[0:00] Greet you in the name of Jesus this morning, the one who gave his life that we can have eternal life. Let me turn these lights on. They do help a little bit when you're reading.
[0:18] I appreciate the devotional this morning. It fits very well with the message. Are we growing in the Christian life? Are we progressing?
[0:33] Are we yielding to the Lord Jesus, to his spirit when he speaks to us? Are we refusing and remaining babes in Christ?
[0:45] This morning, I want to speak about sanctification.
[0:58] And you can turn to Ephesians 5. We'll start there. But this word sanctify, sanctification. So there's two definitions that people will use with this word.
[1:15] And the one is to set apart, to separate, to make holy. And then we also look at it as a continuing work in the Christian's life to remove from our lives that which hinders, that which holds us back, that which keeps us from growing to a strong and mature Christian.
[1:52] The people that we read about there in Corinthians, they should have grown up.
[2:05] They should have been strong Christians. Hebrews also talks about a people that when you should be teachers, you are yet babes in need of milk.
[2:20] And I believe what, like Joe said, what makes people be that way is because they refuse to give themselves to the word of God.
[2:38] They refuse to hear the word. You know, many people will go to church on a Sunday and that's basically all of their Christianity.
[3:00] You can maybe survive that way if you, but barely. I believe that is what I was talking about.
[3:17] So this morning I'm going to look at this. There's a verse in Thessalonians. We'll probably get to it later. But it says there's one phrase I want to quote out of this right now.
[3:33] Out of 1 Thessalonians, it says, This is the will of God, even your sanctification. Even your sanctification.
[3:44] That is the will of God. That is what he desires. So if the word tells us that this is his will for us, then we need to take heed to it, right?
[3:57] And along with that, I will say that I find much practical instruction in the word of God. In the epistles, they are loaded with practical instructions for Christian living.
[4:17] And so I believe that it is of utmost importance that we give ourselves to the word of God, that we read and study the word, that we rightly divide the word, and that we hear the word of God.
[4:34] I want to begin in Ephesians chapter 5. And it would be good to read quite a bit here, but for now we will look at two verses in verse 26 and 27.
[4:52] That he might sanctify and cleanse it. He's talking about the church. Let's read verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it.
[5:10] Jesus gave himself for the church that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
[5:34] So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church.
[5:51] So the Lord nourishes and he cherishes the church. He gave himself for the church. Why? And what is his goal?
[6:01] You know, his goal is that someday he will have a pure and a spotless bride. Verse 27 says that he might present it to himself.
[6:12] What? A glorious church. A glorious church. Not a church that's just barely surviving. Not a church that is still surviving on milk, but a church that is strong.
[6:27] A church that is glorious. A church where the power of God is manifest. And how will he have that church?
[6:39] He must sanctify it. He must cleanse it. By what? By the washing of water. By the word. This word of God, it will wash us.
[6:49] It will cleanse us. It will set us free if we will take heed to it. In Psalm, it says, how will a young man cleanse his way?
[7:01] It is by taking heed to the word of God. Let me see if I have that somewhere. Might not have been quoted perfectly. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
[7:13] By taking heed according to thy words. That is how Psalm 119 says specifically for young men to cleanse their way.
[7:25] And it's not just for young men. It's for all of us. It's for all of us. How will we cleanse our way? It is by taking heed to the word of God.
[7:36] Ephesians said that Jesus, he desires and he is working by his spirit now to sanctify and cleanse the church, the body of Christ.
[7:51] And he uses the word of God to do that. Why? That he might present it to himself a glorious church. You know, Jesus is looking for a bride.
[8:04] Someday, someday the church, the bride of Christ will be in heaven. And he, what is he looking for? He's looking for a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, not spotted by the word, not by the world, not wrinkled and crumbled up, not diseased, but pure and spotless, pure and spotless, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, not defiled by the world, I might say, not defiled by the world, but holy and without blemish.
[8:55] So that is, that is what we're looking at this morning, is the desire of our Lord Jesus. And that is what he desires in each one of us.
[9:12] And we will look at this here this morning. So when we look at this, it says that Jesus, that he might, he is the sanctifier.
[9:26] The Holy Ghost is the one that comes. He is the one that dwells within us. He is the one that works in us, that speaks to our heart and works to cleanse us, to bring us to a place to see those things that are hindering us.
[9:48] So we say that he will cleanse us and he will sanctify us. But there is much for us to do. And we will look at that as we go along.
[10:01] I have a long list of verses here that we, that we will look at as we go along here this morning. But as I was writing down, I write down the reference and a little phrase to tell me what it's about.
[10:19] And I notice here, let me just read these words out of all these different verses. And this is probably not all of them, but things that we must do, things that are upon us.
[10:34] It's our part. And we'll, next we'll go to 1 John chapter 3. But there, our job is purify himself.
[10:46] In Hebrews 12, lay aside. In 2 Corinthians, cleanse ourselves. In 2 Timothy, depart from iniquity and purge ourselves.
[10:59] Flee youthful lusts and follow after righteousness. Abstain from fornication. And on and on. Things that God expects us to do as our part in this great work of purification and sanctification and living a holy life.
[11:21] So in 1 John, in 1 John chapter 3, here we have these great and wonderful verses.
[11:32] We'll start reading in verse 1. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.
[11:43] Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it does not yet appear what we shall be.
[11:55] But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. You know, there's a day coming when we will be like Jesus.
[12:09] And that day is when we see him. When he appears again, when he comes back, we will see him and we will be like him. For we shall see him as he is.
[12:22] But verse 3 is the verse that I was wanting. Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.
[12:35] Do we have this hope in us? You know, if we're born again, we have the hope of eternal life. We have the hope that Jesus will return and will take us to himself.
[12:49] We have that hope in our hearts. And he says here, every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as Jesus is pure.
[13:02] Are you purifying yourself? Are you allowing him to cut away and separate away those things in your life that hinder, those things that defile, those things that hinder you in the Christian life?
[13:20] In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1. I'll read a few verses here. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doeth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
[13:51] Again, he's pointing out things that we must do. You know, when the Holy Ghost comes and he lays his finger on something, on a hindrance in your heart, on a sin that you're hiding in your heart, he lays his finger on that and he says, now's the time.
[14:09] Now's the time to lay it down. Now's the time to be set free from this thing. That's what we're talking about. He says, let us lay aside every weight.
[14:21] Those things, you know, a weight is something that it might not necessarily even be sin, but it is something that keeps you from, that hinders you in your Christian life, something that keeps you from reading the Bible, something that keeps you from your prayer time.
[14:40] It is something that hinders you. It comes between you and God. And if you allow it to stay, it will become an idol. He says to lay aside those weights and the sin which does so easily beset us.
[14:56] You know, we all know what besets us. We know what is in our life that we allow that hinders us.
[15:08] And we know those things that we sometimes give in to. But he tells us here, he tells us to lay them aside.
[15:20] To lay them aside and to run with patience the race that is set before us. You know, if we're going to run a race, we don't want to carry more than we have to.
[15:34] And so, we lay aside those things of the world. We lay aside those things that hinder us. We lay aside those things that will bog us down.
[15:50] And we run this race with patience. He goes on later in the chapter here, he talks about chastening.
[16:00] And we'll talk about the sanctifying work of the Lord. But this is one way, this is one of the ways that he sanctifies us.
[16:11] Is when, you know, when there's something in your life and you refuse to lay it down, our Lord may bring chastening to chasten us.
[16:22] Why? That we will yield and surrender to him. You know, if we're fully surrendered to him, then when he speaks to us, we will just say, yes, Lord.
[16:35] But if we resist, if we resist and we refuse, then he must bring chastening. He says here, in the middle of verse 5, my son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.
[16:54] For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and he scourges every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons.
[17:08] For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? If ye be without chastisement, chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons.
[17:21] You know, if we are a son of God, he will continue to work in our heart. He will continue to remove things that hinder us. He will continue to build us up and to take us further that his glory can be seen in our life.
[17:40] He wants to raise us up to be effective in the kingdom of God. He wants us, he wants us to be strong in the power of his might.
[17:54] Why? That we can overcome and that we can help others to overcome, that we can be intercessors, that we can fight the good fight of faith, and that we can overcome the enemy.
[18:08] Verse 10 says that he chastens us for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
[18:21] This is what he's after, is to make us holy. Peter says, be ye holy, for I am holy. The one that has called us is holy, and he is making us holy.
[18:36] Will we yield to him and allow him to do his work in us and through us to make us into men and women that he can use, to make us into a vessel that is useful in the kingdom of God.
[18:52] That is what he's working for. That is what he's desiring. He's doing chastening, growth, cleansing, blind spots. You know, we're busy in this life, and it's so easy for something to creep in that we're blind to, and we don't see it.
[19:12] But God sees it. Maybe even our fellow man sees it. Jesus, through the power of the Holy Ghost, will come and bring chastening to set us free from those things that hinder us, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
[19:39] That is what he's after in 1 Peter 1, verse 13, talks about this.
[19:55] He's talking about this great salvation. It's, Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
[20:13] As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. The former lusts in our ignorance, that old life, those old things that used to control us, those old things that used to dominate our life.
[20:34] You know, Ephesians talks about, Ephesians 2, he says, you know, about how we used to be, under the control of the powers of darkness.
[20:44] But now, that we're born again, we're in the new kingdom, we're in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We're now delivered from those former lusts.
[21:00] That is, what he's deciding to do, is to deliver us completely from everything, from everything, anything, anything that hinders us in the Christian life, anything that is yet belongs to the old life.
[21:17] Verse 15, but as he which is called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, in all areas of life, in all manner of conversation, and, you know, everywhere we go, everything we do, in all of life, he wants us to live a holy life because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy.
[21:50] He which is called you is holy, and he wants to sanctify us and set us free that we can be holy.
[22:01] 2 Corinthians 7, 1, I think I may have already quoted this, but I want to read it just to get it right.
[22:12] You know, before this, in chapter 6, he's talking about we are the temple of the living God, and God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them.
[22:26] I will be their God. They shall be my people. Verse 17, in chapter 6, wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you.
[22:43] Touch not the unclean thing. You know, those things of the world that defile, those old lusts and those old sins, they defile, they defile.
[22:55] They defile. You know, if you allow them in your heart, they will defile you. And he's admonishing us not to touch them, not to go back to them, but to be separated.
[23:11] And he says, if we, if we will separate ourselves, he will receive us. And I will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
[23:25] We are the temple of God. That is who we are as Christians, as the church of Jesus Christ.
[23:35] He lives within us. He dwells within us. Now, chapter 7, verse 1. Having therefore these promises, these great promises that God will be our father, that he will dwell within us.
[23:52] Having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
[24:06] You know, I believe that one thing that is very much missing in the church of today is the fear of God. You know, all they want to talk about is the grace of God and the love of God.
[24:20] And those have their place. But the fear of God must be in our heart. If it is not in our heart, then we will allow those things that beset.
[24:33] We will allow those things that contaminate. We will allow those things that defile and hinder us and keep us from ever walking in the full will of God.
[24:45] having these precious promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
[25:10] You know, he will cleanse us, but he tells us we must cleanse ourselves. We must flee.
[25:21] We must depart from. We must cleanse ourselves. And we'll be looking at those things more as we continue on. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, we'll start in verse 15.
[25:37] Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
[25:49] Rightly dividing the word of truth. You know, when we get up front here and we share the gospel, we share, we talk about the word of God, we're expected to rightly divide the word of truth.
[26:05] But you must also, when you read the word, you must submit to it and you must rightly divide that word and accept it into your heart.
[26:18] Let's continue reading here. But shun profane and vain babblings. They will increase into more ungodliness. And he names a couple men here who have erred and they've gone away into false doctrine.
[26:35] And it says here, the end of verse 18, that through their wrong teaching, they overthrow the faith of some.
[26:50] You know, we see this all about us. False teaching, false doctrine, men teaching maybe a lot of truth with some poison, some error in it.
[27:05] And they overthrow the faith of some. Now verse 19, nevertheless, the foundation of God stand assure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.
[27:20] And let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. There it is again.
[27:31] Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Again, something we must do. Depart from iniquity.
[27:43] Separate ourselves from iniquity. Separate ourselves from those things that destroy faith in God. You know, Proverbs, there's a verse that says, cease to listen to the voice that causes to err.
[28:04] Those false teachers, don't listen to them. Separate yourself from them. depart from iniquity.
[28:22] Verse 20, But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, some to dishonor.
[28:37] If a man, therefore, purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
[28:50] Flee also youthful lusts, but follow after righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
[29:02] But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strives. Now, let me go back. I want to look at this. Now, I want to read.
[29:15] I want to read verse 21 and 22 out of the Amplified. So, whosoever cleanses himself from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences, will then himself be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the master, fit and ready for any good work.
[29:58] You know, are we willing to do this? Are we willing to do what it takes to live a holy life?
[30:13] Are we willing to allow him to cleanse us and to set us free from that old life, from those old chains, those old chains of bondage, those things that used to trip us?
[30:29] Are we willing to separate ourselves from that? He says here, if a man purge himself from these, if a man cleanses himself from what is unclean, from what is not noble, if we separate ourselves from from contact with things that contaminate and corrupt, those corrupting influences, are we willing to separate ourselves from them?
[31:09] If we are, then we can be a vessel set apart for honorable and noble purposes, useful, useful, says here, consecrated and profitable to the master and fit and ready for any good work.
[31:33] Verse 22, shun youthful lusts and flee from them. You know, those lusts of the flesh, those things that trip us, he says, flee from them.
[31:47] You know, Joseph, when he fled from Potiphar's wife, you know, he knew that if he would not flee, he would give in.
[31:58] He had to flee. That's what we're talking about. Shun youthful lusts, flee from them and aim at and pursue righteousness.
[32:11] You know, we're not just wandering aimlessly here from Sunday to Sunday. We're not just you know, we're born again and so we're in the kingdom and we're okay now.
[32:26] He gives us direction here. He says, aim at and pursue righteousness. And when we're talking about righteousness, he describes it here as all that is virtuous and good, right living, conformity to the will of God in thought, word, and deed.
[32:53] You know, that covers almost all of our life, doesn't it? Conformity to the will of God. You know, when you're tempted, when you're in distress, when you're about to give in, think of this, is it the will of God?
[33:16] What is the will of God in this situation? The will of God is that you flee those lusts. He admonishes here to live in conformity to the will of God in thought, the things that we think, in word, the things that we say, and indeed, the things that we do.
[33:44] Thought, word, deed includes all of life, does it not? And if we, if we will, if we will, then, he says, aim at and pursue faith, love, and peace, harmony and concord, unity with others in fellowship with all Christians who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.
[34:21] do we have that pure heart? Are we holy in the sight of God? Are we making excuses for our life?
[34:35] You know, as long as we make excuses for our failures, we will never go on to strong meat. We will just, we will just stay there drinking the milk and we will never become strong.
[34:52] Follow after righteousness, faith, charity, peace. Psalm 119, 9, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed to the word of God.
[35:08] By taking heed to this word, if you take this word to heart, it will strengthen you.
[35:20] The next verse in Psalms says, With my whole heart have I sought thee. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.
[35:35] Have we hid this word of God in our hearts? Have we, are we seeking God with all our heart? Or are we seeking Him with part of our hearts?
[35:48] Our life will show that. 1 Thessalonians 4, starting verse 1. Furthermore, well, let's look what's before this.
[36:09] Verse 11, Now God Himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men, even as we do toward you.
[36:29] To the end He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
[36:42] This is the end goal. This is the goal for each one of us, that He will establish our hearts unblameable in holiness before God.
[36:57] You know, the Bible tells us that to compare ourselves among ourselves is not wise.
[37:09] No, but we need to be unblameable in holiness before God, not just make me as good as my brother or better than my brother.
[37:21] No, but we're comparing ourselves to God, to our Lord Jesus. You know, Ephesians has that wonderful verse. Let me just get that while I'm, it's in chapter 4 in Ephesians.
[37:40] He says here in verse 12, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, and this is the goal for the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
[38:14] That is the goal, that is, that is what we are striving for. I'm not striving to be as good or better than my brother.
[38:26] I'm not Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ, but Jesus is our example. He is the one that we follow after.
[38:38] He is the perfect man. It says here, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
[38:52] That is what he's looking for in each one of us. That we come to full maturity and that when he looks at us, he sees Jesus.
[39:05] When God the Father, when he looks down upon us, he sees Jesus in your life. He sees you as a follower of the Lord Jesus.
[39:18] And Jesus is Lord of your heart, Lord of your life. life. And when he looks at us, he sees Jesus. That is what he's looking for.
[39:36] That we may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. That we grew up in Christ. That is what he's looking for.
[39:48] That is, I believe, what he's referring to here in verse 13 in 1 Thessalonians 3, that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God.
[40:03] Now, verse 1 in chapter 4, furthermore, on top of all this, furthermore, then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received us, how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
[40:27] That ye would abound more and more. I believe that this life is an ever growth. It's ever growing. That is why he says that ye would abound more and more as we continue on and we grow in this life.
[40:45] We grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
[40:57] For this is the will of God, even your sanctification. This is the verse that I quoted to start with. This is the will of God, even your sanctification.
[41:12] it is the will of God that you are sanctified. It is the will of God that you are set apart and holy unto his purposes.
[41:23] That is his will. That is his desire. It is the will of God. You know, many times we wonder what is the will of God and as young people we want to know what God's will is for my life.
[41:40] And it starts with this. It starts with the obvious. The word of God will give you an answer. And it starts with this answer right here.
[41:53] That after you are born again and you're walking with God, it is his will that you are sanctified, that you are cleansed and made holy by the washing of the water of the word, by the righteous processes of our God.
[42:11] You know, do we yield to him as he, you know, whatever it is, is it chastening or is it whatever he uses to purify us and to deliver us from our past and from that old man and from the world.
[42:34] Do we yield to him? do we yield to the righteous processes of our God as he deals with us, as he works in our life, as he cleanses us from those things that hinder us?
[42:52] Verse three, for this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles, which know not God, that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, we also have forewarned you and testified, for God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
[43:38] He therefore that despises, despises not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit. If we despise the working of God, we're not despising man, but we're despising God and his Holy Spirit.
[43:58] what's he saying here? Let's look at this. Let me read this and I amplified a couple of these verses.
[44:14] Verse 2, For you know what charges and precepts we gave you on the authority and by the inspiration of the Lord Jesus.
[44:25] So they had given them well in the King James it says, For you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. They had given them charges and precepts and they had given them instructions by the inspiration of God.
[44:44] For this is the will of God, that ye should be consecrated, separated, and set apart for pure and holy living, that you should abstain and shrink from all sexual vice, that each one of you should know how to possess, to control, and to manage his own body in consecration, in purity, and separated from things profane, and honor, not to be used in the passion of lust like the heathen, who are ignorant of the true God and have no knowledge of his.
[45:27] That word concupiscence, I believe, would mean a strong passion and lust, like the heathen, like the Gentiles who know not God.
[45:47] You know, are we, are we keeping ourselves holy? Are we keeping ourselves unto God? Are we living like unbelievers?
[45:59] It is the will of God for us to be set apart, to be set apart unto our God, to be set apart unto holiness, a holy life.
[46:14] He has made all provisions for us to live a victorious life. yes, and he will not allow us to be tempted above that we are able, but he will with the temptation also make a way of escape.
[46:32] in John 10, 10, there's a verse, it was read here Wednesday night, the thief cometh, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
[46:48] That's the devil, our enemy, and he sneaks about, you know, let's read those verses in Peter, we're all familiar with those verses in Peter.
[47:02] chapter 5, and verse 8, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
[47:19] He walks about as a roaring lion, but he also, he also comes as a wolf in sheep's clothing. John 10, 10, Jesus said, the thief cometh not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
[47:40] He comes to steal the life of Christ in you. He comes, you know, he knows that the Bible says that you should keep yourself from defilement, you should keep yourself from the lust of the flesh, that they will defile you, they will be spots in your garment.
[48:00] He knows all of that, and if he can come, and if he can steal from you, if he can cause you to stumble, that there will be a spot on your garment, he's happy, because if you do not fully repent and come back to the Lord Jesus, then soon there will be another spot, and there will be another spot, and soon he will have you in his trap, he is walking about seeking whom he may devour.
[48:37] What is the answer to this? He says, whom resists steadfast in the faith. Resist him steadfast, don't give in to him, don't give in to him, but be steadfast in the faith.
[48:55] There is victory, victory. There is victory over him. Yes, there is. He is seeking whom he may devour.
[49:07] There's a verse in 1 John 3, says that for this purpose was the Son of God was manifest. This is the very purpose that Jesus came to earth, to destroy the works of the devil.
[49:25] That is why he came. And he has given us power over our enemy. And he will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, but he will with the temptation also make a way of escape.
[49:41] Now let's turn to 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5, verse 4, says, verse 3, says, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.
[49:56] You know, we don't war after the flesh, but we're walking in the flesh. And just a reminder that sometimes we have to make a move in the flesh, in this body, that we need to make a move to separate ourselves and to run away from temptation, even as Joseph did from Potiphar's wife.
[50:22] But verse 4, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. We're in a war.
[50:34] We're in a war. And so many times we lose sight of it. So many times we're just having a good time and we forget that we have an enemy.
[50:47] There's an enemy of the soul and he fights for keeps. He's not in a game, but he plays for keeps and he's after you, he's after your soul.
[51:03] But we have weapons and they're not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
[51:28] I believe that if we will abide by this verse, we will be victorious. We will live a victorious life, casting down imaginations, casting down everything, every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, anything that exalts itself against this word, anything that tells you that sin is okay, anything that tells you that sin doesn't matter, anything that tells you, oh, one time won't hurt.
[52:07] casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
[52:29] Every thought. Are you bringing every thought into captivity that is where you will find victory?
[52:40] That is where you will find victory. It's when you bring every thought into captivity under the control of the Lord Jesus. That is where we find victory.
[52:56] Yes, God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. The mind is the battlefield for our soul.
[53:09] The mind is the battlefield for our soul. Proverbs admonishes us.
[53:21] He says, guard your heart, for out of it come the issues of life. The heart, our heart, when those wrong thoughts come, when those unclean thoughts come, we must take them captive.
[53:40] If we don't, they will defile our hearts. They will defile our hearts.
[53:53] Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.
[54:06] He also said, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies, all those things, they proceed out of the heart.
[54:20] How did they get there? How did they get there? They come with a thought. thought. They come by a thought.
[54:31] The enemy, he will bring a thought. And if you don't take it captive, it will grow, and it will grow until it comes out as a deed, a word or a deed.
[54:53] Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Romans says, to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
[55:17] We make this choice every day. You know, we go out, we live our life. We're tempted.
[55:34] We face situations. Victory can be ours. It can be ours. The psalmist said, with my whole heart have I sought thee.
[55:49] are we seeking him with all our heart? Are we holding back? Are we holding back?
[56:01] This is the will of God, even your sanctification. It is the will of God that we be sanctified.
[56:13] It is the will of God that we are holy. It is the will of God that we are free. from the lusts and the sins of this world, from all appearance of evil, from all impure thoughts, when they come, that we take them captive.
[56:37] Are we taking them captive? You know, Philippians tells us, tells us what to think about. There's the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
[56:56] Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.
[57:21] Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do, and the God of peace shall be with you.
[57:33] Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we just come to you today. Lord, I pray, Lord, that our hearts will say yes to your word, and Lord, whatever you have shown us, Lord, wherever our heart is not totally yielded to you, Lord, help us that today.
[58:08] We will give that to you. And Lord, that in the coming week, in the coming month, the coming years, when the enemy brings those evil thoughts, when he brings unclean thoughts, help us, Lord, to take them captive, to bring every thought into captivity and into the obeisance.
[58:34] of Christ. Lord, help us. Lord, it is your will that we are sanctified, that we are holy, in your sight.
[58:52] Help us, Lord, to yield to you, Lord, to your sanctifying work, to say yes, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name.
[59:08] Amen. and to pass to me.