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What is a Christian: By Denunciation · CCC West Covina

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Father, we thank you, Lord, for today.
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Thank you, Lord, for the rain this past week, and thank you,
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Father, for the safety and getting us all here.
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Thank you for the opportunity to spend time in Your word and
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pray, Lord, that you'd open our hearts and minds to behold the
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beauty of Your glorious name. We thank you, Father, that You
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allowed us this opportunity to study Your word.
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We are such blessed people to be able to read the words of God
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and to be able to study them, knowing Your plan and Your
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desire for our lives that we might follow you in obedience
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and so just bless our time together.
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To Steve we pray in Jesus name, Amen.
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Take your Bible and turn with me to the book of Colossians, the
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book of Colossians the 3rd chapter and I want to read to
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you the 1st 8 verses of chapter 3.
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Set them in your mind. That will set the tone for our
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time together as we study and ask the question, What is a
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Christian? Colossians chapter 3 verse #1
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says Therefore, since you have been raised up with Christ, keep
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seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right
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hand of God. Set your mind on the things
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above, not on the things that are on earth.
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For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
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When Christ, who is our life is revealed, then you also will be
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revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members
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of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion,
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evil, desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
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For it is because of these things that the wrath of God
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will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you
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also once walked, when you were living in them.
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But now you also put them all aside, anger, wrath, malice,
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slander and abusive speech from your mouth.
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Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self and
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this evil practices and having put on the new self, who is
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being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image
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of the one who created him. The question is, what is a
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Christian? A Christian is known by his
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decision, that's Luke 9/23. His decision is to deny himself,
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take up his cross and follow Christ.
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A Christian is known by his definition.
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Philippians chapter 3 verse #3 That we are the marked ones who
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worship God in spirit, who glory only in Christ Jesus, and put no
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confidence in the flesh. Thirdly, the Christian is known
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by description, by his description. 2nd Corinthians 517
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For if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.
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Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become
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new. Fourthly, a Christian is known
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by his declaration, Matthew 16 verse #16 Thou art the Christ,
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the Son of the living God. And last week we talked about a
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Christian is known by his dedication.
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That's Philippians one verse #21 for to me to live is Christ and
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to die is gain. The question is, how do you know
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someone is genuine, authentic, real, true believer in the Lord
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Jesus Christ? Well, the only way to know that
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is to match that life with what the Bible says about
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Christianity. It's not about someone's opinion
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or someone's thinking. It's about what God has already
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said in His Word. That's why you always prove what
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you believe by what the Bible says, because what the Bible
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says is all that matters. And so a Christian is very
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easily distinguished by what the Bible says.
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Tonight we will look at another characteristic of the Christian
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to help you understand that a Christian is known by his
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denunciation. That is, there are certain
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things that he denounces. He denounces the world.
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He denounces the sin of the world.
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He denounces A sinful behavior in the world, and yet the
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paradox about Christianity is that he is in the world, but he
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is not of the world. Christ in his high priestly
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prayer in John 17, said to the Father, I pray that you not take
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them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil
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one while they are in the world. There is this great paradox that
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that faces the Christian is that is that he is in the world but
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not of the world. And that's because he has been
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saved out of the world. Therefore he denounces
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everything the world stands for. He denounces the world, sin and
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all the sinful behavior that goes with the world.
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That's what Christians do. That's very, very important.
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In fact, the Bible says in the book of Romans, the 12th
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chapter, very familiar words to us.
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Paul says, Therefore, I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God
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to present your bodies a living in the holy Sacrifice, pleasing
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to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
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Paul says based on all that God has done, all the mercies that
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he's bestowed upon you, you need to be able to present your body
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as a living sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord because
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this is the only logical form of worship, very important.
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The only thing logical about your worship is that you present
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your body as a living sacrifice. And we've told you over the
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years that you understand a living sacrifice.
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When you look at Justice chapter 22 and realize that God told
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Abraham to take his only son, his beloved son Isaac, to a
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place that he will tell him, which was Mount Moriah, take him
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up there and sacrifice his son. Abraham being obedient, took his
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son up the mountain, tied him down, was going to sacrifice
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him, and the Angel of the Lord stopped him and said, now I know
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you fear me. It's not that the Lord didn't
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know that Abraham feared him. It's just that Abraham needed to
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know that he feared the Lord, and the Lord knew that he feared
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him. Abraham was willing to sacrifice
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all of his dreams, all of his hopes, all of his aspirations,
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all of his desires for the sake of obedience to the Lord.
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His son was the promised son. He'd waited 25 years for this
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son, and this was the promised beloved son of Abraham and
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Sarah. And God says, now I want you
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take that son that you love, and I want you to sacrifice him unto
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me. I want you to slay him for my
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sake. And Abraham was going to do
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that. And if Abraham would have slayed
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him, if he had not been stopped by the Angel of the Lord, Isaac
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would have been a dead sacrifice, and Abraham would
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have been the living sacrifice. Because the living sacrifice is
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that I'm willing to present everything that I have to God,
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withhold nothing from him. Paul says in Romans 12, I
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beseech you, I beg you, based on what God has done, that that you
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now present your body as a living sacrifice.
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That is, you're willing to crawl up on the altar and sacrifice
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every aspiration, every dream, every desire that you have for
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the sake of honoring and glorifying the name of God.
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And Paul says that is the only logical thing to do based on the
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mercies of God there. Everything else you do is
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illogical, but this is the one thing that's extremely logical.
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That's your window. Sacrifice everything because of
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what God has done. And then, he says, and be not
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conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
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your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable
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will of the living God. When you present your body as a
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living sacrifice, the natural byproduct is that you're not
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going to be conformed to the things of the world.
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You're going to, you're going to turn your back on the world and
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you're going to be renewed. You're going to be conformed by
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renewing your mind to the things of God.
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This will be pleasing to God. Said another way, the Bible says
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these words over in the book of Second Corinthians, Second
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Corinthians chapter 6. We are the temple of the living
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God, we the church. Not only is your body a temple
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of the living God, but the church is a temple of the living
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God. Just as God said, I would dwell
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in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they
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shall be my people. Therefore come out from their
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midst and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is
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unclean. And I will welcome you, and I
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will be a father to you. You should be sons and daughters
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to me, says the Lord Almighty. Paul says the people of God are
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distinguished by coming out from the world being separate unto
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God, because God dwells in them and they are the temple of the
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living God. You see, in today's culture, we
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try to reach the World in the church by reflecting the world.
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You can't reach the World by reflecting the world.
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You can only reach the World by rejecting the world.
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If you reflect the world in your life, you can't reach them.
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But if you reject the world, you can then reach the World because
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you are holy and separate unto God.
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You're uniquely different than the world, and God has always
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called his people to be separate from the world, to be unlike the
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world. And that's why the Christian is
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known by his denunciation. He denounces everything of the
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world and everything that's a part of the world.
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In fact, the Bible says these words in Galatians chapter 1 and
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verse #4 that Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He
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might deliver us from this present evil world.
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God died in order for you, for you and I, to be delivered from
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the present evil world in which we exist.
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We are in the world, but we are not of the world because we've
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been saved out of the world. Very, very important.
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In fact, in Philippians chapter 2, listen to what Paul says,
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verse 14. Again, familiar verses.
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Do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you may
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prove yourselves to be blameless, innocent children of
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God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse
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generation among whom you appear as lights in the world.
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You live in a Dark World, and if you grumble and you mumble, then
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you're just like the people of the world, the darkness in the
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world. But you want to appear as lights
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in the world because the the world is a perverse and crooked
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generation. And the perverse and crooked
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generation are known by their mumbling and grumbling and belly
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aching and complaining about everything under the sun.
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But the believer, no, they don't do that because they've come out
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from the world and they appear as lights in the world because
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they shine forth the glory of God.
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Again, note this Titus chapter 2, Paul says verse 11 For the
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grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
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instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires,
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and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the
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present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing
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of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who
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gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to
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purify for himself a people for His own possession, zealous for
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good deeds. The grace of God has appeared to
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all men, and the grace of God is a teaching grace, and it always
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teaches the believer to deny ungodliness, to deny worldly
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lusts, deny worldly passions, so that it might live righteously
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and godly in this present age. That's how we live our lives.
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Again, we are in the world, but we are not of the world because
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we denounce everything the world stands for.
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Why? Because Christ saved us from
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this present evil world and we have presented our bodies as
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living sacrifices. Because we made the decision to
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deny ourselves, take up a cross and follow Christ.
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And when one denies himself, he is denying all of his dreams,
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all of us hopes, all of us aspirations that are apart from
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God and says, Lord, I'm going to, I'm going to take in my
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cross and I'm going to follow you because you are my life.
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You are my dream. You are everything I've longed
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for and hoped for. That's the life of the believer.
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That's what a believer looks like according to what the Bible
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says. And so Jesus would later say
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these words in John chapter 15. He would say in verse #18 if the
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world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated
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you. That's just a great statement.
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If the world hates you, know this.
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It hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the
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world would love its own. You're not of the world.
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You're in the world, but you're not of the world.
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Because if you were of the world, the world would love you.
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But because you're not of the world, the world hates you.
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In fact, he says this, but because you are not of the
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world, but I chose you out of the world.
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Because of this, the world hates you.
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The world hates you. The world wants no part of you.
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Why? Because you appear as lights in
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a World of Darkness that's crooked and perverse.
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And what does light do? Light shines in the darkness in
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light exposes that which is in the dark, and those who love
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darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil,
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love to live in the dark. So when the light shows up, it
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shines in the dark and exposes the sin of the unbeliever.
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They don't like that. That's why the world hates you.
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So Christ made it very clear you're not of the world, because
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if you were, the world would love you.
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But I've chosen you out of the world.
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I've chosen you for myself. I've separated you unto myself.
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I have sanctified you, set you apart for my purposes.
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This is the life of the believer.
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And therefore, when we seek to reach the World with the gospel,
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we cannot reflect the world. We reject the world.
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We denounce the world, we don't want to associate with anything
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of the world because it's filled with sin, sinful behavior,
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sinful attitudes, sinful actions.
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And the believer wants no part of that.
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Even though he's he's in the world, he is not of the world.
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Very, very important to understand that.
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So when you come to Colossians chapter 3, Paul makes it very
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clear with these words. Therefore, since you have been
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raised up with Christ, well, how would you be raised up with
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Christ? Because you died with Christ.
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So Paul says in in Galatians chapter 2 right verse #20 he
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said, I have been crucified with Christ.
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It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life
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which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of
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God who loved me and gave himself up for me.
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And then in Galatians chapter 6 he said these words are verse
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14. But may it never be that I would
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boast except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, through which
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the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
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Paul says I have died to the world and the world has died to
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me. Why?
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Because Christ lives in me. You are in Christ, Christ is in
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you. Christ is not a part of the
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world, so therefore neither are his children a part of the
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world. And therefore Paul says, the
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world has died to me and I've died to the world.
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So Paul says in chapter 3 of Colossians verse #1 Since you
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have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking things above where
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Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
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Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that
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are on the earth. In order for you to denounce the
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things of the world, you must keep seeking the things that are
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above. You must set your mind, set your
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affection on things above where Christ sitteth at the right hand
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of of God the Father. You're always looking above.
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You're always looking to where Christ is.
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You're always focused on heaven above.
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That's how you could denounce everything below, because you're
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always focused above. That's why we, in our, in our
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study, the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon kept talking about
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living above the sun instead of below the sun.
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That's the SUN, by the way, when you live below the sun,
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everything is vain, everything is empty.
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But when you live above the sun, then you're able to see things
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clearly below the sun because your eyes are fixed above.
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They're fixed on glory. So the Bible says these words in
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the book of Philippians, the 3rd chapter, Paul says verse 17.
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Brethren, join in following my example and observe those who
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walk according to the pattern you have.
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You haven't us for many walk, of whom I am often told you, and
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now tell you, even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of
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Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their
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appetite, and whose glory is in their shame.
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Who set their minds on earthly things?
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Those who are opposed to the cross of Christ, those who are
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unbelievers, set their minds on earthly things.
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As believers, we set our mind on heavenly things.
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He goes on to say in verse #20 For our citizenship is in
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heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for the Savior of
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the Lord Jesus Christ, who would transform the body of our humble
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state into conformity with the body of His glory by the
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exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things
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to himself. The reason we keep looking above
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is because that's where our home is.
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That's where our citizenship is. We are aliens and strangers in a
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foreign land. But unfortunately, we, we have
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made ourselves very accustomed to this land.
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We kind of love it down here. We kind of appreciate everything
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that's going on around us down here.
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And we have forgotten that our citizenship is not in the United
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States. Our citizenship is in glory, but
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we are aliens and strangers in a foreign land.
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That's what that's what Peter says over in in first Peter
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chapter chapter 2 verse #9 He says these words.
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You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
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people for God's own possession say, you may proclaim the
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excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into
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His marvellous light. For you once were not a people,
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but now you are the people of God.
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You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
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Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from
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fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
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You're aliens and strangers down here, and therefore you are to
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abstain from the fleshly lusts which are waging war with your
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soul. You're to denounce all of those
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things. Why you want to keep your
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behavior excellent verse 12 among the Gentiles so that in
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the thing in which they slander you as evil doers, they may,
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because of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God
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in the day of visitation so incredibly important.
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Remember what Paul said over in in second Corinthians chapter
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chapter 4. He said these words, He said in
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verse 16, We do not lose heart. But though our outer man is
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decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day for
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momentary light. Affliction is producing for us
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an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we
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look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which
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are not seen. For the things which are seen
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are temporal, but the things which are not seen, those
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things, well they are eternal. Paul says we had this, this
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momentary light affliction. And when you read through the
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2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and you read through Paul's
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epistles, his afflictions were, were not light, They were pretty
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heavy, but he saw them as as light in comparison to eternity
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because he kept looking for those things that are unseen,
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not the things that are seen. In other words, he kept focused
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on things above. He kept seeking those things
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above. In fact, over in First
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Chronicles chapter 29, David said to Solomon, verse #19 I'm
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sorry, First Chronicles 22 verse #19 he said to Solomon, Set your
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heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.
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Those are David's words to his son.
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Set your heart and your soul to seek the things of God, Paul
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says. Since you've been raised up with
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Christ, keep on seeking Christ. Keep setting your affection on
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things above, not on things below.
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If we don't do this, we will not denounce the world.
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We'll accept the things of the world.
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So in order for us to live a life of denunciation, we must
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seek those things that are above.
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We must set our mind and affections on things above, not
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on things on the earth. He goes on to say this.
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For you have died, and your life is in with Christ and God.
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When Christ, who is her life is revealed, then you also will be
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revealed with him in glory. In other words, Christ is your
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life. Your life is no longer your own.
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You've died the self, the light that you now live.
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You live because of the power of Christ in you.
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Christ is your life. That that's why you can denounce
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the world. Listen, if you cannot denounce
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the world, if you can't turn your back on the world, if you
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can't run away from the sin of the world and the sinful
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behavior of the world, maybe it's because Christ isn't your
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life. Because of Christ is your life,
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you set your affections on things above.
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You keep seeking those things where Christ is seated in the
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heavenlies. Once you seek those things
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above. And what did Christ say in
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Matthew chapter 6 verse #33 that we are to seek first His Kingdom
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and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added
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unto you. But seek first His Kingdom and
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His righteousness. There's something about the
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believer that sets his mind and his thoughts and his heart on
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seeking God and God alone that allows him to denounce the
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things of the world. And that's where verse #5 comes
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in. All this was introductory up to
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verse #5 because the verse #5 He says, Therefore, therefore,
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because you are seeking those things that are above.
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Therefore, because you have set your mind on things above where
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Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father.
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Therefore because you're already doing that, that's your heart's
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attitude. He says these words, consider
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the members of your earthly body as dead.
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Another translation would be this.
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Therefore, kill the members of your body.
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Another translation says. Therefore mortify the members of
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your body. Well, what can that possibly
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mean? Well, it's, it's, it's, it's a
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take off from the words of Christ in Matthew 5 where he
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said if your right eye offends you, pluck it out.
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If your right arm offends you, cut it off.
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He didn't mean that literally. He meant it dramatically.
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He meant it drastically, not literally.
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He says take whatever measure is necessary to keep away from sin.
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Here Paul is saying you need to kill the members of your body.
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You need to commit it as if it were spiritual suicide.
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In other words, you are to kill the members of your body.
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What are the members of my body? Those things that leads you into
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sin. And specifically in the context,
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it's your mind. It's it's your, your, your, your
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attitude, your words and your actions, your conduct.
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OK, so you're going to deal with the mind first of all by
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studying your affections and your mind on things above.
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But now when it comes to your conduct and your words, you need
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to deal with them because those are the members of your body
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that you need to kill, you need to destroy, you need to
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eliminate. And the only way you can
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separate yourself from those things is if you set your mind
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on things above and seek Christ who is in the heavenlies.
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If you're not doing that, you can't separate yourself from
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those members that leads you into sin.
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This is very, very important. This is this is working out your
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salvation with fear and trembling.
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According to Philippians chapter 2, this is how the Christian
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lives his life. He denounces, he destroys
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everything that leads him into sin.
30:46
And so Paul's going to give us 2 lists, 2 lists.
30:53
The lists are not inclusive that include every sin, but the lists
30:58
are very unique because the first list begins with the act
31:06
and moves backward to the attitude.
31:10
The second list begins with the attitude and moves toward the
31:15
ACT. Very important to realize that
31:19
one moves backwards, one moves forwards, because right in the
31:25
middle is the answer, and we're going to show that to you.
31:30
And so the first list is a personal list.
31:34
The second list is a relational list.
31:39
The first list deals with what I do.
31:43
The second list deals with what I say.
31:46
Very, very important. And so you're going to ask
31:50
yourself tonight, am I the kind of individual, the kind of
31:53
believer, the kind of genuine, authentic, true believer who
31:58
denounces the things of the world because I want to separate
32:01
myself from all sinful behavior, sinful attitudes, simple
32:05
activities? This is my aspiration, this is
32:07
my desire. Remember the apostle Paul, the
32:10
things I'm not doing I should be doing, and the things I'm doing
32:14
I shouldn't be doing. Paul had this, this wrestle
32:18
wrestling match going on with the members of his body.
32:21
That that's why over in Romans chapter 8, Paul says these words
32:26
in verse #13 he says since then brethren, we are under
32:32
obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.
32:36
For if you are living according to the flesh, you will die.
32:41
But if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of
32:44
the body, you will really live. If you put to death the deeds of
32:49
the body, if you are involved in spiritual suicide, if you are
32:53
involved in destroying the members of your body that leads
32:55
you into sin, you're really going to live.
32:58
Fact, he says earlier in Romans 6.
33:00
These words. Therefore do not let sin reign
33:03
in your mortal body, verse 12, so that you obey its lust.
33:06
And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as
33:09
instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as
33:12
those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
33:17
righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over
33:21
you, for you are not under law, but under grace.
33:26
In other words, sin's not going to master you.
33:29
Why? Because you're slaves of God,
33:31
not slaves of sin, and therefore you obey the master that owns
33:36
you, and you live a life of obedience.
33:41
This is so important. So listen to what Paul says.
33:45
First list. He moves right from the act to
33:52
the attitude. So it begins on the outside and
33:57
moves you to the inside, he says.
34:01
Therefore, because you seek those things that are above,
34:05
because you set your mind on things above, now you can
34:08
separate yourself from all those sinful attitudes and sinful
34:13
behaviors that control the members of your body.
34:18
So he says these words kill the members of your earthly body as
34:24
dead. Number one to immorality.
34:30
To immorality, this is the ACT. Pornea is the word.
34:37
Immorality is any unlawful act, unlawful sinful act, unlawful
34:48
sexual act outside the realm of marriage.
34:52
In fact, there's only one lawful act of sex.
34:59
Everything else is unlawful. That's between one man and one
35:03
woman in the realm of marriage. Everything else is unlawful and
35:08
is immoral. There's only one that's lawful,
35:11
and that is the one that's in the in the realm of marriage
35:15
between a man and a woman who are married and united together
35:19
and holy matrimony. That's the only lawful act of
35:22
sex there is. Everything else is unlawful.
35:26
Every act of homosexuality unlawful.
35:28
Every sin outside of marriage unlawful.
35:31
Every act of pedophilia unlawful.
35:34
Every act of bestiality unlawful.
35:36
It's all wrong. And remember, Paul is writing to
35:39
those in Colossae who lived in a realm where everything about
35:42
homosexuality, everything about pedophilia was all accepted in
35:46
the city. So he lived in a realm where all
35:50
this was accepted. And he's telling the Christians
35:52
that you need to kill the members of your body, beginning
35:56
with immorality, sex, sin, outside the realm in which God
36:02
has made it lawful, that is outside the realm of marriage.
36:07
Now we talked about this in First Thessalonians chapter 4,
36:10
when when Christ or Paul says that this is the will of God,
36:14
even your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual
36:17
immorality. And he goes on and uses the word
36:19
sanctification 3 times in those first 8 verses, the 1st
36:23
Thessalonians 4. Why?
36:24
Because we are to live separate lives and the world lives
36:28
uniquely different lives than the world.
36:31
This is the will of God. That you abstain have nothing to
36:36
do with sexual immorality. So Paul here begins with the act
36:43
of immorality and then he moves to the next act which is
36:48
impurity. What makes a man commit
36:51
immorality? Impure thoughts, impurity.
36:57
That's why Christ says over in Mark's gospel, the 7th chapter,
37:01
he says, listen to me all of you and understand there is nothing
37:06
outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him.
37:11
But the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the
37:14
man. If anyone has the ears to hear,
37:18
let him hear. When he had left the crowd and
37:21
entered the house, the disciples questioned him about the
37:23
parable. He said to them, are you so
37:26
lacking and understanding? Also, do you not understand that
37:30
whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him
37:35
because it does not go into his heart but into his stomach and
37:40
it is eliminated. Thus he declared all foods clean
37:45
and he was saying that which proceeds out of the man.
37:49
That is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the
37:53
heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts,
37:57
murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well
38:01
as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
38:07
All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.
38:14
So Paul is saying, Look, need to kill the members of your body.
38:20
Which ones? Immorality, impurity, impure
38:27
thoughts. Listen, if you're able to
38:30
control your thoughts, you can control your sex life.
38:34
If you can't control your thoughts, you cannot control
38:37
your sex life because immorality stems from impure thoughts.
38:44
Therefore, we are to think in the things that are pure and
38:46
true and holy and honorable and lovely, Paul says in Philippians
38:50
chapter 4. That's why we are renewed in the
38:54
spirit of our mind. We're not conformed this world
38:57
because we're transformed by the renewing of our mind, right?
39:01
So when our minds feed on the word of God and we think in the
39:04
things that are true and pure and holy, it keeps us from from
39:07
from committing sexual acts of immorality.
39:11
But the reason man commits sexual acts of immorality is
39:14
because he has impure thoughts, impurity.
39:19
Now remember, Paul was moving backwards.
39:22
He begins with the ACT, then tells you what causes the ACT
39:26
impure thoughts. But what causes the impure
39:29
thoughts? Next word he says passion.
39:36
Passion lying beneath all the impure thoughts in the flesh of
39:43
man are the passions of man, and once those passions are
39:48
inflamed, he begins to think impure thoughts that lead to
39:53
immoral acts and what causes those those flames of passion to
40:01
be ignited. Nick's word?
40:06
Evil desire. And the two words are very
40:10
similar, but it's the evil desire, that's what John says.
40:15
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the sinful
40:18
pride of life. That's the evil desire.
40:22
It, it's in the deepest caverns of our soul.
40:26
It, it, it's, it's there. And, and once those evil desires
40:32
are aroused, they lead to passionate drives.
40:36
And those passionate drives lead to impure thoughts and those
40:39
impure thoughts lead to immorality.
40:42
Paul is very explicit. He explains to you why you
40:46
commit sex sins. But we as believers, we don't
40:50
want anything to do with what we want to denounce all those
40:52
things. So what leads to those evil
40:56
desires? The lust of the flesh, the lust
41:00
of the eyes and the and the pride, the sinful pride of life.
41:04
In fact, James would say something similar to this in
41:08
James chapter 1. What does James say verse 14?
41:13
Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his
41:16
own lust. Then when lust has conceived, he
41:20
gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth
41:26
death. Later in James he would say
41:29
these words. In James chapter 4, he says what
41:32
is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?
41:35
Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
41:43
That he says you lust and you do not have, so you commit murder.
41:48
You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and
41:50
quarrel. You do not have because you do
41:52
not ask. You ask and do not receive
41:55
because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend
41:58
it on your own pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not
42:02
know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?
42:07
Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes
42:11
himself an enemy of God. Very clear words.
42:19
So Paul says there's something that causes the evil desire that
42:24
leads to your passionate Dr. which leads to impure thoughts
42:31
and impure motives, which leads to acts of immorality.
42:35
But what is that next word? Greed.
42:42
Covetousness. That's the word pleonexia.
42:49
It's a word that the the Greeks used of the insatiable desire in
42:55
the depths of man's soul. Covetousness.
43:00
That's what greed is, Covetousness.
43:05
Now listen very carefully. This is very, very important
43:09
because it sets the tone for everything in the passage, the
43:13
depths of man. So why does man sin?
43:18
Covetousness is the last sin listed in the 10 commandments,
43:25
the Decalogue. It's not listed last because
43:30
it's the least. It's listed last because it's
43:34
the cause of all the previous 9. Man shall not covet.
43:42
Why does man murder? He covets.
43:46
Why does man steal? He covets, he's greedy.
43:51
Why does man lie? He covets.
43:54
Why does man commit adultery? He covets.
43:56
Why does man have another God? When God says there shall be no
44:02
other gods before me, it's because covetousness, as he says
44:10
in the text, is what idolatry. At the base of every sin is.
44:20
Idolatry, self worship. I want something I cannot have.
44:31
When I want something I cannot have, I become very, very
44:36
covetous. I want it.
44:39
And what that does is arouse those lustful passions that lead
44:43
to evil desires that lead to impure thoughts that lead to
44:48
acts of immorality at the base of every man's nature.
44:53
The reason man does what he does is because he covets that which
44:58
he cannot have. This was Satan's sin, right?
45:04
Satan wanted something he could not have.
45:06
What did he want? He wanted the throne of God.
45:10
He coveted God's throne. He wanted to be worshipped as
45:15
God has worshipped. At the base of Satan's sin was
45:20
idol worship. He worshipped himself.
45:24
The reason you sinned, the reason you commits acts of
45:28
immorality, the reason you commit any sin at all is because
45:33
of self worship. You believe you deserve
45:39
something, you believe should have something.
45:43
And covetousness is idolatry. In fact, Paul says these words
45:49
in Ephesians chapter 3, very similar.
45:53
I'm sorry. Ephesians 5 verse three, he says
45:56
immorality or any impurity or any greed.
45:59
Same 3 words of the words that are used in Colossians Chapter
46:02
3. Immorality or impurity or greed
46:06
must not even be named among you as proper among the Saints.
46:10
OK, not only do you not let it happen, you can't even name it
46:13
among you don't even mention it. And there must be no filthiness
46:18
and silly talk or coarse jesting which are not fitting, but
46:22
rather giving thanks for this. You know with certainty that no
46:26
immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater
46:32
has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
46:37
A covetous man is an idolater. The reason there are other gods
46:44
before the one true. That's why Christ came.
46:46
He says I came to seek what true worshippers, true worshippers,
46:52
those who worship God in spirit and in truth.
46:55
I'm looking for people who have no other God before me, no other
46:58
God besides me. And when we think of that as as,
47:03
as as trying to trying to carve some kind of image like they did
47:09
in, in, in ancient times, listen, idolatry is not what you
47:13
carve with your hands. It's what you crave in your
47:18
heart. That's idolatry.
47:21
That's self worship. That's what I want to have.
47:26
And pleonixia is a word that that, as I said earlier
47:29
described by the Greeks of that it's, it's like a having a,
47:32
having a bowl with no bottom that when you pour into it, it
47:38
cannot be filled. The insatiable desire of man's
47:43
heart. That's what needs to be
47:45
destroyed. That's what needs to be
47:47
murdered. That's what needs to be killed.
47:50
That's what needs to be put away with.
47:52
That's what needs to be separated from, that's what
47:54
needs to be denounced. All idolatry, all covetousness,
48:00
not only to violate the command of God, but it leads me into all
48:04
kinds of sinful behavior. That's why Paul says these words
48:09
in verse #6 of chapter 3 of Colossians.
48:15
He says for his because of these things, the wrath of God will
48:18
come upon the sons of disobedience.
48:20
And in them you also once walked when you were living in them.
48:24
In other words, this is the way you used to live.
48:26
You used to walk this way. This is what characterized your
48:31
life before, before Christ was in you and you were in Christ.
48:39
This is how the wrath of God comes upon the sons of
48:42
disobedience. God dams people to hell because
48:46
of these kinds of sins. Why?
48:49
Because at the base of man's heart is that he is a self
48:53
worshipper. And that's hard for for some of
48:57
us to understand, but that is really the the true essence of
49:00
sin. We are idolaters in the depths
49:03
of our soul. We think that we need something
49:07
so bad that we will do everything we can to get it.
49:11
And once we get to that place of self worship, it spawns within
49:15
us the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of
49:18
life. And it moves us toward evil
49:20
desires and passionate drives. It leads us to impure thoughts.
49:24
It leads us to acts of immorality.
49:26
That's why Paul begins with the act and drives you all the way
49:29
back to the heart attitude. The depths of a man is that he
49:34
is an idolater. Paul knows this, he understands
49:40
this and so he says this is what needs to be so denounced.
49:46
It needs to be destroyed. You could say this is the
49:49
Christians not just as denunciation.
49:52
This is the Christians destruction.
49:54
He is destroying everything that leads to idol worship, that
49:59
leads to self worship, that leads to his prominence, that
50:03
leads to him being put on display, that leads to his own
50:06
ego. He destroys all those things and
50:13
then he moves to the second list.
50:15
Remember, the lists are not inclusive.
50:17
They're just a partial list of sins.
50:22
But he removes from the attitude and then moves to the ACT.
50:28
Why? Because at the base of the
50:30
attitude of speech is covetousness is idolatry.
50:37
That's why he says these words. He says, but now you also put
50:41
them all aside. What anger, anger that's or gay
50:46
that that is the the, the bitterness that that wells up
50:50
within us. That's on the inside of man and
50:55
that orgae leads to thumos, the boiling over of my attitude of
51:01
anger. You know this very well.
51:03
You, you, you hear someone, you know someone and just the
51:06
thought of them caused you to to be angry on the inside.
51:10
And the more someone talks about them, the more you begin to boil
51:12
over with that kind of anger. It begins because somehow, some
51:20
way, you are a self worshipper. You think yourself better than
51:26
somebody else. You think that you are high and
51:30
mighty. You think that you are the cat's
51:33
meow. You think you're just the the
51:35
the the best thing that's ever happened.
51:38
And how dare someone say something that gets you.
51:41
So you begin to get angry. That angry leads to to boiling
51:45
over to thumos that that that wrath and that wrath leads to
51:51
malice, Malice's vicious thoughts, the vicious attitude
51:55
that leads to slander. That leads me to slander.
52:00
The reason I slander somebody is because there are these vicious
52:04
thoughts I have about this person that stem from this
52:08
bowling over of the anger that I have because I think that I'm
52:11
better than somebody else because I'm a self worshipper.
52:14
I'm an idolater. I'm a covetous person.
52:19
And the Bible says in the book of James that when you slander
52:22
your brother, you really blasphemy the name of God
52:27
because your brother James chapter 3 verse #9 is made in
52:31
the image of God. So when you slander your
52:34
brother, who's made of the image of God, you're blaspheming God's
52:40
architect, God's creation. Therefore you are blaspheming
52:46
God himself. And that slander leads to
52:55
abusive speech, abusive speech, speech that is filled with
53:04
unrighteousness. Christ would say in Matthew 12.
53:09
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh good
53:12
man, out of the goodness of the good treasure of the heart
53:16
bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil
53:21
treasure bringeth forth evil things.
53:28
That's why Paul says, let no corrupt communication proceed
53:30
from your mouth. Because you see those vicious
53:34
thoughts lead to slandering your brother, which lead to abusive
53:40
speech. By the way, if you recall the
53:46
life of Peter, in his denial of the Lord Jesus Christ on the eve
53:51
of the crucifixion of the Messiah, he denied the Lord
53:56
three times, right? Lord prophesied that he was
54:00
denying 3 times for the cockroach, and the third time
54:05
that he denied the Lord to this little girl by a fireplace
54:09
outside the House of Caiaphas. It says that he used filthy
54:15
abusive speech. In other words, he began to
54:20
curse and to swear. And guess what?
54:27
After that, nobody ever accused him of being a follower of
54:31
Christ again. Why?
54:35
Because people who follow Christ don't use that kind of language,
54:39
that's why. So he was free from being
54:42
accused of being a follower of Christ because everybody knows
54:46
the words that Jesus spoke, and those who follow Christ would
54:51
never speak like that. This is how Peter would get
54:54
people to stop accusing him of being a follower of Christ, even
54:59
though he was. He began to curse.
55:03
He began to swear using abusive speech because that would stop
55:10
all accusations against him. And it did.
55:16
And that abusive speech leads to lying.
55:22
Lying. Why do people lie?
55:26
People lie to protect themselves.
55:28
Why do they protect themselves? Because they're idol
55:30
worshippers. They're self worshippers.
55:34
People lie to protect what they want to protect.
55:38
They lie because they want to preserve something in their
55:41
lives. They would have preserve the
55:44
story. They want to preserve that which
55:46
they tried to get everybody to believe, right?
55:49
It's a self protective act. That's why people lie.
55:53
Satan is the father of lies, right?
55:56
So whenever you lie, you, you align yourself with the father
55:59
of lies. Why would you want to do that
56:03
with the father of lies with an idolater?
56:07
And those who live lie are self worshippers.
56:10
They too are idolaters. So Paul says as Christians keep
56:19
seeking those things that are above.
56:21
Set your mind on things above and separate yourself from all
56:28
sinful acts and sinful words, because those the members of
56:35
your body that will haunt you if you do not kill those members of
56:42
your body and what is you are actually killing.
56:45
You are killing the fact that you in the depths of your soul
56:51
seek to preserve yourself because you worship yourself,
56:58
Paul says. We're worshippers of God.
57:03
When you worship God in spirited, in truth, you don't
57:05
want to worship yourself. You want to worship the true
57:07
God. You want to honor the Lord, you
57:09
want to glorify his name. You want to live for the glory
57:13
and honor of the Christ. And as long as you're seeking
57:16
those things that are above and set your affection and mind on
57:19
things above, you can then effectively separate yourself in
57:21
those things of the world. Because it's the world that
57:24
lives in idolatry, that are covetous, that had this
57:29
exuberant greed for that which is wrong.
57:34
And the believer, he's marked by a denunciation of all those
57:40
things. Why?
57:43
Because they worship the king. They want to honor the Lord.
57:48
This is just so important to understand.
57:53
That's why. That's why man centered
57:56
preaching is so bad. God centered preaching gets you
58:03
focused on God. And the more you see God, you
58:07
see His Holiness. The more you see His Holiness,
58:09
the more you see your sinfulness.
58:11
But as long as we keep preaching to man, having man centered
58:14
sermons, focused on man centered things, guess what?
58:18
Nobody's convicted of their sin because they don't see God.
58:21
They just see themselves. And God knows.
58:24
We got enough problems with that already.
58:26
We don't need to see any more of ourselves and see God.
58:31
When you see God in His Holiness, you see your
58:36
sinfulness. When you see your sinfulness,
58:40
you turn and follow the true God and worship him.
58:47
A Christian What is a Christian? A Christian is one who denounces
58:55
and destroys anything in his life that will move him away
59:02
from God to be accepted by the world because they want to live
59:08
for the glory and honor their King.
59:10
Let me pray with you, Father, We thank you for tonight, and we
59:14
thank you for your word. We thank you for the truth
59:17
that's there. Our prayer, Father, is that we
59:21
would live for you. None of us are perfect.
59:25
The Apostle Paul would wrestle with his own sinful behavior
59:30
knowing how wrong it was, which makes us so aware of the fact
59:35
that that when we see our sin for what it is, we realize it's
59:41
an offence to the holy God, our holy God, the one who lives and
59:45
reigns within our lives. Help us, Lord, to live for you.
59:50
Help us, Lord, to to pursue you. Set our affections on things
59:55
above, not on things below. Keep seeking Christ the Lord.
1:00:04
That is where our life really is, for you are our life.
1:00:12
As we go home tonight, protect us, keep us safe, and may our
1:00:17
spiritual pilgrimage be greater tonight and tomorrow than ever
1:00:22
before, because we truly want to honor our King.
1:00:27
In Jesus name, Amen.