Colossians chapter 1, or excuse me, Colossians chapter 3 in verse 1. What an opportunity that is presenting ourselves this week. I've seen so many memes on the internet and jokes about, you know, certain trigger words that are going to be said over the Thanksgiving table and how we all have that quote-unquote uncle who likes to stir things up. I am passionately known in my family as Uncle Jesse, and I am the complete opposite of the person who is named that in the film. I mean, look at me. I don't look like him. I don't have hair like him. I actually have no hair like Uncle Jesse from Full House. But I've had many times where around the Thanksgiving table or just in conversation, something comes up and there's an opportunity for the gospel. I have some very fond memories early on in our marriage when Kyle and I would go over to different houses of individuals in her family and I'd be sitting on the porch outside talking with her cousins and the questions just rolled in. Especially when they knew that I was in Bible college, they kind of just automatically defaulted to He must know everything, and that's not correct. But I did know the gospel, and I knew common misconceptions about the gospel. So I looked forward to those opportunities. I look forward to whatever opportunities may present themselves this coming Thursday with Thanksgiving, and even the days after it. But it's important for us to, as the title says this morning, to think on these things. Usually, when things are going well and you're healthy, you don't say anything unless you think of it first. As a matter of fact, people who commonly say something without thinking, we call that a certain type of syndrome. Something's not right when there's no control over one's words. And we also know, if we're very honest people, and I hope that we seek to be honest in everything that we do, We know that there are a lot of times when we choose to have very little restraint, right? Maybe there's that person or that one conversation topic or a situation where we give ourselves enough room to be easier, more likely to snap, to be verbally aggressive, to say something unkind or rude. We've just already baked that into how we operate. Well, it starts, we fix those things by cleaning up what's going on up here. I think about this as the little shed that I have in my patio, okay? At the very bottom of all that stuff, chairs, golf clubs, I haven't golfed, how old is Remy? For three years, it feels like. I haven't gone golfing, but there's a ton of stuff in there that is blocking what I need the most on Wednesday. What do you think I need to get the most on Wednesday? the Christmas decorations, right? And every year it's like clockwork. I go to bed on that Tuesday and I go, this is the year I'm fixing that shed. Everything is gonna be organized perfectly. The tape measure's gonna have its spot where all this stuff, you know, it's all gonna be there. Last year we discovered, as we took out all of the stuff, I, in my haste, when I put the fall stuff back, I nicked a copper water line. Ooh, that's fun. So I was like, why is our bill double? I'm like, I don't know, maybe Remy's, you know, splish splash taking a bath twice as much as he normally does. We looked and we saw all this water was leaking and it was leaking underneath the wall and out to the pencil. You know, $500 later, we got this nice type, I don't know what it's called, some type of line that's really good looking, but you can slap that thing really hard and it won't break. But I remember we go in there and we take out all that stuff, and I just got to get to the one thing, but there's all this stuff in the way, stuff that we could have swore we were going to use, that we were going to use at some point, and so we're going to keep it here. It never gets touched until the week of Thanksgiving. And I think of that as kind of how we treat our minds sometimes. There are things that we allow to stay up here. And the most important thing, I believe, anything biblical, anything that comes from the Word of God, doctrine, is kind of buried underneath all this other stuff. And come Saturday night or Sunday morning, we're constantly trying to rearrange what's going on in our mental shed. And sometimes we find leaks. Sometimes we don't even find the thing that we're looking for. There's still a Christmas decoration that I think has disappeared. It has just been swallowed up by the patio shed. I don't know where it is. Kyla swears I threw it away. I did not. I did not throw it away. Somehow it's just gone. That could be the same way with our minds, too. We remember things from God's Word. They were relevant to us. They were real to us. And then from lack of practice, putting those things into practice, we forget them. Now, this whole sermon is not for you to go home and clean out wherever your Christmas decorations are lying. That's not the purpose. But it is to be intentional with our thought life, the things that we think. And there's good news in this. We have a lot to think on as believers. But here's the challenge. The more that you think on heavenly things, the less you're going to be in sync, in harmony with earthly things. I'll just give you an example. This was something that, as a young man growing up, I saw a change when I started to put the Lord first. I would be very aware early on in my Christian life, I started serving the Lord seriously in 2011, I would be very aware in my Christian life when the Bucks were playing their games. I knew the start times, I knew who was starting, all that kind of stuff. The more I came to church, the more I realized I don't even know when they're playing. Because that focus, I still enjoy watching football, not Florida football. I mean, that's terrible, horrible. I was telling my friend last night, I was like, is coaching really the problem in Florida? I don't think so. But I enjoy all that, but when there are things from the Lord that come first, it's not even a question anymore. Over time, the more I started saturating my mind with what the Word of God says, naturally those desires started to go away. I remember for a long time I wouldn't come to the evening service on the night of the Super Bowl because it's the Super Bowl, this is the game of the year. And then last year we're having a live show and the Super Bowl's going, I wasn't even thinking about it. And you say, well how does that happen? Is this a sign that you're saved? No, it's not a sign that you're saved. It's a sign that when you put your mind to what the Lord says, He will establish your thoughts. That's a guarantee. You don't have to go manufacture that. That just happens. Naturally, as we dwell on what God says and we put it into practice, He guarantees fruit. It's exactly the pattern in 2 Peter. There's a guarantee that you will not be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Or we can dwell on things that are earthly, and as a result, that has a fruit too, that has a product as well. And it starts to contradict or become a sharp contrast to the things in the word of God. But the good news this morning is we do have greater things to dwell on. One of the greatest spots is right here in Colossians chapter three, look in verse one. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." I think the focus here is not to think on heaven because that's where we're going. I think what Paul is trying to get us to recognize is you think on things above where your intercessor is. where Jesus Christ is now. Let's continue there. Set your affection on things above, not on things on earth. For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Before we break that down, I want to show you a verse in Romans chapter eight. Let's go over there to Romans chapter eight. By the way, if you have not had a chance to listen to the live show this past week, I strongly encourage you to do so. It was one of those shows where you had a lot of different calls. Somebody asked about the conflict in Israel and how we as Christians should approach that. Somebody asked about the digital ID. And one person even came onto the show completely unsure of her salvation. And by the end of the call, she had assurance. Honestly, one of those things where I'm looking at the time and the clock and how close we are and how usually things are starting to wind down, and then you get a call like that, and you're just like, praise the Lord that somebody trusted Christ as their Savior. Romans chapter eight, look here in verse 31. You know this passage, but I wanna focus on something specific here. Romans chapter eight in verse 31, what shall we say then to these things if God before us, who can be against us? And some people automatically think, well, God's for me at all times, anytime. Well, I think God is for you as you properly love him. That's what's said there in verse 28. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. There is no requirement in the scripture for you to have a love for God in order to get to heaven. And some people hear that and they're like, so you mean I can hate God and trust in his son? Well, you said that, I'm not saying that. but to make it a stipulation that you have to love God first in order to get to heaven. Folks, let me introduce you to Matthew chapter seven. There are a lot of people who are doing works. And Jesus said, these are false teachers. They have all the works. They have not done the will of God, which we know from John six is to believe on the one whom he had sent. That's Jesus Christ. You say, how can somebody, how can somebody do all these works and yet not trust in Jesus Christ? The deceitfulness of Satan. Second Timothy chapter three talks about this. They wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. When I think of false teachers, when we do our Bible line series where there are a lot of reactions, and by the way, Trent's been doing an excellent job. Let's give him a round of applause. He's been nailing it. He's working me out of a job. But we look at this and we say, well, why do you guys go after all this stuff? First of all, we make it very clear every time, it's not the man, it's the message. And when I see these false teachers, my prayer is that they would come out of that deception, but I properly, as we see here, you look in Titus chapter one, you see it, we hate the doctrine. Why? Because the doctrine ensnares people into a false gospel. false gospel in which they are trusting in, which will ultimately, if they die without having faith in Christ alone, will end up separated from God forever. Is that serious or is it a preference? You and I don't really need to answer that question. It's rhetorical. It is serious. We've got to be right. Now, after we've trusted Christ as our Savior, we have another choice to make. Are we going to serve the lust, the desires of the flesh, or are we going to serve the leading, guiding, directing of the Holy Spirit empowered through our second birth? That requires loving the Lord. That requires loving, meaning you are going to do for Him more than you are willing to do for yourself. That's a choice, and I can't puppet that choice in your life. Well, you're the pastor, isn't that your job? No, it's not my job. We're not gonna get to heaven at the judgment seat of Christ, and the Lord's not gonna say, all members of Calvary Community Church, step forward. Where is your representative? And then I stand there, you know, that's not how that works. Every man will receive the things done in his body. That's you singularly before the Lord and it is very much a rewarding stand. What shall we say then to these things of God before us who can be against us? He that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely, note that, freely give us all things? What shall we say then to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, that's some of the greatest scripture ever written. It's not your works that justify you before God. God has justified you in response to your quote-unquote obedience to the gospel, as it's listed in Romans, which is to believe on Jesus. But here's the verse I wanted to pair with Colossians chapter 3, where it says, Verse 34, who is he that condemneth? To charge is to bring somebody up on an accusation, and anybody can do that, right? Christians today are accused of being unloving, because they don't accept people's lifestyles, right? That charge is on us all the time. Who can actually bring that charge down as a condemnation? Nobody, why? Because God has justified you. Are you awake this morning? Isn't that great? Anywhere you go, you're a justified individual. The world seeks to condemn you, right? We saw this a few years ago. I can't say it without messing it up. Cancel culture. The word vulture always ends up in that statement when I say it. But that, you saw what happened. People were worked out of jobs, people were worked out of an opportunity to provide for themselves, limited from opportunities, you know? Because of language and different things. I'm not here to pass judgment on that, but it happens with Christians too. Things that you say will be used against you, and there are real world consequences as a result of that. Here's the good thing, it does not affect your position in Christ. Hello? Nothing changes that, nothing. We don't live in a world like that, right? You stop paying your mortgage, you're gonna lose your house that you, I gotta pull out these, that you own, right? You know, the real scary thing is you look in places like China and you see these social scores, folks, that's scary. That's scary. Well, I'm sorry, brother, you don't have a high enough social score to get your money out of your bank. Well, I'm sorry, your social score is low, so we're gonna limit your opportunities to go shop for groceries. You say, that won't happen here. Oh, folks, better time. It kind of already is that way, in a sense. But the good thing is, you and I, we can suffer here knowing that it's all worth it. Why? Because God has justified us. Now, after he makes that statement, he has verse 34. Who is he that condemneth, who brings that charge into an actionable offense against you? It is Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. This is the thrust, I believe, that Paul is getting at in Colossians chapter three. Christ sits above and intercedes for you. His death, burial, and resurrection, his precious blood pleads for your atonement, and God has accepted it. Amen. We don't have to worry about what's going on in the world. Now, that doesn't mean we stick our head in the sand and we say, oh, not for me. No, I don't think that's real either, but the current events don't need to rob us from our joy. I had a caller who called in six times this season, and she's struggling with a lot of things, hearing digital ID, Mark of the Beast, and she's listening to a lot of people that are telling her a lot of different things, and there's one word in her vocabulary that I have told her privately and publicly is causing her confusion. Here's the word, you ready? But. I know Christ died for my sins and I know that I'm eternally justified, but, well, when you introduce that word, you're undermining that statement. Folks, if I'm eternally justified, there's no if, ands, or buts about it. Now, I either get to believe that Or, I doubt it. What happens when you doubt? Well, now that's not an option for stability. And this was a pattern that she's struggling with. We need to pray for her. And I think the best practice is, if God said it, Dr. Lindstrom said this years ago. I'm sure people said it before him. If God said it, that settles it. Period. Who can condemn? It is Christ that died. Yea, rather, was risen again. Then guess what? I know I'm saved. Why? I remember the day. No, no, no, no. Christ died and rose again to pay for my sin. Hello. That's something we can walk on. That's something we can walk on. 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? How many of us face those things? Sure, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine. We're not living in a country with famine. Nakedness, which I don't think is something literal. I think this is figurative in the sense of full exposure. Well, maybe we're living in a world like that. Peril, sword, no one's coming after you, intent to separate you from your body, at least in this country. 37, nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors. Conqueror is the strongest word of one who overcomes. We are significantly more than that. Why? Because we're so good? No, because God said it. Listen closely to me now. God said it. For I am persuaded, this is the Apostle Paul, who came from a pharisaical background. Neither life, excuse me, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, powers, things present, things to come. You can even throw the word but in there. Nor height, depth, any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, amen. So go back to Colossians 3, having that text in mind, and reread verse one. If you then be risen with Christ, are we risen with Christ? Yes. We have not seen the fruit of that in the glorified body, but we will, but we get to live in that promise, that reality that he is gonna make good on that promise. You know what this helps with the most, I think? When you and I face what 50% of us are gonna face, cancer. I mean, think about that. I'm not saying your whole Christian life revolves around your health. But folks, people get diagnoses for cancer, and their life now has a limit, a shelf life. Even if you were to get something like pancreatic cancer, of which it's like 4%, or we think of our brother, Freddie Coyle, who had geoblastoma, brain cancer. 4% of people come out of that. You listen to that man preach two months before he died, he had a hope that was unshakable. It becomes real in the darkest moments, it becomes real. And we think as Americans, I wanna walk in the light all the time. Don't put me in darkness, that's not good. Folks, you're gonna walk in dark times. You're gonna walk around people who have darkened minds. you get to be the light. As Jesus described to Israel in Matthew 5, you're a city set up on a hill. I think that can also apply to the church today. We are to shine forth the goodness of God. That starts with what's going on up here. If you're doom and gloom up here, you ain't gonna have no light shining. I mean, that's the definition of a schizophrenic person, split personality. I'm not advocating for that. If you really are dooming about the world, ask yourself why. Why? What's the worst that could happen to us? We leave. And then what? Absent from the body, present with the Lord, amen? I guarantee you our brother Freddie is doing just fine. And all of those who have passed on. It is good, as he would say, isn't that good? Look at the second verse here, or the end of verse one, excuse me, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. I think that's a reminder of he sits in the position of intercession. We know from Revelation 12, four, the adversary accuses the brethren all day long, the blood atoned, amen? Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Let's look at that word affection. Here's how it's defined. To incline to, to set upon mind. So when we think of affection, we kind of think of it in a romantic sense, like I have affection for you, I have preference for you, okay? That's not how this word is used here. This is to be firmly planted in the mind. Really, it means to dwell constantly. Set your mind on these things. And from this passage, there are four things I want you to take note of. Number one, you are encouraged to dwell in the future because, one, we are risen with Christ. That's not a hope so, that's a no so. B, Christ intercedes for us. Talked about that briefly. We are hidden in Christ. And number four, we will be with Christ when He returns. Look at that in verses three through four. When Christ, who is our life, Now, some would also look at that in a cultural sense and say, oh, he's my everything, as though that's an active choice that we make. That's not what is being made, that's not the point that's being made here. The point is, he is life. The opposite is death. And I know you and I always dwell on the word death as somebody dying, a lifeless body, but that word means separation. The second death that is described in Scripture specifically as the second death is a separation from God. And those who are with God, they have unification, they have life. Those who are separated from God, they experience the second death. Your life is guaranteed because of Christ. Have we forgotten? Have we allowed the current state of the world or our own personal circumstances for that to be undermined? I hope not, because it's the focus of everything that's being discussed. And the last one there is when we will be with Christ when He returns. We talked about this on Wednesday night, and I want you to look at it now. Hold your spot there in Colossians, because we're gonna come back to it in a moment, and look in Revelation chapter 19. I've been doing a lot of study on the end times and all the different positions that are out there, the major three, you could say, of when the Lord comes back. There are those who believe the Lord will not come back physically until the end of the millennium, post-millennialism. There are those who believe that the Lord will not come back until the kingdom starts, which is pre-millennialism. And there are those who think Jesus isn't coming back at all, that's amillennialism, a being without. And so I'm studying all these things and coming to these conclusions, and I've got some great stuff that I'm preparing for you about these things. And it's not so you can become, ooh, I'm an educated person. No, this is so you can build a hope. This is so you can be able to look at the condition of the world and say, this does not determine my joy in Christ. Because folks, I'm seeing a lot, I am seeing so many Christians being flushed down the toilet when it comes to any news report. They are, they're just out of control. By the way, what's the best practice when you want to post something on Facebook? You type it out, Control A, which selects all the text, and then delete. You did it. You typed it out, the therapeutic part is done, delete it. The world doesn't need to know every thought that's on your mind. There's been a few times where I have, with shame, taken a picture of my food, right? I've never posted it. Like, hey, look at this. People do that stuff all the time. I'm not coming against you if you do, but I am saying there's a lot of stuff out there. We are not conditioned to have this kind of information. You think about, if you look at the bottom of your Google search page, if you have it set where you have to advance to the next page, it will show you how many results it generated and how much time it took. Hundreds of thousands of results in less than a second. How many of y'all remember going to the library and using the, what is it, the Dewey decimal system, right? Now look, I was born in 1990. By the time I was getting in the libraries, it was around 99, 2000. I remember still the Dewey Decimal System. The coolest thing on the computer was like shockwavegames.com. And that was like really low graphics. We had to go and get the books and stuff. Think about how long it took. We've had this discussion with college before. Usually for every credit hour, you are expecting an hour of research outside of that. That has been reduced. because of the amount of information that's accessible. And sometimes we think, if it's on Google, it's verified and right. Recently, listen to this, this is something, when I heard it, I was like, what? It came out that Alphabet, which is the name of the company that manages Google and stuff, will give you results tailored to your search history and your location. You say, well, what does it matter about location? Somebody can search something in a conservative state, like Florida, and get a few percentage points more conservative views than someone who searches something in Illinois, who's more of a liberal, progressive state. They'll get two or three percentage points more information that is leaned toward that. They did a test on it. You go, no. Yeah, you're being conditioned. We're being conditioned. And you say, how so? By the information we choose to bring into our homes. And if you got young kids, can I tell you how important it is to guard your home? I'm not talking about gates and doors and alarm systems. What comes in, even the news, even the stuff that is being reported on, and it can steal our joy. We can start to think things are that have not yet happened. Recently it was found out the number one Christian artist right now is AI generated. That's crazy. And you say, how is that happening? AI is everywhere. I've watched podcasts where pastors advocate for AI writing your sermons. That's crazy. To me, I'm listening to it and I'm like, Well, where's the Holy Spirit in that? He ain't there. Not a part of that. Think about what that will look like in 25 years if we're still here. What kind of truth is gonna be out there? Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. Interesting, right? You say, what does that have to do with what we're talking about? Look in Revelation 19. We're coming back with the Lord. starting there in verse number six. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings. What is this? This is vocal expression being defined. You ever been in a stadium full of people, heard the roar of the crowd even through the TV? It'll give you chills. This is how John is describing it. These people were saying in unison, alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Babylon has just been destroyed. The world is weeping over the destruction of this city. and I believe this is the church speaking, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. I believe positionally this is the church, and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. That is you and me. You want to talk about a glorious future? Folks, we're kind of excited for like, I don't know, like Thursday, because we get to have food we don't usually have. This is not even worthy to be compared. Who cares about the stuffing? Now, I do, but in light of this, who really cares about that? What event on the earth here can steal this reality? None. Look at nine. And he saith unto me, Write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said, and he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. I believe that is talking about the tribulation saint who is not a part of the church, but through endurance he will be saved, not spiritually. He's already saved when he accepted the Messiah. He makes it, this individual is blessed to be at this marriage supper, which will be culminated by the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's John. He's experiencing this vision and he writes in verse 10, I fell at the feet to worship him. Who is him? That was an angel that was communicating to him. Look at the response of the angel. He said unto me, see thou do it not. I hear a lot about these near death experiences and a lot of times there is the worship of demonic handlers in hell and all this kind of stuff. The Bible doesn't support that view at all. I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. And what's the conclusion of this angel? Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. I want that to stay up on the screen for a moment, because I want you to focus on something. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. That is not reversed. It's reversed in today's culture. Everyone is trying to sell you fear mongering about Jesus Christ. They never speak about him expressly. He's always mentioned as a secondary or third point. He's the first point. You want to study prophecy in this dispensation? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's the first command. And that's why your eschatology, your study of end times is so important. But I see people all over the place today posting stuff reversing this order. That the prophecy is what is to be worshiped. I look at prophecy as valuable because Jesus Christ has fulfilled it. That should be the same for you. But when John, excuse me, when Paul says in Colossians 3, when Christ returns, when Christ who is our life returns, we're gonna come with him. We're coming with the Lord. You're not gonna be twiddling your thumbs up there making a heavenly music. God has a plan for you. We hear that all the time about this life here. How about the next one? He has a plan for you. Think about if you had access today to all the most exclusive places in the world. If you could just walk right into the White House. If you could just walk right into the United Nations and start making decisions and people would look at you with power and authority. We don't understand that kind of power. Folks, we're gonna rule and reign with Christ if we suffer for Him here. Remember that. Think on that. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter four. 2 Corinthians chapter four, and we're gonna look here at verse number 18. I heard a message during a pastor's, what was it called? I'm thinking of the Pastor's Masters, which is a golfing event that I didn't go to. It's an encouragement. I'm not thinking of the right. Appreciation, pastor appreciation. And the guy who was speaking, Jim Sabala, who has the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir up there in New York, that guy, I feel like we get along really well. Because he said, I know this is appreciation, but I think we need some truth. And I was like, I'm here for it. And he started talking about a lot of different things. He went through this passage looking at all the apostle Paul had suffered. And he drew out this point, and I was reminded of it in our study of what we're looking at this morning. Look at verse 18. While we look not on the things, excuse me, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. They're temporary. Even the people that we see, it's temporary. This is why I think the mindset we should possess is one of a steward, not an owner. When I look at my family, and I'm being completely transparent with you, God gave those individuals to me. And it is my responsibility to steward, to oversee that responsibility well. And if something were to happen, and I were to lose a family member, My stewardship comes to an end. My grieving, it'll be different. I went through this process when I was processing the loss of my mother. I had a lot of people, when I was in high school, question the goodness of God because my mother died when I was seven. And thank goodness I never followed down that path. My mother went home to be with the Lord. I'll be 35 on tomorrow, Monday. I believe my mother was either 35 or 36 when she passed. And people would say, that's, how could God do that? Well, you know, am I told to trust the Lord because I have to know everything? I'm at peace with that. It took a change of mind. Over the course of time, when I lost my grandmother, who replaced my mother as that strong influence in our home, had to grieve the same way, but it was as it's described in 1 Thessalonians 4, not with those without hope. Now, I think 20 years ago, I would have said, if I had a chance to bring my mother back, I would. Now, I wanna go where she is. Hello, hello, let's be there. Together. With who? Jesus. I get this question too sometimes. Will I know my husband? Will I know my wife? Probably. But you're gonna know Jesus. And he's gonna know you. And that's gonna be significantly better than knowing your spouse. And I know, I get it, right? But that's all temporary here. Everything that you're experiencing right now in the physical realm here, it's temporary. The only thing that lasts is your salvation. and the work that you do for the Lord. He's gonna reward you for that. Now things are coming into perspective. Now we're putting things into place. What's the most important thing in our lives? Paul says here, but the things which are not seen are eternal. And we praise the Lord for it. Last passage we're gonna look at this morning is in Philippians chapter four. Philippians chapter 4, look there in verses 8 through 9. That's a good list here. Tonight we're going to expound upon verse number 9. This morning we're studying on believer think on these things. Tonight we're going to be studying on believer do these things. But in Philippians chapter four, verses eight through nine, Paul gives us this description. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of a good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do. And the God of peace shall be with you. This is an interesting list, and I've studied this passage several times over the years. I came across a study recently that noted the style in which Paul is speaking is the same style as the quote-unquote modern philosophers in Philippi would speak. And this is not necessarily how I used to think about it, which is we kind of just like dwell on things here and there. This is in the attitude of prayer. As a matter of fact, look at verse six. Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, and then you are instructed to dwell on these things in the position of prayer. That now becomes more focused. We can define each one of these, and I have a definition for each one of them. Virtue and praise is repetitive for truth and honesty. But it's not necessarily that we do these things. We dwell on these things internally and it will change what we do. And that's matched with verse nine, the things which ye have learned and received and heard. Paul was a teacher. He came in, yes, he was a church planter. And you say, what does it take to be a church planter? Be a soul winner, that's it. Be a soul winner. And then you're organizing people and their study together. Paul did that, led people to Christ until he was asked to leave. Not politely, by the way. There's always a big event that led to his departure, usually with his persecution being the last thing. But he taught, and people sat under his teaching, and then took his teaching and taught others. That's the model that he was giving to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2. The things you've learned, go teach others who will then teach others, and they'll teach other men. Discipleship by multiplication, not by addition. What is true? Well, it is to hear, speak truth, and to do what is right. That's gonna filter out automatically a lot of what we consume. Honest, better translated here as honorable. Consider this in light of how we carry ourselves in the world. Look quickly at 1 John. 1 John 2. In verse 15. Whatsoever things are honest. 1 John 2.15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Now here's what I want to say. I was actually just studying this with somebody about the difference between enjoying something and loving something. And we're talking about balancing the Christian life because there is imbalance on both sides. You can become so dogmatic in every area that you're a legalist. and people start to look at you in the place of Christ. Can I say 100% that is pride, and it is pervasive amongst young, conservative people today. And they'll accept all types of sin, but there's certain ones that they just won't in their mind, and they'll judge everybody else on it. And then there's the other side where it's just everything is indulgence. And that's most mega churches today, right? We saw what happened during Halloween with that one church who they're dressing up as, you know, demonic figures on stage and studying villains in the scripture and all that kind of stuff. That's the other side. So what's the balance? The balance is you do everything to the praise, honor, and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That will naturally restrict you from things. You put him first. We can enjoy the things of the world. We are not to love them. What is the difference between enjoying and loving? Idolatry. When there's a visceral response in you for something taking the place of God, and you have a response to that of anger or possession, something's wrong, right? Something's wrong when you make an idol. That's exactly what is said after 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 14, what's the solution, what's the way of escape? You getting those feet moving the other direction. Flee. Idolatry, flea fornication. Think about how hypersexual our culture is today. It's one of those things I pray about daily because I have a daughter. Oh man, the voices out there today telling these young women their prophet is in their body. Man, y'all paying attention to that? I'm just noticing it more and more. this ultra-feminist attitude of just sex equals freedom. And you've got men out there who are just taking advantage of that. And then these women get to the age that I am and they see they don't have that appeal anymore. And they wish that someone would have told them different. I'll be the one to speak up and say the truth. You know how valuable women are in God's design? And it has very little to do with the sex appeal. And women are not being told that today. That becomes an idol in these young women's lives. Think about all of the opportunity out there for people to take advantage of our young people. It's everywhere. The statistic now is by the age of eight years old, a child is finding inappropriate, explicit material. And they're not looking for it. Hello? They're not looking for it. What's happening in our world today? We have not fled fornication. We have not fled idolatry. And you're gonna see, I've counseled many people who come through sexual struggles, and they will see very quickly, it is a choice to obey the lust of the flesh or the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit. It's a choice. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world, and we are told not to love those things. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God, what? Abideth forever, this is talking about the one who has trusted in Christ, you will live forever, why? Can I have your eyes for a moment? Why are we sacrificing to the thing that's gonna be going away? Why are we willing the good of the world over the will of God? Why are we making that choice? This is not to beat you over the head. Silly, silly Christians, you guys are so, no, no. Folks, this is a reminder. It's a check. You ever had to experience the rumble strips on the side of the road, because you dozed off a minute, and all of a sudden you're, hello, I'm awake. That's what we're doing today. Maybe we're going over some rumble strips. Some of us have fallen asleep at the wheel of our minds. We've let things permeate here that ought not permeate. Go back to Philippians, we just described honest. Just is a repetition of true, but in the sense of correct discernment and outcome. When I pray, I think of the justice of God in that he allowed his son to die in my place. I dwell on that as I pray. And for example, this can also be in balancing the Christian life with a biblical foundation and perspective. What are we building our lives upon? It should be Christ. Pure, cleanness and moral purity. Lovely is pleasing. Good report, things which carry good reputation, like word and deed. And a lot of times people will think, well, when I do that, I'm persecuted by the world. That's fine. You still do it. And you still dwell on things that are good. and then virtue and praise repetitive of honest and truth. Personally, I believe these things are best achieved in an active prayer life. When you are praying, you should be dwelling on these things in relation to God, others, and future promises. When I'm talking to the Lord, you can close your Bibles. When I'm talking to the Lord, the position is, Lord, I'm ready to see you today, right now. And most of my prayer life, in some senses, is saying similar things. It's not vain repetition like you see with the Pharisees, but I'm praying for strength all the time. Why? Because I'm weak. In my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I need the Lord. There was a time a couple of years ago, 2021, The church was asked to do a parent bereavement event. And it was happening in the back there, and I was asked to do the opening prayer and discussion. I was like, great, that's awesome, I'll give the gospel. Nothing better than having the gospel. Five minutes, I kid you not, five minutes before I went on, I met the lady who was organizing the event. I had submitted a script, I had to submit a script, which now I see as suspicious, but at the time, I didn't think it was suspicious at all, of what I was gonna say. And she said, listen, you cannot say the name of Jesus. This is a Jewish event. And I went, That's gonna be a problem. And can I be honest with you? I got fearful. Because I thought, if this lady is as bold to do what she just did, if I can't use the name of Jesus, what are we doing? What's going on? What hope and joy is there outside of Christ? And guess what? This is my building. That's what I wanted to say, but it's not mine. But you know, I pastor it. Have it outside the parking lot then, obviously. Immediately, I recognized I had need for strength. So I called Yankee. I said, Yankee, here's a situation. He's like, the first thing Yankee did, he went, ha, ha, ha! You know that laugh that he does? Ha! That's exactly what it was. And I knew what I had to do, I needed strength, and so he prayed for me, I prayed, and I went in there, And I gave exactly what I said I was going to do. Not only that, I added the wallet illustration in the beginning. Not to be inflammatory, but because I know there is power in that statement. I know there's power in the gospel. It's the power unto salvation to everyone that believeth. So they're going to hear it. Boy, that lady in the front, you would have thought you heard. Houston, we are set for liftoff. Andrew one. Yeah, she was red Shaking she had a walker shaking. I was just like Lord If I get a walker upside the head praise the Lord let it be so I Gave the gospel I Dismissed I got four calls to the church the next day just ripping it How dare you blah blah blah each one of those people heard the gospel again. I They heard it again. One lady, we were in the line at Home Deep, and I said, and if that makes sense to you, and I heard, doot, doot, doot, I was like, well, I guess she's done. I pray for strength all the time. I need it. If I were to trust my flesh in that moment, I would have caved. And when I prayed for strength, it wasn't like some moment where I was like lifted up off the ground, all of a sudden it was like, filled with this strength from somewhere. You know what I was strengthened by? The instruction I already knew. Are you with me? If we don't know what God's word says and we ask him, it's very much like what he said to Moses. Hello, walk. Oh, the army, they're massive. They broke, you let the fire go. They're gonna kill us. God says to him, what did I tell you? Go and put your hand out there with your staff over the water, and I'm gonna, I'm going to deliver you. And what happened? They were delivered. Joshua, falling on his face. AI, right, I, we could call it I or AI. They're killing us. We're losing, you promised us we'd win, what happened? What did Jehovah say? Get up, go into the camp. Someone has taken what they have not done. See, this is the thing I want you to remember. God has already told us what we need for strength. We need to know it, believe it, do it. That's where it is, that's where it is. If we think something mystical and magical is gonna happen because we say a certain word, folks, that's mysticism. The Bible is rooted in practicality. It is an active relationship. I trust the Lord. And I got the strength I needed. And yeah, I was a little, I had some jelly legs. Sure, that's fine. The body does what it does. But I gave the gospel. Same thing. In each day, we already have these promises. These things are written unto you that you may know that you have what? Amen. God said it, that settles it. So when I walk out here and I go and talk to people and I give them the gospel, I know that promise is available for them if they will simply what? Believe. If the law were to come against us, well, you can't preach that, you can't teach that. I'm going to. And whatever consequences may come, I submit to that government's authority. The disciples gave us that model. Now look, you're probably not gonna get arrested on Thursday for giving the gospel. But I'm gonna tell you what, someone's gonna go, hey, not here. And you say, well, let's be wise. But give the gospel. Don't worry about the perception. Now don't make the perception the issue, right? If you're out there yelling at people over the cranberry sauce, come on. Be wise, seek opportunity. Don't allow the fear and doubt to be the thing that you trust, okay? Think on the things that we studied on this morning. And if you come tonight, I'll give you some practical things that we should be doing each and every day. But if you're not sure that you're going to heaven when you die, you can gain assurance today, right now. You can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are going to heaven. Let me show you with this illustration. This hand represents you and me. This represents sin. I put it on top of my hand because the Bible says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Every single one of us have sinned, which means missed the mark. That mark, perfection, sinlessness. We all fall short. God loves us, He hates our sin. This sin separates us from Him. The wages of sin is death. Eternal separation from God and a literal fire burning hell. I don't want that for anybody. But God, He loves us and He has provided a payment for this sin. That payment does not involve any of your good deeds. The Bible says all of our good works, our righteousness, our filthy rags. Ephesians 2.9 says, not of works lest any man should boast. There are no amount of turning, starting, stopping, committing, giving that I could do that would be an acceptable payment for this sin. The Bible also says without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness. So someone has, innocent, sinless, has to die for me. It's exactly what Jesus Christ did. This hand represents Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man. For God so loved the world, that's you and me, that he gave his only begotten Son, that's Jesus Christ, that whosoever believeth, whosoever trusts, relies upon, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And if it's everlasting life, it lasts forever. Well, what if I keep sinning? Well, shame on you if you do, but it's paid for. This has been removed. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's how you can know that you're going to heaven when you die. It's not about joining a church. It's not about giving your life to the Lord. It's not about turning from your sin. It's about believing on Jesus Christ specifically that He made the only acceptable payment for your sin. His death, burial, and resurrection was to pay for your sin the moment you do. It is God that justifies, and you are justified. Let's pray, shall we? Heads bowed, eyes are closed, no one's looking around. If you're here this morning, you say, Pastor, would you pray for me? I just trust it in Christ as my Savior. I walked in here this morning thinking that I was good enough, that I could have enough change in my life, but I have changed my mind and I see the goodness and sufficient sacrifice of Jesus. I believe that He's the Son of God and that He died, was buried, and rose again to pay for my sin. I know I'm going to Heaven. I'd like to pray for you. Would you just slip your hand up? Raising your hand doesn't save you at all. It just lets me know that you've trusted in Christ as your Savior. Anyone before we close? I know we don't have any new visitors today, so likely you've heard this gospel invitation before, so I'd like to shift gears to the topic of the sermon. What's going on in your mind? I pray that you are thinking on things above, not on things on the earth here. It doesn't mean you're careless. It means you're focused on what really matters. You're risen with Christ, and the greatest guarantee is one day you'll be coming back with him. Father, we thank you for our study this morning. Bring us back here safely in the evening. In Jesus' name we pray these things. All God's people said, amen.