's simple,
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Speaker 2: right side out, wrong side out, frontwards and backwards.
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Speaker 1: You could just wear the same one.
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Speaker 2: I noticed toward the end of our second week, no
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Speaker 2: one was sitting next to this guy. Just something about
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Speaker 2: it that turns you off. And if you think clothing
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Speaker 2: is just a thing for adults, the last time you
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Speaker 2: looked in a clothing store that was popular clothing, you
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Speaker 2: saw it was full of teenagers.
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Speaker 1: It wasn't all about adults. I don't know of anyone who.
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Speaker 2: Cares more about how they look than teenagers. And they
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Speaker 2: all want to be so independent, and they all walking
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Speaker 2: out walk out of the store looking the same. They
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Speaker 2: got that same look. And of course women continue to
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Speaker 2: live with the pressure of what they wear. And is
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Speaker 2: it in style, and will the shoes match the purse?
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Speaker 2: And will that match the belt? And is the HM
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Speaker 2: the right length? And on and on it goes and
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Speaker 2: men as well. Have you noticed there are manuals for
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Speaker 2: power dressing. Someone asked me if I had read the
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Speaker 2: manual of power dress. I said, you can tell about looking.
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Speaker 2: I haven't read the power manual. There are power suits,
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Speaker 2: dark pinstriped suit, power shirts, button down, oxford, white collar
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Speaker 2: and shirt, and power ties, muted collars and certain patterns.
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Speaker 2: And I'm thinking, good night, maybe that's what I've been missing.
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Speaker 2: And I realize the more I address the subject, the
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Speaker 2: more I come up against the reality that clothing may
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Speaker 2: polish the image, but it doesn't polish the character. We
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Speaker 2: were all raised with the statement you never have a
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Speaker 2: second chance to leave a first impression.
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Speaker 1: And let's face it, the way you dress does.
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Speaker 2: Impact the way the interview turns out more often than not.
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Speaker 2: But does it really do anything to the inside, that's
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Speaker 2: the question, and it does not. Henry Ward Beecher, in
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Speaker 2: an old series of sermons announced under the title Proverbs
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Speaker 2: from the Plymouth Pulpit, wrote in eighteen eighty seven, clothes
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Speaker 2: and manner do not make the man, but when he is,
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Speaker 2: they greatly improve his appearance. Oscar Wilde, in the picture
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Speaker 2: of Dorian Gray added this thought, which I thought was
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Speaker 2: a bit humorous. With an evening coat and a white tie, anybody,
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Speaker 2: even a stockbroker, can gain a reputation for being civilized.
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Speaker 2: I think if you were to write that today, it
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Speaker 2: would be even a lawyer can gain a reputation for
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Speaker 2: being civilized. Henry David Thiau and his fine work Economy,
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Speaker 2: writes this, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes,
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Speaker 2: and not rather a new wearer of clothes. Now, what
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Speaker 2: does all of this have to do with our study
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Speaker 2: and Ephesians. Well, when you get to the central section
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Speaker 2: of Ephesians four, the answer is in one word everything.
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Speaker 1: In fact, the apostle Paul.
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Speaker 2: Has a word picture that sort of subtly is dropped
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Speaker 2: in on us and leaves us with the reality that
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Speaker 2: it's about clothes, not.
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Speaker 1: The external, but the internal.
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Speaker 2: That he's writing, it's not about what you put on
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Speaker 2: your body, it's what you live out in your life
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Speaker 2: that's important. In order to do that, two things have
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Speaker 2: to happen. You have to discard the old and you
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Speaker 2: have to have a shower.
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Speaker 1: You have to have a bath.
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Speaker 2: And get cleaned up before you can put on the
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Speaker 2: new If you like to mark your Bibles, drop down
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Speaker 2: to four to twenty two and make note of lay
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Speaker 2: aside the old self, and then verse twenty four mark
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Speaker 2: put on the new.
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Speaker 1: Self. Can't you picture it.
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Speaker 2: It's like having worked in the yard through the morning,
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Speaker 2: and you've got to make an afternoon wedding, and so
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Speaker 2: you come in and you throw aside the sweaty, dirty garments.
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Speaker 2: You hop in the shower and you get clean, and
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Speaker 2: you get on the other garments that are clean and
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Speaker 2: pressed and ready for the wedding. Because appropriate attire goes
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Speaker 2: with a particular setting. You don't wear tuxedos. If you're
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Speaker 2: going to work in the ranch through the afternoon, you
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Speaker 2: wear blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a shirt that you
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Speaker 2: can get dirty or even tear if necessary. You got
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Speaker 2: an attire for that. If you're going to an elegant
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Speaker 2: evening for dinner finished off by the time at the symphony,
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Speaker 2: you don't wear swimsuit and fongs.
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Speaker 1: You wear evening attire.
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Speaker 2: Because that's appropriate for the occasion. The apostle is just
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Speaker 2: simply talking about what's appropriate, but he doesn't have symphonies
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Speaker 2: or ranches or working in yards. In mind, it's all
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Speaker 2: about the inner person. It's never about the external.
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Speaker 1: Or rarely.
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Speaker 2: Remember the words that the Lord gave to Samuel. Remember
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Speaker 2: the story and first Samuel sixteen.
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Speaker 1: Saul had failed. Though handsome and tall.
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Speaker 2: And dark in appearance and attractive to the people around him,
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Speaker 2: he was weak within. And the Lord had gotten sick
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Speaker 2: of him, if you will, and told Samuel to go
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Speaker 2: on a search for the next king. And when he
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Speaker 2: came to the house of Jesse, the older brothers were
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Speaker 2: paraded in front of Samuel, and immediately he fell for
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Speaker 2: another tall, dark and hand. You'd think when you see
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Speaker 2: that scene, he's had enough of tall, dark and handsome.
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Speaker 2: But he hadn't, and we haven't. We're still impressed with
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Speaker 2: height and stature and pen striped suits and muted ties
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Speaker 2: and elegant dresses. He said Samuel, Samuel, the externals aren't important.
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Speaker 2: God doesn't see as man sees. Man looks at the
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Speaker 2: outward appearance. The Lord looks on the heart. He doesn't
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Speaker 2: see the color of the dress. He sees the condition
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Speaker 2: of the heart. Now Paul in Ephesians four seventeen to
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Speaker 2: twenty four is addressing how to get the heart dressed,
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Speaker 2: how to get the life dressed correctly. You won't read
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Speaker 2: of it in any of the papers today. You won't
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Speaker 2: see it in any of the style magazines. You won't
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Speaker 2: hear of it on any of the television shows, because
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Speaker 2: this isn't addressed in our day, because our day is
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Speaker 2: about image. It's about looking good, making a good impression,
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Speaker 2: whether there's character or not. After all, that's how you
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Speaker 2: get elected, isn't it.
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Speaker 1: I hate that the apostle says, where to put off?
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Speaker 2: Have our minds renewed, like you would take a shower
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Speaker 2: and then put on. Now you know the context. Remember
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Speaker 2: basic rule of interpretation. Always integrate the section you're looking
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Speaker 2: at with its context. Never just plunge right into a verse.
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Speaker 2: Always see where you're coming from, and look at where
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Speaker 2: you're going. Sandwiched between two very interesting and intriguing sections
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Speaker 2: of the scriptures, these verses appear what's been before them.
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Speaker 2: Remember Paul's words, I urge you, as a prisoner to
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Speaker 2: walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called.
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Speaker 2: So this is about walking the walk. This is about
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Speaker 2: living out the life you claim to believe, or as
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Speaker 2: James would put it, if you say you believe like
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Speaker 2: you should, why do you behave like you shouldn't? This
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Speaker 2: is how you can learn to behave correctly. And beginning
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Speaker 2: at verse one down through verse sixteen, the emphasis has
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Speaker 2: been on the unity of the body, unity, humility, and
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Speaker 2: allultimately maturity. Here's how to grow up as the body
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Speaker 2: of Christ, as the family of God. When you get
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Speaker 2: to verse seventeen, it's about the purity of the believer,
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Speaker 2: not the unity of the body Verses seventeen to twenty four.
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Speaker 2: In fact, they end with the words holiness of the truth.
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Speaker 2: The end of verse twenty four, this is about dealing
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Speaker 2: with the individual believer in your own life. And I've
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Speaker 2: called it here's how to get dressed. Verse seventeen. This
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Speaker 2: is no insignificant subject that he sort of slides into.
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Speaker 2: He has the Lord standing alongside him, saying.
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Speaker 1: Write this.
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Speaker 2: Look at the way he opens. So this I say,
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Speaker 2: and affirm together with the Lord. Now see the word affirm.
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Speaker 2: It's the word from which in the Greek from which
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Speaker 2: we get our word martyr, which interestingly means to witness.
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Speaker 2: This is the Lord's witness. This is the Lord's testimony.
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Speaker 2: He's using my pen to communicate it to you. I
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Speaker 2: take it that when Paul was caught up in the
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Speaker 2: Third heaven Tewod Corinthians, chapter twelve, for he received great
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Speaker 2: revelation from God, especially regarding the body the church, how
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Speaker 2: the church was to live its life and carry out
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Speaker 2: its responsibilities. A part of that truth he received from
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Speaker 2: the Lord, that the Lord testified to him, was about
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Speaker 2: this particular subject. So this is no idle matter, this
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Speaker 2: is no yawning concern. This is of crucial importance. That's
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Speaker 2: why he begins this, I say, and I affirm it
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Speaker 2: with the Lord. He's standing alongside me, saying right this
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Speaker 2: that you walk no longer as the gentiles also walk.
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Speaker 2: When you read gentiles, you would normally think he has
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Speaker 2: in mind all humanity that is not Jewish. That's how
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Speaker 2: we use the word today. But Paul's use of the
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Speaker 2: term is a lot more specific. More often than not,
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Speaker 2: he has in mind the unregenerate person.
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Speaker 1: Let me show you an example. Hold your place.
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Speaker 2: Look at first Thessalonians chapter four. I'll give you an
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Speaker 2: example of how this word is used, with a little
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Speaker 2: statement after it describing the meaning of the term. First
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Speaker 2: Tessalonians four, verse three, this is the will of God
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Speaker 2: your sanctification, that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.
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Speaker 2: That each of you know how to possess his own
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Speaker 2: vessel in sanctification and honor. That's the positive, the negative,
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Speaker 2: not in lustful passion. Like look at that the gentiles
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Speaker 2: who do not know God, see the way that read.
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Speaker 2: That reads back in the Ephesians four seventeen. That's what
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Speaker 2: he has in mind regarding the gentiles. In other words,
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Speaker 2: verse seventeen, chapter four of Ephesians, that you walk no
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Speaker 2: longer as you walked in your unregenerate state, that you
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Speaker 2: no longer live out the lifestyle of your lost condition
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Speaker 2: before the Cross, before you came to Christ, in your
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Speaker 2: unconverted state of mind, and in your lifestyle of lost ness.
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Speaker 2: The way you walk, then is has nothing to do
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Speaker 2: with the way you're now to walk.
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Speaker 1: But before he.
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Speaker 2: Gets to the positive, he drills and drives home the negative,
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Speaker 2: the gentile lifestyle. Let me give you four words I
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Speaker 2: think they might help you appreciate what he's getting at.
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Speaker 2: Four words I want to suggest in verses seventeen through nineteen, darkness, deadness, rectlessness,
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Speaker 2: but let's start with the word hardness. So we've got
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Speaker 2: these four hardness, darkness, deadness, recklessness.
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Speaker 1: Those aren't original with me. John RW.
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Speaker 2: Stott, in his fine work on Ephesians, suggests them as
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Speaker 2: a bit of an outline. It all starts with the
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Speaker 2: hardness of the heart being darkened in their understanding, excluded
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Speaker 2: from the life of God because of the ignorance that
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Speaker 2: is in them.
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Speaker 1: And why is that?
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Speaker 2: Because of the hardness of their heart, and they, having
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Speaker 2: become callous, have given them over to sensuality for the
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Speaker 2: practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. See the
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Speaker 2: words hardness of heart. That's at the heart, no pun intended.
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Speaker 2: That's at the heart and center of the problem. The
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Speaker 2: core of depravity is a hard heart. I'm attracted to
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Speaker 2: the word hardness, word vulture that I am. And I
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Speaker 2: did a little work on the etymology, and I learned
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Speaker 2: that hardness comes from the word porosis, which comes from
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Speaker 2: pooros Pete two long O's p r os. We got
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Speaker 2: our word porous from it as a rock may be
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Speaker 2: poor us, and it does mean something like a rock.
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Speaker 2: One man writes this, the word which Paul uses for
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Speaker 2: the petrifying of their hearts is grim and terrible. Porosis
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Speaker 2: comes from poros, a stone harder than marble.
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Speaker 1: It came to have certain medical uses.
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Speaker 2: It was used for the chalk stone that can form
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Speaker 2: in the joints and completely paralyze action.
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Speaker 1: It was used for.
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Speaker 2: The callous that forms where a bone has been broken
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Speaker 2: and reset. A callous which is harder than bone itself emerges.
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Speaker 1: Finally, the word.
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Speaker 2: Came to mean the loss of all power of sensation.
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Speaker 2: It describes something which had becomes so hardened, so petrified,
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Speaker 2: that it no longer had the power to.
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Speaker 1: Feel at all. I pause so that you can let
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Speaker 1: that see sink in. That's hard.
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Speaker 2: Mixing hardness of heart with the darkness of the mind,
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Speaker 2: you come to a pretty vivid image of depravity. No
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Speaker 2: longer walk as gentiles have walked, or as you have walked,
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Speaker 2: in the hardness of your heart and in the darkness
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Speaker 2: of your mind. See how he puts it, excluded from
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Speaker 2: the life of God. A darkened mind is a mind
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Speaker 2: that exists apart from the light and the knowledge of God.
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Speaker 2: This is not about the loss of intelligence in the
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Speaker 2: sense of sheer technical academic intelligence. It is the loss
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Speaker 2: of spiritual perception, which explains how a person can be
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Speaker 2: greatly intelligent and even sophisticated in technical knowledge and be
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Speaker 2: absolutely at a loss totally ignorant of spiritual things. Sometimes
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Speaker 2: it comes out in the ignorance of biblical knowledge. Back
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Speaker 2: in the days of Jimmy Carter, there were all kinds
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Speaker 2: of comments made about President Carter's Christian walk, and while
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Speaker 2: in the process of being elected into office, a number
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Speaker 2: of the commentators found it interesting that one of the
26:28
Speaker 2: verses he regularly quoted was the one from a second
26:32
Speaker 2: Chronicle seven fourteen. If my people who were called by
26:35
Speaker 2: my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face,
26:38
Speaker 2: and I will hear from Heaven forgive their sin, heal
26:41
Speaker 2: their land. One of the news commentators presenting mister Carter
26:45
Speaker 2: in light of the scripture says, as he's reading from
26:49
Speaker 2: the teleprompter, and as we all have read in eleven
26:52
Speaker 2: Chronicles seven fourteen, and he quotes eleven Chronicles seven. I
26:57
Speaker 2: smile when I heard that, not out of pride, but
27:00
Speaker 2: he's a very intelligent commentator. The name you would know
27:03
Speaker 2: if I called it, But he doesn't know how many chronicles.
27:05
Speaker 1: There are.
27:08
Speaker 2: Very intelligent individuals who can do remarkably sophisticated things, but
27:12
Speaker 2: totally blank when it comes to the things of God.
27:18
Speaker 2: Race Deedmond writes, we why are we human beings ignorant?
27:22
Speaker 2: Because there is a part of our being that does
27:25
Speaker 2: not function our spiritual life. The human spirit is blank, darkened,
27:32
Speaker 2: and obscured in our natural state.
27:35
Speaker 1: Apart from God.
27:36
Speaker 2: There is a part of our being, the part that
27:39
Speaker 2: God intended at creation to be the key to life,
27:42
Speaker 2: where nothing takes place. The spirit of humanity, lost in sin.
27:47
Speaker 1: Is dead. As a result, all human knowledge.
27:51
Speaker 2: Is broken, unrelated, incomplete. That is the picture Paul draws,
27:57
Speaker 2: and then he adds we tend to take in our
28:00
Speaker 2: great civilization, with its accomplishments, knowledge and technological wonders, but
28:05
Speaker 2: we have to ask ourselves what has this vaunted civilization
28:10
Speaker 2: really done for us?
28:11
Speaker 1: Do we feel safe on our streets at night?
28:15
Speaker 2: Have we solved the problems of crime, political corruption, racism,
28:20
Speaker 2: immorality and war? Are we any happier as a society
28:25
Speaker 2: than the ancient Egyptians or the ancient Greeks? If so,
28:29
Speaker 2: why are so many of us going to psychiatrists, taking drugs,
28:33
Speaker 2: getting drunk, getting divorced, battering spouses.
28:37
Speaker 1: And children, and committing suicide.
28:39
Speaker 2: Why are all these problems rising instead of declining, great questions,
28:46
Speaker 2: It's because there is a hardness of heart and a
28:50
Speaker 2: darkness of mind, which leads to a deadness.
28:56
Speaker 3: Of life.
29:00
Speaker 2: How else can you explain a Ted Bundy and his
29:05
Speaker 2: ilk of serial killers being able to talk about it
29:10
Speaker 2: as you would talk about what you had for breakfast
29:13
Speaker 2: without feeling. How else can you describe two teenagers shooting
29:20
Speaker 2: down in cold blood teacher and fellow students in a
29:24
Speaker 2: high school in Littleton, Colorado, and then themselves in the
29:30
Speaker 2: hardness and darkness and deadness of their lives. One of
29:37
Speaker 2: the most fascinating books I've read this year is a
29:40
Speaker 2: book entitled The Art of Pilgrimage, which is a fine
29:43
Speaker 2: work on travel and how to get the most out
29:46
Speaker 2: of travel.
29:47
Speaker 1: Phil Cozeno is the author.
29:50
Speaker 2: I had not read him before, though he is a
29:52
Speaker 2: published author, and in his travels he takes you from
29:56
Speaker 2: one scene to another, and he takes you ultimately to Cambodia,
30:00
Speaker 2: where you watched the scene unfold before your eyes, and
30:05
Speaker 2: you remember the popular title The Killing Fields. Listen to
30:09
Speaker 2: his description and the closing word that reveals hardness with
30:15
Speaker 2: every step through the ghostly glory of the ancient temple grounds,
30:19
Speaker 2: it was impossible not to be reminded of the scourge
30:22
Speaker 2: of Polepot, the ever present threat of landmines, and the
30:28
Speaker 2: fragility of a site that had endured a thousand years
30:32
Speaker 2: of historical chaos. The maimed children and fierced soldiers we
30:38
Speaker 2: encountered everywhere were grim evidence of a never ending war.
30:44
Speaker 2: Once upon a time, foreigners were spread, were spared the
30:48
Speaker 2: horrors of remote revolutions.
30:50
Speaker 1: But no more.
30:52
Speaker 2: In a local English language newspaper we read that Polepot
30:56
Speaker 2: had ordered the executions of three Australian tour rists, saying
31:01
Speaker 2: only crush them.
31:06
Speaker 1: Crush them.
31:09
Speaker 2: Those are the words from a hard heart, and a
31:12
Speaker 2: darkened mind and a dead spirit. You know what it represents,
31:22
Speaker 2: the old clothes, the old garments. And before any of
31:27
Speaker 2: us pluck our tongues and look down our noses at
31:31
Speaker 2: people I have named, remember the nature within.
31:35
Speaker 3: You is just as wicked as theirs.
31:42
Speaker 2: The darkness in which they have dwelt and acted out
31:45
Speaker 2: is the darkness to which you can turn at any time,
31:51
Speaker 2: because you were born into it. Because when you act out,
31:57
Speaker 2: you are stepping in step. You were walking in step
32:00
Speaker 2: with a culture that has lost its way. Verse My
32:06
Speaker 2: teen is vivid, and they having become callous, there's the word,
32:11
Speaker 2: have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of
32:16
Speaker 2: every kind of impurity, with greediness, greediness. More more, it's
32:29
Speaker 2: never enough. That which drives the pornographer is the insatiable
32:35
Speaker 2: habit of those with a hunger for pornography. Never being
32:41
Speaker 2: quite satisfied, the greed goes deeper, the boredom hits sooner,
32:47
Speaker 2: and there has to be something more, until finally there
32:50
Speaker 2: is such a recklessness of life, there is an absence
32:55
Speaker 2: of shame. And have you noticed no longer blush? Isn't
33:03
Speaker 2: that an interesting characteristic of the twenty first century? When
33:06
Speaker 2: is the last time you saw anyone blush?
33:15
Speaker 1: You know how old I am.
33:16
Speaker 2: I'm old enough to remember that the use of a
33:18
Speaker 2: four letter word and gone with the wind made the
33:20
Speaker 2: front page of the newspaper. They had the audacity to
33:25
Speaker 2: use the D word once and gone with the win,
33:30
Speaker 2: and it was splashed all across the front page of
33:32
Speaker 2: the Houston Chronicle. I remember my mother and dad just
33:36
Speaker 2: ranting and raving over this, just thinking this is the
33:39
Speaker 2: worst thing that ever happened. And I must tell you
33:42
Speaker 2: that I can hardly listen to a news or sports
33:44
Speaker 2: or disc jockey on the radio without hearing a regular
33:49
Speaker 2: diet of four letter words that come without any reluctance.
33:56
Speaker 2: I remember when they used to put them off the air,
34:00
Speaker 2: not now.
34:04
Speaker 1: Now.
34:08
Speaker 2: It's tragic, But again I remind you it is a
34:12
Speaker 2: culture that has gotten its cues from the hardness and
34:18
Speaker 2: the darkness, and the deadness and their recklessness of depravity.
34:25
Speaker 2: Few people put it better than Kent Hughes in one
34:28
Speaker 2: statement in his book, Our culture is held bent in its.
34:31
Speaker 1: Cavalier, reckless pursuit of sin.
34:35
Speaker 2: It makes psychopaths its martyrs, and drag queens its models.
34:44
Speaker 2: Paul portrays these horrible sights and rites of such. He
34:48
Speaker 2: saw hearts that were so hardened they weren't even aware
34:50
Speaker 2: they were sinning. He saw minds so blinded by sin
34:54
Speaker 2: that shame was lost in decency forgotten. He saw marals
34:58
Speaker 2: so debauched and at the reckless mercy of their own
35:02
Speaker 2: desires they did not care whose life they injured, or
35:05
Speaker 2: whose innocence they destroyed. And remember, you have the same
35:13
Speaker 2: nature within you they have within them. But you Verse
35:22
Speaker 2: twenty begins. I don't know if you've gone to a
35:24
Speaker 2: basketball game lately, but one of the things that's more
35:27
Speaker 2: popular to do nowadays, especially with umpires when they make
35:30
Speaker 2: a wrong call, is half the crowd goes you.
35:32
Speaker 3: You, you, you, you know.
35:34
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just like coming in all over you
35:36
Speaker 2: inside these closed arenas. This is sort of the way
35:39
Speaker 2: it is in verse twenty. But you you there, you
35:42
Speaker 2: you believer, you child of God in Ephesus, you Christian
35:46
Speaker 2: in Frisco or Dallas. You you did not learn Christ
35:53
Speaker 2: in this way. You know what that means. You've come
35:56
Speaker 2: to the cross. You've walked from the unregenerate life into
36:02
Speaker 2: the resplendent light and presence of Christ. And you've seen
36:09
Speaker 2: what it means to be cleansed from within. So that converted,
36:17
Speaker 2: you now are able to put on or having put
36:20
Speaker 2: on the new garments, you're able to walk a new
36:23
Speaker 2: kind of life. I love this word picture that he
36:27
Speaker 2: gives us. It's a strong contrast. You have not so
36:31
Speaker 2: learned Christ. In fact, the way he goes after this
36:35
Speaker 2: almost sounds like the catechism of a school verse twenty one.
36:40
Speaker 2: If indeed you have heard him Christ speaking and have
36:45
Speaker 2: been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus.
36:50
Speaker 1: I love that the way that reads.
36:53
Speaker 2: I don't know if you have been exposed to this
36:55
Speaker 2: kind of Christ of focused teaching, maybe in Bible study, fellowship,
37:01
Speaker 2: or through campus crusade for Christ, or perhaps a home
37:04
Speaker 2: Bible class, or a group of you friends got together,
37:07
Speaker 2: maybe some of you at work, and you came together,
37:10
Speaker 2: and without concern for denomination or religious background, all of
37:14
Speaker 2: you together converted focusing on Christ, began to be taught
37:19
Speaker 2: of him. He not only was the subject of the teaching,
37:22
Speaker 2: he was, if you will, the teacher. And it so
37:27
Speaker 2: overwhelmed you that you were lost in the wonder of
37:31
Speaker 2: his person, and it began to seep deep into your
37:35
Speaker 2: once hardened heart and darkened mind.
37:38
Speaker 1: It began to change you.
37:44
Speaker 2: It's going to sound like a commercial, and it's not
37:46
Speaker 2: meant that way, But I have to tell you the
37:51
Speaker 2: setting that I first became familiar with in a time
37:57
Speaker 2: in my life that was most strategic, was at Dallas Seminary.
38:01
Speaker 2: Here I was a young mid twenties student, no children,
38:05
Speaker 2: a wife of just a couple of years or really
38:08
Speaker 2: by then four years, and we came and we stepped
38:12
Speaker 2: into an environment that I had never before ever been
38:15
Speaker 2: exposed to. Remember, I came out of a marine barracks.
38:18
Speaker 2: This is a little bit of a contrast to the
38:20
Speaker 2: seminary classroom. And I stepped away from that into this,
38:24
Speaker 2: and I found myself surrounded by Christ. Teachers who modeled him,
38:29
Speaker 2: are scriptures who spoke of him, chapels that centered on him,
38:33
Speaker 2: songs that focused on him. And I found myself hearing
38:37
Speaker 2: Him and being taught in Him, as the truth is
38:40
Speaker 2: in Jesus, and I loved it. I came across a
38:45
Speaker 2: fifth century monk named Saint Patrick, who wrote words I
38:48
Speaker 2: would love to teach my grandchildren this summer.
38:51
Speaker 1: Listen to this.
38:53
Speaker 2: Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me,
38:57
Speaker 2: Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
39:01
Speaker 2: Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ
39:06
Speaker 2: above me, Christ and quiet Christ in danger, Christ and
39:10
Speaker 2: hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth a
39:13
Speaker 2: friend and stranger.
39:17
Speaker 1: Wouldn't that be a great way to go to bed
39:19
Speaker 1: every night?
39:20
Speaker 3: Christ? Christ Christ, Christ.
39:34
Speaker 2: As that begins to take over your life, you can't
39:38
Speaker 2: wait to shed the garments and to get dressed right
39:46
Speaker 2: that you'd be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
39:51
Speaker 2: Look at verse twenty three. This is the shower. This
39:54
Speaker 2: is the part that comes between the old and the
39:57
Speaker 2: new garments. You are renewed in the spirit of your mind.
40:06
Speaker 1: What does that mean?
40:07
Speaker 2: Well, I think it starts with realizing the old self
40:11
Speaker 2: is corrupt and powerfully deceitful. I tell myself that on
40:16
Speaker 2: a somewhat regular basis.
40:18
Speaker 1: This harks back.
40:19
Speaker 2: To Romans twelve to two, that you're not conformed to
40:22
Speaker 2: this world, but you are renewed in the spirit of
40:25
Speaker 2: your mind, so that you discover that your spiritual service
40:29
Speaker 2: of worship is the least expression of a sacrifice. You
40:32
Speaker 2: could make a living sacrifice in the renewing of your mind.
40:38
Speaker 2: I begin my day by realizing that the old self
40:41
Speaker 2: is corrupt and will never be less than corrupt, and
40:44
Speaker 2: it is deceitfully appealing. A second, it continues with frequent
40:50
Speaker 2: reminders that the new self is christ Like and wholly satisfying,
40:57
Speaker 2: and this needs to be done daily. This is not
40:59
Speaker 2: a one for all experience.
41:01
Speaker 3: This is daily.
41:02
Speaker 2: Now, having said all of that, I probably need to
41:05
Speaker 2: tell you I understand what it is to be attached
41:09
Speaker 2: to the old. Things get a little intense here, so
41:13
Speaker 2: let's lighten up, and let me tell you.
41:15
Speaker 1: I know what's hanging in.
41:16
Speaker 2: Your closet and what's in your bureau drawers, because even
41:21
Speaker 2: though you've never been there, you know what are in mind.
41:26
Speaker 2: We have old clothes, Okay, we prefer the old clothes.
41:32
Speaker 2: We've all got old t shirts that our wives have
41:36
Speaker 2: begged us to get rid of. In fact, one of
41:40
Speaker 2: the first thoughts of the possibility of a divorce was
41:44
Speaker 2: when she took it and tried.
41:45
Speaker 3: To throw it away and you rescued it.
41:49
Speaker 2: And then finding the hole to put your arm through,
41:52
Speaker 2: you got back into the outfit, having several other holes
41:55
Speaker 2: to choose from. And you've got these great old sneakers,
41:58
Speaker 2: and you've got these old ants, usually.
42:00
Speaker 1: With elastic waste you can keep pulling.
42:03
Speaker 2: You like to just hang out in them, and when
42:06
Speaker 2: nobody's around, that's what you wear, and it's why they're
42:10
Speaker 2: so comfortable.
42:11
Speaker 1: Plus they've got history. Some of them have a some
42:15
Speaker 1: of them have a smell.
42:17
Speaker 2: Of history about him, and they just love them. And
42:20
Speaker 2: then and you get in them and you're so relaxed,
42:23
Speaker 2: and you.
42:24
Speaker 1: Hope nobody from the church shows up.
42:26
Speaker 2: To see you like this, And and then finally you
42:29
Speaker 2: keep going back and.
42:30
Speaker 1: Hanging on to them.
42:31
Speaker 2: That's the old clothing, and that teaches me that the
42:34
Speaker 2: old nature is a lot like that. The old nature
42:38
Speaker 2: is not some grim, snarling beast that comes in to
42:43
Speaker 2: rip and tear and rape his way through the house.
42:45
Speaker 1: He not like that. He's fun to be with. It's comfortable.
42:51
Speaker 3: He's got history.
42:54
Speaker 2: You and he have lived together longer, quite possibly than
42:57
Speaker 2: you've lived with Christ and more months of weakness. You'd
43:01
Speaker 2: love to fall back into those old clothes and wear
43:05
Speaker 2: them again and hang on to them. But you have
43:14
Speaker 2: not so learned Christ. I'm not asking you to do
43:22
Speaker 2: something easy. I'm asking you to do something that's transforming you. See,
43:28
Speaker 2: Otherwise you will continue to rely on lying rather than
43:32
Speaker 2: telling the truth. You're so much more comfortable doing that.
43:38
Speaker 2: You'll continue to lust after her or him because it's
43:42
Speaker 2: an old habit and it's a little exhilarating, it's a
43:47
Speaker 2: lot satisfying. You continue to manipulate and take charge and
43:53
Speaker 2: be in control and get your way and selfishly pull
43:58
Speaker 2: it off because it's the old garment. But you have
44:03
Speaker 2: not so learned Christ. By the renewing of the spirit
44:11
Speaker 2: of your mind, he says, put on the new self,
44:15
Speaker 2: and what is it? It is in the likeness of God,
44:18
Speaker 2: which has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
44:25
Speaker 1: You can't beat that.
44:26
Speaker 3: Huh.
44:30
Speaker 2: How do I go through this kind of thing and
44:35
Speaker 2: make it happen? Well, the answer is in verse twenty three.
44:40
Speaker 2: It's in the.
44:40
Speaker 1: Renewing of the mind. It's in the.
44:44
Speaker 3: Attitude we have toward it.
44:50
Speaker 2: That you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
44:53
Speaker 2: so that the new garments have a greater appeal than
44:58
Speaker 2: the satisfaction.
44:59
Speaker 3: Of the old.
45:04
Speaker 2: Remember, the old offer deceitful lusts, see the end of
45:09
Speaker 2: verse twenty two, corrupted in accordance with the lusts of
45:13
Speaker 2: deceit That's why I tried to picture those things as
45:17
Speaker 2: not being like beasts, but deceptively appealing deceitful lusts, writes
45:27
Speaker 2: one man. These may include sex urges, of course, but
45:31
Speaker 2: they really refer to desires to acquire as well. The
45:35
Speaker 2: urge to use others for our own advantage, the urge
45:38
Speaker 2: to hurt people through backbiting and gossip, the lust for
45:42
Speaker 2: power and fame, the urge to attain mastery and status
45:47
Speaker 2: in the political or the business or the church world.
45:51
Speaker 2: The urge to criticize and blame others, the urge to
45:54
Speaker 2: indulge in self pity or explode in anger or impatience
45:58
Speaker 2: with others, to react defensively and abrasively when things don't
46:03
Speaker 2: go our way. That's the deceitful urges of the old garments.
46:09
Speaker 2: Put them aside, but the renewing of your mind put
46:15
Speaker 2: on the new.
46:17
Speaker 1: The renewal of the mind is.
46:18
Speaker 2: Like the clean fresh water of the shower. I mentioned
46:25
Speaker 2: when I first came to seminary, I didn't know very
46:33
Speaker 2: much about preaching. And when you were first at the school,
46:37
Speaker 2: you try to find places that will listen to you,
46:42
Speaker 2: and I found a number of them. They just didn't
46:46
Speaker 2: know better. One was I would do funerals for people
46:50
Speaker 2: I'd never met, so they needed someone to preach, and
46:54
Speaker 2: I'd preach to an empty funeral home and a dead person.
46:58
Speaker 2: As I would learn how to do this, and then
47:00
Speaker 2: they trusted me to preach to a fraternity at a campus,
47:04
Speaker 2: and then to a free speech platform. I remember doing
47:08
Speaker 2: that with Sweet Anderson up in Oklahoma.
47:10
Speaker 1: They threw things at us. That that was in the sixties.
47:12
Speaker 3: It was fun.
47:14
Speaker 1: Man.
47:14
Speaker 2: Remember Churchill's words, nothing in life is more exhilarating than
47:18
Speaker 2: being shot at without result, and the things would be
47:22
Speaker 2: slung in our direction. And boy, you learn to preach
47:24
Speaker 2: just to survive. And one of the places I preached
47:29
Speaker 2: was the was the downtown Dallas. They called it the
47:36
Speaker 2: rescue mission. Interesting place. And in some rescue missions, and
47:44
Speaker 2: I've preached in many of them, they have a special
47:47
Speaker 2: room where these derelicts are brought and they discard their
47:53
Speaker 2: their filthy garments, and they literally are de loused, and
47:58
Speaker 2: then they are put through a show shower and a
48:00
Speaker 2: bath so as to be completely cleaned up, and then
48:03
Speaker 2: given fresh garments, not necessarily new, but new to them
48:07
Speaker 2: if it's a cold night, a nice coat. But the
48:12
Speaker 2: changing of the garments takes place only after they have
48:17
Speaker 2: gone through the delousing room.
48:21
Speaker 3: If you will, that's the cross, that's the cross.
48:31
Speaker 2: You come with your old garments, filthy that they are,
48:34
Speaker 2: and you stand before Him and you shed them, and
48:41
Speaker 2: nothing in your hands you bring simply to the cross.
48:44
Speaker 2: You cling, and you place yourself before the living, Holy,
48:50
Speaker 2: all pure, all clean God, and you claim his forgiveness
48:54
Speaker 2: and the sacrifice of Christ's death on your behalf. Having
49:00
Speaker 2: shed the old garments, you are fitted with new ones.
49:05
Speaker 3: Wear that where that.
49:11
Speaker 1: To go back to.
49:12
Speaker 2: The old is as foolish as the old drunk coming
49:15
Speaker 2: back in the next day and asking for his dirty
49:19
Speaker 2: clothes that he shed the night before. Because when you
49:26
Speaker 2: wear the new ones, you are wearing garments that have
49:29
Speaker 2: been created in righteousness and holiness.
49:34
Speaker 1: Of the truth.
49:38
Speaker 2: I like it that the places are called rescue missions.
49:43
Speaker 1: Isn't that good?
49:45
Speaker 3: The Cross is all about rescuing us.
49:51
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, in our day, when we can dress to fit
49:55
Speaker 2: whatever occasion, the dress of our Sunday attire can easily
49:59
Speaker 2: cover up the true condition of our filthy garments within.
50:06
Speaker 2: It's wonderful to meet at the same level at the
50:09
Speaker 2: foot of the cross and to find cleansing and forgiveness,
50:14
Speaker 2: isn't it. Will you bow your heads, please, just close
50:20
Speaker 2: your eyes. Are you sure you've made that journey? Don't
50:27
Speaker 2: tell me about your being christened as a baby. Don't
50:29
Speaker 2: tell me about when you were baptized. Don't talk about
50:33
Speaker 2: churches you've attended and preachers you've listened to. I'm asking
50:36
Speaker 2: about the Cross. Are you sure about that? You absolutely
50:44
Speaker 2: positive that you have been given the capacity to wear
50:48
Speaker 2: new clothing. Not if there's never been a conversion. Listen
51:00
Speaker 2: to the inner voice of your heart right now, just listen.
51:08
Speaker 2: Do you have the assurance of the voice of Christ
51:12
Speaker 2: that He has come to reside, to live, to help you,
51:16
Speaker 2: change clothes, to clean you up. There's not the assurance.
51:23
Speaker 2: This is a wonderful time to get the assurance. We
51:36
Speaker 2: deliberately do not hurry this moment. This is perhaps the
51:39
Speaker 2: most important moment of the day, certainly.
51:42
Speaker 3: Of this hour.
51:48
Speaker 2: Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me,
51:53
Speaker 2: Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
52:00
Speaker 2: Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ
52:05
Speaker 2: above me, Christ and quiet Christ in danger, Christ and
52:10
Speaker 2: hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth, a
52:13
Speaker 2: friend and stranger.
52:26
Speaker 1: What a wonderful hope there is.
52:27
Speaker 2: Instead of hardness and darkness, and deadness and recklessness, there
52:32
Speaker 2: can be cleansing and holiness.
52:36
Speaker 3: It starts at the cross.
52:42
Speaker 2: Thank you, Father for your grace, meeting us where we
52:47
Speaker 2: are and giving us what we didn't earn or could
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Speaker 2: never deserve, making it impossible for us to pay you back.
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Speaker 2: But coming by faith alone to Christ alone, we have
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Speaker 2: found the cleansing we so needed.
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Speaker 1: Back in the days of unbreakable habits.
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Speaker 2: Irredeemable desires, ugly actions, and shameless deeds.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for your grace.
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Speaker 2: I pray for all who hear these words today, wherever
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Speaker 2: they may be, whatever may be going on in their lives,
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Speaker 2: I pray that you will stop them and bring them
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Speaker 2: to the room where the old garments can be cast aside.
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Speaker 2: There could be cleansing and renewal and a reason to
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Speaker 2: go on, where Christ can take the place of self
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Speaker 2: and joy replace the emptiness and loneliness of a life
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Speaker 2: committed to reckless debauchery. Thank you to day Father, for
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Speaker 2: those who have now come to Christ, strengthened them in
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Speaker 2: the beginning of their walk with You, and cause this
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Speaker 2: passage to remind us of how to get dressed every morning,
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Speaker 2: and how to pay attention to the things that matter.
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Speaker 3: Most, that which is within, rather than that which is without.
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Speaker 2: And now unto him who is able to guard us
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Speaker 2: from stumbling and present us faultless, but for the presence
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Speaker 2: of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God,
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Speaker 2: our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power now
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Speaker 2: and for evermore, through Christ, our Redeemer, we pray, and
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Speaker 2: everyone said Amen.
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Speaker 4: The preceding message here's how to Get Dressed was copyrighted
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Speaker 4: in two thousand, two thousand and one, and two thousand
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Speaker 4: and nine, and the sound recording was copyrighted in two
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Speaker 4: thousand and nine by Charles R. Schwindahl, Inc. All rights
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Speaker 4: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
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Speaker 4: is strictly prohibited