So again, we're dealing with what's known as the prison epistles, the first one that we're dealing with is Ephesians, then of course the other prison epistles being Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. I like to bring this out because it's interesting that when you think about, when you call it the prison epistles, Paul is writing these books while he's in prison. And he's in prison for serving the Lord. He's in prison for preaching the gospel. He's in prison because he'd been going around various places trying to get folks to understand that living under the Mosaic Law is not the answer to get to heaven, but it's putting their faith and trust in Christ. So these books are extremely important. The Apostle Paul was specifically, if you will, called to preach to what group of people? the Gentiles. I mean God specifically called him to do that specific ministry and of course that was not to the exclusion of the Jewish people. He made it very clear to the Jew first and also to the Greek or the Gentile. But these books are specifically spot on for what's taking place during the church age. Well, as we look at what's taking place again internationally and specifically right here at home, there's been some major changes if you've been watching and listening to the news lately. The cancel culture, the censorship, the fact checking, the misinformation and the disinformation that if you will, those that are on some of these terms, I'm not trying to be political, but they just come out that way. The leftist side, if you will, those that are not conservative, have really been pushing that agenda, especially for the last several years. Well, and I'm not giving this person an endorsement here. But Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook all of a sudden has had a little revival in his heart and said all these things that he's been pushing that he's retracting. And it's like, okay, well, when I say revival in his heart, I take that from a political stance, not from a religious one. And that's the thing. Why all of a sudden many of us, and I've been censored multiple times for simple things that have gone out, nothing even political, Even things regarding the gospel and different biblical things have been taken down on accounts that we run through the church and my own personal things. And all of a sudden, is there a retraction on some of these things that we've been very upset with for multiple years? The diversity, equity, and inclusion issues all of a sudden have been coming up in the news. Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, some other ones, all of a sudden they've decided that DEI or diversity, equity, and inclusion are hurting their sales. Well, it's very interesting. It's like, what is happening in our country all of a sudden? We've been on this massive socialist movement and all of a sudden businesses, people that are, if you will, the upper echelon of the billionaire club, are all of a sudden making these retractions on things that have been pushed by the same individuals for years. Why is that? What's taking place? Well, why this sudden change? And there's something for us really to think about as God's people. Why all of a sudden are things, if you will, starting to take a bend towards the conservative side versus, if you will, the liberal side? Why this sudden change? So here's the question, and I think most of you are gonna have a quick answer to it. Is it political expediency, or is it the grace of God? And most of us would probably say, well, when we consider the individuals that are making these changes, if you will, in the media, on social media, and so forth, that it's probably more political expediency. Well, it is from their point of view. But here's a point of view that I think we need to consider as we look at the concept of spiritual revival in 2025. God did something amazing in the last presidential election. And whether you are for the next president or not, the one thing that you know is that he's going to attack things from a conservative platform, which is why all of a sudden these individuals are scared to death of them being censored or their companies being, if you will, marginalized. So I'm praising the Lord that he's put a new administration in that at least is allowing the Christian community a voice once again. And it's just interesting. So again, you make up your own personal mind on why things are happening, why the changes are taking place. But I honestly believe that in 2025, God is going to allow us, did you catch the verbiage, is going to allow us to have revival, to move forward, to reach more folks for Christ, to be more verbal about a Christian worldview than we have in the last, if you will, multiple years. How should Christians respond? Well, folks, we need to respond. We need to respond strongly. We need to support that which is going in the right direction. But most of all, we need to take that which we've been given the gospel of the grace of God and make it known stronger than we ever have before. We have multiple events that are coming up at Union Grove Baptist Church. And one of the big ones that's just about a week away now is this Wild Game Dinner. Paul had told us yesterday that out of about 190 folks that are signed up right now, 70 folks are visitors. Folks, do you know how good that is? That's fantastic. I'm praising the Lord for it. I actually, I was a little doubtful that it was going to be that successful, but my doubts have gone. Praise the Lord. God's doing something good here. And you folks are inviting folks. And I know the gospel will be given by the speaker that'll be here. That's wonderful. We have other things that are coming up throughout the year, but every single Sunday, by the way, 52 weeks a year, The gospel goes forth from Union Grove Baptist Church. Now, of course, 90% of our messages are to Christians, but that 5-10% in every message, every single person that comes through the doors of Union Grove Baptist Church is going to hear the gospel. It's just going to happen. Now, whether they accept or reject it, that's up to them and the Lord, but it's going to be done. So, folks, what I'm suggesting is that your workplace, at your school place, at your place when you're with your family members and friends. We don't have to talk politics. In fact, maybe that's not a good idea, but we can certainly talk about what God is doing in your life. You can give your testimony. You can tell how he's changed you, how he's encouraged you and how you're moving forward for the Lord. And folks, that gospel is the only thing that's going to prevent people going from the eternal lake of fire. And it's important. Would we agree? Oh, my goodness. All right. I don't know. I can see you now. So I know nobody's sleeping, but we got to be a little more alive in the spirit this morning. So next time I give a question, you got to you got to do a little better anyway. It's OK, by the way, at this church to respond back. Some of you might have gone to churches where whoever's standing up front, you have to be quiet. Very sedate demeanor. No, you can talk back. I'll be careful about talking back, but you can respond in a positive way. Don't respond in a negative way, but that's good. Spiritual revival, just a quick review over where we've been, is impossible without spiritual understanding. Ephesians chapter one through three is the doctrinal position given by the Apostle Paul and where we need to be doctrinally. It's more theological in nature. Once we get past chapter three, he takes those theological positions and then tells us how to apply them practically in our daily life. So the bottom line is we've gone through some very heavy doctrine, and we'll get through a little bit more this morning, but this doctrine is there for a purpose. If we don't have biblical literacy, if we don't understand the scriptures, if we don't understand what the Bible is saying, if we don't understand our theology, then we're gonna have problems. So we gotta do things from a biblical basis. So a spiritual focus, and I've been pushing this slide, a spiritual focus on the Lord comes from biblical literacy in all areas of our life, which includes our families, our friendships, and our finances, the three F's right there. So that's where we're going. The last time we met, We start in Ephesians chapter two, Justin read through the passage this morning, and we press this and we need to press it. So often Christianity becomes a bunch of do's, don'ts and negatives. And yes, there is certainly the ideas, and we'll be looking at a few more of those this morning, that there's things that we should and shouldn't do. and we get caught up, if you will, in do's, don'ts, and whatever sometimes, and we forget that he's made us alive. Folks, we're alive in Christ. God has given you a new life, a new birth, and you should never be the same after you put your faith and trust in Christ. You're alive. Now, yes, we have struggles, and yes, we have to fight temptations and so forth, but we've been made alive. You have life in Christ. And boy, it's easy to get into the doldrums and it's easy to get negative. That's human nature. And it takes discipline, if you will, to be happy. Did you know that? You've got to discipline yourself to put a smile on your face. It's real easy to get negative. And folks, I mean, I'm talking to myself this morning. I shared this morning when we started out. You say, Pastor, with your tremendous faith, you should have just been not worried about these procedures coming up and life is good and just praising God and rejoicing in all things. Well, I tell you to do that, don't I? And it's like, well, for weeks it's been, Lord, you know, if this doesn't go well, I'm done. I'm out of the ministry. I can't drive. I can't preach. I gotta do everything different. And you worry, don't you? And the reason I'm sharing this is because I'm no different than you Every single person we go through struggles and trials and some are minor like mine and some are huge Like many of you are going through and those many especially watching on the internet this morning. They get tough But God says, listen, I want you to get out of the negative and I want you to understand that you've been made alive. 1 Thessalonians, just a little review again, chapter five tells us this. What is the essence of spiritual revival as we enter into 2025? And the Bible tells us, see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone. Wait a minute. That's 100% saying, don't be negative. Don't render evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good, both for what? Yourselves and for all. And God's saying, listen, yes, you can, and I used this word last week, we can be a little bit selfish here, but it's a good selfish, it's a good move, it's a good motivation. Do that which is good, which for yourself, but not just for yourself, but for who? For everybody, for all, every single person in this church, I'm guarantee you, needs your support this morning. Every person. When you look at somebody who's maybe not smiling, maybe going through some tough times, maybe going through some hardships, and they need you. Folks, that's why we meet on Sunday morning. God mandated that people meet together on Sunday morning, the first day of the week. And many watching on the internet, I know some are sick and shut-ins, but folks, don't replace coming to church with the internet. I mean, it's a wonderful tool. If you need it, use it. Some of our shut-ins, they'll write me and say, listen, pastor, I'm so happy that Union Grove Baptist Church puts their services on Facebook Live and sermonaudio.com. and our website and so forth so we can participate. Folks, that's what that's for. But if you're an able-bodied person and you can get your car and get here or get somebody to get you here, folks, there's nothing like being with God's people. There's just not. So that's why we need each other. And that's why God did sanction the New Testament local church and put rules in place and put offices in place and so forth, because this is where God wants us to be, if you will, on the first day of the week. Well, what else does he say? Rejoice always. That's the one I pushed last week, even though in tongue-in-cheek I wasn't rejoicing last Sunday. I was scared to death. But I'm like, I got to rejoice. When they put me into the operating room and started putting in the little sedative and all that kind of thing. It's like, okay, Lord. And I just had to turn it over to him because I wanted to stand up and walk out of the room. But I didn't. And many of you go through the exact same thing with much more serious things that you have to deal with. And God says, listen, rejoice always. Figure it out. Ask God to give you the calmness. Ask God to give you the strength. Pray without ceasing. Folks, the only way that you can rejoice always is to pray without ceasing. When you turn it over to God, when you give it to Him, when you give the problem to Him, that's when you can rejoice. And when you are going into the operating room or when you are going into the... a hospital room or the hospice room of somebody you love and care about, and the tears are flowing and your heart is breaking, and God says, listen, the only way you can rejoice is, listen, you gotta pray. You've gotta get God's help. You need the Holy Spirit pursuing that which is difficult in your life. I don't care what the issue is. I don't care if it's family issue, if it's health issues, if it's financial issues, no matter what it is, pray without ceasing. And then God says, listen, in everything, not just some things, and boy, this is hard. And I've had several people talk to me since last week. They're like, man, I've just been going through some horrible, difficult times. And they knew I'd spoken on this verse last week. And they're like, in everything, give thanks. It's like, I'm just having a tough time with that. Well, folks, that's why you just keep praying and you turn it over to the Lord. Back when I was a little fella, that's a long time ago. And I could have whatever little problems that I had. Maybe I was just a young boy, sometimes as a teenager, and even sometimes in college. And some difficulty was coming my way. You know what I would do? And of course, I was saved about at 16 years old. But every time I was having a tough time, I'd go see my dad. And I'd go see my daddy. And I'd say, listen, dad, I'm struggling with this. I'm not feeling good. And you know what my dad would do? He'd put his arm around me and say, all right, Rich, it's going to be OK. We're going to make it through here. It didn't matter what the problem was. Daddy was always there, put his arm around me and say, all right, we're going to fight through this. We're going to make it. I guarantee you're going to come out fine. Now, wait a minute. Some of you don't have daddies like that. I did. I had a great dad, wonderful dad. But that's the way God is. Oh, you say in everything, give thanks, pray without. Listen, when I had a problem, I went to my dad. Are you catching the correlation between prayer and going to your earthly dad? Daddy fixed things. Daddy helped you through the tough times. Daddy couldn't always do everything that you needed, but he knew how to get you through the problem. So you go to Daddy and Daddy says, listen, I'm going to walk with you through this. Yeah, we're going to have to study. Or yes, you're going to have to deal with this kid that gave you a hard time. Or yes, you're going to have to deal with the teacher that gave you a bad grade or whatever it is. But we're going to walk through. We're going to figure it out. We're going to do it together. And folks, the Heavenly Father says, listen, I'm waiting for you. Some of you, you just, and I don't know who you are, but I know what a ruminous size of those watching that at times it's like, I gotta do this myself. I just gotta fight through it. And you try and figure everything out in your own head, and you wonder why it doesn't work. Well, how about going to your Heavenly Father? How about going to Abba Father? How about in everything give thanks, what? For this is the will of who? It's the will of God. God says, listen, in the tough times, the hard times, did you pray about it? Did you come to me? Did you ask me? Folks, there's no deeper doctrine than this. If we would get off our own page and get on God's page and go to the heavenly daddy, all due respect meant, and you go to your heavenly father and you cast your cares upon him because he cares for you, 1 Peter 5, 7. If you do that and you give your father the, if you will, the reins and you take yourself off the throne and say, father, I need your help. I need the help of the Holy Spirit today. I need you. And God says, that's right, you need me. And this is his will in everything, give thanks. Well, we looked at spiritual rejection very quickly. Here's where we left off last week and you, he made alive. He made you alive. Who were what? You were dead, dead in trespasses and sins. What's he saying? By the way, Christian, We're talking to Christians this morning. If you're here this morning, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt, if you died, you go to heaven. You know you put your faith and trust in Christ. You know that you are a sinner. You know you don't deserve heaven. And at some point in time, you said yes to Jesus and received the free gift of eternal life. We're talking to Christians this morning. And we'll talk to those who don't know for sure if they died. They go to heaven towards the end of the message. But this is for God's people this morning. You come here, it's like, what are you going to give me so I can make it through the next day? What are you going to give me to help me make it through this week? And God says, how about realizing you're alive? And He said, you were, folks, those of you that are grammarians, that is past tense, you were dead. You were dead. There was nothing in you spiritually. You were spiritually dead. Why? Because of sins. In other words, violating God's standards, missing the mark, moral standards that were missed in trespasses. He says that's where you were, but you're not there anymore. Do you understand you've been given a clean slate? Do you understand that you've been justified? Justified, as I always like to do, this is your list of sins when you're justified. It's not there. Positionally, you are as clean as can be in God's eyes. Why? Because He paid for your entire set of sins that you've done. You are clean. Now, some of you are saying, wait a minute. I know what I did yesterday or last week, and if I had my list of sins, it would look more like this. That's today. We're talking about positional justification before God in heaven. This is why, if you put your faith and trust in Christ, that he will let you into heaven, because he forgave everything. Now, if you've been doing this this week or last week, you got some getting right with God to do, but you're still this when it comes to going to heaven, if you put your faith and trust in Christ. Isn't that called the grace of God? God's grace, free unmerited gift. You were dead, but now you've been made alive. So the spiritually dead have no life and are unresponsive. That's those that have not put their faith in Christ yet. So how do you come to Christ? So then faith comes by what? Hearing and hearing by the word of God. Nothing else will give you what you need outside of the word of God. Nothing will give you the comfort, the strength, and the encouragement, and the knowledge that you need outside of, if you will, reading and hearing God's Word. That's what God uses to transform people. So you can't resuscitate those who are spiritually dead. I mean, they're dead, they're gone, that's the way you were. But God has done a marvelous thing called his grace whereby he uses the word of God to penetrate our hearts and all of a sudden what happens when the word of God penetrates you? The Holy Spirit uses that to what? To convict you, to bring you to Christ. So even though you're spiritually dead, God did not make you, and excuse the concept here, you're not brain dead. Every single person has a will. When God's word infiltrates someone and they listen and they hear it, God allows them, if you will, to respond to it, and if you will, be made alive. So the concept, and some of our Calvinist friends would say, well, man is so spiritually depleted, there's no possible way they can make a decision for Christ. Well, God said, yes, they can. So I reject the concept that You've got to be saved before you can be saved. Do you understand what I'm saying? The Calvinist says, no, we're so depraved, we're so sinful that if God doesn't save you first, you'll never come to him. Now, if you've never heard that before, good. And then scratch it out of your memory if you'd never heard it before. but God gives you every single person free will. They have the ability to respond. Even though they're dead in trespasses and sins, God says, I can make you alive through my word and through the work of the Holy Spirit. We skipped that when we did that last week. All right, so you were dead in trespasses and sins in which, watch here, hear it again. And boy, when it comes to interpreting scripture, Four key things, and I've gone through this many, many times. You have to understand it historically, contextually, grammatically, and literally. So words matter, grammar matters in Scripture. He said in you, he's making a repetition here, you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked past tents, according to what? How did you walk? How did I walk before you come to Christ? Now, some of you that got saved later in life, now we have some that have been saved when they were quite young in here, which is wonderful, but those of us that got saved in our teen years or later, those especially that got saved in their adult years, you probably got a bit of baggage. Now some may, some may not. But he said, listen, you once walked this way, once walked. What is the implication here? That you no longer are walking that way. Does that make sense? There should be a change. He said you walked according to what? The course of this world. We talked a little about that when we started. According to, and he's talking about the satanic culture here, you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. And if you don't know who that is, we're gonna show a few verses here, but we're talking about Satan, we're talking about the demonic world. Before you came to Christ, You were dead in trespasses and sins. Instead of following the Lord, you basically were tuned into whom? Satan, demon? You say, wait a minute, I never went to the occult. I never went to that kind of thing. Well, God says all our righteousness is what? It's those filthy rags. If we're not following the Lord, then you're following someone else, and it certainly wouldn't be the Lord. But he said, listen, it was the spirit, spiritual warfare, the demonic world, the satanic world, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. So is there an opposing spiritual force? I mean, it sounds, well, that's mystical, and we try and put names on it, but folks, it's real. It is absolutely real. That's why Ephesians 6, when we get there, talks about putting on the spiritual armor. Because every single day of our life, we are fighting a spiritual battle. Here's a little bit of help to understand that passage. Now, catch the words here. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. Now, I hope you're not suffering from bitter envy and self-seeking because now he's gonna describe where it comes from to help us understand the opposing force. This wisdom, basically bitter-entering, self-seeking in your hearts, this wisdom does not descend from above, but is what? It's earthly, it's sensual, and it's what? It's demonic. Now folks, can Christians be influenced by the satanic, demonic world? The answer is absolutely. If you don't think you're influenced by it, then you have not turned on your radio, you've not looked at a billboard, you've not gone on the internet, because virtually every place we go, there is influence that's trying to move us in the wrong direction. It's there. And God is saying, listen, when we get sucked into those things which are inappropriate, how about bitter envy? Ooh, that's jealousy. Well, somebody else got a better present than I did this year. My Christmas wasn't as good as somebody else's. My bonus wasn't as good as someone else's. I can't afford what somebody else can afford. I can't get what somebody else did. I didn't get the accolades someone else did. And it's bitter envy. Self-seeking, it's like all about me problem. And we get sucked in and thinking about ourselves and we get mad that others are happier or others are progressing or others are being blessed. And God said, wait a second. That's earthly. That's sensual. That's demonic. And you're like, whoa, really? That's pretty harsh. Well, God says, yeah, it is harsh. And I put it in my word for a reason, folks. Why do you think God puts this in here? Because we all get impacted by it. We all gonna get affected by it, which is why we need to go back to what? Pray without ceasing, rejoice in all things, walk with God. Here's a little bit more about this, and I love this verse. I don't like this verse, but I love the verse because it spells out exactly what you're dealing with. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In other words, those who are refusing to come to Jesus Christ. They're veiled. They're blinded, if you will, to what's taking place. And here's the specific issue as to what that veiling is. Those who are veiled to the gospel are what? Their minds, what? Whose minds the God, small g, catch the small g, whose minds the God of this age has what? Blinded. I can relate to that. Blinded, can't see. If I would've looked out here, A couple of weeks ago, I could see the front rows, pretty much the people in the back. I mean, I know most of you, so I can make you out, but I couldn't see the details of your face and so forth. And there's this, if you will, the haze, the blindness that happens when Satan comes in and tries to work you over and tries to keep you from seeing the truth. In the men's washroom last week, There's a verse in there, we walk by faith, not by, I'm like, Lord, that was not appropriate to put that in here at this time. And we walk by faith, not by sight. And every place you go, the Bible talks about having vision, about having sight. Now, for those that don't have sight, and I think about one of my good friends that's in the room this morning can't see, no sight. And yet God compares it. When you're blinded, it's difficult to maneuver. It's difficult to get around. By the way, that individual that can't see this morning, I love him with all my heart. He's a good guy and he's a good Christian and just has to deal with that. But he's a reminder that you can still love God. It's a reminder that every time when we have singing, I see my good buddy over there raising his hands and singing and having a great time. And I said, well, I wish everybody be that uninhibited when it comes to praising God. Can't see physically, but spiritually, running a 10. I mean, doing great. And I just love that, and it's a good reminder to me. Whose minds the God of this age is blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine in them. Folks, Satan is doing everything he can. to try and keep you from coming to Christ. If you're in this room this morning and you're trying to decide, do I put my faith in Jesus Christ or I just keep doing what I've been told to do by churches and people and whoever all my life? Do my best, hope my best, maybe I'll get to heaven. And God says, that's spiritual blindness. You've been blinded. And God says, why has that happened? Because the God of this age, the dirty, rotten Satan, a filthy animal that wants to take you to hell when you die. You say, Pastor, that's pretty strong language. Yes, it is. But that's reality. Satan hates your guts. He hates every fiber of your being. The demonic world hates you with everything it is. Folks, do you understand when you go through demonology and Satanology, which are two of the key theological things within the Scriptures, and you find out that Satan has done everything he can to try and keep Jesus Christ from being born. He tried to wipe out the Jewish people multiple times. He tried to kill Jesus through Herod when he was a young child. He tried to wipe out the Jewish people when Esther was brought in to defend, if you will, the Jewish people and keep the king from destroying them. Folks, over and over and over again, Satan has been trying to defeat God and defeat you. And God says, nope, not on our watch. Put your faith in Christ. Walk with God. Have some spiritual revival. The Bible talks about 1 Peter 5, 8. Be sober, Christian. Be vigilant. Because what? Your adversary. Now, some of you watch boxing, UFC, wrestling. I'm talking about more collegiate wrestling than WWE type stuff. And they have an adversary. And I don't watch much of it, but on occasion, if there's maybe a boxing match on, you get the two guys They stand across from each other, they get off the scales and they walk over and they just stare into each other's faces and they're trying to get them to flinch or whatever it is. And the adversary's there and they're just doing everything they can to get in their face and prove that they can take them out. And God said, listen, every single day that you wake up, you're looking into the face of your adversary. Every single day, the devil, Satan, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may what? Devour. You wonder why you're having a tough time. Well, look what you're facing. Every single day when you get out of bed, and from morning till night, even sometimes when you're sleeping, the dreams bother you because your mind is so consumed with the roaring lion, what he's put in there to try and destroy you. You think I put that in there just because? Oh, that sounds neat. Oh, the roaring lion. That makes a nice picture on a screen. Well, it does make a nice picture on the screen, but it's real. You see walking up and down these aisles right now, going through the pews, folks watching on the internet right now, Satan says, I don't want you to listen to this Christian nonsense, this Bible nonsense. And he's doing everything he can to try and get you to think about things you should and do things that you shouldn't. Instead of walking with God and the lion says, I'm going to win! Powerful! Strong! The king of the beasts! That's who you're facing every single day. That's why that Ephesians 6 armor tells you how to walk with God and to fight the devil. And if you will, fight that roaring lion that's constantly out there trying to devour you. Well, let's get back to Ephesians. Here he says again, Among whom also we all... What? Once! past tense, conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath just as others. So folks, when you look back at your life before you came to Christ, Don't be surprised with the things that you did before coming to Christ. You're like, man, I can't believe I did those things. Horrible things, some of you. It's like, man, I mean, how could God love me? I was horrible. I was a terrible sinner. Now again, some of you, even though you weren't saved, lived pretty clean, good lives, but God looks at all those things and he said, listen, you lived according to the lust of the flesh, the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, as the heart thinketh. Where does that thinking come from? Well, up in that mind, things enter into the mind, and it's so hard to control the mind sometimes, and we get caught up in the lust of the flesh and the things. And he says, listen, before you came to Christ, past tense, this is where you were, following those things. Now, folks, I don't like going to the passage that we're going to go to right now. I want you to walk out of here happy. I do, and I mean that with all my heart. I want you to enjoy life. I want you to rejoice in who the Lord is. And I wish I never had to go to passages like we're going to go to right now. But here God says, listen, we once conducted ourselves according to things that are lustful, that are desires of the flesh and of the mind. We were children of wrath. It would be very easy as a preacher to skip over things that are distasteful to us. But I would be doing you a disservice. As a believer in Jesus Christ, there are things that God has asked us to put off and not do. Now I'm not coming up with a list of secondary things that we would call legalistic separation or second degree separation. We're going to look at things that God mandated, that as God's people, we should not be doing. It's God's word. It's not made up by the church. It's not made up by a pastor. This is God's word. And I'm going to guarantee that some of the things we're going to go through, there's people potentially in this room, you're struggling with some of it. And it's like, if we don't talk about it, if we don't name the things, I could do a general statement like this. Listen, folks, I love you. Don't sin anymore. And let's just rejoice and move forward. And you'd all say, amen, praise the Lord, let's go. And all the things that we're going to look at, some of those temptations will still be there. Let's take a look at it. A little reminder. Now the works of the flesh are evident. There's no hiding it. We know what the works of the flesh are. You can name them yourself. What are they? Adultery. In other words, sex outside of marriage, fornication, any type of sex outside of marriage, uncleanness, lewdness, all dealing with sexual sins, idolatry, sorcery. I trust that's not here, but you never know. Hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath. You ever get mad and throw a fit? Selfish ambitions. We can all get caught up in, can't we? It's all about me. Dissensions, in other words, arguing with folks, fighting with folks on a continual basis. Heresies, envy, there's a big one. Murders, now I doubt that's a normal thing among God's people, but it can happen. Drunkenness, revelries, and the like. Now catch this, and we're gonna go through this, because it's important we understand this. and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who catch the next word, it's a very important word, who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, I've been through this before, but we've got to look at, and this is where you've got to spend time and go through the grammar. Could a Christian do any of the things that we just went through? Absolutely they could. And you say, well, wait a minute. You're reading at the verse 21 that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, I want you to listen carefully, please. We're not talking about lordship salvation here. We're talking about what God is saying, if you're a Christian, if you're a believer in Christ, you may commit potentially any one of the sins that's on that screen. And folks, if we're all honest, and we all wrote down, yeah, since I was saved, I did, and you could probably name One, two, maybe more of the things on that list. And God is not happy with this, and there are things we should repent of and get rid of, but now I want you to pay attention to this. And especially those that get into Lordship Salvation need to read this carefully. If someone is practicing sin, in other words, from the Greek language, it's a present active participle. In other words, if you are pulling off One or more of those things, and it's a continual, ongoing process that you are absolutely, have no intentions of stopping. It's not more than, but God makes it very clear. If you're caught up in this, and this is your lifestyle, you're practicing it. And God said, listen, if you're practicing sin, of these specific sins that he names, there's a problem. It's the evidence that you've not put your faith and trust in Christ. It's there. Now, you wanna reject this? You wanna tear out verse 21? That's your prerogative, but I gotta leave it in my Bible, because God wrote it. And folks, if somebody is living habitually in sin, refusing to get right with God, refusing to repent, and come to Christ, God says, you've got a problem. He says, who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. It cannot be any clearer. Now, you say, well, wait a minute. And that's why I asked at the beginning, could a Christian commit any one of these sins? Yes, they can. But a Christian will not habitually practice what's on that screen. They can't, because the Holy Spirit's gonna whack them upside the head and say, knock it off. You can't do it. So that's the difference between when the Holy Spirit lives inside someone and says, hey, knock it off. and all of a sudden your conscience starts to burn and it's like, ah, I gotta get out of this. Now folks may stay in sin for a while, but if they're a true believer in Christ, the Holy Spirit's working on them, and that habitual practice of sin, they're gonna stop. They're gonna knock it off eventually. But the unsaved person, they can't stop. Did you hear me? The unsaved person can't stop. Why? Because the Holy Spirit doesn't live within them. Now listen, if you're caught up in anything that's on that screen, should you get rid of it? Absolutely, confess it, get right with God. 1 Corinthians 11, which talks about when we take communion at the Lord's table, if you're caught up, examine yourself, see if you're right with God, confess those things, get them right. 1 John tells us if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, cast it on the altar, give it back to God and say, help me to stop the cycle, help me to break the habit, and God will. Well, the character of God, one more thing and we'll stop. Ephesians 2.4, but God who is rich in mercy, rich in mercy, compassion, having pity on us because of his great, what? All right, now there's multiple words in the Greek language for the word love. The word that's used here, most of you are familiar with. You've heard of the word agape. Phileo is brotherly love. Eros is sensual love. Agape love is pure, if you will, unadulterated love. It shows a high esteem, a high regard and affection. And God says, listen, He is rich in mercy. We were caught up in trespasses and sins. We were dead spiritually. And then the Holy Spirit came, used the Word of God and transformed you. And all of a sudden you realized, I need to put my faith and trust in you. Did. And God transformed you. Why? Because He is rich in mercy. Yes, God is a God of judge. He's a judge. He's harsh at times. But He's also rich in mercy because of His what? His great love with which He loved us. Wait a second. Even when we were dead in trespasses, what did He do? He made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been what? Saved, what is he talking about saved? We always like to go through these words because they have tremendous spiritual meaning. Grace is that free unmerited gift. We talk about it every Sunday. It's free, it's unmerited. We don't deserve it, but Jesus said, I love you. And when you put your faith in Him, what do you do? By grace you have been saved. Delivered to divine salvation. Sins are forgiven. Saved from sin. Saved from the penalty of sin. The Bible tells us, for when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the who? The ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man would one die. Yet perhaps for a good man, someone even dare to die. So the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is putting this in the most simplest of terms. God demonstrates his love toward us. We were yet sinners, but he still loved us. He still died for us. And he brings it down into the human field. Scarcely would we even consider dying for a righteous person. We're about self-preservation. And to put your life on the line and give it to someone for someone else is a heroic move. Think about my buddy Wilbur. Wilbur was in the Marines. This goes back quite a few years ago. Wilbur was a strong fighting soldier like all Marines are. There's a foxhole. Several of his buddies were in that foxhole. Wilbur saw a grenade get thrown into that foxhole. Wilbur ran over, saw his buddies about to be killed, And he jumped on the grenade. And folks, this is a true story. He jumps on the grenade, and it explodes. His face was totally taken off. His body was mangled. But he didn't die. Amazingly. Back in Indiana, when I'd go to pick him up, he couldn't virtually talk. His face was destroyed. I'll be straightforward. It wasn't pleasant to look at. It was horrible to look at him. It was disturbing. And here you have this Marine who said, I love my buddies. And I care about them. And I'm willing to die to save their lives. And Wilbur goes and he jumps on the grenade, literally destroyed his body just short of death. Later in life, he would come to Christ and put his faith in Him. Never missed a Sunday. And God said, listen, I'm jumping on the grenade for you. He said, not only will I do it, I've already done it. Jesus said, I went to the cross. The difference between Wilbur and Jesus is Jesus literally had to pay with His entire life to save us, to save you. He demonstrated His love. A practical exhibition. He clearly showed His love for us. He gave evidence of His love for us. He provided proof of His love for us by giving His life to pay for our sins. Isn't that good? We would, if Wilbur were here today, he'd walk up here, you'd look at him, you might cringe a little bit, but you'd stand up and you'd give him a standing ovation. You'd say, wow, what a sacrifice Wilbur made for those other Marines by saving their lives. We'd stand up and we'd cheer, and rightly so. And God said, excuse me, folks, I sent my son down from heaven. I sent my son. Do you understand what it's like to lose a child? Some of you have gone through that horrific experience where a child dies before mom and dad. Your hearts are broke. You don't know how to continue. And God said, you know how that pain is for those that have gone through that. that you've lost a loved one, and God says, here's how much I love you, my own son. Jesus Christ is going to come down from heaven, God Himself, and He's going to go to that cross behind me, and He died for you. You say, listen, I've known that. I've known that for years. I put my faith in Him. Do you remember? Do you remember who He is? Do you remember the sacrifice that He made for you? What does He ask of us? Get rid of what once controlled us. Get rid of those sins which so easily beset us. And run with patience. Run with Christ. Walk with God this week. Remember who He is. And then listen, folks, as you go to your separate places in an hour or two, How about telling others the greatest news ever given to mankind? How about let's keep getting people to that dinner? How about keep bringing people to church? How about keep bringing them to your Bible studies? How about keep bringing them to Sunday school and Rooted Teens? And how about having a compassion for people like Jesus who demonstrated his love for us? And how about having a spiritual revival in 2025? Father, thank you for your love for us. Thank you for these dear folks. And Father, as we think about the sacrifice that so many people have made to save lives or to give their lives for others, yet, Lord, it pales in comparison to what your Son, Jesus Christ, did for us. Lord, I pray that we would remember in a vivid way what Jesus did to save us from our sins. And that, Father, that we rejoice that You've made us alive in Christ. That we rejoice in who Jesus is. That we be thankful as we dismiss in a few moments and can say the positive things that God has done and rejoice in Him. Father, would You help us? Would You help us, Lord, to be thankful? Would You help us to pray without ceasing? Continue to pursue revival in 2025 in the best possible way we can now finally if you're here this morning or watching on the internet If you died right now, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt if he died you go to heaven Do you know? I'm being dead serious. Do you know if you died right now that you go to heaven? You say, Pastor, I gotta be honest, I'm not sure. Well, this morning we told you about the grace of God, that Jesus Christ loves you so much that he came down from heaven, died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and three days later rose from the dead to prove he was God. He demonstrated his love for you. What do you need to do? Well, we didn't get to the verse this morning, but Ephesians 2, verse 8 and 9 says, For by grace, God's free and merited gift are you saved, saved from sin, saved from the penalty of sin. For by grace are you saved through faith, and it's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of our works, lest any person should boast. Right there we are. Would you realize that the only way you can get to heaven is through putting your faith in Jesus. You can't work your way there, you can't buy your way there. Grace is not what we have done. It is what Jesus Christ has already done for you. Would you put your faith in Him this morning? Right there we are. You say, how do I do it? Just receive His free gift by faith. By faith. Father, I pray now that you take this simple message with tremendous truth. And Father, would you help us to walk out of here as individuals that love you, will serve you this week. Help us to be soldiers of the cross. And we look forward to a tremendous revival in 2025. And we commit all this to you in Jesus' precious name.