Let's pray, guys, and we'll commit our time to the Lord. Father, we thank you for another day, even to be reminded of your great power. Every snowflake that falls is a glorious demonstration of your power, of your sovereignty, of your design, of your beauty. Lord, we pray that you would, that you would remind us of the clean and white and pure hearts that you give to all who are washed in the blood of Christ. We pray that as we talk now about how people change, that you would give light to your word as we talk and discuss these things in Jesus name. Amen. Well, you have your outline there, guys, and this is class number three in the biblical counseling session that we have. I think in class one, a couple of weeks ago, our, our brother, Mike laid the foundation for the sufficiency of the word of God. Remember that how the word is our authority and not just our authority. It is the sufficient word of God to guide us through life. And, and then last week in class number two, we, we, we dealt with the heart, right? Probing deep in the heart, not just behavior, not just externals, but why do we do what we do? Where does it come from? And the Bible reveals that it comes from the heart. That's why Solomon told his son to guard your heart with all diligence for from it flow all the springs of life. Today, we want to look at class number three, kind of piggybacking on last week. In fact, the beginning part of my notes is kind of copied and pasted from the packet from last week. But we want to talk about how people change today. If the real root issue in a counseling class, we're dealing with sins and problems and struggles and hardship and pain. If the real issue is the heart, Well, how do you change? What needs to happen? It's one thing for me to just tell you to change, to give you a pill, to give you a prescription, to give you five steps or 12 steps or whatever it could be. But how do you really change what needs to happen? Look at the top quote on our page here from Tim Lane from a book on how people change. He said, we think, oh, how much better life would be if a certain situation or relationship were different. We all thought that. Right. Meanwhile, God says that what needs change most is us. He does not just work to fix situations and relationships. He is intent on rescuing us from ourselves. We are the focus of his loving, lifelong work of change for his glory. Now, last week, we were talking about the heart, identifying the root of who you really are, identifying who you are as a man, as a person. in your heart. We talked about the location of why you do what you do flowing out of the spring of your heart. And then number two there, we talked about the occupation last week. What are you really after in your life? It's what you worship. All human beings are worshipers. That's a very important fundamental Presupposition that we have to come to from the Bible Romans 1 makes it clear that that that sinners have exchanged the worship of the one true God for Images, you know, you know four-footed creatures and so on so it's really a worship issue. What am I needing? wanting loving longing for craving number three the frustration the problem is The real problem is that we have an idolatry problem. We have a lust problem, not sexual lust. I'm talking a craving problem. Remember Ezekiel 14 talked about we've set up idols in our hearts, the people of Israel have. And what's the solution to heart idolatry, but repentance. Now, I left you hanging last week. And I left you hanging, and maybe I don't remember how I concluded if I posed this question. So if the real issue is the heart, then how do you change? How does a person really bring change about? And that's where number four in your outline, and we're going to kind of delve into this for a minute, it brings us right to the issue of regeneration. The change of heart, guys, biblical counseling at its very core is not about behavioral change. We want that. But at its core, it's about internal heart change. to be more conformed to the image of Christ for his glory. Now, when the heart is changed, behavior will then follow, right? We learned that from Luke and other scriptures where out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So regeneration is what we're after. Look at under number one there, changing the environment, the behavior, the externals, or the feelings will not bring about lasting God-honoring change, AA. 12 steps, reading a book on self-help and different change that you could find on Amazon or something, that may turn over a leaf in somebody's life and maybe give them a new season of some great change, but it's not going to come from the heart. It's not going to be God honoring change. Look at the next bullet point. God wants heart change. Again, the goal is not just changing the circumstance, environment, or situation, or behavior. Now, pause there. That's what the world is all about in secular counseling. That's what secular therapy is all about. How do we change the environment? How do we change your behavior? How do you get relief from your problem? Whatever the problem might be. How do you get relief and let's get it so you're happy with yourself But look at the next sentence simple external change behavior modification is like putting lipstick on a pig the nature desires and Filthiness of the creature has not changed on the inside So the Bible then calls us to a deeper and more lasting change that is in our heart now Look at just some of the scriptures. I just, I pulled together just a few word searches on my computer for scriptures on the heart. Look at this Roman six, thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart. to a new form of teaching. Ephesians 6, you can do the will of God from the heart. First Peter 1, you can love one another from the heart. Deuteronomy 10, serve the Lord your God with all your heart. Deuteronomy 6, love the Lord your God with all your heart. Top of the next page, you shall love, pardon me, you shall serve the Lord your God with all your heart. Deuteronomy 13 and Deuteronomy 16, So the question is how, how do you do this? You know, guys, one of the great glories of the Bible and biblical counseling is you kind of throw up your hands and you say, well, how in the world can I change? How do I change this enslaving behavior? How do I change my heart? And the answer is you can't, you can't. Look at Deuteronomy 30, that little check mark. The Lord will circumcise your heart. And then a little purpose clause. In order or to love the Lord your God with all your heart. You can't love God. You can't serve God. Until the Lord circumcises your heart. Same thing in Ezekiel 36. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh. I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and I will cause you to walk in my statutes and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. How do you bring about change? Answer, you can't until God does the ultimate regenerating new internal spiritual heart change. And then that begins the long journey of sanctification. You see a verse there, Jeremiah 13, 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Well, the answer is, of course not. Well, I should have put the rest of the verse. I'm sorry, guys. Well, neither can you, who are accustomed to doing evil, do good, is what Jeremiah says. It's impossible for you to do good and please God until God changes the heart. You say, okay, Jeff, I get it. What does it look like practically? Skip with me to the bottom of this page, the introduction now to how people change. I want to give you just two hypothetical scenarios. Let's look, number one, at the well-intentioned but misinformed counsel of, let's just call him Cliff. I couldn't think of a name of a guy in our class, so I had to pick Cliff. Cliff is a very concerned and devoted, diligent Christian. But he's been counseling with a guy named Brad, a friend at work, who has confessed homosexual tendencies. Brad is not a Christian. And Cliff has plunged into the counseling process without first confronting him with the gospel. Next page, as Cliff's efforts prove fruitless and even counterproductive, he wonders why he's unable to promote any real change. Cliff's ineffectiveness reflects a problem of order. He's gotten things out of sequence in the counseling process. Properly instructed about the process of counseling as laid out in the Bible, Cliff would have dealt with Brad, pardon me, Cliff, pardon me, Cliff would have dealt with Brad much differently, beginning not with counseling him on his behavior, but pre-counseling. Remember this little axiom that we've mentioned before, all counseling is pre-counseling until a person comes to faith. Whatever sin, whatever hardship, whatever issue in life, you can help them, you can give them advice and counsel, but until the heart is changed, they really can't be pleasing to God at all, Romans 8, verse 7 says. That's one scenario. Look at the warmly caring but harmfully unbiblical counsel by, we can call her, Suzanne. Barbara has been served the divorce papers by Phil, the husband of nine years. Both are professing Christians, and both, they go to a church. But Barbara does not want the divorce at all. But the church has never exercised church discipline. And of course, she's never been instructed and she's never been taught about what to do in such an event. The church has done nothing, crushed and defeated. Barbara turns to Suzanne for advice and comfort and strength. Now, although Suzanne, a member of the same church, would like to help, she's just as equally untaught. So instead of pointing her to heart motives, biblical truth, and Matthew 18 on rebuking a sinning brother or someone who claims to be a brother, Suzanne merely extends sympathy and tries to comfort Barbara by talking it out. Her well-meant efforts soon turn into pity parties and later degenerate further into daily gossip sessions where both of their husbands are on the receiving end of deep loads of resentment and anger and bitterness. When well-meant help is not biblically directed, it does more harm than good. It can be bad advice that then leads to bad action. And guys, we see this all the time. We frequently come into contact with people that are struggling. They've got problems. They've got issues. They've got trials. They've got pain. They have family, internal, external, whatever it could be. How do we provide help? How do we provide counsel? Dr. John Street in the middle of the page here said, Christians seeking to help others, battling with life struggles, need to remember that all counseling is pre-counseling until they come to Christ. I mean, that's just, that's like a fundamental of biblical counseling. When God does the saving work, okay, now let's talk about how we can deal with the heart. with Scripture, in the context of the Church, by the power of the Holy Spirit, with Christian accountability, with prayer, and bring about change. But if they're not saved, we can talk about your marriage. We can talk about your bad relationships. We can talk about your anxiety and all that. But there's really a deeper and a much more significant and a much more eternal problem that you must deal with. And I've got to tell you about it. And that's your relationship with God. And boom, you get into the gospel there and call them to repent and believe. But that's vital because if they don't have heart change, whatever counsel you give them, as good as it may be, is not going to bring about any God honoring change. Jim Neuheiser at the bottom of the page, the change that we as biblical counselors seek is very unique. The change that we as counselors seek to make in the lives of people. By the way, I talk about biblical counselors here. Every one of you and I in this room, we're biblical counselors. That's what we're doing. We're equipping us as men to be counselors. Don't think of the certified licensed therapists here. Think of every Christian who is filled with all goodness and knowledge, Romans 15, 14, and we are able to admonish one another. You're a counselor. You're a Christian counselor with the greatest tool that could have ever been given. The Word of God. So the change we as biblical counselors seek to make in the lives of people is unique. It's not a man-centered change where somebody says, well, I just want to be happy. I want to be comfortable. I want to think better of myself as slim, handsome, popular. I just want relief from my struggles and pain. Rather, our counseling is not about man. It's a God-centered change. As Paul writes, the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart. So we desire to present every man complete in Christ. And so we want to help people to live lives for the glory of God, but that will involve changing things in their lives. It'll come about when the heart is changed. Okay, so you say, Jeff, I get it. I'm there with you. How? How do I change? Answer the question for me. Top of the page. Regeneration in parentheses. That's kind of assumed at this point. You've got to have a heart change. You've got to be a Christian. Okay. Then, number one, you must realize the sin. Well, that's the heart. That's last week. What am I wanting? What am I longing for? Why did I lash out in anger? to realize the sin. Number two, remove. This is the doctrine of repentance. I excavate deep and I dig up that sin from the heart. Number three, I replace it. It's one thing to pull up the bad stuff underground, but then you want to replace it with godliness. So you want to replace, renew new actions, a heart that is following after God. And then fourth, we want to remain. Persevere, endure, bear fruit, continue on. I was reading this week in my Bible, in Matthew 16, the little box on your page there, this is what Jesus said. You deny yourself. Well, that's removing, that's putting off sin. You're taking up your cross. That's replacing the denying of self with taking up your cross. And then you're following after Christ. That is a thoroughly biblical process, and you see under that there, J. Adams also agrees that 2 Timothy 3 brings about a four-step process for change. And again, we're not into, hey, here's steps to make everything magically work. We want to follow the word. And that's what he does here from second Timothy three, we must teach the truth. And then we've got to convict by expose the sin. And then we've got to correct by show how to walk on the right path. And then there's that training in righteousness. Now, I don't want to spend much time at the bottom of this page, but look at unbiblical ideas of change. And much more could be said, and these kind of overlap a little bit, but these are everywhere. It's funny. We live in a culture that is that is so Consumed with self and we are the so we are the most unhappy culture on the planet you go to look at a bookstore and most of them are all about helping yourself and then the other half is about dealing with your problems you how to be happy and then how to cope with your problems and People want to know how to change But look at the first bullet point behavioral modification Just pull yourself up. Change your behavior. Focus on the externals. Lots and lots of do's and don'ts. It may include this let go, let God mentality. You're focusing solely on the externals. You're putting lipstick on the pig, as we said earlier. Or another unbiblical view under that, where someone may be seeming to wait for kind of a divine event that just kind of takes away the strong pulls of the temptation. I'm just waiting for God to take away my desire for homosexual tendencies, or my desire for lust, or my temptation toward greed, or whatever it may be. It's very a passive, kind of a non-active, kind of sitting back, waiting for God to just sort of zap you and make things better. Under that is a similar one, kind of the Wesleyan view. It's called the Wesleyan view under that, where you just kind of admit, yeah, we all sin all the time, but very seldom is there true confession and asking of forgiveness and biblical repentance. This can lead to almost like a party of people who just kind of admit that you sin. Did you lust this week? Yeah, I did too. Did you? Yeah. Did you? And it's like everybody's together kind of finding comfort in everybody's own sin rather than mortifying and hacking this thing to death. And then finally the bottom one sometimes called the Keswick view This is just really let go and let God you kind of absorb what the Bible says you kind of Without really an intentional effort to really pursue it You just you kind of think that God is just sort of gonna again zap you make things better You'll grow in sanctification without any effort on your own. Well, that's not what the Bible teaches, of course Go to the next page, look at, now those are unbiblical views of sanctification, of change. How do we change biblically? What is sanctification? Bob Kellerman, good, solid biblical counselor, he says this, the biblical approach to sanctification is a both-and approach. Christ's grace is both a salvation grace and a sanctification grace. Now, we highlight both the indicatives of our salvation. Hey, God saved you. He did the work. It is all a work of God. But we also highlight the imperatives of our sanctification that you must put off and put on. You've got to love your wife. You've got to put off the deeds of the flesh. You've got to walk in holiness. You've got to follow after Christ. We must understand our salvation and that we have a role to play in applying our salvation. So middle of the page, if I could just summarize how people change, I don't know if I could do better and simpler in the little box that you have put off and put on. And I like this little phrase because it's biblical. This is what Paul uses frequently in the word of God. One of my biblical counselors in seminary said permanent change in the Christian life is always two factored, two faceted heads and tails of the same coin putting off and putting on. Maybe you can think of it as a, you know, a de-habituation, a de-habilitation process and a re-habilitation process. You're putting off one behavior and you're putting on another in its place. I just put a couple of scriptures here, bottom of the page, putting off. Scriptural language lay aside put to death Romans 13 lay aside the deeds of darkness Ephesians 4 lay aside the old self Hebrews 12 lay aside every encumbrance Colossians 3 5 put to death Romans 8 put to death the deeds of the flooding body and then under that put on a Ephesians 6, put on the full armor of God. Colossians 3, put on the new self. Again, Colossians 3, put on a heart of compassion. And then others, put on love, be renewed, be renewed, be renewed. Guys, I put two quotes here, one by Jay Adams and one by Wayne Mack. This is so simple, but it's so profound. put off, put on. We're dealing with people that already have new hearts. This is gold for you and me in the context of a local church with fellow members who all have professed to believe in the Lord Jesus. They've got new hearts. They're walking with Christ. They have the new hearts. This is put off, put on language. We can do this in the context of our church. You can do this. Jay Adams, top of the page, writes concerning why Paul gives a two part put off, put on response. He said, putting off will not be permanent without putting on. Hey, stop getting drunk. Hey, stop your anger. Stop your rage. Stop your impatience and your anxiety. Just stop it. Well, you know, if you don't put on something in its place, J. Adams says that change is going to be hypocritical and temporary unless it is accompanied by putting off the sin and then a true putting on change. Wayne Mack put it like this. For our instruction to be biblically accurate, we must not merely tell people what they should not do, but we should tell them what they should do. We need to help them replace old sinful habits with godly ones. Now, next paragraph, guys, this is all through the Bible. All through the Bible. I just put here a sampling of scriptures that came to mind, but let me just show you a few before we dig deep into three of them. Take your Bible and go to 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2, it's the last letter of Paul's life before he will die in prison in Rome. Let me show you how practical this is. 2 Timothy 2.22, now flee from youthful lusts. put off, flee, run away from. Don't give in to the youthful lusts. I say, got it, Paul. But look at what he says next. Pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace. Well, how do I do that? With those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. If you're putting off, putting on is never to be individualistic. It's to be in the context of those who love God. You're to be not following the youthful lusts, but pursuing godly deeds. Just go back a page to 1 Timothy chapter six. 1 Timothy chapter six. Okay, so you've got somebody who's battling with greed, coveting, love of money. First Timothy chapter six, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Verse 10, look at verse 11, flee from these things, flee, run away from it. You know, somebody tells you their battle with these things and you say, flee from it. Good, but look at how Paul continues. Verse 11, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, gentleness, fight the good fight of faith, take hold of eternal life. Later on at the end of the book, he's going to say in verse 18, you need to be generous and ready to share. There's an element of putting off and putting on. We can turn to the right a little bit. I love this first Peter chapter 2. It's so practical. I mean so practical First Peter 2 and he even uses the language verse 1 putting aside all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander you don't know how practical it is in the church if there's one person that you see and you and their slander and I mean, they're slandering in the local body. You don't ignore it. You can't. Putting aside, what do you do? Verse two, like newborn babies, you long for the pure milk of the word so that by it, you may grow in respect to salvation. If you've tasted the kindness of the Lord, you need to put aside those things, but we need to put on. like newborn babies, a hunger, don't hunger about somebody else's business and slander them about it. We need to put on a hunger for the word. We got it. We got to be in the word. James, a very familiar section in chapter one, James chapter one, verse 21, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness. Look at verse 21, receive the implanted word. We need to put off ungodly attitudes and put on the hearing of the word. being in church, under the word of God, receiving the word of God is a very important part of the putting on process. And on and on, we could go with more scriptures. Now, bottom of that page, you've got a summary from Jay Adams that just kind of summarizes, but let me read the three headings. Change is brought about by the word, and it must be blessed by the spirit of God, and is all about bringing the Christian closer to Christ's likeness. Fellas, a secularist doesn't get it. It's not that they're doing something wrong. They're just blinded. They're unregenerate. They can't bring about God-honoring change. But true biblical counseling and change is about the Word of God ministering the Word with the Spirit of God taking His Word deep into the hearts of God's people so that that person caught in a sin or a hard situation in life can be more conformed to the image of Jesus. Well, where's the relief? We want relief. Well, it may come, it may not come. And the suffering may get easier. It may, it may get harder, but what's the sovereign plan of God. We're going to talk about that next week. Okay. Next page. Okay. So how do people change supported biblically exegetically for the time that remains for the next 10 minutes or so, I want to take you to three scriptures. Go with me first to Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four. Let me, let me, while you're turning there, give you this one thing. If you've heard of David Powelson, he's a biblical counselor. And if you've not heard of that name, you could read anything he's written and you'll be blessed by it. David Powelson has said, you know what? If you're a Christian and you want to know one book of the Bible, really, really, really, really well. That'll deal directly with any issue in life or indirectly with how to handle any issue in life, any issue. And he comes, he was medically trained in psychiatry. He taught at one of the Ivy League schools in New York in that department until God saved him, left that profession, now he's a biblical counselor. He said, if you wanna know one book of the Bible, Ephesians is that book. Know it, memorize it, study it, hide it in your heart. Well, Ephesians four. Now, I'm doing number two first. We'll get to Colossians in a moment. But Ephesians chapter four, Just look at the context with me in verse 17 Ephesians 4 17 this I say and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer Just as the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their mind being darkened in their understanding Excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their heart He can say that because of chapters 1 2 & 3 you're you're new God saved you God has done the work of salvation. Now, chapter 417, don't live like them. Verse 20, you did not learn Christ in this way. If indeed you have heard him and you've been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus. Verse 22, that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, put off the deeds of the flesh, lay them aside. Look at verse 24, put on the new self. See that there? How do you do it? Look what's sandwiched right in the middle in verse 23. You must be renewed in the spirit of your mind. It's about the mind. It's about the heart. It's about your way of thinking. It's not just behavior. It's not externals. It's Romans 12. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Paul says, put off the deeds of the flesh and now put on the new self. How do you do it? Be renewed in your mind. Now, Paul's going to say in verse 25, let me show you. Verse 25, therefore, example number one, laying aside falsehood. Somebody's lying. They're lying. They're lying. It's one thing for you to say, just don't lie. Just stop, confess, repent. put off lying. No, no, no. Look at what he does. Verse 25. Now speak truth. Each one of you with his neighbor. Why? Because we are members of one another. Do you see it right there? Put off, put on. When is a liar no longer a liar? No. Many people say well when he stops lying We all that that's when he begins to form new habits of telling the truth Now that's true when he stops lying. We need that of course but God's Word takes us one step farther and And he says, that's true. Stop lying. But now speak truth, have habits of speaking truth. Paul's going to say, let, let, let me make another example. Verse 26, be angry and do not sin, or maybe in your anger, do not sin, do not sin. Well, just stop being angry. Stop lashing out verse 26. Well, wait a minute. Look at the rest of the verse. Don't let the sun go down on your anger. What does that mean? Deal with it right away. Verse 27, don't give the devil an opportunity. And at the end of the, look at the end of the chapter, verse 32, be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other as God in Christ has forgiven you. When are you no longer an angry person? Well, it's when you're dealing with it right then, right there, not holding a grudge, not resentful, you're kind, tenderhearted, forgiving each other. Another example, verse 28 of Ephesians 4. Verse 28, don't steal. Don't steal. When is a thief? No longer a thief. When you stop stealing, no Paul's gonna go farther. Look at this. Rather, he must work, performing with his own hands what is good, so that you have something to share with one who has need. You can just say, stop stealing. Well, that's good. But biblical change includes the putting on. Well, now you're working, but you're not just working. Now you're actually generous and you're sharing with the one who has need. Do you see what Paul's doing here? It's the putting off and the putting on. Verse 29. you've got somebody who's got a filthy mouth. Bad language is coming out. Maybe it's envy. Maybe it's slander. Maybe it's rage. Maybe it's foul mouth. Maybe it's using God's name in vain. Verse 29, let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth. Stop talking that way. Good. But here's the putting on. But now only speak such a word as is good for building up. Hey, will you stop slandering? Hey, will you stop using God's name in vain? Will you stop with just the cutting remarks? Good. But now cultivate habits of edifying speech and timely speech according to the need of the moment so that it will give grace to those who hear. I could tell my son, stop being rude and mean to your sister. Stop talking that way. But true biblical change will come about in a real believer's heart when they say, okay, I'll stop doing that. And by the Spirit's help, I will speak words that are good for building up. You see the twofold change here. You're putting off and you're putting on. You're putting off and you're putting on. There's a box on the bottom of your page that kind of flushes it out more with bitterness and revenge and idolatry. and conforming to evil desires. Let's come to Colossians 3 later in a minute. Go to the last page. I really want to get here with our time. Go with me. You say, well, is that a New Testament thing? It's not just a New Testament thing. Go to Proverbs chapter 5. Now, as you're turning there, here's the context. You've got a father with a son. And the father is saying to the son, look, your temptations are going to be many. Don't fall into sexual sin. You've got to be pure. You've got to fight against immorality. Okay. We'll notice the context. Proverbs 4.23. Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life. Okay. We get it. Chapter five. Look at verses one to six. It's all gonna begin with listen up, listen up, listen to God's word. Verse one, my son, give attention to my wisdom. Incline your ear to understanding. Verse two, that you may observe discretion and your lips may reserve knowledge. For the lips of an adulterous drip honey and smoother than oil is her speech. So in these opening verses, it's like Solomon saying, listen up, listen to the words that are helpful here. Now the whole chapter, the whole chapter guys is put off, put on. That's the whole chapter. How do you fight sexual sin? Well, don't do it. Put on a website blocker, get accountability. Good, putting off. but you've got to put on. In verses one, seven through 14, you really have the putting off, the putting off. You said it here in verse three, the lips of an adulterous drip honey smoother than oil is her speech. Look at verse seven. Now then my sons, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her. Don't even go near the door. If you want to stay out of the bed, don't even go into subdivision. Don't even go near. the immoral woman, or, and he gives all these warnings, put off, put off, don't go there. But now he's going to say, put on holy love. Look at verse 15, drink water from your own cistern. Well, what if somebody's single? What if they're not yet married? What if they're not of marriageable age yet? What if they're a teenager and you're saying, don't do this, don't give in, don't give in, don't give in. There's a wonderful, beautiful, God ordained and God blessed occasion to give in. That's the putting on. You're not there yet, but be patient. Drink water from your own sister in verse 15. Fresh water from your own well. Should your springs be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets, let them be yours alone, not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be exhilarated, literally in the Hebrew, be overly intoxicated with your wife's love. How do you fight immorality? Yes, yes, you're warned. Yes, you're told to put it off. But then there's that element of, you want to pursue that which is good. You want to pursue that which is right. And then the end of the chapter, Solomon is gonna say, now remember God, he sees everything. Remember God and God just permeates the thinking here in verse 21 the ways of a man or before the eyes of the Lord and he watches all of his paths One more I think we have a couple of minutes left turn with me to Colossians chapter 3 now we're gonna read it tonight in our corporate worship service So I don't wanna dwell on it, but I wanna mention it so that as we're reading it tonight, you'll think, oh yeah, I see the outline right here. Okay, Colossians chapter three, guys. I'm just going back a page in your outline here. Now, Colossians three has a threefold outline. You gotta get it, it's biblical counseling at its best. Number one, your identity, who you are. Your position, you got a new heart, you got a new nature. Then, number two, mortification. You kill your sin, you put it to death, you hack it, you put it off, and then you put on. Verse one, therefore, I like since you have been raised up with Christ. Keep seeking the things above. You've been raised up with Christ. In Pauline language, you're a new creation. You're a Christian. You've got a new heart. You're seated in the heavenly places. You're regenerated. You're born again. Verse three, you've died. Your life is hidden with Christ and God. Okay, you've got the heart changed. You're able to change. Verse five. Who has the ESV? What do you have? Ron, what do you have in verse five? So that means that no Christian can ever say, I can't do it. I can't do it. No, you can. You can. You know, in biblical counseling, no Christian can ever say, I won't do it, if you're showing them from the Word. They can't say, I won't do it. And they can't say, I can't do it. If you've got a new heart, if you've been raised up with Christ, if you have a new nature, you've died and your life is hidden. Paul says, you need to put these things to death. You can overcome all of these lists of vices right here. Look at verse eight, put them all aside. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech. Verse nine, lying to each other. We can, we can do it by the power of God through his word and the enabling grace of the spirit. Verse 12. So as those who have been chosen, your holy and beloved put on, do you see it there? This is a biblical counseling chapter. You got to have the identity in verses one to four. and then you put off and you put on. Change happens as you put off, put on through the ministry of the word, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through much effort for a believer, right? Seeking to honor the Lord and walk in holiness in the context of the local church. That is biblical counseling and where change happens for the glory of God. The goal of biblical counseling is change for you to be made more like Jesus. Not just relief. Temporally, from a problem or a pain or a suffering. Now, there may come relief. Or it may be intensified. But, as the believer, my strength is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in your weakness. When I am weak, then I am strong. That's the beauty of having the wisdom of God's word to bring about real change. Now, that's today, how people change. Next week, I wanna take you with me down the highway of suffering. We want to talk about the reality of suffering. Look, biblical counselors, we're not sort of floating on cloud nine, pretending that the Bible is going to make you happy and healthy and wealthy, and you're never going to have suffering, right? I mean, trash the health, wealth, prosperity, so-called gospel. It's not. The Bible deals straight on with real suffering. Next week, we want to deal with suffering. A biblical view of suffering. Why do people suffer? Why does God decree suffering? And how do we suffer well? Sound good? Okay. Father, thank you for these guys. Thank you for our time. In your word, Lord, every one of us around this table, we have sins that we battle with. Lord God, we ask, O Father, that you would forgive us, Lord, for superficial change. Lord, would you kindly show us more of our sin? And would you give us the grace to repent, to hate it, to forsake it? And then, O God, would you help us to put on the deeds of holiness, new habits, godliness, We pray, oh God, that you would help us, that you would grow us, that you would mature these men around the table. Lord, remind us that we are biblical counselors as we can help one another in life. In Jesus name. Amen.