I'm just incredibly humbled and grateful for all that the Lord is doing. And tonight I want to go into the Word of God and talk about what the believer should be doing. This morning we talked about what the believer should be dwelling on. Today we're talking about what should we be doing. We should have an active faith. We should have an active faith. A faith without works is described as dead. That doesn't mean that it's invalid, that doesn't mean that God no longer sees that person as His child, but it's profitless. That's really the worst thing that can happen in your Christian life, is you become stagnant. As a matter of fact, if you study what Jesus said in Revelation 3 about you're neither hot nor cold, but you're lukewarm and I spew you out of my mouth, that's stagnant water. That's water where bacteria breeds. It's not profitable. Both hot and cold water have medicinal properties. And Jesus is saying, I can't use you. I have to put you away because I cannot use you. That's the worst, I think that's one of the worst things that can happen in a Christian life outside of apostasy, which is just walking away from the truth altogether. That leads to a reprobate mind, which leads to I think heavy chastening in the believer's life, and consequences. We read in the Scripture how like Hymenaeus and Philetus, their results shipwrecked other people's faith. I don't want to be someone which shipwrecks another person. I mean, I have never been in an accident where I'm at fault, but I can only imagine I saw this probably about a year ago with one of my friends. We were out at Tampa Joe's having dinner. We walked over to the Starbucks to get a little black coffee. As we were walking back right there on Anderson Road, you guys know where AMC 24 is right there? A biker was leaving from Tampa Joe's. They were doing like a biker festival thing that they do on Tuesday nights. And somebody was not paying attention, crossing into the movie parking lot. I heard the accident and everything. And we saw that biker's lifeless body. We later found out he was killed right there on the spot, just sitting there. And you saw the other car was pulled into the median. And you could see the girl who was driving, she appeared from where we were to be very young, but she was just sobbing uncontrollably. I mean, we think about the seriousness of that event causing someone to die because of a mistake we make while driving. Shipwrecking, I think, has equal weight. I do not want to be responsible for tanking somebody's faith. This is why we're constantly told not to be a stumbling block to the weaker brother. I don't want to do something or accept something in my life that would cause another person to stumble. Now there is a case for a weaker brother remaining weak because of their choices and just kind of becoming legalistic and sensitive in their own right. But to the best of our ability, I want to have a faith that's active, that's intentional and rooted in truth. That requires me to do things. We talked this morning about what we should be thinking, what's going on up here which will lead to what we say and do. But now let's take a look at what we should do. The first passage I want to look at is the largest passage tonight that we'll cover. We are going to get through it and then we'll look at a couple other passages that are a total of four verses but I think they're very good. Look there in verse 5. We went through Colossians chapter 3 and verse 1. I'm sorry if I didn't tell you where we were. Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 through 4, we covered those this morning. Starting in verse 5 we have more express instruction. Not only should we dwell on things above, not on things on the earth here, but we should, and there's a word here in verse 5, mortify. that means to remove to, and you could say even remove violently, mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. Now Paul is not advocating for this to be taken literally. And you see this taken literally in some religions. Right around Easter you see some pagan religions that accept some portions of Christianity whip their backs. and walk on their hands and knees on broken glass to somehow simulate the same pain that Christ endured. We're not called to do that. He's not talking about this in a literal sense. He's saying figuratively, cut off anything here on the earth of yourself which stops you from doing what's right. And he lists that in a minute, but he talks about the negatives first. Look at this list, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Most of these things, I guess you could say, are somewhat sexual in nature, but it's any desire that is insatiable. That's what he means here by these words, uncleanness, fornication, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, that's a huge word, which is just desires. covetousness, which is idolatry, making an idol in somebody's life, or an idol in somebody's life that is around these things usually proves to be something problematic. This is a healthy study. If there's something in your life that would be hard for you to replace with a godly thing, it might be an idol. Or if it interrupts your ability to walk circumspectly, as is described in Ephesians, looking every direction to walk worthy according to your calling, it's probably an idol if you're sacrificing to it. You say, well, I don't have, there's not a place in my closet where I offer sacrifice. Let me tell you, time is a sacrifice. Your finances, sacrificing to those things. It's not my goal tonight for you to identify those things right now, but to be thinking of them when they come up, because we all have idols in our lives. We have things that we put before the Lord, or we make an exception. Yeah, I know I have a responsibility with God to do this, but I have this other thing that I choose to do. Well, we gotta deal with that. And Paul says, mortify it, cut it off. And I believe the reason why it's so serious is because the desire is all-encompassing. It will consume you if you let it. you know, the whole give an inch, take a mile. That's a phrase that the world understands because that's how things go. People usually, in a very hedonistic culture that we're living today, it's massive consumption. The most of what you can get. For which thing's sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience? We were a part of the children of disobedience, but now we're children of the King, we're children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. We need to live in that nature. in the which ye also walked some time when you lived in them, because that's all that you had. Now, I trusted Christ when I was 12 years old, so I probably had a good, I don't know, six years of just walking in my flesh, which is not as bad. But you think about somebody who comes to Christ later on in life, there's a majority of that person's life which has been lived in a fleshly position. That's most of the audience here in Colossians. They're coming out of a very heavy philosophical culture in Colossi. You can go research these things. A lot of deep thinkers, a lot of, I would say, deep in the sense that it's complex but it's very shallow. They just like to speculate. And as a result, it led to permissible actions. You can really do whatever you want. You can't judge another person because their actions are so complex. We're here psychologically today. A lot of people are very hesitant to take ownership for their actions. They're always blaming on extenuating circumstances or their upbringing or something like that. And while those things may have a position, you are a new creature in Christ. You have a new life to live, new options. I think that is one of the most encouraging things that we could ever realize today. All is forgiven. I now have a new choice every day. I don't have to live the way I used to live. Verse 8, but now ye also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. That's not just cuss words. That would be slander, gossip, dishonesty, embellishments. We should not be defined by those things. Those are all internal things. Look at these external things. Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds. This is one of the few places outside of Galatians and Ephesians where our old nature is described as a person. the old man I remember somebody called the Bible line show in season one and said, why do you say old nature? It's nowhere in the scripture. And I did a look, I did a search. It's right. The only time that the old nature is referenced is the old man. We say nature because that's more acceptable in our culture today. But I like how the scripture personifies your nature. It has an intent and a will and a desire. We're told pretty expressly, put off the old man with his deeds. Okay? So it's not enough to just say you are, okay, well, I'm not gonna do that anymore. You actually have to abstain. And here's the reaction, the opposite action, excuse me. And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him and the Bible college you went to. That's not what that says. I like making an emphasis here because it's renewed in knowledge after Christ. It's not, you know, well, only one school has the truth or only one denomination has the truth. That's a huge discussion amongst younger people today and millennials who are, you know, in my age range, mid-30s. So that's a huge sticking point. As a matter of fact, one of the biggest persuasions the Catholic Church has is it's ancient history. You know, it's older, so it's gotta be better. That's not always true. That's not always true. Your new nature is renewed after the image of Jesus Christ. So it has to be in agreement with everything that he taught. It has to be in agreement with the example that he set. Not your church, not your pastor, not your denomination. Not your ethnic background. Not your voting registration. You see what I'm saying here? Because that's what's happening in the world today. People are redefining this verse to mean your personal experience. One of the most dangerous things about some form of Bible study is the Bible study that always leads with this, well, this verse means, I think this verse means to me, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm not saying that's always bad, but about 90% of the time, it violates the context. But everybody's making their faith personal, personal to their experiences. I've talked with people before over email and over phone calls that talk about experiences that I can't validate. Well, I had this experience. I'm like, well, I can't validate that experience. I can only tell you what the Word of God says. And most of the time when we get to the Word of God, there's tension. And I believe there's tension there because the Word of God convicts them that what they experienced might have been real, but it's not the truth. It's not rooted in the truth. Now, because everyone is so focused on being personalized, now they feel threatened that, well, what's the point of this faith if it's not personalized faith? That's dangerous. It's incredibly dangerous. And it's what I call a hedonistic culture. I come first. My experiences come first. Well, the witch at Endor did not expect, when she conjured up a spirit, she did not expect Samuel to be there. And he showed up and he said to Saul, guess what, buddy boy? That's not what he actually said. But he said, guess what? Saul, you're going to see me tomorrow. What happened to Saul the next day on the battlefield? He begged to be impaled with his own sword. He died. One of the reasons why I think that Saul was a saved person. Otherwise Solomon would not have said that. Or excuse me, not Solomon, Samuel would not have said that. So that witch was expecting a completely different experience and got the real deal. We gotta be careful. Each one of us are renewed after Christ, so there should be unity. There should be unity. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, siphon, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. There are people in certain political ideologies today that have a problem with that verse. It's too inclusive. Well, that's what God says. The church is made up of many different members, one body. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." It's appropriate to look at another passage here. ahead of time, it's my second passage, but hold your spot in Colossians and look in Ephesians. Just a few pages over to the left there, Ephesians chapter 4. Colossians 3.13 just told us to forbear and forgive after the example Christ set. That was also said in Ephesus. If you remember the strength of Ephesus, they're very strong doctrinally and in their practice. Ephesians 4.31 says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. These are characteristics that should not define a born again child of God. Listen closely, should not. we all still live in our flesh. And there, I said it this morning, sometimes we already give ourselves a pass. Certain things, conversations, or people, we give ourselves a pass to express, I think, ungodly behavior towards them or that topic. It's a joke, right? You don't talk about religion and politics at Thanksgiving. There's a little bit of truth in every joke. The reason why people don't say that is because that's one of those things that people just give themselves the freedom to be inconsiderate. And Christians too. And be ye kind one to another, there's the opposite action. You let all bitterness, wrath, and anger depart. Instead, replace it with kindness one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. This is why it's 70 times seven. You go, wait a second, that's a high number. Yeah, he's making a point. You always forgive. I'm telling you right now, we do not live that way. Somebody crosses you multiple times, all of us are gonna start being challenged by that. Well, how much do I forgive a person who's just, you know, abusing my friendship or abusing my authority or whatever it may be? You forgive them. Now, that doesn't mean you automatically trust everybody. The Bible doesn't advocate for that view. You can forgive somebody and then trust is broken. And I think that's where the injury is. That's where the hurt is. I've been in a lot of marriage counseling sessions with people where I see two individuals who at once loved each other, but there was a broken trust. And people lied to themselves and said, okay, well, it's all good now because I've forgiven. I've been in situations where it's taken me months to feel trustworthy with another person, even though I forgave them. And I learned through that experience how to trust the Lord. The Lord will never do something where he has to require my forgiveness. You realize that? I don't think we do sometimes. I think we kind of just take for granted that Jesus is perfect. There's never something where he's going to go, sorry David, didn't mean that. Yeah, never. That will never happen. He'll never treat you unjustly. God, your Heavenly Father, will never discipline you out of wrath where He has to apologize for His behavior. I'm sure we've all had moments where our parents, out of anger, said or did something and came back and said, you know what, that was wrong. Your Heavenly Father cannot do that. That's why I believe the chastening hand of God is severe. It's fully out of love. Anyway, going back to Colossians chapter three. Forgiving one another, that's a big thing that we should be doing that I think we kind of go with the three strikes you're out policy. And above all these things put on charity which is the bond of the glue of maturity, perfectness there is the KJV word. It can be also rendered as maturity. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts. I think it's a lot easier to forgive when you realize the peace that you have with God. Everything now is in perspective. to the which also you are called in one body, there again is the membership of the church emphasized. Not church membership like we're going to have on December 2nd, but we're all born in the same body. One of the greatest experiences I've had in my life is going to India and ordaining five men into ministry. I could not even properly speak to them because of a language barrier, but through translation, they have the gospel clear, I have the same clear gospel. We both put our trust in the same God. They're going to go and serve in northern India, and I'm going to serve in western Florida. We're doing the same thing. That was so unique to me. I thought, where in the world could you find that? I think it's one of the appeals of the Catholic Church. You can go anywhere and it's the same mass, it's the same words, it's the same thing. There's no truth there because they're going against the revealed word of God, but it was so unique to be able to press hands with another man that I could probably never speak to without a translator, but know that he is a part of the same body of Jesus Christ. That is unique. And I thought, here I am in India. Go look at where that is, Trivanthrum is where we were, the southern tip of India. It's not a hop, skip, and a jump away. Yet there was still unity there. And look at the end of 15, be ye thankful. Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity. Thank you, Lord, for this placement for other members in the body. So we're leading with the peace of God. We're meek and humble. We are willing to forgive. We forbear one another. Why? Because we're all a part of the same family here. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. I enjoy when we sing songs like we did today that have deep meaning. That's a part of an active faith. That's a part of the doing. And I believe they met like that, otherwise Paul wouldn't have said it. Again, we're drawing the line back to Christ. not to something great about you or your church home or your denomination, Christ himself. There is no boundary there. You can worship Christ in a church, outside of a church. As a matter of fact, you are an ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we should protect the things that we say and do. Then he has some specific instruction here for the family structure, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord." I think anybody that comes against this idea of submission within a marriage is coming up against what God says is right. Look at that. as it is fit in the Lord." Now some people have this idea that it just means that the wife, she just cooks and cleans and she's there for the husband's gratification and she don't have no input in anything, you know, she's just like another household appliance. It could not be further from the truth. And I think most people that have that opinion are not married. And I've actually seen that. There was a guy recently who was interviewed by Tucker Carlson. And how he was describing a marriage, I thought, bro, this is why you're single. You don't have any idea. I guess I can only speak for myself and other successful marriages. When I look at my wife, I see God's provision to help me. I am supposed to lean into my wife. Naturally, I'm telling you this naturally, she is the better caretaker in our home. There's been times where I've had Remy for the night or for the whole afternoon and it's just me and I see, I tell Kyla every time I see her, I'm like, what you do is unique, it's special. I want to come alongside her and prop her up in her roles and responsibilities, just like she expects me to lead. There's not a battle there. She expects that and empowers me to do that. People look at this verse and say, oh, how anti-feminine, only if your viewpoint is different from what God says. Hey, if this is how God designed it, that's how I want it. Have you seen the opposite? Have you seen what other people, there's some stuff I hear online, I just, I'm like, yo, I'm praying for that man. That's gotta be tough. But people are being baked, it's being baked into their minds. Verse 19, husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Of all the things you could have said after love your wives, the Holy Spirit tells Paul to say, don't be bitter against them. What happens with bitterness? It's described in Hebrews as a root that springs up and defiles many. Husbands, if you are bitter against your wife, your children will see it. First, your children will see it. Her parents will see it. Your parents will see it. You're not admitting it, so when you're approached on it, you'll get defensive. Watch how that goes over the next few years. You'll hate everybody. You'll want to golf more. You'll want to fish more. You'll want to be away from your family more. Why? Because you have bitterness towards your wife. It's not because, well, I need time and all that. You got to solve, what are the problems? Let's address them. If you recognize the roles in marriage, it's more helpful for the marriage to work correctly. Children, you have a part here too, verse 20. Children, obey your parents when you feel like it, when it's convenient. No, no. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Remy is three. She's barely three, okay? And as we teach her to obey, we also teach her that mom and dad obey God. See, I don't want the reason my child to be obedient is just because I said so. What happens when I'm out? Ain't no one there to tell her I said so. What happens when she's on her own? What's the motivation for obedience when it was just because I said so? It's well pleasing to the Lord because at the end of the day, I want my daughter to recognize you have a free will choice to obey or disobey God. And right now, as it is in our home, we are reflecting that authority for God. I'm responsible for the things I say and do with my wife, with my daughter, so on and so forth. People just live unrestrained lives. You say, how does this have to do with doing? Y'all that got kids, you know. It's every day. Choices. And if our minds are not right, if we're in bitterness, the product is gonna be... ungodly things. Fathers, so we've talked wives, husbands, children, fathers. I love this verse. It is something personally for me that I keep front of mind as I lead my family. Provoke not your children to anger. lest they be discouraged. I've seen this in public. Kids just getting verbally berated by their parents. And I get it. I get it, you're tired, I understand. But boy, to do these things to such a young kid. And sometimes, if the kid is old, you see they're just done. They're checking out. And they will take that experience from their parents and they will push it on everybody in authority. On their teachers, they'll think the same way. On law enforcement officers, they'll think the same way. It's setting them up for failure. I don't wanna say or do anything to provoke wrath in my daughter. That requires me to speak calmly. Doesn't mean I don't say anything at all, but how I speak is important. When I speak is important. What I say is important. You say, well, how do I determine that? Go all the way, we're not going to, but go all the way back to verse eight. Look at that list. Look at verse nine. Look at verse 10. Boy, when I feel anger welling up within me, I remember I have a different choice. And I'd be lying to say if I make that right choice every time. And I'm learning. And when I do wrong, I say so. I don't really have to say so, because I get one of these from Kyla. Yeah, didn't need to say that. My problem is like a little tag. It's like I call it a tag because I have a musical mind like that, a little repeat. We didn't have to put that on there, that last part didn't need to be said. But I know I have a different choice. Servants, obey in all things. You are masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. This is not the topic of discussion, but if you are thinking this is the American form of slavery, you're incorrect. This is talking about house servants. That was an indentured servitude role that lasted at least seven years. And in some cases those servants would choose to remain in service and they would have their ear pierced up against the doorframe of their house. And they were saying, I'm here out of a choice. I want to be here. So don't think of this as like, ooh, the Bible supports American slavery. You go look in Exodus, you look in Leviticus, the requirements that God has for indentured servitude, it was not what American slavery was. But anyway, you say, well, how does it work today, because we don't have slaves in America? Well, I look at this, and I usually teach this from the position of an employee-employer relationship. And boy, if you've been in a toxic workplace, people need this verse more than anything. I mean, look at what this says, not with eye service, right? While the boss is looking, everything is great, and then as he's turning around, you're bad-mouthing him, you're time-stealing, you know, all that kind of stuff. As men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. I respect my employer because God holds me accountable to do so, and I respect God's authority. That'll change how you go to work tomorrow. It should. When you walk into the office, you should be like, hey, what can I do to demonstrate the goodness of God in the way I act in the workplace? What a change of mind. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as unto everyone who's watching. No, as unto the Lord. And not unto men knowing, that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ." There is a reward that is waiting for those who do these things. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons. I believe, this is in two senses, the first sense is here on the earth, God will limit your opportunity as you choose to do wrong. It's natural. It's natural. I mean, it's as natural as taking a left-hand turn on a one-way street and the traffic's coming the other way. You will be going the opposite way. It's a guarantee. It's not a, you turn left at one time and now you're in the flow of traffic. You know every time. You're driving the wrong way, you're going to be coming into oncoming traffic. And people play games as if that'll change. And think about people who do drive that direction. Usually they're not within their right mind. Something's wrong. It is not natural for a Christian to choose disobedience. That is unnatural, and God will chasten accordingly. The other sense of this is lost reward when we stand before the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ. Things we could have earned, but because of the things we chose to do here, we forfeited that reward. Look at chapter four. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a master in heaven. I take this personally because I'm in the position of an employer. I'm the pastor here. So there are people under my authority of whom are accountable to me. I treat them justly and with equality. Why? Because I'm under the Lord. There's a lot of young pastors today that need to remember Colossians 4.1. These young pastors are building online idols to themselves. And they rant, and they rave, and it's funny. You see the people that come out of that ministry, they all sound the same. It's like the same cadences. The same little spots in the breath. Or excuse me, the same breathing spots. They say the same thing. Well how does that happen? Well they're just a product of what they see. If you're in a position where you have people under you who are responsible to you, you treat them justly and equally. And I think too, I know it's not listed here and I'm not adding to the scripture, generously. You'd be generous with your time. You'd be generous with what the Lord has given you. There are things that I never talk about the Lord has done in my life that motivate my giving. When the opportunity comes up and we have more than what we usually get, I'm looking, outside of an investment opportunity, I'm looking for how to bless somebody else with that. Because I want to treat people with the utmost respect. And it's why it hurts sometimes when you get a little bit of something in your back. You're like, man, but that's okay. We serve the Lord, right? He's not gonna do that to us. Verse two, continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. I don't see anything here that says watch with fear. I mean, you would think some Christians, they are the prototype of Chicken Little. This guy is fine, this guy is fine, this guy is fine. I look at what's happening in the world today and I'm thankful to know God knows me. With all praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, an opportunity to speak, to speak the mystery of Christ, which I believe is the gospel, for which I am also in bonds, by the way, great cross-reference there, mystery of Christ, Ephesians chapter three. I don't have time to look at it tonight, but that's a great cross-reference there. that I may make it manifest, known as I ought to speak. These two verses here, five and six, are just beautiful. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without. Who's that? The lost. When we have opportunity, you walk towards them. Boy, the Christian church today is almost walking away from the lost. Or, let's just become like them. I've heard pastors say, I don't talk about people's sin because that's a part of their story. Well, what story? There's a lot of stories out there. Not all of them are great. Most of them are tragedies. I don't want someone to... If you knew of an oncoming danger in a building and you saw people walk in to immediate and present danger, are you not sounding the alarm? Hey, don't go that way. I can't remember the situation, where it was, but there was a man who, with a pistol, took out a mass shooter and it was a 50-yard shot. dead center, took him out. And he was talking about his training and all of that, and he said, I just, I'm always in a position to defend others with deadly force if necessary. We take concealed carry that seriously. How about our evangelism? I'm looking for opportunities to walk towards them that are without. And sometimes they walk in, that's even better, right? It's like now we get to give them the gospel right there. But boy, this is active, this is an active thing. And he asks for prayer. Wherewithal praying also for us, he started there in verse three. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without redeeming the time. It's an exchange of time, we're always spending time, it's an invaluable currency. And we also don't know how much we have of it, right? There's no low balance alert for you have 24 hours left to live. Spend it wisely. We don't know when our time is. Let your speech be all way with grace, seasoned with salt. Boy, you ever had a meal that needs salt? Come on, you can say it, I know. And if you're with somebody that has a good sense of humor, they're not offended with a little salt on the meal. Then you get that salt in there, and it's like, this is exactly what it was missing, just a little pinch, you know? That's how we should speak. It's seasoned with salt, and if you understand salt in the context of this day, it was a preservative. They didn't have refrigerators. They knew very distinctly the value of salt and how dangerous it was when salt was old and it didn't do what they thought it would do. It spoiled your meat. You can't just go down to the market and get more. You could be in a bind for a whole season or a length of time. Seasoned with salt that ye may know how you ought to answer every man. Now the apologetics realm just attacks this and only makes it about apologetics. I think this is talking about wisdom too. I have had situations through soul winning, and I'll, again, being direct and straightforward with you, when I sit in that chair every Sunday night for 20 weeks and I do that show, I am thinking of this verse. How I oughta answer somebody, because I can just blindly give the seven steps of the gospel. I did my part. Were they listening? Was I listening to what they said? Or was I just talking to a wall and they're over here? I'm speaking to the wall like, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. My mother-in-law's always telling me, stop interrupting people. That's a good point, because if I'm interrupting somebody, I might not be hearing what they need to say. Now, there is a delay. You sit in there and you listen, there's a delay. You'll never know that, but there's a delay. But I have to be careful, not just what I say, but how I say it. Boy, I've seen some efforts out there to win people, to Christ, where I go, if you just stopped talking and started listening to what the person is saying, you'd have a lot easier time. I did this with ranch kids when I would go Friday night soul winning. And they're learning, so I'm being easy on them, but the whole point is, it's a conversation. Listen to what a person is saying. See what they already understand. Commend that. Hey, that's great. Move on to what they don't understand. That requires intentionality. Last verse we'll look at tonight, Philippians chapter two. It's a great portion of scripture we just covered. Usually in commentaries that's called conduct for the Christian life. I'm really surprised that we cover it and we've got just about five minutes left. That was good. I think that that passage of scripture is very vital to an understanding of what it means to walk with the Lord. Look at verse 14, Philippians chapter 2 and verse 14. We're going to look at three verses here and then close. Do all things without, you know, if I only had a chance. I'm not really giving a piece of my mind. No. Do all things without murmurings and, oh man, disputings. You ever met somebody who just wants to interject for the sake of interjecting? It's like, dude, come on. Do we have to interject every time? Or when somebody does one of these, you tell somebody to do something like, well, you know, that doesn't work for me. You wanna get passed on real quick, have that attitude. Well, guess what, if it doesn't work for you, then you just go do something else, and I'll wait for somebody who does wanna be obedient. I think the Lord acts the same way. That's the expectation. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, Without rebuke, we already are the sons of God, but our position is not in question here, our condition is. What kind of son of God are you? Are you the kind where there can be blame by your attitude and characteristics and behavior? Are you the kind of Christian that is marked by your gossip about others? Or are you obedient? In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, boy, Wow, that's where we are, isn't it? Crooked and perversed. Well, let's complain about it. No, let's act right. It's easy to spot a problem. It's hard to implement a solution. Among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, I believe that is the word of eternal life, the gospel, that I, Paul, may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Those of you who are soul winners, You hold that light so that you finish well. That's the point, you wanna finish well. You can close your Bibles because one day we will be finished. Our lives will be over and since we don't know when that is, we gotta give the Lord today, right? We're all thinking about tomorrow. I'm thinking about tomorrow because it's starting my vacation, I'm excited, right? I might not get tomorrow. or tomorrow may come and I wish I stayed here, you know, stayed here and today. What I have today, it's the Lord's, that should be the mindset. When you think about doing these things, we covered probably over 20 things that we should do. And the goal is not, all right, go put all 20 in play and everything will be great. Do you see how this is a lifetime process? It's a good process. And you know, the greatest thing is, this has nothing to do with your salvation. We don't do these things out of fear of going to hell. We do these things out of love for the complete redemption we have experienced in Christ. That's the only way this works. If you listened to the show last week, we had a young man on there named Josiah in Idaho. Some people would say he might have been a plant. He was just talking so, but he was saying the things that I've been saying for years. He said he came out of a workspace salvation. Once he understood, I'm paraphrasing, but once he understood the fullness of forgiveness in Christ, he said it was like I figured out this is how God wanted it to work. That is how God wants it to work. I'm not serving and doing these things and thinking these things to make sure I'm not going to hell. I'm thinking on these things and doing these things because God has given me the free gift of everlasting life. I'm justified with God, reconciled. I'm an ambassador. I'm a child. That's never changing. None of that is changing. I don't know what kind of Christian life it is with the threat of hell. That's no Christian life described in the scripture. How can you know that you're going to heaven when you die? Look up here. This hand represents you and me. This represents sin. Put it on top of my hand. The Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God, He loves us. He does hate sin. This separates us from Him. In order to get to heaven, we have to be sinless, not sinning less, without any of it. We all fall short. That's what the word sin means, to miss the mark. Here we are, we've missed the mark. What's the mark, pastor? Well, we got the 10 commandments to start. The Bible says if you keep them all and offend in one point, you're guilty of breaking them all. So that's the first ten we struck out there. There's over 600 after that. We've got a problem. We are sinners. The wages of sin is death. The eternal separation from God and the literal fire burning hell. But God has provided a payment for this sin. The Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission or forgiveness. The Bible also says that all of our good works, our righteousness, is filthy rags. We need a sinless Savior who offers Himself in our place. That's Jesus Christ. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's salvation. 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 in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. It is not whosoever reforms their life. whosoever gives their life. No, it's not whosoever stops sinning or asks Jesus into their heart or chooses to do good things more than bad things. Whosoever believeth in him. It's full trust. Jesus, you did it all. I'm trusting in you. The moment you do that, you're saved. Well, pastor, why do I still sin? You still have a nasty, cranky old man. within you that desires no good thing but his own self-gratification. God doesn't do anything to take that away. He gives you, though, the Holy Spirit, the new birth, the Word of God. Look to your left, look to your right. He gives you one another. But if you want to know you're going to heaven, whosoever believeth in him. It's not works, it's not reformation. It's simple faith in Christ alone. Would you pray, please? Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. Nobody's looking around for a private moment here. If you just understood how to get to heaven, I want to pray for you. The Bible says the one who believes, you're saved. You are given everlasting life, you're passed from death unto life, and you'll never be brought into condemnation again. I want to pray for you. If you walked in tonight saying, you know what, I thought I was good enough, I thought I wasn't as bad as someone who might deserve hell, but I see if the requirement is to be sinless, I missed that mark. And I understood that Jesus died on the cross, but I never knew why. Now I understand what He did in His death, burial, and resurrection was to pay for my sin. So tonight I have put my trust in Him. My friend, the Bible says you're saved. I'm not declaring you saved, I'm saying the Scripture says you have everlasting life. May I pray for you? I'm not gonna pull you out of the chair or ask you to come down, but I would ask if you would just slip your hand up to let me know if that made sense tonight. I'd love to pray for you. Anyone before we close? Raise your hand, it doesn't save you. There's no pressure here. You can trust Christ and never tell me. I just want the opportunity to pray for you. Heads are bowed and eyes are still closed. We read a lot of scripture tonight and it impacts every area of our life. pray for the strength to do those things, and then go do what you know you want to do. I will continue to pray for you, and I ask that you pray for me. Let's serve the Lord together. It's a great life, the redeemed life. Jesus, we love you, and we thank you for your word and your patience with us. As we are not meeting on Wednesday, Lord, give us strength to get through the week. Should we have the week, especially when we've got family and friends, maybe even neighbors who need ministering? May we meet the call. Seasoned with salt. In Jesus name we pray these things. Amen.