Trenchant dream, trenchant dream. All right, let's go back to Ephesians
5, Ephesians chapter 5. As I said, we have been looking
at this mostly on a Wednesday night because it does deal with
or speak to primarily believers. These instructions are to true
believers. He says in verse 1 of chapter
5, as dear children. So these instructions do primarily apply to believers. But my pastor
once taught us, the young preachers, that we're not to preach to the
lost or preach to the saved, because we don't know. And he said, just preach the Word
of God. Just preach the Word of God. Declare it. And the Lord
will apply it to who it needs to be applied to. That's good
advice. Oh, that's such good advice.
Well, he says in verse 1 of chapter 5, Be ye therefore followers
of God as dear children, if you are one of these, he said, who
have learned Christ, one who have heard and been taught by
him the truth. He said, Then be ye therefore
followers of God. Follower. A follower of someone
is someone who has heard what someone has said, and likes what
they said, and admires that person, and they want to be like him,
and they follow him. Followers of God. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter
6. The book of Jeremiah chapter 6. I love this verse in Jeremiah. He says, If your dear children,
have heard the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ and
have learned from him, then follow his word. Follow him. Follow his word. Follow his will. Follow his way. When you see his will, you hear
his word, you see his will, his way, you do it. You walk in it.
That's just plain. Jeremiah chapter 6, look at verse
16. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye
in the ways, and see. If I'm not careful, I'll stay
right here too long. But he says, Stand ye in the
ways, and see. Just look around at
the ways of men and women. Ways. There is a way. that seemeth
right unto men. This way, that way, that way.
But it all ends up in destruction. And see, see what good it's doing
anybody. Or rather, see what evil is coming
as a result of these ways of men. But he says, see now, and
ask for the old paths wherein is the good way. The old paths,
that means look at how Abraham walked. Look at how Isaac walked. Look at how Jacob walked. Look
at how Joseph walked. Look at the paths which God's
people have trod, wherein is the good way, or just
one way. One way. And all believers have trodden
paths, whatever path God has given them to walk, but they
walk in one way. It's the good way. Read on, and
he says, walk in it and you will find rest for your souls. The good way. The way of the transgressors
is hard. It may not seem it at the time,
but it is. The end of it is real hard. But
they said, oh my, how tragic. Some actually said, we will not. They saw it. and said, We won't
do it. We don't like it. Not you. Not you. Not you, people. You've
been taught. You've heard. As dear children,
be you followers of God. You've heard that wearing is
a good way, haven't you? Walk in it. Read on in our text. Ephesians 5, verse 2. And walk
in love. Walk in love. Walk in love. Love to God. You know what will
cause a man or a woman or a young person to walk God's way? They love God. They love God. Love God. Everything about Him.
God, His holiness. His person. His word. His word. David said, Oh, how I love thy law. I love
your word, David said. He said, I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right. He said, and I hate every false
way. Hate them. I love God's way. Love to God,
God's word, God's will, God's way. Love to his people. Walk
in love, he said. Walk in love, love to his people.
You know that love is the great restraint to sin. Yes, it is. Love is the great
restraint to sin. Now listen to me carefully, okay?
Listen. Especially young people. And I've got to give this illustration. I hate to call attention to my
family like I did my parents, but I don't know a better example
to give. than what I gave this morning. I was talking to Gabe. The Groovers are, maybe I should
have used them as an example of hospitality, but nevertheless. I hate to, but this is a good
illustration. My wife, when she was a young
girl, a young preteen and teenager, she said that the thing that
restrained her from doing all the things that all of her friends
were doing. And it's not that she's better
than they were. It's not that she didn't think about it. It's
not that she didn't want to do it. But she said the restraining,
the thing that restrained her and kept her from doing what
everybody was doing and the trouble they were getting into and was the love of her parents. She said she knew her mother
and dad really loved her and would tell her exactly what was
right. She knew that. She believed that.
And she did not want to do anything to hurt her dad and her mom. It killed her to think that when
she got into something that would bring reproach upon her parents
who loved her so much. And you know, that is the restraining
thing to the believer. I beseech you, Paul said in Romans
12, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice. How could we do anything to bring
reproach on our God who has loved us so? Look at the next line.
As Christ loved us, how could you be unfaithful to
a husband that loved you like he did? How could Gomer do what she did
against a man like Hosea? How could she do that? when she found out just how much
he had loved her, and what all he had done for her, and how
faithful he had been to her. It broke her heart. It broke her heart. Nothing will
with that. It is the love of God that leads
us to repentance. As Christ loved us and gave himself
for us, an offering, a sacrifice, a bloody sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ, greater
love hath no man than this. Never been a display of love
like this, never, never will be. Christ, in great love to his
people, literally, actually gave himself, mind, body, soul, strength
as an offering as a substitute, as a sin offering, as a lamb,
as a scapegoat. People say all the time, I don't
want to be the scapegoat. Christ said, I will. I will put all the sins, all
the blame on me. I don't deserve any of the blame,
Christ said, but put it all on me. That's how much I'll take
all the blame for my people. Every bit. I'll take all the
wrath. I'll take all the judgment, all
the condemnation. I love them that much. And I
won't utter a word. I won't complain. I'll take it
on. In our stead. Which, God says,
was a sweet-smelling sacrifice. A sweet-smelling savor. Oh, what
love. What grace. What sacrifice. God says, oh, that's the way
of God. That's my way. That's my son. I'm well pleased
for his sacrifice sake. I'm well pleased for his righteousness
sake. I'm not pleased with anybody,
but I am pleased with him. And thank God he's well pleased
with me because of Christ. Thank God. That's the heart and
soul of the gospel. I'm not pleasing to God, but
I'm accepted in the And because of that, because of that substitution,
what Christ did for me, it's not only my reasonable service,
but it's what I want to do. It's my heart's desire in light
of such love. So in love to God, he said, love
to Christ, for such love to us, such a sacrifice, he says, walk
in the same. Walk in the same way. Walk that
way. The title of this message was
not an attempt at cleverness. Wake up and walk right. No, that's a paraphrase of what
this is saying. The walk here is verse 2, verse
8, verse 14, verse 15. Walk, walk, walk. That's what
this chapter is about. Walk, walk, walk. And in verse
fourteen, he says, wake up now that sleep is being dead. Verse fifteen, see that you walk.
Wake up and walk in love. Walk in love. Love to God. This
is what will order your steps. I'm telling you the truth. It's
the only thing it will. The law won't do it. The strength
of sin is in the law. What your flesh wants to do is
what you're told not to do. But now, if the love of God's
in the heart, that will constrain you. Paul said, The love of Christ
constrained me. That's why we preach the gospel.
That's why we major on the gospel, because if people fall in love
with Christ, if they hear that great love of God to their unlovely
person, that great love of Christ, the great sacrifice of Christ,
that and that only will motivate and constrain them to serve him.
Oh, yeah. How do you get people to fall
out of love with sin? If they fall in love with God.
That's how. That's the only way. The law
won't do it. Love will. It's a fulfillment
of the law. Verse 3, he says, but fornication,
and I was just talking about faithfulness to a husband or
a wife, you know, in reference to our Lord, our husband, our
makers, our husbands. We're all called adulterers and
adulteresses by the Word of God. Because like Gomer, that story
in Hosea of Gomer who played the harlot and went out and other
lovers and so forth. And that's a spiritual picture
of how we've all gone out to other things and people and so
forth, irregardless of our Maker and our God, who, he said, is
our husband. Been very unfaithful to him.
But now, by the mercies of God, by the
love of God, walk faithfully, says verse 3,
but fornication, now he's literally speaking of sexual uncleanness
and sex outside of marriage. Now, Paul is writing to the Ephesians,
Ephesus, right in the heart of the Gentile world. And you know
we live in it. We live in modern-day Ephesus
or Rome, don't we? It was the way of the Gentiles
all over the world to just practice anything. It didn't—there were
no laws. The Gentiles did not have the
law of God, which said, thou shalt not this and that, thou
shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not—they didn't have that
law. Although it was written on the
heart, they knew better, yet they didn't have the actual commandment. Doesn't excuse them. So it was
the way of the Gentile world to be caught up in all manner
of whatever. And this is the society we live
in, is it not? This is a sex-crazed society. Everything on TV and the magazines,
radio, everything in our society is geared toward that. This is
how they advertise and how they promote products and so forth. This is what catches the attention
of this society. And our Lord tells us, don't
do it. Don't be caught up in it. Don't
do it. Fornication. Young people. God absolutely
forbids it. Old people. Oh, absolutely forbids it. It's not just a thing to
be forbidden, but it's a thing forbidden, but it's a thing to
be avoided, because there's nothing but trouble that comes because
of it. I'll say more about it in a moment. The Word of God
says a great deal about it. A great deal. A great deal. All
through the Proverbs, on and on. Uncleanness, read on, this
applies to everybody, married or unmarried. Uncleanness, that
means anything filthy or perverse, any perversions. He's speaking
to everyone, unmarried and married. Even amongst husbands and wives,
all things are not clean. Some things are positively degrading. Don't do it. Don't do anything
degrading. Anything whatever is not pure,
whatever is not decent, don't do it. Just don't do it. Uncleanness. He says covetousness. Isn't that amazing that he puts
covetousness right in there with perversion. Covetousness. My, my. We read
in Romans 12 there, it says those who are covetous are idolaters. This is not only the most sex-crazed
society, but the most materialistic. It's absolutely wholly given
over to things. And why it's called idolatry
is that God is our Creator. and everything we are and have
he gave to us. And to be given over to things,
to pursue things, the gifts, and not the giver, is idolatry. In other words, you worship,
you do everything and anything toward that person or thing that
you love and pursue and want more than anything else. That's
your idol. That's what you're given to.
That's what you'll bow and scrape to. Here's the sin. You bow and
scrape to whoever or whatever it is you really want. And if
it's not God, then it's an idol, whatever it may be, a thing or
a person or whatever it is. But we bow to God. David said,
One thing have I desired, that's what I'll seek after. My God
is my God. Of some, Paul said, their God
is their belly. So that's the sense of idolatry.
Covetousness. Covetous. Let it not, verse three,
he said, let it not be once named among you as become of saints.
Let it not be once named among you. has become a saint, now
that we are saints, now that we are believers. Oh, it was
named of us. Don't let it be so anymore. Let
it not be. Has become a saint. It's not
becoming to God's people. Verse four, neither filthiness,
nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient. He's
still on the same subject here. He's still on the same subject.
Our Lord is not forbidding good-natured, for lack of a better word, good-natured
ribbing. I like to think of how Peter and James and John and
Philip and Andrew, they were all relatives. And not only that,
but they were fellow fishermen. They were in their thirties or
forties, and they'd been around each other, you know, for years.
They probably grew up together. Don't you know, they were constantly
getting at one another and ribbing. That's just the way we are. Like dogs, you look at dogs and
they're out there just wrestling around, you know, playing and
running and playing. The Lord doesn't forbid us from
having a good time together, good natured ribbing and poking
fun and all that. Oh, no. I like to think that
the Lord... I had to smile sometimes. You
know, he was sitting there like we do our own children and listening
to them comport and play with one another and have at one another. I like to think that he probably
had to smile. I bet you all of them got on
Peter. I bet you all of them got at Peter because he was such
a, always running off with the mouth. And I have to think that
the Lord would sit there at the fire and smile at at what went
on between them. That didn't stop. They were men,
weren't they? You get men around each other
twenty-four hours a day for three and a half years, there's going
to be a little levity. The Lord is talking here about
unclean talk, jesting, filthy talk, which is all the rage in
our society. even among women. These comedians
and all these fools, lewd remarks, jokes. Don't do it, he said. Don't do it. It's not convenient.
The word convenient means not proper. It's not fitting. It's
not right. Do you know this starts in our
youth? Young people, listen to me. This starts in our youth.
I remember playing that when I was a young boy. When all this
started, I remember, lewd remarks and filthy jokes
and so forth. It starts in the youth. And if
it goes unchecked, listen to me now, if it continues to grow,
if somebody doesn't say anything, you know, I'm dealing with this
because this is God Almighty's Word. And I was supposed to be
a preacher of God's Word. And I'm not a very good preacher
and faithful. Let's worry if I don't deal with
it. If I don't tell you young people exactly what God says
here, I'm not going to deceive you with vain words, he said. Some do. Try to get around this. Not going to do it. I'm going
to be true to it. If this goes unchecked, this
loose talk, if we become immodest, That's what this produces, lewdness
and loose talk and so forth. It produces a sense of immodesty
in young people, whether or not nothing shames them anymore.
Are you with me? Nothing shames them anymore.
So they become unashamed to sin or anything. And that's the way
they live. This loose talk carries over
into loose living. And you'll do, it's what everybody's
talking about. You'll do it. It leads to loose
living, it'll lead to wholesale indiscriminate sex, which leads to children out of
wedlock, which leads to diseases, which leads to a life of that,
which leads to a life where you'll never, ever completely get over
it. I'm telling you the truth. You'll
never, ever completely give over, get over it. It's a cesspool
that you fall into and you may never totally get out of. Three million people. What's this? I've got to get
this right. Three million people a year die
from AIDS. And we're worried about 9-11. Three million people. Five million
more contacted every year. That's a fact. I'll give you
the statistics if you want. American Medical Association. It's not only God's Word. But
it's just plain good advice, good instruction. Don't do it
unless you're prepared to suffer the consequences. And nobody
is. Nobody is. Don't do it. Nobody's immune
from the consequences. Read on. Verse 4, he says, don't,
this foolish, filthy talking and so forth, but rather giving
of thanks. You know what this tongue was
created for? God made a tongue for one reason, to thank Him, to praise Him,
to honor Him, to glorify Him. That's what this tongue is made
for. That's what we need to use it for, giving of thanks. Verse
5 says, for this you know. You know this, we know this,
we've been taught this, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person,
nor covetous man, that's fornication, uncleanness, or covetous, none
of them, or a covetous man who is an idolater. There it is.
He is an idolater. Have any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and God, not going to be there. No one who practices
this is going to be in heaven. No, sir. No, sir. No, sir. He said, you know this. Verse 6, let no man deceive you
with vain words. None of these. No one. Now listen
very carefully. OK, listen, everyone. Listen
to me. No one goes to heaven because they're good people.
No one goes to heaven because they are righteous. No one goes to heaven because
they quit doing this or quit doing that and started doing
right. No, sir. If anybody goes to heaven, they're
going to go there because Christ imputed or charged his goodness
to them, his righteousness to them. They're going to go there
because Christ covers them in his blood and paid for every
one of their sins. Is that clear? You know that. You know that. I'm not preaching
works for salvation. No, sir. But this right here
tells us that nobody is going to go to heaven who's not righteous
and clean. God Almighty's Word tells us,
listen to me, chapter 1, verse 4, it says, that He had chosen
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Can you quote it?
That God had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy. That's the reason. That's the
reason. Turn with me to Titus, the book
of Titus chapter 2. Okay? Everyone, young and old,
have a Bible. Turn there. Titus. I am not shunning
declaring unto you the whole counsel of God. No, sir. I'm
not going to gloss this over. I need it. Brother Sam, I need
this. I'm a man of like passions as
you. I was a young teenager just like
you all. You know, my father admits this. Early on when the gospel was
first being proclaimed, back in the fifties, when the gospel
of God's sovereign grace and mercy, salvation of the Lord
without work, was being proclaimed, People who were once Armenian,
who thought they were going to get to heaven because they were
good little boys and girls, because they weren't acting like the
rest of the world, thought they were going to get to heaven because
of that. They were Armenian. And the Lord sent the gospel
of God's sovereign mercy and grace and showed them that all
those are dead works, that God does not pay attention to that
for salvation. It doesn't merit anybody any
favor with God. As a matter of fact, it goes
against them. It's self-righteousness. It's only the righteousness of
Christ. It was so new. It was brand new. and started declaring it, declaring
it, declaring it. By grace do we say it. By grace
do we say it. And that's still the message.
But my dad admits it to this day, and I'm not telling you
what he wouldn't tell you, but he admits it to this day, that
they were afraid to ever say anything about works early on. They were afraid. to even quote
Titus Chapter 2 for fear that the people might think they're
preaching worse. Are you with me? He tells me
that. He said there was a, there was
a, there's not enough emphasis, he said, there was not enough
emphasis on telling them, people, what God's Word actually tells
I remember, I told you this before, but I remember as a young believer,
I didn't understand the book of James, and if anybody brought
it up, I thought, they believe in works. Were you that way, Henry? They
believe in works. Well, Titus chapter 2, look at
what the gospel does. Titus chapter 2, verses 11 through
14, the grace of God that brings salvation. That's how we're saved,
isn't it? Hath appeared to all men, that
is, all sorts of men, every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue,
God's people, teaching us. Here's what the grace of God
teaches. Here's what the gospel does, teaches us to deny ungodliness,
worldly lust, that we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly in this present world." Read on, "...looking for that
blessed hope and glorious appearance of the great God and our Savior
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works." The true redeemed of the Lord
are more zealous of good works than anybody. They don't ever
take credit for them or brag on them or even think that they
have them, but they love them. They are. That makes man's day. Go back to the text. So he says
in Ephesians 5, he says, none of these people could be in God's
heaven. We're not going to be that. Neither will we if we,
it doesn't matter what we say, what we claim to believe, if
we're a practicer of living in this thing. Our Lord in Revelation
12 says, He that is filthy, let him be filthy still. Go on. He that is holy, let him
be holy just. Just. God's redeemed His people, purified
them. Ephesians 5 says in verse 6,
let no man deceive you with vain words. And I believe maybe I've been guilty
of this very thing, glossing it over, trying to spiritualize
something that was just downright practical. Let no man deceive
you with vain words, for because of these things, there's a hell
full of people for these reasons, for this reason. Unbelief, yes,
but that's what leads—unbelief is what brings in all of this
other stuff. And God, for these things' sake,
cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
That's what it says. For these things, God is punishing
people for their sins, for their sin of unbelief and their sins,
which is the fruit of it. So he says in verse seven, don't
be partakers with them. Verse seven, everybody, you may
not be partakers with them. I don't want to go where they're
going, do you? I don't want to do what they're doing. Do you? Would you turn with me to Matthew
10, young and old, Matthew 10, Matthew chapter 10. Young people,
listen to me carefully, okay? Listen to me, please. Particularly
teenagers who are more bombarded by, or who are more subject to this. Don't fear the
persecution and trouble of your classmates for doing what's right. Don't fear the persecution and
trouble of your classmates for doing what God tells you to do.
Don't fear not doing what they do. Listen to what Jesus Christ says. Matthew 10, verse 28, "'Fear
not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul, but rather fear God.'" which is able to destroy both
soul and body in hell. Don't fear the persecution and
trouble of peanuts, worms. Don't fear peer pressure. I'm
telling you the truth. They'll get tired of doing whatever
they're doing. They'll get tired of that, and
they'll leave you alone. Oh yeah, and they'll find somebody
else who it bothers, really bothers. whom they can have an effect
on. Fear God. Don't be a partaker
with them. This is why I say what I'm doing
is so vital. I have one opportunity to have
all our children and all of us together before God's Word. What
he says is right. It's good for you. Not only eternally,
but right now. Peter said, who is he that will
bother you if you be followers of that which is good? Peter
said that. You do what's right, and it will
be well with you. God said it. God said it. God said it. I wish somebody told me this
when I was 13 years old. Son, you keep doing that and you're
a goner. I almost was. All my buddies are. But for the
mercy and grace of God, I'm not. But for the sovereign, saving,
keeping mercy of God has nothing to do with me. I'm not. Now,
where's somebody taking this book and hitting them between
the eyes with it? Say, wake up! You're going the
way of the rest of them. Now, where's somebody, an older
person in the church, and he's grabbing him by the lapel, He
says, son, you're acting like a fool. You've got to kill yourself. They're killing themselves. Don't
die with them. The Lord says, why will you die? Why? Why? This is words of life. I'm going to scream today. Yes, sir. I've got your children
before me, and unless God takes them and shakes their souls,
they're goners. This is how serious this is.
If God takes our lost husbands and wives or whoever it is, and
slaps them in the face with His Word, and says, wake up, man, we're gone. We're goners, all
of us. God takes this book and opens
our blind eyes. And then, what he said during
the book of Ezekiel, he said, then if God does, you'll loathe
yourself. You'll hate yourself. You'll
be so ashamed of yourself for being what you are, doing what
you're doing. You'll say, how could I have
been so foolish? Don't be partakers with them. Don't be partakers with them. Oh, by this word of giving
us exceeding and precious promises whereby we might be partakers
of a divine nature, having escaped the lust of the world and the
punishment that comes through it and with it. I'm telling you, your teachers
are telling you. That is, these teachers here. You see why this
is the most important place and thing on planet Earth? We're
not going to get this in our schools. Most don't get it at
home. But by God's mercy and grace,
we're going to get it right here. And oh, hopefully the Spirit
of God will take it like a hammer. Is it not that word, like a hammer,
Lee? An old, a young buck, a young
teenager, is his heart and his head like concrete in it. Now
I know you busted concrete. What's it take? An eight pound,
a ten pound, however hard, however much reinforcing steel's in it.
Busted. I mean, busted. You ever busted
concrete? You don't do it with one whack.
You just keep doing it. Life on life. Life on life. Life on life. Bust that old hard
heart. The Word of God is a hammer.
A hammer. Oh, Lord, break these hard hearts,
would You please, by Your sovereign mercy and grace, spare us, spare
our children. Spare us. Time is short. Verse 8 says, You were sometimes
darkness. You were one time walking in
ignorance, darkness. But now he's children of light,
children of light who stumble around the dark, lovers of darkness
rather than light. All meanness and filthiness is
done under cover of darkness. They think cover of darkness. It's all alike to God, he said,
the light, the dark, it's all alike. Not hiding from him. Sometimes you were darkness,
like now you're light in the Lord. That is, He's the one who
gave you this light. Walk as children of light. For
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
and truth. Listen to me, folks. Listen to
me. Goodness and righteousness and
truth. Listen to me, everyone. Truth hath and will prevail. The truth will prevail. Goodness
and righteousness shall prevail. God shall prevail. I know it
looks like this world is winning, so to speak. I know it looks
like this evil world is getting anything they want and getting
away with everything they do, but it's not going to be so.
It's not so. Our God reigns. Truth shall prevail,
hath prevailed, and shall prevail. Justice, there is justice. But God doesn't pay all his accounts
in 2003. But he does, baby. I know it seems like the world
prevails, so we fall in with them. That's what it is. We fear,
well, what if all is not so, and I'm going to miss the boat?
Oh, you better not miss Christ the ark. Let that boat go, Hussein. Let that train go. You better not miss Christ. I know it seems like the Our
Lord said in Revelation 22, He said, Behold, I come quickly. I'm coming. He said, I'm Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Behold, I come quick. I'm coming, He said. He said
He was coming the first time, Dan, and He did. Nobody thought
He would. They waited a long time, but
He came, walked this planet. He left. They said, He's coming
again, and like manners you've seen him go, just like he said,
I come quickly. Seeing that all these things
shall be dissolved, Peter said, what manner of men and women
and young people ought we to be in the fear of the Lord? He's
coming. My God seeth me, and shall come
to punish the earth. That's what he said. Punish the
earth. So, he says, let's prove it.
Verse 10. Let's prove it. Prove what is
acceptable unto the Lord. Prove what's acceptable unto
the Lord. I am living proof that your friends won't kill you if
you quit running with them. I prove it. I was a captain of
that bunch. I'm living proof. If they'll quit, they'll quit
bothering you. And you'll find friends that
stick closer to your brother. He don't need that much. How many in here have friends
that they had in high school, still have them, older people? Prove it. You'll prove what is
acceptable unto the Lord. Prove it. And have no fellowship,
verse 11. I'm not going to quit. I'm going to keep going. Have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. I'd rather
approve them. If we really sought the good
of our friends and all, we'd tell them the truth, because
it's not good to let them think everything's all right. It's not good to be buddy-buddy
and let them think everything's all right. Man, reprove them. If you could reprove them and
still be friends, fine. Wonderful. Maybe the Lord will
use you. But if not, you're not helping
them, they're hurting you. Verse 12, he says, It's a shame
to speak of things which are done of them in secret. It's
a shame. Brother Roy brought this first
to my attention before we started. He said, you know, men and women
are positively proud of what they're doing now. Bold, rash,
brazen with it. It's a homosexual, national homosexual
group, calls itself Act Up. Act Up, that's the name of it.
Act Up, speak out. Be bold with it. Be proud of
it. Scripture says it's a shame to
even talk about it. And our society is such, I'm
warning you people, Hollywood has an agenda to desensitize
everybody to this. What Scripture calls sodomy, that God wiped them all out.
Whatever town, wherever God told the king, get rid of them, get
them out of there. There's something horrible about it. It's the absolute proof of being
a reprobate. Hollywood has an agenda to force
this into the thinking of all of us that it's all right. The scripture says it's a shame
to even talk about it. It's so despicable. Against that nature, teaches
Paul wrote. And so don't find yourself laughing
at or snickering at this, that Hollywood glosses
over like it's all right. He's a nice guy, every one of
them. I'm not getting off the subject.
I'm on the subject. Have you ever noticed how every preacher,
now ever since movies have been made, every preacher is an absolute
ignorant fool? Every preacher on a TV or a movie
or whatever is a silly, weak, ignorant fool. Nobody's paying
any attention to him whatsoever. He doesn't know anything. He's
just sitting there with a collar. Nobody's paying any attention
to him whatsoever. He's not even a man. He's just
a prop in the movie. Ever since Hollywood's been making
the, that's the way they depict preachers. But now they're making
homosexuals to be nice guys, everyday fellas, sweet, kind,
and anybody that gives them a hard time is just a monster. He's a nice guy. How could you?
Don't get caught up in that, people. It's a shame to even
talk about it. That's what this book, that's
what God says. God be true. Every man a liar. That's what God said. So, he
said, all things, verse 13, are going to be reproved, made manifest
by the light. I'm talking about us. I'm talking
about the Word in us. We're light. You're the light
of the world, Christ said. The light's not hid, but it makes
manifest. It reproves. A preacher one time
told me, you remember I wrote an article about homosexuality
in a paper and got all kind of hatred from it. And a preacher
around here who I thought was a friend, who I thought knew
something or preached a little grace, he and I were discussing
it. And I said to him, why don't
you write something? Why don't you write a letter to the editor
and back me up on this? About ten years ago, I said,
why don't you write a letter to the editor and back me up?
Tell the people around here that there's somebody else that believes
what God's Word says about it. Huh? Why don't you do it? He
said to me, he said to me, he said, you know, if I get, a thought
occurred to me, if I get up in my pulpit and start denouncing
homosexuality and these things, he said, ACLU or somebody could,
would hear that. and had me before the authority
and could sue me. And all along he went. I was
shocked that he said that. He's a coward. He doesn't believe
God's Word. He's no preacher of God's Word.
I told him, I said, if you're afraid to say what God's Word
says, if you fear men more than you do God, you better get out
of that pulpit. I told him that to his face,
and I hadn't had any fellowship with him since. I thought he was a grace preacher.
I was a young grace preacher then. Little did I know, everybody
ain't really a grace preacher. They're closet Calvinists. Now, he's got a big church now,
too. So, all things are made manifest
by the light. It exposes people. People come
in to hear the gospel light. Boom! Sunlight comes on and sheds
light on all the nooks and crannies and evil of religion and the
heart and so forth. It exposes all the cobwebs. It makes manifest everything
that's in this dark place called the human heart. And people don't
like that. The hobbit lover, he that cometh
to the light, does, our Lord said. Oh, he loves it. As David
said, Oh, Lord, search me. Try me. See if there be a wicked
way in me and get it out. Get it out. Read on. I've got to hurry. Verse 14,
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, wake up. Rise
from the dead. Christ shall give thee light.
Young people, if you walk in the light that you've heard this
morning, listen to me, young people, everybody. If you walk
in the light you've heard from me this morning, from this book,
if you ask God, if you ask God to give you the grace
to walk the way you've heard His Word this morning, ask Him
to give you the grace, He'll give you more light. He'll give
you more grace. Old people, young and old alike,
take courage, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.
Do what you know He tells you to do. He'll give you more strength.
He'll give you more courage. Back down, fall to it, you'll
be weakened. The opposite is true. Is that so? Walk in the light
that God has given you. He'll give you more life. Be
strong in the Lord, the power of His might, He'll give you
more strength. How could these people do what
they did in Scripture? How could they do it? How could
they? In Hebrews 11, women received,
watched their children tortured in front of them. How could they? Not in themselves. So by the
grace of God, Now, the grace of God. And he says, so he says,
wait, see that you walk circumspectly, verse 15, wisely, not as fools,
but as wise, redeeming the time. That is, there's not much time
left. Use it wisely. The days are evil. These are
evil days. These are evil days. Wherefore,
be not unwise. Don't be unwise, but understanding
what the will of the Lord is. The will of the Lord is what?
We read that, 1 Thessalonians, your sanctification. Set apart
for his holy youth. Don't be unwise. Young people,
you've been taught here. You've been taught here from
children. Well, you're still children. But you've been taught
the Scripture says that the Word of God which is able to make
thee wise unto salvation. You know the truth. You know
it. Ask God to give you the grace
to walk in it. Ask God to reveal Christ to you.
Ask God to keep you from this world. Ask him. He delights to
give. He delights. All right. My hands are clean. But don't be protectors with
it, all right? God help us all. All right, you have a closing
hymn picked out? What's. Three hundred thirty seven. Three
hundred thirty seven. Sing the first and last verse. Teach me Thy way, O Lord, teach
me Thy way. Thy guiding grace, O Lord, teach
me Thy way. Help me to walk the right, for
my faith's left my side. lead me with heav'nly light,
teach me thy way. Long as my life shall last, lead
me thy way. Whatever my lot may cast, teach
me thy way. Until the race is won, until
the journey's done, until the prow is won, teach me that way. Thank you. uh...