Turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Romans 13. Romans 13. That's right, we are resuming our studies of Romans at long last. Read with me as I read verses 13 and 14. Having just completed a seven-part series on the armor of God and the importance of putting that armor on and keeping it on, Paul reminds us here that there's something else we need to put on as well. He writes, let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. As I said, over the last several weeks, we've been talking about the armor. And one of the things that stood out most about our study of the complete armor of God was our need to stand firm in that armor. As I pointed out last Lord's Day, this does not mean that The Christian life is stationary or sedentary. When Paul uses this phrase to stand firm, he's simply reminding us that as those believers who have put on the whole armor of God, we are to remain unmovable, unshakable in our determination to remain impervious to the attacks of the evil one as we go about living in accordance with the faith that we've been given. In fact, this is exactly what the Apostle Paul is saying this morning in our text. When he writes, let us behave properly as in the day, he's referring to our ability to stand firm, our ability to not be swayed by the opinions of the world around us, not to be influenced by this or that other thing in the world around us. Now once again in the King James Version, the New King James, the ESV, those translations actually give us a better translation here. The word translated as behave in the New American Standard that I just read from is actually a compound Greek word. It's the word peripeteo. Now, you might understand the prefix peri, P-E-R-I, we get our word perimeter from that. This simply means around. And so pateo, meaning to walk, you put those two words together and what Paul's referring to here is our walking around. are walking in a way that does not render us, again, stationary, you can be moving about and still be immovable in your faith. You can be moving about, doing what you do day by day, and still be impervious to the attacks of the evil one, as long as when you're walking around, you have this complete armor on and firmly in place. So again, the better translation here would be, let us walk. or let us walk about. Let us walk about properly as in the day. Now this, by the way, is certainly in keeping with Jesus' command in the Great Commission. A lot of people don't understand that when Jesus says, go ye therefore, he's using a participle. It's not go ye therefore, it's be going. And as you're going, be making disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Spirit. The Christian life, as I said last week, is not a spectator sport. D.L. Moody once said that every Bible that's produced should be bound in shoe leather. And what he meant by that is that we should not have a Bible in our possession that we don't intend to use in the Great Commission, going out, making the name of Christ known to everyone we come into contact with. In other words, we are to be doers of the word and not just hearers only. We're to put what we know from the word of God into practice every day of our lives as we're out walking about whatever situation that implies. So what does Paul mean when he says that we're to do this properly? Well, this is another interesting word. The word originally meant to do this with good appearance. to do this with good appearance. Simply stated, as those who are clothed in the full armor of God, we're to walk around or conduct ourselves in such a way as to visually demonstrate the goodness of the Lord himself. Now, the key is in what Paul says next. He says that we're to walk properly as in the day. Not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, and not in strife and jealousy. Paul writes something similar to the Thessalonians. Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In verses 5 through 8. Paul says, you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep, do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation." Once again, Paul references this armor that is also important for us to wear, and he does so in the context of our behavior. We're to walk as children of light, not as children of dark, as he said. Paul's comparison of man's behavior during the day as opposed to the night is really helpful here. As we know, and some of us know better than others, most people are much more likely to misbehave under the cover of darkness than they are to misbehave in the light of day. As those who have been transformed, however, by the grace of God, we're to conduct ourselves, whether during the day or at night, as those who have, in fact, done what Paul says back in verse 12, we've laid aside the deeds of darkness and we have put on the armor of light. Remember, darkness is frequently used as a metaphor to describe the abode or The place where unbelievers exist and live. The darkness is not a place where we should live. The darkness is not something that we as believers should even entertain. After all, are we not asked, what fellowship has light with darkness? And what's the answer? There's no fellowship. There's no way that we can live with one foot in one existence and another foot in another existence, one foot in the light and one foot in the dark. And what this means is that we are to be a people who refuse to compromise. We're to be a people who, although we are in the world, we're not of the world, as Jesus prayed in his great high priestly prayer of John 17. We're to be those who are firmly planted in the light. Now what this means is, not only should we not compromise, and this is going to be hard for some of you to hear, but we should not even give the appearance of compromise. Oh, but I'm free in Christ to do this thing. You may be. But you're not free to give others reason to suspect that you're no different than they are. You're not free to give other people reason to worry about whether you're actually of the light or of the dark. And yet we have so many people today under the guise of Christian liberty doing so many things that many people find offensive. Think about that for just a minute. There's a trend going on right now where I'm gonna do what I do, and you're gonna like it, or you just need to grow up. Well, not only is that a hateful spirit, it betrays everything Paul's gonna teach us in the next chapter. In the next chapter, we're gonna learn about the weaker brother. And like it or not, weaker brethren exist. Weaker brethren are not a license to trample on their weakness. Being weak does not give anyone the right to be strong in front of you to your offense. Now certainly, train them up. You know, certainly exercise your liberty. When you're by yourself, if you feel no problem doing something, the Holy Spirit is okay with you doing something, make sure that you're not unnecessarily trampling on the weaknesses of your brothers and sisters. And certainly don't adopt the hateful attitude. They just need to grow up and get over it. No, there's real damage done. And again, that's a sermon for next week, but just be ready for that. We, as those who have laid aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light, we have rejected the rulers of the darkness of this world, as we learned in Ephesians 6.12. Satan is the father of unbelievers, as Jesus explains in John 8.44. Remember there he talks about this very thing, and also in Matthew 13.38, where he talks about the parable of the weeds. and how Satan governs those who are actually identified as weeds among us. And if these things are true, if unbelievers in those various categories are indeed children of darkness and they can't stand the light, then we have the clearest demarcation between us and them. The world needs desperately to see the radical transformation that Christ is able to accomplish in mere mortals. The world does not need for us to be more like them in order for us to win them. The world needs to see that we are different on the basis of the grace of God in salvation that is wrought in Christ. Remember what Jesus said in this regard in John 3, 19. You know, again, it's fascinating to me how people love to read John 3.16, but they don't keep reading. If you'll just keep reading, you'll learn some really important things about the nature of mankind and the nature of sinful darkness. John 3.19, begin there, this is the judgment that light has come into the world and men love the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light. Why? So that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. So why are unbelievers so opposed to the light? Don't they understand the danger they're in? Do they not realize that it's much better to live in the light than to die in the dark? Well, that's just the point. Unbelievers don't understand. They can't understand. Now, how do we know that? Well, if, you know, if Ephesians 4.18 is true, if they are darkened in their understanding, and if the systemic cause for this condition is, as Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 4, 3 and 4, where he says, even if our gospel is veiled, it's veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world, which is who? Satan has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. If those things are true, then it doesn't get any more definitive about who we are either in Christ or out of Christ. I've said before, let me just say this again as clearly as I can. If you're here this morning, you're here in only one of two configurations. You either belong to Christ or you belong to the darkness. You either have God the father as your father or your father is still the devil. There's no middle ground. Well, I'm a pretty good person. You know, I read my Bible, and I try to come to church as often as I can, and I think happy thoughts about God all the time, and, you know, I try to do my best. Look, if you're not covered in the righteous robes of Jesus Christ himself, all of that's for naught. You're either a child of the darkness, or you're a child of the light. And you need to settle that before this day is over. I beg you, settle that issue in your own heart and mind. Once again, I can't help but comment on the sovereignty of God and salvation here. The reason the unbeliever can't see these things, the reason the unbeliever lives in the dark and is repelled by the light is because that unbeliever has not yet been given the faculties to see the light. Until you're given eyes to see, you're never going to see that you're in darkness. Now, who gives us the eyes to see? Who is it that transforms us from death and trespasses and sins to newness of life in Christ? It's the Lord God Himself. That's not you. You don't do that. Of course, there are some who love to cherry pick certain verses to make their case in this regard. A lot of people like to go to passages like John 8 verse 12. They'll say, see, Jesus says right here, I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So all one has to do, right, is decide to follow the Lord and he'll be saved. Now don't get me wrong, that's entirely true. But again, people don't think as deeply about these things as they should. If it's true that all one has to do is decide to follow Christ and walk in the light as opposed to the darkness, then the question still remains, how would any man or woman or child ever decide to walk in the light as opposed to the dark? You see, the questions aren't asked to a deep enough level. What is it that causes a person to decide to follow the light instead of the dark? Well, the only logical response, the only scriptural response is it's all of God and all of grace. It's His doing. Now, how do we know that? Well, we're in John chapter 8. Just jump back to John chapter 6. Jesus explains this very clearly. I'll wait. John 6. Begin reading with me at verse 35. Verse 35, Jesus said to them, that is those who had begun to follow him after the feeding of the 5,000, right? Many of them just followed him around because he made good food out of a little boy's sack lunch and they thought, hey, it's a free meal, right? So Jesus wants to get to their motives. Jesus wants to establish that he's not to be followed simply for the things that he can give them in terms of food and other forms of sustenance. What does he say? He says, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger and he who believes in me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. In other words, it's not just seeing me. It's not just benefiting from the physical food that I can offer you. I myself am the bread of life. And if you would know the truth, if you would no longer be a child of your father the devil, if you would step out of the darkness into the light, then you must believe. He's telling these people, you don't believe in that way. The point he's making is that there was something yet missing in terms of the peoples actually being among Jesus' true disciples. There was something that needed to happen outside of themselves, something that needed to happen to them in order for them to actually be saved. And what is that? Verse 37. And again, my mind is boggled every time I consider the fact that a lot of people just refuse to acknowledge these simple truths. Verse 37, Jesus says, all that the Father gives me will come to me. Folks, that's an exclusionary statement. What does that mean? That means the only ones who will ever come to me are those that the Father gives me. Don't just write that off as some crazy Calvinist pastor standing up saying that salvation is all of God yet again for the umpteenth time. It's true. If you would be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father must give you to the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way any man can become a true follower is that way. And once the Father has done that, Again, in accordance with His sovereign, impeccable will, the child of darkness is now a child of the light. Still need more proof? Just keep reading. Jesus goes on to say, and he's explaining this because he invariably knew that there would be others who would be like, I don't really understand what that means. Well, let me explain it, he says. For I've come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. This is the will of Him who sent me, that of all He has given me, I lose nothing. but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day." Now jump down to verse 44, because Jesus is going to tie a nice little bow around all of this and make it all crystal clear. What does he say in verse 44? No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." And we wonder, why is there so much confusion? Why do people... I'm going to make a very bold statement, like that's not unusual, but... And I don't make this statement to get me in any kind of trouble. But what Jesus is saying here is so offensive to so many because there are so many posing as believers who are still in the dark. So many people disagree with the sovereignty of God in salvation simply because they've not been given the eyes to see the truth. They'd rather believe the lie. They'd rather believe that if they would be saved, it'll be their doing. They'd rather believe the lie that if they're to be in a right relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, it'll be on account of their works. It will be based on their giving God permission to save them. Folks, there's never been any more blasphemous words spoken in the history of humanity than to speak this untruth that God can't save you until you yield to him. Again, I use two examples, Paul on the road to Damascus, then Saul. He's on the road to Damascus and the Lord stopped him in his tracks and said, okay, I'm going to give you an opportunity here. I'm going to give you a chance. Paul, just think, or Saul, just think about it. Do you not want to live forever? Well, yeah. Well then, please believe in me. Please allow me to do my work in you. Is that the sovereign God of the scriptures, begging permission from one of his creatures to save him? No! What happened? I'm not going to do it. Just like that, Paul is knocked to the ground, blinded by the Shekinah glory of God, And his only appropriate response is, what would you have of me, Lord? Think of Lazarus. That's my other example. Pastor Mike warned me to stop with the canned expression, so I'm not going to use the word stinketh. Lazarus has been in the tomb a considerable amount of time. His body's already beginning to decompose. The Lord then kindly knocks on the Big stone. He says, Lazarus, Lazarus, if you don't mind, I'd like to give you a way out of this predicament. I know being dead is horrible. You're cramped up in this little tomb and you're stinking and it can't be pleasant for anybody. What's the problem with that? Lazarus is dead. How dead? Dead. And so Jesus stands outside the tomb and he says, Lazarus, after the stone had been rolled away, Lazarus, come forth. It was a command. Lazarus had no choice. but to come forth." Do you know you and I were saved in the same way? And aren't you glad that your salvation is all of God and all of grace and none of yourself? Aren't you glad that God rolled away the stone that was your stony heart and said, you're mine? Come forth. Again, we're not in a doctrinal argument here. Our very lives depend on our understanding just how God saves, and this is how He saves. I spoke about Jesus' high priestly prayer of John 17. He even mentions this in verse 24 of that prayer. Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me, be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world." What's the implication there? You'll never see his glory unless and until you've been given to him by the Father. As I mentioned last Lord's Day, As well-meaning and as well-intended as the offer of Christ to sinners certainly is, we need to make extra sure that we don't believe that we are saved because we gave ourselves to Him. Right? You've heard the gospel appeal, just give your heart to Jesus. No, your only hope at this very moment, if you're an unbeliever amidst us this morning, your only hope is to pray, God, take my heart. I have nothing to give. Even if I could, me giving my heart to you would be wholly insufficient. Lord, take my life and let it be. Right? I'm not going to sing that hymn, but. In order to glorify God to the greatest degree possible, we must give credit where credit's due. We must give glory where glory is due, and it all belongs to him. Any attempt at taking credit for who we are as believers effectively robs God of the glory that's his, as I said this morning in the first hour. Let me give you just a couple more verses that speak to this same precious truth. Colossians 1. Colossians 1.13. And again, note very carefully how Paul phrases this. Colossians 1.13, Paul writes, The Lord rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. It's the Lord's doing. 1 Peter 2, chapter 2, verse 9. It should be a very familiar passage. Peter says, you are a chosen race. a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. He called you. How do we know that for certain? Dead men don't call out for anything. I've told you before, take a listening device, take a stethoscope and bend down to the graves of all these people in all these graveyards in town and listen as intently as you like for their cries of help. What are you going to hear? Nothing. Why? Because they're dead. Well, according to Ephesians 2, you and I were equally dead in trespasses and sins, but God made us alive in Christ. So having firmly established the fact that we're saved only because God has been pleased to transport us from the domain of darkness and into the light that is Christ, what should our response be in terms of how we conduct ourselves in this world? Well, it's simply this. Walking properly, as in the day, is one of the most tangible proves that we've been miraculously transformed from night people to light people. And wouldn't you want to display before the watching and skeptical world that you are no longer a night person but a light person? Of course, that's within your new nature. It's within your new nature to give God all the glory and everything you think, say, and do so that others looking in from the outside might be attracted by that and see the wonderful nature of your Father, see His glory in you, see the rescue, the only rescue from the domain of darkness and sin, and then, hopefully, pray for God to do the same in them. While the world around us continues to sink into greater and greater depths of debauchery, While those of the night continue to engage in carousing and drunkenness and sexual promiscuity and sensuality, in strife and jealousy, our behavior should be as far removed from those things as possible by the grace of God. Some of you might be thinking, okay, okay, I get it. I'm no longer in the habit of carousing, drinking to excess, being involved in sexual promiscuity, sensuality, strife, and jealousy, so I'm okay, right? I no longer do those things, so I'm okay, not so fast. Paul's list here is not intended to be exhaustive. I hope you understand that. Paul's not saying if you master these few things, then your life's going to be grand. No, he's using these things as representative of all kinds of things that are not in accordance with God's will for us as believers. So again, it's not exhaustive. As the larger context of what Paul teaches throughout the New Testament clearly confirms, as believers, we're to distance ourselves from anything and everything that might connect us to the darkness from which we've been rescued. And this, again, I say in light of this tendency that many have to flaunt their liberty. Look, you might be free to drink whatever you want to drink. as long as it's not in excess. There is a sin known as drunkenness, right? But drinking's not the issue, drunkenness is the issue. But how does your weaker brother across the restaurant from you know whether that's your first glass of wine or your fifth glass of wine? He doesn't. So what is the potential there for damage in that person's life? He'll walk away thinking you to be something that you're probably not. Folks, we can't have that. And yet again, we see entire gaggles of men today. No, I read something just this past week about how, I know this is gonna sound really offensive, but how gay prayer breakfasts are. How feminine they are. Men don't ever attend another prayer breakfast. because they're feminized. These all began with women back in the, okay. He said, as an alternative, you need to come and enjoy our time together on Saturday morning, which is bros and bros. These are men in the church announcing that when we come together for what you call the prayer breakfast, we're coming together so we can smoke cigars and drink beers together. And that's supposed to signal what to me? Besides gross immaturity? Besides stepping with one foot into the darkness as to be appealing to those who are trying to live on the edge? Look, I've said it before, I'll say it again. God does not favor beards, flannel shirts, cigars, whiskey, whatever. Those are all superficial things that we have foisted onto real masculine Christianity, but it's all just superficial. You know what the Lord pursues in us? A clean heart. You know what the Lord longs to see in us as the fulfillment of the work that He's doing in us? He longs to see light in us without any shade of darkness. Now again, if you and a bunch of bros want to go have some brews, that's up to you. But I don't think you put it in the church bulletin. Why? Because somebody, or much less on the internet. Why? Because somebody's gonna be offended by that. Yeah, but they just need to be more masculine like me. They just need to grow up. They just need more flannel shirts in their wardrobe. Do you see the lunacy behind all that? No, what you need to do is be more careful about flaunting your own liberty for the cause of that weaker brother who may very well not have the same liberty but thinks he should and he goes out and drinks to excess and dies in a fiery car crash all because you didn't care enough about him to not make him stumble. You see how insidious that can be? Oh, that's his problem, that's not my problem. Again, do you see how hateful that spirit can be? I'm just saying, I'm just an old boomer trying to tell some of you young people, be careful where you step. And receive it in love. I don't have anybody in here in mind when I say these things. Receive that in love, and either write me off as a crazy old kook, or maybe think about it. Maybe think about it, because next week we're going to hit it really hard. The weaker brother's real. And guess what? He's your brother. That's the most important thing. He's your weaker brother. Don't cater to him. Don't go out of your way, add ridiculum to make his life easy. No, that's not what we're saying. But certainly don't be guilty of making him sumble. You understand that? I hope you do because it's very important. Remember again what Jesus said in his high priestly prayer, verses 14 through 17 this time. He says, I've given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world. Well, why would the world hate you? How would the world know that you're not of the world unless you're acting as if you're not of the world? You act in worldly ways, people are going to assume that you're one of their own. Jesus said, the world has hated them because they're not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I did not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. Now what's the word sanctify mean? You might argue that Jesus is praying, Father, make them more like me. On a certain level, that's exactly true. We're to be more Christ-like. We're to have the mind of Christ relative to all kinds of things. But that's really not what that word means. The word sanctify means to consecrate and set apart as utterly unique from the rest. In other words, Father, I'm praying that these believers, those whom you have given me, are clearly marked out from the rest. that there's so much different about them that people are compelled to ask them what makes them so different, and then you'll be glorified, Father, in their response. I am what I am by the grace of God. I'm not different from you because I think I'm better than you. I don't use superficial characteristics to tout my superiority over you. The reason I'm different is because I'm a new creation in Christ. The reason I'm different is because I'm striving to be a doer of His Word and not just a hearer. The reason I'm different is because I've been taken from the domain of darkness and placed firmly on the rock that is Jesus Christ, the light of the world. That's why I'm different. I'm different because whereas you're used to seeing darkness all over the place, when you see me, hopefully you're seeing the light. And it's true, isn't it? In salvation, we who were once easily recognized as being just like everyone else in the world, we've been set apart. We are to be distinguished as radically different from the world. The things that once enticed us no longer have any attraction for us. The sinful things that we once considered fun and entertaining are no longer desired. Instead, as those who are being transformed more and more into the image of Christ Himself, everything about us has been radically altered, radically transformed, radically changed. Why? And this is another honest question. Why would you even want to be associated with the things that have been the source of so much darkness in others' past? Not only is it just not loving, it's just not smart. To flirt with the world in the interest of promoting your own liberty, it's just not smart. Especially when your very liberties have been the source of other people's downfalls. As we sing in another of my favorite hymns. As believers, heaven above is deep or blue. Earth around is sweeter green, that which glows in every hue Christless eyes have never seen. Birds in song His glory show, flowers with richer beauty shine. Since I know, as now I know, I am His and He is mine. To some of you, that sounds like so much maudlin sentimentality. It's like, oh, well, you know, that's beautiful. But it's true. Christless eyes have never been privy to what you see every day. We take so much for granted, the blessings of God to us as believers. We take so much for granted that we walk in the light and not in the dark. Why would we ever flirt with anything that could be considered darkness. This is, by the way, what Paul meant when he wrote to the Thessalonians, and he told them not only to abstain from evil itself, but to abstain from every form of evil. In some of your translations, it's avoid everything with the appearance of evil. Are you doing that? Or do you like to be edgy? I'm going to live close to the edge because that's where real Christians are. They're living close to the edge. You know, I'll tell you this, true Christians live as far away from that edge as they possibly can. Not in a legalistic way, but simply because they've been sanctified, set apart, and they understand the need to be hagiasmoi, the holy ones, the ones completely distinct. Remember that this radical change that has taken us from the domain of darkness and placed us into the light of Christ doesn't just have an effect on us. I mean, if you're walking around, remember that song we used to sing, This Little Light of Mine? Right? I'm gonna let it shine. And then there's the second verse, shine all over, I don't know what, San Antonio town. Doesn't quite have the, you know, I'm going to let it shine. Hide it under a bushel? No. I'm going to let it shine. Remember the command, let your light so shine before men that others see the glory of God? Are you doing that? You can't do that if you're walking close to the edge. You're trying to be edgy. You might be hip and cool and relevant, to a lot of people similar in your way of thinking, but you'll never make the impact on the world around you that you will if you're letting your light blind them. Think about that. Remember what Jesus said to his disciples in John 15, 18, and 19. He said, if the world hates you, You know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world because of this world, of this, because of this, the world hates you. I'm sorry. Are you loved by the world? It's one thing to be loved by people around you, I mean, for your good qualities and all the things that you are as ambassadors of Christ. I mean, you will receive some love for that, usually from people who share similar sentiments, but does the lost and dying world see in you what they see in themselves? They shouldn't. They shouldn't. In fact, if you're shining brightly enough, they will hate you. They will resent you. John 3, 19 again, they will run from you because you are too much for them to bear in terms of the light that you exhibit. I believe acknowledging this radical change is especially important for believers in our current generation. Because there's a trend toward pragmatism, even in the local church. There's been a trend toward pragmatism going on for any number of decades now. As I was trying to understand this a little better and the causes for it, I came across an article that was written for G3 Ministries back in 2021 by Josh Bice. Some of you know who Josh Bice is, but he writes a lot of articles for G3 and goes to a lot of conferences and things like that. But he made some really helpful observations about the pragmatism that has encroached into the church. And I just want to read some of this to you so that you too understand what I'm talking about. He says, one critical question to ask ourselves is centered on the purpose of worship. Is worship about me and how I feel or is it about God? That's a good question. Am I here this morning because of the way it makes me feel? Or am I here this morning to corporately worship the God of the universe with my brothers and sisters? Good question. Is worship about pleasing unbelievers, or is it about pleasing God? Is worship about receiving the ordinary means of grace, or is it about making people feel good and happy? Through the years, various methods and ministry philosophies have emerged. One such method is the ministry philosophy of pragmatism. It has been labeled the inventive principle of worship because it basically says, whatever works, do it. In many ways, the ministry philosophy of pragmatism encourages churches to order and design their worship based on what makes people feel good and what makes people happy, and then they offer that up to God as worship. The problem with this ministry philosophy is that it has no anchor. It's like a ship drifting on the high seas. Wherever the winds of culture blow, and whatever makes the culture happy, that's what the church offers up to God as worship. Keep in mind, the winds of culture always blow people away from God. Pragmatism, like a cancer, eats away the life of biblical truth within the church. The ministry philosophy of pragmatism, like a wicked slave master, demands success at the sacrifice of biblical theology. How many churches do we see that place little to no emphasis on the word of God and much more on carnal things, things intended to satisfy the felt needs of those who attend? Bice's comment here is simply that we need to be a people of the book. We need to be a people who come together and hear, thus saith the Lord. We need to be a people who gather together in the common bond of Christ to be nurtured and edified from the word and then to take that word and within the operation of each of our gifts, use that word to build up the whole body. That's Ephesians 4, 11 and following. We need to be that people. We don't need to be a people who come to be entertained. We don't need to be a people who come exclusively to be made to feel good. As a matter of fact, if you're really studying the Word of God, it'll be a rare occasion when you actually feel good after a service. Why? Because the Bible illumines everything that we're not but should be. The Bible takes those little dark pieces that remain in our lives and shines the light on them. The Bible steps on our toes. The Bible is, as described in Hebrews 4.12, the Bible is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, and it's able to get right between the marrow and the bone, right to the intent of every man's heart. When you come here every Lord's Day, you should come here with the expectation that you are going to be examined and compared to the righteous standard of God and His Word. That's not comfortable. It doesn't feel good. to be reminded that we fall so woefully short of God's ideal. It doesn't feel good to have to be reminded that we are so deficient in this area and we need to be better in that area. But guess what? That's not the purpose of the gathered saints. God gave some to be pastors and teachers so that we might, through the teaching of the word, be equipped to do the work of service that he has called us to. And the best way to be equipped to do whatever God has called you to do is for God to be able to do that with the maximum amount of light shining through you as possible. It's just how it works. Along these same lines, MacArthur wrote this in his book, Ashamed of the Gospel. If you've never read that book, you need to make it a point to read that. He says, many in the church today believe that the only way to reach the world is to give the unchurched multitudes what they want. Hundreds of churches have followed precisely that theory, actually surveying unbelievers to learn what it would take to get them to attend. Subtly, the overriding goal is church attendance and worldly acceptability rather than a transformed life. Preaching the word and boldly confronting sin are seen as archaic, ineffectual means of winning the world. After all, those things actually drive most people away. Why not entice people into the fold by offering what they want, creating a friendly, comfortable environment and catering to the very desires that constitute their strongest urges, as if we might get them to accept Jesus by somehow making Him more likable or making His message less offensive. That kind of thinking badly skews the mission of the Church. The Great Commission is not a marketing manifesto. Evangelism does not require salesmen but prophets. It is the Word of God, not an earthly enticement, that plants the seeds for the new birth. We gain nothing but God's displeasure if we seek to remove the offense of the cross. My complaint is with a philosophy that relegates God and his word to a subordinate role in the church. I believe it's unbiblical to elevate entertainment over biblical preaching and worship in the church service. And I stand in opposition to those who believe salesmanship can bring people into the kingdom more effectively than a sovereign God. That philosophy has opened the door to worldliness in the church. He's so right. Mega churches are full this morning. Somebody was telling me last week there's a church down in, I believe it was John, telling me about the church near Houston. 22,000 members. You think they're all gathering to be reinforced by the pure milk of God's word? You think they're gathering to be told how useless they are in the kingdom and cause of Christ unless and until they comport themselves according to God's strict rules? No. What are they gathering for? Anything else. Anything that makes me feel good. Now you might be thinking, okay, so how did we get on the subject of pragmatism? What's that have to do with what Paul writes here in our text this morning? Well, it actually has everything to do with it. Anytime churches resort to extra-biblical means, especially if those means include a desire to be more like those living in the darkness, Anytime that happens, those churches are horribly misguided. And they're not expressive of a genuine desire to behave properly as in the day. Christianity, as I've said before, is a counter-cultural movement. We're not to be more like the culture, we're not to swim with the culture, we're to swim against the current. How faithfully are you doing that? That's the question. How are you avoiding falling into Satan's trap of pragmatism? Let me just ask you, what's the most effective means of avoiding falling into that trap? Well, Paul tells us. Verse 14, he writes, but, statement of adversative, instead of being engaged in the behaviors of those in the darkness, we're to do what? Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." Put on Christ. I'm going to do something that might take you by surprise, but I'm going to quote John Wesley. John Wesley noted in this command to put on the Lord Jesus Christ is contained the whole of our salvation. It's a strong and beautiful expression for the most intimate union with him and being clothed with all the graces which were in him. The apostle does not say put on purity and sobriety, peacefulness and benevolence, but he says all of this and a thousand times more at once in saying put on Christ. Calvin once said that whatever we put on either adorns us or deforms us. How do people see you adorned? When they see you, do they see Christ? When they hear you, do they hear Christ? Remember, Paul's already established the context back in verses 11 and 12. When he says that we're to put on the armor of light, putting on the armor of light means much the same thing as putting on Christ himself. If Christ is the light, then when we put on the armor of light, we're putting on Christ. I'll never forget the example that was shown me as a young boy back in my summers in West Virginia. I would go to church every Sunday. Everybody went to church every Sunday, but I remember the ritual. My grandmother would call me to breakfast at the crack of dawn, right? I'd eat my breakfast, and then I would go get myself ready for church. And why I was always the first one to have to get ready, I'll never understand. But she would put me in my starched and pressed little suit, and she would make sure that my penny loafers didn't have a spot on them. And she would get brill cream, and she never got the idea that a little dab will do you from the commercials. But she had slathered this bill cream up and she would make my hair, John, you would have been proud. It would just lay perfectly on my head. And then she'd send me out on the front porch to sit and wait. Is this ringing a bell with anybody? Go sit and wait. And it seemed like an interminable wait. But here was the thing, while you're waiting, you make sure that you don't get one scuff on your shoe. I don't want to see one speck of dirt on your suit. Your hair, there better not be one hair out of place. Why? What was the rationale? Her rationale was simple yet profound. I said, why? One time she said, because we're going to meet with the Lord and you need to look your best. Now again, that sounds really superficial. I'm not advocating a dress code for the church, but what I am saying is she was onto something there. She still had this idea that were the Lord to arrive while we're sitting in church, I would at least look the part. And that was important to her. How much more important that we are the part. That it's not all about superficiality, but it's reality in our lives. That we dress ourselves every time we step out of our homes. We dress ourselves as those who represent the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You would never see a child of the King walking around in paupers clothes. Why? It wasn't allowed. You represent the King. How seriously do you take that in your own life? How serious-minded are you when you walk out of the house every day to put on Christ? Christ, I'm already clothed in your righteous robes. But the reality is, a lot of people aren't gonna see that unless I put you on. Are you putting on Christ? Linsky said this, he said, Christ is put on in two ways. One says the garment of our righteousness, that's that positional reality whereby when we're saved, we're clothed in the righteous robes of Christ. He says secondly, as our armor of defense and offense, which is the act of faith when it uses Christ as the power of our sanctification and follows his example. Let me just ask you as I close, just a simple question. Have you put on Christ? Much better to put on Christ than put on heirs. Have you put on Christ? It's much better to put on Christ than to put on this superficial display in hopes that others will see you as something you're not. Put on Christ. What does that mean? Think like Christ. Speak like Christ. Behave like Christ. You know, these what would Jesus do bracelets that people used to wear? You know, I don't know why those things got such scorn and ridicule. I suspect it's because it's too bold a statement. But whether you wear that bracelet or not, I mean, that's certainly, you know, not the question at hand here. But we all need to walk around every moment of every day. Is this how Christ would react? Is this how Christ would behave? Is this how he expects me to behave? If I have put him on, I should at the very least look and act like him. That's what Paul's saying. Now why is that important? It's gonna be especially important relative to what we're gonna look at, Lord willing, in our next time together. It's especially important with regard to how we react on this level. So stay tuned for that. back here next week for that study. Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer.