Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Wake Up and Get Dressed! │ Msg 3444 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Wake Up and Get Dressed! │ Msg 3444 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · 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.
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Speaker 2: A few minutes.
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Speaker 1: The Prince of the Prophets wrote in quietness and confidence
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Speaker 1: will be your strength. I have learned over the years
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Speaker 1: that there is a wonderful link between quietness and confidence.
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Speaker 1: At the same time, With constancy of movement and noise
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Speaker 1: and activity and sound, there can be a loss of confidence.
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Speaker 1: With a group of people the other evening after enjoying
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Speaker 1: Beethoven's Ninth, the symphony, and one of the individuals at
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Speaker 1: our table said, I think one of the reasons we
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Speaker 1: do not enjoy absolute silence is we're afraid. Because in silence,
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Speaker 1: you self-examine. And we're uneasy with what we discover. My
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Speaker 1: hope is that through the season, you'll not only know
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Speaker 1: the Lord better, you'll come to know yourself better. And
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Speaker 1: there will be a growing awareness of strengths that you
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Speaker 1: can begin to really cultivate and weaknesses you can address.
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Speaker 1: And we all have both, don't Paul writes of this
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Speaker 1: in the 13th of Romans as he very practically addresses
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Speaker 1: the subject of waking up and getting dressed. What is
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Speaker 1: involved in both? And we shall address both together as
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Speaker 1: we hear from these last four verses of Romans 13,
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Speaker 1: beginning at verse 11. Please stand as we, out of
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Speaker 1: respect for God's word, stand for the reading of it.
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Speaker 1: Romans 13, 11. Do this knowing the time that it
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Speaker 1: is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep.
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Speaker 1: For now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.
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Speaker 1: The night is almost gone and the day is near.
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Speaker 1: Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and
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Speaker 1: put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly.
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Speaker 1: as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not
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Speaker 1: in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy,
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Speaker 1: but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no
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Speaker 1: provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. May
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Speaker 1: God honor the reading of his word, the preaching of it,
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Speaker 1: and the living out of these truths. You may be seated.
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Speaker 1: This is the season of giving. It's appropriate that we
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Speaker 1: come to a time of giving. It is also a
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Speaker 1: season of receiving, isn't it? I think the greater joy
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Speaker 1: is in the giving, except when it comes to salvation.
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Speaker 1: The greatest of all joys is the receiving of the
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Speaker 1: gift of eternal life, and that is found in a person.
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Speaker 1: Not a church, not a book, not a relationship with
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Speaker 1: others you admire, not in giving up your sins or
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Speaker 1: trying to be pure and holy. You can do neither.
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Speaker 1: It's in receiving Jesus as your Savior. So this is
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Speaker 1: a time set aside for God's people to enjoy one
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Speaker 1: of the many benefits and blessings of the Christian life.
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Speaker 1: The giving of our goods, of our substance, of our provision,
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Speaker 1: of our money to God. May we bow. Father, you
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Speaker 1: are many things to us. Your son has been in
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Speaker 1: 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: And as we in this season acknowledge Mary's little lamb,
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Speaker 1: Who came white as snow. We pause to worship him.
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Speaker 1: At this time. For feeding us. The good word. Like
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Speaker 1: a flock. Would be fed by the shepherd. And that's
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Speaker 1: why we give as we do. In the name of Jesus.
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Speaker 1: We pray. Everyone said. Amen. With all the noise and
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Speaker 1: activity and movement of our times, it is easy to
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Speaker 1: sort of tune everything out and become, well, I may
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Speaker 1: as well say it, dead in the head. Just sort
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Speaker 1: of sleepily move through life, taking care of only the
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Speaker 1: urgent things and missing the important ones.
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Speaker 2: Help.
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Speaker 1: Preoccupied we can become. Jim Dobson years ago wrote a
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Speaker 1: book called Straight Talk to Men and Their Wives. And
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Speaker 1: in it, he addresses this very issue of how men
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Speaker 1: can just check out, just be in another world. Try
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Speaker 1: to restrain yourself, ladies, as I explain this. In fact,
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Speaker 1: he says that story typifies many marriages, the wife screaming
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Speaker 1: and clawing the air and writhing in pain, the husband
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Speaker 1: oblivious to her panic and her needs. He's preoccupied with
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Speaker 1: his own thoughts, not realizing that a single step to
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Speaker 1: the right or left could alleviate the crisis. I never
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Speaker 1: cease to be amazed, he writes, at just how deft
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Speaker 1: A man can become under these circumstances. Then he tells
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Speaker 1: this unbelievable story. I know of a gynecologist who is
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Speaker 1: not only deaf but blind as well. He telephoned a
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Speaker 1: friend of mine who is also a physician in the
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Speaker 1: practice of obstetrics and gynecology. He asked for a favor.
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Speaker 1: My wife has been having some abdominal problems and she's
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Speaker 1: in particular discomfort this afternoon, he said. I don't want
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Speaker 1: to treat her, my own wife, and wonder if you'd
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Speaker 1: be willing to see her for me. My friend invited
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Speaker 1: the doctor to bring his wife for an examination, whereupon
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Speaker 1: he discovered, are you ready for this, that she was
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Speaker 1: five months pregnant. Her obstetrician husband, was so busy caring
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Speaker 1: for other patients that he hadn't even noticed his wife's
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Speaker 1: burgeoning pregnancy. I must admit wondering how in the world
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Speaker 1: this woman ever got his attention long enough to conceive.
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Speaker 1: We are never too preoccupied for that, are we? Several
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Speaker 1: years ago, the president of Columbia University sort of stunned
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Speaker 1: his audience when he, in a simple way, said, I
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Speaker 1: divide the world into three categories. The many who watch
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Speaker 1: things happen, the few who make things happen, and the
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Speaker 1: vast majority of those who have no idea in the
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Speaker 1: world what is happening. Put another way, I think he
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Speaker 1: divided the world into observers, shakers and movers, And those
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Speaker 1: who just don't bother to wake up. That describes some
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Speaker 1: of you. That's some of you. Oh, you live in
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Speaker 1: the world. You know that things are happening, but just
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Speaker 1: keep it at a cool distance. No reason to risk.
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Speaker 1: No reason to get involved. That's how trouble starts. No
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Speaker 1: 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 and observing on his television screen
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Speaker 1: without becoming involved. He watches the ominous events of our
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Speaker 1: times pass before his eyes. While he sips his beer
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Speaker 1: in a comfortable chair, he does not seem to realize
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Speaker 1: what is happening to him. He does not understand that
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Speaker 1: his world is on fire and that he is about
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Speaker 1: to be burned with it. That's some of you. You
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Speaker 1: do 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
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Speaker 1: a good plan. I love the words of Edmund Burke.
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Speaker 1: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is
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Speaker 1: for good men and women to do nothing. If I
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Speaker 1: had the time, I would turn you back to 1
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Speaker 1: Chronicles 12. The ancient Old Testament book that is a
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Speaker 1: chronicle of events. And I would point out a small
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Speaker 1: band of men called the sons of Issachar. Verse 32.
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Speaker 1: The sons of Issachar, we read, understood their times and
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Speaker 1: knew what Israel ought to do. That's the kind of
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Speaker 1: men I want around me. Give me a band of
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Speaker 1: men who have discernment and understand our times and they
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Speaker 1: have direction and discipline in knowing what we ought to
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Speaker 1: do about it. Our world is on fire. We must
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Speaker 1: awaken to that. I'm not asking that we become disconnected fanatics.
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Speaker 1: You know me better than that. I'm just saying there's
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Speaker 1: a place for passion. There is a need for waking up.
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Speaker 1: Paul saw this even in the ancient world of Rome
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Speaker 1: back in that mid-first century era. And so as he
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Speaker 1: came to the end of a very practical section where
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Speaker 1: he has addressed the importance of loving one another, loving
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Speaker 1: those that are alike, those that are different, those who
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Speaker 1: are a part of our lives, those whom we hardly know,
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Speaker 1: loving one another, loving one another. That was the message
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Speaker 1: last time. He says to us at the end of
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Speaker 1: the same context, do this. Why? Because The hour is
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Speaker 1: soon to come when you will answer to the one
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Speaker 1: who is your Savior. In fact, the day of opportunity
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Speaker 1: is upon us. Don't delay in waking up. We often
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Speaker 1: think of the Apostle Paul as a great mind, and
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Speaker 1: he was that. A great theologian, for sure, aside from Jesus.
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Speaker 1: There was none brighter in the first century. the one
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Speaker 1: who literarily contributed more to the New Testament than any
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Speaker 1: other individual, the one who formed and shaped world missions
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Speaker 1: as the beginning point of that. Here is Paul, very practical,
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Speaker 1: writing word pictures that hold our attention right to the
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Speaker 1: end of the chapter. This word picture is a very
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Speaker 1: practical one. It's a word picture designed to encourage purity
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Speaker 1: of life. in light of Jesus' soon coming and the
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Speaker 1: condition and times in which we live. It's a strong
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Speaker 1: appeal for purity. The hour is upon us. So I
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Speaker 1: decided I would just stay with the word picture and
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Speaker 1: help you get up in the morning. We're going to
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Speaker 1: hear the alarm. We're going to awaken from sleep. We're
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Speaker 1: going to check the time. We're going to then stand
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Speaker 1: in front of our closet and look at the clothing available.
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Speaker 1: We're going to see which garments to set aside, which
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Speaker 1: ones to put on. And then we're going to talk
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Speaker 1: about at the end how to finish well. It's all
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Speaker 1: a part of the word picture in this section of scripture.
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Speaker 1: And I get it from verse 11, awaken from sleep.
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Speaker 1: So 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 stimulator 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: We had a ball game at another city. We went
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Speaker 1: there on the train. And knowing that we had a
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Speaker 1: 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... The ringing
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Speaker 1: of a telephone was my buddies after the parade who
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Speaker 1: informed me I used to be the drum major of
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Speaker 1: the high school band. The following Monday, the conductor had
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Speaker 1: a few words to share with me I'll not share
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Speaker 1: with you today. What was the problem? I slept through
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Speaker 1: the alarm. I had 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. They had
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Speaker 1: rung the doorbell until their finger got numb. And they
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Speaker 1: got tired of trying. They could see me in the
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Speaker 1: bedroom through the window. Wake up! And I was out
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Speaker 1: of it. Dead in the head. The whole purpose of
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Speaker 1: the first part. of verse 11 is that point. Knowing
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Speaker 1: the time already the hour to awaken from sleep. So
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Speaker 1: we carry on the same word picture and we awaken
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Speaker 1: from sleep. It's already an hour for you to be awake.
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Speaker 1: The 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.
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Speaker 2: It is.
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Speaker 1: That's conversion. I call it coming to the cross. We
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Speaker 1: trust in Jesus' death and resurrection. We take it personally.
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Speaker 1: He did this on our behalf. We believe in him.
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Speaker 1: We have been converted. But salvation runs its course. Like
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Speaker 1: the crescendo mark on a musical score. As life gets
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Speaker 1: longer and louder and larger, we are involved in either
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Speaker 1: being filled with the spirit or operating in the flesh.
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Speaker 1: And it's kind of a yo-yo. This is called sanctification,
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Speaker 1: which is the unfolding of the whole salvation package. There
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Speaker 1: will ultimately be a day when the Savior will return
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Speaker 1: from the sky and call us up to meet him
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Speaker 1: in the air. And then we will stand before him
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Speaker 1: individually and independently and give an account of our bodies,
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Speaker 1: of our lives. You giving your account and my giving
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Speaker 1: my account and rewards will be given for being good
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Speaker 1: and faithful servants. It's nearer than ever. The unfolding of
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Speaker 1: salvation is upon us. At any moment, he could come.
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Speaker 1: I read this past week of several old men that
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Speaker 1: had spent years together, one day a week, enjoying one
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Speaker 1: another's presence. Played table games, went to things together, sometimes
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Speaker 1: traveled together. And this one evening, it got a little late,
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Speaker 1: and the old grandfather clock that had been you know,
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Speaker 1: running all of these years, didn't just chime 11 or 12,
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Speaker 1: chime 13 and 14 and 15. One of the old
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Speaker 1: men grabbed his coat and says, I'm out of here.
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Speaker 1: It's later now than it's ever been in my life.
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Speaker 1: That's Paul's point at the end of verse 11. It's
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Speaker 1: later than it's ever been in our lives. Wake up.
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Speaker 1: Look around. Look around. Read through the news. See beyond
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Speaker 1: the evening broadcasts. See what isn't tangible. Check the time.
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Speaker 1: That's what the alarm does. Helps you check the time.
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Speaker 1: It's the first place you look when the alarm goes off.
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Speaker 1: You check the time. Now that's in verse 12. The
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Speaker 1: night is almost gone and the day is near. Isn't
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Speaker 1: that the truth? We're living in the time of night.
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Speaker 1: Day is near. Night is almost gone. Another word picture,
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Speaker 1: the world as we know it, the opportunities, the events
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Speaker 1: of today, all of this is seen as night. May
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Speaker 1: I remind you of how it passes? Every new wrinkle
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Speaker 1: on your face. Every new pain in your body is
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Speaker 1: a reminder that the night is passing. Each gray hair.
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Speaker 1: I thought this morning, oh, for the days of gray hair.
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Speaker 1: Some of you are busy covering them up. You're a
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Speaker 1: different color than you were this time last year. Truth
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Speaker 1: be told, your color is gray. May I be serious
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Speaker 1: and say every funeral service, every disease is a reminder
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Speaker 1: that the night is almost gone. Cynthia and I have
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Speaker 1: wonderful friends at a former church. He was on the
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Speaker 1: pulpit committee that took the risk and hired this young
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Speaker 1: guy to come and pastor the church for a number
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Speaker 1: of years. His name is Hant. Hamp and Sue, friends
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Speaker 1: of ours for now almost 37 years. I got a
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Speaker 1: letter from Hamp this past week. And I cried. Here
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Speaker 1: was this wonderful, vivacious couple. This great, strong, stout-hearted, fun-loving guy.
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Speaker 1: Hamp and his wife Sue, who now has Alzheimer's. And
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Speaker 1: 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. home last night Cynthia and
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Speaker 1: I were together on our side porch and I said
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Speaker 1: to her thinking about ham right now how different it
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Speaker 1: 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
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Speaker 1: it Tragically, some people die at age 30 and don't
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Speaker 1: find out about it until they're 75. And they just
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Speaker 1: kind of drift along. Unburied, but dead in the head.
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Speaker 1: Don't go there. Therefore, look at the therefore in the
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Speaker 1: middle of verse 12. This is another second alarm. Therefore,
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Speaker 1: It's time to change clothes. Look at it. Therefore, let
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Speaker 1: us lay aside deeds of darkness and let us put on.
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Speaker 1: Look at the next word. Does that surprise you? You
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Speaker 1: expect clothing of light. You expect garments of light. Armor. Why?
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Speaker 1: Because this world is no playground. This world is a battleground.
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Speaker 1: If you could see the unseen forces of principalities and powers,
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Speaker 1: it would take your breath away. You'd stand with your
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Speaker 1: mouth open. The combative forces in the unseen world, which
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Speaker 1: I personally think explains a number of the suicides. Demonic
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Speaker 1: forces against angelic powers. God's plan against the enemy's plan.
28:16
Speaker 1: All of it at work, and when you're When you're
28:19
Speaker 1: half asleep, you don't even think about it. When you're awake,
28:24
Speaker 1: you can hardly put it out of your mind. That's
28:28
Speaker 1: why you choose an armor of light. So obviously, these
28:35
Speaker 1: are word pictures, and the spiritual message is that you
28:39
Speaker 1: can't do battle aggressively with the enemy while you're wearing
28:42
Speaker 1: your pajamas. I know one thing about every one of
28:46
Speaker 1: you without even asking you. You are not wearing right
28:49
Speaker 1: now what you wore last night. I know. I know
28:54
Speaker 1: you aren't. I look at you Sunday after Sunday. I
28:59
Speaker 1: don't think I've ever seen any adult in his PJs
29:02
Speaker 1: coming to church or whatever you sleep in. You're dressed
29:07
Speaker 1: for what? For what's appropriate. And the styles may vary
29:12
Speaker 1: and your choice of clothing will vary. It's fine. The
29:15
Speaker 1: point is you're not wearing your night garments. And that's
29:19
Speaker 1: his point here. Steve Amerson, tenor soloist, has a wonderful
29:24
Speaker 1: signature song he usually adds to his repertoire. It's called
29:28
Speaker 1: This Could Be the Day. I always ask him to
29:31
Speaker 1: sing it when he's doing a concert for us.
29:35
Speaker 3: This could be the day. He could come before Christmas.
29:43
Speaker 3: How good would that be? He could come before nightfall.
29:51
Speaker 1: Or you could go. I'm so grateful that the Apostle
29:59
Speaker 1: is a realist And he's not so brainy that he
30:03
Speaker 1: stays in these theological ethereal realms, but he comes right
30:07
Speaker 1: down to where we live. And he remembers he's writing
30:10
Speaker 1: to people in Rome in the first century whose lifestyle
30:14
Speaker 1: was very near our lifestyle. As history cyclically repeats itself.
30:23
Speaker 1: Which is why he describes the changing of clothing. As
30:30
Speaker 1: we talk about it here, coming to our closet and
30:34
Speaker 1: looking in, we now must make some decisions. What is
30:41
Speaker 1: appropriate to wear? What is necessary to put aside? He
30:51
Speaker 1: tells us what's necessary to put aside in verse 13
30:54
Speaker 1: and what's necessary to wear in verse 14. But Before
30:58
Speaker 1: we get there, let me tell you, the other day
31:00
Speaker 1: Cynthia said to me, I think we need to get
31:03
Speaker 1: rid of a lot of the clothes that are just
31:05
Speaker 1: choking our closet. I said, I think that's a great idea.
31:09
Speaker 1: And we both started the process. It's amazing as clothes
31:15
Speaker 1: hang in closets, how they shrink. It's amazing. Just remarkable.
31:23
Speaker 1: No water damage. Just hanging there. Dust and shrinkage, they
31:29
Speaker 1: go together. So we start hauling out things that, unfortunately,
31:35
Speaker 1: we bought when they were too small for us. And
31:37
Speaker 1: we give some to Dallas Seminary, Luke's Closet, and we
31:41
Speaker 1: give some to Goodwill, and we dump some that are
31:45
Speaker 1: pretty terrible, and nobody ought to have them. And we
31:50
Speaker 1: get rid of those things that have no business taking
31:53
Speaker 1: up the room in our closet. Verse 13. Verse 13
31:56
Speaker 1: is full of that kind of stuff. There are three
31:58
Speaker 1: pairs of garments. Think of them as a blouse and skirt.
32:02
Speaker 1: Think of them as a shirt and pair of pants.
32:05
Speaker 1: Think of them in three pairs. The first we're to
32:10
Speaker 1: get rid of are, well, look at verse 13. Those
32:16
Speaker 1: things that reveal a lack of personal discipline. Carousing and drunkenness.
32:24
Speaker 1: And then those things that have to do with the
32:26
Speaker 1: lack of moral integrity, sexual promiscuity and sensuality. And then
32:33
Speaker 1: the third set of garments, the lack of relational harmony,
32:38
Speaker 1: strife and jealousy. It's all right there. The thing I
32:43
Speaker 1: love about expositing the scriptures is you don't have to
32:46
Speaker 1: be cute and clever. All you got to do is
32:49
Speaker 1: read and the text speaks for itself. Let me encourage
32:54
Speaker 1: you who are teachers, stay in the text. Illustrate it,
32:58
Speaker 1: keep it interesting, but stay riveted to the text. You
33:02
Speaker 1: cannot beat Holy Scripture. Here is an example. To start with,
33:07
Speaker 1: let us behave properly. Now we're standing at the closet,
33:11
Speaker 1: we're ready to take on the day, and we're told
33:14
Speaker 1: to behave properly. The word behave literally is the word
33:18
Speaker 1: for walk. Walk. So we're going to walk this day
33:24
Speaker 1: in the everyday world of ours and yours is different
33:27
Speaker 1: from mine hers is different from hers and his from
33:30
Speaker 1: her and his from his we're all different worlds but
33:33
Speaker 1: we all are to walk properly appropriately so we're to
33:38
Speaker 1: lay aside the things that we have no business wearing
33:44
Speaker 1: the first set of garments have to do with the
33:47
Speaker 1: lack of personal discipline i'm going to Be a little
33:49
Speaker 1: pedantic here as we work our way through these six items.
33:53
Speaker 1: Just like you would carefully choose clothes that match and
33:57
Speaker 1: go together. The first, we're to set aside carousing. Interesting word,
34:04
Speaker 1: isn't it? I doubt you've used the word, unless you're
34:07
Speaker 1: my age or older, in the last few weeks. Carousing
34:11
Speaker 1: is a word that has to do with actions that
34:14
Speaker 1: are inappropriate and improper. Revelries would be an older word
34:20
Speaker 1: as well. Some refer to it as origins. If you're
34:25
Speaker 1: in England and England has lost a soccer match, there's
34:30
Speaker 1: a group of people that have come to be known
34:32
Speaker 1: as hooligans. Remember reading of the hooligans? They go to
34:36
Speaker 1: the street and they set cars on fire. I never
34:39
Speaker 1: figured out how losing a soccer game results in setting
34:44
Speaker 1: cars on fire. The logic of that breaks down. Of course,
34:47
Speaker 1: if you are involved in carousings, logic has no place there.
34:52
Speaker 1: You do what's illogical. You do what's improper and often unlawful.
34:58
Speaker 1: So you have to ask yourself when you come to
35:00
Speaker 1: this garment, am I spending my time with people that
35:04
Speaker 1: are worth my time? Do they help me or do
35:08
Speaker 1: they weaken me? Do they go places I have no
35:12
Speaker 1: business going In their carousings, my dad used to say, son,
35:17
Speaker 1: get home before midnight. Nothing good happens on the street
35:21
Speaker 1: after midnight. He's right. He being dead still speaks. Only
35:30
Speaker 1: the good work of the police department and those that
35:33
Speaker 1: assist in areas of mercy and health. The rest is
35:39
Speaker 1: not good. Stay off the street. when it's not appropriate
35:44
Speaker 1: to be out there, or you'll get into trouble. Carousings.
35:50
Speaker 1: That leads to drunkenness. Now, I know some of you
35:57
Speaker 1: are thinking, he's going to unload the truck now. This
36:02
Speaker 1: is a preacher's moment. So that I don't disappoint you,
36:07
Speaker 1: I plan to do that right now. Laughter This has
36:12
Speaker 1: nothing to do with taking a sip of wine for
36:14
Speaker 1: an evening meal. This is drunkenness. This is too much alcohol.
36:21
Speaker 1: This is the use of illicit drugs. This is becoming
36:25
Speaker 1: addicted to prescribed drugs. This is anything that is the
36:30
Speaker 1: result of the breakdown of personal discipline. This is excessive drinking,
36:35
Speaker 1: which is always viewed in Scripture as wrong. Now, before
36:42
Speaker 1: I go any further, may I remind you that God's
36:44
Speaker 1: desire for us is a wholesome, happy, fulfilling life. He's
36:48
Speaker 1: not wandering around heaven with a big club and a
36:51
Speaker 1: nail 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 any person child of an alcoholic,
37:13
Speaker 1: and they'll tell you their story. I've never known it
37:17
Speaker 1: in my home, so I can't speak from experience, but
37:20
Speaker 1: I found out about it during a hitch in the
37:22
Speaker 1: Marine Corps, where by the time many of the guys
37:25
Speaker 1: in our outfit went back home from Okinawa, they were alcoholics.
37:30
Speaker 1: I witnessed it. I wasn't approved. As a matter of fact,
37:34
Speaker 1: in our outfit, you couldn't be approved and survived. 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.
37:56
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.
39:14
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
39:36
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
39:59
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,
40:24
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
41:30
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, asilgaiya.
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... Here I'm sitting with my 13-year-old
44:14
Speaker 1: grandson and it's a classic moment for me to make
44:18
Speaker 1: a contribution to his life that hopefully will help him
44:22
Speaker 1: understand how to view such things. Teach your children. I
44:32
Speaker 1: can't teach them. I have my own family, my own grandchildren.
44:36
Speaker 1: That's my limit. You got yours. They got to know
44:40
Speaker 1: how to pick their clothing. Literally. Not in sexual promiscuity,
44:49
Speaker 1: not in sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. This is
44:53
Speaker 1: a lack of personal relationships, a lack of harmony. See
44:58
Speaker 1: the word strife? It's the spirit that is born of
45:01
Speaker 1: unbridled competition. It's the drive for place and notoriety and
45:08
Speaker 1: power and control. Essentially, it's the sin of having to
45:13
Speaker 1: be prominent.
45:14
Speaker 2: Right?
45:15
Speaker 1: And let me tell you something, the ministry is shot
45:17
Speaker 1: through with it. I mean, where else did this many
45:21
Speaker 1: people listen when I talk? Amazing. And you're kind enough
45:27
Speaker 1: not to yell back. I mean, that's a role of authority.
45:34
Speaker 1: I had a young man say to me, I said,
45:36
Speaker 1: Lord's calling me into ministry. And I heard enough today
45:40
Speaker 1: to know that I've got some homework to take care
45:42
Speaker 1: of before I follow through on that call. I say,
45:45
Speaker 1: good for you. Guard against having to be in control.
45:52
Speaker 1: Hold it loosely. I'll be honest with you. I pay
45:58
Speaker 1: no attention to the size of crowds. I couldn't care less.
46:05
Speaker 1: I'm the guy that held down the numbers for how
46:07
Speaker 1: large the new worship center ought to be. Had one
46:11
Speaker 1: of the committee members say, you're the first preacher I've
46:13
Speaker 1: ever seen that wanted it smaller than the rest of
46:16
Speaker 1: us wanted it. Yeah. Let's do our best to control that.
46:24
Speaker 1: This role isn't about authority. This role is about servanthood.
46:29
Speaker 1: This is a role of appealing to you, leading you
46:33
Speaker 1: as a shepherd, not acting like I'm the big model
46:37
Speaker 1: of all of this. Furthermore, When I'm gone, I'm gone.
46:46
Speaker 1: You'll still be there choosing your clothing. Watch out for strife.
46:52
Speaker 1: Guard against jealousy. This is a discontentment, a lack of satisfaction.
47:00
Speaker 1: This is having an envious eye on what others have.
47:03
Speaker 1: This is keeping what you have to yourself. I got
47:08
Speaker 1: to tell you, I'm time for full confession. I struggled
47:11
Speaker 1: for years early on with jealousy in my relationship with Cynthia.
47:16
Speaker 1: It almost broke us up. I mean, I was driving
47:19
Speaker 1: her crazy. And I was on my way to being
47:22
Speaker 1: one of these husbands that, you know, checks the odometer
47:26
Speaker 1: in her car in the morning. And then at night,
47:30
Speaker 1: ask where she went, who she talked to, who talked
47:34
Speaker 1: to you. I mean, I know guys so jealous they
47:38
Speaker 1: don't even want their wife to look nice. Man, I
47:42
Speaker 1: don't want any woman that other guys wouldn't look at.
47:45
Speaker 1: I mean, I want other guys to go, whoa, how'd
47:48
Speaker 1: that old guy get her? Whoa. You know, it's like
47:54
Speaker 1: dating a girl that's never been kissed. Whoa, man, I
47:57
Speaker 1: don't know I want to do that. You don't want
48:00
Speaker 1: one that's kissed everybody, but one that's never been kissed.
48:03
Speaker 1: Give me a break. Come on. That's a bad situation,
48:12
Speaker 1: I got to tell you. May I apply this a
48:17
Speaker 1: little further and I'm through? Stay away from anything that
48:21
Speaker 1: weakens your moral fiber. Anything. If you can't handle the
48:27
Speaker 1: TV in the hotel room, stay with somebody else in
48:29
Speaker 1: the hotel room. Same sex, a buddy of yours, a
48:33
Speaker 1: lady friend of yours, gals who travel everywhere. Stay with
48:36
Speaker 1: someone else if you can't stay away from the dirty channels.
48:39
Speaker 1: I just heard about a chain of hotels where the owner,
48:42
Speaker 1: I haven't checked it out so I won't give the name,
48:45
Speaker 1: but I was told by this person last service, the
48:48
Speaker 1: owner has taken out all of the televisions that play
48:51
Speaker 1: the pornography channels. How good is that? But he's making
48:55
Speaker 1: a decision for you. Stay away from TV programs that
48:58
Speaker 1: weaken you. Stay away from books and literature that weaken you.
49:01
Speaker 1: Stay away from video games that we can use. Stay
49:04
Speaker 1: away from people who lead you in the wrong direction.
49:06
Speaker 1: Stay away from experimentation with things that could lead to
49:09
Speaker 1: an addiction. It's very simple. Stay away from them. Just
49:12
Speaker 1: say no. Just say no. Just say no. You can
49:20
Speaker 1: do it. That's what's involved in this. Second part of
49:24
Speaker 1: this is stay involved with everything that strengthens your walk.
49:30
Speaker 1: Become a serious student of the scriptures. My meal is
49:35
Speaker 1: prepared and I serve it as best I can, but
49:37
Speaker 1: I cook this meal. Learn to cook your own meal.
49:42
Speaker 1: Learn to stand on your own when the bottom drops
49:44
Speaker 1: out of your life. You can draw from that reservoir
49:46
Speaker 1: you've been building up as you have made a study
49:49
Speaker 1: of the scriptures. Become a person of prayer and meditation.
49:53
Speaker 1: Read books and magazines that are healthy and wholesome. I'm
49:56
Speaker 1: going to go even farther. Get involved in a good
49:59
Speaker 1: exercise program. It's great. Before you put down all the drunks,
50:06
Speaker 1: look in the mirror. If you're fat, don't say anything.
50:12
Speaker 1: I got this weird idea as I think about this.
50:15
Speaker 1: Someday we get to heaven, Jesus may be fat. You know,
50:18
Speaker 1: have you ever thought about that? I mean, that's just
50:20
Speaker 1: a thought. I mean, one of the first things he
50:24
Speaker 1: may say was, pie was good for you. How come
50:30
Speaker 1: I never heard that? May I tell you a little more?
50:42
Speaker 1: Run with those you respect and admire, the people you
50:45
Speaker 1: want to be like. Those are the people to hang
50:47
Speaker 1: out with. Keep the long view in life. In the
50:53
Speaker 1: long run, ask yourself, will this be good for me? Ultimately,
50:58
Speaker 1: is this healthy and beneficial? Will I be glad looking
51:02
Speaker 1: back that I did this? Can I tell my grandkids
51:07
Speaker 1: about it? Will I be humiliated if my family finds
51:13
Speaker 1: out about this? Those are all searching questions. Ask them.
51:22
Speaker 1: The help. Essential reminder for victory. Verse 14. Put on
51:28
Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ. Put him on in the morning.
51:31
Speaker 1: Wear him all day. Wear him to wherever you go.
51:34
Speaker 1: Wear him to whatever you say. Wear him to whatever
51:37
Speaker 1: you're listening to. Wear him to whatever you're watching. Right there,
51:42
Speaker 1: put him on. And by the way, make no provision
51:47
Speaker 1: for the flesh. Leave the flesh hanging in the closet.
51:52
Speaker 1: Each morning, say, Lord, I know you're in me. I
51:56
Speaker 1: take you with me, Lord, today. I want your eyes.
52:01
Speaker 1: I want your ears. I want your discernment. I want
52:05
Speaker 1: your discipline. I want you to help me when I
52:08
Speaker 1: come to that hard moment when I would normally weaken,
52:11
Speaker 1: because I know you never are weak. And now that
52:13
Speaker 1: you're with me and in me, I lean on you.
52:18
Speaker 1: Because I want to finish this day feeling great about
52:22
Speaker 1: the day. Because it was lived in honor of you.
52:27
Speaker 1: And I want to do that 24-7. Let's bow our
52:31
Speaker 1: heads together. I don't know where this finds you, but
52:42
Speaker 1: I have a feeling that something that was said today
52:44
Speaker 1: strikes home. And that's called the convicting work of the
52:49
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. Who now will begin to do the work
52:56
Speaker 1: that only he can do. when a sermon ends. These
53:05
Speaker 1: are things worth thinking on. These will help you choose
53:09
Speaker 1: the books you're going to read, the channels you're going
53:12
Speaker 1: to watch, the discipline you're going to apply when you're
53:17
Speaker 1: on the internet, where your eyes go when you're in public. Practical,
53:28
Speaker 1: everyday things. Wake up and get dressed for the glory
53:37
Speaker 1: of God. The only thing I can imagine that would
53:43
Speaker 1: lead to anything but conviction would be you who've never
53:47
Speaker 1: met the Savior and you'd be confused because you maybe
53:51
Speaker 1: have tried a lot of this and it doesn't work
53:53
Speaker 1: for you. It's because you don't have an inner restraint,
53:58
Speaker 1: an inner set of brakes that only Jesus can bring you.
54:03
Speaker 1: to help you in life. And he's waiting for you
54:06
Speaker 1: to invite him to come in. Just say the word.
54:12
Speaker 1: He's yours. It's like pulling that hanger off the rack
54:18
Speaker 1: in the closet. Put on Christ. This is your moment. Father,
54:25
Speaker 1: thank you for help along the way. Thank you for
54:28
Speaker 1: speaking to us in terms and tones that get through
54:34
Speaker 1: Thank you that some are awake now that began half asleep.
54:39
Speaker 1: Some are aware that began pretty apathetic, pretty disconnected. I
54:49
Speaker 1: pray that you will speak through us and more importantly
54:52
Speaker 1: live through us a life that becomes contagiously winsome. For
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Speaker 1: the glory of Jesus Christ. In his name we pray.
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Speaker 1: Everyone said. Amen.
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Speaker 2: The preceding message. Wake up and get dressed. Was copyrighted
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Speaker 2: in 2007, 2010 and 2025. And the sound recording was
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Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2025. By Charles R. Swindoll Incorporated. All rights
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Speaker 2: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
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Speaker 2: is strictly prohibited.