Let's open our Bibles to the book of First Timothy. We'll start in chapter four today. If you're joining us for the first time again, welcome. You're probably going to hear me say this for the next 10 weeks, so that's OK. I want you all to know that typically as a church, we are working systematically through books of scripture. We've done that for the last six almost six and a half years now and and so we finished the book of Philippians a couple of weeks ago and in between books we take some time to just work through some Maybe some topics that personally, as a church, we want to work through and maybe some areas the Lord puts up on my heart of area of need of focus for a little bit. And so what we're doing today is we are we're walking through various scriptures. And as we mentioned before, we're going through what's called the concentric circles. We are a church that believes in expositional preaching. And so expositional preaching is expounding the truth of text. And we're going to do that today, although we'll look at various texts and we won't get to go very deep in them. This is different than using verses out of context to get a point across. So I will send you all of the scriptures we're going to go through today. So we'll go through a lot. If you're not a fast writer, you may just want to listen. Maybe focus on a couple, but we'll send you all the scriptures so you can go back at home and meditate upon God's word. And in a few weeks, probably about 10 weeks, we'll start another book of the Bible and work through that. But for the next eight or so weeks, we're going to be working through these concentric circles and look at them carefully. If you have children and you're visiting us for the first time, as you notice, our children are here with us. They worship with us and we love children. We believe they're a blessing from the Lord. And so know this, if you brought your child this morning and they're here worshiping with us, they're not a bother to us. So their coups and this and that don't bother us. I'll speak louder if I need to. I'll tell them to raise the volume or yell or something like that. If your child does begin to cry a lot, there's a room right behind this back door where there's the audio fed into that. And if you want to take your child up there until they are calmed down some and bring him back in, that's fine. But we want your children to be a part of our worship time together. We worship as families at home. And this is just a continuation of our worship and spirit and truth here together. So please know that your children don't bother us. Just use wisdom in that and but they're not a bother to us at all. They're blessings from the Lord I'm going to pray before we get going here as you see we're going to Study circle number one today, and we need God's grace and help I'm going to pray in accordance to what I preached last week that the Spirit of the Lord would bring a Spirit of wisdom and revelation to us in the knowledge of Jesus Christ this morning that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened and open and just to know who he is and what he has done and who we are in him. And I pray that you'll join me in that prayer for your own heart that would be open to receive God's word and it would do a work in each of our hearts, bringing God glory. So if you'll bow this morning and pray along with me as I pray. Father, it is a joy to be with your people. God, to walk the halls and see your people encouraging and strengthening and praying and weeping with one another. What a taste, what a glimpse. We long for you, Father. We look forward to the day when we will see you face to face. Father, until then, would you pour out your spirit this morning, as we studied last week in Ephesians, God, that you would grace us But the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. That we would know him more and more each day. God, please guard us against these concentric circles becoming. Lord, a checklist. Or something separate from Christ. But rather, God, help us to see these are the overflow, the means by which we live out this glorious gospel and bring glory to your name. So if we've separated those at all in our minds, would you unite them in your truth? Would the gospel be the reason why we seek to glorify you in these areas? Would the gospel be the power through which we glorify you in these areas? And would the gospel be the end to which they point to? That others would see our lives and that we could be a testimony, a living testimony of the glorious gospel. Lord, if there are those amongst us this morning who are not saved, not born again, I pray that your spirit would work this morning through the word to convert souls, grant repentance and faith, Father, we pray. For those you've already poured your grace upon in the new birth, God, we pray for a greater sanctification this morning. It is through your word that we are sanctified, God. As we open your word, let it accomplish its purpose. Work in our hearts, God. Convict us of sin. Drive us out, as Brother Jeff read, that we would be set apart to God, to holiness, to purity. Show us in each of our lives specifically. Where we've compromised that the word of God. Direct our path, light it for us, God. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, Lord, so it's in him we call upon you and pray. In his name we pray, Amen. Let's be clear again, as I mentioned, and I'll probably mention repeatedly, As we talk about prioritizing our life according to Scripture, this is not what makes us right with God. We are right with God because of the finished work of Jesus Christ. His life, death, burial, and resurrection. He is our righteousness. In Him, I have eternal life. What we're saying is, now that we've experienced the new birth by God's grace, now that we've been granted repentance and faith and our hope is in Jesus, now that we are justified, declared righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ and His life being applied to us, that's the gospel. Now that we have received these things, we're asking the great question, how then should we live in light of this glorious gospel? We are called to live lives worthy. That word just sits in my heart. To live a life, to show the worth of Jesus Christ. The worth of the eternal Son's blood. That is to be the reflection of my life. And it will happen to the degree that we prioritize our lives according to His word. I'm right with God in Jesus. Praise His name that none of my works will ever be the source of my justification. But that saving grace produces a newness of life that we are called to walk in. And yes, we can struggle here. And yes, there are varying degrees of sanctification. But if there's none of this in your life, you should have concern whether you've ever been converted. And if you have been converted, then the gospel should propel you moment by moment, day by day, as you grow in the knowledge of Him, to pursue Him with a greater purpose, with greater power, that He would be glorified. Biblically prioritizing our lives, the guarding and nurturing of your soul in circle one here. Uh-oh. There it went. OK, we're talking about conforming our lives to Scripture. You say, I want to live a holy life. How do you do that? How do you live saying I want to live a holy life does not make you live a holy life, knowing that that's the right answer. How then shall we live? We should live holy, set apart. That's true. But what does that mean? We have to ask the next question. So what we're talking about is conforming our lives to scripture. In other words, prioritizing our lives according to God's revealed will. That's what the circles are. Listen, if you don't like the name concentric circles, don't don't use it. I don't care about that. OK, we're talking about in every area of life that God is has willed for you. And we've talked about what that means. that you're living out according to his purposes and his word. So, again, prioritizing your life according to the revealed word of God, the true believer's desire is to glorify God. Why? We've been born again, we have a new heart with new desires. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new in every area of life. Listen, if you have if you have a an old style of life and then a new style of life, you have one foot in the world and one foot with Christ. That's not reality. That's not real. Christianity is a total transformation at the inward part of us that begins to work its way out, the working out of our salvation in every area of life. So if you're if you're a Christian here on Sunday morning, or you put on that stuff on Sunday morning, but then on Saturday evening, you're a different person with different people. You've been deceived. You've been deceived. And yes, we can struggle in sin, we fight against sin. But if you live two different lives, one on Sunday morning, and one on Saturday evening, you've been deceived. Because the Christian is a lover of Christ, whose goal is to glorify His name. In 2 Corinthians 5.15, it says that He died for all, that those who live would no longer live for themselves. See, prior to Christ, you live for who? Me. Whatever feels good, I do it. That's living for yourself. You've been born again and he died that you would no longer live for yourself. He bought you with his own blood. You're no longer your own. And now we live for him in his glory. So the true believer's desire is to glorify God, and this forces us to ask the question, how do we glorify God? How do I glorify God? You do it by living according to his revealed will. I tell you, glorify God. You glorify God by living according to his revealed will. This is why it says in Ephesians 5 17, we hit it last or two weeks ago. Paul told us, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. So one of the requirements you have is to use this book to understand what the will of God is, to look through it and say, God, what is your will? These aren't just stories. This isn't just an antiquated old book. This is to direct and guide every area and aspect of your life. How do we comprehend or understand God's will? We look to Scripture. We know that Scripture is sufficient for all of life, equipping us for every good work, 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. As we look to Scripture, we say, well, what does it say? What does it mean? And how am I to apply this to my life? How can I live this out? How can I obey these truths as I see them? Why? Because in that He's glorified. He's glorified in that you see, understand truth and then live it out and bring glory to His name. So I can live a life worthy of this gospel, showing the worth of the blood. So as we seek to live out Scripture, we must then think about and think through the practical implications of what it means to obey these things. It's not enough to say, OK, I'm clearly called in Scripture to do this. We have to then ask underneath of that, How can I do that and what's going to have to change in my life in order to make that a living reality, not just the truth I affirm? And so as you begin to see these truths through the study and reading of Scripture, we see what we're called to. We see what we need to do to do that. We change our lives in order to do that. And what we're doing in that process is we are prioritizing our lives, our time around obeying God's revealed will. That's what these things are about. And this is reasonable Christianity. This is entry level Christianity, the living out of God's revealed will, according to his word. It's amazing that it is so foreign, though. To the so-called church. When you when someone sees you actually picking up this book. being given to it, believing it to be God's Word, treating it as God's Word, and then saying, I will structure and prioritize my life around this book. And other professing Christians look at you doing that and say, whoa, you're going so far. Take it easy. Don't you know it's all about grace? Yes, I know it's about grace. And it's because of that unbelievable, unfathomable grace. through the blood of Jesus Christ, that I am compelled to live a life worthy by obeying this word. It's Christianity at its beginning level. And without it, there is no Christianity. Remember, we're not saved by obeying the things in this book, other than repenting and believing. We're saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. But because you're saved, you will want to obey this book and you will want to glorify this one who has shed his love upon you through the blood of his own son. That's Christianity. Remember, we saw two weeks ago in Romans 14, 12. That Christians. Will give an account for their lives, their lives. I'm justified in Jesus Christ, but I've been called. You're called to circles for sure. If you're a Christian, one, four and five. If you've been graced with a spouse to and we don't elevate marriage above singles, if you've been graced with children, you're called to circle three. What that means is you have responsibility in circles two and three now as well. But everyone's called to circle one, four and five. So we're going to give an account. Are you a faithful steward to what God has called you to? Today, we'll look at Circle One, what has God called you to in regard to the guarding and nurturing of your soul? Have you been a faithful steward in there? If you have a spouse, are you being a faithful steward? Husbands, are you leading your wives well, loving them as Christ loved the church? Wives, are you submitting unto your husbands as unto the Lord with a gentle and quiet spirit? If you have children, are you leading them in the fear and admonition of the Lord? The church, are you devoted to the fellowship, using your gifts to serve and love these people? And you're a steward of the gospel. We've all been called to the Great Commission. You're a steward of the gospel. Are you fulfilling these realities? And what we're asking and going through these is, well, what do those actually mean? What do they actually say? And how should I prioritize my life around these things? And this, again, is just basic Christianity. We all want to hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant. I do. I want people to see my good works and glorify my Father in heaven. That's what I want. Not so I would be known. I want to be faceless. I want Christ to be magnified through my life. Now, knowing that we're called to be faithful servants, know this, brothers and sisters, anything, this is important, Anything in your life that keeps you from fulfilling these callings is idolatry. If there's anything in your life that you've given greater priority to that is keeping you from fulfilling what you're called in each of these areas, that is an idol in your life. And it may not be that that specific idol is in and of itself sinful. It may not be sinful. But your elevation of it to a greater priority that keeps you from fulfilling God's will in your life, you've just made it a sinful idol. And it may mean you need to remove it from your life, or it may mean that you need to put it back in its rightful place of priority. But what we're saying is Scripture must dictate and guide my life, my time, not the world or the culture. So those are the five concentric circles. Before we get into number one again, I'll say this. God's will for your life is perfect. Meaning if let's say you're a married female with children, you're called all five circles now. OK, all five circles. And you will not have to forsake one of these circles in order to fulfill another circle. You will not have to forsake your children to serve the church. You will not have to forsake evangelism to submit to your husband. You will be able to fulfill all of these calls in your life if your life is biblically prioritized. Now, you will not fulfill all these calls in your life if your life is not biblically prioritized. And this is an unending reformation that we will go through until we die. We're constantly reforming our lives to the word of God, turning away from things and turning to things of the word. Finally, before we go to number one, last week's sermon. Is going to be critical as we step through these, because if you're not careful, you're going to make this a checklist Christianity. You're going to go, hey, I got my five circles in place, I'm good to go. Your eyes are taken off of Jesus Christ. These are means. Of knowing him and glorifying him. These are not ends in and of themselves. The gospel is from through and to. We want to fulfill these because of the gospel. We want the gospel to be magnified and the power of the gospel to empower us in each of these areas. And we want our lives in each of these areas to point back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. So this is a pursuit to know Christ, to live a life worthy of the gospel that he's given to us in these areas of our life. Do not separate these things from the gospel or from Jesus Christ. That would be checklist Christianity, just morality then. This is gospel driven. This flows out from the gospel. Let's keep that in mind, centering our lives on the gospel, this is our response to the gospel, so please do know that. And I'll say this and I'll say at the end of the sermon. Let's say you understand these concentric circles after these 10 weeks. You think, man, I understand them, I see it in Scripture, by God's power, I'm out living these concentric circles. What makes you right with God? Is not fulfilling these concentric circles. So don't find your joy in the fulfillment of these, what makes you right with God is the finished work of Jesus Christ. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your joy in Jesus. Keep your hope in Jesus and his finished work. And let that be a a catalyst that drives us to live a life worthy and fulfilling these is living a life worthy of the gospel. Keep your eyes on Jesus. All right, here we go. First, Timothy, chapter four, verses six through eight, we're doing an overview of circle number one. Follow along. If you don't have a Bible, get one in the back and follow along. If you don't own a Bible, please keep it and read it. It is our gift to you. Please do that. First Timothy chapter four, verses six through eight. If you put these things before the brothers, Paul speaking to Timothy, if you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed, have nothing to do with irreverence or silly myths. Rather, train or discipline yourself for godliness. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is a value in every way, as it holds the promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. So this is the primary text we'll be working out of today. Again, we'll look at a few other texts, but this is the primary one. Verse 9, this is a trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. What Paul was just giving to Timothy, he's telling him, listen, what I just gave to you, trust this, accept it, believe it, live it out. And we need to hear that this is a trustworthy saying worthy of full acceptance. In other words, give your life, your full life to the fulfillment of what I've just told you, Timothy. Now, you know, these talking earlier in chapter four about people coming and saying you can't eat this, you can't get married, you can't do this. And that's what Paul's telling Timothy to refute here at the beginning, these irreverence and silly myths. But I want to focus on the middle of verse 7, which says to train or discipline yourself towards godliness. This is the goal of the Christian. Godliness. Conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. That I would be a reflection of Jesus Christ. That's what godliness is. It is conforming to the image of Christ. And if you remember in Romans 8, verse 28, As Christians, it says you were predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. This is God's will for your life. First Thessalonians, this is God's will for your life that you be sanctified, set apart, godliness, image of Christ, all these things coming together. This is what you've been predestined to. This is the goal. Philippians chapter three. We just finished studying the book. Paul's goal, Christ likeness. Remember Paul's prize. Christ likeness. He'll get it in the end. Perfect conformity, new body. But Paul's goal in this life, Christ likeness is your goal in your life. Christ likeness, conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. It never amazes me when I speak to someone who claims Christianity. And if this is true, that means their goal of their life is to know him and be like him. And I'll begin to speak to them about their savior, supposed savior, And they'll say, I don't want to talk about that. I know why. He's not your goal. He's not your prize, because I'll tell you this, people want to talk about their goals. People want to talk about their prize. They do. It's easy to carry on conversations in the humanistic world. Just say, what do you like and then talk about it. How you can be a good salesperson. What do you like this? Let's talk about it. You're the greatest person I've ever met. I'm just talking about what you love the most. Isn't it amazing, though, that people can be professing Christians and you want to talk to them about their Lord and Savior and they say. No, thanks, we don't talk about politics and religion here. Impossible. Impossible. In the training and disciplining of your life towards this goal of Christlikeness, the word discipline here, or train here, is where we get our word gymnasium from. It has the idea of strenuous activity. In other words, if Jesus Christ in conformity to His image is your goal in life, which it should be for all Christians, why? Because in that He's glorified. Then we are to discipline our lives. We are to be disciplined. We are to train ourselves. To that end, to that goal, purposing intentional, rigorous, unending work. The two main areas to how we discipline our lives, one is the guarding of yourself. There's one area of discipline and he talks about in the text here in verse seven. Look at it. Have nothing to do with irreverent or silly myths. Part of the disciplining of your life, brothers and sisters, is that you're going to guard your soul. You have nothing to do with irreverence or silliness. It's more than that. But part of it is the guarding of this heart. The guarding of my soul. Paul said that as good soldiers, we don't enter into civilian affairs. We are on a mission for Christ's likeness. We must guard our souls. The other aspect of this disciplining of my life is that I'm nurturing my soul, I'm nurturing myself. And look what he says there in verse six, being trained or constantly nourished in the words of faith or scripture and of the good doctrine. That's just truth revealed in scripture that you have followed. Paul's telling Timothy, listen, not only in the disciplining of your life toward godliness, you need to guard your heart, but you need to be nurturing your heart Towards what scripture, towards what the doctrines of scripture. And then he says at the end that you have followed. And so it's not just something that we're supposed to store in our minds as this abstract truth out there. It is to be a truth that produces a way of life. The disciplining of our lives regard includes guarding self, nurturing self, and when you're doing this, guess what you'll be doing. You'll be prioritizing your life. That's exactly what he's getting at in verse eight. While bodily training is of some value, godliness is a value in every way as it holds promise for the present life and also for the one to come. This verse is not teaching you that you should not exercise. It's not a prohibitive text. It is saying weigh the end results of these things. If you give yourself to bodily exercise, this body, listen, it is going to die. This is in the redeemed flesh. It will perish and turn to dust. Don't try to hold on to it. Yes, be a good steward of it. Take care of it. Can I ask you something? Are you more disciplined? in the physical aspects of your body than you are the spiritual aspects of your body? I meet people all the time who claim Christianity, and they eat perfectly. They eat all these good, right foods and avoid the bad. They're at the gym seven days a week, morning and night, running, reading magazines, articles. They're in groups. They're in blogs. They're in all these things about their physical body. How are you doing in the word? I don't have time for that. What about communing with God and I just don't have time for that stuff. And Paul is saying, wake up, that's a bad investment when you invest more time in something that will perish and only has temporal satisfaction to invest more time in the things that are eternal, which is godliness. What are you more given to? I'll tell you right now, listen, I think you should be exercising. It makes your mind sharper. I think you should be eating better and sleeping well. It makes you sharper. But that end is not just to be sharper, to be physically fit. The end for that for me is godliness. You know why? When I'm sharper, when I'm well rested, when I'm eating better, those things help me more in my godliness and my alertness. And I need to do better there. But I hope I succeed better in my striving toward godliness in the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life than I do in taking care of this flesh that will one day die. I hope you're more given to eternal things than temporal things. Be a good steward of your body. Yes, but be given to eternal things. What do you get more excited about? Every morning we drive to meet with the saints and worship our God. And I see endless people running on the side of the road. Dedicated early, all the good gear and whatever just given to it. But I ain't got time for God. It's pathetic. Circle one focuses on the disciplining of yourself towards godliness. The guarding of self, the nurturing of self, which is the prioritizing of life. So I'm going to walk you through a few texts on the guarding of yourself and on the nurturing of yourself. And these are pretty self-explanatory, so I don't need to give a lot of comment on them, but I'll give some as needed. But Circle One is really pretty basic. The problem is we've just lost it. We've just lost it. When Paul is describing the Christian life throughout many of his epistles, he uses words like soldier, fought, armor. And you get the idea that the Christian life really is a battle, it's a war. We live in a fallen world. We battle Satan's self and sin. So it's a constant battle. We don't lay down on the job, per se. We're always on guard. In 1 Timothy 4, going on in verse 16, Paul tells Timothy to keep a close watch on yourself. And on your teaching persist in this, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers. It's about being mindful, careful, guarding what's coming in, keeping a close watch on my life. And Proverbs 423, it says this, keep your heart with all vigilance or diligence for from it flow the springs of life. This diligence or vigilance word here, it's a careful and persistent work. Your life should be characterized by a careful and a persistent work of guarding your heart. Your heart, what is the heart when the Bible speaks about the heart, it says here for from it flow the springs of life, it's the wellspring of life, it is the inner man, it's the emotion, it's the will, it's the affection, it's the thinking, it's the inner man. And you are to guard this inner man. Who's been made new in Jesus Christ, we're a new inner man, but you're to guard this inner man to protect what is coming in because so much of out there is poison, so much in the name of Jesus out there is really just poison. You're to be a good Berean and have a filter there. So you are to keep guard, protect and maintain what our heart, our feelings, our will, our intellect, our emotions, Our affections. Ephesians 515, this is why Paul says there, look carefully, then how you walk or walk circumspectly, walk carefully, not as unwise, but as wise. Why? Because the days are evil. We live in a fallen world. You don't just go skipping through town when you're at war. You guard your steps. You're careful about where you go and what you do. You don't go down the path near her house and proverbs chapter seven. You don't stray down there. He said he looked through the lattice and saw a man without understanding who wandered on the path down near this woman's house. You finish this proverbs seven, remember how it ends. Death. He did not realize it would cost him his life. Says in there also that all who were taken by her were strong men. I can handle a little temptation in my life. I can I can guard that. I know where I know how far I can go when I know I can cut it off. What arrogance? You can't cut it off. You're not in control. That's why it says do not even go down the path near her house. Stay away from it. Straight and narrow. Specifically guarding ourselves, specifically guarding our hearts, specifically keeping a close watch on ourselves. Give me some practicality here now from Scripture. What does that look like? Well, here's one for you. Guard your eyes. Psalms one oh one three, I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not cling to me. How about that for practicality? I will tell you this. What you intake through your eyes has a great impact on your godliness. If you think you can watch movies and TV shows that according to Scripture are worthless or even sinful and think it has no impact on you, you have been deceived. You've been deceived. You say, well, how do I know what I should be should put before my eyes? There are many lists and scriptures you can use. Take, for example, what we studied in Philippians when it says set your mind on these things and it gives you a big, long list, praiseworthy. There's some good filters there for you. Think of Romans chapter one, not only not only those who practice these things, but also those who give consent to these things, those who are given over to a debased mind to do things which are unfitting. And it gives you a big, long list of things that are of a debased mind and unfitting. That's a good filter. That's a good filter. But see, if you say, well, I can take in some of that stuff and it doesn't really impact me. You are deceived. You're to set your eyes on nothing that is worthless. The things we set our eyes on should be praiseworthy, we should be thinking on things above. So when you fill your mind with hours of Internet garbage or movies that are contrary to the glory of God and think it doesn't have an impact on your life, you're deceived. It does. So now we're getting to the practical implications of what does it look like to guard my heart, and this is where we go, man, you're getting kind of legalistic with me, Jesse. Try to tell me what I can and can't watch. I'm under grace. Listen. Truth demands a response. Guard your heart means something. It isn't just this thought. There's a real meaning behind it. And your job and the application of Scripture is to say, what should I do then? And you look at Scripture to say, what should I do? And then you live according to it. That's not legalism. That's obedience. It's obedience. Truth demands a response. You don't just read that and go, I agree with that. And they just keep plowing away. You go, stop. This should change the course. This should set the course. And anything that's outside of it is off of it. You're not to be here as only but doers. To watch this stuff is sin. The things for which Christ died. Ephesians 5 says, do not and speaking about sexual immorality, but it's true for all of sin. Do not even let it be named among you. You can't even bring an accusation against this man. Why? It's so far removed from him. Jesse, you know, Jesus did pray not to take us out of the world, we're going to be in. I know that I'm talking about what you willfully subject yourself to. We live in a fallen world. I'm not asking you to live in a cave, but I'm asking you to guard your heart because scripture does. And you got to ask, what does that look like then? What then should I watch and not watch? And dad, you control that for your home. You set the boundaries. You're the filter. The spiritual leader picks up the word of God and says, in my home, that's not coming in. Why? I'm the protector of this home. I'm an under shepherd in this home. I'll give an account for what I let into this home. And it's hard work, it's taxing. And yeah, all the neighbors watch everything else. I know that. I know it's tempting. And you got to make hard decisions sometimes and you will be an outcast. But God will be glorified. God will be glorified. Well, not only what I set before my eyes, but also I need to guard my company. First Corinthians 1533. These first four words are very important. Do not be deceived. Why does Paul need to say that to Christians? Because we can be deceived. Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. Let me try to break that down in case it wasn't simple enough. Don't be with unbelievers in intimate relationships and friendships. Unbelievers are ones we love and proclaim the gospel to or in their life to the degree that we share the gospel. But I want you to know if you keep company with them, if you participate in the things that they do, if all of your friends are lost people, you're being deceived. And I'm tired of the excuse, well, how are we gonna reach? And listen, if you've been in their life for a year and you haven't preached the gospel to them, you're not gonna preach the gospel to them. That's not why you're in their life. You're in their life because you like what they like. And if you like what they like, I wanna really wonder, has your heart been changed? Listen, we can be tempted by sin, but we've been born again. We're new creations in Christ. We love Jesus Christ. And we are tempted by sin, but we hate it. And we it should not be normal that a Christian can keep fellowship with an unbeliever. And there's no difference in life. There's no none of this. I'm not saying because you're so abrasive and self-righteous, but because you are on a different path living for a different end. Literally, it's this. This is why it says, how does light have fellowship with darkness? The answer is it doesn't. Two different people, one living spiritually, one dead spiritually, one loves sin, one loves God. Two different people, not better than them. And I'll be in their life to the degree that I can preach Christ to them. When people tell me I have to go hang out where they live and hang out where they go and drink and watch the movies they watch and laugh at their jokes, just so I can preach Christ to them, you just you're being deceived. Psalm chapter one. Sorry, I didn't put that up there. Psalm chapter one. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. Happy, blessed is the man. Who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, sits in the seat of sinners, sorry, stands in the way of sinners or sits in the seat of scoffers. Again, the company you keep. And then I skip Proverbs 1320, whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. There's a good parenting verse we'll get to on circle number three. You walk with the people of the world, you become like them and children, I want you to know that your parents, when they say, hey, listen, we're going to guard our relationship with these people, not because we're better than them. But because we understand the scripture to be true, that if you walk with them, if you're with these people day in and day out, if you talk with them and and go down their paths, you'll become like them. And when your parents say, I'm sorry, We can't spend time with them. It's not because we're better. It's because your parents love you and they are guarding your life. I would love to right now go preach on this in light of courtship again, our courtship study, even though we're not using that word anymore. Our premarital relationship studies. It's just so foolish. Listen, guys and girls, single, you're not you don't enter into relationships to bring people to Christ. If you don't enter into a relationship with a boy or girl, if you're opposite sex and think, well, I'm going to I'm going to hopefully get them to Christ one day, that's just being deceived. Just being deceived, it's not biblically led, it's emotionally led. And that's why Second Corinthians four and I know the context in Second Corinthians four is marriage. I understand that. But the truth, the principal truth here is true for all relationships. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness or what fellowship has light with darkness. Talking to one brother before the service, he said. My mom's coming in town. And our relationships has has been distanced. Since I've been saved. I said, I know, but that's hard. And we've all experienced that, that when you've been born again and someone in your family is not or a friend you used to have is not and it becomes a distancing. Why? Because all you want to talk about is Jesus Christ, because he's your treasure and he's not their treasure. And it does put distance in relationships. It should. It should. That's right. That's what happens. Now, we seek to love them and share truth with them, but I cannot continue in the path I used to once walk with you. Why? I'm a new creation in Christ. I don't continue in that path, I have no joy in that path anymore. So we need to be guarding. Our hearts. OK. What about the nurturing, so we're talking about what we're keeping out through the guarding, now we're going to talk about what we bring in through the nurturing, OK? The nurturing of self through the what through the word. Through the word of God. John 1717 says, sanctify them in truth, your word is truth. Listen, we are saved through the preaching of God's word, that seed that goes out, the Holy Spirit brings an increase to causes us to be born again and we are sanctified through the word of God. Let's make this clear. You will not be sanctified apart from the word of God. This is the chosen means through the Holy Spirit works to bring conviction, to bring correction through the word of God. You say, well, I thought you told us before that God works through trials, tribulations and suffering to sanctify you. He does. But how you respond to all those is found where in the word, because if you have a trial in your life, but you don't respond biblically, it didn't sanctify you. They didn't sanctify you. You may look back on it and God may use that to grow you in wisdom at the end, but you are sanctified in trials and suffering to the degree that you respond biblically in them. So right now we're back to the word again. This is why it says sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Now there, let's look at the positive side of Psalms chapter one. Verses one through three, blessed is the man who doesn't do the things we mentioned before, but the man who is blessed, who does do these things in verse two, his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law, he meditates day and night. He's like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season. Its leaf does not wither and all that he does, he prospers. The Word of God. Read and meditated, memorized and blessed is that man. He is a man who stands in the face of adversity. Paul tells you to put on the whole armor of God and you draw the sword of the Spirit. The faith that you have, that shield, it's faith in what? The Word of God, the truth proclaimed through the Word of God. We are called to be growing in the grace and knowledge of the Word of God. Second, Peter 318 and Hebrews chapter five, the writer tells us they are listen, you guys should be teachers by now, but I'm still dealing with you in elementary principles. In other words, what the implication, the understanding is you should be growing in the knowledge of truth continually as a Christian. You do that through the reading and studying of God's words, so we must be consistently be reading, meditating and memorizing scripture. reading, studying or meditating and memorizing scripture. So. The reading brings you the breadth of scripture, you should be the whole counsel of God. Matthew chapter four man is not lived by bread alone, but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, you need to understand the whole of scripture. So you're just one of those New Testament people. You got to get back to that Old Testament because it's a bigger portion of the Bible, actually. And you understand the New Testament through the Old Testament, the Old Testament through the New Testament. You got to understand what these things say, every word of God. So you got to be reading the entire word of God. That's the breath. And then the meditation, as he says here in Psalms, chapter one, and you can read it also in Joshua, chapter one, verse eight, Ezra, chapter seven, verse 10. This idea of meditating upon scripture, literally sitting down and beginning to study, to understand, know and rightly divide these texts. breadth of scripture depth of scripture and brothers and sisters our life should be prioritized based on that sorry your life should be prioritized so let me ask you this just as a form of accountability if i walked with you this last month here we are at the end of a month through the month of april Just every day, I'm just following you around every day. Do I come away with the understanding the word of God is central in this person's life? They are dedicated to the reading of the word, the studying of God's word. And if the answer is no, we have to ask this, then what have I given greater priority to? If we know that it is through this book that we will be sanctified. Built up, strengthened. Renewed, we'll get to in a second. And then we don't make it a priority is because you've made something else a priority. I want you to know this, that other thing is an idol now. It's sin. It could be anything. Could be sleep. You've made sleep a sin. Is sleep sinful? No. The laziness is. being given to sleep is, if sleep keeps you from the word, it's sinful. What about work? Listen, if you're a man in here, you are called to work, be a provider for your home. It is sin to not provide for your family. It's worse than the unbeliever, Paul tells us. So what if my job keeps you from the word? Just quit work now? No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying this, though. You've made that job. A higher priority than the word. Well, this is what they demand in this job. Then get another job. Then get another job. Never forget, one of the brothers came to me years ago. Struggling in these areas of his life. And he was presented a promotion. With more money. More money. So let's know for sure this, though, promotions also come with more what? Responsibility. And he said, Jesse, I'm not fulfilling these things right now like I should. Struggling in them. And my fear is if I take this promotion, yeah, I'll get more money. It'd be nice to have some more money, but I'm fearful of what it's going to mean in regards to the disciplines in my life. And he told me this, if I take this job, I'll never be if I don't take this job, I'll never be offered the promotion again. That's it. I'm done. I said, well, the decision's easy, isn't it? He said, yeah. He went in, he said, no thanks. And his colleagues said, are you, they passed me up and you just, yeah, why? I live for a different end. I'm gonna give an account one day. On that day, I will not be worried about how much I had in my bank account. I would be worried about how much I am like Christ that you might be glorified. Was I a faithful servant? And it will cost you everything. Is he worth it? Is he worth it? Romans 12, one and two, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, what is acceptable, what is perfect. What do we discern the will of God? Scripture. What do we renew our minds in scripture? How often are you being bombarded by this world to be transformed by it? Just throw a number out there, whatever you want. It's low to low. Every moment of every day. Every moment of every day, you're being bombarded with thoughts. Decisions. And there's an undercurrent in this world, and it is to pull you away from the very things we're speaking of. And if you don't believe that, you need to read Ephesians chapter two. There's an undercurrent in this world. And this verse says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind in Scripture. So how many times you have to renew your mind? I'll let you work that out. See, this is the practical implication. You don't just read this and go, oh, I need to renew my mind. What does that even mean? How much renewing do I need to do? Well, my renewing needs to outweigh what's trying to come in. So I'm guarding and I'm renewing constantly. Why? I need to keep a biblical worldview. I need to be looking at this world, everything in it, through the lens of Scripture. And it's a constant daily battle, moment by moment. I need to be memorizing Scripture. I need to be reading Scripture. I need to be meditating about Scripture. I need to be talking with you about Scripture. It's about the Word. See, that's the practical implication. And here's the reality. It costs you a lot. As one brother said, make the payment. Because he's worth it. Living a life worthy of the blood of the Lamb. See, brothers and sisters, the battle of the Christian life is to see and know Jesus Christ. Well, how do you come to know Him more? We studied it last week. God, grant us the spirit of revelation and of wisdom and the knowledge of Him according to what? The word of God. In other words, God, open up this word to me, but in order I don't pray that prayer and not read. I don't pray God, give me the spirit of revelation of wisdom and not open the book. You have a responsibility here. I can't do it without the Holy Spirit, but he will not do it without you opening this book. He doesn't just stick it in there. There's responsibility here, and we have to ask, then, what should my life look like? I would guess my life would look like this. I begin with the greatest priority, which is Jesus Christ and His glory in my life. I begin to look at how do I then glorify God, and I make those the priority of my life, and I let life fill in around it. See, if you say, well, I've got to do this, I've got to do this, I've got to do this, I've got to do this, and at the end, when I have time left over, I read the Word. That's how so many of us try to live, and I know for facts, speaking with you, you don't read the Word then. You know why life is too busy. It has too much. It demands too much. Well, what is prioritizing your life? It's taking what's important and putting it on the calendar and structuring my life around it. That's called prioritizing your life. So that sounds kind of like it's not lovely and just gushy stuff, and this is supposed to be relational. Listen, it is extremely relational. But if you've been married for more than six months, you realize that marriage is hard work. Right. It's hard work. It takes purposing and effort and determination. And this is part of our purposing and effort and determination here. That we make this the priority, it should be in our lives, if you just try to let marriage happen, guess what's going to happen? You'll be one of the statistics. Marriage doesn't just happen. Christianity doesn't just happen. We need his grace, but we are called here specifically. We need to say, how then should I structure my life? Creating a biblical worldview. In addition to that, as we are bombarded with these thoughts in Second Corinthians, chapter 10, verse five, we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ and say this. You can't do that if you don't know the word of God. You don't know what's of what's of God and what's not of God. So, again, all this points back to a need to be in the word, to know the word, to be given to the word. I'm just giving you scriptures, and here's what I'm hoping that your life is beginning to be conformed in your mind to this priority. I hope they'll be repenting in all of our lives to say, what have I given greater priority to God? All right, another aspect of self-nurturing besides the word is prayer. the nurturing of your soul by community with God through prayer. We saw last week in Ephesians chapter one, that is the spirit working through prayer, that we are granted the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him having the eyes of our heart enlightened concerning him who we are in him. So we need the Holy Spirit in these things. We need him to grace us. We need his strength, his help, his power. And we come to him in prayer and recognition of that. So in knowing Jesus by the Spirit's power according to the Word, we grow. One of the brothers of the Fellowship Conference made mention of this text in Galatians 3.5, which says, Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, you're not going to be perfected by the flesh. When you look at all this call to the Word and our responsibility, it's easy to say, OK, here I go. I'm going to get this going. I'm going to start running towards Jesus. And you try to accomplish this all in the flesh. But we realize, yes, you have responsibility, but you need the grace of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish these things. And one of the evidences of your understanding of that is prayer. Prayer. Prayer. Let me just walk you through that real quick. We absolutely have a responsibility in our sanctification. But we never grow out of dependence of the Holy Spirit, but rather we grow in the understanding of how dependent we truly are. Do you know that one of the purposes of trials in your life is to show you how dependent upon God you are, because you forget. Jesus said in John, chapter 15, verse five, without me, you can do nothing. So we say, OK, I got this knowledge, you got some circles going here, here I go. I'm going to start running towards Christianity and you'll fail because you don't realize I need to do this in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in the power of Jesse. So don't forget that, although you have responsibility, you need his power. As we grow in the understanding of our weaknesses, which drive us to further dependence upon him, we boast in our weakness because our weakness is we are strong and his grace is sufficient. Let me tie all that back to prayer now. Your prayer life is a reflection, and this is important, your prayer life is a reflection of your understanding of your dependence upon Him. See, everyone in this room is totally, absolutely, completely dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ. You are. You just don't know it. But our prayer life is a reflection of our understanding of the depth of that dependence, or lack thereof. You see that? So when you look at your prayer life, Does it say, I am so dependent upon you, God. I can do nothing without you. Or does it say, I'll call you when I need you. But here's the thing, you always need him. Always need him, and if you don't need him, you're doing it in your own power and your own strength, probably for your own purposes. You need him. And your prayer life reflects your understanding of that. So what does your prayer life reflect? That you're in great need or you got it handled. That's why we say your prayer life reveals your pride life. It does. I've told you a thousand times, I'll tell you again, please study the book of Luke with a big yellow highlighter. And every time it talks about Jesus's prayer life, just highlight it yellow and then go back and look at them all and be amazed at Jesus, the man's dependent upon the Holy Spirit through prayer. You'll be amazed. And we look at ourselves and say, who do I think I am? Jesus is given all night in prayer. I can't even pray 10 minutes. Jesus is fasting. He wakes up early before the sun rises after a long day of work. And I don't even do any of that. You see the problem? It's a lack of understanding of how dependent we really are. Let me say two things about prayer and we'll be finished. Two aspects of our prayer life. Aspect number one, and typically I find, that people succeed in one or the other of these, but you're called to both. So if you pass yourself on the back for one, that's not good. You're batting 50 percent. In school, that's failing, by the way. 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 16 and 18. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Pray without ceasing. A constant communing with God through prayer. In recognition of my thanks for him, my dependence upon him, I never cease in this constant communing. Just a constant, you're there, I'm here, I love you, I need you, come here, this, that, talking. It's constant prayer. I think people do better at this one than the other one. I pray when I drive, I pray when I work out, and I always say, Amen, that's good. You need to pray when you drive and when you work out. You pray without ceasing. Prayer without ceasing and constant communion with the Lord. This is relational. There's another side to prayer. It's Matthew six six. But when you go when you pray, go into your room, shut your door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father who is in secret reward you. Closet prayer is one of the most neglected realities of the Christian life. Closet prayer. Purposed, intentional, alone prayer time with God. This isn't when you're working out. This isn't when you're driving. This is undistracted, devoted attention to God and prayer. And he calls you to it. He didn't say if you pray, he said when you pray. You know, in that same text chapter, he says when you fast. Not if. When. A purposed and planned, intentional alone time with God that takes prioritizing. Why don't you do it? I'm too busy. That's a lack of prioritizing. I'm too tired. Prioritize your life to get more sleep in. These aren't suggestions in scripture. These are absolute necessities. To live a godly life. and to bring glory to God. So here's my question, what's keeping us from it? I'll tell you what's keeping you from it. Not prioritizing your life around scripture is what's keeping you from it. Too much of the world, too much of culture. Too much of trying to fit in and be like everybody else. This is a set apart life. And he's worthy of it. You really aren't giving up anything. You're gaining Christ, who's everything. I mean, just think of it that way. I know the whisper is you don't want to give up everything, do you? Let me just say you gain everything. You're not giving up anything. The eyes of faith need to see this through scripture. That's why I need to read. But if you view having to give up to gain intimacy with Jesus as a give up, you don't know Him as He is. And we all can be deceived as true Christians in that. Man, I don't know if I can give all this up. To gain Jesus? The Creator and Sustainer of the universe? That sounds like gaining to me. But we need to discipline ourselves to these things. We must daily be guarding our hearts, nurturing our souls in the word and in communion with God through prayer. So what have you given greater priority to? And I'll tell you this as a weighty matter here. Circles two through five. Are the overflow of the fulfillment of Circle One. So we've gotten to husbands and wives, mothers and fathers serving in the church or evangelism yet. But they will either be a reality or not, based on the fulfillment of circle number one. Do you know that? Think about it with me for a second. If I fulfill the nurturing and guarding of my heart, I'll be filled with the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It says in Colossians, his word will be richly dwelling in me. My thoughts will be on things above. I'll be communing with him, dependent upon him. I don't want to ask you this. What kind of husband do you think I'll be then? pretty, pretty loving husband. Why? I'll be so consumed with the gospel that I want to love my wife as Christ loves the church. I want to lead my children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, not just wanting them to fit into culture and society. I won't be buying into culture's view of what children must be doing at this age. Because I'll be renewing my mind daily in scripture, I'll be leading my home well. I understand my calling to the church and my devotion to the church. I understand that I've been gifted by scripture and I'm called to serve and love each and every one of you. I'll be so consumed with the gospel and Jesus Christ will be in such high regard in my heart that I can't help but proclaim his name to the lost. I want you to see that the fulfillment of circles two through five are contingent upon the fulfillment of circle one. And when you see a breakdown anywhere in circles two through five, just trace it back and you'll find it in circle number one. Always. Wrongly prioritizing your life. See, if you prioritize your life around the word and prayer, the rest of your life will begin to be prioritized. It all begins here. I don't want to discourage you to say that you must be perfected in circle one before you can fulfill circles two through five. That's not true. But you must be consistent in circle one in order to fulfill circle two through five. This is of utmost importance. Structure your life around the word of God and prayer and the guarding of your heart. And the result will be the glory of God and a godly life. Every time. Every time. This is why, again, and I'll end here, this is why, again, when you come, and I want you to come, but I'm trying to help you do self-diagnosis in your heart. If you're struggling in your marriage, the issue is circle one. Well, I'm selfish because you're not seeing the gospel right. Where do I see the Gospel right? In the study of Scripture and in prayer. Well, I'm losing my patience with my children. It's because you're not seeing the Gospel right. Where do I see that? In the study of Scripture and prayer. Well, I'm isolating myself from the body. It's because you're not seeing the Gospel right. Where do I see that in the study of Scripture and prayer? Well, there's no personal evangelism. Do you know what drives missions? A high view of God. That's what drives missions in your own life. Because if you have a high view of God, who cares what this man thinks about me when I share the gospel with him? You want to deal with the fear of man? Get a high view of God, and you won't care what any man thinks about you. Well, what drives a high view of God? The study of Scripture and alone time in prayer with God. Brothers and sisters, if we can grasp this by God's grace and structure our lives around the guarding of our hearts, the nurturing of our hearts, and the Word of God in prayer, we will glorify God. It is the overflow. It is the abundance of a gospel-filled heart. It circles two through five. They just happen. And the Word of God will teach you about, specifically, what you need to be focusing on. But we've got to get this right. And it's got to begin today in repentance. In repentance. A turning away from this world and the things that keep you from this. Those are idols. And if we leave here, God forbid, if we leave here and say, that was true. He read scripture and he rightly divided it and nothing changes. Oh, the sin of that. The sin to think I'll continue on the path as I've been hoping for a different result because I want what he preached. I want what he said. I want the glory of God, but I'm not willing to pay the cost. We've got to repent. And it'll be different in every single life here. Every single life will be different, but let's get on our faces before God and say, show me at any cost, ruin me, take away. I know these are dangerous prayers. I've prayed a lot of them and he does it. Take away anything that keeps you from me fulfilling the call of my life. God, take him away because I've seen Christ and I want him. I want Jesus. I want your glory. So do this work. And he answers that prayer. And you might lose everything. But you gain him. You gain Christ. And he's the prize and he's the goal. It begins in repentance. Prioritize your life around this circle number one and God will be glorified Let's pray Oh God He's bringing an increase. God, I'm praying for myself here. God, all the fears that are running through minds. What if this goes away? What if that goes away? God, help us to see. See Christ. God, as we've sang before, show us Christ. right now just show us christ show us his majesty and his beauty unveil the gospel and greater revelation and wisdom right now that we would be on a violent pursuit of jesus we would beat our body into submission we would put to death the deeds of the flesh we would by the spirit put these things to death we'd be given To your word, to prayer, to the guarding of our hearts and our lives. God, that men in their homes would raise up and lead this action. And I would be first. Let me lead my home well. God, what am I given to? Show us, Lord. God, great repentance again to us. We would turn from these things, God, and not just affirm this message or not nod to it, but God be transformed by it. God, please do this. Oh, God, please. I don't want to keep going on, Lord, without changes in our lives. I don't want to keep preaching sermons. God, we know enough truth. Would you be conformed to it now? We will give an account for these things, Lord. We just need your help. Chasten us, Lord. I thank God for your chastening hand, Father. I thank you for it. I don't pray this without hesitation, but God do chasten us. God, I know that you chasten in love. That you chasten for our good and for your glory. But please do that work. Accomplish a purpose here, God. God, not another week of just continuing the same way. Draw us. Draw us through your Spirit. We've said all these things at your feet, we are just such needy, needy people. I boast in my weakness in Christ. Your grace is sufficient and in my weakness, I am strong. So come. And do bring an increase to this word. For your name's sake. in our individual hearts, in the homes that we represent, in this church. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.